I didn’t really have a job before Sophomore year of college. Sure, I tried bussing tables at a local restaurant once before, but… it wasn’t really for me (I lasted three whole days). Sending the wrong food to the wrong tables and cleaning up unfinished meals one too many times was a little discouraging, to say the least. Related:11 Smart Tips For Finding A Job After College But Sophomore year, I needed money. And I needed it badly. So, I applied to any job I could find, including the infamous call center that required students to call about a hundred alumni each night to ask for donations to the school. No one wanted the job, so it was easy to get an interview. And I got one - a phone interview, of course. Now, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’ve never been good on the phone. In fact, when I was little, I used to have my brothers and sister call our friends so I wouldn’t have to talk to their parents if they happened to answer the phone (ugh, sooo awkward). Anyway, when I was called, I was in the middle of driving around town with a friend - unprepared and off guard. Needless to say, I was pretty awkward during the phone interview and didn’t get the job. I won’t lie, I was slightly relieved, but I still needed a job. Then, on my birthday, I got a call from the call center. They needed to hire a bunch of students fast (a lot of people had recently quit), and they wanted me to come in to fill out paperwork. Of course, I ran across campus to learn more. After a very informal interview with the boss, I got the job. I was thrilled - Woo! I’m going to make money AND get some work experience, I told myself. But deep down, I knew I’d want to quit after my first night working there. And I was right. It wasn’t an easy job. Calling up complete strangers and begging them for money they didn’t have was HARD. It was awkward. It just felt wrong. I talked to so many different kinds of people - some of them were wonderful to talk with, others were not. I talked to rich people, poor people, interesting people, boring people, successful people, unsuccessful people, people who loved my school, and people who wished they’d never gone to my school. I had mothers and grandmothers try to set me up with their sons and grandsons, I received ALL KINDS of advice, and I talked with some fairly prestigious alumni. I had to talk with sick people, or family members of passed away alumni, and people who didn’t have a problem yelling through the phone at innocent callers who were just doing their jobs. Those were the hardest calls. It wasn’t uncommon for callers to step out for 15 minutes to collect themselves, cry a little, or get some air. It was a difficult job, and our boss knew that. I loved my boss. He was one of the sweetest old men I’d ever met. He was always understanding and trying to make everyone’s job a little easier. He tried his best to make things fun for the callers, and to help us out in any way he could. He respected us. Despite everyone hating the job, we all loved him. And he loved his job. Despite wanting to quit after every almost every shift, I stayed at that job for two years. I knew it would give me the experience I needed to start my career (and the money I needed to go drinking on Friday nights). But I also stayed because I eventually got good at the job and I felt like I’d let my boss down if I quit. Then, during my second semester of junior year, my boss left. Our boss was the only reason many of us decided to stay there for so long. The guy who replaced him didn’t care about us, the alumni, or the school. He just sat around and gave orders to everyone as if we were mindless robots. Then, one day, our new boss came up to me and asked if I wanted to be a manager for the call center. Every caller dreamed of being a manager. You didn’t have to make calls, you just had to monitor the callers, come up with fun games for breaks, and create incentives. Plus, you got paid more. I had enough experience and had been working toward that job since Day One. He basically gave me the job - no applications, no competition, no nothing, yet I just couldn’t bring myself to accept it. Of all of the terrible, uncomfortable calls I had to deal with throughout those two years, I’d rather be doing that than taking orders from someone who had absolutely zero respect for me or the rest of the callers. Not only that, it was time for me to take the next step in my career development path - to find a writing internship. And so, I declined the offer and, along with many others, finally quit working at the call center. I’m extremely glad I decided to stay at the call center for so long. I met some amazing people, developed skills I wouldn’t have learned in class, and learned how to work with people. I used the skills I had developed to land all of my internships, including my final internship that turned into a full-time gig.
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.