3 Ideas for more effective job hunting | Dan Kiernan | TEDxBonnSquareSalon

This is a talk about a different approach to job seeking. Now the key to this approach is changing the way you think about job seeking. So typically we think of job seeking as something that is competitive and transactional. I want to suggest that you should think of it as something that starts with curiosity and as an open-ended learning journey. Now I know you might be a little bit sceptical when you hear me say that, but stick with me. I'm a careers coach and I've coached lots of people on this approach and I've seen people make it effective when they are in work and they want to make a career transition. I've seen it be effective for people who are unemployed and looking just for a job and I've seen it be effective for students who are right at the start of their career and they're not quite sure what career path to embark on. So whatever stage you're at or whatever level you're at, I believe this approach has got something to offer. In fact, sometimes it works so well that people who I've coached on this describe it as being easy, enjoyable or even lucky. So I want you to feel like that as well when you are job seeking. I'm going to share with you three key ideas that flow from this change in approach from changing from being transactional to thinking of it as a learning journey. Here's the first idea. If one of the first things you thought of when I said this was a talk about jobs was your CV, then perhaps you're being too transactional. If we frame it as a learning journey, we can describe this as a pyramid with two really important foundations. The first foundation is self, self-knowledge or self-reflection. So this means thinking through your values, your motivations, your strengths, what you want from work and what you feel you've got to offer. Now, if you're anything like me, you might be tempted to skip this step because you feel like you know yourself already. But actually research tells us that perhaps only 10 or 15% of people are truly self-aware. So spend some time on this and enlist the help of a critical friend, an ex-boss, an ex-colleague, someone you've worked with closely in the past. They can all be really helpful here. But once you've established what you're looking for from work and what you've got to offer, you can move on to the next step. The next step is to explore, exploring your options and your possibilities where you can find work that's going to fit in with what you've got to offer and what you want. Now, I always used to call this step research. But when I set this exercise for students, they would leave my office and go away and spend 20 minutes on Google and then they'd come back and say, I've researched the job market, I understand the world of work and I know what I want to do for my career. So I've now started framing this as explore because it's a much more active verb. Yes, it encompasses desk research, but it also includes attending conferences and webinars, reading the trade press, following industry thought leaders and talking to industry practitioners. The objective is to form a clear picture of what's happening in the industry that you're interested in, what kind of projects are taking place, what kind of work is important, what kind of people are successful. When you've done all that, you can then produce a CV or write a cover letter or prepare for an interview or give an elevator pitch that's tailored to the industry that you want to break into. It's all based upon what you know you've got to offer and what you know they're looking for. Now, it might seem obvious when we build it that way, but most people do this the wrong way around. They start by producing a CV. They then explore in a very narrow and limited way by applying for jobs and they only ever get to self-reflection if they find a few years later they're in a job that they really hate. Let's build on this idea. Let's develop this idea of explore. So if you take a transactional approach to job seeking, it's very easy to fall into the trap of making lots of applications and not getting any feedback, not having any opportunity to learn if you're close to success and what you've got to do to improve. You've probably also been told that networking is really important, but if you're thinking transactionally, you might not be comfortable with getting in touch with strangers and asking them for help finding work. So let's reframe it as a learning journey. If this is you as a candidate, set up a series of conversations with industry practitioners, but don't be transactional. Don't ask them for help finding a job. Be curious. Ask them what it's like to do their job. Who do they work with? What projects do they work on? What do they do all day? What skills are important? What's changing in their industry? If you do that, something really powerful happens. You create an ongoing feedback loop with the industry that you want to break into. Through this feedback loop, you're going to gather the information you need that will tell you which job specifically you should be applying for, what the right level is for you, what kind of knowledge, skills and experience you need so you can position yourself as a really strong candidate. So if you find yourself in a conventional application process, you're in a much better position than you would have been otherwise. Something else really important happens here too. By approaching people in this manner with curiosity, they respond much more positively and you can form much stronger relationships. And then they will start to let you know about vacancies, maybe even refer you for vacancies or advocate for you. And we don't actually know, but our best guess is that 75% of vacancies are never even advertised to the public. So the only way to access this hidden job market is through developing a network like this. Let's look at one more important idea. Now I know you may be listening to what I've said and be thinking to yourself, this sounds really challenging. I don't have many people that I'm connected to in the industry. It's going to take a long time. I don't have the confidence to hold those kinds of conversations. If that's what you're thinking, again, you might be being too transactional. Let's reframe it as a learning journey. If this axis represents time and this axis represents our learning and connections, it actually doesn't matter where we start. We don't need to be perfect when we begin because it's a learning journey. So what you'll find is very quickly your progress will accelerate. That's because every new connection you make opens the door to two or three more connections. And everything you learn means that the next conversation takes place at a higher level. And very soon you'll find that your connections are letting you know about vacancies as they arise. And because you've learned so much about the opportunities you're applying for, you can position yourself as a really strong candidate. You walk and talk and sound like someone who's ready to do the job. And it's at that point that job seeking starts to feel easier, perhaps even entertaining or fun. And it's where it feels like finding a job can be something that's lucky. So, in summary, change your approach to job seeking. Don't think of it as something that's competitive and transactional. Be curious and think of yourself as embarking on an open-ended learning journey. And you'll have a much more productive and effective job search. Thank you.