Go ahead, raise your hand. Admit it. You did, didn’t you? Yes, I’m talking to you.
You just submitted your umpteenth resume to yet another online job post, didn’t you?
Have you ever heard the saying:
Insanity is the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
Job Hunt Pop Quiz
“Well, what else am I supposed to do? I can’t stay at my job any longer and this job search is completely exhausting.”
Let’s consider the alternatives.
A) Sit cross-legged on your yoga mat, willing the job to come to you. In Bali.
B) Maybe this time, you tailor your resume and add some keywords from the job post and write a targeted cover letter as to why the organization should hire you.
C) Go to another alumni happy hour, leaving with several business cards, of fantastic people who work in completely different fields.
D) Use professional networking to open up new career opportunities and stand out amongst a huge pool of candidates
Option A
How many of you chose A? If I had sent out 100 resumes and hadn’t heard back either, I’d pick A too. I’d be mentally exhausted and in need of some island meditation!
Option B
So B seems like a good choice, right? And sometimes, it can be. But if you just do this and nothing else to support you in your job search, you might as well go back to your yoga mat.
Option C
I certainly did after law school. I went to every single alumni happy hour and we are talking about four schools here so that makes for a lot of happy hours. It was a great experience, but I would also probably have found myself on my yoga mat meditating again if I didn’t quickly reset my expectations. Alumni events are great networking events, but if you have a focus and target, you may not find them to be spot on in your career search. You want to find events specific to your areas of interest where you can meet people from your target companies.
So what should you do instead?
Well, you may just want to consider Option D – here’s why…
Why Simply Applying For Jobs Isn’t Working Anymore
At the end of the day, no one thing will get you a job. But building a professional network will help put you head and shoulders above other candidates who just didn’t bother.
These days, it takes a multi-faceted approach of targeted resumes and cover letters, where you take the time to make them relevant to the place you are applying to, a detailed strategy to get yourself noticed at the places you are most interested in, and a strategic networking approach so you don’t end up spending your evenings hopping from one happy hour to another with no job prospects.
But how on earth do you do that you ask!?
Fear not my friend, my free guide below (or to the right on if you’re on a laptop) is about to open up a whole new world of opportunities for you.
