Learn The Job Search Game

Running Of The Bulls

So after spending a lot of time discussing the Dark Side Of Do What You Love, I’m going to focus on one more depressing subject right now: the recruiting mess.

Now let me preface this by noting that I’m going to defend recruiters. In my experience most recruiters are great people in a very challenging situation. As I often note if you think your job is awful, imagine having to interview twenty or thirty people like you in a week and you get the idea. For extra spice, imagine what kind of other bad decisions they have to put up with.

So I’m not going to diss them.

But let us be honest, the process of finding a job sucks. It’s not fun. It’s challenging, and unless you get into it (as some of us do), it’s painful. It’s why I keep writing and speaking on it.

And here’s something you need to do.

You need to learn the game.

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Job Basics: Search

telescope sky looking

So finally we come to actually looking for a job. Sometimes it seems this is the easy part, though that’s because the hard part is building the foundation – which is what we covered earlier.

It’s also something that you can make easier over time. If you get it down to a science and learn the ins and outs (I did a book on this too, which if nothing else is great to give to friends), it can be almost automatic. The Job Search is a skill, it’s a habit, and you can really get to the point where it runs smoothly.

I’m guessing you’re not at that point, so here’s advice on how to get there.

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Job Basics: Tools

Tools Hammer Pliers

Now you want to go find a job, well there’s a few things you need to have to actually do it. These are core tools that are invaluable to the job search – and though they may seem obvious, what they are isn’t always obvious.  These Job Basics are so common we forget their impact or think they’re “not for us.”

These are the tools you need to have for your career – and your job search (which I’ll get to next).

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