Common job hunting mistakes to avoid

NOT PUTTING IN THE NECESSARY TIME

This is probably the biggest problem for any job hunter. Finding the time can be a major struggle, but don’t beat yourself up! Schedule the job search into your calendar. It could be 30 minutes in the morning while having breakfast or 30 minutes over lunch.

You must invest the time if you are to succeed. It’s up to you to find the jobs, not the jobs to find you. This means working on your target list, being able to concisely and coherently describe who you are and what you want to do, and having networking contacts at the places you want to work.

LACKING FOCUS

If everything sounds interesting or if you are avoiding your job search entirely, you probably lack focus. Focus is the one thing that no one else can provide for you and it’s the one necessary item in a job search. It is up to you to define what skills and environments are “must haves” for you on the job, then identify types of companies that could offer you those things. From there, you can really develop your target list of specific companies where you want to develop contacts.

RELYING ONLY ON PASSIVE JOB HUNTING METHODS

It’s human nature to want to take the easy way out but in a job search, it doesn’t pay. Reading and applying to online job listings or sending unsolicited résumés to human resources is NOT a job search. EVERY inexperienced job hunter uses these approaches, upping the competition.

Remember your four steps – FOCUS (on skills, environments and interests you have), TARGET (skills, types of companies and geography), RESEARCH (those companies on your target list), and NETWORK (with people who do what you want to do). You can supplement your search by periodically applying to openings, but this should constitute less than 20% of your job hunting time.

HAVING UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS OF NETWORKING CONTACTS

Wouldn’t it be nice if you made a few calls and every person you spoke with dropped what they were doing to find you a job? Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. Contacts are there to give advice, opinions, and – if all goes well – other contact names. They will give you job leads once they are comfortable with you and if they know of any. Remember — it is YOUR job to contact them, keep in touch, and follow up.

WORKING WITH TOO FEW NETWORKING CONTACTS

Many job hunters say they have been talking to tons of people but no one’s helping (see above). Usually these job hunters are talking to 10 or fewer contacts. You must tell AS MANY people as possible what you are looking for and keep in touch – remind them that you exist.

There is no magic number of contacts to have to guarantee you a job, but to give you an initial goal, you should be dealing with no fewer than 25 networking contacts and that number should be continually growing. Successful job hunters are those who have told the most people clearly and precisely what they want to do and keep in touch with contacts. Striking a balance between quality (conversations must be personalized and sincere, which takes time) and quantity is key.

HAVING NEGATIVE ATTITUDE

Those who refuse to accept responsibility for their job search will not find success. It is normal to feel frustrated at some point in your job search. You can’t control every part of it (who responds, which companies are hiring, etc.) so focus on the things you DO have power over. Though it’s difficult to remain upbeat and focused all the time, take ownership of the job hunting process. This is YOUR job search. Only YOU can make it happen.