Tag Archives: job search focus

Make your job search 50% more effective

The first step to making your job search 50% more effective, is to really know what is happening.  Yes, get a job in half the time. Let me give you an example that changed my life that applies to your job search.

I was overspending by 20% every month. I had an absolutely fixed income.  So I bought a notepad and kept track of every expense.  In one week it was obvious where the money went.  In a month it was unavoidable.  The truth? 20% of my very limited income was going for lemonade from cozy little shops in Murcia, Spain.

Your time is very limited.  You only get 24 hours a day.  You can’t buy more time. Do you really know how you use it?

Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace. (Sawyer)

Buy a small notebook.  Exert incredible discipline for one day each month.  Every time you shift tasks, write it down.  A phone call is a shifted task.  An internet link can be a shifted task.  Write it down.

It may help to create 15 minute intervals on the paper and write down what you did for each 15 minute period.

Now get out the chainsaw.  What was really REALLY productive?  Do you spend 2 hours daily trying to avoid offending people by chatting amiably or reading their useless emails.  Cut out the unproductive stuff.

Make sure you do what is important.  Education is essential. Networking is critical.  Talk about the NCAA tournament with Larry—don’t kid yourself.  That email of funny things kids do—delete it.

I tried it. I found I was spending hours each day with candidate email that wouldn’t do any good.  I did a 2 month experiment.  I took all my job openings off the internet. Instead I started calling up people.  In the recruiting business that is taking a chainsaw to your daily schedule.  Nothing neat and clean, I just cut 25% of my time wasted.  I have since added back some job ads, but not where everyone else advertises.  Now I get better candidates and less time wasters.

Create the log.  Keep it for a day or a week.  Get your chainsaw out.  Cut off the termite riddled, least productive part of the log.  Use the time you save to get the most useful things possible done.

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Something To Do Today

Create a time log.  Use it for your job or your job hunting.  Keep it. Analyze it.  Chainsaw it.

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Next:      Unbelievable networking facts.

Later:               Take unfair advantage of those networking facts.

What a laser like focus means in your job search (part 1)

Your job search and resume have to have a laser-like focus.  But what does that really mean?

Light waves first marched in step half a century ago.  The laser was born.  A 10 watt laser will burn you from a mile away.  A 100 watt light bulb will only burn you if you touch it.

Light waves marching in step is called coherence.  When light comes out of the laser it is one pure color.  Each bit of light created inside a laser merges into more and more powerful light waves.  The waves of light get stronger, more intense.  A simple lense focuses the light into a narrow beam of light.

Coherence, marching in step, and being only one color are keys to lasers.  In a resume and in an interview coherence is also a critical key.  Hiring managers always look for attitude and experience.  Let me give you an example of lack of coherence in each.

Attitude:  I love my job.  I give it everything I’ve got.  I will do whatever is required to get the job done.  Can I leave early on Wednesday and Friday?  You can just pay me for a 34 hour week.  Okay? (He’ll do what it takes? Why not work a full week?)

Experience:  I’m a pure manager.  I lead.  My people get the job done under my direction and I don’t have to do the work.  I installed the server software over a weekend myself.  I also designed and programmed the billing software.  I supervise 2 part-time people. (Pure manager? He’s a worker with a title.)

If something you say cancels out another thing you said, you lack coherence. If you apply for three different jobs, you should have 3 resumes.  Each should tell one story.  You need to drop information from your resume that is not important to the job you seek.

In an interview make sure you stay on track.  Talk about exactly what suits you for this job.  If the interviewer asks you a question that doesn’t apply, give an extremely brief answer.  Then ask her, “Will that be part of my responsibilities in this job?”  It is always a good idea to find out why a strange question is asked.

Hiring managers notice when your resume and your interviews all march in step.  It makes them feel safe.  Pay attention to what you say and how you say it.  Be coherent.

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Something To Do Today

Do you give the same message on the job, in an interview and on your resume?  It may be time to change and get laser-like focus.  Do you need 3 different resumes?

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Tomorrow:  Why lasers work – part 2

Later:  Why lasers work (3 part)

What time is it?

Put your feet up on his desk.