Open Your Eyes to the Job Search Reality

A most difficult and frustrating aspect of being a career coach and resume writer is telling people what they need to know, as opposed to telling them what they want to hear.

Especially when you need to tell them what they already recognize, or at the very least surmise to be the truth yet struggle to acknowledge and accept, or flat out refuse to admit.

Over the past year I’ve been in contact with countless people from coast to coast at all levels and in all professions. What I found is more individuals than I expected are totally unaware of, or still not accepting the new realties of the job market in the second decade of the new millennium. Plus many older people are still stuck in the so called glory days of the 20th century and await their return. Sadly they have a long wait as illustrated by Can you still move up in America? the cover story in Time Magazine [11/14/11] written by Rana Foroohar.

So when people in the know offer you the following advice; heed it rather than fight it.

1: If at this time you do not have the requisite skills and experience to get the job you are focusing on rethink what you are doing and why, and try finding a more realistic goal.

2: If your resume is outdated or lacks the proper focus don’t look to justify it just listen and ask how you can fix it.

3: If you no longer want a job in which you have the most recent and relevant experience and instead want to focus on jobs that require skills and experience you last used 5-20 years ago realize that this job search will take a lot longer than you might expect. Also job boards will offer you negligible results, and your resume may need to be unconventional in order to take the focus off how long it’s been since you last held and qualified for this position.

4. If you are expending the bulk of your job search efforts on resume posting, resume blasting and scouring jobs boards and applying for jobs online, stop. This is not the optimal use of your money, time and effort.

5: If you expect people in your network to advocate for you and pass your resume along to people in their company and people they know make sure it is eye-catching, properly worded and has relevance and the right focus.

6: If you do not understand how Social Media works have someone teach it to you.

7: Don’t dwell on why you can’t find a job, why people won’t interview you, why they won’t take your phone call, or on anything that is negative. Keep positive and look for answers on how you can make things happen in the future and don’t dwell on past failures.

8: Don’t justify being frugal because you don’t have a job. If you need additional education, certification or to gain valuable experience as an unpaid volunteer don’t procrastinate, do it. If you need a new interview outfit or a costly visit to the hair salon, need a professional resume and coaching, or need to join an organizations or attend valuable networking event, and then if you need to follow this up by taking someone who can help you out to lunch or dinner don’t think twice about it. Just do it.

Author
Perry Newman, CPC/CSMS is a nationally recognized resume writer, career transition coach, certified social media strategist, as well as a AIPC certified recruiter and former executive search firm owner known for his ability to get results. You can view his sample resumes and client endorsements at http://www.perrynewman.com, and request a free resume critique by emailing your resume with contact information to perry@perrynewman.com.