Unless you’ve had jobs simply fall into your lap, you know that engaging in a job search is usually time-consuming and, the longer it takes, often stressful as well. Success is easily measured; initially by the number of interviews you get and, ultimately, in whether you receive at least one suitable job offer.
However, if you are seeking employment during sluggish economic times or in a profession where competition for employment is stiff, you may experience a discouraging amount of rejection.
What’s more, it’s not always easy to identify the cause for the lack of success in your job search. Is it your resume? Is it your approach? Are you even looking in the right place?
So (with apologies to David Byrne and the Talking Heads), you may ask yourself, “Well, how do I work this”?
What exactly do you do when your job search isn’t working?
If your job search isn’t yielding reasonable results, much less those you’d expected, it’s time to take inventory of your efforts to assess whether it’s style, substance, or both that are keeping you from being taken seriously.
We encourage you to look at the details of your job search efforts and ask yourself if the failure to gain momentum is due to something obvious (e.g., the need to rewrite your resume) or because of something less so, something process-related.
Review the following items as they relate to your current efforts to determine whether any of them match the reasons your job search isn’t working:
About the Author: Michelle Dumas
