Skip to content

Job Search Must Include Invention, Innovation and Improvisation

  • by
Dangling Bananas

As seen on TV, a useful gadget to ripen bananas and keep them from bruising by contact with any other objects works by suspending the bunch in the air. If you believe the hype, setting a bunch of bananas on a flat surface or in a fruit bowl is the worst thing you could do. This sky-hook device supposedly provides a more natural position, although if you look up articles on banana growing you will find that this actually hangs them upside down. This can’t make your bananas happy. Of course, a piece of string and a nail would do the same thing, but how attractive would that be in your kitchen? As the bunch is consumed, the fatal design flaw is uncovered: there is a minimum of two bananas required for the device to work. The simplest solutions are either to eat both bananas or leave them both on the hook until they are dried black husks and then throw them away. Improvisation enters the scenario when you break the rules and apply a field fix for your last banana…hey, stabbing it on the hook is one choice. It works!

Pierced Banana

How many people looking for a job in a tight economy follow the rules so rigidly that they are plowing their rut deeper and deeper with every passing moment? Everyone has heard the saying that “rules were made to be broken,” but the consequences must be weighed along with the advantages in a micro-level personal risk assessment study. The innovative person will find the way around obstacles, yes even rules, with positive results and a minimum of trouble. The survivors of the trials of a job search will be victorious. The winners are usually the inventive job seekers who mold their actions to fit the numerous conflicting processes they encounter. The blind follower of rules isn’t necessarily a fool or even the meek personality type regarding most things, but the fear of failure to follow rules can be daunting. Obstacles in the path to success are overcome by applying workarounds.

Obstacle: Applying through company websites to get a job will suck you into a black hole. Maybe, but most large companies use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to tie their internal job requisitions to prospective employees. Even an ATS that is broken or poorly managed needs data to function, so just do it! Realize that not applying through this channel means that you are asking the same recruiter that you hope will be your advocate in the company to do your data entry work for you. The black hole workaround is to go through more than one door to get in the company. If there is 9% unemployment that means that there is 91% employment and those are pretty good odds. If you know anybody who is working you can be somebody’s employee referral.

Obstacle: Job boards are ineffective in getting you a job because millions of people are doing the same thing. If you believe that myth, you must also deal with the reality that there may be hundreds of people applying for your dream job. The first workaround is to be at the top of the pile. Only apply for jobs that are a close match to your skills and experience. You may receive advice to the contrary, but the shotgun approach fails in the majority of cases because the odds are really like playing the lottery. So just do it. Apply and then look around the job board’s web site for other things. Many offer help on resume writing, cover letters, interviewing…all for free. Read their advice and compare with your own search plans and dovetail them together. Even if you don’t get your job through the job board the experience and education received by being there is extremely valuable.

Obstacle: Twitter is limiting in its ability to be effective because there is limited substance. This can be true if you are a total Twitter-nonbeliever and haven’t immersed yourself into the pool of millions of people who go there. Recruiters use Twitter, so find them, follow them and engage in conversation with them. Forget the stupid “follow me back if I follow you” rules because it isn’t about the number of followers you have but the number of quality tweeters you follow and the information they provide. It is all about active engagement. Hashtags like #jobsearch, #jobs, #careers, #jobseekers, #WorkWednesday and #HireFriday are like built-in search tools to introduce you to new ideas and people. Chat sessions with fellow job seekers and those who offer free advice can be found using #HFChat, #JobHuntChat, #GenYChat, #CareerChat, #InternPro and others. Your job search is like a scary movie with ghosts all around you and you will never see them without your Twitter goggles on.

Obstacle: Facebook is for my family, friends and private communications and not a job search tool. That mentality is prevalent with most people, but only because they choose to keep it that way. Perhaps they are too lazy to apply the workaround to this obstacle by learning how to group users into personal and professional and then tailoring the messages sent to each. Even if you choose to keep it personal, there is a wealth of information on companies there. Recruiters use Facebook so why wouldn’t you want to engage them there? If you have targeted a company in your search, then LIKE their Facebook page. You may find job postings there also, but more importantly you will be getting a glimpse into the culture of the company. If you have not found a target company yet, find one on Facebook and pursue them. Like most social media outlets, you will only get out of it what you put into it.

Obstacle: LinkedIn is not a real social media site and is primarily for business. Breaking down this myth only requires defining two words: social and media. It is as social as you make it and it is most definitely the medium to reach millions. While you are expanding your knowledge about your craft, it is like inventing your personal job board in reverse. With a little innovative thinking you can research companies and establish your brand through your profile, answers and dialog. Recruiters are all over LinkedIn. Engage with them or even directly with hiring managers who would love to go deeper into your skills at solving their problems. If you see a contact change employers, look at where he came from. Is there an opening there now? Is that a culture you want to avoid like the plague? You can wonder or you can ask. The key to a job search usually boils down to networking and LinkedIn is a perfect place to begin a dialog online that can lead through a cup of coffee somewhere to an interview.

Are you a “two-banana” minimum job seeker or are you willing to do what it takes to succeed even if it may be a little unconventional? Sometimes the speed bumps on the road to a successful conclusion of the job search only require slowing down or driving around them. Flying over them is also an option if you are innovative.

 

error

Enjoy this article? Please spread the word!