Zig Ziglar—author and nationally renowned motivational speaker—has been known to say, “You can have everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want.” As a huge Zig fan, I couldn’t agree more. But, advocating giving-as-a-form-of-getting is not a new perspective, nor is it a relatively novel concept; in fact, it is just plain good karma - you do enough good things in this world, and the world is bound to listen.
Related:Top 10 Job Search Trends Of 2014
Generosity, on the other hand, has a bit of a different definition. Generosity means giving freely of yourself—your knowledge, expertise, time, or money—without expecting anything in return. Mastering generosity in the job search and truly expecting nothing in return is a challenge, particularly because the job search process is all about YOU in the first place, isn’t it?
No. A successful job search certainly is not.
In Keith Ferazzi’s bestselling book, Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time, Keith announces, "the time of the Networking Jerk is over” and stresses we must “remember the number one key to success is generosity. Give your talents, give your contacts, and give your hard work to make others successful without keeping score.”
6 Ways To Implement A Generous Job Search
Here are six ways in which you can apply the generosity principle in your career/job search, without keeping score:
End every networking conversation with, “How can I help you?”
Refer a friend or colleague to a position for which you are not a fit.
Send a relevant, timely, industry-specific article of interest to a colleague, mentor, hiring manager, or former colleague—just because.
Launch an unsolicited LinkedIn recommendation campaign and find unique ways to endorse your most talented and trusted colleagues.
Offer to mentor a job seeker trying to break into a new field, a graduating senior, or a new employee in your department and find ways to ease the career transition, or make a corporate culture feel less alienating.
Follow the daily newsfeed on LinkedIn to stay abreast of promotions or job changes within your network; then send a personal, enthusiastic note of congratulations on the new venture in their career.
One fantastic outcome of social networking sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn is users are being generous in their online relationships: on Twitter in the form of a “Retweet” and on LinkedIn in the form of an “Answer.” Users are realizing the value of offering advice, sharing knowledge, and showcasing the talents of others, and are doing so generously and unselfishly.
In these relationships, both online and offline, it is essential to consider what’s in it for the other person, and the more generously you act without expecting anything in return (and suppress your inner “Networking Jerk”) the more successful you will be, especially in your job search.
The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and that familiar chill is in the air. You think it's the perfect time to look for a job, and it is! But are your job search fears preventing you from making that leap?
It's not uncommon to feel lost when embarking on your job search journey. After all, school teaches us everything except how to get a job. What should you put on your resume? What questions should you ask in an interview? How can you stand out in the hiring process when there's so much competition?
Are you feeling spooked yet?
Believe it or not, there's no need to be afraid of the job search process! You can land your dream job with the right tools and strategy. You can find a job that won't give you nightmares. Here are three spooky secrets every job seeker should know as they look for a job this fall.
1. An Effective Job Search Starts With An Interview Bucket List
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Despite your fears, you've decided to take the plunge and look for a new job. You might be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" The answer is simple: start by creating an interview bucket list.
An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's products or services? Do you feel connected to its mission? Can you relate to its values and beliefs as an organization? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, that company probably belongs on your interview bucket list.
Once you create an interview bucket list, you'll be able to conduct a targeted job search, one with direction and a foundation upon which everything else will be built. An interview bucket list helps you focus your job search and networking strategies on the right opportunities, making it easier to get your foot in the door at one of your dream companies.
2. Your Job Application Needs To Disrupt Hiring Managers
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In order to stand out in the hiring process, you need to disrupt recruiters and hiring managers. You accomplish this by doing two things: optimizing your resume and writing a disruptive cover letter.
A well-optimized resume includes keywords from the job description. This ensures your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the hiring manager. Once it's in front of the hiring manager, it needs to grab and keep their attention. Quantifying your work experience—adding numbers to your bullet points—will make you stand out from other applicants. Hiring managers will want to know more about you and your accomplishments, and that's how you land a phone interview.
Before that, though, a hiring manager will read your cover letter. To disrupt them, you need to write a disruptive cover letter (obviously!). A disruptive cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell a story about why you feel connected to the company you're applying for. It's that storytelling aspect that will stand out to hiring managers and compel them to pick up the phone and give you a call.
3. Employers Hire You Based On 3 Things
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You can't get hired unless you know what employers are assessing you on in the interview process. While your skills and expertise matter, companies actually hire for three things: personality, aptitude, and experience (in that order).
Most job seekers don't realize how important it is to demonstrate their personality, aptitude, and experience in an interview. You could have the right experience for a job, but if the hiring manager doesn't think your personality is a good fit for the company culture, you probably won't get a job offer.
Make sure you demonstrate your soft skills and learn how to answer behavioral interview questions to prove you're the best candidate for the job you're applying for, not just the most qualified.
Want To Learn More Job Search Secrets?
As you look for a job this fall, it might be helpful to know some more spooky secrets so you can get over your job search fears and finally take control of your career.
We know the job search process can be scary. However, it's important to get clear on what you want to do next and focus on conducting a strategic job search, or what we refer to at Work It DAILY as job shopping. This is the only way to effectively market yourself to employers. If they can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing the job.
The competition is fierce, and there are a lot of factors that are out of your control. But the one factor you can control is your job search strategy, the tools and tactics you use to land a job.
If you want to learn the secrets to conducting a strategic job search, sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp, a two-hour, on-demand video workshop that comes with a free workbook.
In this video workshop, you'll learn:
How to use backchanneling to get directly to hiring managers.
The secret to using a connection story to stand out against the competition.
How social media can be your secret weapon to get job interviews.
The resume format that is getting job seekers more job interviews.
