PROACTIVE JOB HUNTINGYou have to admit: sometimes being without a job can feel like having your face pressed against the glass of a candy store: You are about 10-years-old and you only have 10 cents in your pocket. Inside, people are scooping into jars of colorful candies, while you stand outside watching. Looking at job postings can feel the same way – you know you are competent, smart, and skilled, and yet all the good jobs seem out of reach, elusive behind all the flashy job websites and classified ads. Looking at job listings is the number one way to start feeling the waves of despair, demoralization and deprivation that can accompany a job search. Combing through job listings actually makes some people feel drained of energy, overwhelmed, and bummed out. And then there’s all the resume sending – hundreds of letters and resumes to anonymous job posters, who are being inundated with hundreds of responses. I would like to suggest the way out of this scenario which is not to use job listings at all. That’s right, you heard me correctly. Take a proactive approach to your job search. I know we have all heard this before, but thinking through what you want to be doing, and where you want to be doing it is the best way to circumvent the endless cycle of anonymous resume sending. It’s kind of like walking into the candy store, deciding what you want, and then figuring out how to get it. It beats standing outside, and to be honest, is far more effective. Being proactive involves taking the initiative to research organizations, note which ones you find particularly cool or enticing, and honoring your response. Pay attention to what makes you excited, and then decide to take action. You can do lots of «cold calling» on your own behalf in several months, and of course it isn’t easy. But it is very rewarding as well, for these reasons: 1. Taking the Initiative. First, when you research an organization and take the initiative to contact them, you are demonstrating initiative. It demonstrates you can take charge, are independent, and a creative thinker. You’re not just following the pack and doing the standard job search, you are taking it one step further. (And yes, you may still be checking ads, but they don’t need to know that.) It’s important to do your homework and make sure you really understand what the company or organization does, and why they do it – and then communicate that to them in your initial contact. 2. Build Relationships. Second, it’s about building relationships. When you make that cold call, and then, ideally, find yourself face to face with someone in the organization, you are creating a relationship that can lead to either something there, or elsewhere. More often than not, people are genuinely receptive when you approach them about their work. Proactively contacting organizations can result in what may appear as serendipitous timing. You never know when the person on the other end may say, «Funny you should call now. We were just talking about our need for a new communications specialist». Or, «We are about to launch a new project and actually have not posted the job yet». If you can get in before the onslaught of respondents to an ad, you have all the more advantage. You also have the edge of having chosen them based on their work, rather than anonymously responding to an ad. 3. Get in the driver’s seat. And finally, being proactive can help you feel more in control over your own life. Gazing at job listings, and competing with hundreds of other applicants can be very demoralizing. But more importantly, you can lose sight of your real gifts and offerings when you are just one of many applicants. Psychologically, playing the job listing game is taxing on self-esteem and morale. Deciding what organizations you would love to work for, investigating who would be best to contact, and presenting yourself, can do wonders to remind you of what you want to be doing. “cold-calling”: phoning someone without an introduction
My short-term goal is to bluff my way through this job interview. My long-term goal is to invent a time machine so I can come back and change everything I've said so far.
Task 3
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