In this great job-seeker economy, how come it is so hard for me to find a job? Did it go to immigrants? Not according to this article. I thought I heard that companies were having such a hard time finding workers… so how come I keep going to network meetings and see the same highly skilled, articulate and educated talent month after month?
Where did the jobs go?
Don’t let the numbers fool you. Low unemployment does not mean that it is a breeze to find your next job. And what about that stat from the federal government about how many new jobs were created this month? I doubt that “300,000 new jobs” means “300,000 new well paying, great jobs that I am interested in.”
So what’s a guy to do? I’ve learned something over the last few months of an intense job search – stick to the basics.
When I started my job search in January I spent about 50 – 60 hours a week on the Internet finding and applying to jobs. After attending a two day workshop I learned that instead of spending 100% of my time on job boards I should have spent 15% of my time on job boards. The other 85% was for something else – you should know what that is by now (it rhymes with metworking)!
Make sure that you don’t drown yourself in what seems to be a very busy, productive day. When I ended the day with a target number of applications sent in, I felt productive. But It was far from productive – all of that work got me about a 2% return – that is, only 2% of the jobs I applied for asked me in for an interview! Not very productive!
Some of “the basics” include developing a job search strategy (with goals and some kind of accountability), getting a coach, and developing relationships with others (aka – networking). Learn how to network effectively! Don’t fool yourself – these basics are not a bandaid fix – they are things that you should be doing until you retire!
And since you are selling yourself (which is a lifelong pursuit) you might want to check out “How to Become a Rainmaker” by Jeffrey Fox (check out his cool logo). It is a great little book (you can read it in a couple of hours) that will teach you some cool sales techniques and tactics to help you sell yourself.
Your job is somewhere – but you need to do the right things to find it. All of my previous jobs I’ve had have come from people I knew – aka networking. I didn’t realize it at the time but I had been tapped into the hidden job market. It worked for me – and it is much better to be tapped into an opportunity than after it is posted online. Yuck.
You’ll find marketing jobs in Canada at HigherBracket.ca.