3 Ideas for more effective job hunting

[Music]

this is a talk

about a different approach to job

seeking

the key to this approach is changing the

way you think about job seeking

so typically we think of job seeking as

something that is competitive

and transactional i want to suggest

that you should think of it as something

that starts with curiosity

and as an open-ended learning journey

now i know you might be a little bit

skeptical when you hear me say that

but stick with me i’m a careers coach

and i’ve coached lots of people on this

approach

and i’ve seen people make it effective

when they are

in work and they want to make a career

transition

i’ve seen it be effective for people who

are unemployed

and looking just for a job

and i’ve seen it be effective for

students who are right at the start of

their career and they’re not quite sure

what career path to embark on

so whatever stage you’re at or whatever

level you’re at

i believe this approach has got

something to offer

in fact sometimes it works so well

that people who i’ve coached on this

describe it as being easy enjoyable

or even lucky so i want you to feel like

that as well

when you are job seeking i’m going to

share with you

three key ideas that flow

from this changing approach from

changing from being transactional

to thinking of it as a learning journey

here’s the first idea

if one of the first things you thought

of when i said this was a talk about

jobs was your cv then perhaps you’re

being too transactional

if we frame it as a learning journey

we can describe this as a pyramid

with two really important foundations

the first foundation is self self

knowledge

or self reflection so this means

thinking through your values your

motivations

your strengths what you want from work

and what you feel you’ve got to offer

now if you’re anything like me you might

be tempted to skip this

step because you feel like you know

yourself already

but actually research tells us that

perhaps only 10 or 15 percent of people

are truly self-aware

so spend some time on this and enlist

the help

of a critical friend an ex-boss

an ex-colleague someone you’ve worked

with closely in the past

they can all be really helpful here but

once you’ve established

what you’re looking for from work and

what you’ve got to offer

you can move on to the next step

the next step is to explore

exploring your options and your

possibilities

where you can find work that’s going to

fit in with what you’ve got to offer and

what you want

now i always used to call this step

research

but when i get this exercise for

students they would leave my office and

go away

and spend 20 minutes on google and then

they’d come back and say

i’ve researched the job market i

understand the world of work

and i know what i want to do for my

career

so i’ve now started framing this as

explore

because it’s a much more active verb yes

it encompasses

desk research but it also includes

attending conferences and webinars

reading the trade press following

industry thought leaders

and talking to industry practitioners

the objective is to form a clear picture

of what’s happening in the industry that

you’re interested in

what kind of projects are taking place

what kind of work is important

what kind of people are successful

when you’ve done all that you can then

produce a cv

or write a cover letter or prepare for

an interview

or give an elevator pitch that’s

tailored to the industry

that you want to break into it’s all

based upon

what you know you’ve got to offer and

what you know

they’re looking for

now it might seem obvious when we build

it that way but most people do this the

wrong way around

they start by producing a cv

they then explore in a very narrow and

limited way

by applying for jobs and they only ever

get to self-reflection

if they find a few years later they’re

in a job that they really hate

let’s build on this idea let’s develop

this idea of explore

so if you take a transactional approach

to job seeking

it’s very easy to fall into the trap of

making

lots of applications and not getting any

feedback

not having any opportunity to learn if

you’re close to success

and what you’ve got to do to improve

you’ve probably also been told that

networking is really important

but if you’re thinking transactionally

you might not be comfortable

with getting in touch with strangers and

asking them for help

finding work so let’s reframe it

as a learning journey

if this is you as a candidate

set up a series of conversations with

industry practitioners

but don’t be transactional don’t ask

them for help finding a job

be curious ask them what it’s like to do

their job

who do they work with what projects do

they work

on what do they do all day what skills

are important

what’s changing in their industry if you

do that

something really powerful happens

you create an ongoing feedback loop

with the industry that you want to break

into

through this feedback loop you’re going

to gather the information you need

that will tell you which jobs

specifically you should be applying for

what the right level is for you what

kind of knowledge skills and experience

you need

so you can position yourself as a really

strong candidate

so if you find yourself in a

conventional application process

you’re in a much better position than

you would have been otherwise

something else really important happens

here too

by approaching people in this manner

with curiosity they respond much more

positively and you can form much

stronger relationships and then they

will start

to let you know about vacancies

maybe even refer you for vacancies or

advocate for you

and we don’t actually know but our best

guess

is that 75 of vacancies

are never even advertised to the public

so the only way to access this hidden

job market

is through developing a network like

this

let’s look at one more important idea

[Applause]

now i know you may be listening to what

i’ve said and be thinking to yourself

it sounds really challenging i don’t

have many

people that i’m connected to in the

industry

it’s going to take a long time i don’t

have the confidence to hold those kinds

of conversations if that’s what you’re

thinking again

you might be being too transactional

let’s reframe it as a learning journey

if this axis represents time

and this axis represents our learning

and connections

it actually doesn’t matter where we

start we don’t need to be

perfect when we begin because it’s a

learning journey

so what you’ll find

is very quickly your progress will

accelerate

that’s because every new connection you

make

opens the door to two or three more

connections

and everything you learn means that the

next conversation

takes place at a higher level

and very soon you’ll find

that your connections are letting you

know

about vacancies as they arise and

because you’ve learned so much

about the opportunities you’re applying

for

you can position yourself as a really

strong candidate you walk and talk and

sound

like someone who’s ready to do the job

and it’s at that point

that job seeking starts to feel easier

perhaps even entertaining or fun and

it’s where it feels like finding a job

can be something that’s lucky so

in summary change your approach to job

seeking

don’t think of it as something that’s

competitive and transactional

be curious and think of yourself as

embarking on an open-ended learning

journey

and you’ll have a much more productive

and effective

job search thank you

[Music]

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