Today I went to my neighborhood dry cleaning shop. As the clerk was writing up my ticket he got a phone call. I heard him say "so I'm getting a paycheck tomorrow?, Good!". I then said "Pay is always good, isn't it?" and he let me know that he was a victim of a layoff and this job at the dry cleaning shops was all he could find. He then went on to tell me that he was spending every minute of his free time applying for jobs, any job, via the web. I then asked him "How's that working for you?" and he let me know "It isn't."
Then it is time to change tactics.
In a down economy, all of a sudden, you are competing with people that you never thought you would compete with. The jobs are few but the jobs are there. It is all about how you go about tackling the project. Applying on line is safe, quick, and it give you the feeling of accomplishment. However, for most people, it doesn't lead to employment. It leads to cyber-nothingness.
Why? Because people hire people. Machines don't hire people.
Networking is still your best avenue towards finding employment. Having lots of conversations with interesting people about their jobs gets the ball rolling in the right direction. So here is the advice I gave my new friend at the dry cleaning shop:
- Connect with everyone you know. Find out what they are up to.
- Create a kick-ass Linked In profile. One that you are proud of.
- Get on Facebook. Go to a MeetUp group. Join a gym near a group of office buildings.
- Ask everyone you know for the names of two people that you don't know but who have interesting jobs at interesting companies.
- Take them to coffee (they will probably pay), learn about them and their jobs, and get two more names.
- Don't ever ask for a job or expect them so find you one.
- Send a thank you note. Follow up on every single lead--even if it sounds boring
- Repeat steps 1-7 over and over and over again
Somewhere out there in the friends of friends of friends lies your next opportunity.






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