Mike Castellani, Career Service Advisor at DeVry University in Naperville talks about breaking old job search habits established in 2012 and offers tips to help you find success in 2013.
First and foremost, you need to get off those online job boards! Sites like Indeed and Career Builder have a place in the job search, but they should only make up a fraction of your overall search strategy. Many experts place the source of hire (SOH) rate for online job boards at less than 10%. That doesn’t mean you have a 1 in 10 chance of getting a job through these sites - it means that if you and 200 other people apply for the same job online, there’s a 90% chance that none of you will get the job. Instead, you should put together a schedule and make sure you are dedicating time to network, research, improve your qualifications, and develop documents, like your résumé, cover letter and portfolio.
Next, you need to stop ignoring your old contacts. You’ve heard it a thousand times; it’s all about who you know. Well, that’s only half right - it’s actually all about who you know… and with whom you stay in contact. We all know people - it’s next to impossible not to know people. We meet and interact with people every day, and often develop actual relationships with them. Where we run into trouble is when we simply lose touch with them - out of sight, out of mind. Now is the easiest time of the year to correct that! Give your old contacts a call, and ask about the holidays! If it’s been too long since you last spoke, tell them this year, your goal is to correct that.
Lastly, you need to get off the computer all together. I understand that you are more than likely reading this post on a computer, and if that’s the case, I apologize for the mixed signals. Sites like LinkedIn are great, and the Internet is still the best job search tool you’ve got, but nothing replaces meeting and talking to people in real life. Go to a professional association chapter meeting, check out a job fair, introduce yourself to someone in line at the coffee shop. I don’t know anyone who found career success through isolation.
Comments