The 10 most common mistakes in the job search

And what you should do to solve them
Drawing on your own personal experience and philosophies

Most job seekers base their job search methods and techniques entirely on their own set of experiences. Doing so will only serve to limit your opportunities.

Think like a salesperson. Marketers don’t design their product advertising around their own personal preferences; instead, they test and use approaches that appeal to a broader audience. Job seekers must learn to do the same.

being too narrow minded
Actually, this is closely related to reason number one. Most of us have a hard time getting out of our comfort zone and adopting new and/or alternative ways of doing things. This attitude will only serve to limit our job opportunities. Do not rely on your own personal experience and philosophies, but study and discover other methods that will open up new career opportunities for you.

Use only one or two versions of the resume
One or two resume versions just won’t work. Don’t rely on a sample resume. I’ve written a lot on this topic and my core message is that you have to “get inside the head” of your resume reader. The best clues on how to tailor your resume come from the actual language of the specific job posting you may be responding to.

If you’re providing a resume to an employer on an exploratory basis, when you may not have listed a specific job, research their website to see if you can find information on their areas of specialty and use that language. If you still can’t find information on the employer’s website in such cases, take the most common advertising language content from 10 to 20 job advertisements you can find and use the most common words, phrases, and ideas.

Relying too much on big job boards
There are no best job search boards or best executive job search sites. Only about 10% – 15% of all jobs are advertised on the major job boards at any given time. That’s where your competition is fiercest.

That leaves 85% to 90% of all jobs less visible. You have to learn to find them. Even with 85% to 90% of available jobs, only a fraction of them may appear anywhere, except possibly on employers’ own career websites. You need to learn which online job search engines to use that will search most employer websites from one place.

Failing to properly screen potential employers
The question is not why you research potential employers, but how to research potential employers. You should conduct research on each potential employer you pursue. They expect it and will almost always ask you about it.

A good method to use is to find something you found interesting about the employer that can hopefully relate to your own interests and job skills. Be sure to bring it up during the interview when asked, and if you’re not, find a way to bring it into the interview discussion.

One potential way to do this is when you are asked if you have any questions. You can repeat what you read in summary form and then ask them for more information about it. This shows your interest and desire to learn more.

Not preparing properly for the actual interview
Interview preparation tips can be invaluable. One such tip is to realize that there are three types of interviews that job seekers encounter that are the most common and you should be prepared for each of them, or some combination of them. One is the more traditional one, which usually follows the format of your resume.

The second type of interview is behavioral and has become very popular with many employers. It is more difficult to prepare for this type of interview, so the best way is to understand how to answer behavioral interview questions.

The third type of interview is the case interview in which you are presented with a real or hypothetical work situation and asked to discuss it with the interview team. These types of interviews are common for consultants, lawyers, but getting at least one mini case question these days is very common.

Not investing enough money in yourself
With the advent of the Internet and all the information easily accessible to us comes the attitude that we never have to pay for anything. This usually rears its ugly head for a job seeker when they are reluctant to pay for more expert advice and access to more efficient tools and techniques to help us not only in our job search, but in our career as well. Most people spend more on eating out than they are willing to spend on their career. You must be willing to invest in yourself not only to improve your education, but also to obtain professional advice.

Put too much emphasis on salary too soon
When was the last time you got out of bed, anxious to get to work because you earned x amount of money? It is not likely that you have felt this way very often.

Most of us enjoy our work because of what we do, what we can learn, and where our careers take us. Of course, we all want to be compensated fairly and competitively. But not being willing to explore a career opportunity because the first question we ask is, “how much does it pay?” you are totally wrong.

First, find out about the opportunity, both long-term and short-term, so you can understand how it may or may not fit into your long-term career goals, it’s just short-sighted.

Not having a long-term career vision
This returns the previous error. If you don’t know which direction you want your career to go, it’s like a sailboat under full sail with no one at the helm. You will end up where the wind takes you.

You must have a longer-term view of your career so that the decisions you make along the way will lead you to where you want to end up.

Not being open to new opportunities all the time
Now you have a good job and your mind totally drifts away from the job search. In general, it is as it should be, up to a point.

When the headhunter calls or a colleague calls you about a career opportunity, are the first words out of your mouth, “I’m not looking or am I happy where I am?” Both statements are true, but he should at least be open to exploring the opportunity or hearing more about it. Even if it’s not the right time to make a change or the job isn’t a good fit, be open to suggesting colleagues who might benefit from hearing about the opening.

Often the best opportunities come to you without many other competing candidates.

Not being able to build professional networks 24×7
This is important. Build your networks consistently and consistently so that when you need career information or career guidance or help with your job search, you have a valuable network to rely on. It is the concept of digging your well before you are thirsty.

LinkedIn is the most valuable network to do that. Join relevant groups there and contribute to discussions. You will be building your own reputation along the way. It’s like creating a goodwill savings account so you can cash out when needed. Rule number one is to give first, before asking for anything. That way you’ll have “cash in the bank” to use when you need it at short notice.