I’ve noticed a worrying trend among my clients: they have unfounded preconceived ideas about how job searching goes and what is and isn’t done. And these outlooks are holding them back in a big way. 

Because I keep hearing the same harmful ideas, I’ve come up with a list of the biggies, which I’ll share with you one or two at a time over the next several postings.

I’m starting with one that is more practical—the reality of actually searching for a job—and then I’ll take a step back to more mindset-based ones. I chose this one to start with because I feel that almost everyone believes that the best and/or only way to find a new job is to go to Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, or any other similar websites and apply for what’s open.

And that is so not true.

Career myth #1: Don’t depend on job sites to get the job you want.

We all love the idea of a painless job search: we would just email in our resume and maybe a cover letter, or punch in resume-level facts into an annoying but simplified form, hit send, and wait for the hiring manager to contact us saying how much they would love to have us on their team.

You may have experienced this before, but this hardly works, especially for the highly coveted jobs.

There are several reasons they don’t work:

1. Your resume will most likely not be seen by human eyes. Medium- to large-sized companies receive so many applications that almost all use some Applicant Tracking System. So you’ll be playing a keyword guessing game with whatever algorithm the company uses. (That’s why you should always include words that are in the job ad.) And when that yields too many results for the employer, some recruiters will run a second keyword-focused search, and you won’t know exactly what they’re looking for.
2. They are dehumanizing, slowly zapping your energy and positivity. For example, you’ll read a job ad, feel that you’re a perfect fit for this, and apply, but when you don’t hear anything from them, you’ll think it has to do with you. It doesn’t! See #1.
3. They waste your time. Since you have to tweak your resume each time or fill out applications, each one can take at least 40 minutes (if you’re lucky). This wouldn’t be so bad, but doing this for 20 job posts can add up, especially if it’s not a guarantee interview.

So what do you do instead? It boils down to two tasks:

1. In-depth research. Narrow your desired outcomes. Instead of “spraying and praying” to a lot of organizations, you can take more time researching organizations with the goal of finding a few that you would really like to work for. With more research in hand, you’ll be able to wow the hiring manager with your passion and knowledge. 
2. Network. I know, I know, some people shudder at the word, but think of it like this: You’re going to be hired by people and working with people. Job sites don’t really involve people, so you have to go find the people and convince them you’d be a perfect fit there.  Now, networking can take on various forms: going to events, connecting through LinkedIn, getting coffee with a hiring manager or employee, reaching out to old acquaintances, following industry blogs, hiring a career coach, using a recruiter, and much more. If you’re uncomfortable at the thought of having to connect with strangers online, I have two handy articles that help show you how to reach out to strangers on LinkedIn. 

I know that searching for a new job and/or career can be exhausting, and taking the time to be more deliberate by researching and building connections can sound like it will take too long. But it’s one of those false dilemmas. While we think this level of depth will take too long, it might take less time for hiring managers to get back to you and shorten your search overall.

I’m Stacey Lane: Career Coach | Transition & Career Strategist | Personal Brand Specialist

I help individuals with unique backgrounds find their perfect fit and effectively market themselves so they find work that is as interesting as they are.

Contact me to get started!