If you are applying online, talking to recruiters but not networking, you are jeopardizing your job search.
In this 5-part series I invite you to become aware of how your ego could be sabotaging your job search. In Part I we discussed your overall negative mindset and in Part II, we talked about career direction clarity.
In Part III, we talked about optimizing your resume and LinkedIn profile.
Now in Part IV, I discuss how over-relying on job boards and recruiters is a bad idea. Come find out what works better.
Transcript
Summary: networking overview
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Hi, this is Mike Mittleman, your personal career coach.
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So today we’re in part four of our five part series, “Are
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you really sabotaging your job search?” So we’re going to talk about
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are you sabotaging your job search with respect to your job search strategy?
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So in other words we’re going to talk about
Get off the job boards and start networking
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are you over-relying upon applying on job boards?
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Are you over-relying upon using recruiters,
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and are you under-relying on your network?
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So let’s dig in.
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You know, you want the job, you identify what the job is,
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but sometimes you don’t always have that energy to get there.
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So what do you do?
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You apply online.
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It’s great. It’s a dopamine.
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You get that high from “click, click, click, click, click.” And guess what?
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As I’m sure you’ve seen, or you may experience pretty soon,
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after about 100 applications, you’ve maybe gotten one interview.
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See, what happens when you apply online is that your resume gets basically
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analyzed by a bunch of computer systems, a bunch of bots.
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So if it doesn’t have the right format, it gets kicked out.
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If it doesn’t have the right keywords, it gets kicked out.
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So the odds of your resume going through, even if it’s perfect, aren’t great.
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And then are you actually going to be seen by a human being?
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Well, maybe, maybe not.
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If you are seen by a human being, you’re going to be seen by the most junior person
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at the company because that’s who they give that responsibility to.
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So your resume has to get through the bots,
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It has to get through the junior person and actually get to a human being.
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Oh, and by the way?
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You’re applying with 500 people who are also your best friends
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who are also potentially qualified.
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So applying online is great.
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It’s like the lottery!
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We all like to play the lottery,
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but it’s really not a good or effective job search strategy.
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Or at least you don’t want to employ the strategy more than, say, 10%
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of the time.
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Here’s a quick tip: if you are going to apply online,
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find out who the person who posted the job is
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and send them a video or an audio message in LinkedIn.
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What, you can do that?
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Yes, you can do a video.
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You can do an audio message in LinkedIn, if you use your phone. It
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goes without saying, find somebody in the company.
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Get in touch with them, have a conversation with them about where
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the opportunities might be and whether that job is available.
Are you overlying on recruiters instead of networking?
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So number two, overreliance on recruiters.
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See, what most people get confused about recruiters is that a recruiter works
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for the company that they’re recruiting for.
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Recruiters don’t work for you, the job seeker.
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Job search coaches, career coaches work for you the job seeker.
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So I think that there’s a handful of good recruiters out there,
Recruiters vs. Networking
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but unfortunately most of the industry is just filled with bad actors.
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They lie and say they have a job available or they lie about the compensation
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or they lie about so many different variables.
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Yes, they lie.
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Bad actors, just like in every industry.
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So while there are certain people out there where recruiters I think
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can be very, very helpful for if you’re watching this video
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and you’re listening to a career coach, the odds are recruiters
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are probably not going to be the best avenue for you.
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So here’s a tip.
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Pick a half a dozen, get in touch with them, maintain a relationship with them.
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It’s something you can do,
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but recruiters don’t work for you; they work for the company.
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And now we get to what many of you may be under-relying upon
Learn how to network the right way
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which is your own network.
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And I can hear it right now, Mike, I don’t really have a good network.
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I’m embarrassed reaching out to people.
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It’s really a really awkward process.
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And you’re absolutely right.
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There’s only one human being
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I’ve ever met in my entire life, no I think now it’s two.
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There are two people I’ve actually met in this world who like networking.
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Okay.
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Get comfortable with Networking
The problem is it’s a necessary evil.
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So trying to get comfortable
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with networking is the most important job search technique.
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So before you get on a networking call,
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do some deep breathing exercises. Networking
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When you’re looking at who you might want to be networking
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with, here’s a suggestion: Download your LinkedIn first connections.
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Yes, you can actually do that. Networking
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I have a video on how to download your first connections that you can check out.
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Download all your first connections on LinkedIn.
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Take a look through and see who you might want to have a conversation with.
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Even if you don’t know that person that well,
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even if you have never even met them in person,
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you can still reach out, let them know you’re first connected, and you’d
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like to have a quick chat about possible opportunities in their industry.
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At least you can target the people that you’re already connected with
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versus doing a cold reach out.
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So the more you know about your LinkedIn first connections,
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the more you can start reaching out to people
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who you think may actually be able to help you.
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Are you, in summary, sabotaging your job search? Networking
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Are you playing the fantasy game of the job boards?
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Are you over-relying upon recruiters who, number one, most of them are bad actors,
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but the ones that are not work for somebody else, not you?
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And are you not really doing
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the networking that you know you should be doing?
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I think the answer is to have a good strategy.
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Spend 10% of your time on the job board, spend 10,
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20% of your time with recruiters, spend the rest of the time networking.
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Thanks. I look forward to part five next week.