If I absolutely HAD to boil down to the bare essentials the best job search advice for anyone, it would be this:
Be a Squeaky Wheel
Why be a squeaky wheel? Have you ever heard, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”? It means that if the wheel on your car or your bike or your shopping cart is rolling along making no noise, drawing no attention to itself, you won’t think about it at all. If, however, there’s a wheel that squeaks every time it rolls around, you’ll pay attention to it. If you’re handy, you’ll give it some grease to smooth its circular path.
How does this apply to your job search? A squeaky wheel is noticed. It draws attention. It causes action. It causes a response. A silent wheel won’t ever draw any attention to itself at all.
So, follow the analogy and break it down:
Networking –
Silent Wheel: You never contact people in your network….no emails, no phone calls, no LinkedIn messages. This means that fewer people will think of you when they hear of opportunities.
Squeaky Wheel: You send emails with quick notes about things that are relevant to the recipient. You send your updated resume to recruiters and hiring managers. You send your new sales rankings or performance reviews (only if they are positive) to recruiters or hiring managers. You let your network know when you change jobs, addresses, email, or phone numbers. If you are going to a conference they may be attending, send a quick message asking if you can meet for coffee. The basic idea is to regularly and consistently keep in touch so you stay top of mind.
(See these 4 Easy Networking Tips)
Finding Jobs and Getting Interviews –
Silent Wheel: You apply for jobs online. The trouble with this is that even if you apply for a lot of jobs, your applications go silently into the black hole of cyberspace, and you never get called for interviews.
Squeaky Wheel: You actively look for hiring managers (a potential boss or higher) at companies you’d like to work for and contact them directly to let them know you’re there and you have skills and talents that would be useful to them. This activity generates interviews.
(See I Got the Interview Because I Contacted the Hiring Manager)
Getting Job Offers –
Silent Wheel: You answer all the questions in the job interview and hope you get the offer. Most of the time, you don’t–and you wonder why.
Squeaky Wheel: You not only answer questions, you also ask questions in the interview. You bring a 30-60-90-Day Plan to show how you’d begin this new role. After the interview you send a powerful follow up email. If you still haven’t heard anything in a week, you call to see what’s up. You end up with employers who are excited to hire you. Even if you aren’t a fit for a certain role, they think about you for others. Either way, you get job offers.
(Get a complimentary copy of my Job Interview Prep Kit)
So get out there and be a squeaky wheel today!