Just finished a live presentation in Second Life on job hunting and the use of social media in a job hunt. Was a very fast hour, and had about 16 avatars/people in attendance. I got some very nice comments on the presentation, and I sincerely hope that everyone will use what they have learned.
Job hunting is and isn't the same as in "the past." I talked a lot about the use of electronic media and how to aggregate job listings to save time looking for openings, but as usual, I came back to something that has never changed in job searching since the beginning--- networking.
Despite all of the wonderful tools and electronic gizmos, finding a job comes down to getting in front of a human and selling yourself. Bottom line. Electronic networking tools, fancy resumes, hours spent searching job openings will NOT net you a job. They can only get you in front of another human....and then, the fun begins.
If I were to list what I consider the second most important thing in job searching (behind networking), it would be to practice, practice, practice your 30-2 min commercials (elevator speeches) until you were mumbling them in your sleep. This is part of being able to interview well, which is where you win or lose a job offer. If you know who you are and what you have to offer, and you couch it in "sales" terms ("here's what I can do for you"), you'll have a tremendous advantage over 90% of the rest of the population.
Being prepared for an interview is a book in itself, but being emotional prepared will help you even more. Frankly, if you go into an interview so worried about getting the job that you can't function, you will fulfill your own prophecy. Now I have been in some tight spots in my time---had no job/income and was interviewing---and those are tough. I am blessed with not having debt, and that relieves a lot of pressure. Of course, picturing my family scraping by because I'm out of work adds a tad more pressure. I have had to learn the hard way that if I really trust that God will take care of me, I will relax in an interview and my thoughts will flow much better. It's a test, or should I say like a test that we've all had in school (remind your kids of the kinds of tests adults take and the stakes of performing poorly on THOSE tests). If you are prepared for the test, your stress level is much lower than if you know you're winging it. Of course there could be a test that asks questions poorly (bad test design) or something you totally forgot, but that's where part 2 of preparedness comes into play---trust God.
No test, no interview is life ending. Though we don't believe that we'll ever find another job as our last good job, honestly, we will. I have often counseled job seekers with two words: patience and persistence. You must be patient, and you must never give up. Since I like Star Trek, the analogy I offer is that of the Borg. For those unfamiliar with Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Borg are a race of cyborgs who are notorious for taking over and assimilating other races in the galaxy, and they are incredibly persistent. Nothing seems to phase them...they just keep coming and coming. Like the Borg, we must all keep pressing on to find the next job, and most of us need to work on our patience while we do that.
Cyborgs and virtual worlds like Second Life aside, the reality is that job hunting will continue to be the bane of our existence, at least until we land that next job. : )
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