Why Does It Seem Impossible to Find a Job?
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
-Why does it seem impossible to find a job?
The job market has two layers to it—office work (what used to be called white-collar) and what used to be called blue-collar or no-collar work. The preponderant number of job hunters are office workers; the preponderant number of jobs are blue and no-collar jobs. In addition, the skills needed to find a job are different than those needed to do a job. Job hunting is its own unique skill set and most people make the mistake of learning by trial and error rather than seeking advice from a pro at the beginning of their search to help guide them through the process. I’m not speaking about recruiters because they work for employers. There are job search coaches and experienced career counselors who can adapt that mountain range of data you’re scrolling through and distill it to you and your needs.
-Is it normal to struggle to find a job?
Most people do because they conduct their job search like amateurs—they apply for jobs and put themselves in competition with the other 250 people who did the same thing within the first hour of the job going live. They don’t think of building a career brand while their working or how to cut the line and get to the front of it so that, like fish in a pond all trying to jump on to hook, you want to be escorted to the hook and jump on, not compete with all the other fish.
-What to do if you can’t find a job?
I break down a job search this way. If you aren’t getting any interviews, your resume needs work, your resume doesn’t make a case for why you’re qualified, your LinkedIn profile contradicts your resume, you don’t actually have the experience they want/need, or you’re “aspirational applying” (I’d really like to do that job but I’m not qualified). If you’re getting to the screening round and not invited to continue interviewing, you haven’t helped the screener check the boxes on you and your qualifications (Have you done this? Have you done that? What about this?). If you’re being invited to meet people past the screener, they are looking to substantiate your competence. They are also interviewing for your self-confidence, character, chemistry, a little charisma, that you care and they can connect with you because all of that put together means they trust you to do the job. If they don’t trust you, you are likely to be rejected.
What you need to do is improve your resume and/or LinkedIn profile so they can see that you fit and want to talk with you. At the screener round, you want to make it easy for them to know that you can do the job because the more they think, the more like it is they will hesitate and then reject your candidacy.
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ career easier. Those things
can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2600 episodes.
Website: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us (schedule a paid coaching session, a free discovery call or ask questions using my Trusted Adviser Services)
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