Comments on: Thom Singer on the Job Search

By: Jeremy Hanks Pays To Get His Garbage Can Cleaned | Career Management Alliance Blog

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:32:16 +0000

[...] on his luck making his own. read the entire story here… The story is awesome… remember the Thom Singer post where I talk about pride and humility? I doubt this guy is too proud… don’t you think? In the [...]

By: JibberJobber Blog » Blog Archive » Jeremy Hanks Pays To Get His Garbage Can Cleaned

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:06:21 +0000

[...] story is awesome… remember the Thom Singer post where I talk about pride and humility? I doubt this guy is too proud… don’t you [...]

By: Sophie Lagacé

Sophie Lagacé — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:49:24 +0000

Good points all. And here is another hurdle, perhaps a subset or variant of the first point on this list, but a lot of my friends who are still unemployed still buy into it. It’s not sufficient to “just be yourself”; you need to be yourself in a way that appeals to the employer. When I was younger I bought into this fallacy too; the patter in the job seeker’s head goes something like: “After all, I wouldn’t want to work for an employer who won’t like the person I really am.” And the result is that the job seeker fails to improve his or her resume and does not prepare adequately for interviews — or for a career.

Here’s why it’s a fallacy. First, all of us are more than just employees, more than just our careers; we have families, friends, hobbies, personal interests, dreams, fantasies, and biases. There’s no need to drop everything in front of an employer — just showcase the elements that are relevant to the job skills needed, and show the employer why they are valuable. When the job seeker just shows everything pell-mell in the name of “being his/herself”, it’s like they just went through their entire house and garage and picked objects at random; what are the odds this collection will make sense or be attractive to someone who does not already know them? Pretty low.

Second, it’s not just about your skills at the job. It’s also about your skills at job search. When you play the job search game well (have a good resume, interview well, etc.), you imply that you can also play other “job games” well — talk to clients, manage tasks, stay organized, navigate office politics, work on business development, whatever. It shows that you’re willing and able to learn the etiquette and unwritten code around a particular activity, that you value the employer’s time (by making it easy), and that you are professional and polished.

By all means, everyone should “be themselves” in their job search, but it’s how they do this which can make or break a job search. Don’t be too convinced of the awesomeness of your resume and skills; get a second opinion from resume professionals, career coaches, friends in HR, etc., and do your homework.

By: Glenn Mattsson

Glenn Mattsson — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:32:36 +0000

Thanks for posting this Jason. I just read it and it was eye-opening for me. Even I see many of the mistakes that the gentleman has made in the NY Times article. It’s “nice” that he has the financial resources to survive 2-3 years while sorting through and figuring out his next career move. Most of us, i.e., me, don’t have this luxury.

Although I’m guilty of neglecting my network and cultivating it for the time I would need it, at least I recognize that it’s a huge mistake and am trying to fix it. Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone” is now on my bookshelf, I’m about halfway through it, and the ideas he has have already made an impact on my own efforts.

Thanks again for pointing to this post. I never would have seen it on my own.

Thanks!
Glenn

By: Juli Monroe

Juli Monroe — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:19:09 +0000

He’s dead on. Thanks Jason for posting this. I think #1 is particularly pertinent. But I don’t think, at its core, that pride is the issue. I think you were on track when you said you were scared to reach out. We build huge scenarios in our mind when we are vulnerable. We assume what people will think of us, and we use those stories as our excuse. I’ve been having what I now call the “fear conversation” with several clients in the past couple of weeks. They use fear as an excuse. I ask them what the worst possible outcome would be. Every time, when they face the “worst” they find it’s not nearly as bad as the nameless fears they have allowed to build up.

So don’t be afraid to reach out. Many times what you’ll find is that the person you reached out to was also afraid to reach out to you. And when you both reach and metaphorically grasp each other, some really cool things can happen.