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09.09
Why
Haven’t I Been Hired Yet?
By Elizabeth Lions
When you’re unemployed, you can feel trapped in
an endless cycle of hopping online, looking for
jobs, applying electronically… and repeating the
process day in and day out (all while hoping for
a speedy end to the entire ordeal). The process
of finding a new job can be very frustrating…
and confusing.
Why haven’t I heard back?
You may not like this response,
but it's the truth: the fact that you haven’t
been hired isn't necessarily about you.
Think about it from the
employer's perspective. As an example, a friend
of mine recently posted an ad for an
engineering position. She is the HR director at a large
privately held manufacturing business. Her ad's
response drew 600 resumes.
Yes, I said 600.
I asked her what she did with so
many resumes. She
decided to hire an intern to help her organize
all 600 into yes, no and maybe
piles. Most managers wouldn’t have taken the
time to do this, but she insisted that she
didn’t want to miss out on a good candidate for
the job. Two weeks later, with the help of an
intern, she was down to 60 resumes.
She won't even conduct
interviews for another two weeks. Perhaps you
applied to that ad yesterday.
Do you see my point?
My mother used to say the devil
is in the details, so I should paint the rest of
the picture. Keep in mind that this ad is for
one opening located in Portland, Oregon, where
unemployment rivals that of Detroit, sitting at
12.2 percent with no relief in sight. Granted, due to
the geographical area, the job market is nearly
impossible, as other states aren’t hit nearly as
hard.
Stating that it’s a tight job
market would be a gross understatement. It
doesn’t seem to matter what part of the country
you are in, it’s tough, and some days it’s
downright discouraging.
How can
a person get hired, despite the reality of the
competition?
Here are a few tips to help you
get noticed in today’s competitive job market:
Gather
Data
Keep an electronic spreadsheet
of every job you’ve applied to, including the
company name, the date you submitted your
application and the outcome. This allows you to
measure your campaign’s success in a different
way, so at the end of the day, you won’t be left
wondering if you were productive. Getting a job
offer isn’t the only measure of success. Some
days it’s just finding jobs to apply for online
that is the positive result. Keep it in
perspective. If you are applying and networking,
you are doing all that you can.
Follow
up
My theory has always been that
two business days is more than enough time for a
hiring manager to read a resume on their desk.
If you are able, connect with the hiring manager
and confirm that your resume has been received. If you
aren’t sure who the hiring manager is, do a
quick search on LinkedIn. If all else fails, get
connected to someone in Human Resources.
Certainly, they can tell you if they received
your resume. That’s all you need to know — if
you’re in the pile. Be brave and call — don’t
just e-mail. Be proactive.
Get
feedback
Expect rejection, but if you
aren't selected for an interview, find out
why. Perhaps there is
a small misconception about something on your
resume that could be cleared up, such as a skill
set that you forgot to list. Perhaps they don’t
feel you are the right candidate, but instead
of guessing, ask someone in the organization why
your application didn’t match the position’s
requirements. Any feedback is good feedback
because with that knowledge you can start to
control the market’s perception. Think of
feedback as data, and try not to take it
personally. Probe a little
further to see if there will be future openings
in the next two quarters where you would be a
fit.
Keep a
Schedule
I advise all engineers that I
career coach to keep a schedule when in job
search mode. Spending all day searching on the
Internet is very hard on the psyche over long
periods of time. I’ve even had to write
‘prescriptions’ for clients to take home to
their spouse stating they should not be on the
job hunt all day long. There is nothing more
discouraging than fretting about finding work
and then having your significant other come home
and ask what you were doing all day. If you are
looking for work, try to adhere to a three- to
four-hour job search schedule. For example, if
you get up at 7:00 am, look for work until 10:00
am or 11:00 am, and then take the lunch hour
off. Try to get out of the house, if at all
possible. If you can get out and do a networking
lunch or coffee, that would be an ideal use of
time. Doing some sort of exercise is an
immensely helpful way to release stress and
allow your mind to rest. By late afternoon, plug
back in see if you’ve received any e-mails or
traction to your resume submissions. One client
I counseled was so frustrated with his job
search that I advised him to go paint the house
to burn off excess energy. When he broke his job
hunting activity into manageable chunks and
engaged in other productive activities, by the
end of the day, he felt like he had accomplished
something besides just looking for work. When
the mind is engaged heavily for long periods of
time, the best respite is to go engage the body
in some other project. People find that they
have more answers after they have gotten away
from the problem for a short period of time.
Although the market is
competitive, there is only one
you
with
your
skill set. Remember who you are and
what you have to offer an organization.
 Elizabeth Lions is an
author
and career coach, specializing in working with
engineers. Her book Recession Proof
Yourself! can be found at
www.elizabethlions.com
Comments may be submitted to
todaysengineer@ieee.org.
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