Creative Job Search Strategies - Better to Give than Receive

One of the greatest speeches of the 20^th century was given in 1961. All job seekers should take the spirit of that speech to heart in their job search. It could make a huge difference in determining whether they are successful or not in their search for employment.

It was January 20, 1961 and John F. Kennedy was giving his inaugural address to the nation. The key words from that speech we need to embrace are, “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

So what can we learn from these inspirational words from 50 years ago? If you were a hiring manager and reviewed a resume where the person says he is looking for a job that will further his marketing skills and allow him to advance in the industry, how do you think the manager will respond? That resume will most likely go to the bottom of the pile. But what if the the resume instead said the person wanted to use his skills to further the success of the company and help make it a leader in the industry? This resume has a much better chance of making the cut.

Companies hire people in order to help their organizations succeed. A job seeker will get much further if he/she understands this. You should focus on demonstrating how you can use your skills to help the company succeed. Thinking of others before yourself is a core value that companies look for in new employees.

This concept also applies when networking with others.  Most people dread networking to try to find a job.  Getting people to provide you with job leads is often less than fulfilling.  Instead of networking to find a job for yourself, try networking for the purpose of using your skills to contribute to the success of others.  People with jobs to offer often get tired of people asking if they have a job for them.  They are much more likely to be receptive to someone who is offering something to others versus looking to get something.  And as a job seeker, you'll probably feel much better about yourself when you offer to help someone with the skills that you have.

This simple change in mindset can really make a difference in your job search. If you look for different ways to apply this concept in your job search, you will increase your chances of success. 

Creative Job Search – Job Search Basics

John is a hiring manager for a major corporation and has just interviewed someone that he thinks would be perfect for his organization. The candidate has a proven track record at his previous company and is well known in the industry. John is so thrilled and immediately starts working with his human resources team to put together a job offer. He just can’t believe that he found someone so ideal for the job.

A few days later, John gets a letter in the mail from his number one candidate. It is a thank you letter that reiterates his qualifications and desire to work there. As John reads the letter, he thinks to himself that this guy really knows how to market himself and has substance to back it up. Then as he reads the closing sentence, his heart sinks. John immediately calls his human resources team to cancel the job offer.

What did this top candidate say that resulted in such a reaction? Well, it was a careless mistake that any one of us could have made if we neglect to carefully proofread our work. This job seeker wrote that he has always wanted to work at Worldwide Computing and couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. So what is so wrong with this closing statement? This statement would be perfect if John was an executive with Worldwide Computing. The problem is that John is with Computers Unlimited. Worldwide Computing is John’s biggest competitor.

I think we can all guess what probably happened. This guy had applied for a job at both companies and interviewed with them both. He wrote one thank you letter and did a copy and paste for the second one. He was very careful about changing the name on the letter and the mailing address, but he missed the company name that was mentioned in the body of the letter. Another way this could have happened is that he truly got confused and got the company names mixed up so that neither letter is correct.

This example shows how critical it is to proofread your resumes, cover letters, and thank you letters. Make sure to check for more than just spelling and grammar mistakes. The critical mistake above would not have been caught with spell check or grammar check.

The following are a few other common mistakes:

• Getting the names of the hiring managers mixed up between the various employers. The hiring manager will not appreciate you getting something as basic as his/her name wrong.
• Recounting a conversation they had during the interview that was actually with another interviewer.
• Getting the addresses mixed up. Custom tailored letters end up being sent to the wrong companies.

Before getting too creative with your job search, you need to make sure that you have the basics down. This will ensure that your job search campaign will have the most impact, and more importantly, get the best results.