How to Deal with Rejection in Your Job Search
You are in a job search… you send out hundreds of letters, make dozens of phone calls, and get no response or rejection letters. You go on interviews. You get rejected. How do you deal with it? The short answer is: don’t take it personally. You may be rejected for reasons totally out of your control – they have an internal candidate, they are hiring a relative of the boss, they changed the requirements since you answered the ad, they decided they needed a younger, older, taller, shorter person. The job search process is a numbers game. It is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time, perseverance, and dogged determination. Expect rejection. Make a poster with the word NO 199 times and one “YES”. Expect a “no” more often than a “yes.” Each time you get a “NO” cross it off the poster. You are one more “no” closer to “YES”! Unemployment is at a low which means there are fewer openings with more people looking…. Here are some concrete ways for you to take control of your job search: 1.Make a plan and stick to it. 2.Set aside several hours a day to work on your job search. 3.Meet as many people as you can to build your network 4.Write directly to companies to get information meetings, interviews, get career advice, and learn about industry trends. 5.Try something new – go to a meet-up, a networking event, a social event that you have not attended before. 6.Follow up with each and every person you talk to, meet, read about, are introduced to. Keep following up every 4 to 6 weeks. 7.Read voraciously in your field and contact people whom you read about for their career advice. Use those articles in your follow yup to others. If you keep doing the same thing – such as answering ads online–and keep getting the same results, it is time to try something different. –To unsubscribe to this blog, please reply with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. GEFFEN C A R E E R S www.geffencareers.com
How do I know when it is time to change jobs?
Have you been complaining about your job, how boring it is, or how you hate your boss, or you’re not learning anything new BUT you have done nothing about it? If this sounds like you, and you keep saying you are doing a job search, but doing nothing, that’s called procrastination. What are you waiting for? The time to start is now. To overcome inertia and procrastination, break down the overwhelming task of a job search into small, bite-sized pieces. Begin with one step today: 1) Call a friend to say you are starting. 2) Re-work your resume to meet your job target. 3) Make a list of companies where you want to work. 4) Answer one ad on the a job board or make one phone call to set up a meeting. 5) Set a schedule to work 3 hours a day on your job search 6) Get a buddy to call you once a week to ask what have done and what will you do next week. Does all this sound like too much? Then you need to take the next step: 7) Hire a career coach.. What can a career coach do for you? A career coach can help define your job target – if you want to change jobs, or job titles, or move to a different industry, or become a consultant. A job coach can make a plan for your job search that includes your targets, companies and networks. A coach can offer emotional support when you are anxious or overwhelmed and don’t know what to do next. A career coach can help you with follow-up. A coach can help you practice for the interview. And, probably most important of all, a career coach keeps you accountable and motivated to continue in the long haul. Remember: a job search is a marathon, not a sprint. It may take 3 months, 6 months or a year or more to find the right fit for you. Isn’t that worth the investment in yourself of one percent of your salary? www.geffencareers.com www.uspublishingjobs.com
What are the best ways to find a new job?
Are you still just answering ads on the internet hoping to get an interview? If you are, you are wasting 90% of your time. Only 10% of people get jobs through answering ads on the internet. Here are the five best ways to get a job: 1. Expand your network and work your network – Make a list of everyone you know. Your network consists of all the people in your life including family, friends, alumni, former colleagues, doctors, personal lawyers, accountants, trainers, professional associations, clubs, and gyms. Include all your first degree contacts on LinkedIn. Reach out to each of them and tell them you are looking for a particular position. Ask them for referrals to other people in your field. 2.Write directly to a company.– Make a list of 200 places you would like to work and find out the name of a person two levels above your job title. Write directly to the person you don’t know, not asking for a job, but asking for 15 minutes of their time to learn more about their companies and the challenges they face.. Ask your professional contacts if they know anyone at those companies they can introduce you to. 3. Work with search firms and recruiters -Know that the search firm or recruiter is working for their clients to find them a perfect match to the job description. Get to know one or two specialty recruiters in your field so they think of you when a client comes to them with an opening. By working with recruiters you can get interviews that may or may not get you a job offer. 4. Job Boards – Answer ads on the internet; Do take advantage of many sites that list job openings. This may include, but not be limited to, Monster.com; Indeed, Idealist or professional associations that list openings. Follow up with a phone call to the hiring manager. Just don’t spend all your time on this because only 10% of people get their jobs this way. 5. There is no 5th way…anything else is a subset of the above four methods. If you can think of another method to getting the job of your dreams that does not fall into one of the above categories, let me know, and I will write about it! GEFFEN C A R E E R S www.geffencareers.com www.uspublishingjobs.com