In this day and age, the job market is an extremely difficult place in which to get a foothold. You may believe you have all the right education and experience. Yet you may find yourself turned down in favor of someone who has a connection on the inside.
Let’s face it, folks, education and experience simply do not carry the promises they used to. You may have more than enough, yet get blown out of the water because of someone who has neither.
Now knowing the right people has always put job candidates at an advantage in the realm of job hunting. But while yesteryear knowing the right people simply gave you the upper hand, today knowing the right people is a minimum requirement. Sorry folks, but this ain’t the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s or 90’s anymore. Nobody is impressed with that advanced degree or the fact that you have ten years of experience. Employers want to know what and how much you have to offer them. And they want to know NOW. Right now, right here in the interview room. Not after they “hire you and see what you’ve got”.
You can read and regurgitate all the advice you can from periodicals and online articles on how to tweak your resume, twerk your cover letter, and present yourself as the most beautiful and confident candidate they’ve ever seen. God knows there’s a ton of them out there!
Or you can do something far more valuable to any employer: SHOW them what you’ve got. And because most of us aren’t fortunate enough to have the “right” people in our families or circles of friends, the best way to strut your stuff for an employer while at the same time meeting the “right” people who can get you paid is to volunteer.
I know, I know. Volunteering is such a dirty word. I have proposed volunteering to just about everyone I’ve ever known who has struggled to secure a job. This even includes people who have seen with their own eyes how I’ve secured not one, not two, but FOUR jobs at two different hospitals as a direct result of my work as a volunteer! And that doesn’t even include connections I’ve made for many things outside my line of work!
Why such a simple way to “get in the door” escapes consideration for so many people is mind-boggling. You’re out of work and not making any money anyway. Why won’t you not make money while doing something constructive while gaining skills, making connections, building contacts, talking to different people (which could lead to your pursuing careers you may never have dreamed of) and, most important of all…GETTING ON THE INSIDE AND BEING ONE OF THE PEOPLE EMPLOYERS KNOW!
Because that’s who wins today, ladies and gentlemen. When I was growing up in the 1990’s the winners were the people with the advanced academic degrees. But in the 2010’s the winners are the people who know people on the inside. That’s the bottom line. And by the way, while you’re strutting your stuff using the advice that online job interview article taught you, your employer is trying to find out how you’re going to serve their…BOTTOM LINE!
I authored a book that offers much advice I’ve gained from my pain and suffering in the resume-writing/job interview world, as well as how I remedied the situation for myself, which resulted from taking a family member’s advice to become a volunteer. The book provides suggestions on the who, what, when, where, why and how of volunteering. Take the advice in this book, and I guarantee you will not remain unemployed for long, regardless of how much competition there is or how unqualified you think you are. (Meaning you may be more qualified than you think!)
theguywhosaysohyeah 