When the job search is going nowhere

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." -attributed to Albert Einstein

I have a lot of students and alumni come into my office and tell me that they have sent dozens and dozens of job applications and heard nothing back from employers. When I hear that, I think two things:

1) Have you tried calling the employers?
and (just as importantly)
2) What have you started to do differently given that your applications are not getting results?

Fortunately, these students and alumni are in my office for just that reason: to strategize and figure out what they can do differently to get employers' attention with their resume and cover letter.

When something isn't working, in life, we usually stop. For instance, the car won't start, so we get it towed to a mechanic - we don't sit there and crank the key until the battery is dead. If scrubbing a stain on the floor isn't removing it, we try a tougher cleaning product - we don't just kneel there and keep wasting our energy until the scrub brush wears out. The same principle applies to a job search: if your resume and cover letter are not getting attention, you need to change your application!

The most common changes or strategies to job applications/searches that I recommend are:

a) follow up with employers - even if your application didn't catch attention the first time, you can draw attention to it by contacting the hiring decision maker

b) proofreading - have a friend/family member review your application - does it catch their attention? do they notice spelling mistakes you missed? what would catch their attention?

c) keyword searches - large and medium sized companies often shove your resume and cover letter into a big database, and do a keyword search to pull out the first round of interview candidates. If your documents, especially resume, do not provide enough detail as to the specific skills (specific software, ie, not just "accounting related software" but "Simply Accounting, AccPac 5.2, QuickBooks"), you won't pop out of the database. It is perfectly acceptable to have a section called "Key Words" at the end of your resume if you suspect it is going to be put in a database.

d) focus - is your resume targeted to the specific job and specific company you are applying to? did you use words and ideas out of the job ad or the company's website?

e) proof and specifics - did you provide examples of things that you have done? did you concretize and quantify (give a number) to your accomplishments? See the great website on resume building at George Brown College for tips and good examples (even for experienced workers): http://www.georgebrown.ca/saffairs/stusucc/resumes.aspx#link16

f) layout and format - is the "best stuff" first on the resume? is the cover letter too long, or does it not provide proof of your qualifications? do the fonts match, and are they attractive? (oh, the number of resumes I see in Courier - a no-no!) is there too much white space on the page, or is the resume too cluttered?

g) e-mail applications - do you take the opportunity in the body of the e-mail to which your resume and cover letter are attached to sell yourself? You can at the very least paste your cover letter into the message. Better that than just: "Please see attached application." Bo-ring!

There are things you can do to catch an employer's attention. Do them! Employers want to hire you - they just need you to interest them!

Career Planning Challenges

Apologies for the delay in posting! A family member got married a week or two ago, and my life was caught up in preparing and catching up from the event.

It's a great example of how life gets in the way of our career plans (looking at in a little negatively), or how our career or life must be adjusted to fit the other. Our life is not our work, and our work is not our life. I often find myself wondering, in 5 years, will anyone remember this? will it have any lasting impact? And if the answer is no, I evaluate whether I really want to do it.

I'm prone to burning out, and I know that. It's something myself (and my spouse) monitor carefully. I get into my work, and I easily forget what my priorities are: making a good paycheck, yes, but also spending quality time with my spouse, and my cat, and writing letters to friends and family. My overall mood is better, and I think more clearly when my life and career are more balanced.

There's a lot of pressure on me, don't get me wrong. At the moment, I earn twice what my spouse does, so it falls on me to pay most of the bills. I don't mind, but when it comes to taking a day off if I'm not feeling well, or taking a holiday somewhere, I do wonder whether we can afford to do it. In the end, we have started to understand that I can't NOT take time off, or my career and my life both suffer - I'm less productive when I'm tired, and I'm miserable on top of it. It's a no-win situation to be at work exhausted.

A few nice articles on the career-life balance juggle:

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/lp/spila/wlb/faq/01individuals.shtml
Some resources (Canadian): http://www.worksearch.gc.ca/category_drilldown.jsp;jsessionid=7844400A5992636A62E98B25C6B4760D.jvm7?category_id=578&crumb=42&crumb=127&crumb=560
http://ca.hotjobs.yahoo.com/balance
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/careeradviceresources/a/balanceact.htm
A whole section from Monster at http://content.monster.ca/section1966.asp
http://career.lfpress.jobboom.com/work-life/relaxation-vacation/2005/06/08/3279111-torsun.html

If you're not sure whether your life and career are in balance (though if you're not sure, I'd guess they're not!) at http://www.quintcareers.com/work-life_balance_quiz.html

Some companies actively promote a positive career-life balance. A quick Google search found these:

http://www.bcjobs.ca/re/career-centre/career-tools/career-planning/finding-your-balance
http://www.td.com/hr/balance.jsp