5 Reasons You Can't Get A Job (JOBACUS)

1Jay Martin August 2014 Recruit Military Deck.ppt
Date: August 27, 2014
Presentation:
For Recruit Military
Updated for JOBACUS 2016
Jay Martin
The 5 Reasons You Can’t Get a Job
….and what you can do about it
From JOBACUS

Today we are going to discuss the 5 major reasons that people
cannot get jobs.
• This is prescriptive, not meant to be a ‘feel good’ exercise.
• A job search can be conducted in many ways and still be successful, but
these five are in the order of how they should be addressed.
• There are also other reasons, though far less common. After we discuss
these five, we will go over some of those.
• The solutions for these five are fairly obvious, though accepting that they
are where your problem will be hard for some.
• Depending on your expectations and knowledge of job searching, some
will be far easier than others to resolve. Changing your expectations
may also be required.
• If you are able to avoid or ‘resolve’ all of these issues, you will be able to
get a job, but it still may not meet your original expectations.
5 Failures of Job Search Introduction

Job searching is a process with numerous routes to success. Below
are five of the most common reasons people delay getting new jobs.
5 Failures of Job Search The 5 Reasons
Understanding where you are failing is key, and also requires
involvement of other people to help you identify your weak point(s).
1 Objective You have not figured out what you want to do yet.
2 Realism Your expectations are unrealistic.
3 Résumé You resume needs improvement.
4 Effort You have not worked hard enough to get interviews.
5 Interviewing You are unable to convert interviews into job offers.

Deciding ‘what’ you want to do for your career should involve a
combination of soul searching and a broad review of possibilities.
• Most job search objectives can be thought of along two dimensions:
– What function(s) are you focused on (e.g. Operations, Marketing, etc.)
– What industries would you like to focus your search in?
• There are career areas that do not fit into these, but the majority of
people do. Deciding on the answers to these two questions is critical.
• Additional questions include:
– Geographic targets
– Career level
– Salary
5 Failures of Job Search 1 - Objective
1
My advice to career military people is to ‘make a list’ of everything you
might be able to do, and then cross them off to narrow your search.

Lack of realistic expectations is one of the biggest reasons people
stay unemployed for long periods of time. Major ones include:
5 Failures of Job Search 2 - Realism
2
A Salary Expectations
Wanting more than you are
likely to be offered.
Worry about getting offers,
and then negotiating.
Multiple opportunities
means leverage & options.
B Career Level
Expecting to be at a career level
higher than you may be offered.
Whenever making a
change, sometimes a step
backwards may be needed.
C Type of Position
Desiring positions that you do
not have the qualifications for.
Usually straightforward. Do
you have the qualifications
normally required?
D Company (or Type of)
Focusing on a type of company
that is difficult to get into due to
competition or pedigree (e.g.
Investment Bank or Google).
Targeting these companies
is okay, but do not restrict
yourself.
E Geography
Searching in smaller or
competitive markets for scarce
opportunities.
Expectations need to be
weighed against desired
locations. Research the
markets.

Your résumé should be at least ‘very good’. Keep working on it until
it is. You should not start using it until it is close to being finished.
• Format is 80% of the battle for most people. I see hundreds of resumes
a year, and many written by professionals that are still terrible.
• Do not ask your friends or family for approval. Go talk to recruiters, other
job seekers, HR professionals. They will be much more honest.
• Go online and look at examples. The internet is filled with them.
• Professional help here can be justified, but your choices here are most
likely ‘work hard on it yourself’ or ‘pay someone a lot to do it’.
• Everyone will have an opinion, but it is ‘yours’. Listen to everyone and
then decide what you think is right and looks best.
• Great thing about having a good résumé is that once it is done, it is
‘done’. In the future, you can just add updates. It is a good investment!
5 Failures of Job Search 3 – Résumé
3
The saying do not let ‘perfect’ get in the way of ‘good’ applies, but
substitute ‘very good’ for ‘good’, because it is going to need to be.

This subject alone could be a week long course, but the basics errors
are usually the same: Not spending enough time doing the right things.
• The unemployed, by definition, have not worked hard enough to get a
job. Success in this process is simply defined as exiting it.
• The answer to: Should I attend networking meetings, job fairs, research
companies, search online or contact my friends/ex-colleagues – is ‘Yes’
• Some basics I like to convey:
– Prepare (e.g. Objective, Realism, Resume and list below)
– Know yourself (what you want, why qualified, accomplishments)
– Know the market (companies, who is hiring, network)
– Get to know as many ‘useful’ people as you can (network)
– Attack, attack, and then attack some more
- Searching online is the easiest way to see who is hiring, though
depending on your résumé, this may not be the way to get hired
- You should never feel like you’ve run out of things to do.
5 Failures of Job Search 4 - Searching
4

If you have had more than 5 interviews without any offers, you may
need help. If you’ve had 10, you definitely should work on this.
• Almost everyone thinks they are good at interviewing. Most are wrong.
• Practice and preparation are the rules for the day. Some ideas:
a) Purchase 2 books on the subject, read them.
b) Keep track of your errors. After each interview, write down
everything you said you regret or questions you were asked.
c) Make a list of common questions, write out the answers but do not try
to memorize them, it will make your delivery appear awkward.
d) Do a mock-interview and video tape it. Use a Coach or an HR friend.
e) You may face a non-traditional interview (e.g. Case questions,
Critical Behavior). Understand and prepare, they are tricky.
f) Research the company and the job thoroughly.
5 Failures of Job Search 5 - Interviewing
5
If you get an interview, you are almost ‘there’. Now is not the time to
let up on your preparation and negate all your hard work to date.

These are not the only reasons, just the primary ones. We will quickly
review a few others which may not appear to fall within our original 5.
• Cover letter quality
• Employment gap, GPA, educational deficiency
• Negotiating skills
• Background issue (criminal record, out of work force, etc.)
• Bad or no available references
5 Failures of Job Search Wrap-up
Thank you for participating, and we wish you good luck.

5 Reasons You Can't Get A Job (JOBACUS)

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