Your attitude can impact your behavior and ultimately your job search results. Even if you can offer employers the exact experience and skills they are looking for (and more), you'll have trouble getting the job unless you carry the right attitude.
6 Behaviors That Can Reduce Your Chances At Getting The Job
The wrong attitude leads to poor behavior and unfortunately, that may be the cause to why some of the very qualified job candidates are still struggling to secure a job. Worried your behavior might be why you're not getting the job? Here’s what you need to watch out for:
1. Lack of conversation.
The more conversational you are with contacts the better connection you can build. Read up on what’s happening in your field and industry as well as general news (things that are happening around you). When you share information and talk about it, it starts conversations. When you have nothing to share or say, communication with others becomes dead. Being conversational at the job interview is also critical. People hire those they are comfortable with and enjoy talking to. So even if you have the experience and skills to offer but there’s stiffness in the air due to lack of conversation, you lose out.
2. Waiting on others to take action.
You are responsible for finding a job, not others. Even when you have a network of contacts who say they are willing to help, it’s still up to you to take action as well as control of the situation to make things happen. Often times job seekers will share their resume with their network of contacts, letting them know that they are job searching. Then they wait around hoping for a call back. It doesn’t work that way! As a job seeker, you need to personalize your communication with each contact who can help you so they clearly understand what it is that you have to offer.
From there, you will receive valuable information as to who you need to make contact with and how to follow-up. You also can’t rely on recruiters to bring you job opportunities – that’s not what they do! Recruiters don’t find jobs for people, they find people for jobs. Recruiters are working for the employer, not you! Job seekers need to take a more proactive approach with job searching – knowing who, when and where to follow-up from to get results.
3. Not staying current.
Everything from the way you think to your technical skills can come off as dated if you lack willingness to explore and try things new. Just because your previous job functioned a certain way or you had technical expertise in a certain area that worked on the old job doesn’t mean the next job will work the same way. Be willing to experience things new and adapt to change. Do some research to understand what core skills are needed for the job so you maintain the necessary technical skills. This may mean you need to enroll in a course or go through additional training to stay current for the profession.
4. Unwilling to start from the ground up.
It’s okay to have big dreams, but when you’re new to the job market or profession understand that you may have to start at the bottom and work your way up. It’s only through experience that you can gain the knowledge needed to advance. Get more advice reading: “4 Things To Know Before Taking A Lower Level Position.”
5. Me. Me.
Back in the days when the resume was still written with an objective statement, the “Me. Me. Me.” mentally was standard. You would state what you wanted. Today, however, it’s about the employer. What can you do for the employer? What do you have that the employer needs? How can you bring value to the employer? As a job seeker, you have to address these questions in your communication on email, the resume and during the interview to impress employers.
6. Talking bad.
People enjoy being around others who have a positive attitude and outlook, not those who simply like to talk bad about others and complain. Keep a positive attitude and talk less about the problem and more about solutions.
Fortunately, behaviors and attitudes can be changed. Knowing how the above attitudes and behaviors can hinder your job search, make the necessary changes now and see better results in your job search!
This post was originally published at an earlier date.Photo Credit: Shutterstock
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
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Make 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
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Are 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.
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
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Your 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.