Drip, Drip, Drip . . . Avoid An Exasperating Way To Find A Job!

I was reading an interesting article in last Sunday's paper. It was written by Roberta Matuson, a contributing writer for Monster. It was titled "Improve Your Job Search."

Among other things the writer encourages you, the job seeker, is to review your resume. "Your resume may not be attracting the right attention and it could be time to spiff it up a bit," she says.

This is common advice. And frankly, writing a resume usually the first thing a job seeker does when heading into the job market. And if the job search requires a mid-course correction most folks look to "spiff up your resume" as a solution to a job-finding impasse.

Unfortunately we're victims of a job finding culture that's convinced the way you find a job is through your resume. We've all believed at one time or another that, if we get enough resumes in the marketplace, surely the numbers will eventually work for us.

Wrong! Resumes don't get jobs . . . YOU do!

The drip, drip, drip of exasperation waiting for the phone to ring is sometimes unbearable . . . especially if you've been in the market for awhile. You just can't understand why your resume isn't working.

At this point most people go back and review or even rewrite their resume. But, in reality, they're just adding insult to injury. The way out of this dilemma is not more resume, but more person-to-person interaction.

Let's face it, hiring decision-makers will never make you a job offer based on a piece of paper. And if you use that as your only means of finding a job, well, you're condemning yourself to weeks, even months of frustration as the drip, drip, drip of valuable time without work makes you more and more irritated.

Your goal is to discover ways to get in front of the person who could be our next boss. Face-to-face meetings are the only way you will get a job. So, why not focus on ways to do that rather than spiffing up our resume.

Fortunately, there are proven techniques that can help you accomplish this without relying exclusively on your resume. For example, develop a roster of people you have access to or who are knowledgeable about the industry or company you're interested in. They're are people you already know.

For example, people you do business with (like bankers, insurance reps, accountants, store owners, etc.), religious leaders, politicians (state and local) are the kind of people who could be knowledgeable and who may even have valuable contacts they could introduce you to. Add to these, friends, neighbors, relatives and co-workers and you have an extraordinary list of potential helpers.

Spending time developing these "career partners" will put you light years ahead of the competition and dramatically reduce the amount of time you have to spend in the job market.

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