How To Avoid Job Search Blunders

Article: How To Avoid Job Search Blunders


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By Janice Worthington

A well-planned, strategic job history is not taught in school. I have yet to see a candidate with a bachelor of science in job search or a master's of business administration in career management.

Ironically, you can get an education in so many vocations that choosing a major is like facing a menu with too many selections. Picking a generic or even a job-specific major, many graduates leave their campuses without a clue about what job to pursue or where to even begin.

And throughout their lifetimes, because the rules keep changing, no one but seasoned experts seems to possess the answers to a job search.

This is evident by how traumatized or lost even the most experienced executive becomes when faced with change.

One useful aspect of the recent job market volatility is the wake-up call professionals hopefully heard about keeping abreast of modern job-search techniques.

But if you haven't listened well, here are some of the most common blunders found on the job-search trail:

Limiting options or flexing unrealistic career expectations: At all levels, workers are defined by the functions they perform - whether it's sales, accounting, profit center management, chief executive officer - and the environments in which they are performed, such as advertising, manufacturing, public accounting, retail.
Too often candidates are either arbitrary about what they are willing to envision as their next job, or they believe they can take their experience into totally uncharted waters and get the same six-figure income to which they had truly been entitled in familiar work assignments.

The enlightened candidate falls somewhere in the middle.

The best net results occur to those who ride the wave of past success, recognizing and demonstrating the transitional skills that will be of value in different environments or when performing new functions.

That candidate embraces an attitude of flexibility, but knows the sacrifices required when starting over in a new career.
Revealing negative baggage: As we slowly enter an improved economy with an encouraging job market, the likes of which we haven't seen in four years, we would be well served to pay tribute to the casualties of hard times.
Much like war veterans with battle scars, many are returning from extended unemployment; others have been emotionally wounded by demotions, loss of retirement and the constant insecurity.

It is difficult to ignore the broken promises from the last employer when sitting before a potential hiring authority. It takes practice and discipline to avoid the tale of how unfairly you think you were treated or how tough it's been to find work.

Have no doubt, however, that the best candidate will kill all hopes of a job offer if bitterness or negativity about the rough road surfaces.

We all traveled that same road recently, and employers are starved for survivors sustained with encouragement and turned off by perceived negativity.
Poor display of market value and lack of direction: Successfully performing this exercise is at the heart of securing the job offer.
Anything less than a stellar demonstration of direct net worth and specific motives for wanting to join a company results in no sale.

But failing candidates continue to believe mere qualifications and savvy responses to interviewer questions will seal the deal.

Many in the coaching community now refer to interviews as meetings to reinforce the critical need for equality in communications between the interviewer and the candidate.

Candidates must remember they are packaged goods for purchase who, unlike traditionally merchandised inventory, have the opportunity to sell themselves by the way they connect their achievements to their prospective employer's needs.

Only after a candidate has identified his skills sets, documented his performance highlights and applied these offerings to specific employer agendas will the employer see the candidate as a wise investment. If a candidate fails to make the connection, the employer won't bother.
Overkill in follow-up: This issue is so controversial that if you ask two career experts their philosophies on negotiation and follow-up you probably will get three arguments.
I tend to determine the best approach based on the temperament of hiring authorities, and then I look back at each success and analyze what happened that resulted in a job offer.

From case studies, I find that heavy follow-up communications with employers, once the initial interview has occurred, is ineffective at best and that chasing an employer too hard can make a candidate look desperate.

Nothing succeeds better than a stellar, unforgettable first interview.

Job seekers must be taught to leave indelible fingerprints of potential value on the minds of interviewers, to follow up gently once and then to back off. Following the recommended thank-you note, bothersome phone calls can only hurt a candidate's chances.

There is something almost provocative about seducing an employer initially only to leave him to continue the chase.

The savvy candidate impresses and then moves on, initiating as many potential opportunities as possible to impress again and again.

Janice Worthington is executive director of Worthington Career Services, a career management firm in Columbus. Copyright 2004 Business First of Columbus Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with Permission.