Critical Issues Behind the Electronic Job-Search

By John O'Connor
Email: john@careerproresumes.com
Website: www.CareerProResumes.com

For many people who are faced with downsizing, layoffs and other issues that propel them into the ranks of the unemployed and those looking, they don't get excited about much. Shock, anger, angst and genuine crisis management push them into searching for answers. Like John Simpson, he saw the Internet and electronic job search as a panacea. "This won't take me long," he told his friends and family. "The last time I searched I just posted my résumé to the majors (job search engine sites) and companies and recruiters scooped me up." Times have changed in the electronic job search world just as things have changed in the overall job market. He told his friends and spouse - "It'll even be easier this time since I am not just looking in the DC area. I am looking all over the East Coast and a few cities out West."

"I just mega blasted everything out to all the big search engines, leads and other user groups." Mr. Simpson said. "I mean I didn't let up." "A few calls from recruiters came and I answered their questions - salary history, salary expectations, travel percentage and other key questions. It freaked me out a little when I found out most of these calls were conducted by the very junior level human resources person. When I asked when my next interview would be it was the same deal - we'll call you. Most never did." Mr. Simpson did not realize that many positions receive hundreds of résumés and companies get thousands of unsolicited résumés weekly. Then he got the invites to the commission only sales positions; this led to a few group interviews in the DC area but only amounted to a lot of driving and sales pitches by less than desirable companies.

"Everyone it seemed wanted someone to work for them for nothing," Mr. Simpson said. "I was a sucker and I guess I just looked like a desperate person like everyone else out there. My résumé reflected my experience within the logistics area. It had some accomplishments. I even performed some key sales support tasks that directly led to new revenue for my companies."

The Biggest Enemies in the Electronic Search

What are the biggest problems in an electronic search?

• Yourself - the assumptions you make behind your computer can be helpful, hurtful or even lethal to your search.
• Your Audience - by blasting your résumé to multiple search engines without a clear plan is just another spam mail that you are doing.
• Your Attitude - don't ever believe that sitting at home, at an office or somewhere behind your computer will take the place of preparing yourself for an interview or what a company or organization really needs. It's really about them not you.

In other words, your high-tech electronic search must have a low-tech, in-person and highly personalized feel. Wasn't it Bill Gates who coined the phrase high-tech high-touch? Well, it is something you might want to master. "Or you might end up like me," says Mr. Simpson. "A dog chasing his tail for nine months - that was me for sure."

How is that Mr. Simpson changed his search techniques and status? He changed his outlook/attitude, focused on his audience, and decided that his attitude must be in line despite his apparent job search induced crisis.

It took him months to realize some critical problems with his search. He eliminated many distractions. "My first few months were just me being inconsistent," Mr. Simpson admits. "I would disappear to the library, my home office, make up things like painting our garage to avoid my reality - the reality of being laid off." It didn't even matter that the layoff occurred because of a big downsizing in the telecom field.

"As a field engineer and sales support manager," Mr. Simpson says. "I had this unique combination of skills. The way I wrote it out though really didn't help me. After hiring a career coach and going through my documents, I realized a few critical things. You could say I homogenized my marketing message. I just looked like, on paper and electronically, everyone else. One recruiter told me that telecom guys like me were a dime a dozen. That doesn't make you feel good." So what did Mr. Simpson do? He kept busy and read articles online, buried himself in industry periodicals, chatted with friends, and found two job search groups.

One person told him during a job search group meeting at a local Alexandria, Virginia church that he had recently been picked up online because he had his web résumé out there. "That sent me into HTML code for about a month," Mr. Simpson says. "But when I published the site out there I found out that it was just another distraction. I never really thought of what I was doing as marketing myself. I seemed to do things to keep busy, make myself feel good. It had the opposite effect."

Get Serious and Get Focused on What Works

• Do a comprehensive inventory of your wants, needs and desires. Sit down with your spouse and ask them to concentrate with you on this next professional move. Some of the questions Mr. Simpson, his career coach and his spouse used to define their focus may help you. Book a schedule to be online. Book a period of time to work the phone. Research and prepare to call some companies.
• Design a strategy for each company found online by saving bookmarks, site information, news articles and other information. Study these companies and make calls to decision-makers. Mr. Simpson used key electronic search techniques to determine company needs then he clearly wrote out the reasons his skills may fit into the companies needs. He practiced following through with these companies by using various marketing messages tailor-written from his newly revised résumé.
• Mr. Simpson partnered with a résumé writer to rewrite his entire document. "This made my information come alive to the reader," Mr. Simpson says. "By assessing my goals and contributions, I demonstrated how I could help almost any company save money and drive revenue. My document opened up my marketability to opportunities in industries other than telecom. We started using keywords and replaced fluff with highly marketable information that would speak directly to each reader. We used keywords and phrases to attract electronic attention." Prepare your newly formed marketing tool to be used electronically.
• Stop mass mailing and start target marketing your résumé. "I slowed down to speak up," Mr. Simpson states. "I took more time to find out who should receive my résumé, what their needs might be as a person and company. Then I clearly addressed how I could meet or exceed those needs. I stopped trolling the Internet, throwing out chum and going for every scheme or interview that came up. I started valuing myself. It's funny. So then did recruiters and human resources people."
• Hethen concentrated on just three East Coast cities and did an intensive search online for critical in-depth company information.
• Don't stop at the advertised market online. Use the Internet and other eResearch to find out how to contact key decision-makers. "When I started putting quality and not just quantity into my search I started getting calls. People started seeing me as a potential asset to their organization instead of another desperate jobseeker blasting his résumé all over the net."

"My electronic job search makeover really helped me get out of a focus on myself," Mr. Simpson exclaimed. "I finally negotiated a great offer with a company for a position based out of Alexandria, Virginia. It's for a Field Sales and Service Trainer. The position utilizes a unique combination of my technical and interpersonal communication skills. It's just right, the offer, everything. Plus we didn't even have to move. My wife likes that! If I would have learned some lessons from the beginning it would have taken me less than half the time it did."

John M. O'Connor is the President of www.CareerProRresumes.com (Individual Résumé Writing and Search Assistance). He holds key industry credentials and this past year won Best Federal Résumé and Best Career Change Résumé in an international competition. He holds the prestigious and nationally recognized titles of Credentialed Career Coach (CCM) and Certified Résumé Writer (CRW), the first ones issued to a North Carolina "Tarheel." John can be contacted via email at john@careerproresumes.com.

Gail Frank is a Nationally Certified Résumé Writer and Certified Job Coach who offers outplacement workshops, résumé writing and interview training for small companies and individuals. She is a Harvard graduate with a background in Brand Management and Marketing with Fortune 500 companies, and as a trainer and consultant for top outplacement firm Drake Beam Morin. See her website: http://www.CallFranklySpeaking.com.