Responding To A Tougher Job Search When Unemployed

It's time to face it ... When you're unemployed, you have a tougher job search than your currently employed competition.

When you apply for a job today, you face 5-10 qualified competitors for every interview spot (that's 50-100 qualified candidates vying for 10 interview spots, plus all the unqualified candidates) ... So you have to be a lot more than qualified to land a job when you're unemployed. In 2024, qualified means average to employers.

There's also good news.

There are ways to overcome tougher job searches, even if you're unemployed.

I've coached unemployed job seekers for many years, and I've learned that the job seekers who do these things overcome search difficulties and find their next job much faster:

1. Change their job search strategies to ones that are more effective to beat unemployment.
2. Don't accept an average resume or job search, (qualified = average).
3. Do more than other job seekers.
4. Create a day by day job search plan, with a defined goal date.
5. Avoid online job applications.

But I've also learned that 90% of unemployed job seekers who use the methods listed below struggle with long, frustrating, expensive, financially risky job searches. Only 10% of unemployed job seekers who use these underperforming strategies find their next job quickly.

The unemployed job seekers who have a long frustrating job search almost universally rely on the strategies listed below, that cause their searches to perform poorly:

1. Continue to do what they're comfortable doing, even when it's not working well.
2. DIY, with mish-mosh of free & friend/family advice.
3. Follow bad advice and use an average resume with help from outplacement, most career coaches/authors, certified professional resume writer, high volume "resume mill", or job board resume service.
4. Plan to fail, by failing to plan.
5. Apply to jobs online, on job boards, company career pages, LinkedIn or other online application methods - These application methods have the worst chances of landing interviews and jobs.
6. Make random small changes and tweaks to their resume and search strategies, based on the latest random online advice they read, without knowing what is working well in their resume/search vs what's causing it to fail.

You can learn how to change your search strategies, stop accepting an average resume, and do more than your competitors to show you'll do more on the job. You can learn how to find your next job fast, even when you're unemployed. Want to learn how?

I help people solve the most difficult job search problems, including job search acceleration, getting past ATSs, ageism, remote positions, product/job function/career/industry/ geographic change, unemployment, "bouncy" recent career path, job search turnaround, seeking raise/promotion, industry in decline/consolidation, long term gaps, family leave, or other of the most challenging job search issues.

Join me for my next free Resume Webinar (enroll at https://x.resumewebinar.com/Registration for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2024.

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#jobs #resume #career #unemployment