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Try different strategies to achieve different job search results. The same old strategies yield the same results. Most job seekers would rather do what is easy than what is challenging. It’s easier to applying to 100 job board announcements in a month.  It’s harder to have 15-20 meaningful person-to-person conversations in a month’s time.

I would love to hear your thoughts in one of three ways:

1. Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number
2. Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
3. Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

Here are a few other job search strategies to try:

• Find your reason to find the career you can carry the torch for some time to come. Stop using your spouse’s reasons. Don’t worry if your parents will be proud. Or to impress your high school classmates (even if you are “most likely to succeed”). How about your professor and mentor expect you to do well. Find the intrinsic fuel to feed the fire to discover the career you desire. If it was a true calling, you were the only one meant to hear the voice.
  Count the costs. Do you have enough emotional and physical endurance to go months maintaining pursuit
  • Are you expanding your understanding of the industry?
  • Are you blocking out the naysayers with little effort?
• Volunteer. It doesn’t matter where you volunteer, but it does matter where you grow. Volunteering is great for your personal brand and personal growth.
  • 8 to 10 hours monthly can create experience in areas where you need it
  • Create your schedule and the skill set to get needed experience
• Expand your network. Does everyone know you’re looking? If not, consider letting everyone know. Going back to the beginning, impressing others doesn’t create jobs.

 

Your job search efforts will struggle if you lack conviction. When you don’t have your reasons and a purpose for your job search, you can wander aimlessly for years. At times, you can even find jobs you later regret taking because of your lack of reasoning. It’s a dark place to be, and hard to find your way out without help, goals, and some form of empowerment.

These elements are also scary because of the commitment required to achieve and thrive in these areas. You may not feel the need to deepen your job search to include these things, but these are tools to help you reach your goals:

Mentorship during your job search

I don’t think we’re too old to have people whose career advice is at least a second pair of eyes. Objectivity is hard while assessing our career moves. Spouses and significant others sometimes can be great sounding boards, but unless they are further along in our career spaces may not be a career asset. It depends on where we are in our careers and our goals.

The New (But not So New) Job Search

Their choices should tell you whether or not he or she is a good mentor for you. You can check LinkedIn to see if coworkers or clients recommend them. Mostly if his or her career is in constant forward motion is a good indicator.

Mastery during your job search

People who are masterful in his or her career were trained by someone else who expects perfect from themselves. Being good or almost isn’t good enough! Rigorous work on your craft yields results, but loving the work is a sweet spot you’ll never regret.

9 Ways to Keep Up Your Holiday Job Search – The Voice of Job Seekers

It attracts the attention of others who have done it, who will offer help!

Momentum to energize your job search

Opportunities appear in strings at times and need a proper perspective. It is easy to interpret momentary success as the “ticket.” If you have done the right things, momentum can quickly turn into tangible progress. A string of referrals and interviews are good signs of progress. If it doesn’t go past the first meeting, then re-evaluate your progress.

At any age or level of success, seek mentorship, mastery, and momentum fearlessly and incessantly. These three elements are critical to your growth as there as distractions and obstructions attempting to derail your focus and eventually your success.

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Modernize Your Job Search Letters, Get Noticed…Get Hired is a compilation of sample job search documents. I have a copy of my own and knew this was a must-have resource.  Wendy Enelow (my guest this week), and co-founder Louis Kursmark published this book with 60 other presenters.  Letter samples in the book such as Cover letters and e-notes, recruiter letters, networking letters, thank-you letters inspire creativity and sound strategy to reach employers and recruiters.

How important are these documents to your career?

Let’s talk about it. I would love your feedback in one of three ways:

1. Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number
2. Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
3. Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

Wendy Enelow is the founder and Co-President of Emerald Career Publishing, and also one of few Master Resume Writers in the world. Her company publishes resources for job seekers and help career professionals who advise them.

Here are a few of the highlights of our discussion:

• The usefulness of the book and the importance of the sample documents
• Wendy advises to send highly customized letters and use the book as a guide
• The relevance of cover letters and should be distinct from e-notes
• Letters are essential to selling yourself and use it to market yourself
• Wendy recommends e-notes rather than traditional letters because of its intended brevity and to the point highlights

Need help with your career goals, directions, or efforts? Do you need coaching or instruction? I am here for it! If you’re in Chicago, you might be interested in an upcoming event on February 12. If you want to join me, send me a note at mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com or call 708-365-9822 for more information.