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5 Ways Your Job Search Competitors Are Winning (So Far) in 2023

5 Ways Your Job Search Competitors Are Winning (So Far) in 2023 by Mark Anthony Dyson

After I explain to a group of people how much work is involved in today’s job search, at least one of those people, consistently, responds with, “But I don’t want to do all of that.” My eyes then roll several times.

These people forget that dozens if not hundreds of other job seekers are applying for the same jobs.

No matter the state of the economy, you’ll always be competing with someone else for a job. There’s always someone positioned just as well as or better than you.

You must navigate the job market as if you have competitors on all sides trying to beat you — which, in fact, you do.

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Understanding what your successful competitors are doing will help you understand what you need to do to beat them.

Read Be a Consultant, Not a Job Seeker nor Anything Like Your Competition

Here are five things your competitors are doing that you should adopt for yourself:

1. Your Competitors Are Always Looking for New Opportunities

We’ve heard for years that job hopping is the best way to receive a raise. I wrote an article on how you can do it and get the most out of it. For the careerist who is looking to increase their job market value, job hopping can also be a way to improve their skill set.

Your competitors control their careers by remaining abreast of trends and changes and adapting to shifts in the marketplace. You must do the same if you expect to keep up.

The trade secret is you can get a 10% bump many times without negotiating. Just don’t tell anyone, OK?

2. Your Competitors Are Adept at Demonstrating Value

Some suggest showing your value to employers by trading cover letters for “pain letters,” which address a hiring manager’s problems rather than your qualifications.

An easier way to prove your value might be to keep your ear to the ground. Listen to your peers and industry connections to learn about the issues plaguing their workplaces. Then, get in front of the people having problems and offer to help.

When it’s time to change jobs, you’ll have the perfect referral — the person you helped.

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3. Your Competitors Collaborate

Your competitors share information with their networks, acknowledge others’ achievements, and ask for advice. Don’t disregard the value of collaboration with your industry peers. Attend conferences (both physical and virtual), listen to and participate in podcasts, and team up with your contacts whenever possible. These relationships can easily translate to new career opportunities down the line.

Read 5 Ways Sentimentality Is Ruining Your Career

4. Your Competitors Focus on the Small Stuff

Remembering names, places, and events goes a long way in establishing a positive reputation for yourself.

Your job search competitors treat everyone like they matter, from the receptionist to the chief executives.

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You, too, must understand that small details such as follow-up calls, handshakes, and eye contact are invaluable to your job search efforts.

5. Your Competitors Speak the Employer’s Language

If you’ve researched the company or industry well, you should be able to speak the language — maybe not fluently, but well enough to make a strong case for why your skills are what the company needs.

Many veterans can get civilian jobs after being in the military for many years because they’ve learned what their skills mean in the private sector. This is not easy because the military has terms and functionalities of its own, but veterans still learn how to translate. Similarly, you must know how your skills translate from where you are now to the company you’re pursuing.

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To stand out during your job search, you must understand how your competition is standing out. It’s work. It’s time-consuming. It’s competitive. But it’s the only way to get the job of your dreams.

This article was originally published here as well as my other work for Recruiter.com!

by Mark Anthony Dyson

New Remote Job? Congrats! How to Handle Your First 90 Days

New Remote Job? Congrats! How to Handle Your First 90 Days by Mark Anthony Dyson

Working a remote job from home sounds ideal, but preparing your life for remote work is difficult. Finding the perfect remote job through a remote job board seems romantic at first. You can’t believe how many jobs are “a fit” for you. But no one tells you how heavy the lifting is by the simple things you take for granted, such as Internet access, data security, and video chat glitches. But for the sake of the romance, you will work it out because you’ve asked for the last year to work from home. You face burnout and loneliness and jeopardize the opportunity to work from home if you don’t adapt quickly.

Studies say you’ll be more productive, less stressed, and more appreciative of your company after successfully transitioning. Money savings by working at home because of the cut in travel, you can eat at home, not at restaurants, and tax write-offs are significant.

What will you learn? Remote work preparation is a rigorous process.

There are several things to work from home easier:

Understand the rules of engagement.

Seamless virtual team engagement is critical to every business. Each person on the team has a virtual space; if it’s invaded, it’s a problem. Not everyone will have their virtual doors open for any time visits, especially if the team doesn’t meet regularly. Let each person, including your boss’ has boundaries, and it will make a difference.

Know the resources you can immediately access.

Not every remote position has an IT desk to refer to when there are broadband issues. Very often, the sole remote worker on a team has to be their computer person. It’s frightening for the remote worker who knows what kind of drink each IT person likes.

Schedule everything you can.

The hardest part of autonomy is managing the intangible things taken for granted, such as lunch, family, and potential broadband interruptions. It’s best to schedule everything you do know and reschedule when work stops.

Keep your new hire packets close.

Many companies already have a remote workers policy since it’s much more common. If the company doesn’t, you’ll need to get clarity on it as soon as possible. You can collaborate with your boss to come up with specifics such as expectations of work times, meetings, if scheduled in-office days, or if there are workspaces where you are expected to participate.

Don’t forget professional development.

I will happily disagree with others who say, “concentrate solely on onboarding with your new company.” In many industries, ignoring three months of industry trends is a light-year. You want to ask about the part professional development plays with your team or company.

Little things matter.

As you’re getting into a routine and learning what works for years, you’ll feel you’re a business of one. Your success is contingent on your efforts. How quickly can you access Zoom, your laptop, phone, job information, new hire packet, or anything else that matters? Does physical comfort matter, too? Are you working in a home office where your back, shoulders, and neck hurts? Resolve these issues as soon as possible.

Pay attention to health irregularities.

You must sustain quality physical and mental health unless it’s the reason for working remotely. When faced with a health crisis before working remotely, hopefully, part of your day is dedicated to improving it. If your health has worsened since working from home, then get help. Remote working itself does not automatically improve the quality of your life. You’ll create the remote work experience you have defined for yourself.

To make working remotely work for you, you must have a strategy and standard drawing a life between work and life. Mental health is the new dental health, and remote work could add or diminish the quality of life you were seeking. Ignoring signs where you feel you’re losing control of your work environment in the first 90 days can taint the entire experience. However, if you are proactively tweaking your home office, work processes, and relationships, you’ll start to feel this was the best career move you’ve made.

The article originally appeared on job-hunt.org!

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Think Like a Consultant: Win at Job Search 2023

Think Like a Consultant: Win at Job Search 2023 by Mark Anthony Dyson

What is a “consultant mindset”? And what does it have to do with finding a new job?

Some of my colleagues will boo me for this, but past clients in presenting a resume first is not always the answer.

Instead, find work during your job search by leveraging the mindset of a consultant.

In other words: present solutions first, then your resume. A resume will be an afterthought if you have a straightforward, well-thought-out approach and current short- and long-term solutions to employers. (Look at your keyboard, and now look at me in disbelief, and repeat. I know this is hard to imagine.)

You’re the superhero in consultant garb. You have felt a passion for this industry for a long time. You’ve read hundreds of articles and at least a dozen books. You’ve attended workshops, regional events, and national conventions. You’ve stalked the industry leaders. You have piloted several projects and people you know… people who know even more than you do.

And now, with all this know-how, you have some ideas. You’ve seen what some companies have done well. You’ve seen what has failed. And with a consultant mindset, you know the right solution.

That’s right: be a consultant, not a job seeker.

Many others have said it. Stephen Covey said it. My points below were inspired by him. You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be the perfect solution to THE one and be audacious doing it.

Here’s how:

Be Prepared to Do Something Different

Use popular social media networks to read the thoughts of your targeted company influencers. You will indeed find the aches and pains of the company there. One way is to call the target or prospective company’s call center and pretend to be a customer. When you can speak to customer issues and concerns in any setting, you will score (customer service reps are known to cough up the goods!)

Write a Contribution Statement

Your contribution statement, which looks and acts more like a plan resulting from research, is much more profound than a cover letter. It is a current state report to help you sound more impressive than any job seeker can. Done right, you’ll sound downright intentional. Many coaches and thought career leaders will say: “Look for the unposted job opportunity.”

And, yes, it’s much harder work than going to a job board, as everyone else does. I didn’t say it was easy: It’s the consultant’s solution-oriented life. It’s a suggestion from Stephen Covey I’ve liked for years now.

Be Humble and Modest

Any inquiry to a company must be humble and modest, so double-check for tone. Confidence is needed, but humility will open the ears of your target audience. That is not to say be mousy, of course. Strike the right balance, and your subject matter expertise will rise to the top. It is best to practice your delivery with an experienced person to ensure you come across as a humble officer reporting what is happening on the battlefield.

Use the Actions of Competitors as Leverage

Find out what’s happening in your prospect’s industry and competitive forces. When possible, compare and contrast what the competitor is doing at your target company. Even if it’s a call center position, you can show what you’ve noticed through a grid or spreadsheet and the solutions you offer.

Be Courageous and Creative

There are times when you must be audacious in your approach. When faced with rejection (“no” too many job seekers get daily), it might be time for tactful directness. No, this is not taught in schools; it’s more intuitive. Sometimes it’s asking a supplementary question makes the other person think. Other times, it is assertively offering an opinion. You’ll know when the time comes.

Put yourself in a position to discover and experience problems. Focus on building relationships with the perspective and become familiar with the company’s culture and challenges. Present a solution to relieve the pain. Present your solution in a way the prospective employer can quickly identify with it during your job search.

That is how you leverage the consultant mindset. And today— not your resume — will help you win your job search.

This article was first published on YouTern.