Are we working "harder not smarter" when it comes to the job search?

The panic inducing lay off notice!

Everyone dreads the job search.  Often, we would rather stay in a job we hate because at least we know what we have than to experience the uncertainty of looking for a new job, new boss, new way of doing things, and new people.

Suddenly, we get that pink-slip! Once we find ourselves out of work, the panic often sets in.  The uncertainty is overwhelming and when we reason in times of uncertainty and stress, we function with our weakest personality type.  We seem to become someone else.

The first thing most people tend to do (I went straight home and plopped into bed for two days) is get on the Internet and look for jobs at the various job sites. We see this glimmer of hope—there are jobs listed in our field. Then we proceed to painstakingly fill out online resumes, job applications, and other forms.  It takes hours and then we sit back and wait for an answer.  Depending on the job, mostly an answer never comes.  “Why?” We ask ourselves.  “What’s wrong with me?  Why aren’t employers interested in me?  I must be a loser.”

The second thing most people tend to do is to read classified ads in the Sunday newspaper and respond to each interesting ad.  The problem here is that everyone else has already seen this job posting and has also responded. Now you are competing with hundreds of people, not just a few.

This is the extent of most people’s job search and this is where they spend most of their time looking for work.

It pains me to see people limiting themselves to the two worst ways to look for a job.  I saw a report on the NBC Nightly News on March 11, 2009 where a man took a “survival job” as a janitor to help make ends meet at home. He started each day spending over 3 hours searching the Internet and sending out electronic resumes.  He was saddened and depressed that no one responded to his posts.

Does this sound familiar?  Richard Bolles, states in his book, What Color is Your Parachute?, that out of every 100 people looking for a job on the Internet, only 4 will be successful.  Another study done in 2005, says there are over 40,000,000 resumes floating around out there on the Internet.  Richard Bolles also claims that only 12 out of 100 people will find a job through the classified ad section of the Sunday newspaper.

No wonder that hard working guy on the NBC Nightly News is having a hard time finding a suitable job.

The good news is that there are employers out there looking for you, and they are having a big problem—finding you.  Not all companies are suffering through rough times in this economy, many are growing. Other companies are losing good employees through normal attrition or to competitors looking to lure away the best people they can find in a challenging economy.  These all create new openings. Being out of work, our job is to identify these employers and make it easier for those employers to find you.