Blog Post: Learning how to find a job can be a very expensive lesson.

Please read the following article to help you assess your situation.

Why does it take so long to find a job?  Finding a job requires mastering a set of skills that will enable you to get in front of key decision makers that have problems you can solve.  It takes time to learn these skills and techniques through trial and error.

How much does it cost to learn how to find a job? $1000.00 a week for a $52,000 a year job. It equates to how much salary you are not earning!

How long does it take to be hired? About 30 minutes.

How long does it take to find a job? Avg. 6 weeks for every $10,000 in desired salary, $50,000 will take 30 weeks.

How long does it take to get in front of key people? One week if you know how to find and contact these individuals. If you haven’t had any serious meetings/interviews and you have been looking for more than 6 weeks you could use some help.

Developing and executing a job search strategy is key to meeting people and finding the job in the shortest amount of time possible. Everyone who wants to work will find a job; how long do you want to be out of work? The main reason it takes as long as it does to find a job is that the majority of job seekers learn how to find a job through trial and error.

First Lesson is the Résumé, many books, blogs, websites, friends and business people offer advice on how to write a résumé. From a generic point of view, the advice or steps are accurate, however most self-written résumés read more like an obituary and look like the thousands of other self-written résumés.

Second Lesson is the proper use of the résumé, when do you send it and to whom do you send it? This may seem to be a simple problem to solve, however the résumé being used incorrectly can close more doors than it opens. How many opportunities did you miss and what is the real cost of an average résumé or a great résumé being used incorrectly?

Third Lesson is the Cover Letter, this document needs to be more than an introduction, it must pique interest, motivate the reader to want to talk to you or read your résumé. Many job seekers also need to learn when a cover letter should be sent with a résumé, sending the cover letter with a résumé at the inappropriate time will close more doors than it opens and will extend your job search. Along with cover letters is the proper construction and use of the thank you letter. If your thank you letter does not say more than thank you, you will be closing doors.

Fourth Lesson, the job interview, and how many first interviews have you had? How many second interviews have you had? The delta between the two is very telling; in general you should be called back for a second interview 90% of the time. If this is not the case, job interview skills may need to be sharpened. Job prospecting skills may also be a problem, however at this point it will take a number of missed opportunities to determine where the problem lies. How much time, lost wages and loss of real dollars are you willing to pay to learn this lesson?

Fifth Lesson, networking skills. Virtually every self-help, book or blog touts the importance of networking. There are a number of networking forums dedicated to job seekers. These include leads groups that cater to small business owners searching for new business. There are chambers of commerce meetings, professional association meetings that can be helpful to the job seeker if they know the secret to mining these opportunities. Learning where to go and what to do can be a costly lesson. How much time and effort will be expended to learn proper networking techniques through trial and error.

Sixth Lesson, research skills. Research skills as it relates to a job search are critical to conducting and efficient job search. What resources are available to find company, industry information and where do you find this information?

Please feel free to contact me directly at Russ@mycareerstartshere.com.  Good luck!