When You Absolutely, Postively Have To Beat Unemployment, What Would You Do?

Now, I'm not suggesting you let things get to the point that you absolutely, positively have to get a job in one week (OR ELSE!).

But, just as an illustration, let's say that was the situation you found yourself in. All the things you tried in your unemployment job search weren't working, and you got to the financial point that you had to find a job to survive.

And I'm not suggesting that you need to act desperately find to a job or work the fryer at McDonald's ... think about how you'd find a reasonable career move, if you had to do it now.

This is a good exercise to go through to see how you can make your unemployment search faster ... and to make sure you never end up in the dark place of desperation. It's a valuable way to brainstorm for unemployed job seekers who have the flexibility to wait for the perfect position or if you have more aggressive search timing goals.

You'd probably do things very differently than what you're doing now, if you had to find a job (or else!).

Here are some of the things you'd do differently if you absolutely, positively had to beat unemployment now:

• Do more than other candidates:?You'd realize that because you're unemployed, you present a greater risk to employers than currently employed competitors. To overcome that risk, you'd do more than your competition to get the job (and to prove you'd do more on the job).
• Create a stronger first impression than being qualified:?If you had to find your next job now, in your resumes and interviews you'd make a first impression to create need in a hiring manager's mind. You'd realize that being qualified doesn't create need, because many other candidates are also qualified (so you'd only look average).
• Spend more time searching, while sending fewer resumes:?You'd invest your extra job search time into the opportunities you're most likely to get, doubling down on the jobs where you have the best odds. You'd realize that applying to all the jobs you "could do" (AKA Spraying And Praying), gives low odds of success ... the type of search strategies that get job seekers into the do or die situation you want to avoid at all costs.
• Sell yourself more effectively to create need:?In resumes and interviews, you'd overwhelm hiring managers with impact, to engineer an emotional response that they need you. You'd realize that focusing on responsibilities/experience/skills makes you appear like a commodity, with a goal of looking qualified, just one of many other commodity qualified choices.
• You'd avoid recruiters, HR, applying online, and other gatekeepers:?Instead, you'd learn how to reach hiring managers directly to greatly increase your odds of being hired, in a way they won't just tell you to apply online. You'd realize that recruiting and HR don't make hiring decisions and it's not their job to help you. It's their job to give 1-2% of applicants interviews with the worst chances of being hired, or just to satisfy government compliance and to keep you away from hiring managers.

Chances are that you don't know how to successfully make any of these strategies work for your job search or you'd already be doing them ... you'd be too busy with interviews and deciding between multiple offers to read this article.

But that's ok, because I'm an expert in helping unemployed job seekers learn how to find their next job fast. I teach different strategies than other career resources (and some that directly conflict with their advice), because you have tougher problems when you're unemployed. Tougher problems require different and stronger solutions.

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/register for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2023.

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