Q. I‘ve been out of work for some time and I’ve been looking to get a job for several months. I feel discouraged. How can I best re-energize my search and myself?
A. When you’re starting out job hunting, it’s pretty easy to feel excited and hopeful. But after a few months without any offers, chances are your enthusiasm and hope will wane. Job hunters may then lose their hope and motivation, and perhaps even feel personally rejected.
Job coaches say that when a job search doesn’t bring about any results, we may feel like failures. We must get outside of our own heads and refocus.
There is a pretty good to reinvigorate our searches and change our attitude. We can do the same as what sometimes businesses are doing when customers won’t buy their products.
Try to find a few trusted friends and ask them to please be brutally honest. Ask them things such as ‘What’s wrong with my resume? What needs to be improved? Are there things I take perhaps for granted? What should I differentiate to make me attractive to potential employers?’
Make sure you take their advice to heart and implement all of those things in your resume. So open up to their advice and make some of the suggested changes.
Q. I get hardly any responses though I constantly send out resumes for advertised job openings. How can I improve that my resumes are noticed?
A. Customize and adjust your resume every time you’re sending it out. Use terms, phrases, and words that are used in the posting to describe yourself and your experience.
When a job posting uses words such as ‘strategic planning’ or ‘retail,’ for instance, use those same terms and words in your resume.” Never lie about your credentials or experience, but just figure out how you best can include your experience, strengths, and qualifications in your resume but make sure it looks professional!
Generally, employers and hiring managers are using an applicant tracking system that searches for relevant keywords in resumes instead of reading through all resumes in person.
Q. Everybody is telling me to network. However, all my phone calls and social media activities didn’t get me anywhere. What else could I do?
A. Instead of asking people in your network for a job, ask them for advice. That’s a proven marketing technique. Select the most successful persons in your network or industry. Then ask these folks how they found and secured their last few jobs.
Jot down notes and by the end of your talk with them, tell them that you will use at least a few things that they explained to you and how you want to do that. That might work very well.
Another option is to host a party. This is particularly a good tactic if you’re a job seeker in your 20s. Just organize a party and ask all of your friends to bring at least one friend that may help you in your job hunt. Your generation is all about sharing and team-building, isn’t it?
Q. How do I go about social networking?
A. Facebook and LinkedIn are very valuable tools. When you’re on the lookout to land a good job, you should have numerous LinkedIn connections and people who agreed to be part of your network; and you should use all available to get advice from all the other users.
You may think about posting a question like ‘Who in the marketing industry can advise me about changing my job.’ Another proven strategy is to search a company just by name, research it thoroughly, and see which department or who shows up.
Then, you may have a connection to contact the company. On Facebook, there are also numerous networking groups that are built around interests, industries, or specific companies.
You can also use Linkedin and Twitter to showcase your experience, opinions, and professional knowledge. This may create a pull rather than a push strategy. You’re not waiting for any response to your submitted resume.
Instead, you are creating something. You’ve created your own blog with your own concepts, forward-thinking ideas, and its own comments. That will draw other people to you.
Q. I had so many job interviews, yet no offers whatsoever. Why not? How come?
A. Well, one of the possibilities is that you’re talking too much about yourself. Often, job hunters think that talking about their past work experience in great detail is the best way to impress a possible employer, but a far better strategy is to present yourself as a problem solver. Learn also to write emails that get actually answered!
Do some research on the company. Find out what challenges they face and discuss in what way you can help them tackle those issues.
Q. Could perhaps my expectations be a bit unrealistic?
A. Generally, job seekers are underestimating the number of resumes they need to send out and how many interviews it takes before they can secure a job. Well, it’s all a numbers game.
The higher the number of interviews, the higher your chances of getting hired. Professional recruiters estimate that it takes them 12 to 16 appointments before they can place one candidate.