Sunday, March 7, 2010

Career Movers Series: Broadening Your Job Search

This little gem came from my friend, Fabio. (Obviously not his real name, but he wanted to be anonymous and made a demand for a super cool sports name so I had to slap him back.) Fabio works in commercial construction management and has been looking for a job for almost 5 weeks. He has gone through the traditional avenues of job postings on the internet and the local paper. He has even applied for jobs out of his geographic area. But the other day he did something truly inspiring and creative. And the payoff was huge!

He decided to call around to some companies that provide supplies for his industry. He focused on the roofing portion of his work and called three or four suppliers. He asked whoever answered the phone whether they knew any companies looking for new people. Every call resulted in 2 – 4 qualified referrals, with contact information, which is exactly what he wanted. When he made his last call, however, he hit the jackpot. The man who answered the phone was the son of the owner of the business and they were looking for a news sales rep for a salary plus commission position. Could he come in immediately to talk? Of course he could! And he did and had a final interview on Friday.

That is the kind of initiative and creativity that gets results in a tough economy. Waiting for job openings to be posted and traditional efforts to payoff may result in a job, but rarely as quickly as taking the initiative to go and find the hidden job market. Fabio has become my new little source of inspiration and insight. I am so proud and happy. OK, and a little bit shocked.

No comments:

Post a Comment