I Don’t Know
On Tuesday, Dan called frustrated, angry, agitated, all the effort he put in over the last few months is worthless. He doesn’t get phone calls or emails, and his job hunt is a constant series of ghosting, rejection, and difficulty. He told me that I don’t understand and that my efforts are nice, but this doesn’t get him the job he needs.
Why can’t I just make a call and get him in somewhere?
Why can’t I just get him a job?
Reading his resume, he is an innovative, creative, well-rounded professional with process and program experience. He solves problems where others can’t find solutions. He has years of experience, and he is well regarded and a well-respected leader with a strong history of success.
What is the problem?
Does he not work hard enough on the job search?
Does he not tailor is resume?
Is he too old? What else could it be?
I’ve been working with people to help them find jobs for many years. I can tell you within the first few transactions, who will land quickly, who will struggle and roughly how long it will take for them given the conditions and circumstances of the time.
The secret sauce is not something most people want to hear. It is too unbelievable and difficult to comprehend. It is NOT so simple because “we don’t understand” how hard it is and how difficult it is.
Leaders, CEO’s, CIO’s, all sorts of people, all shapes and sizes they find themselves in similar situation. You know, Dan as a CIO can’t understand how this could happen. He had a lot of success and the only reason he is looking for a job now is because of an M&A that he had nothing to do with. He was successful, it isn’t his fault. They gave him a package and even a company to work with for a year. He had an advantage over others because at least they gave him people to work with. So, what is the problem?
It isn’t one problem; it is a lot of different problems. Every situation and person is different but there are things that people can do and often choose NOT to do to help them land. The most interesting thing about this is that normally despite their unintentional self-sabotage, they do find work. It just takes longer.
What is the secret?
The frequency of posting the resume to portals, should be reduced and replaced with time spent on knowing oneself and finding human connections.
People reach out to me and refer me to others. Some people want to leverage my network and that is all they want. Some folks want coaching. Some folks don’t know what they want. I give them three things.
- Study yourself to understand where you are and what you want.
- Know what you want as an expert of YOU.
- Build your network, talk to your network, work with your network.
When they say, “I don’t know how.” I provide some tools to help them get started.
The people doing these three things, land roles faster. They do.
If I speak with 10 people over the course of a week, 3 may do what I recommend. These people land jobs faster.
That’s it.
I have written over the years why I have chosen to help people find work. Personal coaches, certified bologna, resume writers, statistically insignificant except they take money and that is their line of work. I don’t believe that you should hit a person when they are down and take money from them under these conditions. I do believe that if they are successful and you help them, they should be open to helping others down the road. Some are and some don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves. I can’t tell the difference up front, so assholes at times get by me.
The bottom line is, if you are submitting 100 posts a day to jobs across the board, you have a chance in the same way as going to a casino. You can win, but the odds are in favor of the house.
If you want to even out the odds and have a better shot at landing, invest the energy and time in knowing yourself, knowing what you want, knowing what you need and learning how to tell a quick and succinct story about yourself that is compelling and demonstrates value.
You have value, but if you don’t know what it is how would they know what it is?
What happened to Dan?
I fired him.
If he isn’t worth his time, he isn’t worth mine either.
A few closing points:
If I invest energy in something or someone who just takes it for granted, I can’t use that time for someone else. If I do something for someone, I am stealing their ability to overcome their challenge. If I help them but providing tools and resources, they can own their win.
If Dan as a CIO did what he needed to do while he was active in his role, he would have lowered his risk. Please understand, I am not suggesting that everyone should be out there networking all the time. I am suggesting that if you are not growing yourself, this will show.
If you are struggling to find work. Get up, look in the mirror and start investing time in yourself.
As always, I am here!
Great post
As I knew, lost, and relearned (learning is a life long opportunity – take it everyday).
Blasting résumés everywhere isn’t the answer. Charging up on L/ isn’t either.
Real Life: Slow down, get clear on who you are, and build real human connections. Some people want coaching, some want to leverage networks, some aren’t sure what they need (been there…it happens…clouds will show you ops if you start with #1, “who are you?”— but meaningful opportunities come from conversations and clarity, not from nets/bots/portals/…..
GO you /// GO Dan (be BIG:)