3 essential ingredients to a rewarding job search

When a job seeker experiences  frustration and disillusionment in their job search, it is difficult to pinpoint the cause. When I work with job seekers, part of the process is to decide what is working and what is not. If you keep doing job search the wrong way, you will get the wrong results.

What to ask if you are not experiencing a rewarding job search

• What field and position are you targeting?
• Is your geographic location a hot bed of those types of jobs?
• What does your job history look like?
  • Is it spotty, filled with short-term jobs and multiple roles?
  • Is it all over the map so that the hiring manager is clueless to how you would fit in their organization?
  • Have you been dismissed repeatedly?
• What kind of job search strategies are you using to find the jobs and apply to them?
• What is your follow-up like?
• Are you using new strategies like LinkedIn and other social media correctly?

Are there really hard issues causing me to be rejected?

• What does the job seekers credit report look like?
• Is there a criminal record?
• Is there a history of substance abuse?

You need to consider if you have other factors that are holding you back. One of the options I offer for payment is PayPal Credit but the client has to qualify through PayPal’s credit check to take advantage of the 0% interest for 6 months. Sadly many people tell me straight up that they know they won’t qualify. Clean up your credit so if a prospective employer requires a credit check, you will pass.

If you do have a criminal record, be ready to answer honestly in job interviews. Depending on the charges, you may be excluded from some jobs but for others you just need to have an honest answer and a willingness to stay out of trouble in the future.

Sadly, substance abuse is so rampant that many people see it as their right to come to work high or drunk. As the market recovers, you will see more employers requiring entry drug testing and using random drug testing. One employer told me that when they told the staff they would be random drug testing, one employee walked out the door. It is not your right to be high or drunk at work.

What if I have a stellar work history and am still not getting interviews?

Now you need to review the three ingredients to make sure that you are really using the right strategies for success. Job search always takes time and patience but if you miss these three ingredients to a rewarding job search, you probably will be waiting longer.

3 essential ingredients to a rewarding job search

1. TARGET – Know where you are going. If you are not targeting your job search, you will find it hard to land. Jason Alba just discussed this in his LinkedIn Pulse post: The Question That Makes Job Seekers Sound Stupid. Go read the article but the key phrase is why asking, “Do you know of any job openings” makes you look stupid. No TARGET!
2. POWERFUL RESUME – Does your resume make the grade? 95% of the resumes that I see from clients and classes I teach are so far off the mark that it is clear why there is little or no response to them. Compare your resume to quality samples of professional resume writers and then decide if you have the right ingredients in your resume and if your writing is at the caliber of the job you wish to land.
3. INNOVATIVE JOB SEARCH STRATEGIES – If you are only applying online, you are missing 85% of the job market – the hidden job market. Jobs that will be opening, opportunities that are not advertised, and leads that come from within an organization. Use your network and use LinkedIn and other tools to find and build your network.

Need help? While job search is often painful, I take the pain out of writing your resume and even make it fun with a personalized, interactive process. Hire me, Julie Walraven, Certified Master Resume Writer.  Click Here.

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