找工作时常见的6大错误

Six Common Job Search Mistakes
By Barbara Safani

A job search is like a journey and sometimes it’s easy to take a wrongturn. Many feel overwhelmed and unintentionally neglect some of theimportant strategies that contribute to a productive and efficientsearch. Below are some of the most common mistakes I see among jobseekers and some tips for getting your search back on track.

1. The Resume Isn’t Accomplishment Focused. Job seekers oftencreate resumes that are no more than a laundry list of job tasks. Suchdocuments do little to differentiate you from the competition. Insteadof writing about things you did, write about the accomplishment withinthe task. Rather than saying that you make widgets, explain that youexceeded the company’s quota for making widgets by 25% by retooling theproduction process and eliminating redundancies.

2. The Network Has Been Neglected. If you don’t stay in touchwith friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and clients your request toreconnect with them after the relationship has been dormant for so longwill be met with suspicion. If you only reach out to your network whenyou need a favor, your network will dry up very quickly. Find ways toremain involved in the lives of your acquaintances, colleagues, andclients and plan to give more than you get. Create natural touch pointsfor staying connected. Send articles that you think might be ofinterest to your network or create a personalized e-card to recognizesomeone’s birthday. Invite people for coffee and attend events atprofessional associations.

3. Little Online Presence. Your resume says you are anaccomplished professional and a leader in your field. Yet when a hiringmanager or recruiter puts your name in a search engine, either nothingcomes up or they find others with the same name and can’t distinguishyou from the others they see listed. Many hiring authorities will wantto research your candidacy past the resume and an online search is oneof the best ways to do this. Make it easy for them to find you bycreating customized online identity, business, and social networkingprofiles. Some important tools to consider using are LinkedIn, TheLadders.com, Plaxo, Ziggs, and ZoomInfo.

4. No Personal Marketing Plan. Think about what you want in yournext job. Identify the type of position, industry, company, geography,size, and corporate culture you are interested in. Then do someresearch to uncover which organizations best match the descriptions ofyour dream companies and market yourself directly to those companieswhether they have an open position or not. Reach out to your network tosee if you are connected to someone who knows someone in that companyand ask for an introduction. The goal is to build inroads into thesecompanies before they need you and later leverage that relationshipwhen they are in need of new talent.

5. An Unorganized Job Search. When you are in a job search, youstart to accumulate a lot of information. You may have differentversions of your resumes, multiple cover letters, scores of jobpostings you have applied to, business cards from networking contacts,company research, and job search articles and tips. You need a systemfor organizing and automating this information as much as possible soyou can quickly retrieve what you need and cut down on the clutter.Save yourself the headache of creating your own system and sign up fora free account on a career management tool like JibberJobber orTheLadders’ online tracking tools.

6. In It Alone. Being in a job search is often like being on aroller coaster. There are highs and lows and job seekers need to havesomeone in their lives to help them move forward and remain accountablefor their search. Relying on a friend or loved one for support cansometimes be problematic and add stress to the relationship. A betterstrategy is to find someone else and partner with that person to shareadvice and leads and offer support.

Many would say, “I wish Iknew then what I know now.” But you’ve got the opportunity to learn andprosper from the oversights of others. Take this advice to heart andreflect it in your search to obtain your dream job!