On Appying for a Job

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Job Search Tactics
By Andrew D. Carson, Ph.D.

In this essay I will review 11 tactics that are often used in a successful job search process. Not all are necessarily used in any given effort, however. I would appreciate it if you would contact me with stories about your own job search process, particularly as it relates to these tactics.

1. Complete a thorough self-appraisal, including a set of statements related to the type of work that one wishes to perform; this will boost one's vocational identity, which will in turn facilitate the development of clear personal branding. Self-appraisal can include a complete educational and work history, with a focus on what one did, how well one did it, and how much one liked it. Consider carefully your strength and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and any value clashes between one's work and one's beliefs.

Consider how one may restrict the sort of work that one is willing to do based on one's biases, including one's gender-role socialization, status needs, need for power and authority, and so on. If you find that you are restricting your options based on such dimensions, ask yourself: are these restrictions really important for you? Consider your financial and training requirements. Obviously, one's options increase as one's salary requirements decrease. Also, if one needs to bolster one's training and build one's expertise in order to reach the next level in one's career, the ready opportunity to develop skills in particular areas may be an important consideration in one's job search.

There are a number of decent online resources to support some aspects of self-appraisal; this is especially true for interest inventories (e.g., Kuder.com, or the online Self-Directed Search through PAR, Inc.). Finally, you may also find it useful to identify for yourself some paragons--people you admire most in history, and particularly from within your own field.

2. Create effective marketing communications that incorporate the branding-related information (see step 1): business cards, drafts of cover letters, resume and / or curriculum vita (CV), 1-page networking resumes, videos (such as one might post to YouTube.com), personal website, material to be used in interviews, and so on.

It is usually helpful to create not only generic versions of cover letters and resumes / CVs, but to also tailor these to match the needs of specific jobs to which one is applying. This will usually entail creating a set of file directories on your computer so that one may readily locate your template materials as well as save copies of the tailored materials specific to any specific job application.

There are a number of schools of thought as to the "best" format for a resume and CV, but the basic question is whether to follow a chronological, functional, or mixed format. If you are returning to the job market after an extended absence, or if you have been a Jack of All Trades over the years, a functional format may work best. In that method, place a list of major functional skills that you have near the beginning, and elaborate on your skills in each area and state the various achievements you have had in various types of work. Then list, briefly, the places you've worked, your position, and the years you worked there below. In the chronological format, you typically don't include a functional skills section, and you place the achievements under each job entry. If you're fresh out of school, you're basically forgiven for not having many job roles to report; you could use either format, but my recommendation is to use chronological and lead with your educational information. As you become more experienced and older, you tend to drop education to near the end of the resume; the exception is the academic CV, where education remains at the top. Keep your resume to one or at most two pages, but CVs can grow as long as needed.

You might consider creating a personal website to support your job search. If possible, this might take the form of "yourname.com", but you might also use a hosting service such as Netfirms.com to build a page, such as yourname.netfirms.com. Pay the fee to remove ads from your site, and at least create simple and informative online presence for yourself.

3. Develop your network to uncover information about the "hidden job market" and to market information about one's job search. Network at a variety of venues, including professional conferences, local networking meetings or parties, church or community job search groups or clubs, or use of online social networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn.com). Particularly good network members are professional recruiters, headhunters, and agents. Even if they are not able to funnel job leads to you, they can often provide effective advice in the search process. Basically, you need to let everyone know that you are looking for work and what sort of work you are looking for. It will help if you provide members of your network with items that will remind them of your search (e.g., business card with your key search information on the reverse side; one page networking resumes).

4. Research the job market by conducting information interviews, carrying out library and internet-based research, and collecting information from your network over time. Be aware that most jobs are in the so-called hidden job market. They may not be advertised at all, and to locate these opportunities on may need to rely primarily on networking. College and even most high school libraries often provide excellent resources for researching the job market. Junior or community colleges frequently make it part of their mission to provide such resources to the public. In addition, many newspapers carry stories related to current news about various companies and industries. Many of these stories may be available over the internet. Finally, just because the hidden job market is large does not mean that you should neglect the visible job market. Regularly review job postings available in local papers (often collected through online sites like CareerBuilder.com), major job search sites (e.g., CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com), and various professional organization websites. Most states also offer job sites to support job search; state employment offices can provide you with information about how to access them. Finally, if you have targeted specific employers, you should try to take advantage of both hidden job market information as well as public postings on the company's website. Some companies actually lack an online presence, and you may need to obtain information about jobs the old fashioned way, whether by phoning their human resources department or visiting in person.

5. Complete a formal job application that lands you the interview. The purpose of the job application is to land you the interview. You do not need to add more to the application than is needed to land the interview. Do not add disqualifying or negative information to your application; focus instead on your many positive attributes, your relevant experience, and what you could do for your prospectively employer. You generally need to sell yourself (particularly in the cover letter) rather than to merely report facts. Selling youself means that you focus almost more on the prospective employer's needs than anything else, and thus you will need to uncover those needs as part of your research of the job market (tactic 4 above). In completing the formal application, take care to not actually lie about anything in your background. First, it's unethical, but in practical terms it could either do you a disservice (it's bad for your overall career to get a job that you're not really qualified for, because chances are you could fail at it) or could even land you in real hot water (more employers are conducting background checks not only on job applicants, but also on current employees, including long-standing employees).

6. Practice for your interviews in advance of your actual interviews. Practice both with other people and, if possible, by video-taping or at least audio-taping them. Then observe your interview behavior. Practice listening not only to the actual questions, but also the questions behind the questions. Write up the five things you want to communicate during the interview, and write out the five questions you anticipate during the interview, and then develop effective answers for them. In addition, carry out research on the prospective employer and its industry; be aware of the major problems facing the employer, the size of the organization (the more facts the better), and trends in the employer's industry. Anything said about formal interviews applies to a lesser degree to any brief phone calls with the prospective employer; try to write out the script of the call in advance, and it will go more smoothly for you. Also, practice one's hand shaking so that one can reliably achieve a firm grip of the interviewer's hand; one wishes to avoid either a "limp" handshake or a handshake that leaves you with only your fingers (and not your palm) inside the interviewer's grasp. (This is picky, yes, but for some individuals may require some practice.)

7. Dress appropriately for the interview. This will require you to do some homework on the organization. Although in most cases it is best to dress conservatively (men: suit and tie, or at least sport jacket and tie; women: dress), this is not universally the case. Particularly for dotcoms, the dress code may slant toward informal. In general, even for dotcoms, higher level positions would slant toward more formal dress, unless the culture of the organization is militantly informal. If from published descriptions of the company you are unsure how to dress, it might be wise to ask your contact if it would be best for you to dress up for the interview. You might also be able to use a social networking site like LinkedIn.com to get a better sense of the corporate culture and its dress code. But again, unless the dress code is rigorously informal, dressing up is usually the wisest move. Even if it does not get you points, it will not cost you points. Also, if you do dress up, do it correctly. Shine your shoes, wear a belt, etc. Finally, I recommend against wearing shorts, flip-flops, and other beach wear to any job interview, regardless of level of job or degree of corporate informality.

8. Attend to one's physical needs prior to the interview, and on an ongoing basis. This includes eating right, perhaps taking daily multiple vitamins, exercising regularly, sticking to a schedule, and getting plenty of sleep. Particularly if you are unemployed or underemployed, it is easy to become despondent and to let things slide in these areas, but it is important to maintain one's "vim and vigor", and sustained effort to regulate one's behavior in these areas will result not only in greater energy and alertness during the interview, but also greater confidence. The energy, alertness, and confidence will come across positively to the interviewer.

9. Nail the interview. More generally, strive to be at one's peak whenever the prospective employer is directly evaluating you. The better you have prepared one's self-appraisal, the development of one's self-promotion communications, and extensively practiced for the interview, the easier the actual interview will be. H. Anthony Medley's The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed (10 Speed Press) provides a range of helpful tactics supporting effective interviewing. For example, he recommends managing sweat on one's hands prior to meeting (and shaking hands with) the interviewer by turning one's palms upward and moving them back and forth, so help with evaporation of one's sweat. (The method works.)

I also refer you to a separate essay on this site on effective intervewing.

10. Thank the interviewer after the interview. If possible, send a simple thank you e-mail to all individuals with whom you interviewed. You may also follow up a week after the initial thank you e-mail; in that case, a phone call is often useful. Your goal will generally be to keep your name--and if possible your file--on the key decision-maker's desk as much of the time as possible.

11. Career counseling may also be useful. Career counseling is usually provided one on one, but options are sometimes available for group career services, particularly when organized through colleges or universities. Also, some online career counseling services are available. Some things to consider when searching for or choosing a career counelor include a study of their professional training (do they have a master's degree or doctorate in counseling?), their professional association memberships (National Career Development Association, American Counseling Association, American Psychological Association, Society for Vocational Psychology), the degree to which their practice is nearly exclusively testing-oriented (in which case the career counseling may be limited to a test-and-tell approach), the degree of scholarly activity that the counselor has engaged it (perhaps ask to see a list of publications and presentations), and finally the degree to which the counselor is willing and able to assist not only in selecting a general career direction but also in actualling finding, obtaining, keeping, and advancing in a job. When the focus is on keeping and advancing in a job, the type of activity is often referred to as "job coaching" or "career coaching," but a good career counselor should be able to provide that activity as well.

Of course, I would invite you to contact me at VocationalPsychology.com if you are interested in career counseling. I could either provide you career counseling services (in person, by phone, or online) or could try to refer you to someone locally.