A College Kids Take + A LinkedIn Conference = Job-Search Gold

Sometimes things that don’t really go together can end up being put together to provide the absolute best lessons. So for today here is a simple formula for you to remember for your job-search:

Lesson #1 – College Kids Know Job-Search (Kinda’)

A while back I received the following comment in response to a question I posted online about what people had learned in college. I was expecting to hear the same old, same old from folks like myself whose college days had long passed but instead snagged this piece of gold from a current MTSU student (GO BIG BLUE!).

“The lesson I have learned over the past two years has little to do with linear regression, case studies or promotion. The lesson learned was if we want something bad enough and are willing to put in the work we CAN do things that in the past we thought we couldn’t.”

 

While what he says is so true about college its also very true of job-search as well. Anyone can learn how to put together a resume or how to answer an interview question but it’s those folks who want it badly enough to go a step further in their search that have the most success.

Lesson #2 – Curiosity Didn’t Kill The Cat

I was lucky enough to go to LinkedIn’s Talent Connect event last week in Las Vegas and one thing that came out of it for me was to be “constantly curious” in everything you do.

In many cases it’s not the people who do what the majority are doing in job-search that have success, it’s those that choose to follow Robert Frost and take the road not taken that get there the quickest.

The Net Result of Lesson #1 and Lesson #2?

So what’s the best advice that can be given when you combine the wisdom of a college kid and a nugget of information from a LinkedIn conference?

• TRY SOMETHING NEW IN YOUR SEARCH AND WORK YOUR BUTT OFF AT IT
• IF THE OLD ISN’T WORKING KICK IT TO THE CURB
• BE WILLING TO DO THE THINGS THAT NO ONE ELSE IS (WITHIN REASON) IN YOUR SEARCH

Until next time, good hunting and good luck!

Malcolm X and Job-Search Reality

I was listening to ‘Cult of Personality’ by Living Coulor today and the beginning of the song (which, in my opinion, is one of the best ever recorded) a snippet of a Malcolm X quote is featured, “. . .and during the few moments that we have left, we want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand.”

To breakdown job-search into a ‘language everybody here can easily understand’ if you don’t network don’t expect to find work anytime soon.

Now, I know a lot of people have differing definitions of what networking is. Some might think sending an email (or InMail), or connecting with someone on LinkedIn, or showing up at a chamber of commerce meeting is networking.

All of them are kinda, sorta, in a way networking but what I am referring to is good old fashion one-on-one informational meetings over coffee or your favorite beverage.

If I am being honest, I am to the point where I feel just as sorry for those who tell me they have applied for 1,000 jobs and haven’t heard anything back as I am those that play the lottery and don’t hit the jack-pot.

To put it simply, there’s no global conspiracy to promote networking to the detriment of our way of life and nobody is secretly making money off of telling career experts to promote it as an effective job-search tool.

The reason that so many people promote networking is BECAUSE IT WORKS.

If you are going to refuse to do effective networking please go tell your sob story to someone else, there is not much I can do to help you. I know that’s harsh and I will probably have someone hate me because I said it but it needed to be said.

Learn how to network (read our previous post on the topic), learn how to do it well, keep your network alive, strong, and well and you have more job security than you could ever imagine.

Until next time – good hunting and good luck!