Panic leads to epic time-wasting job search actions that rarely lead to finding best job

3 Quotes

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself." — Plato

Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.” - Elbert Hubbard, author and philosopher 

“The secret to being successful is to do what you need to do, not what you want to do.”   - Nick Sabin, former college football coach, TV sports analyst and businessman,

BIG IDEA

Here is a simple formula for succeeding in a job search. It's not complicated, but it’s not easy. But if you follow this formula, you will be back to work before those who think applying online is the smart move.

It is a simple plan, but there are powerful forces that derail so many jobseekers.  Here is what I mean.

When you lose your job, most people will find themselves consumed with the belief, an obsession, that you immediately start looking for a new job.  After all, it could take four, six, eight months or more to find a new position. 

There is no time to waste - not an hour, day or week. Get to it!  What are you waiting for?  Early bird gets the worm, and all that…You have bills to pay, a family to feed.

So, you do the only logical thing — you send out resumes left, right and center. You scour job boards and other internet resources. Common sense seems to yell,  the more you send out, the better the chance of your landing anew position.  It is a numbers game.  The more you load into the top of the job search  funnel, the sooner you will get hired.

For hourly and lower-level staff positions, that might work.  For executives and managers, it is an enormous waste of time. Why?

The vast, majority of those positions are not listed online.  Frequently, they are not even posted on the hiring company’s website. We are talking about 60% to 70% of the top management and executive positions.

They are filled through referral. Someone who knows you, or someone you are referred to, will share information regarding the.  hiring company, or even pick up the phone and make a call for you.

When. you are feeling the pressure from your spouse and the household bills, being disciplined can be a tough challenge.  I am not saying never to apply online. I am saying to invest your time looking for people with connections to hiring companies and work with them to get referred. 

What I am saying is that finding an executive or management job online is a verifiable time-wasting long shot where your odds are 250 to one, or worse. Plus, it will take you much longer to land that good job. I know it won't feel that way at the time, but the research doesn't lie.

Question

Do you invest time in building your career network even when you are not looking for a job?

FINAL THOUGHT

As we approach the holiday season — Thanksgiving Eve is less than a week away — use this “hiring downtime”  to work on strengthening (or building) your career network. It is this network that will expedite your job search.  

Before you start asking to connect with random people, there is an important question you must ask yourself:  What can I do for them?  What skills or connections do I have that might add value for them?

Finally, is establishing a specific connection consistent with your career strategy. Can they help you?

Networking must be thoughtful.