Last week I was at a great event with Career Connectors and the keynote speaker asked the audience a lot of interactive questions. There was one that particularly intrigued me. He asked for a show of hands how many in the room spent more than 30 hours a week looking for work. There were around 100 job seekers in the room, yet only 2 raised their hands! I was in shock.
I recognize looking for work is not just a science of numbers, but a structured art. There is a big difference between working hard and working smart. At the end of the day, it takes work to find work! Spending 30+ hours a week is a must. During those 30+ hours, here are some tips on working SMART!
Study- Get into your industry and study the trends. Make sure you are the expert in the industry you are focused on working in. If you get the chance of landing an interview, show off your dedication to learn.
Measure- Knowing your strengths and weaknesses when starting your job search can give you a huge advantage. Everyone’s personality is different. It’s not better or worse than the next person, just different. Measure your personality strengths and highlight them.
Apply- Don’t be afraid of going after those jobs that might push you. You can’t progress until push yourself. Spend your time by getting your resume in front of as many eyeballs as you can. You can’t be invited into an interview if they don’t know who you are.
Reach Out- Spending 30+ hours in a week is not about getting in a car and crossing your fingers that you’ll see a Now Hiring sign on someone’s door. It’s about being proactive and reaching out to as many companies as you can. Be structured but committed to introducing yourself to as many companies as possible. Take some time and get involved with industry associations. Go to lunch-and-learns and network. Take some time to comment and show your enthusiasm inside Linkedin Groups.
Tenacity- Never give up! I recently heard a statistic that over 70% of candidates interviewed never hear back that they didn’t get the job! WHOA! Imagine how demoralizing it is if you nailed an interview, walked out and called your best friend from you cell phone to say you got the job. Days go by and you’re just waiting for that phone to ring. Never does. Now you realize you have to start the whole process over again. Don’t let this happen to you. Keep up the tenacity of pushing and pushing to get that job. Never slow down until you are starting your first day on the new job. It is going to be a full-time job to get the right job.
Keep up the working SMART! When you put in the time, and do it right, you put yourself in a position to win.