TT&S Weekly (12/8/14)
Topic of the Week What Color Is Your Parachute? New Job Hunting Strategies:
- DON'T live in the past.
- DO change attitude.
- DO take inventory.
- DO up your game
These are tough times to be looking for work. Not impossible, but tough. Which reminds me of New York's 47th Street and how it is literally paved with gold. Really. New York's gold wranglers spend their time on all fours in the street with tweezers looking for specks of gold, silver and jewels that have fallen off clothing and jewelry racks as they were rolled from trucks into stores. One wrangler told the New York Post that he'd recently earned $819 in redemptions for six days of prospecting.
Your job hunt can also be paved with gold too if you listen to Dick Bolles' advice. He is the author of the greatest career book ever, "What Color is Your Parachute?" the 40-year young guide for all things career (10 Speed, 2012). The following three Do's and one Don't should help you adjust to the new realities of looking for work.
Don't live in the past. Anyone who has found at least one job successfully has a series of strategies that they believe will work for them next time they need a job. The only problem is that the world is changing, and you've got to adapt. Online networking, using the yellow pages, bringing work samples to an interview, talking with competitors--today you've got to bring a host of new strategies to your job hunt. Sure you can do what's worked before, but you also need to add a few new strategies also.
DO change attitude. Would you hire someone who walks into your office trailing blood and bileé Of course not, you want to hire someone who is energetic, creative and ready to hit the ground running. That's why it's so important to start with your attitude. No matter how cynical and beaten up you feel from having lost your last job you've got to try to bring new energy and enthusiasm into your job hunt. Volunteer, exercise or use hobbies to build your confidence.
DO take inventory. I can't tell you how many people I've met who hate their current job or profession. That's why Dick's insight is so valuable, we all need to be constantly taking an inventory of not only our skills, but also our enthusiasm. Just because we can do a job doesn't mean that we'll be happy doing it. And with the changing job market, you just might be surprised to see how combining your skills in a new way opens up doors that you didn't even realize existed.
DO up your game. So many people think that getting a job is totally based on what you've done in the past. Nothing could be further from the truth today. The key to getting hired is to be able to show the potential employer, what you'll be able to do for them in the future. Outline how you'll solve their most challenging issues and you'll get their attention.
Follow these tips and you'll be counting your gold too, not from the street but from your new paycheck.
Bob Rosner is a best-selling author and award-winning journalist. For free job and work advice, check out the award-winning workplace911.com. Check the revised edition of his Wall Street Journal best seller, "The Boss's Survival Guide." If you have a question for Bob, contact him via bob@workplace911.com.
Thought of the Week
""Silence never won rights. They are not handed down from above; they are forced by pressures from below.""
–Roger Baldwin
Weekly Comic by Jerry King
Blog of the Week
Top Five News Headlines
List of the Week
from Office Team
Not All About You: What Employers Are Thinking in a Job Interview
• I haven't prepared in advance.
• I'm wary of phonies.
• I love to talk about my company and myself.
• I may intentionally make you uncomfortable.
• I'm going to ask my assistant about you.