DO NOT SCREEN YOURSELF OUT!

When investigating job opportunities, be sure to approach them with a different frame of mind than you might have had in the past. Most candidates will screen themselves out based on job title alone. When reviewing job descriptions all you need to do is ask yourself if you would like the job? Do not review them thinking you need 100% of the qualifications the company has listed. When a company writes a job description, they get together the company recruiter, the manager of the department and anyone else responsible for staffing the position. They will ask themselves, “If we could hire the perfect candidate, or someone with 100% of the qualifications we are looking for, what would that person have in their background?” They will then outline these qualifications in the job description. Companies will rarely hire the
“perfect candidate.” If a candidate has 100% of the qualifications the company is looking for, the candidate is already doing that job! The open position is at best a lateral move in terms of job responsibilities. The so-called “perfect candidate” will not want the job. Search firms can generally secure offers for the candidates they send on interviews. A different part of their challenge is closing the candidate on the job. They need to deal with feedback from candidates like, “Why should I move from company A to company B and do the same job?” Even if the money is better, people will generally want to progress from their current position.

Trade-off Factors

A trade-off can be defined as anything company will substitute for specific experience. Since hiring organizations have a difficult time attracting the “perfect candidate” for the position, they are required to make trade-offs. As a candidate responding to a job posting you will not know what the company’s trade-off factors might be.

Here is a simplified example:

The hiring organization states in a job listing, “Five years accounting experience required, preferably in a health-care environment.” If the candidate has five years accounting experience in a health-care environment, they already doing that job. The candidate probably does not want this position. The candidate the company hires might have two years accounting experience, but comes directly from a health-care organization. The company has traded off three years of experience because the candidate came from the specific environment they were
recruiting for.  Let us say the successful candidate had two years accounting experience from an environment that was not health-care, but has acquired an MBA. In this situation, the MBA was the trade-off factor. The final decision-maker will know what trade-offs can be made, while Human Resources might not. This is why you want to market yourself to the final decision maker (generally the manager of a specific department) rather than a Human Resources Representative if possible. With trade-off factors in mind, you should respond to all job listings, within reason, for positions that you think you would like. This is sometimes referred to as mass mailing your resume. Although this term has negative connotations, even the best resume in the world does no good sitting on your desk at home.

Excerpt from:  ”How to Accopmplish a Career Transition: A Guide to Changing Careers” Now available as a Kindle EBOOK!  Job Transitions, Inc.  www.jobtransitions.net Visit our Job Transitions Group on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

1. Let the job boards work for you. Websites like CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com make job hunting more convenient by compiling a variety of job opportunities; however it is hard to avoid mindless searching for what you are actually qualified / looking for. Before you know it, hours of searching page after page could only result in a few matches actually pertinent to you.  Instead, take advantage of the “Post Your Resume” feature available on most popular job boards.  In a matter of 60 seconds, you can post your resume for public viewing by employers seeking ideal candidates. This small addition to your job hunt brings the employers to you, cutting your job-search stress in half, guaranteed!  In fact, after I posted my resume on CareerBuilder.com, I had received four employer calls within two hours on that same day. Crazy, but it works!
2. #BecomeaSocialMediaSuccess. Another easy time-saver is as simple as becoming a follower of your most desired companies and in-the-field leaders on Twitter.  As a Communications major, I was led to job opportunities and available positions by following @ChicagoJobs, @YPNcareers (targeted towards young PR professionals), and @PRJobsChi.  Many companies are taking advantage of social media and will ‘tweet’ any jobs leads along with a job description and how to apply.  Sites like LinkedIn have even adopted a Job Board that links you directly to people in your network involved with the hiring company.  Considering you’re a 20-something, you can’t lie to yourself that you don’t blow extraneous amounts of time on sites like Twitter and Facebook anyways, so do yourself a productive favor and follow companies you might like to work for.
3. Be Vocal. Don’t be afraid to say you’re jobless and lookin’!  In today’s economy, people are more willing to help out or offer a network connection in order to assist the jobless, especially one just starting out in the field.  Never beg for the connection, but you’d be surprised what connections result from the people you associate with every day.
4. Keep the dream job in mind, always. You wouldn’t settle for a Freezee Pop when you want Cold Stone, so why settle for a job you already know you don’t want. While it’s good to explore options you hadn’t thought of, always make sure it’s a position you’ll be happy to do.  My solution for avoiding the lure of a less-than-desirable-but-available job is to keep tabs on the companies you’re most interested in. You won’t miss a beat on current openings, and this will keep you updated on the new happenings with your companies of interest.

Above all else, remember that you are in a job HUNT, and to never let your guard down or let searching laziness set it.  Not to sound like a high school cheerleader at a football game tied in the 4^th quarter, but be aggressive, be, be aggressive!  Aggressive, go-getting candidates show an ambitious motivation that employers will find hard to pass up, even as a naiveté 20-something.

To contact the author via LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=97009675&trk=tab_pro

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