Likability is Everything

Hopefully you know by now that it’s next to impossible to get a job these days without help from someone else in the form of a referral or a recommendation. Since the jobs that are out there aren’t really being advertised, you’ll have to find out about openings from people you know or can meet. Even when a job is advertised, there will be so much competition that you’ll need somebody at the company advocating for you in order to really stand a chance.

Since the job search comes down to relationships, your likability is everything… and this is NOT the time to go with the “I am who I am, and they’ll either like me or not” approach. If you want people to want to help you, they have to like you, and you are largely in control over whether they do or not. Everybody has likable traits. Everybody also has some not-so-appealing traits. You can choose which of your traits you showcase when interacting with others.

One of the biggest factors we see negatively impacting job seekers’ likeability these days is a negative attitude. This can be a challenge for a lot of job seekers to get under control, especially if you have been looking for a job for awhile and are frustrated. Letting others see that negativity, though, is a big mistake. You can vent to your closest friends and family, but when talking with others, it’s time to muster up all the positivity you can.

While your frustrations with your job search and the economy might be completely justified, coming across as having a negative attitude is just not likeable. No employer wants to hire someone who seems to have a negative attitude, nor will people want to help you by referring you for an open position or introducing you to one of their contacts.

Sometimes when you’re really frustrated, it can come across even when you’re trying to hide it. So don’t just hide your negative attitude, change it. Reframe your job search in a positive way… Remember, there are jobs out there for the people willing to do whatever it takes to get them. Decide to be a top candidate, get out there, meet the right people, be likeable, and you’ll find success.

An argument against being depressed

Granted, the news about the job market is pretty depressing. Every month more jobs are lost, and there are more job seekers than there are openings. That’s the reality, and there’s nothing you can do about those facts.

Does that mean that you should just get depressed and give up? NO, even though you might be tempted to say, “Well if there are not enough jobs, then what’s the point?”

What has REALLY changed in this job market is that with fewer jobs and more highly qualified job seekers, the openings that do exist are going to the top candidates. Don’t think of yourself as the top talent? Well, if that’s the case, what are you going to do about it?

You now have two choices. You can choose to be depressed and give up, or, you can choose to BE top talent. That’s right- it’s a choice. And it’s your choice to make. The students and alumni I work with who have decided that they’re going to be the best and do whatever it takes to get the job they want, are getting jobs. They’re doing the right things to prepare for their career- getting experience however they can, developing relationships with the right people, and perfecting their job search strategies, and are perfectly willing to invest as much time and effort into achieving their goals as it takes. These are the “top” people the jobs are going to. The biggest correlation we’ve seen with job search success is the applicant’s level of commitment to being the best and willingness to do whatever it takes.

Therefore, if you DECIDE you’re going to be the best and do whatever it takes, jobs are out there for you. Granted, if everybody made this decision, then we’d have a real competition problem. But what you have going for you right now is that the majority of job seekers aren’t as committed as they need to be… making it easy for you to rise to the top if you decide to.

So don’t let the bad news about the job market get you down; just take that information for what it is- your guide to what it’s going to take to get a job. 

Unemployed... and bored?

People tell me all the time that they wish they could find a job because they’re so bored from being unemployed and having nothing to do. Well, I’m going to throw a seemingly radical idea out there- if you’re a job seeker, you have no excuse to be bored!

You’ve probably all heard the phrase, “Getting a job is a full-time job.” You’ve probably also said to yourself, “Yeah right, like I’m going to spend as much time looking for a job as I would if I had an actual paying job!” Well, in this job market especially, that phrase is quite literal. There’s a direct correlation between the time and effort you put into your search, and the outcome.

One of the problems is that many job seekers spend an hour or so each morning scouring job boards… and then quit for the day because they don’t know what else they should be doing. In reality, there are way more job search activities than you could ever even fit into a single day. If you’re a trying to conduct a successful job search, you need to be researching companies of interest, locating individuals to make contact with at those companies, making calls to contacts, setting up “coffee meetings,” conducting informational interviews, building your online brand, getting out there and attending events to meet new people, volunteering in order to enhance your resume and build your network, and ideally, even doing some pro bono consulting work to keep your skills fresh. Whew! That’s exhausting just looking at that to-do list!

So, if you’re bored, great! Use that free time and energy to your advantage to get out there and secure a real, paying job that much quicker!