The 10 most common job search mistakes
And what you should do to fix them
Trust your own personal experience and philosophies
Most job seekers base their job search methods and techniques entirely on their own set of experiences. Doing so will only serve to limit your opportunities.
Think like a marketer. Marketers do not design advertising for their products based on your personal preferences; instead, they test and use approaches that appeal to a wider audience. Job seekers must learn to do the same.
Be too closed-minded
Actually, this is closely related to reason number one. Most of us have a hard time stepping out of our comfort zone and adopting new and / or alternative ways of doing things. This attitude will only serve to limit our job opportunities. Do not rely on your own personal experience and philosophies, instead study and discover other methods that will open up new career opportunities for you.
Use only one or two versions of resume
One or two versions of a resume will not work. Don’t trust a sample resume. I’ve written a lot on this topic and my central message is that you have to “get into the head” of the reader of your resume. The best clues on how to tailor your resume come from the actual language of the specific job posting you may be responding to.
If you are providing a resume to an employer on an exploratory basis, when they may not have listed a specific job, research their website to see if you can find information about their specialty areas and use that language. If you still can’t find information on the employer’s website in such cases, take the content of the most common advertising language from 10 to 20 job postings you can find and use the most common words, phrases, and ideas.
Relying too much on big job boards
There are no best job search forums or best executive job search sites. Only 10-15% of all jobs are advertised on major job boards at the same time. That’s where your competition is fiercest.
That leaves 85% to 90% of all jobs less visible. You have to learn to find them. Even 85% to 90% of available jobs, only a portion of them may appear anywhere except possibly on professional employers’ websites. You should learn which online job search engines to use to search most employer websites from one location.
Failure to adequately screen prospective employers
The question is not why you research potential employers, but how to research potential employers. You should conduct a research of all potential employers you are pursuing. They expect it and will almost always ask you.
A good method is to find something that you find interesting about the employer and that, hopefully, can relate to your own interests and job skills. Be sure to bring it up during the interview when asked, and if they don’t, find a way to bring it into the interview discussion.
One potential way to do this is when they ask you if you have any questions. You can repeat what you read in summary form and then ask them for more information about it. This shows your interest and desire to learn more.
Not preparing properly for the actual interview
Tips for interview preparation can be invaluable. One of those tips is to realize that there are three types of interviews that job applicants find to be most common and you should be prepared for each of them, or some combination of them. One is the more traditional, which generally follows the format of your resume.
The second type of interview is behavioral and this has become very popular with many employers. It is more difficult to prepare for this type of interview, so the best way is to understand how to answer the behavioral interview questions.
The third type of interview is the case interview in which you are presented with a real or hypothetical work situation and asked to discuss it with the interview team. These types of interviews are common for consultants, lawyers, but receiving at least one mini-case question these days is very common.
Not investing enough money in yourself
With the advent of the Internet and all the information easily accessible to us, the attitude arises that we never have to pay for anything. This usually rears its ugly head for a job seeker when they are reluctant to pay for more expert advice and access to more efficient tools and techniques to help us not only in our job search, but also in our career. Most people spend more eating out than they are willing to spend on their career. You must be willing to invest in yourself not only to continue your education, but also to obtain professional advice.
Putting too much emphasis on salary too soon
When was the last time you jumped out of bed, eager to get to work because you made x amount of money? It is not likely that you have felt this way very often.
Most of us enjoy our work for what we can do, what we can learn, and where our career takes us. Of course, we all want to be compensated fairly and competitively. But not being willing to explore a career opportunity because the first question we ask ourselves is, “How much does it pay?” he is totally wrong.
First, find out about the opportunity, both long-term and short-term, so you can understand how it may or may not suit your long-term career goals, it’s just myopic.
Not having a long-term professional vision
This continues with the previous error. If you don’t know in which direction you want your career to head, it’s like a sailboat under full sail with no one at the helm. You will end up where the wind takes you.
You need to have a longer-term vision of your career so that the decisions you make along the way lead you to where you want to end.
Not being open to new opportunities all the time
Now you have a good job and your mind is totally off looking for work. In general, it is as it should be, up to a point.
When the headhunter calls you or a colleague calls you about a career opportunity, are the first words out of your mouth: “I’m not looking or I’m happy where I am”? Both of these statements are true, but you should at least be open to exploring the opportunity or hearing more about it. Even if it’s not the right time to make a change or the job isn’t right, be open to suggesting colleagues who might benefit from learning about the opening.
Often times, the best opportunities come to you and without many other competing candidates.
Not building professional networks 24/7
This is essential. Build your networks consistently and consistently so that when you need career information or career guidance or job search help, you have a valuable network to rely on. It is the concept of digging a well before you are thirsty.
LinkedIn is the most valuable network to do that. Join relevant groups there and contribute to the discussions. You will build your own reputation along the way. It’s like creating a goodwill savings account so you can get paid when needed. Rule number one is to give first, before asking for something. That way, you have “cash in the bank” to use when you need it on short notice.