Copy of JOB SEARCH: What You CAN, CANNOT Control

“Grant me the Serenity?to accept the things I can not change,?the Courage to change the things I can,?and the Wisdom to know the difference.”

Known as the Serenity Prayer, this is exceptional advice for someone about to enter, or who is already in, the throes of a job search. Career coaches and job applicants alike should all pay attention to this insightful message.

Here is why: An executive job applicant must navigate many frustrations and hurdles, and the competition for the best jobs is intense. Here are only a few examples. In the second half of this post, we will outline some of the things you can control.

• Applicant Tracking Systems: Applicants at all levels are frustrated by Applicant Tracking Systems, which are algorithmic systems that initially sort and evaluate resumes that are submitted online.? Also called ATS, most job seekers frustratingly refer to these programs as applicant tossing systems
• Online Job Summaries: Many online job summaries that applicants use to determine whether they qualify for a job or are interested report that the summaries frequently are sparse in detail and unclear about what keywords and phrases the computer will be searching for. One senior executive said, “Many simply provide the bare minimum of information. You are forced to guess.” ?
• Recruiter - Applicant Communication: Communication from the search firm or the employer is frequently abysmal. One applicant who claims he only applies to jobs when his qualification threshold exceeds 85 - 90 percent said it is common not to hear anything for three or four months. Only then do you receive your first and last email correspondence from the recruiter stating that you have been eliminated. “The best way to describe?how online applicants are treated is four months to no.”
• Online Applications Equal More for Less:? Applicants forced to rely on online applications because their professional network is non-existent or not strategically aligned with their career plan frequently must submit more than 100 applications to get one offer. This type of job search is the worst kind of spiritual beatdown?
• You are the perennial bridesmaid, never the bride. ? Absent any feedback, you do not understand what went wrong or how you could have improved your interview performance. The process forces into a trial-and-error mode
• Lower Compensation: Employment offers are not as robust, given the oversupply of qualified management talent during the White-Collar Recession. Supply and demand economics allow employers to lowball some positions.? “After a year in the job market, I accepted $22,000 a year less than I had been making, and this time without bonus, because I decided conditions would not get better any time soon.”

Here is what job seekers must do to succeed and maintain their sanity.

1. Maintain a positive attitude — First, regardless of your proficiency in the recruiting process or the size of your network, the odds for success are not in your favor—from 250 to one for online applications to about 16 to one when you are referred. You cannot escape the fact that you will suffer through some frustrating moments, even periods of despair, during a job search today.?

Here is what you can control:? Warning:? you can only complain and vent to your spouse, partner, or roommate so much before they tune you out, lose their patience, or both.? This is where an experienced job search coach with a deep understanding of the recruitment process can help.? A good coach will teach, motivate, inspire, and encourage you.? When you are down, the good ones can lift you up, dust you off, and fill your soul with renewed enthusiasm. Many coaches, primarily those not employed by the "big-name factories/firms," will work with you on payment plans.

2. Technology - You cannot control the automated technology companies are deploying to screen applicants today or in the future.? Technology and AI automation will only become more sophisticated and widely used throughout most process phases.. The challenge for job seekers is to keep pace with the changes. Next-generation AI, labeled “...artificial general intelligence, or AGI, promises superhuman intelligence,” wrote David Ignatius, a highly regarded foreign affairs columnist for the Washington Post. ? Regarding career management, today’s impressive generative large language models (LLMs) are a mere tip of the iceberg. Waiter, I’ll have another order of serenity, please.

Here is what you can control:? Stop half-assing your resume submission or refusing to fill out the online application because, you correctly argue, most information is on your resume. That you must customize your resume for each job you pursue is no longer a mystery.? Being indignant won’t help your submission.? This is a skill you must develop.? The good news is that it is not complicated.? The time it takes to complete this part of the application process means it is not easy, albeit tedious, but it is a skill you can learn. I agree about filling in the application, but we don’t get to make the recruiting rules. Do it or face probable elimination.?

3. Process — You cannot control the process. Inadequate or unintentionally misleading job summaries are a frustrating fact of life. This is not new; it has been the case in recruiting for the last 50 years. Corporations will continue to focus on using technology to reduce costs, enhance the speed of the process, and eliminate possible discrimination based on race, age, religion, and gender as much as possible.

Here is what you can control:? To mitigate this frustrating practice, you must ask questions, assuming you can speak to a human.? By the way, the rapid development and deployment of customizable recruiter avatars that will conduct initial interviews probably mean that within three to five years, you may not meet a “live” human being (a human recruiter) until the end of the search process. The good news is that avatars may be so intelligent that they can answer your questions more thoroughly — and truthfully — than humans. Asking questions is not a disqualifying issue. If it is, you do not want to work for those clowns in the first place.

4 . Communication - You cannot control lazy or passive-aggressive recruiters who are utter failures regarding appropriate communication. This is one of the most common complaints you hear from job applicants. It has been this way for 50 years. Not all recruiters, but far too many, fall into this category. This behavior galls me the most as a 27-year veteran of the industry. ? What kind of parents did these people have to think it is perfectly OK to ditch courtesy to avoid inconvenience or the unpleasantness of being polite to a disappointed, even angry, recruit?? Aside from their parents, who set the professional example for this conduct?? What kind of boss looks the other way for this behavior?

Here is what you can control:? As you advance through the process, ask questions at every opportunity. What is the schedule for this project? When do you plan to submit a panel of applicants for their review?? If it is internal, when do you anticipate halting submissions? (They may not.) When will the telephone or initial screening interviews occur? Will there be onsite interviews, or will the hiring manager rely on video interviews? Under no circumstances should you submit references before they are requested.? By making the employer ask, you will know where you stand in the search.? When they request your reference list, ask when the references can expect a call and who will make those calls. Explain that you want to alert them to be available. Hint: some firms like telephone numbers and emails for each reference. They frequently use email to request a time for the call using an automatic scheduling tool.?

5. Your professional network: This is entirely within an applicant’s control. Do not even think about blaming the process or recruiter for this failure.? Given that 60 - 70 percent of the top jobs are not listed online — they are filled based on a referral — why would you not invest time in building a career network strategically aligned with your career goals?

Here is what you can control: ? If you need help with how to develop and implement a networking strategy, contact a career coach, a trusted professor, or a career mentor to get the help you need. Moreover, there is abundant information on this subject online.? While getting help from someone who is a star on this subject is preferable, not being able to afford an experienced coach or wanting to invest in your career is a poor excuse for forcing yourself through the miserable ordeal that is the majority of online searches in which the odds of success are stacked against you.

6. Unsuccessful Interviews:? This is another common problem.? Why? First, interviewing is the most challenging form of business communication. Second, most executives are not going to interview enough times during their careers to master this evolving skill. Third, most people think they are good, but based on my interviews with thousands of executives and managers worldwide, the good ones are in the minority.?

Here is what you can control:? Jobs, especially the best ones, are won or lost in the interview process.? First, embrace that interviewing is not only a challenging form of communication but is evolving.? Second, learn the process for being effective in the various interview formats — telephone, video, and in-person. Trial and error is not recommended as a learning strategy.? Here is where a knowledgeable interview coach can help put you over the top — not just for your current search but for your future. Learning the process and understanding that practice is critical to mastering this skill.? ?

7. Compensation offers will decrease in size: There is an oversupply of executive and management talent.? This will not only extend the time it takes to find a new job but also allow employers to reduce compensation for certain positions.?

What you can control:? While you have no control over market conditions, just like the US President has no control over the stock market or the price of food, for example, you can position yourself through the interview process to enhance your value to the employer.? This is doable, and it ties in with interviewing.? You must clearly define your value (hint:? your experience alone isn’t compelling because everyone being interviewed is experienced). Find your differentiators and drive them home.? Connect your ability to reshape their understanding of your worth by showing how you will use your experience, knowledge, and skills to solve their problems or meet their needs. Do not just tell them, sell them.? Get them to see vividly what you are saying. That is what an experienced interview coach can help you do.

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