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Don't Wear Flip-Flops to Your Interview

And Other Obvious Tips that You Should be Following to Get the Job You Want

The Career Press, Inc.

Job Hunting Does Not Have to Suck

Every job hunter has a horror story to tell. So does every athlete, every musician, every hairdresser, every boater, every artist, every plumber, and every golfer. Name any human endeavor and there is someone somewhere who can tell you something ugly that happened while engaging in that activity. But the occasional adversity does not define that activity (except for, perhaps, my golf game). Mistakes, gaffes, and setbacks are all part and parcel of any process requiring skill. Job hunting is no exception. But obstacles and impediments can be minimized (and often completely avoided) by learning from the mistakes of those who have gone before you and from recognizing and correcting the mistakes you make on your own. It is for this reason that I have written this book for you.

Yes, job hunting can suck. But it doesn't have to. By taking the time and energy to dissect and understand the process, learn from the experiences of others, identify the skills you need, and have the guts to assess and learn from your own performance along the way, you can go from being a good job hunter to a great job hunter.

Yes, you will encounter obstacles on your path to a new job. If you use all that this book has to offer, I promise that your path will be smoother, shorter, and sometimes even a little fun. I wrote it so that you can read it in one weekend or a couple of nights. But reading it is not enough; you must put this stuff to work. You've got to try out some new behaviors. Today's competition for jobs is tougher than ever before, and what worked for you in the past may not work now, so you need to work both harder and smarter. But first you need to know what you are up against.

If I were writing this book for other psychologists, career coaches, or outplacement experts, I would have called this chapter "How to Identify and Resolve the Negative Psychosocial Consequences Experienced by Individuals in the Employment Transition Process." Not a bad title for a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. But I'm writing this book for you, the job hunter, who needs solid input that is market-proven, quickly usable, and with no punches pulled.

Though the job interview is the single most important element of the job-changing process, it is critical for you to remember that it is only one part — paramount though it may be — of that entire process. And for you to succeed — to win — in these critical interview situations, you must have a firm, realistic understanding of the entire job-hunting process. Armed with the knowledge in this book, you will be able to control the process, not be controlled by it; you will be able to drive the process rather than be driven crazy by it.

People who have recently completed the job-hunting process will tell you that it is one of the hardest things they ever had to do. Sure, there is the occasional lucky person who has a new job fall in his or her lap — sports stars, former politicians, media figures. Good for them; but it has never happened to me, and I bet it has never happened to you. For the rest of us ordinary schnooks, job hunting is hard work. But now, finally, for some good news: the hard work that you invest in your job hunt will pay off in positive ways like almost nothing else.

The rewards for fully engaging one's self in this demanding job-hunting process are many. You can find a team of people with whom you enjoy working, you can find a boss you respect, you can add to your social circle, you can find colleagues or mentors from whom you can learn, you may actually make more money and, best of all, you can discover work that has personal meaning for you beyond a mere paycheck. You will feel more professionally accomplished and more personally competent. You will have more energy and vitality that you can then share with those closest to you, and, thus, you will receive more from them in return. You will be building a continuously reinforcing cycle of achievement and success in multiple areas of your life.

This all sounds terrific, but if this process can bring such wonderful rewards, why do the vast majority of job hunters hate it so much? The answer is that there is a predictable series of psychological stumbling blocks that can trip up even the most determined job hunter.

The Top 10 Roadblocks to Successful Job Hunting

From more than 30 years of working in different aspects of the career field, I have identified 10 major psychological roadblocks that can sidetrack, confuse, and discourage even the most dedicated the job hunter. These roadblocks are both powerful and insidious; they are at work even when you're not aware of them. They are among the most compelling reasons that many people stay in a dead-end job or try to avoid the job- hunting process at all costs — to the detriment of both their career and overall quality of life.

If you are going to be a successful job hunter (and this, in no small part, means becoming a great job interviewer), you will need to recognize, face up to, and overcome each of these factors. By getting these roadblocks out in the open and learning how to get around them, you will automatically put yourself in the top tier of smart job hunters. With my help you can do it, so let's get started.

1. Starting Without a Crisp, Clear, Realistic Goal

Many job hunters/job interviewers start the process by making a few phone calls looking for leads or scanning online job banks/job listings. When this initial effort fails to turn up something wonderful in a relatively short period of time (as often it does), the typical job hunter starts to get discouraged. You hear them say, "We're in a bad job market these days," "There's nothing much available in my field right now," "This isn't a good time of the year to be looking," "I'll keep you mind," and so on.

He or she then begins to put in even less effort and, predictably, gets even fewer if any positive results. Soon this becomes a self-reinforcing cycle of defeat. It overwhelms the job hunter and convinces him that maybe it's best to just hang onto the mediocre job he has now or settle for something that's easy to find or that may be beneath what he is capable of. This is roadblock number one at its worst.

The first step in any successful job search is to develop a clear, crisp, realistic goal. If you can't describe what kind of job you are looking for in one or two sentences, you are not ready to be out there in the job market asking for interviews.

You must be ready to state clearly what type of position you are looking for, in what type of organization, and in what geographic area, and you must be able to make a persuasive case based upon your knowledge, your skills, your experience, and your personal characteristics as to why someone should hire you to do this job for a reasonable salary. If you are not armed with this information, you are going to waste a lot of time and energy spinning your wheels and pursuing targets that are inappropriate or not worth your effort.

You must overcome this roadblock before you attempt to move your job search into high gear. If you know exactly what you're looking for, where to look for it, and how best to find it — great! But if you are not sure you're fully ready to conduct a professional, fine-tuned, multi-front job campaign, turn to The Good to Great Interview Toolkit in Chapter 10 and get to work on Tool #1: Job Hunt Readiness Assessment.

Note that the job you ultimately land may not be the one you started out looking for. There are all sorts of reasons that this might be the case, such as technology changes, marketplace disruptions, and new positions being created from merging or eliminating old ones. The essential point here is not to embark on a rigorous process with a wishy- washy "I don't know what I want" or "I'm wondering what is out there" attitude. To attract the attention you want, you need to sound thoughtful, self-assured, and focused.

2. No Control Over the Timing of the Job Hunt

Very few folks take the effort to assess the job market when things are going great. You should do this, of course, but that is a discussion for another day. Job hunting requires such energy and focus that most folks wait until something beyond their control forces them to make a move. Maybe it's a reduction in force (RIF), a layoff, a plant closing, a merger, a product recall, a boss bringing in his own team, or jobs being sent overseas that provides the motivation. Maybe you saw the writing on the wall but didn't have time to jump before you were pushed. If this hasn't yet happened to you in your career, stay tuned, because one day it surely will. The reality is that very few of us take the bull by the horns and get an aggressive, professional job search underway before we are told that we have to.

Despite the initial discomfort that comes with any of these scenarios, it is actually one of those "good news/bad news" things. The bad news is obvious. The vast majority of job hunters are thrown into a process that makes great demands on them for energy, creativity, and productivity all while playing "beat the clock" with their incoming severance pay or unemployment compensation and (God willing) their savings on one hand, and their outgoing cash flow, rent/mortgage, and bills on the other. It's no small wonder that many job hunters get down in the dumps.

If you are resentful that you have to job hunt at a time not of your own choosing, you must address this issue and get it out of the way. Use your employee assistance program, outplacement consultant, and career or unemployment counselor to advise you. Locate and join a job search networking/support group. If you are finding it impossible to concentrate on your job hunt because you are constantly obsessing or worried about money, sharpen your pencil and work out a realistic budget for a job hunt with a realistic timeline.

Don't try to ignore this feeling, because it will surface when you want it least. Some anxiety is normal and predictable in any job search, but if it grows into panic, it can affect your behavior as well as your attitude. You may expect things to happen too quickly, and not reaching these unrealistic goals will create more anxiety. It will push you to look and sound desperate, and this is the demise of any job interview. It will impair your vision so that you may see the first job that pops up, perhaps one that's only so-so, as a good job that you should take. In Chapter 2, I'll show you how to control your anxiety at every phase of the interviewing and job-hunting process.

You're probably asking, "Okay, Paul, so what's the good news already?" Well, the good news is that you are completely free to actively and professionally pursue the job of your dreams on a full-time basis. You are not limited to job hunting on your lunch hour or when the boss isn't around. You no longer have to sneak off to interviews during phony dentist appointments. You don't have to worry about having someone overhearing you on the phone or looking over your shoulder while you're on your computer. You can freely ask your current colleagues for their input, advice, and networking contacts. You can ask your human resources person for referrals to employment agencies. All of these actions will help you succeed in your job hunt — and more quickly than if you had to do it on an on-the-sly, part-time basis.

This is in no way meant to suggest that you ignore the fact that your financial situation may be somewhat precarious, or that you shouldn't demand more thought, a tighter budget, or perhaps some alternative arrangements such as temping, part-time work, consulting, and so on. I merely want to reinforce for you that thousands and thousands of job hunters have somehow scraped by financially and found great jobs at a time not of their choosing. You can, too.

3. It's All About Rejection, Baby

There are very few people in life who thrive on rejection. Salespeople have learned how to do it and the most successful salespeople I've ever met seem to be built in a psychologically different way from the rest of us. Saying no to a good salesperson is not like saying no to the rest of us. To them, a no means "not yet" or "you haven't told me enough" or "maybe later" or "we need to negotiate" about price, timing, or something else. A successful salesperson doesn't take the first, second, or even third no as a bona fide rejection. (By the way, this is one of the reasons that salespeople make such effective job hunters.)

But how many of the rest of us really thrive on rejection? I don't; do you? The job-hunting process is essentially a series of rejections with an occasional piece of good news thrown in just to keep you from sticking your head in the oven. Right now, read the italicized part of the previous sentence out loud three times; it's really important that you absorb it. Your spouse, partner, roommate, cat, or dog might think you're a little crazy, but why not give 'em a taste now of what's to come?

Here's what the typical job hunt looks like. Time after time you go through the process of uncovering a job lead through whatever method you used that day. You chase down this lead with a resume, following up with a letter, e-mail, and/or a series of phone calls, working your way through a series of interviews, sending out the thank-you letters or e-mails, and getting your hopes up, all for the statistical likelihood of not getting the job. Sounds fun, eh? Sure — like banging your head against the wall; it only feels good when you stop!

Realistically, you will probably go through this process a number of times before the job you really want comes through. Another unfortunate reality — but a reality that must be faced nonetheless — is that the job-hunting process contains a whole lot more rejection than acceptance.

The biggest key to overcoming this roadblock is for you to understand that this is the essential nature of the process. Getting rejected doesn't mean that you're doing it wrong; it means that you're doing it right! In fact, I tell job hunters that if they aren't getting rejected a lot, either they aren't job hunting hard enough or they aren't searching for a job that represents a step forward for them.

Another way to overcome this sense of rejection is to realize that the employer didn't make a negative decision about hiring you. This is not just a case of semantics. What has happened is no longer about you. What has happened is that the employer made a positive decision to hire somebody else. Obviously, that person made a better case — looked like a better fit — than you did. Try to come up with some ideas as to how you could have presented yourself in a stronger light and try those techniques during your next interview. Put this hard-won information to work for you by including it in your post-interview notes. (Tool #14: Post-Interview Evaluation and Improvement in Chapter 10 will be a great help here.) Remember, this is a learning process. You can and will get better at it with time if you work at it.

There is another important point to remember that may surprise you, given my typically low assessment of the interviewing skills of those who will be evaluating you. (And this is constantly bolstered by reports to me from hundreds of job hunters just like you.) There are some interviewers (a minority, I admit) who are really good at matching job candidates to the right job. If you are fortunate enough to be interviewed by one of these rare experts but, unfortunately, are rejected for the position in question, maybe you should breathe a sigh of relief. There is something worse than not getting a job you hoped for — and that is getting a job you're unsuited for and in which you will ultimately fail.

Lastly, don't be paranoid. No one has so little to do or so much time on their hands that they are out there interviewing people just to sadistically reject them. I'm sorry to say it may feel that way sometimes, but it's just not so.

4. It's Unpredictable

By and large, human beings don't like surprises. I know that I don't. Okay, maybe I like that rare piece of unexpected good news or a real letter from a friend, or a thoughtful thank you. But I'm willing to bet that people in funny hats jumping out of dark closets yelling "SURPRISE!" are responsible for as many heart attacks as cheeseburgers. When the phone or doorbell rings late at night, I'm under no illusion that it's the Publisher's Clearing House prize patrol!

This, most likely, goes back to our caveman past when a big, exciting surprise was apt to be something such as an 800-pound, snarling saber-toothed tiger about to rip the head from your shoulders. Surprises were usually bad news. (Think about this the next time you're crouching in the dark in somebody's front hall closet with their raincoats and umbrellas.) To heck with surprises; give me predictability.

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Excerpted from Don't Wear Flip-Flops to Your Interview by Paul Powers, Roger Sheety. Copyright © 2015 Paul Powers. Excerpted by permission of The Career Press, Inc..
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