Hi there! Welcome to Youâre Hired! Job Interview Preparation - Job Search Strategies That Work.
Make no mistake. Searching for work⌠is work!
It takes time, effort and a lot of self-motivation to succeed in your search.
While you have your skills and experience in place to apply for and land your dream job, or one that leads you to it, searching for a job requires a whole different set of skills.
In many job markets being invited for an interview can be like winning a lottery. Your resume likely got you in the door, now you need to wow the Interviewer and do your best in the interview to land the job.
This book focuses on job interview preparation strategies to maximize your job searching effectiveness and is excerpted and expanded upon, from my book Youâre Hired! Job Search Strategies That Work.
Nobody can make a promise if you follow their program, you will be guaranteed the results you are looking for and I wonât either.
However, Iâm confident if you follow the strategies outlined in this book, your chances of being successful in landing a job are increased.
From my experience, one of the biggest problems job seekers often face is they feel they are coming from an inferior position and they donât have a lot of personal power. The belief being the Employer has the superior position and has all the power.
Yes, they have the job and they have the power to give you the job ⌠or not.
What you may not realize is many Hiring Managers are under similar pressures as you, the job seeker. They have the pressure of finding the right candidate for the vacancy they need to fill.
They are accountable to their superiors should the person they hire not work out. It has been said an inappropriate hire can cost the organization an additional 30 to 50 percent over the job positionâs annual wage. This would include lost productivity incurred when the new hire is oriented, the cost of advertising for new applicants and the time taken to interview and follow up with applicants.
Hiring managers are under pressure to hire the right candidate.
Your task is to become the only choice. The right choice!
As I mentioned earlier, we are likely not experts at searching for jobs and landing one. It isnât something we do on a regular basis.
As I researched the content for my book Youâre Hired! Job Search Strategies That Work, I found the problem is compounded by a lack of hard facts on what are the best-practices for job searching.
Iâm reminded of an old parable about a group of blind men who were required to touch an elephant and to describe their observations.
Each one felt a different part, but only one part, such as a tusk or the trunk. When they compared notes, they learned they were in complete disagreement.
I found the same to be true when researching strategic job searching skills.
Each webpage from my search results on the internet spoke from the perspective of the writer whether they were a resume writer, an Employer Hiring Manager, recruiter, etc.
Much the same as the blind men describing what an elephant looks like, their advice is from their perspective. That makes sense to me. We all create our own reality. My reality is completely different from anyone elseâs.
The problem is the job search âexpertsâ state their observations as hard facts. They believe what they write is true. And then the next article you read, will dispute what the first expert had said and they will present their truths.
How can something be both true and false at the same time? You must never do this. You must always do this.
Same advice. Can something be both yes and no?
I donât consider myself an expert at job searching.
What I am very good at though is taking subjects people struggle with, finding better, easier ways to do things and breaking it down to basic strategies that work.
I create systems to solve problems.
Years ago, I moved my family across Canada to a city where I didnât know anyone.
I had a brand-new home built for me, but I didnât have a job waiting for me when I got there.
At the time, the new location was very hostile towards people who had moved from the east to the west coast.
I often heard âyou Easterners come out here and steal our jobsâŚâ
I found jobs were limited. I found getting an interview for a position I had applied for was like winning a lottery.
I also found my new geographical area had what they called a âSunshine Tax.â
As a desirable place to live, the cost of living is higher and employers believe they can get away with paying their employees lower wages. The idea being you the worker should be grateful to have a job and the employer can get away with paying you less.
âIf you donât want the job, somebody else will!â
I got so tired of hearing about stealing local jobs I started to change my story when I attended local business networking events.
Instead of saying I was unemployed, I would say I had retired early.
I was 39 years old and the illusion I had retired early seem to resolve the âyou Easternersâ complaint.
However, I used to add âif the right job came along, I would likely consider going back to work.â
It was offered somewhat tongue in cheek.
It took me a good six months to land a job. It wasnât as good a job as I had hoped.
It was a compromise until something better came along.
I describe my employment experience at my new location as being like a roller coaster ride.
I went from being unemployed, to employed. I went from not getting enough hours to getting too many.
I went from being employed to being laid off.
I went from being employed to being self-employed.
Self-e...