This morning I was driving to work and Otis Redding’s song “Sitting On the Dock of the Bay” came on the radio. It’s about a man who travelled from the Deep South to San Francisco to start his life over. Frustrated and unemployed (not entirely at the whim of others) the man finds himself sitting idly. As I listened to the song all I could think was this is a very timely song – that’s exactly what’s happening now with people – they’re looking for a job but they have about as much focus as a baby sitting in a butterfly preserve. You’d almost think that they were waiting for a job to come up and knock on their forehead and say “let me in”. This is too important a task to leave to chance – in America if you don’t work, you don’t eat. Let me encourage you not to give up.
Right now I am working with friends who are trying to fill jobs. They are searching for a few hundred people who are dependable, intelligent, outgoing, and capable of putting themselves out there to make a difference. Many, many, many years ago I was a headhunter, and I was so young I had no idea what I was getting into. The thought of calling a complete stranger to ask if they would like to explore another job opportunity seemed like it would be as easy as picking apples off a tree – not so.
You have a client who knows exactly what they are looking for and you have an entire city filled with at least a few people who can do it. What would you do if someone asked you if you would like a new job that paid more, offered better benefits and promised advancement and a better life for you and your family? I was shocked to learn that most people would say “No, thank you.” Some even said “Hell, no!” and hung up the phone. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why anyone would do that, but as I grew in the profession, I learned.
Some people are so scared or reticent to make a decision that they won’t leave a job no matter how bad it is. Some have such a fear that reaching out for something that may be a perfect fit is too good to be true. Some are just so afraid of being rejected or being humbled by the process of finding the perfect job that they won’t take the steps necessary to make their lives better. Some people have literally never had a single job that someone else didn’t get for them. Let me tell you something, in the immortal words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, you have nothing to fear but fear itself.
A recruiter has called you about a job and you are frightened to express interest. Are you concerned that your boss sent a spy in to test your loyalty? Don’t be – most managers are too busy fielding their own headhunter calls to be worried about whether you’re getting one. Ask the recruiter to call you at home and make a connection. You’re afraid that headhunters are just trying to get your hopes up to dash them to the ground – well let’s take a look at this - you’re told about a job – ask for the headhunter’s info and call them back – it’s usually legit if they give you a phone number. You don’t want people to know that you’re looking but in the meantime you’re hocking everything you own – baby, don’t step on your own feet – there’s no shame in looking for a job – right now every other person you know is looking for a perfect fit. Why should you be left behind??? What if you never had a job that someone didn’t get for you – that’s actually quite common – we all have to crawl before we can walk – just don’t hold onto railing too long – you’ll lose faith that you have anything to bring to the table.
Most headhunters get referrals from your friends and colleagues. We keep up with them – I used to have 1,000 phone numbers in my contact drawer, and I was trained in the old fashioned way of doing business – I always called 20 people a day just to see what was going on in Chicago. Don’t be afraid to give a referral – you might get a referral to your dream job in return. Good luck on your search!
No comments:
Post a Comment