Job seekers have a lot to keep in mind: preparing their resume, developing and monitoring their LinkedIn profile, watching jobs, to name just a few. One of the most consistent pieces of advice that job seekers will find, often in a sea of conflicting recommendations, is that the job search requires work. There may be scores of people who “magically” land their dream jobs – but there are millions of people struggling to land the position of their dreams – for some “just a job.”
Related: 4 Tips To Help You Shorten Your Job Search
Studying peak performers is a worthwhile effort – but for the moment, consider which peak performers to study. What I would like you to consider here is not to study the all-stars from sports or the award winners from television and films. For most of those performers, a very high level of talent is combined with their passion and practice. However, in the performing arts, particularly among the hundreds of hard working Broadway actors – and the hundreds of performing artists who spend hours on buses every week to make a decent living for their families – here’s where you’ll see some great lessons for many job seekers.
I have been honored over the last several years to meet and get to know several Broadway performers and several different individual singers and members of singing groups. Some marquee performers, definitely; some award winning singers or singing groups, yes; but most are hard-working professionals driven by their passions. I was quickly struck with the leadership, management, and career lessons that could be learned from these opportunities. Here are three thoughts that every job seeker can use as part of their attitude toward the job search – or as changes in their techniques.
Auditions - Interviews
Professionals in the performing arts do not apply for jobs in the same way as traditional job seekers. And the result is that the application and interview process are often linked in a very different way. While some top performers may be “recruited” for specific roles, just like top professionals in many fields might be contacted by a professional recruiter, the majority of performers spend hours, weeks, months, and even years auditioning in response to casting calls. One of my professional friends spent over two years attending multiple auditions for a part in the touring company of a Broadway show. Unlike most traditional hiring processes, performers may have some significant preparation for an audition. They may need to learn a song, or part of a dance routine, or a scene from a play, in order to audition.
Performers understand the realities of the “market” for performers. There’s little chance of success for the “someone owes me a job” attitude that sometimes dominates the thinking of some traditional job seekers. Traditional job seekers are poorly trained in career search strategies. Performers not only understand the dynamics of the audition process, they know how preparation is critical – and they learn to “love the audition.”
Networking
According to a 2016 survey, 85% of open positions are filled via networking. This is something performers understand, and many traditional job seekers don’t follow. One of the most knowledgeable experts of hiring, Lou Adler, recommends a 20/20/60 focus. You should spend less than 20% of your time applying for posted jobs; 20% of your time polishing your resume and LinkedIn profile, and 60% of your time building your network. Performers understand and practice this. They do have some opportunities that are better than traditional job seekers. They attend multiple shows with fellow performers, particularly performers they’ve worked with in previous shows.
While the theater or music community is definitely competitive, it’s also a close-knit community of professionals who support colleagues. I recently tracked the “hiring process” of two award-winning singing groups as they replaced key members of their groups. While one of the groups “announced” they were open to outside applications, they actually ignored them. Within the network of their genre, each group hired someone that 1) they knew and 2) came highly recommended from their close professional ties.
For traditional job seekers, make sure you’re building that network – strive to achieve or exceed that 60% target.
Resumes
The resumes of performers are fascinating -- and very different from the resumes of traditional job seekers. There’s an advantage here that’s difficult for job seekers to imitate. The resume of a performer is often a list of the shows and roles performed, along with the producer or production company. But in the performing world, where performance is always “public,” these short lines tell a casting director exactly what the person did and provides detailed insights into the quality of the performance. The casting director already knows significant parts of what a traditional hiring manager is trying to learn in an interview.
The only way for most job seekers to emulate this is to move as far away from some traditional resume content and fill your resume with significant accomplishments, in a story format that brings the accomplishments to life and motivates potential employers to want to know more.
Conclusion
In today’s highly competitive job market, a different approach that creates new connections or makes your presentation stand out can be very important. Thinking about how others conduct career searches can also simply spark some new ideas for your own.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here.Photo Credit: Bigstock
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.
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