Find a Job that Suits You by Showcasing these Six Elements

By Keith Kannenberg, the founder of The Kannenberg Group, LLC

Searching for a job is more than just putting yourself out there so someone will hire you. It’s better to think of it as a conversation communicating an important message. Most people are unsure of how to showcase the best aspects of themselves to find a successful job fit. You might be wondering what to reveal about yourself.

What is “between the lines of your resume” is more important than the lines themselves. Communication only takes place when the other person connects and responds. An authentic connection is what makes your outreach email something other than spam.

Consider these six core elements when communicating a message as crucial as your desire for a career.

1. Be Knowledgeable

First, you must understand who the potential employer is and who they seek and design your message around how you can support their needs. The underlying thought here is your generic resume does you more harm than good.

In a job search, quantity is nowhere near as valuable as quality. Yes, you can send out fifty resumes a day, but all that is going to do is get you twenty rejection letters and thirty non-responses that leave you clinging to a hope that will never come.

Instead, focus on quality. Invest time in research. I can assure you that potential employers will spend time vetting you. Why subject yourself to an employment partnership that isn’t the right fit? Vetting your options will strengthen your position as a candidate.

Tweak your resume based on keywords found in the job description. Employers use algorithms to weed out resumes that don’t align with job descriptions before the first set of human eyes graces the page. Therefore, it is necessary to communicate with understanding. Your future employer wants to know that their commitment to you will bring them a return on their investment.

When you don’t take the time to understand what the employer desires in a candidate, you are writing apathetic commentary between the lines of your generic resume, and yes, they do read between the lines.

2. Be Emotionally Intelligent

Secondly, professionalism today is the key to your success tomorrow. Don’t burn bridges. During your career, many people will hurt you. How you respond to that hurt will affect you more than you know. Don’t bring the ugly baggage along with you. Let it go. Nobody wants to hire a victim.

Today’s employers are constantly looking for candidates’ emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is the new intelligence quotient (IQ) for attraction in the job market. In the best companies, organizational culture is highly guarded. One wrong hire can topple years of hard work. Know this; however, just because you had a bad experience in the past doesn’t eliminate you from consideration. How you dealt with that experience can either increase or decrease your desirability.

Be emotionally balanced. Communicate your past struggles as opportunities for personal development and express gratitude for having gone through the experience. This is easier said than done, but it is a process necessary for your future success. Employers don’t want to hire problems. Instead, they are relieved when candidates acknowledge having gone through learning processes that make them more valuable as a team member.

3. Be True to Yourself

Next, work on the stories you are telling yourself. If the message you are communicating to a potential employer differs from the self-talk in your head, you will always appear less than genuine. The adage, “Fake it till you make it,” will do nothing more than acclimate you to continuous rejection and victimization. Instead, change the narrative to, “Make it, so you’ll never have to fake it.”

If the job you desire requires a specific skill, learn that skill. It’s not as hard as it might seem. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the different abilities that various job descriptions require, you might have an even bigger problem…your job search is too broad. If you don’t know who you want to be when you grow up, don’t expect a group of total strangers to volunteer to help you figure that out. Employers are looking for specificity, not generality.

If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time. A successful job search begins with knowing who you are, what you want, and planning to get there. Needing a job is not an attractive attribute. Being the right person for the job is.

4. Be Specialized

That leads us to the fourth piece of advice – Don’t be afraid to close doors of opportunity. That is not synonymous with burning bridges, however. Bridges are connections to other humans; doors of opportunity are potentials for specialization. If you are looking for a job, and someone asks you, “what do you do?” and you respond by saying, “Anything,” you have just conveyed that you have no skills and direction in life.

Too many open doors of opportunity before you will eventually make you the poster child for wasted potential. You must know who you are before anyone else will find you attractive, and knowing who you are involves a little knowledge concerning who you are not. As you close the open doors before you, the potential to make an impactful entrance into the remaining door dramatically increases. When you walk boldly through that door, people will take notice.

5. Be Organized

Let’s not fail to recognize the obvious; job seeking is an exhausting mental and physical experience. Eat well, sleep well, and utilize as many tools as is necessary to keep the whole process in order. Don’t get lost in the sea of applications, organizations, emails, names, and numbers. When an opportunity arises, and someone is interested in you as a candidate, you can easily blow it if your recollection is flawed.

A simple spreadsheet that tracks applications, dates, and contact information will help this process. Remember, the fortune is in the follow-up. A well-worded, well-timed letter expressing continued interest in the position can often be the simple nudge that gets you the interview. The key to this effort lies in the “well-worded and well-timed” element. A poorly worded or timed letter can also be the nudge that pushes you out of contention. Therefore, good record keeping is a vital part of any job search.

6. Be Loved

Lastly, never forget those to whom you belong. Your family loves you regardless of the position you hold. Don’t buy into the notion that your value in this life depends on your business success. A job is only for a time. It doesn’t last. Family and friendships are way more valuable. Let the love of family, community, and faith be the wind that carries you through this demanding time. You are more than just a potential employee; you are a beautiful person that is wonderfully made. Never let a silly rejection letter take that away from you. Rejection is just part of the process. Let it roll off your back like water off a duck.

These six reminders are vital for your success and survival during this job search. Keep pushing. The best is yet to come!

 

About Keith Kannenberg

Keith Kannenberg is a leader with over 25 years of experience and the founder of The Kannenberg Group LLC. He is an educator, writer, conference speaker, and leadership coach. His company, The Kannenberg Group, is a leadership development firm devoted to helping organizations align strategy, culture, and value dynamics around a customized styling that perpetuates a unique leadership brand, eliminates employee turnover, and exponentially increases the financial bottom line.