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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