The Enduring Secret to Job Search Success

Ever wondered why a greater majority of job seekers remained unemployed despite giving job hunting all their efforts while only a tiny number have always been successful in gaining employment? You see, for any job vacancy (advertised or not) hundreds or even thousands may apply while maybe one or maybe just a few would be engaged. Research has proved that those job seekers gaining employment are actually doing something right which the unlucky ones are practically leaving undone.

Visualize this scene with me please. A young man needed a job and specifically wanted to work at a particular Departmental Store. The young man presented himself to the Departmental Store’s Personnel Director for consideration. The man was cordial but informed him firmly that no job was available and in point of fact several other applicants were ahead of him. Being more determined to work at the Departmental Store, our young man rather than giving up and taking the no for an answer, went into the store and spent a couple of hours making observations and taking notes regarding those places and situations in the Store that required improvements.

Armed with these observations, the young man went to a phone booth outside the Departmental Store, called up the Personnel Director and said ‘I want to work at your Departmental Store’ adding that ‘I have spent the last few hours in your store and I have found more ten places and situations that needed improvements and where I could make significant contributions. May I come up and tell you where they are?’ Of course the young man was invited up by the Director as demanded and he got the job he wanted.

What therefore is the moral in the story related above for the average job seeker? The moral is that:

Winners Sell Benefits!!!

First, is that you should never take no for a rejection, rather you should take it as an encouragement. The young man in the story being as determined as he was took the Director’s answer and used it as means to an end – learning more about the store and using it to his advantage. Our young man must have been a student of Napoleon Hill’s philosophy of ‘Never taking no for an answer.’  He therefore treated his job search like a salesman who will never take the ‘no’ of the prospect as a rejection, rather he will take it as means of probing more into the prospect to discover his wants/problems. Probing in the Departmental Store to discover the places where improvements were required which basically was their problems and consequently their wants.  Meaning that while job hunting you should learn all you can about the prospective employer and in the process probing for his problems and consequently his wants.

Secondly, like a salesman who will then sell his product or service as a solution to the problems/wants he must have discovered in the course of his probing into the prospect, our young man did the same at the store. Salesmen sell benefits. The young job seeker in the story like a salesman offered his product (service in this instance) as a solution to the improvements he noticed in the course of probing in the store. He therefore offered his benefit and value to the Departmental Store.

Job Search is about selling of a Product ‘YOU’!!!

Employers do not just employ job seekers. Rather they employ the product of the job seeker – known as ‘value/benefit’. As a prospective employee therefore everything you will discuss with a prospective employer (both in your resume and in the course of your interviews) must be translated into employer benefit which after all is the reason why any employer for that matter employs any prospective employee. As a prospective employee you need to paint a compelling picture of the values/benefits the prospective employer stands to gain from employing you and of course you need to personalize your value to meet with needs of specific employers. Can you see why you are selling the product ‘YOU’? Job search is therefore about selling your company ‘YOU Incorporated’.

To do this however, you need to do some introspection and give compelling answers to two set of questions.

1.      What as a prospective employee can I offer a prospective employer?

2.      What does a prospective employer gain by employing me?

Answering these two questions will ultimately guide you towards the best service you could offer a prospective employer. By the way, the service you offer must be of benefit/value to him. A prospective employer has a problem which he wanted solved and that was why he placed the advert for the vacant position in the first place. He wants to solve problems like improving an existing solution, having a better life, building a better business or doing more in a better way and faster. Your duty as a prospective employee therefore is to help him solve these problems. The extent to which you can solve the problems for him determines the extent to which you will be successful in your job search.

How do you achieve this?

After identifying the prospective employer’s wants, you can then show proof /evidence of being able to solve his problems. That is through your achievements and accomplishments. Your resume must resonate with your achievements and accomplishments. In the course of the interview exercise also, you should note that the prospective employer is always listening to the radio WII-FM (What is in it for me?). Put in another way, ‘What do I gain by employing this person?’ That is ‘Of what benefit /value is your employment to his business or organization?’ You need to project why you are a match for the position on offer and why you are a perfect fit for it. Therefore you must always emphasize your value to a prospective employer just as the salesman emphasizes the benefit of his product to the prospect knowing that it is the only way he could enhance the sale of his product.

Therein lay the secret to the ‘enduring secret to job search success.’ The secret is simply value proposition. It is clearly about communicating the benefits a prospective employer stands to gain by using your service. To do this you focus on what the employer wants and the values he desires not on your education or working experience or even your skills for that matter.  The idea being to help your potential employers see the specific values you will bring to their organizations. You focus on your accomplishments, being the main criterion that could project your value. Note as a job seeker, emphasizing your value (both in your resume and during the interview) is the only way you could enhance your market-ability and consequently your job search success to the prospective employers out there. Not doing so can cost you dearly.

This in a nutshell is the enduring secret to lasting job search success. Practice it and you will never regret you did.