Strategies for Success in 2000

Happy New Years from NRI! As we look towards this year, here are some helpful strategies for getting ahead in today's job market. This article comes from www.washingtonjobs.com, the Washington Post's internet job site.
By Caryl and Ronald L. Krannich, PhDs. Courtesy of Impact Publications.

 

Strategies For Finding a Job

Always try to find a job that's "fit" for you rather than try to "fit" into a job just because it is available.

Finding a job that is "fit" for you requires that you do first things first - assess your interests, skills, and abilities and set clear goals that will guide your job search into productive channels. Unfortunately, many people start by doing last things first - writing a resume and spending most of their time reading and responding to classified ads. That's the best way to become confused and discouraged in today's job market!

You should spend most of your job search time on activities that increase your contacts with other individuals who can provide you with information, advice, and referrals. You do this by developing an active prospecting and networking campaign which incorporates both interpersonal and electronic networking activities.

Rejections are a normal part of any successful job search. Learn to welcome rejections as prerequisites to encountering acceptances. Without rejections, you will not learn what you should accept. A typical job search involves eight rejections before receiving an acceptance. If you stop your job search after three or four rejections, you will prematurely kill your chances of getting a good job. Start your morning out by saying "Today, I'm going to collect six rejections, because after the sixth one, I will probably encounter an acceptance!"

Finding a job need not be a lonely and depressing experience. Don't be afraid to share your experiences with others. Better still, join or form a "support group" or "job club" involving five other individuals who also are looking for a job. Meet once a week, share experiences, set performance goals, and reward each other for achieving goals. In so doing, you may discover one of the best kept secrets of such job seekers - they cut their job search time in half by joining such a group!

Strategies for Writing Resumes

In today's job market you need to write two types of resumes - a conventional and an electronic resume. Each follows a different set of writing and distribution principles. One stresses objectives and action verbs; the other stresses key word prefaces and nouns.

Since your resume is your calling card for advertising your qualifications to employers, it must stress your accomplishments rather than your history. You must clearly state your key accomplishments in reference to the employer's specific needs. Use key words that succinctly express your accomplishments.

Strategies for Interviewing

Employers aren't stupid - they want quality and productivity. They recognize candidates who come prepared with canned answers to interview questions - they are role players who lack substance. Employers want to know what it is you can do for them - the specific benefits you are offering them. You can best communicate your benefits by talking about your accomplishments in specific work settings. Give specific examples of how you solved a particular problem or how you handled certain situations. Indeed, employers increasingly conduct behavior-based interviews that require you to "give them the beef." You are well advised to become a good "story-teller" during your interview rather than someone who dishes out canned answers to standard interview questions.

Avoid talking about salary until the very end of your last interview. The job interview is all about establishing and communicating value - you need to know what the job is worth and the employer needs to value your skills and potential performance before discussing the money question. By the end of the interview both you and the employer should have answers to your value questions. You should know what the job is worth, and the interviewer should know what you are worth. Now it's time to talk about money. If you prematurely address the salary question, you may undervalue yourself.

Overall Orientation

When in doubt about what to do next in your job search, do something that contributes to learning more about yourself, specific employers, or the job market. Go to the library to conduct research, contact people in your network, further build your network through cold calling techniques, or explore job sites on the Internet. You must be proactive in communicating your qualifications to employers. Spending a lot of time worrying about your future or waiting for employers to come knocking on your door are really a waste of time. Always focus on doing something productive - things that contribute to achieving your final job search goals.