tips to stay motivate in your job search
TRANSCRIPT
© 2012, 2015 Donna Shannon 1
Tips to Stay Motivated in Your Job Search
byDonna Shannon720-341-8229
© 2012, Donna Shannon 2
The Personal Touch Career Services
• Our Mission: To help job seekers of all levels achieve their employment goals through solid, practical advice and services
Resumes Interview coaching Job search strategy development Group classes My book: How to Get a Job Without Going Crazy (2nd Ed.)
© 2012, Donna Shannon 3
“Treat your job search like a job…”
What the heck does that mean?
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“Treat your job search like a job…”
You now have to manage an employee with..• A poor work environment• No set schedule• Unknown standards of performance
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Your Management Essentials
• Structure• Understand your work style
• Organization• Implement a proven tactic to organize your search
• Motivation• Know the key metrics to gauge your effectiveness
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KEY WORK STYLESWhat structure works best for you?
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Four Key Work Styles
Knowing what moves you will get you moving!
– Goals
– Schedules
– Deadlines
– Lists
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Goals:
Do you work best when striving to meet a specific goal?
Samples:• I will research 10 companies this week.• I will apply to 3 jobs today• I will finish my LinkedIn profile
TRAP: – Unrealistic goals are detrimental
TIP: – Break down the job search process into smaller, attainable rewards
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Schedules:Does doing same thing everyday or every day of the week
give you focus?
Sample:7:00 am - feed pets on Facebook7:15 am – read Google alerts8:00 am – review employment websites10:00 am – work on LinkedIn network11:30 am – lunch
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Schedules: Trap and Tip
• TRAP: – Getting thrown off balance by the unexpected
OR– Not enough structure
• TIP: – Create a set schedule for specific tasks
(especially ones that suck time, like email)
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Deadlines:
Do you work best when there is a tight deadline to keep?
Samples:• Unemployment requires 5 calls by Friday• Cutoff for submitting your resume is June 30th.
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Deadlines: Trap and Tip• TRAP:– Procrastinating to create the pressure they need
• TIP:– Get a hard-and-fast tool for accountability:– Outside forces such as agencies (government or
private)– Job search buddy or group
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Lists:
Do you organize your work into a to-do list?
Sample:1. Work on LinkedIn profile2. Check out networking groups3. Look up three target companies
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Lists: Trap and Tip
• TRAP: – Becoming too dependent on the process OR– Unable to break it down
• TIP: – Consider all the steps needed for your job search
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Lists are not Goals…
• Lists break down the process into steps • Crossing them off is the reward
• “Get a job” becomes:1. Complete LinkedIn profile2. Finish resume3. Find a good networking group
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THE SALES PROCESSA proven business strategy
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The job hunt is a Sales process..
• Prospecting
• Qualifying lead
• Discovery
• Proposal
• Interviews
• Job offers
Prospecting
Qualifying
Discovery
Proposal (Resume, Cover
Letter)
Interview
Job Offer
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Prospecting:
• Takes the most time• Feels like smallest reward• GOAL: find as many as possible leads without
judgment
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Prospecting
• Samples:– Scanning the job boards– Pulling research on target companies– Reading the news
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Qualifying
• Determine if this is a viable prospect• GOAL: eliminate the undesirable and find
direct contacts
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Important note:You will spend the majority of your time Prospecting and
Qualifying –
To most people, this feels like a waste of time.It is NOT.
Realize this fact, and you see the real value of what you’re doing.
– Clarity = Sanity!
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Discovery
• Find out about your target BEFORE submitting anything
• GOAL: Break free from the pack– Hit every possible target– Make cover letter / resume relevant– Determine if you want to work here
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Proposal
• Submitting your resume to the company
• GOAL: create a targeted and relevant proposal– Your resume– Custom cover letter– Reach hiring managers
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Interview
• Review all your research to create intelligent, insightful questions
• GOAL: Get the offer while qualifying the company
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Job Offer
• No matter what the offer is, you can negotiate
• GOAL: Get a job that is a good fit at the right terms
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EVALUATION PROCESSSo how are you doing?
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Cold, hard facts of the job search:
1. How long does it take to get a response from HR?– 3- 4 weeks for most jobs– 45 – 60 days for highly technical or executive level positions– Up to 3 months for government jobs
2. How many jobs should you apply to every week?– 10 if you research every job– 10 – 30 if sending out stock cover letters / resumes– 50 – 100 if applying blindly to anything and everything (but don’t
expect much of a response if you do)
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More facts…
3. How many hours a week should I spend on job searching?– 40 hours – this is your job!– Remember time for networking, research and social media
4. How many resumes do I have to send before I get an interview?– 10 – 20 if you carefully research every job, send targeted cover letters
and reach out to hiring managers– 20 – 50 in a cool market– 100+ if not doing any research
NOTE: if you have submitted to over 30 - 50 jobs without any response, you need to re-evaluate your tactics, your resume, or the market
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Sound like a lot of resumes?• Remember this is a sales
cycle…
Successful salesmen can boast a closing rate of 1 in 10 for each submitted proposal –
But they may have prospected anywhere for 100 to 1,000 to get to the qualified lead!
Prospecting
Qualifying
Discovery
Proposal (Resume,
Cover Letter)
Interview
Job Offer
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No Response?
Possible culprits:• Resume
– Get a professional opinion, and get more than one
• Online Profile– Are you conveying the right message?
• Employment Websites – when was the last time it was updated?
• Groups– Are you getting involved?
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Personal Evaluation
Activity Point of process
What is working: What is NOT working:
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Personal Evaluation- Sample
Activity Point of process
What is working: What is NOT working:
Searching for jobs on craigslist
Prospecting Found some jobs not advertised on Monster; Got 2 interviews in 3 weeks
Not enough high level jobs listed;Cautious of scams
Brown Bag Job Search Group
Prospecting, Qualifying
Learning a lot;Made new contacts;Got a job search buddy;Info on PBS recruiting practices;Good support
No job leads yet
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Moving forward?
• If there are NO activities further down in the sales process
…you have a real problem
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Moving forward
• What are some activities you can add to kick-start your sales cycle?
• What work style would you use?
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WRAP UPQuestions & Answers
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Keys to remember:
• Use your work style• Remember the Sales process• Evaluate efforts on regular basis
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