Use an Effective Job Search Strategy
The most enjoyable part of my life growing up was swimming and water polo. I loved those sports more than anything. The summer is coming around soon and the Summer Olympics will be upon us again. This is a great time for me as I watch the best in the world compete for their country. By July 2nd we will know who will be the swimmers representing the United States. One of those will be Michael Phelps. If you remember the 2008 Olympics he shattered records. Each heat is comprised of 8 lanes of swimmers. Michael was usually in the middle lanes. Why? The faster qualifying swimmers are in the middle lanes and then the slower ones go out from the middle.
You might ask what does Olympics swimming have to do with an effective job search strategy. Just as in the Olympics certain lanes are reserved for the fastest swimmers certain strategies are faster and more effective in your job search. I like to take the different types of job search strategies and put each one in its own lane. The lanes I have are personal network, network’s network, associations, internal job postings, external job postings (job boards) and recruiters. So the question is which one is most effective and how should I spend my time?
I have found this same statement, with a small variation in the percent, all over career websites. I have also found this very true in my experience. There is an art to this and you need to learn how to network. A good book to help you is Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi with Tahl Raz.
So what is networking? Networking is the first three lanes mentioned above: personal network (people you personally know), network’s network (these are referrals from your network) and associations (these could be trade associations, volunteer organizations or special interest groups you are a part of). One side note about organizations; you need to carefully choose the organizations you want to be a part of and you should participate in them. Going once to a social media marketing group will not help you. Go often and get involved. This is how you will build that personal network.
Why are the other ones in the slower lanes? Internal postings do not go outside. If a company had retained a search firm, that means that they had no referrals, internal candidates and no one responded from job boards. Some companies use search firms for very specialized and higher positions. But once again, they wouldn’t use that firm if they had a connection that fit the position. Some companies are required to post jobs externally to show they are doing their due diligence even though they will hire someone internally. I have seen external job postings work, but once again it is not the most effective way to find candidates.
As the Olympics roll around, remember you want to be in the fast lane. You need to network and do it effectively.
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