From: Jane E. Recruiter, Human Resources

Date: Thursday 6 May 2010 12.19pm

To: John Smith

Subject: Your Application for Job No. 12345

Dear John,

Thank you for applying for the position of Operations Manager at XYZ Corporation. (Job No. 12345).

Your application was very impressive, however there were other applicants with experience more suited to the role. While you were not successful on this occasion, we have kept your resume on file for any future, similar positions.

Thank you again for your interest. All the best for the future.

Yours sincerely, Jane E. Recruiter, Human Resources

——–

From: John Smith

Date: Thursday 6 May 2010 12.39pm

To: Jane E. Recruiter, Human Resources

Subject: Re: Your Application for Job No. 12345

Dear Jane,

WHAT???!!!!

Are you KIDDING me????

I cannot BELIEVE this! I know for a FACT that there are only three people with my qualifications and knowledge currently on the market! Your employer must either be a complete imbecile or YOU failed to provide advocacy for my candidacy as is your JOB!

Anyway, if anything else comes up PLEASE keep me in mind!!!!!

John.

PS…Who got the gig???

————-

Put yourself in Jane E. Recruiter’s position right now. After receiving this reply from John Smith is she likely to:

• Think fondly of John as a highly professional, competent candidate and recommend him for any future roles?
• Roll her eyes, make that kind of harrumph noise people make when they are insulted and decisively hit the delete key?

If you guessed that Jane would send John, his candidacy, and his outraged electronic rant to the dark void of cyberspace for all eternity, you’d be probably be close to the mark.

John made the mistake that all of us make from time-to-time; he responded immediately from a place of emotion rather than one of thoughtful consideration. He’d “scratched an itch” and for one wonderful, glorious moment of insanity, it felt good.

In the cold, hard light of day though, John responded to a perfectly professional email from Jane by scorning the employer, insulting Jane’s capabilities, claiming to know every qualified candidate on the market, and shouting at her (capital letters are considered shouting in electronic communications). Let’s not even discuss the unprofessional and childish punctuation! As John’s rant wound down, he demanded that Jane “PLEASE keep him in mind”.

Keep him in mind? The likelihood that Jane would enthusiastically advance John’s candidacy for a similar role in the future is next to nil; and who knows how much influence Jane has across her professional and personal networks?

Next time you are tempted to “scratch that itch”, vent to a friend instead. Cry on your girlfriend/mother/wife’s shoulder and kick the fence. Then when you have cooled down, rise above the emotion and start writing the most gracious, professional letter of thanks you’ve ever written. Your future may depend on it!

Some time ago, a client shared her story while we were developing her resume. She told me about her life at the hands of her abusive spouse and how, after years of suffering, she fled the family home to a shelter leaving behind all their possessions and with her children in tow. Years later, she had regained her confidence, had settled into a new life and she had secured a job as an Office Manager; a job she liked and for which she had strong aptitude and a history of accomplishment.

Her ability to overcome adversity was impressive and I told her so; and that was when she said those jaw-dropping words “I’d like you to include that in my resume”.

“In your resume” I repeated, not sure I’d heard her correctly.

“Yes” she nodded enthusiastically, “I think it will show my ability to rise above problems, find solutions and organise”.

Fast forward a few years later. I was developing a resume for a woman who had a distinguished 15-year marketing career prior to her extended absence for maternity leave and later, caring for the infant.

“It’s very important to me that you include my maternity leave in my career history” she said. “It will show people that I can triumph over pain, that I have responsibility and I’m stable, and that I’m creative. I want to include quite a bit of time marketing that aspect of my life”.

Then there was the young twenty-something job seeker who wanted to me to include her lawsuit against her last employer for sexual harassment. “It’s important” she advised sagely, “That people reading my resume know that I left because of the harassment, not because I’d done anything wrong”.

Well, you’d think after twenty years in this business nothing could surprise me but in each of these instances, I was gobsmacked.

Why would these professionals who had so much to offer, want to invite strangers into their personal lives? Why did they think that that employers would be less impressed by their professional competencies and achievements and instead, choose to be exposed to recounts of daily beatings, the pain of childbirth, and sleazy workplace behaviours?

Granted these are extreme cases; but in each of these situations the jobseeker failed to understand what the employer was looking for in an employee. They were too invested in what they wanted to say, than what the employer wanted to hear and they had painted a mind picture of how to communicate these parts of their lives in a way that they believed provided a positive “spin”. The only problem was that they never needed to mention any of these things at all, let alone try to sell the lessons learned!

Before attempting to develop a tenuous link between your life experiences and your professional life, delve into what you have achieved in the workplace first.

There are many ways to showcase your true talents that are more appropriate for an employer to assess without revealing your private life to the scrutiny of a stranger! It’s a strategy that can precipitate future discrimination, fast track dismissal of your candidacy for a job, and provide ample evidence that you cannot distinguish what is appropriate and what is not!

Letting it all hang out? Forget it!

Cinderella 2010:

Taking a break from hearth cleaning at home, Cinderella scours searchforaprincess.com when she spies the perfect role advertised at Prince Charming Inc. Seems the CEO, Prince Charming, is looking for a Princess to co-manage his kingdom. The successful candidate need have no actual experience in kingdom management, but must possess a demure smile, the ability to triumph over workplace bullying, a magical mentor, professional ballroom dancing skills, and a foot able to slip perfectly into a one-of-a-kind glass slipper.

Quickly, Cinderella completes the details online, clicks the “Submit” button and waits for a call from the palace. A week later still no call. Three weeks later, Cinderella decides that a career in hearth cleaning is clearly in her future. Her hopes dashed, she shrugs and continues scrubbing. Seems whatever Prince Charming was looking for, it wasn’t her.

Many job seekers are like Cinderella 2010. They see the Internet as being a quick and easy solution that will transform their job search dreams to a reality; no fuss, no bother.

Want to apply for a job you like? It’s easy! Just upload your details, hit the submit button and wait for the call!

Want to call a recruiter about the job or the progress of your candidacy but too reticent/nervous/scared to do so? Just shoot off an email!

Want to work for a company but worried that you will meet a gatekeeper who will not let you gain access to the decision makers? An email will take care of that too!

One of the biggest misconceptions about the Internet is that it made getting a job easier. It didn’t. It just provided a swifter transit for communications; communications incidentally that may not even reach or be read by the right person or people; as Cinderella 2010 (clearly the ideal candidate) discovered.

The fact is, human resources is a human contact business and no matter how streamlined the initial process of communication, at some point, the job seeker is going to have to get off his or her chair and be proactive; talk to someone, pitch skills and make contact. Take the risk of being rejected instead of hiding behind an electronic wall.

The amount of effort you invest is directly aligned to the outcome. Prince Charming, seeking to fill the position of Princess will not travel from door-to-door bearing a glass slipper until he finds you. There is a price for taking the easy way out in just about everything in life; the price you pay in the job seeking arena is not standing out, not being seen, and not being recognised as the right candidate for the job.

Adjust your way of thinking beyond the electronic wall. Pick up the telephone and call a recruiter, ask intelligent questions about the job being offered and get known. Raise your profile; talk with friends and former colleagues to uncover the potential for upcoming jobs so you can start making approaches before a position is advertised. Form a friendly relationship with gatekeepers who have the power to get you before decision makers. The way forward is in your hands. Remember, minimum effort yields minimum rewards.

Revised ending: Cinderella 2010. Cinderella 2010 calls the Palace.

“Hello? My name is Cinderella. I forwarded my details to you a few days ago and I may have neglected to mention that I may be the individual you seek. Specifically, I believe my foot may fit a glass slipper that I inadvertently lost following my last dance with Prince Charming at the ball……”

#careercollective

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” Oscar Wilde

“Thanks so much!” said Jim as he prepared to leave my office with his new resume. “Oh there’s just one thing”, he whispered conspiratorially. “I guess I had better get a wife and three kids before my interview! Ha!”

Stunned, I stood there processing the fact that I’d been lied to as Jim took off down the road with a spring in his step, a cheery wave and a wink.

Thinking back, I had known in my heart something was wrong. I remembered that growing sense of disquiet I felt as Jim rattled off his widely diverse set of skills, credentials and career history.

It seemed as if Jim was one of those “been there, done that” kind of guys.

Drive a forklift? You bet!

Create a departmental budget? Sure!

Build? Present to executives? Lead teams? Tick Tick Tick!

It was the wink and the “wife and three kids” chuckle that prompted the penny to drop. Jim had been lying on his resume.

About everything? Some things? Who knew? Who ever knows the extent to which a person willing to deceive you once, will keep on going?

What I did know, was that I had been lied to and so had Jim’s next potential employer.

Jim had allowed himself to be tricked into a common job search blunder—modelling and shaping his resume and experience in a way that he thought people wanted to hear.

Instead of being truthful, he clearly believed that the truth wasn’t compelling enough for him to get a job; so he simply made up a new “truth”!

I suspect that Jim’s research had indicated that employers found family men, or a certain skillset or knowledge base the most attractive and so, he believed his best chance of employment was simply to claim those skills and attributes. Unfortunately for Jim as he would have no doubt found out eventually, the way to position himself as a valued employee, is through training and experience so that he could offer far more than just words.

One can only imagine the employer’s anger and sense of betrayal when hiring a forklift driver who couldn’t operate a forklift, a manager who struggled overseeing a budget, or a salesman who failed to invoke interest in a product.

Yes, Jim sure would have been in for a world of disappointment, and if he had been interviewed by a “pro” then his carefully constructed imaginary world would have come tumbling down in no time with just a few well thought-out behavioural-based questions.

The incident with Jim has rankled for years and comes to mind every time I have a client make grandiose claims. Having learned a lesson from this rookie mistake early in my career, my client job seekers are now questioned in-depth to find actual examples of their experience.

I smile now when I hear “Hmm… now that you mention it, I think you should leave this out, as I don’t really think that I did [personally bring in the largest account in company history / build the Sydney Harbour Bridge singlehandedly / change the world as we know it / or was instrumental in a multinational company expanding into China ]

The moral of this story is never fall into the trap of telling people what you think they want to hear, especially if your experience does not support it. What may follow your “little white lie” may end up being one of the worst and costly career and life mistakes you’ll make, if not through exposure at interview leading to your candidacy dismissed, then perhaps much, much later when you’re established in your career.

You don’t need April 1 to fall for an April Fools trick. You’re fooling yourself if you think that little white lie won’t return spectacularly to ruin your future and reputation.

I am a member of the Career Collective. A group of experienced career professionals who blog on specific topics every month. Look for our posts on Twitter #careercollective. Meantime, check out other member articles on this topic–links at the bottom of this article.

Please see other discussions on common job search blunders and possible solutions from Career Collective members below.

10 Ways to Tell if Your Job Search is a Joke, @careerealism

April Fool’s Day – Who’s Fooling Who?, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

Don’t Kid Yourself! (The Person You See in the Mirror is a Good Hire), @chandlee

Avoiding the Most Common Blunder, @jobhuntorg

Are you fooling yourself? Bored at work? Is it your own fault?, @keppie_careers

Hey, Job Seeker — Don’t Be a Fool!, @resumeservice

Job Search Is No Joking Matter,  @careersherpa

Is Your #Career in Recovery or Retreat? (All Joking Aside), @KCCareerCoach

9 Ways You Might Be Fooling Yourself About Your Job Search, @heatherhuhman

Don’t get tricked by these 3 job search blunders, @LaurieBerenson

Trying to hard to be nobody’s fool?,  @WorkWithIllness

It’s not all about you, @DawnBugni

Mirror ‘their’ needs, not ‘your’ wants in #jobsearch, @ValueIntoWords

Stop Fooling Yourself about your Job Hunt: Things you may be doing to sabotage yourself – @erinkennedycprw

Same as it ever was – @walterakana

Don’t be fooled. Avoid these – @kat_hansen

Job Seekers: You Are Fooling Yourself If...@barbarasafani

You know in your heart it absolutely looks awful. I’m taking about that gap in your resume where you just can’t easily explain your absence.

Did I say “gap”? The more you look at it you see a great yawning chasm with nothing to link the dates before “the event” and after.

“The Event” of which I speak can be any extended leave of absence that you feel uncomfortable in explaining and of which you would prefer, if you were less ethical, to fudge with a made-up job or a reference to the delightfully vague: Working Holiday. (An idea you dismiss reluctantly knowing that you’ll be found out one way or another).

There are many reasons for an extended absence from the world of work and frankly most of these reasons are for a pretty noble cause of which you should be justifiably proud: the birth and rearing of young children or the care of elderly or infirm parents (being just a couple).

So how do you explain “The Event” so that your resume isn’t filled with soppy personal information, nor does it look like you’ve been a couch potato staring at Days of Our Lives every day losing your entire skill base while Stefano DiMera single-handedly destroys Salem?

For stay-at-home mums and dads, there are a lot of opportunities to position your skills through your involvement in committees, parent/teacher associations, new mother’s groups, event planning, charity fundraising and the like.

What to do:

First, change the experience section heading of your resume from “Career Summary” or “Professional Experience” and instead call it: Experience, Initiatives and Results.

On top of the last job you held to cover the gap, place a heading (like a company name) that provides an overview of the type of job you are going to describe:

Here are two ideas:

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

or

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Type your dates to cover the date of your absence from the workforce. For example, 2005 to Present

Next comes your position title. Consider terms such as: Fundraiser, Club Treasurer, Teacher’s Assistant, or Event Planner.

Then you could provide a brief description underneath the title:

• Joined fundraising club and volunteered to assume Events Planner role. Gained distinction for innovative ideas, powerful advertising on a shoestring budget and uniting a team of 20 volunteer fundraisers to scout and source locations for the best collection tin points. Four events held annually were considered an outstanding success raising $10,000 to purchase play equipment for the local school.

You could even place a few bullet points underneath that to highlight different skills such as financial management, team leadership and more.

This approach could also apply if you have been advocating for elderly or sick parents; frequently people acquire a lot of knowledge about government services, care centres, finances, pensions and healthcare—probably more than they ever wanted to know, but skills and knowledge are a gift, and not always a gift we can pick and choose. Many people find themselves wanting a change of career after such experiences, as they have found new skills by gaining exposure to a whole new world.

In times of sadness, being an executor of a family member’s Will provides you with a wealth of knowledge—from financial management, through disbursement of an estate, real-estate sales, government services, genealogy research and more. Again, these experiences can provide a very compelling case for the breadth and depth of your experience when positioned strategically and confidently on your resume.

It just needs thought. Everything we embark upon, in some way or another, provides us with knowledge.

How can you turn that knowledge around to build your case for employment?

The other day I was sent the Word of the Day by a friend. It was Anatidaephobia. Before you race to Google it, I’ll save you the time. Anatidaephobia is defined as a pervasive, irrational fear that one is being watched by a duck.

(I vowed to get that into a sentence or a conversation some time in the future and as it turns out, this is it).

Seeing there is a word for such an irrational fear, it only seemed right that there was a phobia about interviews or interviewing. After all, everyone sees interviews as a sort of necessary evil; something you have to do and excel at to get where you want to be (the preferred candidate who is offered the job of your dreams).

My extensive research (five minutes spent on Google) yielded nothing in the irrational fear category for interviews, so that gives me a certain freedom to make the word up. I’ll call it multi-convo-struck-dumb-y-ess. Or Multiconvostruckdumbyness for short. (Let’s hope you don’t suffer from Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. Look it up!)

This irrational fear has been known to strike the most competent, professional executives with world-class achievements on the global stage just as much as a graduate seeking his or her first employment opportunity and all people in between. Perhaps the fear is because there’s so much riding on interviews being successful… the larger salary, the gateway to management, the opportunity to escape a miserable job, or the opportunity to work with great mentors.

Whatever it is that causes this interview paralysis I call Multiconvostruckdumbyness you can be assured that it needs to be something you learn to cope with and eventually overcome.

The natural enemy of fear is confidence. How can you be fearful of what people may think of you if you know your subject matter inside out?

• Start by reviewing your resume and by that I mean pour over it. Read those achievements time again so that when questioned you can rattle them off regardless of how your voice may wobble. People who forget and stumble usually haven’t prepared, so rehearse until you have alienated your partner or best friend and then seek out your parents and neighbours (as long as you don’t suffer from syngenesophobia).
• Remember that old advice about public speaking? The one where they say just to imagine everyone in their underwear? Well the jury is out on that one as that can be just plain scary especially if you suffer from nudophobia. One thing you can do however, is realise that most interviewers are as nervous and as anxious as you. While you dread the thought of being interrogated by strangers, most people on the other side of the desk would probably rather stick needles in their eyes than go through the torture of multiple interviews. Employers really want to get this done; find the right person with the right skills and the right attitude to fit in with the team. Recruiters too, are looking for a placement to get paid their commission. Most interviewers really don’t want to be there any more than you, but for them, it’s a means to the end too so while the pressures and expectations are different, much rides on them to make the best decision and move forward. By asking questions, they hope to find answers to their problems.
• Don’t over-dramatise the situation by using emotive self-talk. Notice I mentioned the word “interrogate” in the previous paragraph? If you tell yourself you’re being interrogated it evokes feelings of torture, lights being shone in your eyes, questions being fired in machine-gun fashion. This type of dramatic self-talk isn’t helpful in allaying your fears. Try adjusting it to something milder; for instance you are “popping out for a chat” or “getting together with”. These phrases evoke feelings of calm and friendly discourse. Let’s keep the drama out of the job search. The last interview you went to that didn’t work well was not “horrible” or “tragic” (war is horrible and tragic, not a difficult interview).

As with most fears, repetitive exposure to the fear will help you improve. So start sending those resumes out and accept all opportunities to interview. It can and will become easier!

And, like most of us, unemployment can be an even scarier prospect. Peniaphobia is probably something we all share!

A #careercollective article.

Every day, probably every second, someone will have the decision to leave a job made for them. One of those people could be you.

It may be that administrators shut down your company with no warning, or you are forced to take a redundancy, or you fall on your sword for a decision that never was yours to begin with. These are the circumstances where you have no time to reconcile yourself for change.

The first few weeks are a flurry of preparation. Exciting times prevail as you ramp up your efforts for employment. You investigate and select a professional resume writer, collaborate on the development of your resume, complete interview coaching, and start setting up your Linkedin profile. Your confidence soars as you see yourself on paper how others will see you—confident, competent; a can-do person with a portfolio of skills and achievements of which can you can be justifiably proud. You start networking. Just like everyone says you are supposed to do. Every day you’re calling recruiting firms, seeking out past colleagues and friends; a coffee here, a coffee there. You hear rumours of firms about to hire and you send in your resume, call contacts and get your friends to keep their ears open. You have a couple of interviews.

Weeks go by and with the passage of time, feelings of doubt start to invade your thoughts.

You mentally check off what it could be that you’re doing wrong. Your resume is fantastic; all the recruiters say so. Leads haven’t materialised; companies have decided not to proceed with projects or roles, recruiters are no longer buzzing around you. When you call them, they’re non-committal, cool. You get the feeling that they’re trying to brush you off. Your “better than sliced bread” moment has mysteriously disappeared and it feels like there’s always something they want that you don’t have. Now you haven’t been placed early, you feel a little like a house that’s been for sale for too long. Everyone who would want to buy it has seen it and has moved on to newer properties on the market.

You’re convinced now you’ve done something wrong. Did you pitch your salary too high? Is it because you don’t have enough education or you are “over qualified”? Did you try too hard or were you too laid back? You wrack your brains remembering your last interview in detail, going over everything asked and answered. What could you have said wrong? Why doesn’t the recruiter call you more often? He knows how worried you are!

Suddenly, without warning, someone you haven’t met before replaces the optimistic person you were. This new iteration of you is plagued with self-doubt, rarely smiles and looks like he carries a great burden on his shoulders. Convinced that your whole approach is flawed, you kick yourself mentally that you didn’t jump on this earlier. You call your resume writer wanting the resume revamped to make your appeal broader for a wider audience, you spend hours searching job boards. You feel embarrassed that you’ve “forced yourself” on friends and decide to pull back on those coffees. You can only imagine how pitiful they find your desperate attempts to gain information.

At home, your partner is concerned. His or her efforts to remove that look in your eye are met with a dismissive cold shoulder. You don’t need pity or your partner’s disapproving eye. You know you’ve failed.

Why even bother? You sit on the couch and watch the TV without really seeing what’s on. Maybe you’ll review the situation again tomorrow, but today you just can’t deal with any more rejection.

The scene above is played out somewhere in your community, your neighbourhood every day. The negative impact of a long job search frequently brings about feelings of depression, loss, bitterness, anger and often hopelessness. These feelings in themselves create a cyclical situation—who wants to hire someone with an obvious chip on his shoulder or one who carries his burden with such lethargy that a smile seems like too much trouble?

There are no simple fixes to what can become a serious problem affecting not just the jobseeker, but families and extended groups of friends who want to help but don’t know how.

While it sounds trite, maintaining a positive outlook really is important and action—doing something—is equally important. If you are doing something then you are working towards your goal. If declining finances are an issue, then staring listlessly at the pile of bills on the table won’t help. What action can you take to take the pressure off? Call your bank, perhaps the extra payments you have made on your mortgage can allow you to temporarily cut back on mortgage payments, perhaps your loan can be extended. Contact utility suppliers, make arrangements to pay. If you are doing something, you are occupied and thinking ahead.

Doesn’t your résumé say that you anticipate and solve problems? Well here are some problems to solve. What else can you do to take action?

Give yourself a break from the unrelenting misery. What can you do to give yourself a break mentally? Go for a walk with your partner. Do small maintenance repairs around the house. Clear up your garage. De-cobweb the eaves. Keeping busy is important to clear your mind and the fresh air will do you good.

Come to terms with the fact that people, on the whole, want to help. Go back to having coffee or lunch with friends. Isolating yourself isn’t the answer. If you’re afraid that your “down” mood will alienate your friends then listen more than you speak. You’ll never know what you may hear as they complain about their jobs and the current project or situation. It may be something you can act upon.

Give recruiters a break. Or at least, adjust your attitude. Do you know how many sad, desperate, bitter people they see in any one day? Can you imagine what is it like to break bad news every day? Of bearing the burden of hundred’s of people’s distress? Give them a break and back off. If you have information to pass on from your lunch with friends that could be a concrete job, share it with them. They’ll be happy to pursue it if it is exists. It’s called a lead, and recruiters love leads, making placements and being paid.

Don’t torture yourself by setting yourself up for failure. Have you been applying for roles that are beneath your level of skill just to get any job? Stop doing that. It does nothing for your self-esteem to miss out on a job that you could have done 20 years ago, and frankly, you’re not the person for that job any longer. People don’t just hire individuals in isolation with a set of skills. They hire for their ability to fit in with a team. That lesser job is probably being filled by people all under 25. Realistically, they don’t want “dad” in the department. You’re just not a fit.

Can you complete a training course that will help keep you motivated and polish up a few outdated skills? What is available in your line of work that will be helpful?

Keep to what you know. Don’t go on a tangent thinking that you should run off and get a job in a factory or join a circus. Unless you’re an experienced factory worker, you won’t get the job. Unless you have a background as a lion tamer or ticket seller, there will be no joy there for you either.

Remember what you know. The higher you are up the ladder, the longer jobs take to fill. It simply makes sense. There are fewer jobs at the top of the pyramid. The salaries are higher, people tend to stay in these jobs longer. Be realistic about this. You are a unique commodity. If you have been successful in the past, you will be again.

It’s all a numbers game and a waiting game.

Have faith.

————

(Note: if you are having feelings of hopelessness and you are having dark thoughts, we urge you to seek the help of professionals. Beyond Blue is one of many organisations in Australia who can help. http://www.beyondblue.org.au/

————

I am a member of the Career Collective. A group of experienced career professionals who blog on specific topics every month. Look for our posts on Twitter #careercollective. Meantime, check out other member articles on this topic–links at the bottom of this article.

Please see other discussions and possible solutions from Career Collective members.

@MartinBuckland, Job Search Made Positive

@chandlee, Strategy for Getting “Unstuck” and Feeling Better: Watch Lemonade

@heathermundell, Help for the Job Search Blues

@heatherhuhman, 10 Ways to Turn You Job Search Frown Upside-Down

@KCCareerCoach, You Can Beat the Job Search Blues: 5 + 3 Tips to Get Re-Energized

@WalterAkana, Light at the End of the Tunnel

@LaurieBerenson, Ways to Keep Your Glass Half Full

@resumeservice, Don’t Sweat the Job Search

@careersherpa, Mind Over Matter: Moving Your Stalled Search Forward

@WorkWithIllness, Finding Opportunity in Quicksand

@KatCareerGal, Job-Hunting in a Weak Job Market: 5 Strategies for Staying Upbeat (and Improving Your Chances of Success)

@ErinKennedyCPRW, Dancing in the Rain–Kicking the Job Search Blues

@keppie_careers, What do do when you are discouraged with your job search

@DawnBugni, It’s the little things

@ValueIntoWords, Restoring Your Joy in Job Search

@jobhuntorg, Just SO VERY Discouraged

@barbarasafani Making Job Search Fun (Yeah, That’s Right!)

@GLHoffman, How to Overcome the Job Search Negativity

@ExpatCoachMegan, Dealing With Job Search Stress: Getting to the Source of the Problem

Some people have a knack for walking into roles for which they are, on paper at least, entirely unqualified.

Passion and wanting it so much it hurts, as any failed Australian or American Idol contestant can tell you, doesn’t make it happen for the rest of us.

I’ve seen hundreds of people over the last twenty years, desperate to get into a new job with greater responsibilities and excitement.

Take for instance, the eager, young up-and-comer, yearning to take on the manager’s role, disheartened by failure to snare it, yet not understanding that it was the lack of years, experience and maturity that was behind the ultimate decision.

Then there is the Executive Assistant, experienced in the art of managing corporate soirées, Board meetings, catered lunches and more with flawless perfection, who dreams of an event management role catering to people in their thousands, in cavernous rooms with hi-tech equipment. Time and again, her hopes are dashed as she is passed over for other candidates with a strong background in event management.

Most people fail to face the realities of the job search. Think about this critically. If you were hiring for say, a Chief Executive Officer for a global financial institution, would you select the twenty-two year old recent MBA graduate as the person to lead this world-leading institution? He or she may have the knowledge of contemporary business practices, but does he or she have the wealth of experience and knowledge that it has taken to reach that level over decades? That is experience and knowledge that no amount of classroom training can buy.

There’s nothing wrong with throwing your hat in the ring and hoping you may have a chance (as long as there’s nothing to lose like relying on the dream to feed your family and keep a roof over your head). It is also a good value proposition for you to work towards your goals; to see what you have to do to get where you want to go and then pursue it…whether it is training or following a strategic, planned career path. What is soul-destroying, is failing to face the facts about your candidacy and then, like those failed American or Australian Idol hopefuls, plunge into feelings of devastation, bitterness or anger.

How do you stand aside and look at yourself realistically?

For a start, look at the job description or criteria for the position you want so desperately.

If the job description indicates that the successful candidate should have five years of experience in senior management and you have only been acting in a team leader role three levels down, then chances are that your application will not come close to being seriously considered. No matter how wonderful your resume is and how much you have achieved in your short stints as a team leader.

If the job description indicates that the successful candidate should be a senior sales representative with a strong track record selling mainframes to multinational companies and you currently sell wine to the local liquor outlet, then the chances of getting your application considered are slim. It really doesn’t matter if you fulfil all the other criteria of being enthusiastic, client focused, well organised and able to service important customers if you cannot supply the two key ingredients of the job — being in the right industry, and having a track record of selling a specific product.

No-one is saying you shouldn’t have goals. No-one is saying that you can’t make a strategic career transition to where you want to go, and no-one is saying that you need to stay in the same job or industry forever. Dreams can come true, but they have to be supported by pragmatism and the willingness to face facts. Trying to squeeze your skills into a space that leaves no room for growth or movement can be every bit as disheartening as stretching them paper thin to reach boundaries that are beyond your reach.

Being realistic about the opportunities available to you right now, and establishing a vision and a plan for how to execute and achieve your long-term goals is the recipe for hope, optimism and ultimately, career success.

Don’t tell me, because I’m about to guess. Your New Year’s Resolution to lose a few pounds? It’s been broken already hasn’t it? Sure it has! You’re only human after all! And that other resolution; the one where you said that this is the year you’re not going to destroy your health by running yourself into the ground with work? Remember that? It only lasted until the second day back from vacation didn’t it? And here you are again on last year’s treadmill.

Am I psychic? No. It just sounds like me that’s all!

So okay those goals perhaps weren’t realistic, or perhaps you didn’t want them as much as you thought you did when you were kicking back with friends and relaxing on your vacation. But here we are and it’s nearly the end of January. If you had a resolution to get a job, or change your existing job, or even to take your career to the next level, just what have you done about it? You created the desire at New Year, but did you ask yourself the question “How?”

First and probably the most important thing you need to get right in your head is “What do I really want to do?”
Seem obvious? Perhaps not. Some of the worst decisions we ever make about our careers are the ones where we close our eyes, jump and hope for the best.

• Don’t like my boss? I’ll just tell him off and just find something else!
• I hate my job! I can’t stand it anymore so I’m going to leave. I’ll take anything; anything will do!
• I’m just going to write a “general” resume so I can play the field and apply for a lot of different jobs. I have a lot to offer!

I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard those comments throughout my 20-year career! And you know what? Without a plan, without a vision, without giving it some strong thought, these pronouncements are as useless as those New Year’s Resolutions you made that didn’t make it past the first week.

Some of the worst career decisions are made through a series of knee-jerk reactions. Hate the job, just leave! But where? What to? How do you know that the next job is not going to be exactly the same? Are you going to leave that one too?

What about giving it a bit of thought? Ask yourself… “What is it I dislike about this job? What specifically? Is it the tasks, the industry, the type of people I deal with? Is it the repetitive nature of the tasks? Have I been here before? Did I start this job because I didn’t like the last one? Am I forming a pattern here? Am I going to find myself right back in the same position again?”

These are questions you need to explore and examine. If you’ve been in four jobs as an Executive Secretary and have hated them all, despised the work and jumped from one to the next, then perhaps, just perhaps you need a rethink. What do you think you’d like to do and what steps do you have to take to reach that goal? Before you start jumping into the unemployment queue and end up at an equally depressing workplace as the one you have now, take a step back and examine what keeps going wrong and what you really want and like to do. You may find it a revelation if you’re honest with yourself.

Don’t have a plan in mind but you’re going to write your resume anyway because you need a job? If so, you need to rethink that strategy pronto! A resume is a marketing document. It markets you! Your skills appeal to only a small and specific segment of the employment market. If you’re not a qualified doctor for instance, you’re not capable of fulfilling that role; same with a lawyer, a cook, a tax accountant, an astronaut, an engineer or a horticulturalist. So you don’t just want a “general” resume to “get anything” because a great deal of the roles out there you don’t even come close to qualifying for. If you’re like most people, you don’t have a vast amount of skills that could be applied to a diverse range of roles. Most people tend to know what they have going for them and there are only a certain amount of jobs that they are qualified for enough that someone would want to pay money for them to perform.

So clearly this “general” resume is a fantasy. What you need is to channel your existing skills into a role that you have a good chance of being successful in and one that you like. If you’ve done your homework and you have come to terms with what it is you like and what you are good at doing, then you’re able to take the next step in your plan, and write what you know; target the audience you want to purchase your services.

If you’re getting good at this introspection then cast your mind forward to the end of this year. Where would you like to be? What would you like to be doing? If it is another job, what do you have to do to get there? If you don’t know, how will you find out? Could a careers counsellor help? Or could you search for training and professionals in the field who would be able to direct you? Sound like a plan?

The problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that while the resolution for change is there, the underlying question of “How” is never asked or explored. And without the “how” and the processes for developing a plan to make it happen, those resolutions are forgotten in the time it’s taken you to make them.

Make 2010 the year you plan!

“A Careers Collective Topic” I’m part of an incredible group of career professionals. We call ourselves the Career Collective and we post once a month on a specific career-related topic. See all my colleagues articles at the end of this article. You can also follow us on #careercollective at Twitter. Let’s read what the other Career Collective members have offered on this theme!

Walter Akana @walterakana Starting anew – Tips for truly managing your career

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter @ValueIntoWords Is your job search strategy a snore?

Dawn Bugni @DawnBugni Ya, but

Chandlee Bryan @Chandlee Starfish, JobAngels, and Making a Difference

Martin Buckland @MartinBuckland, @EliteResumes Career Trends and Transition 2010

Katharine Hansen PhD @kat_hansen New Year: Time to Assess Yourself and Your Career

G L Hoffman @GLHoffman A Flash of the Blindingly Obvious

Heather Huhman @heatherhuhman Job seekers: 5 tips for making the most of 2010

Erin Kennedy @ErinKennedyCPRW Advice to Job Seekers in 2010–learn Yoga?

Rosalind Joffe @WorkWithIllness Dogs Can Do It, Can You?

Susan Joyce @JobHuntOrg Lifelong Learning for Career Security

Meg Montford @KCCareerCoach The Art of Being Gracious: Much Needed in Today’s Job Search

Hannah Morgan @careersherpa The Year of the Tiger

Heather Mundell @heathermundell Kaizen and the Art of Your Job Search

Barbara Safani @barbara safani Looking Into the 2010 Careers Crystal Ball

Miriam Salpeter @keppie_careers Help for job seekers in a rut

Andy Robinson @AndyInNaples What are you getting better at? Make This the Year You Become the Best You Can Be.

Rosa Vargas @resumeservice The Resume and Your Social Media Job Search Campaign

Debra Wheatman @DebraWheatman Making the most of a new year

What have you done to improve your skills in the last six months? The last year? He who stands still doesn’t stand a chance in this ever-changing world.

Think your job will be there forever? The title may well remain, but without a doubt, the job itself will evolve and you’ll need to keep up with it. People who resist change do so at their own long-term employment peril.

Consider the role of the Personal Assistant/Executive Assistant/Secretary.

In the ’80s, there were no mobile telephones and few, if any offices had computers. Typewriters, transcription machines, liquid paper, carbon paper, stamp machines, paper folders, plug and cord switchboards…these were the tools of the trade for the secretary of the early eighties.

Let’s transport that same person via time machine to today.

• She’s given a a Blackberry to check her email. Email? What’s that?
• She’s asked to prepare a PowerPoint presentation. I’m sorry, a what?
• On her task list today is to edit that Excel spreadsheet. Um?

Set up a teleconference? Transfer video to DVD? Apply patches to the networked computers? Research competitors via the internet? Use Photoshop to erase an unwanted object in the background? Updating the customer database? Managing her employer’s electronic itinerary? Replacing documents on the company Intranet? Collaborating on Sharepoint documents? Handling the electronic banking?

Our ’80s secretary is totally out of her depth and is almost unemployable except perhaps for limited reception-type roles answering the telephone for small, home-based businesses.

The job title has certainly remained, but the job bears little resemblance to the tasks she used to handle.

If you spurn opportunities to learn, your skill base ceases to grow. One thing you opted not to learn will link to the next and the next and soon it’s hard to know where to start to recover the ground you’ve lost. Declining or stagnant skills may prompt your employer to look for a replacement, and other employment opportunities will become increasingly limited as your outdated skills are no longer in demand.

Embrace opportunities to learn and develop your skills on-the-job. Your employer is doing you a favour in future-proofing your career!