Employment. Where Are You?

It makes you wonder some days.  About Employment.  How can something be so elusive?

You want to work, you have significant skill and experience.  You’ve had a major impact in each of your prior companies.  They’d be crazy not to hire you.  And then they don’t.

But the frustration starts earlier than that, doesn’t it?  It starts, some months, with a complete lack of relevant jobs.  Nothing that properly fits your description.  And so you start “phishing”.  You start creating multiple versions of your self with the hopes that an employer might be persuaded to call based on a shiny attachment to your line.

As if you weren’t already good enough.

And this frustration is propelled forward by the sometimes inaccurate methodology used by the job search boards.  You set up an alert for Vice President of Sales and your results look more like the job board at the local community college.

So no wonder we sometimes stretch and apply for jobs that are well below or above us.  But we shouldn’t.  Because we are just wasting time for the most part.  In this economy.

And, really, with all the talk about adapting your resume or elevator pitch to different jobs, the right job for you just hasn’t rolled along yet.  But it will.  One day.

I have really good friends that are looking for work.  I am also talking with job seekers in person, by phone, via e-mail, via the LinkedIn group, Facebook and Twitter.  I hear the frustration and disbelief of those who are new to this market.  And last experienced job search in better times.  It’s different.

I do hear of more openings.  And that is really great to hear.  As you hear them, I am sure it sounds like good news to you as well.

But until “more openings” manifests itself into three new solid leads for you, any talk of things getting better is just that.  Talk.

So what do I tell my friends.  And the job seekers I meet.

If you want to make sure you have the best chance for running headlong into relevant jobs.  Jobs that are a really good fit for you . . .

1. Keep networking like crazy.  Get out of the house at least four hours a day.  And be with other people (it doesn’t count if you sit at a coffee shop scanning Monster, listening to Mozart and never looking up).
2. Make sure you have specific and tangible job search objectives.  And a way to communicate them.  In a way that other people can remember.
3. Be memorable and likeable.  So that when someone hears about a job and mentally links it to you (see #2 above).  They will actually take the time to call you or at least e-mail the lead to you.
4. Set specific goals for each day of your job search.  Widening your net (more connections).  Building your influence (via blogging, tweeting, sharing on Facebook).  Cementing your relationships (how many meetings does it take before someone really thinks of you as a true connection?  I’ve heard three).
5. Maintain a positive frame of mind.  People are less likely to actively network with someone who doesn’t believe in their own story.  They may decide to help you, but you are less likely to get introduced to three other people in their network.  So find that place in you that remembers your glory days.  The days (relatively speaking) where you stood high above a big accomplishment in a prior job.  And when you arrive at a networking event, find your dimmer switch.

In the end, employment (jobs) won’t find you without hard work on your part.  But you can make yourself significantly more visible.  And you can make that vision one that attracts others to your story.

So when those relevant jobs come up (hidden or not).  Someone who knows and remembers you will let you know.

Who will that be for you?

what	where
job title, keywords or company	city, state or zip jobs by