Five Ways Job-Seekers Sabotage Themselves

My colleague Molly and I went to see a CEO who was frustrated. Every CEO we meet is frustrated. Why else would they call us?

This CEO, Matt, said “I’m sick of coddling the managers on my team. They say they can’t find good people, no one is qualified and candidates want too much money.

“They say that we have to add more employee benefits and flexible work hours and a lot of other stuff. Why should I have to do that? What happened to the American work ethic?”

Molly and I listened with compassion. We have heard the same refrain a million times before. “Why should I have to?” is the cry of a person in pain. “I’m the CEO – why should I have to change?” is a cry of frustration we hear every day.

Nobody has to change. Nobody can make you change. They can put handcuffs on you and put you in prison but no one can make you change the way you think. You are in charge of that! However, it can help you to change the way you think, whether you’re a CEO or a new college grad or anyone in between.

The power you have is in your ability to change your thinking first, and then to change your actions based on your new perspective. Job-seekers say the same thing our frustrated CEO Matt said.

They say “Why is the danged hiring process so broken? Why should I have to jump through all these hoops? Why should I have to rewrite my resume with a human voice? Why should I go through all that trouble?”

You don’t have to go through that trouble. You can do whatever you want. The question to ponder is “Are you getting the results you want, right now?” If the answer is yes, then don’t change a thing! If the answer is no, then it might be worthwhile to change your job-search approach – but it’s always your choice!

No one can make you change the way you hunt for a job. You are right — the recruiting process is broken. A lot of systems we see around us are broken.

We can throw up our hands and say “Why is that system broken?” or we can get to work to tunnel under, zigzag around or fly over the obstacles that face us.

Job-seekers do themselves no favors when they invest no time or energy in their job-search approach and merely fling boring resumes into faceless Black Hole automated recruiting portals.

If they don’t hear anything back and then they say “What’s wrong with these employers?” they are hurting themselves twice!

First, they’re using a job search approach that doesn’t work. Secondly, they’re wasting precious brain and heart cells raging against the employers who can’t see their talents. Who wins in that scenario?

Certainly not a job-seeker who needs a job — or a hiring manager who needs help on his or her team!

Here are five common ways job-seekers sabotage their own job-search projects.

They Don’t Customize Their Materials

You can customize your resume for every opportunity you apply for, and it only takes ten or twenty minutes to do it, so why not? Your customized resume will showcase the parts of your background that apply most closely to the job you’re pursuing