The barriers that job searchers face can be a huge challenge today, in the virtual world, partly because you can’t see a reassuring human face. The online job application is here. There are ways to overcome these challenges, says Maribeth Kuzmeski, an author and expert at helping create strong business relationships that help people get ahead regardless of their profession.
Kuzmeski says part of the problem is the sequence of emailing their resume and getting no response. She recommends job searchers instead make great connections with the people who can put them in front of the hiring decision makers. This is the best way to bypass the unproductive cycle.
Finding a job in today’s job market can be like conquering a new frontier for many job seekers.
The unemployment rate is currently more than 9 percent, and the job market is extremely competitive. Kuzmeski says many job seekers experience a culture shock when they send their resumes. The days of mailing a resume and receiving a phone invitation for an interview are over. Today, everything is online, from sending the resume to setting up interviews. Many job-seeksers will be surprised to discover that most employers no longer send any kind of response, not even an automated acknowledgement for the submission.
It is now extremely difficult to even be noticed by the decision makers. Maribeth Kuzmeski says she tells job seekers there are three easy steps to getting noticed by the decision makers. Network, Network, Network.
“Today you need more than a résumé and a cover letter to get that dream job,” says Kuzmeski, author of The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life (Wiley, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-470-48818-8, www.theconnectorsbook.com.) “Think of yourself as CEO of Me, Myself, and I, Inc. You need to be doing everything you can to get the word out about your brand. That means networking.”
Learn from other people, Kuzmeski says, and leave everyone with some part of you that they will remember.
“Great networkers are capable of leaving something behind with everyone they encounter – a thought, a memory, or a connection. This is exactly what you need to do if you are in the job market. You need to make strong connections, become a relationship builder. You want to be the first person who comes to mind when someone in your network hears about a great job opening.”
Good advice from an expert.
