Talk to Orville About Job Search

If you have read Orville’s book, The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search and have questions that are not answered in the book, please check the FAQs below to see if your question has been answered there.

If your question isn’t in the FAQ list, please read the legal notice below and then click here to talk to Orville or copy and paste this address into an email: jobsearchquestions@highlyeffectivejobsearch.com. If the topic is of general interest, he’ll post your question and his response below in the FAQs. Orville can’t promise to respond to all e-mails, but he’ll do the best he can.

Frequently Asked Questions
about Job Search

Questions:

Why do you discourage the use of the Internet when there’s so many jobs listed there?

My question relates to Search Technique #7, networking.  How do you do that in an out of town job search?

How should I use blogs in my job search?

Like many career authors, you encourage networking, but there's only part of one chapter on it in you book. Why?

 

 

Orville’s Responses to Questions:

Why do you discourage the use of the Internet when there’s so many jobs listed there?

I definitely do not discourage the use of the Internet. I think job hunters should use it regularly. It’s an outstanding source of information. I think you should Google all of your targets as well as visiting their websites. I also think it’s smart to research issues relevant to your profession.

At the same time, I do not believe that a high percentage of job hunters find jobs by using Internet job posting boards. If you see job listings you qualify for on job boards, I think you should certainly apply for them. You may get one, and it could be an excellent job. But after you’ve spent a couple of hours responding to online listings, I think you should use the rest of the week to pursue a job in other ways.

As always, the central point is whether your activities are generating conversations with Decision Makers. If the Internet is connecting you with Decision Makers in organizations you like, keep using it. Top

 

My question relates to Search Technique #7, networking.  How do you do that in an out of town job search?  

Here are some suggestions for using job networking in an out-of-town search:

1. Create your Target List for the city you want to move to, and start talking to any contacts you have there about that list.  This can be by email and phone.  Ask them for referrals.  Even if you start with only one or two people, that can expand significantly if they're willing to actively help. See if you can start building a network in that city.
   
   
2. Show your Target List to hometown contacts as well.  In your discussions with them, ask if they know anyone at all in your targeted city that they'd be willing to introduce you to. Anyone at all. You'll also ask about your targets, of course.  And ask your local contacts if they'd be comfortable asking around for you to try to locate additional contacts in your city of destination. Do the same with anyone you know anywhere. People have friends and acquaintances all over these days.
   
   
3. Check to see if any of the organizations on your Target List have facilities in both cities.  If so, start by talking with people in the local facility.
   
   
4. If you are a member of any groups that have members in both cities, work through that organization as well. This could include professional organizations, alumni groups, churches/synagogues and many others. Again, use your Target List with members in both cities.
   
   
5. If you're able to make a trip to visit the new city, see if you can actually meet some people you haven't yet met.  Sometimes the (honest) line,  "I'll be in town for only three days" will help you get appointments with insiders or even Decision Makers – more easily, of course, if you have an introduction.

I think it's also very important to tell people – especially in the targeted city – that you're definitely planning a relocation.  Some people even "borrow" a local address from a friend to use on the resume, since an out-of-town address may put employers off.  A cell phone number, of course works anywhere and area codes no longer mean much, so that part is easy if you have a cell phone.

Hope this helps. There is further information in my Highly Effective Networking book. Top

How should I use blogs in my job search?

When you're researching organizations on your Target List, blogs can be a useful source of information, especially when you find blogs written by employees at your targets. The problem with blogs, of course, is that you usually know little or nothing about the person who wrote it. So take it with some salt, and check information you get on a blog with information from other sources to see if it all fits together.

If you're a blogger yourself (or have postings on social networking sites), remember that potential employers who have your resumé might go and look at them. When in a job search, think more carefully about what you post and what impression it will make on employers. Top

Like many career authors, you encourage networking, but there’s only part of one chapter on it in you book. Why?

Good question. The purpose of The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search is to show you to how to plan and manage your job search project. In other words, it’s more about what to do in a job search than about how to do it, or the techniques of job search.

I just couldn’t fit all of it in one book. That’s why I wrote the second book, the one on networking. Top