Three Reasons Your Job Search Isn’t Working

Friday, November 28, 2014

Lea McLeod, GoLocalPDX Careers Expert

Photo Credit: iStock

When I hear the woes of people in the job search, there are a couple of resounding themes. For many the job search is overwhelming, and they don’t know where to start.

Others have started, but they are “sending out resumes/applications and not hearing anything back.”

What they often don’t realize is that their job search strategies suck. Typically, they aren’t well researched, planned, or executed. That ends in frustration and despair.

To get your job search on track and rolling, check to see if you have these problems, and if you do, take action to change it up.

1. You’re applying to anything and everything you see on line.

If there’s one thing job seekers should know about this job market, it’s that specificity is your best friend. This is not a market that welcomes mass-produced resumes, cover letters, or voluminous online applications.

Why? Because employers aren’t looking for just anyone. They’re looking for the best-qualified candidates who are a fit for the position they have, and who want that job.

That means applying en masse to lots of jobs is a loser strategy.

Many recent grads and young adults especially love the online job search. But applying for jobs online does not a job search make. Applying for jobs online is a transaction that makes you feel good because you got something done that day on your job search.

Here’s the problem.

When you “apply” you have no control over the process. You spend hours completing applications, only to have them go into the ATS (applicant tracking system – where resumes go to die) black hole. No wonder you “never hear back.”

When you do the research and compose a list of target employers, you have more control. You control who you reach out to, who you ask for informational interviews, who you get connected to, what alumni you contact, what blogs you read, even who you cold call if that’s your cup of tea.

Apply = no control.
Target = lots of control.

Instead, do some research. See below for more on that. Develop a list of target employers that you want to work for. Identify ways to connect into them and identify hiring managers who may want to know about you. You do all this, by the way, whether they have job openings or not.

2. You’re not doing any research.

The most overlooked and undervalued part of your job search is RESEARCH. Studies show applicants inspect a job posting for an average of seven seconds before they decide to apply.

Seven seconds?

That is not a targeted or well-researched application. In fact, it’s probably not worth the email you sent it in on.

Rather, think about your job search as a marketing project wherein you are going to identify the perfect customer (employer) for your services, pursue them, and get them to hire you.

It’s hard to do that with no research on: the market you want to work in, the employers who need what you have, or the kinds of jobs you should be applying for.

Give yourself dedicated time to simply immerse yourself in the research of your job search BEFORE you start submitting any job applications.

For example, do a keyword search on LinkedIn using some of your strengths. See what kinds of jobs are looking for those talents. Review, literally, hundreds of job postings and profiles of others.

Start composing a picture of the direction in which you’d like to go. Now you can further develop your strategy for identifying target employers and target jobs for which you are a good fit.

3. You’re not playing the insider game.

It’s no surprise that many jobs are placed through referrals. Employers like referrals because the applicant is pre-vetted by other employees.

As well, studies show referred hires have a higher retention rate than non-referred hires.

To get attention in the referral market, you have to have conversations with other people in the organizations you want to work for.

Once you have your job search strategy, identify people in target companies, or tangential companies, that you can connect to. Use informational interviews to learn about the work, show off your stuff, and get more information on how to get a hiring manager’s attention.

Don’t overlook tools like LinkedIn’s amazing alumni connection feature to connect instantly with alumni in industries, jobs, or companies that are in your search targets.

Once you get fearless about asking for connections (professionally and by having a good business case) and then follow up like a pro. You’ll be acing the insider game in no time.

If your job search is getting no traction try these three steps: Stop applying, and start targeting; get your research done, and get on the inside track with your target employers.

Lea McLeod created The Resume Coloring Book E-course to help you craft a step-by-step, color-coded resume in 6 simple sections that is proven to pass the “7 second recruiter scan.” Her career insights have been featured in Forbes, Mashable, LifeHacker, Daily Muse and Business Insider. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow her on Twitter.