Blog Post: 9 Traps a Job Seeker Should Avoid

Several experts believe the Great Recession is the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Currently, we are facing a “jobless” recovery since companies are not eager to hire. However, many career experts believe a rebound will take place next year. Likewise, it’s vital that job seekers avoid the common traps (whenever possible) mentioned below.

1. Not Prospecting Consistently: as a job seeker, you must keep your pipeline primed with potential job leads by either networking to create your own job market, applying to job postings, volunteering, working on a contingency basis, and so on.

2. Mentioning Salary Up Front: if possible, you should delay answering the salary question. There are various ways to answer this question if push comes to shove. If you are required to provide salary information while applying to an online job requisition, make sure you also network to have your resume and cover letter delivered directly to the hiring manager.

3. Not Customizing Presentations: you must customize all of your presentations (business discussions, informational interviews, formal interviews, and etcetera) after determining the benefits and/or solutions you offer that are important to targeted employers. You can acquire this information from former and current employees and external research.

4. Not Presenting to All Decision Makers: you must pitch your value propositions to decision makers or the heads of the functional divisions (i.e. marketing, finance, etc) you are interested in. More than likely these are the senior executives of the company or the individuals who can make or approve hiring decisions. You can accomplish this by acquiring referrals from company insiders (with a common connection you established rapport with) to senior executives.

5. Displaying Insufficient Knowledge: you must be an “expert” in your area of expertise and must effectively convey the value you can offer potential employers. In other words, you must be able to conduct intelligent conversations while displaying top notch business acumen. Participating in professional and personal development activities can help with this process.

6. Criticizing the Competition: you should not knock your previous employers and targeted employers’ competitors. Instead state, something similar to this: “Xs are good companies with good products and/or services. However, these are the reasons why I am seeking opportunities with your company.”

7. Not Asking for the Sale: you must always ask for the sale during all contact with potential employers. In other words, you should ask for informational interviews, formal interviews, the job (after concluding your interviews), and so on. To help with this process, determine three benefits or reasons why a potential employer should agree to your requests. Then you can state something like this: “I am the ideal candidate and should be selected for this position for X, X, and X.”

8. Taking Rejection Personally: you must realize that rejection is part of the job search process. Most importantly, you should ask for feedback (whenever feasible) to help adjust or improve your job search strategy and express interest in the position (if you were a top candidate) just in case it becomes available later. Each time you are “rejected” you should contact the employer and ask: “Could you please provide feedback about why I was not considered for this job?”

9. Not Following Up with Prospects: you must consistently follow up with potential employers by offering value to increase your chances of landing a job offer. Instead of following up with potential employers by stating something similar to this: “I am contacting you to check on my status,” you should provide value or demonstrate your expertise. This could entail sending:

 

a white paper or E-book you wrote

a competitive analysis

useful articles

the top 5-10 reasons why the company should hire you

any other useful information

 

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