Everybody has opinions. Especially when it involves giving advice to people seeking employment. You can’t open up a paper or surf a Website without coming across multiple “experts” all professing that they hold the secret to finding employment. I will digress for a minute and inform you that most of them have little or no experience either searching for employment or in Human Resources hiring people.
We all know it makes sense to network with peers, mentors, and family. No job seeker should be on an island; it is beneficial and healthy to reach out to others. Certainly part of the networking process is to seek out the thoughts and experiences of people you trust. You, however, are the job seeker and need to make sure whatever you decide to do fits you. One of the great parts of being a human being is that we are not clones and have unique personalities and likes/dislikes.
My whole thought process on this subject started as I sat in a waiting room watching a morning news/talk show to pass the time until it was my turn. On this particular episode a job seeker was being interviewed and next to him was a job search “expert”. It was not 5 minutes into this segment that my wife had to calm me down as I vehemently disagreed with the first two pieces of advice this “expert” espoused. This caused me to start thinking that I believe the reason I was “fired up” was that the advice given was very “canned” and did not appear to have any connection to the individual searching for work.
The point of all of this is that each individual job search is a distinctly unique experience. There are some standard tips that are common sense and simple to follow. Beyond that initial search advice, customization to the individual is needed. No one understands your personality and what works for you better than you do. I like to think what I do here at wnyjobs.com is provide some suggestions and guidelines to follow, but what I always try to do is provide multiple alternatives and let you decide.
Start your job search by thoroughly examining your goals and your career path. If it is your desire to change industries make that decision. If you want to seek a small company because it fits your desired culture than make that decision. Decide what is important to you and search in that direction. Recruiters can tell if you are not truly sold on your job search, no employer desires to feel like they hired a person who settled for them or their industry. We can all provide basic advice such as not to “job hop”, but the direction of your career and life is your choice and should not be driven by others where you are dissatisfied and/or unhappy.
There are basics of where to look for work, interview tips, and follow-up, but you have to find what works best for you. For example, if the advice is to “cold call” employers and you are an introverted computer programmer there probably isn’t a good fit between you and the tip. No one loves the job search process and there are certainly some parts that are unavoidable. If one of your weaknesses is an “unavoidable” than unfortunately you must do you best to “muddle” through that particular aspect. Play, however, to your strengths. If you have very good written skills then construct an excellent cover letter and great Thank You Letters. If you are a “talker” but struggle with written communication, then emphasize the interview to your benefit.
An overlooked aspect of the job search is your Hiring Managers likes/dislikes. It certainly makes sense that different Hiring Managers respond differently to stimuli. For example, some Hiring Managers barely look at a Cover Letter & Resume; rather they weigh their hiring decision almost solely on an interview. On the other hand, some Hiring Managers are sticklers for follow-ups and Thank You Notes. The point is that you should do your best to find out what makes your Hiring Manager tick and then tailor the game plan to your strengths and their desires. It is when you have a match of that type that a job offer is more likely to follow.
Searching for a job can be a difficult and stressful time. Do not add additional burden upon yourself by attempting to do or be someone who you are not comfortable being.
As always, best of luck in your job search.
The following has been prepared for the general information of WNYJobs readers. It is not meant to provide advice with respect to any specific legal or policy matter and should not be acted upon without verification by the reader.
Joe Stein
WNY Human Resources Professional
Feel free to contact Joe Stein regarding questions or comments at:
Joe Stein
