Common Job Curses

Job Seeker's Story

Mary had a master's degree in music, but she felt she was in a job that was going nowhere. When she first started her job search right out of college, Mary did what everyone else seemed to be doing. She sent out hundreds of résumés, posted her résumé on job boards such as Monster and CareerBuilder, and searched the Internet for opportunities.

Two months later, after sending out 500 résumés, Mary got two replies, one interview, and one offer. It was not the job she really wanted, but she took it anyway. Five years and three jobs later, after sending out hundreds of résumés, Mary had a position as an Arts Manager—in title only. It was really an administrative support job. Mary was desperately unhappy and unfulfilled.

More than anything, Mary wanted a job that would make her feel energized and challenged—a job where she could actually use her music education and training. Mary wanted to feel valued and valuable. Attempting to advance her career, Mary reverted to her usual job-search mode: She sent out a hundred résumés (more or less) in response diverse Internet job postings and went on countless interviews. Nothing seemed to fit. She continued to search the major job boards, e-mailed résumés, and kept her fingers crossed.

Job Seeker's Stumble

Mary did not have a well-thought-out career plan. She was not in charge of her job search; it was in charge of her. Without a clear career target in mind, up-to-date knowledge of career exploration tools, and effective job search methods, Mary was floundering. She was in a cycle of aimlessly sending résumés, taking whatever was offered out of desperation, and ending up frustrated in one dead-end job after another.

Job Seeker's New Strategy

Being in charge of your career requires persistence and hard work, certainly characteristics Mary exhibited. However, there were some key factors missing that would have elevated Mary's career from ho-hum to wholly fulfilling. Specifically:

• • Self-Knowledge: Awareness of the unique abilities, strengths, talents, and experience that could be used as benchmarks for finding the right career fit.
• • Career Exploration and Insight: Use of career-discovery tools such as career assessments, career counseling/coaching, and informational interviews to find out about different companies and careers that would have been more satisfying on both personal and practical levels.
• • Personal Branding: The unique value proposition you can bring to a potential employer, based on your authenticity that differentiates you from other candidates.
• • Effective Job Search Methods: More productive job-search strategies, such as networking (both in-person and online social networking) and direct contact with companies and their employees. Internet job search, reserved to major job boards, does not produce high-yield results, especially as you advance beyond being an entry-level candidate.
• • Courage: Getting out of your “comfort zone” and trying new job search approaches based on lifelong career management takes personal resiliency and self-confidence. Often that self-confidence comes from knowing exactly what you uniquely have to offer, and why it is of such important value to a potential employer.

Mary got out of her comfort zone and hired a career coach. Together they developed Mary's personal-branding portfolio, which included a series of strengths stories (stories that showcase relevant strengths using the C-A-R [Challenge-Action-Results] format), a one-page biography, and her unique value statement. After developing her brand portfolio, her coach was able to partner with Mary to create a résumé that was focused on Mary's major work contributions, as well as her education and professional development experiences. The résumé included the position title she was aiming for, her value statement, and keywords to fit the position and highlight her accomplishments. Finally, they developed a focused job search strategy with a step-by-step plan of action and did some role-playing to ease Mary's transition into a proactive and strategic job seeker.

Mary got excited about networking and marketing her brand. Within a few days, she had five networking meetings and two informational interviews lined up. One of those informational interviews developed into the creation of a new job for Mary—as Music Programming and Marketing Director for a regional symphony orchestra. Mary traded in her dead-end job for the job of her dreams in just a couple of months!