The Job Coach Asks Finding A Job? Everything You Know Is Wrong

Really? But what about my educational background or my previous work experience. More importantly, what about the people I know? In addition, I’ve got a great resume, and I do a killer interview; certainly that counts for something in my landing my next dream job. Not really! Now don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have work experience and interview skills, but that’s not why a decision maker offers you a job. The Job Coach says your problem is that you view the world through your eyes, which is a natural thing to do, but you need to see the world through the eyes of the person who you hope will offer you your next job. You think you have a great resume? Many job openings today have hundreds of applicants sending in their resume so how well will yours stand out? (By the way, most companies today scan resumes and use software to look for applicants. A human doesn’t even look at them. Most people have no clue how to optimize their resume but that’s a topic for another article.) You’ve been told you do a great interview, maybe so. But are you better than the other 350 people applying for the job? Probably not! What about your educational background? Are you going to beat out the guy with the masters from Harvard? What about the applicant who is 15 years younger than you or the woman who is better looking? Having said all of that, none of those factors are the real reason why we get jobs. I want to talk about what really are the critical points but first let me ask you a question. When was the last time you needed medical care? Maybe you broke a leg skiing or you had a gut ache that made you want to pass out. You look frantically for a doctor or hospital to attend to your condition. Your wife packs you in the car and off you speed to get desperately needed medical attention. When you arrive in the ER do you ask to interview the attending physician? Do you want to see his resume and inquire where he went to med school? Do you even ask how much experience he has as a doctor? No, all you want is for someone to ease your pain. It’s that simple, you hurt and you want it to stop. You’ve got a problem and you want it solved. It’s no different in the job market! A decision-maker has a problem and if you can solve the problem for less than the problem costs, you will get the job, end of story. Do you think that’s an oversimplification? Do you think companies hire people just because they want to have a lot of employees? Let me tell you, most companies would like to get along with fewer employees not more. Companies want to do things and it takes people to accomplish that. It doesn’t matter who you know, how old you are, your gender or educational pedigree. If the decision-maker feels that you can solve his problem you will be offered the job Most people go about their job search in exactly the wrong way. They choose an industry, post a resume online, and think that this is a targeted strategy. They hope that their wonderful resume will allow them to stand out and they will have the opportunity to demonstrate their interview skills when the company calls. In most instances, they don’t even get a rejection e-mail! Everything you have done makes sense from your perspective. Let this be a wake-up call, it’s not about you! In fact, the company and its decision-makers don’t care one wit about you! They care about the company and its problems. Your challenge is the following: 1. Research companies that you want to work for. 2. Figure out what their needs are. 3. Determine if you are a candidate to solve any of those problems. 4. Identify key decision-makers in the company 5. Plan a strategy that puts you in contact with those decision-makers 6. Demonstrate that you can solve their problems for less than the problems cost. Your resume, work experience, age or gender will, likely, not even come into play. All this can be done in an environment where you are in complete control and determine the timeline of critical events. Believe me, this really works and is radically different from how you are probably going about things now! In this economy it’s more important than ever that you think and act outside of the box. If you do what everybody else does… well, you probably know how that turns out.