As we continue to wait impatiently for the ailing economy to nurse itself back to health, job
seekers and underemployed Americans need to maximize their opportunities and
marketability. Employment consultant Carmelle Robert says there are four to
five times as many people looking at the same job than, say, two years ago.
Robert, an employment marketing rep for the Georgia Department of Labor, lists common mistakes job seekers often make that inhibits them from differentiating themselves from other similarly qualified
job seekers. –terry shropshire
Close-mindedness and rigidity:
“If my field has always been education
and that’s all I want to look for is education jobs in the education arena, you
need to look at your skill set — because job skills are transferable. You don’t only have to apply to schools or colleges or universities or
elementary. Your skill set is needed in maybe another field. Maybe you’re the
one who responsible for coming up with a training program. That same skill set
is needed in the state agencies, is needed in communication, is needed in IT.”
Neglecting to network:
“You may need to connect with people within the
industry and identify those people through different organizations. Yes,
there’s an association fee. However, if you look on the Web site, they have a
lot of networking events where it’s free. You just go in for free or for $5 and
actually connect with people, collect business cards and follow up with them
later.”
Allowing business
cards and contacts to languish:
“If I have 20 friends they are my inside source. ‘Hey I found a job
within your company, ‘hey can you give me a referral.’ A lot of the companies go more by referrals as compared to online applications.”
Being reactive
instead of proactive:
“Lots of people wait and go to the same Web site and they
wait to see a job being posted. Why not switch it and say ‘OK, I’m a graphic
artist and I know my skill is desperately needed in advertising? Why do
I wait here and wait for my job to pop up? … Identify the top 25
agencies or top 10 new ones [and] send [an] intro letter. Physically go out there. … You have to
do the unconventional. All the successful people that you hear about, they did
unconventional things to get where they needed to be.”
Not taking time to
volunteer:
“How about
volunteering for about an hour or two? You never know what that little
opportunity will do for you. Out of the 20 [companies you ask to volunteer
for], you’ll get at least two or three ‘yesses.’ Remember, companies are
suffering. If they find someone willing to volunteer two hours of their time, they
are going to open the door. Guess what? It just opened up a whole new network
of folks that you didn’t know about and they are in your field. … I think that job seekers have to be creative.”
