Getting Interviews
The job search is a sales and marketing campaign—it’s often a full-time job to find a job! In order to make headway most quickly, you need to use multiple strategies in this campaign. All of them are enhanced by increased mindfulness when you walk out the door in the morning. ?
Consider the following:
?1.?????The Direct Approach
2.?????The Indirect Approach
3.?????The Sidewalk Approach
4.?????Dos And Don’ts
?The Direct Approach
The Direct Approach to the job search—i.e., making direct application to published openings, or working with recruiters—is certainly one way that people get jobs. This strategy is most effective when you have work experience that matches the requirements of an open position, and/or you when have a degree that is considered desirable. Only a small percentage of jobs are gotten through this approach, however. If this is the only strategy you are using, your job search could go on for much longer than you’d like. And—if you’re exploring a career change—this approach is generally not as likely to be productive.
?When you find an opening listed for which you are well-matched, you will have the best chance of getting an interview if you can identify someone inside the organization who will help you get in the door. Access your network to help you do this. Without that pull from the inside, resumes and applications can easily get lost in cyberspace.
?The Indirect Approach
?The majority of jobs—perhaps as many as 80%—are gotten by the Indirect Approach, through the “hidden” job market. These are openings in the planning stage: someone is planning to leave a job, or someone is planning to add to headcount, for example. This hidden job market is what you want to tap into before openings become published and the competition for them intensifies. An excellent way to access the hidden job market is by scheduling information interviews. (Refer to my LinkedIn article “Information Interviews.”)
?The Sidewalk Approach
A third, little known strategy is the Sidewalk Approach. This grassroots marketing campaign entails approaching with increased awareness the people whom you encounter in your daily activities—so that you do not miss out on opportunities in your impromptu exchanges with them. Approach these interactions with a spirit of reciprocity, and look for opportunities that are mutually beneficial.
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?Allow yourself to slow down during the course of the day and think of the names of people you encounter on a regular basis—both on the job, and outside the workplace. Anyone at all can be a source of introductions for information interviews and even for job interviews: regulars at the gym; the caterer at work; neighbors; a parent in a scout troop or a child’s sports activity; friends; family members; your children’s babysitter; people in a school alumni group; people in a religious organization. Each person has a network of relationships that could be beneficial to you. Without your being aware of it, anyone in this circle could have a cousin or be related by marriage to exactly the person you need to meet. List their names on a spreadsheet as you think of them in order to increase your awareness during this process.
?Create a “sidewalk press release” for yourself, so that you are prepared for impromptu exchanges on the sidewalk or in the grocery store with the people you have listed on your spreadsheet. Find a few words to say about things you have been doing that interest or excite you. A few such well-chosen words can plant seeds and open the door for introductions in the near future. Build relationships by looking for ways to reciprocate. These unplanned exchanges are effortless once you are prepared, and they can open up unexpected possibilities.
?Dos And Don’ts
?Do:
?Don’t:
?To Sum Up: By increasing your awareness as you go about your daily activities, you may be surprised that the job search can become easier than you realize and yield just the results you want!
-??????Nonie Potocki
?Published on LinkedIn June 22, 2022