Here are the 5 things that most job seekers do that restrict their own job searches and bring their search activities to a grinding halt and a downward spiraling motivation to keep looking.
If you want to shoot yourself in the foot, make sure to engage in these job search approaches:
1) Chain Your Job-Search to Your Resume
Most job search experts that you go to hear will focus on some aspect of your resume, as though it is a given that this is the key to success. However, with the job market as competitive as it is right now, relying on your resume automatically brings you into direct competition with everyone else out there who is interested in the same job. Do you need to have a resume (and a good one?) - yes! But the more effective way to get access to those jobs out there (especially the 80% of jobs that make up the "hidden" job market) is to lead with trusted relationships, not a cold piece of paper.
2) Hold Too Tightly to Specific Job Titles
At one organization a certain set of skills holds a certain job title. That same skill set will be called something else at another company. If you focus your efforts on only looking for jobs that have a specific job title, you will miss out on many other jobs that use the exact same set of skills. Most hiring managers care less about your actual job titles than they do your skill sets and what it is that you can do for them. Don't limit yourself by being overly concerned about (and myopically focused on) a small list of job titles that you have held or that you are pursuing.
3) Only Look at Open Positions
If 80% of the available jobs out there are in the "hidden" job market (meaning that they are currently neither posted anywhere on an organizations website or a job board, nor is any recruiter working to fill them), then why spend most of your time competing with the hoards of others who are focusing on the remaining 20% of jobs that are posted as being "open"? In many cases the astute job seeker is able to stumble onto jobs that have not yet been posted or they so impress a hiring manager that the manager creates a position for them. Have faith that there are many more jobs out there than appear as open positions and conduct your job-search activities in such a way as to beat your competition to those jobs. Not only will you get access to many more jobs, but by not being constantly in such heavy competition and feeling beat up by it, you will be much more able to emotionally sustain your search.
4) Keep Too Focused on Certain Organizations or Industries
Obviously some positions will always need to be narrowly focused on a specific industry (i.e Doctor > Healthcare), but don't let yourself become severely limited by only considering specific organizations or specific industries unnecessarily. In most cases the skills and experience that you have gained can be effectively leveraged to apply to industries or organizations that you have never considered (and some times never even heard of)! Do your research and determine who else needs the skills and experience that you have gained - I guarantee that the opportunities out there will surprise you. So open up your mind to working somewhere else outside of the box. It just may be the most exciting career move that you have ever made!
5) Expect Staffing Professionals to Have All the Answers
I worked for 10 years in the staffing industry, and believe me no one knows more about resumes that staffing professionals. However, staffing professionals are paid by their client companies. They are not paid to be your unmitigated career advocate. Staffing professionals will always encourage you to focus on your resume (see point #1) because this is the currency that they trade in all day long. Staffing professionals live "in the box" and the in-the-box approach that does not serve you well (especially right now because of sheer competition), was designed for people in these roles. Need advice about resumes and cover letters? Depend on a staffing professional. Need to access the hidden job market? Don't expect a staffing professional to have the answers.
All 5 of these things together spell out CHOKE:
C (Chain Your Job-Search...)
H (Hold Too Tightly...)
O (Only Look at...)
K (Keep Too Focused...)
E (Expect Staffing Professionals...)
Keep your job-search vibrant and healthy - don't choke the life out of it!
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Greg_S_Dillon/1247477