Stuck Behind These Job-Search Roadblocks? Here's Help!

A generation ago when people were job-hunting, there were certain steps to follow.

If you followed those simple and straightforward steps (write a resume and get copies made; send the resume with a cover letter in response to job ads; use your network, and be prepared for job interviews) you got a new job.

Back then we didn't beat our heads against the wall for months on a job search.  We didn't end up taking jobs way below our level of capability just because we were sick and tired of job-hunting.

What went wrong? Don't blame the economy. The economy takes a dip or a dive every few years, but a bad economy never meant that job-seekers were routinely ignored and abused the way they are now.

What went wrong is that recruiting departments and the leaders who supervise them started treating recruiting as a techno-clerical function. In the process, they started treating job-seekers like dirt. I saw the devolution of recruiting first-hand as a corporate HR leader.

If you're job-hunting and you're running into roadblocks, be aware that many if not most of them are man-made impediments. They are not your fault, but you still have to surmount whatever obstacles are in your way in order to get a great new job.

Here are five common job-search roadblocks and advice for getting over, under or around each of them.

Deafening Silence

The most common job-search roadblock is silence. You pitch dozens of applications into automated recruiting sites, but you hear nothing back. It's so frustrating! 

An employer posted a job opening and now maybe they're interviewing people for the job -- don't they owe you an answer on the application you took the time to submit!

Of course they do, but the recruiting process is broken. They're not thinking about you right you. To get over this roadblock, you have to change your approach. You have to stop completing online job applications, now that you know they don't work.

You'll get your next job a different way, by sending Pain Letters directly to hiring managers at their desks. You'll find Pain Letter articles listed at the bottom of this post!

Death by Bureaucracy

You might hear back at first when you answer job ads. You might get an auto-response message that tells you to complete a test or submit more information. Once you comply with that request, you get a new request.

Our client Melissa completed an online honesty test, a writing test and a math test before the communication with her possible next employer (a drug company) came to a screeching halt.

We call this roadblock "Death by Bureaucracy." Melissa had spent hours doing what the drug company asked her to do, and at the end of the line she didn't even have a name or an email address of a live person to talk to about her stalled job application.

How do you surmount this roadblock? When you begin the process of pursuing a particular job or a specific employer, your first contact must be with a human being. See the resources at the bottom of this post for specifics on how to make contact with a living, breathing person and leave the automated applications behind you!

No Suitable Job Ads

Sometimes you just can't find any decent-looking jobs to apply for. Every job ad you see requires about ten different certifications or qualifications you've never heard of. The sad part of the story is that you know you could do the job if you got it. You just need to find a job ad that doesn't ask for the sun, the moon, the stars and the kitchen sink!

Here's the good news: you can ignore published job ads from now on. You don't need a job ad in order to get a new job. Virtually every employer has pain, and every hiring manager does, too.

If you're interested in a particular employer for any reason (because they're close to your house, or your sister used to work there, or you like their products) you can compose a Pain Letter and send it to the department manager who runs 'your' function (Marketing, HR, Finance, Manufacturing, etc.) inside your target organization. 

Plenty of Interviews, But No Offers

Some job-seekers sail right through the early steps in a recruiting pipeline. They get interviews and they spend the time and energy to research the opportunity thoroughly and prepare for the interview.

They say "The interview went great!" but then they don't hear another peep. What went wrong?

A job search is a sales and marketing process. In any sales process, part of your job as a salesperson is to test the client's need (we call it Business Pain) at every step.

On a job interview, if you don't ask probing questions about the Business Pain behind the recruiting process, there may not be any pain! There may not be any job opportunity. Sometimes scummy employers interview people just to get new ideas for free!

When you interview for Business Pain, there won't be any confusion about what problem a hiring manager needs to solve by bringing in a new person.

On a job interview, you have to dig into the Business Pain to make sure it's real and to get the manager back in touch emotionally with his real problem (the expensive, excruciating Business Pain that the new hire is being brought in to solve). 

You'll find an article about Pain Interviewing at the end of this post! 

Age Discrimination

Age discrimination is real. So are other kinds of employment discrimination, including discrimination based on race, gender, body type and many other factors.

Age discrimination works in both directions. Our client Amanda was told "I can't put a 25-year-old in this job -- I need someone older."

Amanda isn't protected by age discrimination laws. In the U.S. the only people protected by age discrimination laws are people over forty. Anyway, who's going to sue an employer for NOT hiring them based on age? You won't win your case unless you can show that your age was a factor in the hiring decision, and how many people can do that? 

They don't usually tell you "You're perfect for this job, but you're too old for it."

Age discrimination and other kinds of employment discrimination are discouraging, but you can't find a mindset -- and who wants to work for small-minded people anyway?

When you run into this kind of roadblock -- a mental roadblock on the part of the people making hiring decisions -- your job is to run away and find people who deserve your talents!

Here are resources for leaving the automated-recruiting process behind and stepping into a new job-search approach to get the job you deserve:

What's a Pain Letter?

How to Write Your First Pain Letter

How to Find Your Hiring Manager Using LinkedIn

How to Answer the Question "Tell Me About Yourself" (Pain Interviewing)