Joyce Richman: How to stay on the right path
Joyce Richman: How to stay on the right path
Looking for work can be difficult and time-consuming. You have to conduct self-assessments and research on companies that you are targeting. You have to be open to new and challenging opportunities when you’d rather focus on work you know you can do. And you probably will have to hear “no” when all you want to hear is “yes.”
It’s understandable to want to take shortcuts during this process. But as tempting as that can be, avoid those that take you down blind alleys, cost you time, or worse, money.
A few tips:
• Stay away from impressive-sounding companies that charge whopping fees to find you a job. You’ll pay for a pledge they probably won’t keep.
• Stay away from impressive-sounding certificate programs that entitle you to something that no employer wants.
• Stay away from companies that hire you without seeing you or ask you to sell products you haven’t seen but have to buy.
• When you lose your job, you’re susceptible to schemers who take advantage of need and capitalize on fear. Protect yourself from them by staying connected to objective third parties who know you and your circumstances well enough to help you evaluate the wisdom of your choices — before you make them, not after.
• Don’t send your résumé to companies that haven’t requested it.
• Don’t waste time applying for jobs in places you really don’t want to live.
On a related subject, I get calls from people every week who rail against businesses that don’t respond to their résumé submissions. I’m sympathetic until I realize they’re sending résumés to companies where there’s no connection between the applicant’s experience and the employer’s need.
You’re not conducting an effective job search, either, when you plaster your résumé on windshields or use other “unique” spray-and-pray techniques. It’s up to you to figure out what you do best, to show examples of it, to practice how to communicate it and to target the market where there’s the best return on investment.
It’s up to you to get help when you need it. You may have friends or relatives with hiring experience who would be willing to help you sort through your options. You may know retirees who have spent much of their working lives in management who could help you figure your way to the next place in the workplace. You may have acquaintances who could help you map out a career plan and figure out strategies to get you where you want to go.
The key is to ask and to be open to what you might not want to hear or expect to hear. And rather than shut down or say they just don’t get it, ask them to tell you more, to explain what they mean, and to connect the dots they see that continue to elude you.
Joyce Richman is a career coach and author of “Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job” and “Roads, Routes & Ruts: A Guidebook for Career Success.” Read her blog at www.richmanresources.com and watch her latest career advice Wednesdays at 6:35 a.m. on WFMY News 2. Contact Richman at 288-1799 or JERichman@aol.com.
