The Pain of Dating and Job Searching

The trials of dating are recreated in several movies such as “10 Things I Hate About You”. In the first scene we meet two guys vying for the attention of one young lady who is immediately said to be “out of your league” in both cases. The entire movie is then the circus of circumstances these two guys use in trying to get on the radar of this girl.

In watching a similarly plotted flick I realized the excruciating journey of dating was much like the excruciating journey of the job search. I know you are probably thinking that I’m way off base on this one, but hear me out. In an effort to get the girl’s attention in the movie, the boys incorporate the use of their friends or their network as we would call it. One of the boys learned how to speak French so he could tutor her, thus creating an opportunity to meet and get his foot in the door. The other guy made a small investment to get a chance to go out with the girl. During the movie we see various plans being made and revised as they encounter barriers to their goal.

Are you seeing my point yet? Another way the job search is like dating is that it is often feast or famine. Did you ever go long periods of time without that special guy or gal in your life and then suddenly there were two or three people showing interest in you at the same time? It seems to always happen that way and the same can be said for jobs. I went weeks without a call or mention of an interview or job offer and then all of a sudden I had three chances to interview in one week resulting in two job offers.

So the next time you are in job search mode and it feels absolutely painful remember that it feels painful because it is painful. Keep in mind, it will pass and you will become a better person because of it. In the mean time we will continue to bounce around like our romantic comedy counterparts yelling, “Look at me! Look at me!” as we try to attract the attention of that special someone or special company. Good luck with that 🙂

Using Inbound and Outbound Strategies in Your Jobsearch

Check out the video below on reasons as to why you should incorporate social media into your jobsearch. This is a short segment that was broadcasted on NBC’s Daytime. Greig Wells explains the difference between inbound and outbound strategies to gaining employment.

Video uploaded by Idea Works Creative Group

If I Could Jobsearch With a Live Chicken

I went in to mail a package at the post office and I told the lady at the counter that it smelled good in there. As she walked away, cleaning supplies in hand, she explained that she likes to clean up after she weighs chickens.  I stood there for a moment replaying what she said in my mind thinking I surely misunderstood the word “chickens” for something else, but I couldn’t think of what else could possibly sound like chickens.  Have you ever had one of those moments where you were expecting the Candid Camera folks to come jumping out from behind something?  Well, this was one of those times.

It was then that I heard clucking in the background.  Sure enough….she must have said “chickens”.  I told her I didn’t realize you were allowed to mail live animals.  Without skipping a beat she replied, “Oh yeah, chickens and bees”.  That’s good to know for future reference I suppose.  As the lady was weighing my package and doing whatever it is she does, I couldn’t focus on anything but the clucking.  Have you ever heard clucking in your post office before?  It’s quite shocking really.

I asked if the chickens would reach their destination by morning.  I began wondering if the mail personnel had to become chickensitters feeding, watering, and cleaning up after the little devils.  If so, was that included in the postage amount?  This was spurring a whole line of questions in my mind.  She told me they would be express mailed on a plane and would be there by morning.  As I eventually paid the lady for my postage, I apologized for my dazed and confused behavior explaining that I couldn’t get over the chickens.  She admitted it was hard for her to get used to when she started working there and that I would probably be surprised to know how many chickens get mailed.  Obviously!

The kicker for me was how my recent job seeking ideas had been hampered by postal regulations.  I came up with a package including a slogan, something I had made, and Kool-Aid powder to mail to some potential employers.  I was working on the shipping details with a postal worker at another post office (not the one with the chickens) when she became a little freaked out by the idea.  Apparently it isn’t illegal to mail Kool-Aid but she reiterated at least three times that if the package containing the powder ended up torn that it would shut down the entire post office, thanks to the threat of terrorism.  Consumed with guilt, I decided to come up with a Plan B even though I had already bought two boxes of Kool-Aid and had spent several days making the item I was going to send with it. 

A couple of days later, my Plan B involved mailing clocks.  I was inserting the battery to make sure the clock would work when I realized that the ticking would probably also get me into trouble with the USPS. At this point, I figured the most I could hope for with either of the two ideas was someone receiving a package that had been ripped open, duck taped back together, and possibly looking like it had been run over. I would imagine that would certainly not land me a job. I was also slightly concerned that my picture was going to end up on the walls of the post office before my stint in job seeking was over. My mom pointed out that was not the way I wanted to stand out from the crowd.  Point taken.

I did eventually come up with a third idea that involved no powdery substances or ticking parts. So now that I have caught you up on my antics prior to running into the chickens, hopefully you can better understand why I was so surprised at the fact that it’s okay to mail live chickens, but mailing Kool-Aid powder is discouraged. Now, if I can only come up with a job seeking gimmick involving chickens or bees, I will be all set.  Lesson learned 🙂

Photo by: Giant Ginkgo

The Job Search Marathon

July’s unemployment numbers revealed that there were 117,000 jobs created and unemployment dropped to 9.1%.  Knoxville is listed as one of the top 10 medium sized cities in the U.S. to get a job in.  Why is the Knoxville News Sentinel’s employment section still so sparse with listings?  Why am I having such a tough time finding a job? 

I was thinking that maybe it’s the 85%/15% rule of the hidden job market.  With that in mind I spent the last week coming up with some target companies that I would like to approach for the 85% of jobs that aren’t posted anywhere.  I had a couple of companies in mind that I wanted to woo but I also needed to find a list of the companies in a specific industry in our area.  I was able to find a few companies but then I had to research them on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google to discover their size and if they were large enough to to be able to add another person to their payroll at this time.  After about 6 hours of research, I was able to find only a couple of companies that were large enough to approach.    

I then tried to create something to show potential employers how brilliant I am, while making me stand out from other applicants.  Somehow this ended up morphing into a craft project.  I would have never guessed my job search would involve crafting.  Who knew?  I thought that what I put together looked really good, but will it land me a job?  Who knows?  Between the crafting, which took me a few days to perfect and the research I feel like I didn’t get as much done this week as I would have liked. 

I am intelligent, creative, and my background includes finance, social service, and marketing with a sprinkling of HR.  Much like many of you, I would make a great employee if I can only find a company willing to take a chance on me.  I think my focus this week will be trying to stay motivated and not let the job search get me down.  Whew!  During these times the job search is a marathon and not the sprint that we had been accustomed to in the past.  I just have to keep reminding myself of that.  What are you doing to stay positive during your job search?                 

Picture by: BZMomma

I Hope I Get a Job Soon….Being a Jobseeker is Exhausting!

I am amazed at the number of people who assume that being unemployed means you have tons of free time on your hands.  Problem is even though it may appear to the employed world that time is on our side, actually the opposite is true.  I feel like I have never been busier.  Job seeking really is a full-time job and more than that, it doesn’t necessarily stop at 5 o’clock every day when many other jobs do.  It is not odd for me to be emailing my credentials to someone at 10 or 11 o’clock at night. 

I have always recommended to jobseekers that they can expect to spend around an hour and a half applying for a posted position.  This time is spent searching the internet and social media outlets to gather intelligence on the company’s work environment, philosophy, and employees.  Since the recession and increase in applicants, many companies are listing jobs on their personal websites instead of on job boards.  It is not unusual for companies to have an online application to fill out prior to being able to submit a cover letter and resume.  I have seen some applications that can take over a couple of hours to complete and by the time you create your cover letter and resume, you have spent 3 to 4 hours applying for one job. 

If you aren’t applying to a job posting, the amount of time you can spend is limitless.  You have to identify what industry and companies you are targeting that might employ the position you are wanting.  This could involve hours of internet and social media searching.  Once you have a company or companies indentified you have to decide how you are going to convince them to hire you for a position they don’t realize they need at the moment or to give you an informational interview for advice, either of which will be no quick task.    

When you are unemployed you start seeing things around your house that you didn’t have time to tackle while you were working.  Now that you aren’t working the guilt sets in that you no longer have a good excuse for only having half of a wall painted, a leaking faucet, a broken fence, or an out-of-control lawn.  Since you have no income you seem forced to start trying to live off the land. I mean how can you not?  You may know nothing about gardening, much like me so you spend time in figuring out what you are doing while you are trying to become self-sustaining.  As the crops start coming in or as others start giving you crops because they fear you will starve, you have to freeze, can, or cook them in a timely manner.  And dishes…well there is just no excuse for dirty dishes if you aren’t working. 

This being said it is the unemployed who get the short end of the stick all the way around.  Our primary goal is looking for a new job.  As I have pointed out, that alone can consume all of our time.  In addition, life gets in the way and we find ourselves prioritizing tasks and managing our time even though we aren’t “on the clock”.  Even my cats now expect to be fed three times each day instead of the two times they had been accustomed to.  I hope I get a job soon because being unemployed is exhausting J     

Photo by Shaggy359

No One-Size-Fits-All

Earlier this year I saw an organic farmer on television who didn’t weed his garden.  He explained that the weeds helped to preserve water and acted as a natural bug repellent.  This intrigued me since I don’t like to use insecticides on my garden and who really likes to weed their garden to begin with?  A couple of weeks went by where it rained here nearly every day and the weeds really took off.

Over the weekend I decided to scale the weeds back a bit so I could at least see how the plants were doing because at this point it was anyone’s guess.  I started at one end of the garden with a pair of garden shears and just went to work.  That is when my four-legged furry helper came face to face for the first time with a real live…….ZUCCHINI!  I only wish I had a camera on me at the time because I will never be able to convey how truly hilarious that situation really was.  He first thought it was going to attack him.  He sniffed at it and then quickly jumped backwards.  When he finally realized it wouldn’t bite he then wanted to “pick it” and rough it up in the yard.  Now who knew the pest I would have to worry about the most in my garden would in fact be my own?

As I was stifling my laughter at his antics, I knew I would have to pick the zucchini myself or the next time he was in the yard alone he would pick it for me or for him I should say.  As I continued cutting the weeds back I was observing the various outcomes of the organic weed theory.  The zucchini plants had benefited from the weeds as they really did seem to preserve the water and keep the ground moist.  My onions however didn’t like that much moisture and a few of them had rotted.  The jury is still out on my tomato plants as they just looked unhappy in general so I think they are neutral on the weeds all together.

This goes to show there is no one-size-fits-all solution to situations in life.  As much as the weeds were being a burden to some plants, others flourished with them, and yet others found my dog to be the burden.  I will have to carefully take notice of the individual needs of each plant as I work my way through the garden.  My job search will need to be approached in much the same way.  There is no one fail proof tactic to getting a job.  Each company or industry should be treated differently and with much vigilance as to what is important to them and how you can convey that you get what is most important.  Much like weeding the garden, it’s harder than it looks but hopefully your individualistic appeal will win in the end and make it worth the toil you put into it.

Do You Live More in the Past, Present, or Future?

Time-orientation without getting into too much detail is divided into the present, past, and future-oriented people.  Our orientation affects our ability to delay gratification and weigh consequences, live for the here and now, or bring the past into the present.  We are inevitably a combination of all three orientations, however one tends to dominate how we live our lives more than the other two.  Our orientations can be based on a variety of factors such as life experiences, family orientations, religion, and economic situations to name a few.  There is no right or wrong orientation to have, however it might help to realize the consequences of allowing one over the other to dominate our actions.

If we are future oriented we may get so caught up in planning for the future that we don’t enjoy the present.  We can end up waiting for the perfect time to change jobs, get married, get divorced, have or adopt a child, retire, go back to school, etc.  We tend to count on a tomorrow that may realistically never come.  We also may worry about things that end up never happening.

Past orientated people tend to romanticize past relationships, jobs, and experiences.  It is more often than not that after a few minutes of speaking with a previous partner or co-worker that we are quickly reminded of why we chose to move on to begin with.  If we focus too much on the past we may be resistant to change or growth.  We may continue performing the same activities we did when we were much younger in an attempt to stay connected with our past.  All this living in the past prevents us from enjoying the present and what is right in front of us.   

If we live too much in the present, we end up taking excessive risks while not planning for the future.  Present focused people are likely to be motivated more by what is in front of them and unable to put off immediate gratification or weigh the consequences of their actions.  They may come across as selfish or irresponsible to those around them.  Finances and relationships may be directly affected by this type of decision making. 

I was notified that I would be losing my job seven weeks in advance and spent six of those weeks frantically updating my resume and online presence.   As my last week approached, I made the conscientious decision to do what I could and continue sowing my seeds but at the same time to try to live in the present and not worry so much about the future.  While I wait on my next job, I want to enjoy the here and now.  I want to exercise more, cook healthier foods, and dabble in yoga so I can learn to relax.  When my next job comes along, I know this time of living more in the present will benefit me and my future company.  It is when we draw strength and knowledge from the past, live in the present, and plan for the future that we truly experience a well balanced life.

So tell me, do you think you live more in the past, present, or future?  How does it affect how you live your life?  Is that something you want to change?

Photo by Stratospaerenlieder

In The Words of Deana Carter, “Did I Shave My Legs For This?”

I have previously reported on the hidden job market and how 85% of all jobs are never posted.  So what about the jobs we see posted every day in newspapers or on the internet?  What’s the deal with them?  There may be a variety of reasons why companies post jobs.

Many companies are required to post jobs whether a candidate is already selected for the position or not.  A staffing agency informed me that they will advertise for a position to get a pool of candidates to have on hand in the event they are approached by a company seeking someone for that particular position.  I have personally witnessed a two-day long interviewing event in which the hiring committee had already decided who would be hired before the first applicant walked through the door.   

I don’t mean to discourage you from applying for jobs that are posted.  After all, the job I had been holding for nearly two years was one I found in the newspaper.  I just want you to be aware that if only 15% of jobs are found that way, then maybe you should keep that in mind during your job search and divide your time in an equal fashion.  Don’t spend 100% of your time applying for only 15% of jobs. 

I recently found myself applying and interviewing for a posted job.  I heard through the grapevine that the job was going to an employee who was already working in the department.  Much like with any gossip, I took it with a grain of salt.  When I walked in for the interview and found out the interviews had been scheduled 15 minutes apart, I was beginning to think there may have been something to the rumor I had heard.  In all of my years interviewing and being interviewed, I have never had such a short amount of time to assess whether or not someone was an ideal candidate.      

The truth is, we will probably not know if a job was intended for a specific person or not.  We can only carry on and play the game, hoping that eventually it will pay off for us in the end.  I guess the worst that will happen is that we will get some interviewing and cover letter writing practice, right?  Never-the-less, it will inevitably leave us disappointed at some point thinking in the words of Deana Carter, “Did I Shave My Legs for This?”  The answer will be….”Unfortunately”!

Picture by Opensourceway

Are You Reaping What You Sow in Your Jobsearch?

I was driving home this afternoon thinking to myself how tomorrow will be my last day of work and that I am one day away from unemployment.  I had hoped to find another job by now, but alas that is not the case.  In an effort to try to stay positive I reminded myself of how I had applied for several positions and for all I knew, one of them would work out even if it wasn’t going to be by tomorrow.

I got to thinking about how the job search is so much like sowing a garden.  We go out and prepare a place suitable for our fruit and veggies to grow.  We take great care in making sure they have everything they need to be a success.  We sow our garden and then we wait.  We wait ever so patiently as we check on the progress every few days.  We make sure they have water and sunshine.  We wait….we weed.  We wait.  And as with my early round of tomatoes this year, if something goes wrong we don’t give up, we replant that garden.

All of this can be said of the job search.  You have to make sure you have everything you need to be a success.  You work on your resume.  You take great care to put together the best cover letter you can.  You do your research on companies.  You submit any additional documents to help convince that hiring manager that you are the ideal person for the job.  And then you wait.  To check on the progress you may follow up with an email or a phone call, but then you wait.   

The waiting is the hardest part in my opinion.  That goes for both the garden and the job search.  It’s during this in between time that you feel kind of helpless.  You have done all you can and now it is up to Mother Nature or someone you don’t know to decide your fate.  The important thing to remember while you wait is to keep sowing more seeds.  With any luck, eventually something will bloom and you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Picture by: Susy Morris

 

Are You Open or Closed to Opportunities Around You?

I sold my truck a few days ago after owning it for 15 years. I’m still in shock that it’s gone. I had thought that I would keep it until one of us died (me or the truck whichever came first). When I got the truck I thought it was the coolest. It gave me the ability to move stuff anytime I needed and to open the back sliding glass window even in winter, just to let some sunshine in. You may be wondering why I sold it if I loved it as much as it sounds like I did. I can only say that things fell together in a way that I felt like I was supposed to. Someone approached me about buying it and within a couple of days they had driven it and left me a check. It was almost too easy.

 

I had mentioned a few posts back that I was trying to be more open to things now that I’m looking for a job. Have you seen the movie, “Yes Man”? I love it and highly recommend it. The premise behind the movie is that the main character played by Jim Carrey is pretty closed off to things. He doesn’t really like to do anything and makes excuses for why he is constantly telling everyone “no” or avoiding them all together. As the movie unfolds, we see him going along with some pretty off the wall activities, to the point you are sitting there scratching your head thinking “What is this guy doing?” In the end you come to see that the things he was saying “yes” to, all played an important role later in his life.

My Sunday School teacher said one day that his son lost his glasses. He said he kept praying that God would let him find the glasses and after sitting there for a few minutes it occurred to him that God wouldn’t magically put the glasses in his hand, but that he had to get up and do his part. These two stories and the story of my truck may seem totally unrelated, but there is an underlying theme.

I have been praying that God would be with me in my job search and open the doors he would have me go through. In order for that to happen, I have to hold up my end of the bargain. That’s why I have been trying to get out of my comfort zone and do things I wouldn’t normally do if an opportunity presents itself. You never know what is coming into your life or leaving it for that matter, in order for another door to be opened. We can’t just sit back hoping or praying that our career counselor, pastor, friends, spouses, or family will help us get a job. Not that they can’t help, but we have to stand up and do our part. So get out there and try to take advantage of any opportunity that comes your way. What do you have to lose by saying, “YES”?