If you have been interviewed for even a few jobs, you have realized that the
process is biased against you in many ways. Everything is designed to make the
process easier and more successful for your future employer rather than for you.
Despite your needs as an employee, the process is designed to grind through the
list of candidates and spit out a, hopefully, qualified employee. If you want
to survive this process and find the job, and the career, you deserve, you need
to move beyond the traditional strategies of cover letter and resume. You need
to find ways to circumvent the process and develop an advantage over the other
candidates.
Let me be clear, though. When I talk about circumventing the process
I am not talking about having your resume delivered via FedEx,
or worse still, in a pizza
box. It isn't about sending email to every person at the company. Not only
will these tactics not work, they are likely to prevent you from
ever getting a job
at that particular company and perhaps others.
Instead of simply submitting your resume into the great maw that
is most HR departments, you need to start, today, building an on-going
job search that
doesn't depend
on want ads and resumes. You need to start making connections and relationships
that allow you to walk into the company of your choice with a head start.
The Perfect Situation
Your first step to a better job is to get a referral to a particular
company or for a particular position. As any good salesman knows,
cold calls are the
least effective method of selling. Any introduction, even the most tenuous can
give you a large "step up" in the process. Since getting a job is one
of the most important sales you will ever make, it only makes sense to apply
some of the same rules.
How do you gain these referrals? First, you have to do great work,
regardless of your current environment, co-workers or management.
Even
in the worst jobs, you can still shine and people around you, both
management and peers will recognize
that. In today's highly charged job market, workers move around much more
frequently. You never know where your co-workers might be 1, 2,
3 years in the future.
Doing your best work means that someone might just come looking for
you when they need
a new employee or co-worker. Even if they are never in the position to hire
you, they might be able to refer you to someone who can, something
they are more likely
to do if they had a good work experience with you, even in a bad work environment.
Next, expose yourself to as many people as possible. Too often, we
cloister ourselves within our family, close friends and co-workers
to such an extent that we never
have the opportunity to build more extensive relationships. Join a user group,
a professional society, Toastmasters, whatever organization strikes your interest.
If you don't know which one to join, try out several. Visit a meeting and see
if you enjoy the environment.
Whatever the organization you choose, the next step is to get involved.
Don't sit on the sidelines. Take on a small task to start and do
it well. Now you have
increased those that know your work, and its quality -- and you are having
fun, too. Talk with your fellow members. Find out what is happening
in their companies.
Do they have any job openings where you meet the requirements? You need not
be mercenary, constantly looking for openings, but you should be
aware of your newly
discovered possibilities.
Of course, you can't do this overnight, nor should you try. Just
like preparing for your retirement from the minute you start your
career, you should always
be preparing for new jobs, new careers and new possibilities. The sooner you
begin, the more success you will have, but even seasoned workers, like myself,
can benefit, as we re-dedicate ourselves to exploring new opportunities, new
groups and new friends. For my part, I have become quite involved in two user
groups and make a point to attend meetings, dinners and simply get involved.
Finally, don't be afraid to ask for a referral if someone can help.
A good referral reflects well on you and even more on the person
who referred you. No one wants
to refer a bad candidate for a job, but if you have done your work well, they
will not hesitate to pass along your name.
In today's job market, it is those who move beyond the resume that
will benefit most. Don't let your next job search be a string of
unproductive cold calls.
Seek out the referrals that can bring your resume to the top of stack.
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