Why Being a Proactive Job Seeker is the Key to Your Next Career

Why Being a Proactive Job Seeker is the Key to Your Next CareerHave you ever thought about the way in which you conduct your job searchesor whether you are a reactive or proactive job seeker? You may have heard about being proactive versus reactive in your parenting style, such as when your kids make mistakesor in your workplace, being proactive about problem solving in advance, before issues can even arise. This principle also has a valuable place in how you conduct your job search.What is Reactive Job Searching?Being a reactive job seeker can mean that youre passively looking for a position, applying only when a position of interest crosses your field of vision. But, the more applicable meaning is that youre applying only to positions you see onlinemost likely on job boards or company websites youre reacting to (applying for) a position that is already posted.What is Proactive Job Searching?Being a proactive job seeker means that youre scouting out opportunities before they ever gr ace a job board or company website. This can be accomplished in many ways and is primarily referred to as accessing the hidden job market. Proactive job searching can include networking online or off, informational vorstellungsgesprching, cold calling, targeting employers, creating a direct mail campaign, utilizing a value aussage letter, or simply reaching out to employers about potential opportunities before they become public knowledge. The idea is that, by incorporating these methods, youre staying one step ahead of your competition.The Advantages of Being a Proactive Job Seeker The ultimate advantage of being a proactive job seeker is that you limit your competition. Youre finding roles before theyre ever public knowledgeso instead of competing against an entire army of job seekers you may be the only candidate being considered, or maybe one of only five versus 500. That puts the odds very much in your favor. Youre saving valuable time that you would have spent scouring job boa rdsand loads of frustration too. It can be stressful and overwhelming to see the perfect position online, to know youre the best candidate for the job, to apply and then never hear back. Unfortunately, searching job boards can feel like youre submitting applications into a black hole. You avoid the frustration. I hear from job seekers every day about the stress they experience when using job boards for their searches. That frustration inevitably turns into doubt and/or desperation as they start internalizing the lack of responses, and begin to believe that something must be wrong with them or their resumes. In reality, its typically elend an issue with the personits simply a numbers issue when youre one of 500 you tend to get lost in the crowd. No matter how much the well-meaning HR person on the other end of the applications means to choose the most-qualified individuals, after the 200th application, they can easily find themselves overwhelmed and inundated beyond their ability.Ho w Can I Become a Proactive Job Seeker?To become a proactive job seeker you need to scout out opportunities before they ever become public knowledge. Once the decision maker shares it with someone else in the office or HR it ceases to become a hidden job. So how can you find these hidden opportunities? Reach out to companies you admire and want to work for. You can do this several different ways connecting with current employees or decision makers on LinkedIn, finding out who you know that may already work there and asking for a referral, reaching out for an informational interview with someone who is in the role you would be interested in having some day and finding out how they got to where they are now. Or you could mail a copy of your resume and cover letter or value proposition letter to the company. Ask for information. Find someone you admire in a position you hope to have one day and ask to interview them for 5-15 minutes ask questions about how they became successful in thei r role, what got them to where they are, what advice would they have for someone like you who aspires to be in their shoes one day. fruchtwein people will take the time to talk if you make it brief and are considerate of their time. You can ask questions in-person over coffee if you know the person well, or in todays fast paced society you can try to arrange a 5-15 minute call or simply ask if you can send them three questions via e-mail. Write a value proposition letter. Value proposition letters have been proven in studies to have an 85% success rate securing employment in 90 days or less. If youve been job searching any length of time you know thats a phenomenal success rate. When done correctly a value proposition letter can open doors that networking and resumes may never be able to. Check out this information on value proposition letters to find out more and to see an example of what one looks like. Create a targeted direct-mail campaign in which you generate a list of all the companies within your area that youre interested in working for, put together a list of decision makers, and then mail them a copy of your resume and cover letter or value proposition letter. Ive heard some amazing success stories from top executives whove used this strategy and secured employment in less than three monthswhich is pretty hard to do when youre making $200K+ a year. There are fewer of those jobs than any other.Being a proactive job seeker means youre taking an active role in finding your next opportunity. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the perfect position to cross your path, youre going out to find it. Not only can this be a more empowering and less frustrating position to be in, it also produces more interviews and offers in less time. For more information on the Hidden Job Market, check out my article Kicking Down the Door to the Hidden Job Market.

Favoritism in the Workplace 6 Ways to Promote a Better Work Culture

Favoritism in the Workplace 6 Ways to Promote a Better Work Culture You may have noticed it on a gruppe conference call if your boss never asks your opinion in key decision making. Another person in the organization may always receive preferential treatment, including plum assignmentsbefore these assignments are even revealed to the whole staff.Beyond eroding your self-confidence and perpetuating your insecurities, favoritism in the workplace can have a serious impact on an employee. It may mean receiving fewer raises, an insubstantial workload, and a lack of advancement.An employer showing preferential treatment based on factors aside from performance isnt just annoyingits a form of workplace discrimination. After all, your work environment is disrupted and unpleasant because certain employees are being excluded and receiving unfair treatment, while others have a cushier work environment.So, how do you encourage management to address the problem of playing favorites at work and stop perpetuating discrimination and favoritism?Steps to create a mora welcoming work environment as an employee1. Acknowledge that it is real.Document instances and events at work when the behavior occurs, even if it is just in a journal for yourself. You want to be careful about spreading rumors or sounding insecure about your job, so you may want to ask a trusted friend outside the workplace if the behavior seems like favoritism, using specific examples of times employees received preferential treatment.Part of having friendships in our personal lives is helping people, doing favors, and listening when they need our support. However, friendships formed at the workplace can spill over into workplace responsibilities. This is when favoritism is most pronounced and most frustrating to other people, writes Robby Slaughter of AccelaWork LLC, in Inside Indiana Business.2. Keep tabs on your own behavior.While you may enjoy friendships with a few of your coworkers more than others, dont make anyone else feel left out. Sit near different colleagues at meetings and make koranvers you model thoughtfulness to everyone in the workplace in the same ways.One of the things thats fascinating is that while friendship can have a lot of individual benefits, too much friendship can lead to destruction in the workplace. Sometimes you get caught up in some of the dynamics and it can be really distracting, writes Nancy Rothbard, a management professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Knowledge at Wharton.3. Be transparent about your own work and productivity.Share your successes. Perhaps your supervisorin is not aware of all you have been doing and your contributions to the organization.As Gloria Feldt, president and co-founder of Take The Lead, writes, Use what youve got. This can be using the information about your performance and your deliverables. Feldt adds, What you need is almost always there. See it and use it with courage. Because power unused is pow er useless. And you have the power to shift the culture to one of democracy.Taking steps to reduce unfair treatment at work as a managerOn the other side of the equation, if you are a leader in an organization and managing others, you can also check your own patterns of behavior to develop the most effective leadership. Make sure that as a boss you do not display an innerhalb circle mentality to your royal court that can be construed as showing favoritism, discrimination or harassment.1. Create a culture of open communication.Set aside time when everyone on the team can share ideas and insights.When you allow people to voice their thoughts and suggestions in this way, you showcase your respect for them, which only improves their self-esteem and performance in the workplace, writes Louis Carter, CEO/founder of Best Practice Institute.2. Be sure you have self-awareness.You need to be cognizant of your attitude, so your colleagues and co-workers dont think youre playing Queen Bee, with your favorite worker bees already assigned their positions in the hive.You need to think about being more deliberately inclusive of other people. Things like that are important to keep in mind because a lot of times youre in this bubble of the friendship and youre not aware of the impact its having on other organizational outcomes, writes Rothbard.3. Earn the trust of your team.It is the leaders role to build that trust by being authentic, open and transparent. Members of the organization have to be treated fairly and equitably leaving no room for favoritism or nepotism. Highly skilled and valuable staff will not stand for this and will look for work in organizations where they will be accorded respect and recognition for the skills and efforts they bring, writes Harvey Deutschendorf in Forbes.The bottom lineThe bottom line is that favoritism hurts the bottom line.Whether you are on the wrong side of your bosss special selection process, or you are a leader whos guilty of playing f avorites on the job, you need to do everything you can to equalize the workplace culture. Showing favoritism contributes to a toxic workplace culture and hostile work environment, and every employee must do her part to improve the environment for everyone.Dont miss out on articles like these.