Knowing The Right People
An airline test markets what it has decided to offer. If the test results are poor, the airline changes either its basic product (such as its number of seats) or offers the same product in a way that is more attractive to the target market. It could also decide to withdraw from that target market.
Test what you have decided to offer. If it is not of interest to your target market, change what you are offering, the way you are offering it, or the image you are projecting. For example, you can change what you are offering by getting more experience or training in a certain area. You change your image by looking different or by highlighting a certain aspect of your personality that is of interest to your target market. Or you may change your promotional techniques.
On the other hand, you may decide to withdraw from that market. Perhaps it is inappropriate for you. An example is when you find your target market is in the middle of major layoffs. If you can help turn the company around, you have a chance. If you are comparable to the people it is laying off, consider a different target.
Some people pick a target and stick with it no matter what, but you need flexibility and common sense to figure out what may be going wrong in your campaign. You may need more experience, or you may need to present yourself differently. Or it may be that there is no hope of obtaining an offer in certain markets. No matter how much you may want to work for a foundation, for example, there may not be many positions available. Then, even the best job hunting techniques will not help you. Change your target.
- An airline assesses its competition and so will you. Who is your competition and how well do you stack up in your basic qualifications? What can you offer that is different?
- An airline asks itself if the timing is right for a campaign it may be planning. Consider if the timing is right for what you want to offer a particular market. Sometimes there is a great demand for lawyers or engineers, for example, and at other times there is a glut in the market. When the oil business was booming, there was a demand for people in that field. Aerospace engineers could once name their price. You can easily find out the level of demand by testing what you want.
- An airline asks itself if it is worth it if it can afford to do what it would take to offer its product to a certain market. It decides if its return will be adequate, and it makes sure this venture will satisfy other company needs and support company objectives.
- Ask yourself if it is worth it. You may find that a field is not what you thought it was: perhaps the pay is too low or the hours too long. Or the field may not fit with your long term goals. Or it may run contrary to your motivated skills or values, or what you want in a company or a position. You can lower your expectations or you can look elsewhere.
- There is one major difference between what you and the airline have to offer: the airline has a lot of planes and a lot of seats, but there is only one of you. Be particular about whom you sell your services to. Get a couple of potential offers so you can make a comparison and select what is best for you.
Weekly Group Meetings
Throughout life our internal lives are enriched by the people we have permitted to touch us. GEORGE E. VAILLANT Adaptation to Life
Not everything can be covered in a book. Meeting every week with people like yourself can be a tremendous help. They will become familiar with your job search and can give you feedback on your efforts. The experiences of other people can teach you what to do when the same things happen to you. In the group, you can trade stories and techniques, and network with one another.
Believe it or not, weekly group meetings are fun and a respite from the discouraging job of job hunting. They can spark you on: your own situation seems less hopeless. You feel that if they can do it, you can, too.
Being in a group with your peers can be more effective than one on one counseling with a "pro." A group can take risks that a counselor cannot. For example, even if you have been unemployed for a while, the group may suggest that you do not take a position because it is not right for you. You can easily ignore the advice of the group if you want. A counselor has to be more careful about giving advice that can adversely affect a person's financial situation. Your peers have more freedom to discuss your needs and to give a variety of "free" advice.
In one of my groups there was a dynamic public relations man who had been unemployed for two months. The group came to know him well. He received a job offer to do public relations work for a conservative dental firm. When he told us about the offer, the look on his face clearly showed how unhappy he felt about it. Everyone knew that this would not be the right job for him, and the group discouraged him from taking it.
A few weeks later, he received another job offer this one from a dynamic company in San Francisco. The company had been searching to fill this position for more than six months, and it was thrilled to find him. So was he: for him, the job was the chance of a lifetime.
Time For Personal Development
If you happen to be unemployed, welcome to the club. Some unemployed people think they don't deserve any fun at all. But it is difficult to job hunt for a full forty hours a week.
If you have only thirty hours of work to do, you may spread it out to fill forty hours. With too much time on your hands, you may take longer than usual to write a memo or make a phone call or an appointment. You may stretch things out so you will always have "something to look forward to." You will wind up stretching out your search.
Wasting time is itself not the bad part. The bad part is losing your flow of adrenaline. Better to spend thirty seven hours a week searching for a job and making those hours intense just as you would in a real job and then rewarding yourself with three hours of fun that week.
During a period of unemployment, I indulged myself by going to auction houses and spending the time it takes to study furniture. Auctions aren't crowded during the day, when everyone else is working. I never regretted the time I spent there. I felt I would never have that luxury again. I worked hard at my job hunt and felt I deserved a break so do you.
But you don't deserve too much of a break. One of the worst things a person can do is start off his or her unemployment with a "well deserved" vacation. Sometimes the job hunt never gets started. The momentum never builds. Instead, why not look for a job and take two weeks off after you have landed it? If you are unemployed, don't punish yourself, but don't overindulge yourself, either.
Job hunting is a job in itself, hard work that can be discouraging. But since you have to do it, you might as well have fun. You will meet interesting people who may become new friends. And you will learn a lot. That's not so bad.
