People are landing jobs! This is certainly good news. One reason might be that companies are deciding to open up their doors. However, I fear there won’t be enough jobs open to supply all the unemployed with employment opportunities. That is a challenge that I am not up to talking about this morning. (ERE.net posts monthly on the Employment numbers, you can see their summary from February 4, 2011).
What I do want to tackle is the question you all want to know the answer to… how did these people do it? How did they find a job? What was their secret?
As much as I would love to give you the magic formula, there isn’t one. There are so many different factors to evaluate, for instance:
- Flexibility/Adaptability
- Interpersonal communication skills
- Strength of network
- Like-ability
- Skill set
In my very unscientific survey, I have found these to be some of the top ways in which people have acquired new jobs:
Past-coworker, manager or employee from previous company told them about a job at another company, knew of an opening within their company or created a job for them within their company. (And in some of these cases, the initial conversation happened 12 months prior to the opportunity coming to fruition.) One happy landee wrote:
Call everyone you’ve worked with. Call everyone you’ve worked for in the past. I never would have found this opportunity had I not picked up the phone and called my old customers to ask for permission to use them as references.
Recruiter placed them within a contract assignment (which turned into a job offer before their contract was over)
Identified “target” company and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer (persistence, one door closes another opens)
Yet, perhaps there is a secret formula.
Positive, informed and focused efforts reaped the reward.
Learn everything you can about companies. Meet with as many of your inner circle of connections and ask them for advice. Don’t give up and be realistic.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Ask people in groups that you belong to what their secret was! And please, share glory stories in the comment!
Hannah Morgan speaks and writes about job search and career strategies. She founded CareerSherpa.net to educate professionals on how to maneuver through today’s job search process. Hannah was nominated as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers and is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, Money Magazine, Huffington Post, as well as many other publications. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success.
