Is your job search producing lackluster results? Don't settle for
a job search that just creeps along! Instead, consider a job search
makeover to take fuller advantage of high performing guerrilla job search
tactics.
If you're not familiar with the term "guerrilla", you need to know that
guerrilla job search techniques are unconventional, often radical, and
always strategic. Guerrilla job search tactics outperform traditional job
search strategies in 7 key ways:
(1) Guerrilla job search tactics are proactive: In a traditional job
search, you submit your resume and cover letter, then passively wait for a
call inviting you to an interview. In a guerrilla job search, you help set
the pace for your campaign through assertive weekly networking
calls/emails, as well as weekly follow-up contacts with hiring managers
about your most recent applications for both posted and anticipated job
openings. By making 5-10 such calls each week, you can significantly
increase the pace of your results.
(2) Guerrilla job search tactics are highly targeted: If the bulk of your
resume submissions sent each week are predominantly in response to online
job postings, then you're missing out on all kinds of highly targeted job
leads. Guerrilla tactics focus on specific industries, employers,
geographic areas, and position types to help you magnify the number of
interviews and job offers you receive. Don't make the mistake of applying
for everything you see doing that may make you feel productive, but such
a shot-gun approach to job searching ultimately fails to help you secure
the position you desire.
(3) Guerrilla job search tactics are consistent: By passively waiting for
interesting jobs to show up on job boards and in ads, you guarantee that
your job search will be a roller coaster ride with great output some weeks
and little to no output in others. If you submit 8-10 resumes in some
weeks, say, and only 1-2 in others, then you are setting yourself up for
sporadic interview invites from hiring managers. Leveraging guerrilla job
search tactics, however, will enable you to consistently submit 25-30
resumes weekly, which in turn will produce a regular series of invites for
job interviews. And a series of interview invites boosts your odds of
receiving one or more job offers in your desired timeframe which is
exactly what you want, right?
(4) Guerrilla job search tactics are customized: Let's face it, a job
search is something of a numbers game no matter how you search. But because
traditional job search tactics tend to over-emphasize blasting your resume
to hundreds of employers all at once, there's no way for you to target
specific industry segments or position types. That means you're resume is
missing the industry-specific key words it must showcase if yours is to
successfully make it though employer resume scanning systems. Guerrilla job
search techniques stress touting your individuality by weaving your
personality and career-related values into your resume, cover letter, and
interview responses while also making great use of industry-specific key
words an approach that boosts the odds that hiring managers looking for
someone like you will actually find you.
(5) Guerrilla job search tactics are free or low-cost: If you took
advantage of just a few of the job search offers available on the Internet
these days, you could easily spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars,
and still see little to no positive results. I've coached clients to
turn-around poor performing job searches when they come to me after
spending $2500 or more on HR consulting firms who ultimately do almost
nothing to help them. The good news, though, is that guerrilla job search
techniques are by their very nature either free or extremely low-cost. For
example, HR consulting firms who work with job seekers often stress that
they give you hundreds of hiring employer names to contact (that's how they
justify their high fees). That's all well and good, but did you know that
you can access that same information on the Internet for free?
(6) Guerrilla job search tactics restore your life balance: Traditional job
search techniques emphasize output and effort, yet overlook the power of
automation. By taking advantage of automated functions in your pc's
software and on online job search tools, you could save time every week.
Life is too short, and job searches are too frequent (every 2-3 years on
average in the U.S.) to spend all your time hunting down job leads. Enhance
the quality of your life by automating your job search in every way
possible. Your life balance (and your loved ones) will thank you!
(7) Guerrilla job search tactics penetrate the Hidden Job Market: One of
the greatest weaknesses of traditional job search methodologies is that
they focus on the Visible Job Market, or those jobs that are both currently
available and known outside the hiring organization. Guerrilla job search
methods on the other hand focus on the Hidden Job Market, or those jobs
that are either not yet available (but soon will be) and/or unknown outside
the hiring company. And guess what? A whopping 74-85% of all jobs are never
advertised in the Visible Job Market. So what does a smart job seeker do?
You got it leverage the power of guerrilla job search tactics to
penetrate the Hidden Job Market as much as possible.
You don't have to wait for a hot economy to land the job you really want.
By taking advantage of as many guerrilla job search tactics as possible,
you will dramatically shorten your job search while boosting the interviews
and offers you land. Stop repeating the same mistakes everyone else is
making and you will soon see unheard-of results.
Cheryl Lynch Simpson is an expert Job Search/Outplacement Coach and
instructor of UniversalClass.com's Guerrilla Job Search in 30 Days or Less
coaching program. This innovative 5-lesson course includes step-by-step
instructions for penetrating the Hidden Job Market, one-on-one email
coaching, and weekly job search chats. For time-limited discount pricing,
visit Guerrilla Job Search in 30 Days or Less.
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