LinkedIn List of Ways Clients Lengthen a Job Search

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    Question: How do clients lengthen their job search?

    Question posed to the following LinkedIn Discussion Groups: Career Talk International,

    Career Coach Academy, Career Thought Leaders Consortium, Career Curve, Career Coach

    Forum. Total responses: 128 directly addressing this question.

    The following themes can have overlap. There was no science in distributing them, I just

    tried to capture major ideas in the responses. At the end of the group comments, is the listI created for my presentation based on my personal experience and your comments.

    Thank you for taking the time to respond.

    ATTITUDE

    1. Forgetting a positive attitude. It is very common for candidates who have experiencedrejection to expect more rejection, which is subsequently and unintentionally reflected intheir body language and verbal responses.

    2. Giving up when the next job is a letter or phone call away

    3. Not behaving in their job search the way they behave in their jobs. This means dressingsuccessfully, communicating positively, being well organized, following up, staying currentin their field, expressing sincere interest in their profession and in support of others andplanning their time productively.

    4. Professionals who just expect everyone to see their worth immediately.

    5. Behaving like a job seeker instead of a job hunter. A hunter goes to networkingevents, makes 30 calls a day and follows up. Sets up meeting with people he does notknow, or does not know well, uses the Internet primarily as a tool to identify a companywho is hiring and LinkedIn as a potential entree to the hiring manager, he has a clear goal.He explores all avenues of search and knows which produce the best ROI for hisinvestment!

    6. Lack of enthusiasm. Interviewing is a relationship building activity.

    7. Unprofessional voice mail / unprofessional email addresses.

    8. Thinking another person has their interest at heart. Not taking control and owning their

    career and future.

    9. "Fear of success" because it leads to unknown states of existence.

    10. Lack of confidence.

    11. Expectation that there is an instant answer this is an age of instant gratification afterall and if you cannot provide an instant solution they will not engage

    12. Fear is another big problem for job seekers. If we help them identify what kind ofpayoff they get by not moving forward than they might be able to see why they can'treach their goal.

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    13. Boring people with job search woes, employers and contacts want to hear positivitynot panic or boredom - contacts will not put a defeated person in front of their boss (asexample).

    14. Not being resilient and not perceiving all interactions as valuable learning

    15. Attitude... rejection, frustration and desperation will sabotage them very quickly,

    causing them to use unconscious verbalizations, as well as body language that shows howthey feel16. Fear and lack of confidence can have a paralyzing effect on initiating any of the stepsinvolved in job searching.

    17. Buying into negative opinions, as in "there are no jobs, this is the worst economy I've

    ever seen.

    18. P-R-O-C-R-A-S-T-I-N-A-T-I-O-N

    19. Giving up and forgetting to have fun

    20. Fear of rejection if one was starting to feel incompetent a their previous employer.

    21. There is a lot of apathy out there. If people do not have immediate results they

    sometimes throw in the towel too early. Remember 6 things: Develop good presentation

    skills, know your achievements, be armed with good knowledge and up to date

    information , be self-motivated, take actions on several levels, build and maintain your

    network.

    22. Not realizing that getting a job is a process of being turned down and giving up too

    soon.

    23. Believing that qualifications are more important than the scar tissue of experience.

    24. Giving themselves 'wooden legs': I am too old/too young;too inexperienced/too

    experienced;male/female/gay/white/black/Christian etc to apply.

    25. Not spending any money and effort to help themselves look good and healthy.

    26. Not having heard or living by the quote of Henry Ford I "If you think you can or if you

    think you can't your are right."

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    27. Not trying to break our current candidate record of 253 applications before gaining a

    position!! (He was 64, wanted a job within 5 miles of home, time off to look after his sick

    wife if necessary and had to be in Quality Control !!) We tell all our clients PPO -

    persistence pays off.

    28. Lack of persistence many job seekers get frustrated and lose focus, procrastinate or

    just give up altogether.

    29. Not believing in themselves. Working on their strengths, seeing what could have gone

    wrong in previous positions and why will increase confidence and help them to interview

    authentically - not with buzz words but with engaging success stories.

    FAILURE TO IDENTIFY GOALS / COMMUNICATE GOALS / COMMUNICATE

    VALUE

    30. The lack of active engagement in career management activity, especially identifying

    one's own values and congruent goals, recognizing skills and qualities, and developing

    networks.

    31. Adopting 'a splatter gun approach' to job search. Applying for too many jobs with little

    discrimination and thus giving insufficient attention and effort to each individual

    application.

    32. Not having a plan and relying on the "buck shot" approach

    33. Not focusing on priorities that can make a difference, but rather spend time on time-

    intensive tasks with low return.

    34. Jumping into the job seach without a clear focus.

    35. Not preparing compelling stories for interviews and not knowing how to project with

    high impact . Practice completing a thought exercise about how they would make impact

    in the first 3 months and year.

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    36. Missing appointments.

    37. Not making sure they are presentable or professional enough...not checking to be sure

    they are coming across at top game especially in long search.

    38. Not addressing their wellness or fitness. Easy for fatigue or depression to set in.

    39. No CLEAR picture of what they want...not FOCUSED on that goal. If they keep changing

    their mind and scattering their efforts...their goal most likely will not come to fruition.

    40. Explore themselves fully, values, skills - all of that - but FULLY - before racing headlong

    into a new role. Half of a programs allocated time s/b spent on exploration.

    41. Not having a plan/structure (when unplugged from the company plan and the social

    contact of colleagues, many unemployed job seekers flail and end up sabotaging their own

    success)

    42. Many people do not want to do the work to figure out what they want and need to

    succeed and research right targets to achieve that. I find when I talk about this that many

    people do not understand how to do it. And many also do not see that as a critical part ofjob search -- they expect a job ad/recruiter to appear and magically meet all their needs.

    43. Not being clearly definitive about what they are looking for in their job search. In

    todays tight job market, clients may want to be "too open" in defining the position they

    are looking for, leaving recruiters and hiring managers unsure of exactly what they will be

    bringing to the table.

    44. Ready-Fire-Aim approach and then can't understand why they are not getting theresults they want. In other words because we live and work in an age of instant

    gratification many of us are looking for answers before asking the question. People need

    to be focused on a real target and "a job" does not meet that criteria.

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    45. They don't take enough credit for the positive contributions they have made

    - They think employers will know information about them, their jobs, their

    accomplishments by osmosis.

    46. They aren't detailed enough - "I do it all" - what is ALL

    47. Not doing the hard work of self reflection and discovery before looking for a new

    position. When clients have been with a company for 10, 20 or 30 years they are rarely

    able to clearly and concisely articulate strengths and value they would bring to the

    organization. Taking the time to really discover and clarify makes the job search and

    interview process much more productive.

    48. Not being able to articulate skills in a way that will really matter to a potential

    employer - don't just tell me you've done something or can do something, share your

    Quantifiable Accomplishments so that I can see how you will impact my bottom line.

    FAILURE TO UTILIZE MARKETING SKILLS / MARKETING PLAN

    49. Assuming that the best professional will get the job, thus relegating self-marketing

    skills to only tacit efforts. Learning any new skill carries the risk of reducing confidence in

    the initial stages, and learning sophisticated job search skills is no exception.

    50. Not having a well-researched self marketing plan that articulates not only a clearly

    defined career goal, but also a realistic understanding of where they are most marketable.

    51. They don't have a plan.

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    52. What sector (1 or 2 tops): understand the market sector, became familiar with the

    possible target companies, try to personally know (networking) people working for them,

    be update with the related news, etc. What channel: choose the most effective channel

    considering what % of open positions are managed by third parties (recruiters etc),

    through word of mouth, by open and direct company postings.

    53. Failure to adopt the self-marketing because of lack of understanding how the market

    place operates.

    54. Not having a value proposition or personal brand. Not including it in your elevator

    speech.

    55. Job seekers don't realize how much they have to be able to sell themselves. They

    assume the employer can read between the lines and know what they can do or have

    done.

    56. Not being clear about personal brand and so not being able to articulate what they

    want and what they offer.

    57. Not customizing their job search - sending the same resume and cover letter to apply

    for every job.

    58. Conducting a "reactive", which is responding to ads, versus "proactive" - uncovering

    unadvertised jobs by having a marketing plan, which consists of the jobs wanted, the

    industries to explore, the companies in those industries which have those jobs and

    connecting with the people you know in those companies.

    59. Thinking of themselves in terms of job titles and not it terms of their skill portfolio.

    60. Clients are shocked at how hard they must present and sell themselves inan interview. This was true before the Great Recession and they must try evenharder now.

    61. Not preparing for the interview, they do not fully answer the interviewer's questions,

    they don't put themself into the role and answer questions by fully being in the role, they

    don't express interest in being the candidate of choice, they don't follow-up with an email

    or note that includes a reference to a specific topic covered during the interview, etc.

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    NOT UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY / OUT OF DATE TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

    62. Not being up to date on technology like using LinkedIn, FB and Twitter in their search.

    63. Not updating techie skills like the latest version of Excel or what ever your target

    company uses.

    64. Relying on outdated information, an inexperienced recruiter and web sites that cater

    to the minimal job and wage.

    65. Thinking that you do not need to update your computer skills.

    FAILURE TO IDENTIFY TARGET COMPANIES / TARGET JOBS

    66. Not having a list of target companies and networking your way in to know what

    problems they are facing and identifying how you are the solution to the problem.

    67. Spend too much time looking for a job by using traditional methods and not enough

    time on tapping the hidden job market that is, networking or contacting employers

    directly.

    68. A successful job search requires laser-sharp focus on a desired job target,

    identification of exactly who to talk with and clarity on exactly what to say. Execution is

    hard work and most people fail to realize it is worth it! A five year tenure at a $100,000 job

    means there is $500,000 riding on getting the work done.

    69. Not having a "target" in mind as far as their job search is concerned - no one can help

    you find a job if you aren't sure what you are looking for and Networking is the best way tofind a job.

    RESUMES

    70. Listing job duties instead of focusing on accomplishments on the resume.

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    71. Continual Resume Revision...In addition to working with individual clients, I lead job

    clubs...and often observe analysis paralysis in terms of getting a resume completed and

    then sending it off and using it.

    72. Using cliche statements in a resume - like "I'm a team player", "Results oriented" -

    instead show don't tell on the resume.

    73. Believing the resume is unchangeable once completed. I tell people to view their

    resume as a "living document" like the US Constitution that is always subject to change.

    74. Trying to say too much on their resumes, and only listing job tasks. They need to

    describe the benefit their actions brought to the company.

    75. Not targeting your resume for each and every position.

    76. They post their resume on a giant job board and cross their fingers.

    77. Continue to use the same flawed resume that hasn't worked for them. Full of mistakes,

    typos, grammar problems, subjectivity, etc. Afraid to update and change, because they're

    emotionally attached, think they can do it, and so on.

    LACK OF NETWORK / MISUSE OF NETWORK

    78. They don't network.

    79. Networkers who fail to develop a relationship before expecting us to open our

    Rolodex?!

    80. Failure to value and cultivate the network they have established during their search

    and campaign.

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    81. Not keeping up with your profession (dropping your professional association

    membership, not taking any webinars, attending meetings, conferences, not belonging to

    listservs.)

    82. Avoiding professional associations and job search networking groups.

    83. Do not understand the purpose of informational meetings or how to conduct one.

    84. Avoid accountability to anyone.

    85. Not thanking people after using their advice and connections.

    86. There are many, unfortunately, whose personality prevents effective networking. It is a

    daunting effort or so far outside their comfort zone that they just won't do it. These folks

    really have a hard time. For them suggest a mentor, or an outgoing friend to push them a

    bit, to show it's not that difficult.

    POOR TECHNIQUE

    87. Applying for jobs they do not qualified for.

    88. Applying for jobs which are below their experience level and becoming disheartening

    when they get the PTD - polite turn down.

    89. Not putting in the time to conduct a strategic job search, finding a job is a job.

    90. Working with Placement firms/recruiters that are unethical - they send your resume

    out without your approval or knowledge.

    91. Being so committed the tactics that once worked for them that they are unwilling to

    change those practices, even when it is clear those activities are not yielding anywhere

    close to the results they need. Resistance to change and stubbornness are deadly traits

    for a job seeker to have.

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    92. Unwilling to step out of their comfort zones, invest in their careers or ask for help.

    What worked 20 years ago will not work today; we all have to adapt and change to remain

    vital.

    93. Relying on agencies rather than searching the hidden job market.

    94. Failing to take the advice of professionals because a friend did it 'this way'.

    95. Not understanding the there is no such thing as an 'almost job' and not keeping lots of

    irons in the fire should a turn down come from the promised job.

    96. Not understanding that they have a full time job of 'Job hunter' and so not working atleast 20 hours a week on their new 'job'.

    97. Taking a holiday after job loss ignoring the fact that the longer you are out of a job the

    more difficult it is to achieve one.

    98. Do not manage their time effectively this is a big one.

    99. Some people keep themselves confused by seeing too many less-than-ideal options.

    They don't take action on certain jobs because they believe the jobs are not perfect. It is

    important for people to identify top priorities in terms of career/workplace needs and at

    the same time, take action toward getting the jobs that are the closest matches.

    100. All too often people sabotage a situation by making too many compromises and then

    failing for lack of enthusiasm for the position.

    101. Job seekers who think that they don't need to "do all of that" (Be strategic about their

    search, attend networking events, prepare for the interview, etc) because they have

    gotten jobs in the past by not doing those things. They come back very surprised and

    humbled about the competition and the amount of work they need to put into their job

    search.

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    1.People just wanting a "job". It is very difficult to get people to understand that with

    starting with self assessment and figuring out "exactly" what their unique gifts and talents

    are that they can work in a field/career that excites them and they can make a greater

    impact.

    2.Not understanding their communication style. Believing that everyone communicatesin the same style; talking in the language of the past, their old jobs, using acronyms and

    terms that are only used at their previous employer.

    3.Lack of updating job search to current terms. They want to come in with a 1985

    rsum, do no social networking(LI, FB, Twitter, etc.,), do NOT want to try to Network their

    way in - that "I can do it on my own steam" mentality. The world has changed drastically

    since they last looked for work and they need to update their process as much, if not more

    than, their wardrobe(don't get me started here).

    4.20th Century workers trying to compete in a 21st Century job market. It is extremely

    difficult to change their mind sets; older workers self-imposed and self-created barriers to

    executing a modern job search.

    LACK OF PREPARATION / FOLLOW-UP

    102. Failure to return calls the same day. Texting is becoming a habit and many people

    don't answer the phone. Always answer your phone in a job search.

    103. Lack of follow up after an interview and/or successful networking connection. That

    last contact may help a job seeker stand out from the rest.

    104. Lack of research, preparation and follow up.

    105. Not researching the company, the role, or the interviewer.

    106. Failure to learn as much as they can about a company before the interview so they

    can refine the branding/value proposition to mesh with a prospective employers needs.

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    107. Improper follow-up...willingness to accept no answer or a rejection without

    contacting the employer to get answer or know why, OR to try later to see if the hire

    worked out.

    HIDE BEHIND THE COMPUTER

    108. Many people shoot out many electronic resumes and think they are done.

    109. Staying home and emailing cold resumes, they don't network in person so they can

    meet people, they waste a lot of non-productive time on the computer, they don't do the

    necessary research before each interview so they can tell people how their background

    and skills would be especially helpful. Brief, they don't take a marketing approach to job

    search.

    110. Hiding out behind the computer; to get hired a candidate must interact with

    decision-makers (and those who can refer them).

    111. Spend too much time on the internet and sincerely expect to find a job by responding

    to ads.

    112. Sitting at home in front of the computer and sending out resumes is what the vast

    majority of job seekers do. It's simply in the numbers. If most people are sending out

    resumes, then yours just becomes one of those... perhaps hundreds. Somehow you haveto stand out. The resume itself may do that, but not likely when there are hundreds of

    applicants. A client got several valuable leads through friends and professional associates.

    She got 3 part-time jobs within a matter of weeks and will start full time on a dream job in

    January. There is really no effective substitute for frequent and focused conversations.

    ERECTING UNCONSCIOUS BARRIERS

    113. Not being open to a longer commute.

    114. Not being open to an offer of contract, temp or part-time work in a company you are

    interested in working for.

    115. Making excuses right out of the gate, such as, I don't have a degree, experience in

    certain industries, too old, too young. They see themselves in the deficit column.

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    116. Self Talk loops often happen too. "I should do this, but I can't because etc.,, well

    maybe I should do that, but if I did that it would mean....etc"

    117. Being poorly prepared for their job campaign and not making it multi dimensional.Including Networking and Direct approaches as well as recruitment consultants / optimal

    use of the internet.

    118. Using a traditional approach -- submitting applications (online or otherwise) and

    sending resumes without a connection to a person.

    119. Focusing on HR which, unless you are going for an HR job, can merely say no or

    maybe, rather than targeting decision-makers.

    120. Focusing on what they don't want rather than what they do want.

    121. They won't consider change (geographic, salary, job title, etc.)

    122. Looking only for one kind of work--what they have done before. It's known that jobhunters should have 3-4 job targets because having options makes their job search

    shorter. Yet, many job hunters won't take off the label of their previous employment.

    123. People limit themselves because of things like salary less than their previous,

    location, or industry. This is the strategy initially, but as time goes on they find that they

    need to be more open. By limiting themselves at the beginning of their search, they may

    miss an opportunity before they are "cold" to an employer.

    124. Clients provided with a certain number of hours of private career counseling and

    access to a weekly call-in strategizing group for a full year who do not take advantage of

    this free service. Other struggling job hunters who do not have an outplacement contract

    would love to take their place and would use it to the fullest extent, knowing how difficult

    it has been not to have this sort of support. The ones who do take full advantage really do

    have shorter searches and find better jobs.

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    125. Keeping their mouths shut. No one knows you are looking if you don't tell people.

    2012s Top Ten Ways to Lengthen Your Job Search

    1. Play The Happy Game

    a. Not dealing with depression and emotions

    2. Channel the Apollo Bay Hawks Soccer Team

    a. Have no Goals

    3. Believe Your Resume Is Where Its At

    a. Embrace Resume Paralysis

    4. Become One With Your Laptop

    a. Spend majority of time at home behind the screen

    5. Nurture Your Inner Child

    a. Be helpless

    b. Focus on yourself and your needs

    c. Do the bare minimum to get by

    6. Discount Your Contacts / Annoy Your Contacts

    a. Do no follow-up

    b. Never thank them

    7. Become An Island

    a. Avoid meeting people

    8. Avoid Non-Traditional Paths

    a. Pass up contract / projects / temp work

    9. Talk Until They Drop

    a. Be vague and ambiguous

    10. Believe Your Next Job is Forever

    a. Stop networking as soon as you land

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    b. Do not learn new skills