Frances C. Jones - Wow Your Way into the Job of Your Dreams

Wow Your Way into the Job of Your Dreams

Frances Cole Jones

Job Search Secret: Do It, Delegate It, or Delete It

Most of us begin our job search methodically, and with purpose. Over time, however, as multiple leads come in, multiple resumes get written, and multiple phone calls are madeboth our desk and our email inbox become filled with leads and questions whose neglect paralyzes our thinking and keeps us from moving forward with efficiency. At this point, I recommend instituting the Marine Corps maxim, Do it, delegate it, or delete it, in order to follow up, and follow through, with greater efficiency.

Its the idea behind touching each piece of paper only once.

Why is this important? Well, not only does it instill confidence in those around you, but it also helps you maintain confidence in yourself. The lurking knowledge that youre procrastinating is a confidence-killer. And in the same way its hard to feel at the top of your game when you know youve left behind piles of laundry, an unmade bed, and a sink full of dirty dishes, its hard to go present your best self to the world knowing you have an inbox thats overflowing with requests, complaints, and exhortations.

For example, Do items include following through on all leads, from all sourceschecking every companys or connections background. While you may not end up posting resumes or picking up the phone to make a connection on every one, you need to keep the mindset that right now, your job search is your job. Dont allow yourself to be sidetracked. What, specifically, are you looking for? Any information on the companys mission/bestselling product/competition, which can then help you position yourself as being able to contribute to furthering their goals, enhancing their status, or plugging the hole in their offerings via skill sets and ideas that are unique to you.

You might think doing this research is something you can delegate, but Ive found this isnt the best use of delegationa highly underrated skill set, by the way. Its far better to delegate those tasks that many of us use doing our job search as a form of creative procrastination designed as necessary work: reformatting our resume, updating our website, even getting our interview wardrobe readyall of which give you a seemingly morally unimpeachable response to the question What are you doing to further your search? when, in fact, they are avoidance behavior. Truly. Unless you are a designer or web developer, these tasks are generally best handed off to those trained in these skill sets. Not only will you give yourself the time you need to focus on what you alone can do, youll likely end up with a far better looking document or site.

I recommend deleting from your to-do list items along the lines of multiple postings of your resumeand the consequent follow-upon job search postings websites with credentials along the lines of Lose 9 pounds of belly fat in one day. Focused follow-through on personal recommendations and with accredited sites (say, for example Monster.com or TheLadders.com) is far more likely to yield the results you seek. I also suggest deleting those leads you find via what I call internet daydreaming. This generally looks like a job that was something you considered doing during your summers off in high school and which just happens to be available in Hawaii.

I do not, however, recommend deleting following up on any personal leads you are offered. While it may be tempting to delete from your to-do list following through on the suggestion you got from your childs camp counselor to get in touch with their cousin because it seems like you have so much in common, following through could reveal their cousin is the vice president of the firm youve been angling for a connection to for the last six months. (But regardless of whether they result in the outcome you want, you need to remember that personal leads are just thatpersonal. Thanking the person who offered them is mandatory to building the kind of effective, comprehensive network you will always need.)

As you can see, while it may seem either strident or simplistic, adopting a Do it, delegate it, or delete it policy gives you a framework for following up and following through in such a way that your mind is free to give 100% of its focus to your days priorities.

Now Youre Speaking My Language

As you begin researching job postings in your area of expertise, its important to reassure future employers that you are already speaking their language, as this makes it easier for them to imagine you fitting smoothly into their culture.

If you are a first-time job seekeror seeking to switch from one industry to anothera great way to do this is to go on a few informational interviews. These are meetings with higher-ups in your area of interest who can check your resume to ensure you are describing your objective and experience in the language spoken in your desired field. During your interview, they can tell you about trends within the industry that might not be apparent to someone outside the field.

For example, when I first wanted to break into publishing, I went on a few informational interviews, during which I learned that 90% of the people trying to break into that field want to edit fictionbut that a far larger portion of the money made in publishing is made in non-fiction. This enabled me to tweak my resume to highlight the journalistic experience I had had, and to, when I went in for interviews, talk about how I longed to do nothing more than edit books on popular psychology, parenting, how-to.

Once I was speaking the language publishing executives wanted to hear, I was hired to my dream job within a month.

If you are returning to the work force, what you might discover is thatwhile the basic elements of the job havent changedthe way people are talking about those elements has.

For example, perhaps you were a consultant working with teams on change management and you used to describe your work as business process redesign. However, online research reveals that that phrasing has gotten a bad name due to layoffs, and is now referred to as business transformation. That small update to your resume reassures HR professionals youre up to speed on news in the industry.

Alternatively, perhaps your former job description was, Managed market research plans but reading current job postings gives you language such as, Ran focus groups that uncovered consumer trendsproviding sales team with the necessary information for fact-based selling. Thats language thats going to make potential employers get in touch.

A great place to check and see how jobs in your desired field are being languaged is TheLadders.com a site posting jobs paying over $100,000 a year. The employers posting on TheLadders are seeking the most qualified, authoritative candidates imaginable; and they are advertising for them in language that is universally acknowledged within that industry.

Be sure thats the language you are speaking.

The All-Important Informational Interview

When I was thinking about switching professions, from teaching to publishing, I kept going on interviews and striking out, and I couldnt figure it out. There had to be something I was doing incorrectly, but what was it? To discover, I began going on informational interviewssetting up meetings with people whom I would have loved to have as bosses, but who werent looking for help. I figured they might be able to tell me how to crack the code. This turned out to be invaluablethis turned out to be how I made the jump.

Heres what happened: when I first tried to break into publishing, I was the ripe old age of twenty-five. Id been teaching for four years and gotten a Masters Degree. From where I sat, that made me a great candidate. From where a future boss sat, that made me a liability. I discovered their concern was that no sooner would they get me trained to their liking than I would move on. Knowing this, I was able to go into an actual interview and say, I understand that my age and experience might be a concernthat you feel I might leave in a few months. I understand and can tell you that Im willing to make an eighteen month commitment to this job once you offer it to me.