How to Get a Job In 14 Days or Less
77
In the last three years, I have had two times when I have been looking for a new job. None of these searches took more than 2 weeks. I have met people who have been looking for jobs for over two years. Am I just lucky? No. Let me share with you what it takes to stop searching and get hired.
Of course, almost half of all jobs are acquired through networking and contacts. That's great... if you have the contacts. What if you don't? You should try to network more and develop better connections. In the meantime, you need to work. Below are a few suggests for amping up your process of getting hired without the benefit of good contacts.
Knowing how to find a new job is important, not just because it will get you employed. Knowing that you can walk out of your current job and have a new one quickly gives you confidence in dealing with your boss. He does not hold the same power over you that he would if you were not sure if you could find another job. Regardless of the economy, companies are hiring someone. Even 9% unemployment means 91% employment. Read on for some tips to move into that employed group.
Sending Out Resumes Online is Not Job Hunting
If finding a job online were so easy, everyone would do it. Of course, since everyone does it, it's not easy. When I worked in recruiting, we got over 50 resumes a day from just Careerbuilder and Monster alone. That's 250 resumes a week. Many of the people that I called to bring in for interviews didn't even know what I was talking about. They just clicked some button on something that sent their resume to us. I was in recruiting, so we wanted as many people as possible to find the best ones, but if I had been looking to fill just a few positions as most employers are, I would quickly grow frustrated with the rush of low quality applications that poured over me. Does this mean that you cannot find a job pnline? Certainly not. Every one of those jobs posted on line will be filled by someone, and it could be you. But with 1,000 resumes going for that one job, how good do you think your chances are?
Know What You Want
If you have no destination, all roads lead the wrong direction. Have a clear idea of what you are looking for. Once you have this in mind, you can then seek out exactly what you are looking for with much greater intensity. When I would call someone for an interview, they had a much better chance of getting in if they had a specific answer to "what made you decide to contact us?" rather than "well, I'm just looking for a job." If you are just looking for a job, go to McDonald's or Target. Retail and fast food are always hiring. There you go: a job. If you want better, know what it is you want.
Make Personal Contact
If you want a job, don't just send in an application and hope for the best. Show up, ask for the person in charge of hiring and talk to them directly. If you can research ahead of time and find out who you are looking for, all the better. The fact is that any position has hundreds or thousands of applications means that your resume may never actually be seen by the hiring manager. Whether it is at the office, through a contact or at the coffee shop, if you can get face to face contact with the hiring manager, hand her your resume and then follow up regularly, you will keep yourself at the top of that giant stack of resumes.
Follow Up
As I have mentioned a few times, there is a giant stack of resumes for any position. Even in the digital age, these resumes are often printed out. If you call the hiring manager and ask them about your application. Chances are that they will pull your resume out to look at it so as to remember who you are. When they are done with it, they will probably just drop it back on top of the pile. Well, if you were in the middle of the pile before, now you are on top. A much better place to be.
Follow up regularly, no so often that you are a pest but often enough that she knows you are serious. The best way to know how often to call is to ask. When concluding your follow up call, ask when you might expect a call back. When that date passes, call the manager again. Show her that you will talk to her at the time she promises, whether she calls or not. It will show that you are dedicated and demonstrate that you are persistent enough that you will keep calling until you get a definite yes or no.
Don't Go Job Hunting, Go Job Finding
They say that Chuck Norris doesn't go hunting because hunting implies the possibility of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing. This is how you must be. You are not going out to look for a job. You are going out to find a job. Maintain this attitude. It's not about how many resumes you send out or how many interviews you get. It's about one result and one result only: being hired. Focus on this and you will find it.
The world is full of great advice on finding a job, and I encourage you to learn all you can.The one piece of advice that ties all that together, however, is to boldly and confidently decide what you want and take it. Your future is in your hands. Make no excuses.
CommentsLoading...
Oi. You know most places refer you online to apply for jobs these days, right? Most places won't even take a resume if you walk in with one (in fact, I only came across ONE business that accepted paper applications and not online ones--Barnes & Noble.) and they absolutely discourage follow-up phone calls due to the large number of people applying. I have been positively chewed out for calling.
This "don't apply online" business might be okay if you live in a city, but it doesn't work for folks who live in rural areas. I could quite literally drive in a straight line for 40 minutes in each direction without finding a place that was hiring. Internet job searches help point out places I might not otherwise know are there.
I'm glad your tactics worked for you, but to imply others are doing something wrong because they are having less luck is insulting.
If you walk in and talk to the manager, and, after talking to them, they ask you to apply online, by all means do so. Tell them that you will apply online and then follow up a day or two later by phone (make sure to get a direct phone number when you talk to them) to make sure that they got the application. As for being chewed out for a follow up call, if that's how they treat applicants imagine how poorly they treat employees. I'd sooner stay unemployed than work for a place like that.
As for your wasteland of hiring, how do you know that they were not hiring? Did you walk in and ask or just drive by and not see a "hiring" sign? Many companies will create a position for the right candidate, even if they were not actively looking for a new hire. Sometimes, they need to hire someone but have not gotten around to announcing a position. By walking in, you may be able to get into the interview before they even bother to put up the hiring sign.
Luck has little to do with finding a job. Luck is merely the meeting of preparation and opportunity, and luck rarely comes to those who spend their time making excuses for their failure. Focus on the goal or accept the consequences.
good stuff, follow up follow up follow up. 1st things 1st and 2nd things never.
Some very useful advice on here - I think also it is worth adding letting your contacts on Linkedin (and possibly Facebook) know that you're searching for work - it's often a case that someone you've worked with will recommend you.
Know what you want is a pretty good start in finding a job. You are right. When I interview people I would like to know that this is the job that they want. Handing preschoolers is a challenging thing...and we can help a person develop their skills but we can't put the passion in them. Thanks for this tips. :)
Congratulations on your Hubnuggets nomination. To all who would like to read and vote and support the Hubnuggets, this way please: http://enellelamb.hubpages.com/hub/HubNugget-Myste
I understand your "follow up" approach and that applying online puts us in competition with hundreds if not thousands of other people. However, what I think the previous poster with no name was trying to point out was that it doesn't matter whether you walk into a place to talk to someone about a job or apply online, because they direct you there no matter what. I've had this happen to me several times and was never "allowed" to speak to the hiring managers to follow up. They were always too busy or with a customer and never called back.
One of the other companies I followed up with, eventually called me in for a second interview and said I was hired and brought me in for training. Then when I called for my schedule there wasn't enough hours for me to work. I called every week to find out if I was working and got told "No" because the manager would refuse to talk to me. I actually got cursed out by an employee for trying to find out if I was working or not (when it is our responsibility to know our schedule) and told if I was needed the manager would call me. When I went into the store to talk to the manager about this, all the employees were new (hired after me), and she denied that any of HER employees would have done that to me. She wouldn't give me a straight answer as to why all of these people had hours and were working but I wasn't. I told her to pay me for the hours I worked or I was suing them and they could keep their hours. I went through this for 2 months before they finally sent me my pay from the first week of training.
Moral of my story: "Follow up" doesn't always work. I still got taken advantage of.
P.S. The only interviews with companies I've ever gotten (recently) have been from the resumes I sent out online.
What a great hub. You have good points there!
Marcy Goodfleisch Level 7 Commenter 3 months ago
I like your positive approach - too many people let the search discourage them. Good advice - voted up and useful