The 10 Commandments Of Job Search

Originally Posted by Ritu (http://applicant.com/the-10-commandments-of-job-search/)

It’s pretty amazing! Seems like everyone has written a “10 commandments of….” posts at some point in time. As I was writing this post I didn’t think of it, but once done the title seemed appropriate. Anyway, I have had a few ups and downs during my job search years. It was a few years back when the economy was still strong but what worked yesterday, still works today. You might have to add a bit more spice to the recipe but the desired result is the same : landing a job.

1. Get Over The Fact That You Are Jobless

There is a saying you’ve heard, that you say and apply quite often - don’t cry over spilled milk. Job loss can be quite a blow to one’s esteem and financial situation but pondering day in and out isn’t going to help either. Get yourself recharged and head out in full gear for the next lucky employer who will think you are a steal.

2. Connect and Interact, Online and Offline

Business cards and handshakes are much needed but tweets and linkedin connections can’t be ignored. The job search landscape has changed with emerging social media platforms. Utilize them. Interaction offline is critical, but in this day and age it’s not sufficient. Reach out to others, both online and offline.

3. Worship Your Search For a Job

And you better be loyal. Job search in itself is a job and whether you like it or not someone has to do it. Unfortunately, this might be you. If you are searching for job think of it as a job itself. Dedicate yourself towards the goal of finding a job. Make it a religion until you can land a job and once you get the job you want, switch your religion to the job itself rather than the job search. keep worshiping.

4. Always Diversify Your Job Search

Everyone wants everybody specialized in a particular field, no doubt about that. But a handyman who can fix plumbing and then nail the shingles on my roof always gets my business over the plumber. Diversify your job search. Don’t always rely on what you know, but think of how that reliance can help you apply your skills towards other things.

5. Ignore The Job Data

Numbers. Usually higher the number the better but not in this case. If you recently lost your job you tend to see more people who recently lost theirs as well. This does nothing but causes depression. I am sure it has happened to you, you buy a new car and all of a sudden you see the same model all over the road. Exactly. It has always been there, you just didn’t notice. Ignore the fact that your friend, uncle, aunt and even mother in law is unemployed. It’s about you.

6. Lose The Negative Attitude

Do you find yourself buried under negative feelings? Well, get over it. Negative attitude gives birth to negative outcomes. Positive outcomes are the results of positive attitude. It propels you to do better. It pushes you further. Think positive. You might not have found a job today but what’s the guarantee tomorrow will be the same as today? There isn’t. Think positive.

7. Plan a Schedule, Stick With It

I have said it before that you should think of job search as a job itself. When I was out hunting for jobs, I had a calendar marked with what I was going to do on a particular day. As weird and crazy that might sound, it really helps to organize your job search schedule. Anything on a piece of paper (google calendar or whatever) is much better to follow than to simply pull it off of your mind. Create a schedule, a mind map and go with it. it will help you focus and execute much better.

8. Online and Offline Resume

I have heard a few people say that there will be a time when there won’t be a need for a resume. All I have to say to them is - you’re wrong! When it comes to employment, there is only one thing that can give a peak into the potential candidate’s skills and experience. Create a resume, dust it off every once in a while. Make sure your resume doesn’t just stay in paper and ink form. Use networking sites such as LinkedIn where you can use your profile as an online resume. Resume will exist, forever. The only thing I can’t guarantee is the paper and ink form. Get on the web and build one out as soon as possible if you haven’t already.

9. Brush On Your Skills

Think of a pipe that hasn’t had water flowing through it for couple years. You turn it on and all you can see is rust coming out. That’s you if you don’t brush your skills. Let’s be honest here, sometimes luck does have a big play in our job search. If for some reason you don’t get a job when you expected you would, there is a high probability that you might lose a few golden touches that you had in your field. Keep them brushed. Shine them every once in a while. Your skill is what sells you, can’t let it rust. No way!

10. I Can Do It

Yes you can! Be confident.

That’s it from me guys. It’s your turn to share.

Let’s keep the commandments coming so we can all follow each others command and call it a war against unemployment.

Potential Opportunities via Networking Groups

Reaching out to potential businesses should not merely take place on the internet. Networking groups can also be used to connect with employers. Many of these groups are specifically oriented toward young professionals, and will group together some of the most passionate and successful people in your respective city. Many are young CEOs interested in expanding their businesses, or are professionals working for companies who may need your services. For example, in my current town (Tallahassee, FL), one of the popular groups is the Network of Young Professionals (www.networkyp.org). I highly recommend dropping by a meeting held by your local group to check it all out and make some connections. Oh, and make sure to bring plenty of business cards. While the opportunities you may make there might not materialize immediately, I've heard of many instances of the relationships becoming very influential over time.

Comfort Resurrection

I'm slightly concerned by the strategies of many agencies. In light of the current recession, consumers are reacting more favorably to comfort. For agencies, this comfort has come in the form of old taglines and imagery. Some examples of this include Nationwide dropping "Life comes at you fast" in favor of "Nationwide is on your side," and General Mills going retro with its cereal package designs.

Now, an agency I've worked for has resurrected a once-dead mascot to represent one of its brands. First created by Doner's Alan Kalter, Mr. Six became the very popular, very bald face of the Six Flags brand back in the mid-90s. However, Six Flags put the account up for review in light of mediocre park attendance. People loved Mr. Six, but didn't link that relationship with the parks themselves.

Zimmerman won the account after putting on a huge show. Mark Shapiro, CEO of Six Flags, said, "They picked us up in limousines; they brought us to a church; they walked us in with real-life actors; they had a coffin for Mr. Six, telling us the days of gimmicks and Mr. Six are over. We need people to come to Six Flags, not for a stunt, but because it's a branded experience, which is something we've been [touting]; but they clearly embraced it."

Zimmerman had a great strategy to differentiate Six Flags from its competitiors by focusing on the thrill aspect of the parks. However, pretty quickly, they backtracked from this strategy, instead going to the slogan: "more flags, more fun" - a slogan lacking a focused message.

Mr. Six is back though. Making his major national premiere throughout the Kentucky Derby (Six Flags is the event's main sponsor), Mr. Six's resurrection appears to be focused on building comfort between consumers and the parks. People loved Mr. Six's crazy dance routines, but once again, in the words of Mr. Shapiro, "We need people to come to Six Flags, not for a stunt, but because it's a branded experience."

I wish agencies would look at the recession from a different point of view. Comfort is important, but they should not simply resort to the last mascot, slogan, or campaign that people liked. Obviously, the campaigns were changed for a reason; they failed. Comfort should be built into a new campaign as a means of building a stronger relationship with the potential consumer.

Go Above and Beyond!

Through recent interactions with corporate higher-ups and HR departments, I've consistently heard that students coming out of school don't go above and beyond the minimum. Students are not focused on exactly what they want to do and what they can contribute, and do little more to showcase themselves than apply for jobs.

Focus is vitally important. Just knowing that you want to go into "advertising" is not enough anymore. With so many students graduating and so few positions available, employers want to know that, while you may be well-versed in a lot of areas, you're interested in a specific area. Personally, I'm passionate about brand strategy. I highly recommend internships that rotate you around different parts of the company if you are unaware exactly where you'd like to work. Before I started my internship at Zimmerman Advertising in Ft. Lauderdale, I was split between Creative and New Business. Afterward, I realized how much I enjoyed Strategy.

Do not just put together your resume, apply for some jobs, and call it a day. Add another component to market yourself, whatever you need to do to get yourself out there and showcase yourself. Options like websites and blogs are very effective. Whatever you choose, just keep up with it. As Kevin Costner learned in one of his many baseball-related films, "If you build it, they will come."

Denial is Not Just a River in Egypt

As with any large selling push, I've started to be denied. I've sent out 10-15 personalized cover letters / resumes via email so far, with quite a few to go. So far, only two companies have responded, both with denials... quite expected in the economy's current state. My mindset is that, for every 10 that say "no," hopefully 1 will say "yes."

Dear Ryan,

Thank you for your interest in -------------. We are very impressed with your resume and are sure that you would bring much value to our company. Unfortunately, we have no openings at the present time for someone with your background. However, we will keep your resume on file should our needs change in the future.

Best regards,

---------------

Human Resources Administrator

While this could be perceived as disappointing, the door is definitely not closed. A response and a follow-up are very important, as to keep communication open. The response comes immediately and the follow-up will come in about a month, depending on the economy.

Here is the response I sent following this email:

--------,

I really appreciate your taking the time to review my resume and your prompt response. Please contact me if a position opens within the next 6 months that could be fulfilled by my skills. I would love the opportunity to work with --------- and will be ready and waiting to hear from you again.

Thanks!

Ryan Cohn

Mass Emailing

After identifying what companies I'm most interested in working for, especially ones with positions available (however few those may be), I've begun to email them. When I started, I was slightly conflicted by the text box. I put so much effort into my cover page and resume, but then I realized that the first major message they receive is the email text box. After some thinking, I decided to alter my cover page slightly and add it in again in the text box.

Here is a sample email:

______________________________

To Whom It May Concern,


For the last eight years, I have dedicated my life to one of my biggest passions: competitive public speaking. Long days spent commanding a room's attention with nothing more than my voice has endeared me with a passion for communication. It is the selling of an idea, the feeling of knowledge, that fuels my desires to connect with my fellow man. Combined together with my constant yearning to learn more about branding, advertising, and business, I feel like my education has prepared me well for success in the branding world.

---------' emphasis on branding is about more than just the product, it is about the thrill, the wonder, and the passion that the product merely unlocks… and fits perfectly together with my passion for brand strategy management. I would love the opportunity to become part of the --------- family and to work long hours to strengthen both the organization and myself.

Thank you for taking the time to review my application and I look forward to speaking with you soon.


Sincerely,


Ryan Cohn

______________________________

Most of my emails/cover letters are the same, with a few small changes made to personalize them (like the name of the company and more of an emphasis on what they do).

TV Review: Trust Me (S1E1)

I get pretty excited when the advertising industry jumps from commercials to tv shows. I am a huge fan of Mad Men; it's now my favorite show. So when I heard that TNT was premiering a new show about an ad firm, I made sure to ad it's premiere to my schedule.

Trust Me stars Eric McCormick (Will from Will & Grace) and Tom Cavanagh (Ed) as two creatives in a Chicago-based ad agency (reminscient of JWT or DDB Chicago, which was actually referenced in the episode). After their hothead of a boss dies, McCormick's character Mason gets promoted to Creative Director. The rest of the series plotline seems to follow the drama that goes on between the main characters, as well as a variety of other office personalities.

After being so accustomed to the brillance with which Mad Men examines social/political issues through the mere lens of an ad agency, it took a bit of adjustment to get used to Trust Me's simple comedic office-drama style. If I'd compare the show to any other, it's probably be The Office, just more realistic and less satirical.

Just like I was when I first saw The Office, I'm a bit unsure what I think of Trust Me. The first episode was very big on setting the characters in motion, the episode little more than an establishing shot with an unoriginal conflict thrown in. I'm going to keep watching, with the hope that the humor starts flowing more and that the characters really do stand out. I'm just very interested in which direction they take: character-based or plot-based. I hope character-based - because I just haven't seen enough tv comedic sitcoms with realistic characters in a realistic environment.