🕵️‍♀️ Undercover Job Search

I've been taking chances. I hope you have too.

I've been making some changes! Here's one...

In addition the work I love doing with Move Into Change coaching clients, I‘m pursuing a potential role as a consultant for an outplacement company whose mission and approach appeals to me. If it works out, I will still have plenty of time to do both, and I’ll be learning a new technology that is designed to support job changers.

Want to go along for the ride?

I’m inviting you to travel with me (via newsletter or this blog) through the entire process of being a job candidate. I’ll walk the talk, using the very same techniques I offer my clients, on myself. A meta experience to be sure. But, for privacy’s sake, I’m changing the names of the company and people I meet along the way.

Why am I putting myself through the job search process?

Simple - I’m always looking for new ways to work with clients, so more people get the help they need.

And, It occurred to me that this was a perfect opportunity to experience a current job search from inside my own.

I will learn more about how it feels at each step and what works best (or doesn’t). And you? Hopefully, watching me run the race and the tips I’ll offer in each installment will add some insight your experience as well. So, no matter how it pans out, win-win.

All this started because I found a resume writing job listed (on Indeed). I’m an expert resume writer and it’s a discrete service so I thought, why not? The company is one I wasn't familiar with. Let’s call it “SuperJobs” from now on.

Warming Up: Interpreting the Job Description

Before going any further, I read the job description, went to LinkedIn, and the Superjobs website to get a feel for who they are, what they do, who they do it for, and why they do it. Their approach is aligned with what I know to be the best way to support people during transitions. I liked what I saw and read.

Next, I took out my trusty 65% Job Match Worksheet©️ and got granular about how much of the job was a fit for me based on what was written (and implied) in the job description. The  65% Job Match is a worksheet I created to help my clients avoid pitfalls that cause them to miss a great opportunity or waste their valuable time. (Also, the worksheet becomes useful again when writing resumes, cover letters and even in interviews.) 

Some common pitfalls:

1. Thinking you must to have every qualification listed in the description.

2. Believing you need to have all of the qualifications exactly as described.Seeing each job duty/requirement as equally important.

Fact: Women are more likely to avoid applying for a job if they have less than 95% of the qualifications, for men, it's 65%.

In this case, the match was 99% for me, so on to the next step … preparing to apply.

Recap:

◼️ Identify the right job. 

◼️◼️Research the company and the role (yes, now, more deeply that you think you should). 

◼️ ◼️◼️ Use the job description to assess your fit – don’t leave out this step or create  roadblocks for yourself. If it’s a yes, get going on the next pre-application steps (see the next newsletter). If it’s a no, start back at square one◼️.

Want help figuring out those pesky job descriptions? Contact me at judy@moveintochange.com