Whoo-whee! It's that time of the year -- the best time of year to get a job. Companies are
indeed hiring. They're just not doing it the way you'd expect. They're in a hurry but they don't want to make mistakes.
Consider the logic of the frustrated job hunters above. It's not logic at all. It's pure
frustration that stems from not being the right candidate. Who's fault is that? Difficult as it might be to hear this, please
listen: Don't approach a company if you're not the right
candidate. Don't make rationalizations when a company ignores you.
It's true that companies are able to hire fewer people because things are tight, but that doesn't
mean they have the luxury of time. In fact, the opposite is true. Managers are often under great pressure to fill a precious slot
before the year ends and budgets close (or are cut). Thus, employers are not hiring slowly because they can, but because they can't
get the right candidates. They are deluged with every Tom, Dick, and Jane who has a minute to submit an application.
Remember that most hires are made
via personal referrals and contacts. Why? Because this is the most reliable source of good, appropriate candidates. When managers
can't get a hire through this preferred channel, they turn to lesser sources, like ads and resume submissions. They know the odds of
finding a good candidate are low, but they, too, are frustrated and desperate. They need to fill a job now. Put that in your
Santa's pipe and smoke it -- and you'll sweep past your competition.
'Tis the season to be truly right. If you are the candidate a manager needs, you can capitalize on the rush to hire. You
can give a manager the gift he's been waiting for: your earthly presence. Help him to spend his budget and make the hire. Be
ready to articulate your value, but do it face-to-face or on the phone. Make it personal.
Like Baba Ram Das said in 1976, "Be here now". A resume doesn't cut it. An application doesn't cut it. When you hide
behind a "form" you're admitting that you're not sure you're the right candidate. You are afraid to face the manager
because you have nothing compelling to say. If you're the right candidate, then you have exactly what it takes to make a manager
smile and say, "Yes!"
You can be the truly right candidate for only one, or two, or maybe three different jobs. Pick them carefully. Study, prepare,
create a business plan to prove your value to the specific manager, and go after those two or three jobs and no others.
The frustrated candidates above are not being dismissed because their resumes are lousy, but because they are cows.
If you merely send in a resume, what's the chance you are really the right candidate? If you rely on nothing but a dopey
job posting, how can you know what a job is about or what a manager wants? Please: Be realistic. Take the most reliable, proven path
to a job. If you are really the right candidate, prove it by getting referred by someone the hiring manager trusts.
I know I sound a bit harsh. My suggestions seem like an unreasonable burden on a job hunter. The notion that it's up to
you to pick the right job creates a daunting task. And making personal contact with hard-to-reach managers is so difficult.
This is all very hard work.
Yep. But so is the great job you want. The task of finding and winning it has never been easy. If you believe otherwise, you're
grasping at straws. you already know this isn't simple. You already know that being dead-on for a job is a rare
experience. But if you don't make it happen, it's not likely to happen on its own.
Take advantage of this high-pressure time when managers really do want to fill jobs. But don't be casual about it. Get personal.
Be the right candidate who picks the one right company, the one right job, then picks up the phone and delivers the solution a
manager has on his wish list.
(For more on job hunting during the holidays, please read The Third
Fallacy.)
Best,
Nick Corcodilos
Ask The Headhunter®
