The self-sustaining nature of long-term unemployment continues to be problematic in the US, now in its fifth full year since the 2008 recession began. Unfortunately for people in this predicament, most professional advice has focused on being defensive by attempting to make employers understand that:
Bad move.
Read MoreWhile it is tough to get started looking for a new job, the hardest part comes during the search itself. People aren’t finding anything similar to what they were doing, and the few who do are finding the compensation to be drastically lower than what they were making. These folks are feeling too old to be taken seriously, too outdated and irrelevant to the professional world. Some have sent out over 1,000 resumes and gotten fewer than five responses.
Read MoreThe result of any candidate search is that one or two dominant candidates crush the field. The candidates who are grouped together in the back of the pack are not bad candidates, though. In fact, these candidates are quite good – they fit the background requirements, have the right credentials and do ‘all the right things’ in their interview. The problem is that when you’re a good candidate, you are a lot like everyone else in the back of the pack. Meanwhile, the dominant candidates break out, uniquely connecting themselves to the position through their personal narrative with success stories to back it up. They leave the good candidates in the dust.
Read MoreRegardless of how connected you are to other people and things, though, failing repeatedly at job hunting delivers a desperation punch on some level and it will feed on itself and lead to more failure. When you’re desperate, you will take anything and this comes through loud and clear to recruiters and people you try to network with. Hiring managers? You probably aren’t even getting to talk to any of them anymore.
Read MoreThe top candidate(s) in the field exhibit relative dominance. They are taken seriously from the very beginning by the hiring manager and put on a fast track to receive an offer and get started. If for some reason the dominant candidate falls through, the hiring manager is not going to call you or anyone else in the pack of mediocre candidates – he is going to start the recruiting process over and find another dominator.
Read MoreWhen you have a personal narrative, you have a strong sense of belief in who you are. You also have an idea of the type of place you belong, but chances are you still need to find that place. The tendency here will still be to search job postings in an effort to find a fit, but as is the case throughout the beginning of a job hunt, it’s not productive to even look at job boards right now. Your next move is to research and engage organizations to find those that best fit your narrative.
Read MoreOnce you have performed a self-evaluation and have your concise narrative developed, you can begin the process of targeting opportunities. This is an exciting stage of job hunting because the self-evaluation will make you feel in control of your destiny for the first time. You now have a legitimate weapon to hunt with and your natural energy level is high. This is great! You are going to need all the energy you can find for tracking down opportunities, as there is a tremendous amount of research involved.
Read MoreNow that you have stopped submitting your resume and applications to job postings online, it is time to discover who you are through a self-evaluation. This is not a trivial exercise, it’s serious.
Read MoreRight now countless job seekers are flinging their resume at any and every job posting they find on job boards, getting ignored at very high rates of speed. If you are serious about not only winning a job but winning the job, then your hunt is not about exploring every option out there. It is about focus.
Read MoreCreating value as an entrepreneur through disruptive innovation is one of the most rewarding experiences that can be had. But most of us are not entrepreneurs at the moment: starting a company is still in the future or perhaps not right for us at all. The good news is that disruptive innovation can be practiced by 'intra'preneurs as well. We can apply disruptive principles to create breakthrough value even while working for someone else.
megadisrupter provides guidance on finding the right job, outperforming peers and becoming a disruptive innovator while on the inside of an organization. Articles and resources on job hunting, intrapreneurship, selling and management are published regularly.
Creating value as an entrepreneur through disruptive innovation is one of the most rewarding experiences that can be had. But most of us are not entrepreneurs at the moment: starting a company is still in the future or perhaps not right for us at all. The good news is that disruptive innovation can be practiced by intrapreneurs as well. We can apply disruptive principles to create breakthrough value even while working for someone else.
megadisrupter provides guidance on finding the right job, outperforming peers and becoming a disruptive innovator while on the inside of an organization. Articles and resources on job hunting, intrapreneurship, selling and management are published regularly.
