Highly Effective Job Search

Over the years, I compiled a list of the ten top reasons why it takes people too long to find a job. That list is reprinted here — with proper permissions of course — from my first book, The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search.

The Ten Top Reasons Why It Takes People Too Long To Find A Job

1. They don’t put much time or effort into job hunting.
2. They waste time on unproductive activities.
3. They have no way of measuring their progress.
4. They’re not sure what kind of work they’re looking for.
5. They don’t make a list of prospective employers – or it’s not long enough.
6. They don’t define and analyze their own personal job market.
7. They have no systematic approach to the job search project.
8. They only pursue announced job openings and use no proactive approaches.
9. They don’t realize that search is a numbers game – or they seriously underestimate the numbers needed.
10. They go it alone, without any objective advice or support.

My book, of course, was written to help job hunters avoid all ten of those. But in case you haven’t read it, I’ll give you the short version of the solution to all ten right here: Create a Marketing Plan and a Target List of at least 40 organizations you will proactively pursue. Use objective numerical measures to gauge your progress in search each week. Remember, it’s not about how many hours you devote to job hunting, it’s about what you do with those hours. Effective job hunters have a lot of real time conversations every week with a wide range of people.

Use networking as well as Internet postings and recruiters. Talk to other job hunters as you go to compare notes and get better at the job search project. Do this on a Job Search Work Team if possible, or simply do it informally with job hunters you meet at networking groups.

May you have a highly effective job search.

Maybe. I’ve been a program designer in job search assistance for 30 years, so I pay a lot of attention to meeting designs used by job hunters.

These things called networking groups actually have a number of different designs. It looks to me like the most common design is a Cocktail Party design, without the drinks. You put a bunch of unemployed people in a room. They’re supposed to mix, mingle and talk to each other about finding jobs.

For highly skilled networkers – sales professionals, for example – this design works very well. But for less skilled networkers, those who are not practiced at “working the room” the way politicians do, it’s tough. And for the 50% of us who are more inclined toward introversion than extraversion, this process can be downright painful.

A variation is the Bring-A-Job-Lead approach. Here, all attendees are expected to bring information on a current job opening, usually one “that is not posted,” to the meeting. Participants introduce themselves to the whole group and share the job leads. I like the organized introductions, because they are a very effective way of letting people know who they should meet. When the introductions include target list information, that’s even better.

But I don’t think the job lead part works. If I could find those magical unlisted jobs, I wouldn’t need the meeting. And the primary focus on job openings rather than organizations is minimally effective.

Another variation is organizing by industry groups: Banking to the left, chemicals to the right, healthcare in the back of the room, and like that. While this can get conversations – including target list conversations — started because of the common interests, it ignores the fact that it’s sometimes a good idea to change industries. And it’s still a cocktail party format.

If you decide to use networking groups, here are some suggestions for making them work better for you:

1. Take your target list as well as your resume. You won’t necessarily hand them out wholesale, but you’ll make more progress talking about targets than about your resume.
2. Look for common interests of any kind, professional or personal. The more of these you find, the easier it is to continue the conversation outside of the room. If the group is sponsored by your church or synagogue, that opens up a whole realm of common interests beyond jobs.
3. Don’t try to get it all done at the event. See how many comfortable connections you can make. It’s not about getting dozens of names of people who are still total strangers. Better to make one or two stronger connections where there is a real interest on both sides in talking further and continuing to exchange information in search.

Finally, you might want to try a Job Search Work Teams. These teams serve as powerful core networks because participants get to know each other well, sometimes building professional relationships that continue long after job search ends. If team participation interests you and you can’t find one, you can start your own, using the instructions in the last chapter of my book, The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search.

Sometimes it’s like a tsunami. Layoffs sweep through an industry and a lot of people in a lot of companies are swept out of jobs.

You may remember when it happened in the steel industry in the 1980’s. I do. I was one of the many people providing career transition services in that one. In the end, much of our steel production was swept offshore, and tens of thousands of jobs were swept away.

The layoffs and ensuing changes were massive. Bethlehem Steel, one of the top employers of the 20th century, ceased to exist. Another storied industrial giant, U.S. Steel, released thousands of employees and also disappeared, replaced by a repositioned company, USX.

But this kind of tsunami doesn’t kill people. And you don’t need to let it kill your career either. If you’re willing to make the effort, you can and will get re-employed in a good new position, even if the industry where you’re accustomed to working is not doing so well. You might decide to start a new career, and it might even be better than your last one. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Two things are essential. You need to understand the career transition game, top to bottom. Completely. No kidding. And you will need to put in a lot of hours at a difficult and sometimes unpleasant job called job hunting.

If you’re willing to do that, I know that you will get re-employed in a job you like. How do I know?  I’ve been doing this for over 30 years. Lee Hecht Harrison, the company where I work, has been doing it even longer. Over the years, LHH has assisted over a million people as they went through it. We know how the career transition game works. It’s not that complicated.

After a massive layoff in a single industry, the job market in that industry is flooded with candidates and short on jobs. That does not mean there are no opportunities, since massive change always creates opportunities. But it does mean that you will need to be better than the average job hunter in the areas of career change and industry change, because you may need to do one of those.

Here are two places you can get started.

Reading. I’ve written two books on job hunting. But I’m not the only career author. There are – no kidding – thousands of books on the topic. Please do examine the author’s credentials before using a book. Read several books, just as you would when undertaking any important project in an area where your experience is limited. And don’t rely solely on information on the Internet. It’s fragmented and you don’t always know who wrote it. Or why.

Talking. Talk to other job hunters – but not about how bad the job market is or how difficult unemployment is. Those conversations don’t make things any better. Why not start a conversation about how to be really effective in job hunting in a tough market?  See if you can find a job search networking group that you like. Or you could start a Job Search Work Team.

You will also need to make sure your finances are under control, since you may have limited income for a while. And you may need to work on getting your emotions under control because you have important work to do.

You’re going to get a great new job with a great new employer. Millions have done it before you, some in ordinary times, some in tsunamis. They got jobs. You will too, if you work on it.

Steel industry employees found new jobs and careers. And, in case you didn’t notice, U.S. Steel staged a comeback.

So can you. And a lot faster.