BLUNDER #1: Relying exclusively on online job boards to locate a job.
REALITY: You can certainly find jobs via online job boards. However, the success rate in landing a job using this method is between 2% and 4%. Talk about pathetic! Why? Literally tens of thousands of job-seekers think that job boards are the only way to locate jobs. These job-seekers are unaware that easily 80% of jobs can be uncovered through the "Hidden Job Market."
CASE STUDY: Two job-seekers have the same qualifications. Job-seeker #1 used a popular job board - and nothing else - to look for jobs. By contrast, job-seeker #2 used a "secret weapon" that a Certified Job Search Strategist recommended. As a result, job-seeker #2 landed a job in only 3 weeks, whereas it took job-seeker #1 SIX MONTHS!
BLUNDER #2: Believing that you can apply for any and every job with just one resume.
REALITY: Hiring decision-makers view this action as wasting their time. Why? The days are long gone when they will receive a resume, sit back, and take 10 minutes or so to read it. Today, the job-seeker is lucky if the resume is "given the green light" for advancement in 10 seconds. If you submit a general, one-size-fits-all resume, hoping that the hiring decision-makers will figure out which job is best for you, your resume is GUARANTEED to wind up in their garbage can.
CASE STUDY: One job-seeker forwarded just 1 resume for 7 completely different jobs. When her job search went nowhere, she hired a Certified Professional Resume Writer, who recommended that she use a completely different approach. She landed an interview only 1 week later - much, much faster than the 40-week average of moving from one job to the next.
BLUNDER #3: Thinking that whatever you post on social media will have no impact at all on your job search.
REALITY: These days, hiring decision-makers WILL "Google" your name to see what digital dirt materializes. You MUST sift through all of your online profiles and social media posts, and delete what you don't want hiring managers to see. Also, make sure that you have the right privacy settings in place.
CASE STUDY: One 20-something lamented that he couldn't land his first job. A quick "Google" search revealed that he used social media to brag about drinking every weekend to the point of practically blacking out. Any responsible employer would never hire someone like this!
Think Like An Employer
BLUNDER #4: Playing on the hiring decision-makers' sympathies, hoping they will feel sorry for you and give you the job.
REALITY: Hiring decision-makers have heard it all: "I've been unemployed for months." "I'm depressed, and the only thing that will lift me out of my depression is for you to give me this job." "I'm practically broke." "My marriage is on the rocks, and my spouse will leave me if I don't get this job." "I have a job, but they're not even paying me close to what I believe I'm worth." "I'll do anything; just give me the job." Remember: The hiring decision-makers' loyalties are - first and foremost - to the company's operating success. It is NOT their job to rescue you.
CASE STUDY: One job-seeker pleaded with an employer to give her a job. She whined, "I'm a single mother with 3 kids - a 'victim of society' - so you should give me this job." The only thing that "playing the victim" will get you is … No Respect. From Anyone.
BLUNDER #5: Listening to your friends who say that you should write your own resume.
REALITY: This is the biggest blunder of all! Would your friends tell you to pull your own tooth if you have a toothache? Of course not! They would insist that you visit a qualified professional (in this case, a dentist) to quickly solve your problem and make sure that you avoid any further pain.
Your friends, although well meaning, don't think like hiring decision-makers. In addition, your friends don't know about a range of 21st Century resume-writing tactics, that your resume MUST contain if you want to be seriously considered for the job.
Amazingly, some job-seekers will say, "I can still write my own resume because I can get that information online." Don't do this! Why? You can't believe everything you read on the Internet. MANY sites contain resume-writing and job-search information that is easily 35 years out of date. Don't volunteer for pain!
CASE STUDY: One job-seeker made the smart decision to hire a Certified Professional Resume Writer. The job-seeker wanted to make things easy for the resume writer and brought along her old resume - something that a friend wrote for her. The resume writer's comments: "Its format is obsolete, and it says nothing about the value you offer to an employer." In less than 3 hours, the job-seeker was armed with a new resume that received a LOT of positive attention from multiple decision-makers!
