Job-Seekers' Folly: A Failure to Communicate

Hey, are you tired of using technology? I mean, do you ever feel like you are addicted to all things simple and easy? Isn't that what the goal is nowadays - to make things simple and easy? Well, let's take a step back and look at how over reliance on technology can be bad for your job search health. Indeed, technology has allowed job-seekers greater access to job openings at virtually no cost. In fact, you never need to leave the comfort of your room. Just upload your documents and click send. And wait for a reply...

Most job seekers measure their job search activity in terms of how many jobs they applied to online. So by that measure, someone applying to 25 jobs per week is more productive than someone applying to 2 jobs per week, right? Wrong!! How about we use another metric to illustrate my point. Whose activity would yield more results in the long run - the job seeker applying to 25 jobs per week or the job seeker having 25 conversations with people about his job search? Tú dirás!

What is the failure to communicate? The failure to communicate is the failure by most job-seekers to seek face to face interactions with people who can aid their job search. It's the failure to talk to people about your job search. It's the failure to keep people informed about what you are doing professionally. It's the failure to conduct business (and in this case, your job search!) through personal contact. It's the failure to build meaningful relationships with people based on sincerity and trust - and not based on desperation! Be the master of technology but don't let it master you! Technology is a means to an end - not the end! So use technology to facilitate your job search by identifying and connecting to the right people. Develop a long-term networking strategy based on mutual benefit. Do you know how many free products and services are given away each day by businesses? The old saying holds true - you have to give someting in order to receive something.

I recently read an article in the Financial Times about the late management thinker Russ Ackoff. It was a well-written article by Stefan Stern and provided several sacred jewels of knowledge. But there were four jewels that stood out as exemplary. Ackoff was not only a management thinker but also excellent at communicating his thoughts into powerful, life-changing statements. These statements are applicable to many areas of our personal and professional lives - and especially to you, my dear job seeker.

1. All of our problems arise out of doing the wrong thing righter.
2. The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become.
3. It is much better to do the right thing wronger than the wrong thing righter.
4. If you do the right thing wrong and correct it, you get better.