Avoid these mistakes in your job search!
Eleven of the biggest mistakes you can make in your job search…
11 – Poorly Managing Dependencies
While working, many of us have a boss, stakeholder, or project manager to manage dependencies for us. At minimum, we generally have someone to prioritize our actions when we’re in the weeds. Job searches without a partner or career coach risk getting stuck in dependencies. The biggest issue I see is jobseekers see dependencies when there are none.
Tip: write down all the things you have to do. Prioritize in order of importance and urgency. Ask yourself “what’s the worst that could happen if I don’t do this?”
10 – Ego and Pride
If you’re too proud to ask for help less people are going to help you.
As for Ego, I met a man 10 months ago that was too important and for every job posting he saw. Two months ago, I saw him and his ego had taken a hit. Suddenly, he was only as important as the rest of us. He landed within a month.
9 – Waiting until you need a job to start looking
Always keep a passive job search going. You never know what’s going to happen in the future.
8 – Delegating your search to one or more recruiters
Recruiters don’t get jobs for people. They fill positions for companies. While there are some very good recruiters around here who care about individuals, the nature of their business is biased toward the company because that’s who pays.
You can’t simply talk to a recruiter and think your job search is in good hands. It doesn’t work that way.
7 – Believing you’ll get an offer
It’s an awesome feeling to nail an interview and know it. It’s a great feeling to hear “we’ll get an offer to you this week.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this and two weeks later, there’s no offer in hand and no explanation. Until you’ve verbally accepted an offer and received your first paycheck, keep looking.
6 – Not saying “thank you” and not responding
No one owes you anything. Say “thank you” even when you don’t have to.
Respond to emails and phone calls. If someone takes the time to reach out to you, it’s important to her. Make sure to respect that by acknowledging the communication. Non-responsiveness is one of the easiest was to kill your personal brand.
This goes for C-level executives too. Hire someone (if you must) to respond to your email, but remember, just because you’re a C-level executive today, doesn’t mean you will be tomorrow.
5 – Letting relationships fade/Burning Bridges
Every one of your contacts is as important when you need a job as when you don’t need a job. Reach out to them whether you have a job or not.
Don’t burn bridges. People can change and just because their values (or actions) and yours conflicted at one time, doesn’t mean it will always be that way. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve made this mistake!
4 – Refusing to leave our comfort zone
Read, “Who Moved My Cheese”.
3 – Spelling and grammatical mistakes
Many managers throw out resumes with spelling and grammatical mistakes.
2 – Not using all the resources at your disposal
I’ve talked to individuals who were laid off and didn’t use the outplacement services available to them. There is always something we can learn, why not put ourselves at an advantage in the job search by using every resource at our disposal?
1 – Wearing Pajamas at 5pm
Get up early; get ready for your day; and treat today like a workday. You’d be amazed what the smiling, shaven, washed face in the mirror is capable of!
