I was reading Kristin Wong’s article at LifeHacker: “The Biggest Wastes of Time We Regret When We Get Older” when it hit me… this can have BIG costs in your job search!
That’s OK, I’ll get the next one
Don’t believe me? Ever had something like this happen… You are talking to an acquaintance or friend when you mention something like “I wish I had…” fill in the blank:
- Made it the concert
- Gotten an interview with …
- Heard about …
- Known …
Then your friend says something like “Oh, I wish I had known you were interested. I know someone there that could have hooked you up.” #yousoidiot You think to yourself… “Seriously! If I had just put it on FB, Twitter or mentioned it in casual conversation I could have avoided all of this!” If you are like me you then think “I’ll never do that again,” only to do it again and again.
Leverage your network
If you stop for a moment and think about all the people you know I bet you have quite an impressive list. When identifying your network don’t just include your close friends, think about people you have just met or even have a loose connection with. Research has shown that frequently, loose connections are more helpful in the job search than close friends.
Put your network on a contact schedule. For those of you in sales think of putting them into some type of CRM that will help you keep track of them. If anyone knows of a good way to categorize, filter, sort and keep contacts up to date (outside of excel) please let me know.
If you’re not asking for help, you’re probably not challenging yourself enough.
Maybe feeling like “I got this” is an indicator that you have gotten too comfortable in what you are doing. I believe that if we are not growing then we are 1. being left behind and 2. shrinking. I am competitive so I don’t like the idea of someone getting ahead of me and I want to continue to grow.”Al Pollard
Al Pollard
https://www.linkedin.com/in/msparkal
@Jobcerch
Growth is the only evidence of life.
John Henry Newman