The Job Hunting Tool Kit: job hunting tool kit

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Tuesday, August 23, 2016

FREE, Job Hunters! Section 6 - Never teach a pig to sing, eh?

In all of the hard work and frustration of your job hunting,
HERE you have free lessons and exercises to customize to YOUR needs.

Enjoy this part of the copyrighted "Job Hunting Tool Kit I-IV", pass it along to friends but do not sell it, please.

Also, enjoy a really funny video for lesson 3Q, right HERE...

3I. The Unasked Test - Eye rolling

3J. Dealing With Your Ugly fish

3K. Lord Churchill - - You Are Drunk!

3L. Never teach a pig to sing

3M. IPS – How to Eat A Cow

3N. Informational interviews

3O. Failure is not a person/ I never lost, only behind

3P. Building Your Spirit/ Making Yourself More Interesting

3Q. The Big Battle lines: Frosting versus Cake

Love that eye rolling

This is my favorite because the unprepared fall for it

every time.

You are the employer for a moment... you have a job that requires a go-getter attitude and ability to do things and change plans on short notice. You want to avoid anyone who would utter the words “I'm not going to do THAT”. What to do? Use an eye roller! Most of the time the eye-roller is a job related test sprung on the applicant at the right moment.

So you have completed the interview and the applicant has begun to relax. Their guard, up for most of the meeting, is relaxed now and you may see the real person behind the well-rehearsed mask some wear at an interview. NOW!! HIT THEM WITH THE EYEROLLER!

Give them a job related test, simple math for cashiers, a written test with vocabulary the right candidate should know. THEN I LOOK AT THEIR EYES AND EXPRESSION!

Did you see them roll their eyes and sigh a ‘oh, not a test!' sigh? Well, they just told you how they deal with the unexpected. And they just lost a lot of their chance at landing this job today. Why hire the eye-roller when another candidate may enthusiastically grab the exam, welcoming the test as a way to show their skills?

Back to you being the job hunter... when an employer springs an eye-roller, like a test or a ”come with me on a tour” or “I'll bring in another worker for a moment”, welcome it and avoid the eye roller expression that can ruin a good interview in one second.

Making It Work:

What are some unexpected things that can be thrown at you in an interview? Make a list of some off the wall questions (like 'name six people living or dead you would invite to dinner tonight?’ what animal most resembles you?) or job related questions (what would you do in unusual situations at work) tests that can be dropped in front of an applicant.

Ask a friend to give you an interview, have them select a few from your list or come up with their own and remember yourtheir thoughts to your reactions. Remember, the eyes have it, eh?

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Taking a long look at your Smelly Fish

Everybody's got a smelly fish. The better you know it, the better you will be at getting him from ruining your life.

First, a story. A single mother was hoping to one day buy a house, but money was always a problem and her dream seemed far away. One day she went to visit a home for sale and was soon chatting with the owner about the financial troubles that she and her children faced.

The owner, wiping tears away, asked her how much money she had with her today. She shrugged and pulled out the $4.00 she had in her pocket. “SOLD!” he said.

The woman found he was not kidding and she accepted the house on the owner's one condition, that he would still own a hook on the kitchen coat rack. He was sentimental about it, and the whole house for $4.00? What could go wrong?

She was settling in when the former owner stopped in one evening. “Sorry to interrupt dinner, but I want to take a picture of the hook. Can you take a picture of me and the hook, please?” OK, no harm done - the house was a steal...

Weeks later, she was preparing a small party in her place when the old owner stopped by carrying a 40 pound fish.

“Yup, just caught it” he said as the fish dripped on the kitchen floor. “Just going to hang it up here on MY hook.”

She allowed it, took a picture of the man and his fish and was surprised when the man left the house leaving behind the fish. The former owner just smiled and said “I'm leaving it on the hook. Don't you touch it now because, hey, a deal is a deal...?”

Days passed - the fish remained there, stinking up the whole house. She was reduced to staring at it and saying “a deal IS a deal.”

*********

Folks, every deal you make and every compromise made carries the prospect that you will be left with a smelly fish. Is it the words you have to say to close a deal on a product you aren't sold on yourself? Is it the late hours or shift work that keeps you away from family?

A different kind of smelly fish pollutes your own self-image. What keeps you from your dreams? Down-cast friends? Fear of the unknown? A condition (physical or mental) you feel that keeps you from advancing? Best to take a good, long look at the fish you have on your hook in the compromises YOU are setting.

FREE HELP:

Employers can receive a large tax credit for hiring people who are members of certain “target groups”, (ex. veterans, disabled, single parents and others. Go to www.irs.gov and see if you are one of the Worker Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) targeted groups.

Once you know you qualify, make that solid first impression and when the time is right, tell them that the employer may get a fat tax credit for hiring and keeping you as opposed to other candidates.

Making It Work:

Draw a picture of the house you want to live in and in the middle of the picture draw your personal smelly fish...maybe it is a whale, or one with thorns and spikes; maybe it is really a lot of little fishes. Name the fish by the thing(s) that holds you back the most. Keep this very personal drawing aside and understand the impact that fish has on your life.

In your own time and your own way, figure how to lose the fish somehow and get it out of YOUR house...

My fish:

Lord Churchill, you are drunk

Lord Winston Churchill had a quick wit that helped him dozens of times. He had one famous encounter that helps with your job hunting.

One night he was at a dinner filled with the richest, snootiest people London had to offer. One woman was shocked (shocked I say) to see Lord Churchill having had too much to drink.

She shouted at him “Lord Churchill, you sir are drunk!” Winston turned to her and said softly but directly: “Madame, tonight I am drunk and you are ugly. Tomorrow, I will be sober but you, sadly, will still be ugly.”

The lesson here is that time and effort, painful as they may be at the time, can cure some temporary problems – but ugly stays. Churchill would become clear and sober again, but her ‘problem’ would remain. How about you?

Making It Work:

List the aspects of yourself that are ‘rust’ in that they are part of who you are and cannot be painted over or hidden. Be true to yourself –

• Are you a slob?

• Do you have trouble taking orders or correction?

• Do you get into arguments too quickly?

Make another list this time of the lessons you need in order to address the problems you face. What are the things that time and effort can get it done for you.

Now get to work solving it.

Never teach a pig to sing,

it wastes your time and annoys the pig

Somethings in life are just what they are. It will snow in my hometown every winter, dandelions growing in my yard next year and that the sun will come out tomorrow.

The important part of this is the lesson comes from this quote. I have faith and hope that with your tenacity and good sense you will land a job that brings you closer to your dreams. But, folks, there are somethings that you cannot change.

It is to save you time and energy (and sanity) I remind you that pig voice lessons are a lousy investment because outside of Hollywood and Charlotte’s Web, pigs have a terrible time carrying a tune.

Making It Work:

Time to bring out tthat beautiful Serenity Prayer:

“Grant me the courage to change the things I can,

Patience to accept the things I cannot and the

Wisdom to know the difference.”

You already have courage and wisdom (you are reading the JHTK series, right) Make yourself a long list of what frustrates you about job hunt. Please make it a long list.

Now break it down into what you can change and what things you cannot. Now review the list a second time and consider what you can’t change list again. With time, help, education, perseverance are there some things in your cannot list that can be changed. I could buy something to get rid of the dandelions or get in snow shoveling shape to prepare for the snow, making it less a problem. Like Little Orphan Annie sang “maybe what’s good gets a little bit better and maybe what’s bad gets gone.”

Now take your list of really can-nots, a pen and a roll of toilet paper. One by one, write down the items on your can’t list onto the toilet paper. Once the list is complete, one by one tear them off, sink them into the toilet water and flush them away.

How to Eat A Cow

So many things are happening to you all at the same time that it is easy to lose track and feel overwhelmed by it all. The best way I know how to deal with this problem is to learn from what my late grandfather said –

“The best way to eat a cow is one steak at a time.”

Hey , folks, you are facing ‘a cow’ in being unemployed or underemployed. You will remember years from now how you handled the pressures you are facing right now. Well, with apologies to our vegetarian friends, you have to bring that cow down to size.

One way is to label each of the steps separately, as is done in the Individualized Placement and Support model of job hunting. By breaking it down into its components, you may be able to have a greater sense of mastery and a better sense of how you will accomplish something toward your overall goals every day.

Making It Work:

List all of the parts of the job hunting process from your point of view:

• Preparing physically: Appearance, transportation, clothes, etc. so you present yourself as energetic.

• Preparing your message: Resumes, applications, Oz factors of you and the specific employer.

• Preparing your research: What are perspectives of each employer, issues facing the hiring managers for today/future, have you kept up with references?

• Preparing for the fine points: Ready for the unexpected, preparing for questions you may face?

• Add here any other preparations unique to your personal situation.

Informational Interviews

So you have tried your best to get interviewed but cannot get past the Bulldog.

Maybe you want to show your capabilities but cannot get through to the employers out there.

Or maybe you are trying to get a better understanding of the interests, points of view and Employer Oz factor, but you cannot find out.

One solution to all 3 of these is the informational interview. One of the best ways to find out an employer’s needs and point of view is to ask one. A great way to express to an employer your skills is to, well, tell one.

Getting that information and exposure can come through an informational interview. This takes some self-confidence to set one up but as with potato chips, once you have finished one you cannot wait for another.

Making It Work:

Practice setting up an informational interview with three companies in the field you want to go to work in. You may not get all three, but keep at it until you meet at least one.

You will need the following:

• Who, Where and When – Find the hiring manager at companies in the field you want to work in.

• How – Compose a letter asking to meet briefly with the person you have identified at their convenience whether or not they are hiring currently.

• Why – Well, what is YOUR reason? What is YOUR interest in the field – why THIS company or THIS field?

• What – Plan ahead, knowing specific things you want to learn about – especially in the point of view of the hiring manager: how do you select the right person? What directions do you see for the future?

The goal overall is to understand more about the field, understand the Oz factor of the employers you are hunting and when that is accomplished to get the word out about your skills.

Spirit 2

It is important to keep your spirit up as you face the challenges of job hunting. Earlier in the series we reviewed some actions you can take to feel more centered or to make your application more interesting, but in the fine tuning we are more personal.

Remember to feel a sense of gratitude in the gifts that you have – the gifts of the world around you and the gifts that you have to share with others. It can make a lasting effect on you to make an inventory of what you need to support your personal spirit.

Helping others toward their goals – whether it is helping someone with homework or joining a job hunting support group – can feed your spirit in a unique way.

Making It Work:

Let us address all three-

• Gaining a feeling of gratitude for the gifts you have requires that you make an inventory of these gifts. Take a moment and list gifts that you share with others - - the sunshine, 24 hours in a day and hope for the future for example.

Include the gifts that you have in the main realms of life – your physical body, your intellect, your heart and ability to deal with others, resources to help yourself financially and your spiritual gifts of faith in yourself, others or tomorrow.

• Make an inventory of what you need for supporting your spirit. This is often difficult at first and requires you to consider what faith means to you and how to foster it for the future. Faith in the future, faith in your being able to meet the challenges ahead.

• Help others toward their goals – give them the benefit of your experience, expertise and caring. This helps open things in your life that only come out in caring for others. At the end of the day you will gain a sense that someone else’s life is different because you were in it and know that this day was special to you as well.

Frosting and cake

My late grandfather used to enjoy warning me about seeing past the sweet words of salesmen or others who he called “all frosting and no cake”.

In job hunting there is a tendency among some hunters to sell all of the sizzle without having any steak to back it up. Employers are often concerned that they may be fooled by an applicant who is just all sweet words (frosting) without a foundation to back it up (no cake). The trick to it is to make certain that when faced with this the employer knows that she is getting cake after all.

How to do that?

First, make sure that in your resume, application and JIST cards that you are showing the cake. Detail specifics of what you can do – have proof with statistics, references who will back up the sweet sounding statements you make.

Second, the cake should be inviting to your audience – review the words about your accomplishments as related to THEIR interests (noted in the job description and all that you have found in research.) If the employers want angel food, avoid giving devil’s food.

Third, too much frosting makes the employer wonder how deep the frosting goes compared to where the cake begins. Avoid too much sweetness by keeping sentences short, resume easy to read and filled with at least some cake.

Making It Work:

Review your resume, application and JIST card in light of the cautions listed above and make the changes as needed. JIST cards? Bulleted points of your best qualities and qualifications targeting what the employer is looking for.

Sunday, July 31, 2016

FREE! HERE - YOUR THIRD section of the Job Hunting Tool Kit - No Strings Attached!!

Here you are -

HERE is YOUR Third section - Build Your Job Hunting Oz Factor

with proven lessons and exercises to build and win in the Job Hunt.

2A. The Oz Factor – The Employer’s Point of View

2B. A first Step – How to Define “Janitor”

2C. Nobody Buys the Nova

2D. The Difference Between Sizzle and Steak

2E. Impressing at the Teddy Bear Interview

2F. Getting Past the Bulldog

2G. Building Your Own Bull’s-eye

2H. Learning From A Lumberjack

Two requests:

1. Do not sell this material, share it instead. It is protected by copyright laws

and hey, the idea is to give it away for free...

2. Watch some of my Job Hunting HERO Method videos

Employer’s Oz

Now that you have learned of the OZ factor, we need to see it from the employer’s point of view.

As you know from the first section of the Tool Kit series, the Oz factor is based on the idea that employers are looking for people with

• The brains to learn how to do what the job requires with the efficiency and speed that the job requires.

• The heart to get along with the people you will interact with either directly (customers/clients/co-workers) or indirectly (stockholders, neighbors).

• The courage to do the job without people questioning your honesty or your commitment to doing the job right.

Most employers do not assume that you will arrive on the first day knowing all you need to know to do the job well… training and practice are important parts about learning the job. The question is do you have the experience to learn it relatively quickly or the ability (the brains) to learn it without bankrupting the company to teach you.

When it comes to heart, employers like to know that you have the ability to get along well with the people they HAVE to get along with – maybe you have similar experience or can relate to the social demands you will face on the job.

Courage and your conscientiousness is the hardest for the employer to gauge but ultimately one of the most important qualities and one that most folks either have or they do not.

The lesson is to understand the Oz factor that employer will base her decision on when considering your application.

Making It Work:

Write down your top four prospective employers, listing underneath each one the words the employer’s Oz factor. Beside each of them, write the essential parts of

Brains (what is to be learned, taught, done on the job);

Heart (what kind of people will be served on your job, how you will interact with co-workers or customers)

Courage (what are examples taking responsibility for your mistakes and learning from them that the employer would find interesting?)

You may not be able to make a full list the first time out on this exercise, so feel free to return to this one as you get used to it and learn more about the employer.

When I started in the placement field I was asked to get a janitor for a specific employer. I had just the right person for the job, I thought. He had talked of years he has spent cleaning in places just like this employer wanted. I placed this perfect person knowing I had done the greatest of all placements in the history of placements. Ooooops.

The employer called me and through his laughing he insisted that I send him a real janitor. When he caught his breath, he noted HIS definition of janitor included someone who knew how to run a buffing machine. Apparently, the first time people use a buffing machine it tosses them around the room – which is what was happening to the poor person I sent in to that job.

I found through that unforgettable time that it is the definition of the job from the employer’s point of view (POV) - that is the only one that really matters. You may have some great skills but unless you are speaking the employers language it is all for naught.

FREE HELP:

On-The Job Training Program and/or Wage Subsidy incentives for employers give hiring managers powerful tools in hiring someone and getting help paying their wages while you are in training. Since you are most expensive to an employer while you are learning the job, these incentives give you the chance to get hired while you learn. Ask your “One Stop” center for more information on this one.

Making It Work:

Use divergent thinking and write a list of the jobs you have done like how your experience is different from ‘Buddy’ (see JHTK Book I) a person who has never done anything since leaving school. For example, if you have worked extra hours when asked, completed training or helped others with training them, ass that to your list.

Review the type of work you have done as if the person you are describing it to has never done that work before.

If you cared for elderly patients, did you take vital signs? What do you mean by helping with hygiene? Did you ever work with groups of people? Make this part of the list as extensive as you can.

Once that list is completed, review it for each employer you are hoping to work for. Different employers will look at your experience differently, so mark up the different aspects of your experiences keeping in mind their POV.

In the end it is THAT POV that lands you the job.

Nobody buys the Nova

Years ago, the Chevy Nova was selling fast in the United States, but unable to sell well in Mexico.

Hey, this is the NOVA! It’s a great family car, looks good, runs well ... even looks good standing still! But Novas were not selling in Mexico. The 'really-smart-people' who are paid lots of money to solve problems like this tried all the usual methods of raising sales but nothing worked.

Finally, Mexican consumers were asked 'why not buy the Nova? Just look at it standing there in the showroom!”

Local folks explained that ”va” means go in Spanish and”no” means no or won't. Nobody wanted to buy the car that (in their language) was the 'Won't Go'. The 'really-smart-people' then gave the same car a new name and blamo, sales soared.

In a similar way, remember to speak the employer's language. Words that may be simple and easy for you to comprehend may be considered differently by the employer.

Remember how once I placed a person in a job as a janitor because he said he had some related experience. (Hey, 'janitor' seemed like an easy job title to fill). The employer's definition (the one that really matters after all) “janitor” meant someone with experience with buffing machines and the person I sent to him did not.

Learning their different language has more benefits. Your experience that may at first seem unrelated can be matched to their language: Experience as a waiter may indicate skills such as training others; working extra hours on short notice; working as a team member; providing customized customer service or responsibility for handling money.

Expand the range of what you say you have done because a little title can mean big responsibilities in their language, but you may need to practice describing it.

Making It Work:

Review your resumes for words you use to describe work you have done. Just as “janitor” has different meanings to different people, other job titles/responsibilities you have had may not reflect the range of work you have done.

Make a list and circle words you are currently using in your resumes/applications/verbal descriptions about your skills and responsibilities. Now on a separate page write about your work in action verbs (training, writing, selling, and supervising) and look for how you can add the action verbs to your resume/application/descriptions with words particularly of interest to the prospective employer. In her language, eh?

Informational interviews with an employer, just for asking what kind of characteristics she looks for in an employee, help you appreciate her 'language'.

The Difference Between Sizzle and Steak

Version One:

“Mirage” Hickey sits impatiently while people hover around her, smearing acrylates copolymers, salicylic acid, octyl propenamide copolymers and alpha hydoxyl acids on her face while others aim a machine that blows scalding hot air at her head. She then walks to her job where strangers shout and grab at her legs and hands.

Version Two:

Beautiful Mariah Carey gets the royal treatment of top makeup artists and their colorful wares, while stylists prepare her soft hair for the roaring crowds at her latest sell-out concert.

I am describing the same reality, Mariah getting prepared for a concert, but one is the nitty gritty (the steak) and the other is the excitement you can related to (the sizzle).

In describing your experience and skills, make certain to talk of the sizzle using words they can relate to and paint a word picture of how their life will be easier with you as an employee:

** the customers will be happier

** work will get done without worry

** you will be reliable and fun to work alongside

** the employer's boss will be glad he hired such a gem.

You can see how this goes- - you are sold on the future all the time. Burgerworld does not focus on telling you how cows are raised for their burgers, instead telling you how great they taste and how you will love them once you give them a try. Even eating more fiber (that tastes like cardboard) is good because it will make your body trimmer and sexier. How do you sell your sizzle?

Making It Work:

Return to your commercial and description of skills. Do you emphasize how you will do a great job and make your employer's life better?

Think of examples how your brains, heart and courage will help you do your job to make the customers better; the company reach its objectives and employer's life easier. You have to see this future before you can describe it and have the employer see it.

Use as many sensory images and as many examples as you can. Write the points you want to express below.

Teddy Bear Interview.

In preparing for meeting an employer, we are working toward knowing what to say and finding the right way to say it. Now practice hearing the words which come out of your own mouth. Just you, and your teddy bear.

Yes, it is best to practice in front of a mirror or with friends who will tell you the truth (like 'sit up straighter' or 'you really sounded like a dweeb then') . But it is often best to find someone first who will not criticize you too harshly (hey, he's made of fluffy stuffing after all).

Here is an old friend who patiently listens without correcting you so you can hear your inflections and uneasy silences as you prepare for the interview. He will sit there looking at you with soft eyes, soft ears... just soft all over.

I recommend the teddy bear method early on as it allows you to try & fail without criticism. And after you gain confidence, it dawns on you that you are, well, talking with a stuffed animal. If you can do that well, you are ready for practicing with live people and for the other tools in the kit.

FREE HELP:

Talking to your teddy bear or the air gives you the valuable experience of hearing your own answers to the questions of the practice interview. Be assured that when you are talking aloud that you are not just “talking to the air”, but are connecting to a side of yourself you may not have appreciated thus far.

Making It Work:

Practice your commercial and the 3 main questions (Why should I hire you? Why would you work for me? And tell me why you are the best candidate?) with a stuffed animal.

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Beat The Bulldog

She stands there, guarding her turf. And you are going to get past HER? HAH! Many have tried & failed, slinking back home, unable to get past her and to that goal of so many others before... to meet the employer.

Ahhh, she is very good at being a bulldog guarding the employers time and to beat her (or him) you have to learn to think like a bulldog. This dog knows two rules:

• The boss doesn't want to be disturbed, so don't waste his time with bad applicants.

• Never forget rule number one.

A bulldog needs to know whoever gets past her must be worthy of the employers time and attention and that FEW people meet those qualifications. If she lets the wrong person by, the boss will remember her mistake long after the boss has forgotten the name of the bad applicant.

Every error she has made is like a scar embedded into the bulldog's tough skin. The dog now squints into horde of job hunters and vows “I won't get fooled again.”

How will YOU get by? By out-thinking the code of bulldog-nicity.

1. Be politely insistent: Practice your cheeseburger voice & be genuinely polite, respecting the valuable time of both bulldog and employer. This can be a refreshing change from the others busy trying to see the boss.

2. Practice saying “that's OK, I'll wait” to bulldog-isms like: “She's in a meeting, a looong meeting” or “we are not hiring at the moment” or ”we close for business in half an hour”. The dog may not know if there is actually an opening at the present time, but just using the line 'we're not hiring' to get you to leave. That's when your 'that's OK, I just want to shake her hand' works well.

1. Get an informational interview. Here you do not apply for a specific job, you only want to hear the employer's opinion on what kind of person he/she is looking for or info about the employer you can't get in the traditional ways. Hey, it works because as the saying goes, for many people there is no sound quite as sweet as the sound of their own opinion!

Get creative: One candidate sent a shoe shaped candy dish to the employer saying “now that I have my foot in the door, let's talk...” One stated in a letter that if I have not heard from you by Tuesday at 9 AM I will call then, and then called saying the employer is expecting my call.

Make sure you show respect for their precious time, for their position and that this agency is special to you.

Making It Work:

THIS is a skill you can best develop through practice. Take the list you have of the employers you hope to work for and note next to them the name of that company's bulldog.

With time, make some notes about how you were able to get past the bulldog to finally meet the employer. Practice (and success) will help build your skills.

Building Your Own Bull’s-eye

Wow! Days can be long out there job hunting. Much of the discouraging part is that things can seem All-or-nothing.

Friends and relatives say “did you get the job yet?” (Sounds like finger nails on a chalkboard sometimes, doesn't it?) Or “did you get the interview...yet?” or that sarcastic neighbor Jack who twists his lip saying

“so you still aren't working yet, ehhh?”

You're putting in the hard work and hours of making contacts, but still you have to face Jack –

Here is a way to know you are moving forward even on days you don't land the job.

Right now you have a tiny target that has only this itty-bitty bull’s-eye labeled “got the job”. Miss that target and you feel like a failure. Folks, let's just make bigger bulls eyes!

Landing a job is really a series of steps where you progressively move toward that goal of the job.

On to the exercise...

Making It Work:

Make a big bull’s-eye covering 1 piece of paper with the center ring saying: “Got the job”. Now make several concentric rings around it, labeling each a step closer to the “Got the Job’ goal.

Examples include

** Listing potential employers

** finding name(s) of person(s) at the company who can offer job

** getting past the company 'bulldog'

** meeting or writing to the person(s)

** building a resume tailored to that job

** other steps, fill your ideas here

Now make a list of your top employers, giving each its own one page bull’s-eye with concentric circles and succeeding chores. Put an “x” (and date it) where you currently stand with each employer and write below it what your next step will be to move closer to that bull’s-eye.

Make plans each day (written plans are best) on moving toward the target center with your employers, noting your progress with new x's (with dates) put on the targets as you move closer to the bull’s-eye.

And smile when you see Jack, knowing even if you didn't hit the bull’s-eye, you hit the target and are moving closer day by day.

My Bulls-eye

Learning From A Lumberjack

One of the most frustrating chores that I have done is chopping firewood. Hey, it is exciting to swing an axe and to eventually turn logs into something more useful in a fireplace.

While you are chopping, you know that with all of the energy used most of the swings do not appear to do anything.

You swing the axe and maybe only chip off a little wood or sometimes nothing at all. It is frustrating, timing and aggravating because on the outside all of that effort is going nowhere. And how about friends who stop by and ask “how is it going now, eh?” or watching the time tick by and nothing is happening.

Sound familiar? Job hunting is a lot like that – lots of effort, different swings and still not much happens. And the frustration you feel by the comments of others and the feeling that time is just ticking away.

The good news for you now –

there IS something happening with each swing.

Inside that slab of wood, things ARE happening- bonds are breaking and what looks like something you will never crack is gradually breaking free. On the outside, the wood cutter is getting stronger, more determined and one swing closer to your goal.

Again, it’s that way in the job hunt. Each swing you make (interview, handshake, phone call) may not yield the visible results you want but each loosens what you may not be able to see:

• Another employer has heard about you.

• You have had other experiences connecting your skills to another job

• Another person knows that you are out there and ready to work.

And things are also moving on the outside:

• You have practiced your stride, your “commercial” again

• You are picturing yourself working, making the image stronger with practice

• You are one swing closer to your goal.

This all leads me to the description of the law of big numbers. Almost any goal attempted often enough comes closer to coming true. Remember the story of the football coach who told his underdog team that yes, they may lose to that other team nine out of ten times… but who is to say that today isn’t that one in ten times that they would win?

Sales representatives who are told that one in ten phone calls leads to a meeting and one in five meetings ends in a sale are reminded that they get one sale for 50 calls – if they only call 49 they may miss that sale.

Making It Work:

Make a list of the different chores in the job hunt… making a list of prospective employers, finding the name of the hiring manager at each employer, using ways to contact that person. Now make daily and weekly goals and know that you are going to make them and move forward toward your dreams even when you cannot directly see it.