Hello Friends!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day. I'm convinced this is one of those holidays that was created just to provide a good excuse to party.

This month I'm going to share with you 5 effective job search habits that could give you the breakthrough you've been praying for.

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It is only by following your deepest instinct that you can lead a rich life, and if you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct then your life will be safe, expedient, and thin. ~ Katherine Butler Hathaway

5 Effective Job Search Habits

1. Consider working for a small company - A small company is defined as one having fewer than 500 employees, or less than $150 million in annual sales. Two out of three job openings today come from small companies. Many small companies want to grow, have a warmer work environment, and need the stability and wisdom of someone mid-to-late career. Remember, even Microsoft at one time was operating out of Bill Gate's garage. Just for the heck of it, I made a random call to a local manufacturer to see if they were hiring. Read about my experience on my daily blog under, Does Cold Calling for a Job Really Work? I was amazed.
2. Do something risky every once in awhile - Trust your instincts when logic isn't delivering results. Visit or call a local company or temp/staffing agency without an appointment or a job posting to try and uncover a hidden job. Recently, a friend of mine with a quality manager background walked in unannounced to a small local manufacturer with his resume in hand asking if they were hiring. The general manager interviewed him and hired him two weeks later. He didn't have a clue they had just approved a new requisition for a quality manager. Also, last month the president of a $5 million manufacturer called me out of the blue to discuss a confidential search he was conducting to replace one of his account managers. This position will never be advertised, but if a good candidate just happened to call in, he/she would be considered. Eighty percent of all job openings are not advertised.
3. Get fit - The late great NFL football coach, Vince Lombardi, once said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." Physical exercise is a perpetual fountain of youth. In addition to the physical benefits, it provides us with energy, endurance, and self confidence at a time when we doubt ourselves at every turn. I remember when I lost my job and endured weeks of rejection, I would drive home from the gym after a workout and tell myself, "At least I did one thing right today." This one tiny private victory over yourself can give you fresh courage to make one more call, or hang on for one more day.
4. Network, network, network - Have you ever heard someone say, "It's not what you know, but who you know."? There is a great deal of truth in this saying. A recent survey of corporations revealed that 27% of their hires now come through referrals. Another study uncovered that 70 percent of the most effective job search strategies involve networking. This has become so effective for some companies that they've cut back on posting jobs on the Internet to save money. Did you know that referrals as deep as three levels are almost as potent as first level referrals? This is too powerful to ignore. A systematic approach to networking puts you in the right place at the right time. Sometimes it takes as many as 7 follow up calls over a 2-3 month period to hit on a really great job opportunity.
5. Get outside of yourself - Often times when we set aside our troubles for a brief time and focus on others...opportunities find us. Most of our blessings in life come by way of other people. Volunteer for a service project through your church or local community. I know a struggling job seeker who attended a church service project expecting nothing in return for his service. One of the participants at this event was a hiring manager of a successful local company. The job seeker and manager interacted at this project without knowing each other's professional life or employment situation. At the end of the event, the hiring manager invited him to have lunch with him near his company the following week. Three weeks later the job seeker was introduced to another manager at this company who interviewed him and offered him a job...which he eagerly accepted. You could also occasionally attend a local job networking group with the intention of sharing information with other job seekers. It's gratifying to lift someone else's burdens even when you need a job worse than they do. I'm a big believer in what goes around, comes around.

I know the job market is still very tough. Many of you have already tried some of these suggestions with little to no success. The secret is to develop the daily habit of doing these things. Sooner of later your consistent efforts will pay off.

Hope these insights push you into new hiring territory.

Until next month...keep putting one foot in front of the other. Blue skies and calm seas are on the horizon.

Mike Petras

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