As I’m watching many of my friends/clients search to find a job right now, I see a clear trend that reminds me of the time I was searching for a job.

They are attending as many networking functions as possible, sending out as many resumes as they can and posting their resumes on all the career sites. Yet, they aren’t getting interviews and are stressed out about finding a job.

This is exactly where I was just five years ago. In just one week, I sent out over one-hundred and fifty resumes, made dozens of cold calls and attended many networking functions. My hope was that someone would magically see my talents and offer me the perfect job. If I just tried hard enough, certainly the opportunities would surface.

After a couple weeks, I was exhausted and still jobless. In fact, I had only one interview scheduled and that interview had nothing to do with the amount of resumes I was sending out, calls I made or the networking functions I attended.

After several months of this, it occurred to me that I was doing exactly what everyone else was doing and I needed to do something different. But what? Well, I thought, perhaps I could ask people how I could be of support to them, rather than always asking for help.

As time went on, I realized if I could communicate my value, they listened longer. The only way I could clearly communicate the value I could bring is if I understood the company and their specific needs. So, I narrow my search and began doing deeper research.

With this new strategy, it wasn’t long (maybe a month) before I started getting job offers. Instead of taking the sane route and accepting one of these jobs, I decided to become an entrepreneur. The interesting part is the strategy for finding new business opportunities is no different than finding the perfect job.

The following are three proven methods for finding the perfect job:

  1. Focus. The vast majority of job-seekers are sending out as many resumes as they can. I encourage you to, instead, locate no more than three companies you want to work for and begin learning about them. It’s important to know why you want to work at one of these three companies.
  2. Clarity. What skills/experiences/connections do you have that will add value to one of these three companies? How can you help them, specifically? Where do the employees from these three companies hang out? How can you build meaningful relationships with them?
  3. Generosity. When networking, be the person who listens, makes connections and follows up immediately. This one step alone will make you stand out in a brilliant way. Look/listen for ways you can help others – even if it means getting uncomfortable. In other words, if you know someone is trying to make a connection at a company and you don’t know anyone at that company, pick up the phone, make some calls and find out who that person needs to know – then make the connection.

Finding the perfect job has little to do with your resume or the number of networking functions you attend. Instead, it has to do with gaining experiences, learning what you really like and looking for ways to add value every day.

I welcome your questions/ideas: [email protected]

Rock on!

Warmly,

Misti Burmeister

www.MistiB.com