TOUGH MARKET BLUES

Even in an upbeat market, job hunters will hear the word ‘no’ far more often than they hear ‘yes’. Your original question may be ‘Can I ask your advice?’, ‘Can I have five minutes of your time?’, ‘May I talk to you about what your organisation is doing’, or ‘Please consider my CV for your advertised position’. Every ‘no’ has an impact.

Candidates who are struggling to make an impression in a tough job market have often heard ‘no’ plenty of times. If that sounds familiar, then three important reality check rules apply:

1. Don’t take ‘no’ personally.
2. Don’t fish for ‘no’.
3. Learn what ‘no’ means.

Don’t take ‘no’ personally

Anyone who has ever sold anything for a living knows that you are going to hear ‘no’ (or at least ‘not yet’) several times before you get a ‘yes’. In fact, rejection and refusal are necessary stages in the process. However, hearing ‘I’m too busy to talk to you’ when you are promoting a product or service is one thing. When it’s about you, it’s much harder to hear. It’s interesting how often people start to unravel the whole of their job hunting strategy, trash their CV and start talking about pitching for less interesting jobs on the strength of one or two rejections. Sometimes they will do so simply because a decision maker is too busy to return their call, or because a recruitment consultant doesn’t get back in touch.

Often the most difficult ‘no’ is complete silence. You don’t hear anything at all. It’s easy to read anything you want into that vacuum. Or you get vague feedback as discussed below. It’s very easy to attempt to interpret this so-called feedback as information. It isn’t hard data, it isn’t even evidence, it’s just white noise.

You need to get used to the idea that statistically in the job hunt game you are going to hear ‘no’ many times. Most of the time it isn’t about you. If it really is about you, it will be detailed, focused and you will hear it from more than one source.

Don’t fish for ‘no’

Some candidates play an interesting game which we might call ‘fishing for no’. For example, they apply for jobs for which they are poorly suited. They send in half-hearted job applications for jobs they don’t want. They apply for dull jobs they could do in a coma and tell their friends that they are applying ‘just for practice’. Then they feel aggrieved that they aren’t called for interview and, if they are, because they haven’t been offered the job. Going to a live interview ‘for practice’ is like taking a driving test knowing you are not ready – getting the bad news is going to have some kind of effect. It may be something you can brush off quickly, or may impact on your performance for days or weeks. But it will have an impact, because you are setting yourself up to fail.

Stretch yourself so that you reach for jobs that are just – only just – within your grasp. Not a job you could do in your sleep, but something you will be able to master after effort. Finding that kind of job requires practice, good feedback and plenty of hard work. So it’s no wonder that some candidates want to settle for something easier. Applying passively and ineffectively for jobs you can’t get excited about is high risk in terms of extending your job search time, but feels lower risk in terms of putting yourself out there.

Create opportunities to test out and improve your interview techniques – don’t use live interviews for this purpose. Ask one or two people who are experienced and thoughtful interviewers to interview you. This could be a general interview against your CV or a dummy interview for a real job.

Do this with someone who can give you tough but completely honest feedback on your language, tone, content and non-verbal behaviour – don’t play the dangerous game of using the job market as your training ground. The feedback you get will be bland or arbitrary, and when you second guess your own performance you will jump at shadows, fix things that don’t need fixing, and miss the main things that are wrong with your interview performance.

Learn what ‘no’ means

A rejection letter will usually say something bland such as ‘other candidates matched our selection criteria more closely’. Whether you get silence or a ‘no’ in the selection process can mean a large number of things, including:

• The job went to the internal candidate who was informally promised it 12 months ago.
• We decided not to fill the post.
• We converted the job into a consultancy project.
• We picked someone we already know.
• We changed our minds about what we were looking for.
• We introduced new selection criteria which we hadn’t published.
• We picked candidates who matched our unwritten wish list.
• We were so overwhelmed with candidates we only saw people who have done this exact job.
• We couldn’t see the right evidence in your application.
• We saw the evidence but you didn’t sell it to us in the right language.
• You didn’t have what it takes.

Your problem is that you have no real idea which of the above variations of ‘no’ apply. When you don’t know, it’s very easy to assume and act as if the last item, You didn’t have what it takes, is the one and only reality.

Career coach Michelle Baker asks:

Are you applying for roles that you aren’t suitable for? If you are a 70% fit or better, then apply, if it’s less but you are eager for the role, then phone and discuss or send an email explaining why. Lay out clearly how your experience matches the skills outlined – what you have to offer, rather than what you want. Then let them know why you should be considered above someone with a 100% fit.

Careers specialist Cheryl Roshak adds:

Always keep in mind that many apply but only one will be chosen. If not chosen that does not mean you are a failure or not good at what you do. It means you were not the right person at the right time for that company. Get over it, it wasn’t meant to be, and move on. The more interviews you can have targeted to your goals, the better the chance you will find the right company that will hire you.

FEEDBACK

Rob Nathan of CCS asserts that ‘it’s best to take a proactive approach to seeking feedback. Ask the right questions, not ‘why did you reject me?’ John Whapham adds: ‘Requesting feedback shows employers that a candidate has a mind open to criticism and change’.

Anything that sounds like a challenge to the hiring decision will always hit a blank wall. Get feedback from practice interviews, from recruitment consultants, from a career coach. If you do ask for feedback from a selection process, don’t expect too much. So don’t ask ‘what did I do wrong?’ because that’s not only a cry for sympathy but a mild challenge. A much better approach is to make positive statements reinforcing the fact that you are not questioning the result, then seek feedback in a structured way: ‘I’m delighted you found the right candidate. I have to say that I really found the interview interesting. I’m sure you’ll agree that we can all keep improving in terms of interview performance. I’m wondering if you can give me any pointers on what I did well, and what I can improve in the future?’

Kate Howlett’s view is that:

Feedback after job interviews is rarely true as companies are usually too nervous of starting an argument if they are candid. Sometimes however it’s interesting for candidates to hear the difference between what they thought they said and what the employer actually heard.

KEEPING YOUR SPIRITS UP IN THE LONG GAME

What is the best way of remaining positive in a long job hunt? That’s an important question at a time when more people are chasing each job. Even with the best job hunting strategy in the world it may take time to track down the right opportunities. Keeping your morale up and maintaining an upbeat tone in conversations helps keep you on track.

Career coach Jane Downes is a fan of:

Taking control of your self-esteem. This involves managing negative conversations you are having with yourself, upskilling to improve self-esteem and confidence, and coming up for air to celebrate milestones along the way.

Executive recruiter Cathy Kay believes:

Job search gets you thinking about what you can’t do, but it’s what we can do and what we can learn to do that is of interest to the markets.

Career coach Simon Broomer asks:

What’s the best way of keeping your spirits up in a long job search? Keep fit. Running and some vigorous exercise in the gym are good ways to release frustration and improve self-esteem and positive energy.

Kate Howlett advises you to:

Spend as much effort on having fun as you do on job search – that way you are more effective and then you won’t stay in your next job too long because you’re so scared of being out of work again.

Ruth Winden writes:

Any job search can be emotionally draining, as it is only human to take rejection personally. Ask yourself – what will help you develop and maintain resilience? What gives you a strong sense of your individual worth? What makes you feel an integral part of your family and community? What experiences help you put things into perspective? The answers will differ from person to person. For some people the answer lies in volunteering and making a difference to others in need; for others it might be spending time with family and friends; taking up a hobby they’ve always wanted to pursue; or finding solace in their faith. The secret is to find something that gives you joy and energy, and that makes life worth living. Strangely enough, finding that ‘something’ will not only make you more resilient, it will also make you a more desirable candidate.

Career coach Angella Clarke-Jervoise recalls the saying ‘We leak the truth’:

When it comes to job hunting, keeping up your spirits is so hard but vital, so that the truth you’re emanating is as positive as it can be. One thing that worked for me was ensuring that I had meaningful, daily connections with others. I relocated for a job in the 90s that fell away the very day I was meant to start. I had no contacts, not a lot of money and no clue how to get a job, let alone what I actually wanted to do. As anyone in this situation knows, it’s easy to feel despondent, but I found that if I achieved at least one meaningful exchange with someone every day i.e. one good connect call about an opening, a meeting or interview, a networking event, exploratory chat or coffee with a contact, this really helped. By focusing on the connections and exploring what was out there, it enabled me to come across positively when I met employers. Otherwise, I may never have made it out the door from feeling so hopeless.

THE DANGERS OF KEEPING THINGS TO YOURSELF

Research published by Gumtree.com in June 2012 suggested that many people don’t like talking to anyone else about their job hunt. Over a quarter of those surveyed said they didn’t feel their job hunting was anyone else’s business and many said that they didn’t like asking for help, or were embarrassed to say they were looking for work (see Gumtree.com/careers).

You need other people during a job search, particularly an extended one which is likely to wear you down. It’s easy to find people who say ‘settle for whatever you can get’, but that simply means ‘stop thinking, stop trying harder’. Choose people who are wise, supportive – people who help reframe your experience in positive terms. Their contribution is threefold. You maintain your confidence, you will find it easier to cope with rejection, and you will receive leads and connections. Keeping your job hunt an embarrassed secret simply adds to the time you’ll spend doing it.

PLAY A GAME OF COMPARTMENTS

Julian Childs writes of the dangers of ‘pursuing too few opportunities concurrently and consequently being broken hearted by each rejection’. What candidates frequently do is focus completely on one position, particularly if it’s an exciting job or one where they are close to a job offer. This rests far too much attention on one opportunity, putting others on hold.

Keep each opportunity in its own watertight compartment, independent of others. So, if you’re going for a job, go for it completely. However, make sure you also put energy into another compartment where you assume you won’t get job number one. And in a third compartment assume that nothing currently in your sights is going to work out, so simultaneously you keep developing your longer-term plan. This is all about feeding the pipeline, knowing that sometimes it takes several conversations to get close to a decision maker. Even if something looks like a safe bet, keep putting energy into plans B, C, D …

This strategy is the best possible antidote to hearing ‘no’. This way, when you get a job offer, you will have other job possibilities at different stages of development, which is entirely healthy. It’s also a great insurance plan if a job offer is taken off the table at the last minute.