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3 Things You Must Do to Find a Job Faster, with Jim Stroud

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Nobody enjoys a long job search. To speed things up, many candidates put more and more time and effort into the job hunt. Our guest expert this week is recruiter Jim Stroud. He says if you want to find your next job faster, you need to work smart. Jim says there are three steps you can take now to find your next job.

About Our Guest: Jim Stroud

Jim Stroud is the global head of sourcing and recruiting strategy for Randstad Sourceright. He has consulted on recruiting for such companies as Microsoft, Google, MCI, Siemens, Bernard Hodes Group and a host of startups. He’s also the host of the It’s All Recruiting podcast and the author of “The Number One Job Hunting Book in The World: Job Search Strategies for Unemployed, Underemployed and Unhappily Employed People.”

Resources in this Episode:

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 138:

3 Things You Must Do to Find a Job Faster, with Jim Stroud

Airdate: May 9, 2018

Mac Prichard:

Hi, this is Mac of Mac’s List. Find Your Dream Job is presented by Mac’s List, an online community where you can find free resources for your job search plus online courses and books that help you advance your career. My latest book is called Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. It’s a reference guide for your career that covers all aspects of the job search, including expert advice in every chapter. You can get the first chapter for free by visiting macslist.org/anywhere.

This is Find Your Dream Job; the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life. I’m Mac Prichard, your host and publisher of Mac’s List.

I’m joined by my co-hosts, Becky Thomas and Jessica Black, from the Mac’s List team.

This week, we’re talking about three things you must do if you want to find a job faster.

Nobody enjoys a long job search. To speed things up, many candidates put more and more time and effort into a job hunt. Our guest expert this week is recruiter Jim Stroud. He says if you want to find your next job faster, you need to work smarter.

Jim says there are three steps you can take now to find your next job. He and I talk later in the show.

Many companies today offer jobs that allow you to work from your home or other locations. If you’d like to find one of these remote work jobs, Becky has a list for you. It’s a new report, and it lists the employers that posted the largest number of remote work jobs in the last year. She’ll tell us more in a moment.

You see a job online that you want. That’s the good news. The bad news? The employer posted the position three weeks ago. Should you still apply? When do managers actually start interviewing candidates? Those are our questions of the week. They come from listener Candace Thomas of Portland, Oregon. Jessica shares her advice shortly.

As always, let’s start the show by checking in with the Mac’s List team.

Becky is here after having spent the previous week poking around the Internet. She does more than that.

Becky Thomas:

Nope, that’s what I do all week long. Looking for resources.

Mac Prichard:

Nine-to-five, Monday through Friday.

Becky Thomas:

I only find one though. Just one a week.

Mac Prichard:

Yeah, just one.

Jessica Black:

The internet is a big, big place.

Becky Thomas:

It is a big place.

Jessica Black:

It takes a while to sift through it all.

Becky Thomas:

I’m exhausted.

Mac Prichard:

She’s got a helmet, lights, and a pickaxe.

Becky Thomas:

Nooks and crannies.

Jessica Black:

That’s right. Those gold sifters.

Becky Thomas:

Yeah, wow. I’ve got this really good mining imagery going on now.

Mac Prichard:

Panning for gold, poking around caves, spelunking. What have all that time and effort yielded for us this week, Becky?

Becky Thomas:

Now you’ve really set me up for something grand.

Mac Prichard:

It is a good one. I like this resource.

Becky Thomas:

I like it too.  I do too.

This week I have a resource from FlexJobs which is a job board that offers remote, or telecommuting, or flexible work options. They created this list, they create this list every year, it’s great. It’s called 100 Top Companies With Remote Jobs in 2018. We’re into 2018, I know we’re well into it at this point, but this is still a really helpful resource for anybody who’s looking for remote work all over the world.

Basically, what FlexJobs does is, they analyze all the data from their job board each year to create a list of the top companies who are offering remote work.

This list came out in January but I really wanted to get it out there for anybody who’s looking for jobs that allow them to work from home. Companies that are on this list from last year are still offering lots of remote work options and these companies are probably on that cutting edge of understanding that workers want some flexibility, they want some ability to work from home. There is a broad variety of jobs. Some jobs are totally one hundred percent telecommuting, you’re working from home all the time, some are one day a week or you can set your own schedule. There’s a lot of different variety out there but this is a great starting point for people who are wanting to enter that remote work area but don’t know where to start.

These companies are all great places to check out when you’re looking to find more flexible work. The other thing that was interesting is they analyzed the data even further and cover the industries that are in the top as far as remote work jobs. Do you guys have any guesses of the industry that offers remote or flexible work jobs?

Jessica Black:

Tech.

Becky Thomas:

Technology. Mac, do you have any guesses?

Mac Prichard:

I guess call centers or customer service jobs?

Becky Thomas:

Number one was Medical and Health.

Jessica Black:

Oh, interesting.

Mac Prichard:

Oh, wow.

Becky Thomas:

Number two was Computer and IT, so you were close Jessica.

Mac Prichard:

Okay, alright. Was I even in the top ten?

Becky Thomas:

I think call center stuff is probably in all of these different industries.

Mac Prichard:

You’re throwing me a bone.

Becky Thomas:

I mean, no, you’re probably okay. I worked in a call center back in the day and there were a lot of remote workers.

Mac Prichard:

Okay.

Becky Thomas:

I think that’s very common.

Jessica Black:

There’s a lot of need for virtual assistants and things like that with entrepreneurs. Things like that that are often just part-time work so it’s often utilized by remote workers.

Becky Thomas:

Yeah, it’s so interesting to look at the jobs on FlexJobs and just see how many different types of roles, and industries, and specialities, and even the companies. The top companies on the list are big companies, like Amazon and things like that. But there’s also a lot of smaller companies as well, that I’ve never heard of that are on this list that are hiring tons of people for flexible jobs.

If you’re in that area of looking for something more specialized, then there’s a lot of options out there.

Jessica Black:

I think that it’s only going to get more robust…those types of opportunities are only going to get more and more visible, and plentiful, and all of those words. Because, now with things like the Cloud. It’s still wonderful to be in the same space as your co-workers because there is something to be said about the dynamics of the team relationships and things like that. But now you can kind of do work from wherever because technology is so great and there isn’t a need for a physical server in your office anymore to be able to utilize those files. That’s a good resource.

Becky Thomas:

Yeah.

Mac Prichard:

Yeah, I like this resource because even if you don’t see a company in your town that is on the list, that category of industries gives you clues about employers in your area that you might contact. In the long run, they don’t even have to be in your town if it’s remote work.

Becky Thomas:

If it’s a hundred percent, yeah.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific tip. Well thank you, Becky, and if you’ve got an idea for Becky, and you want to get her out of the internet search business, eight hours a day, five days a week…

Becky Thomas:

It’s a rough life.

Mac Prichard:

Let her surface and find her desk. Write her, because she’s waiting to hear from you, and she would love to share your idea on the show. Her address is info@macslist.org.

Now let’s turn to you, our listeners. Jessica, you’ve been dragging around that Mac’s List mailbag all week, it’s getting bigger and bigger.

Jessica Black:

That’s right. Becky’s is an online resource and mine is just a physical bag of physical letters that come in.

Mac Prichard:

Stamps from all over the world.

Becky Thomas:

I wish that were true.

Jessica Black:

I wish it was true, too.

Becky Thomas:

They’re all emails, let’s not lie to our listeners.

Mac Prichard:

You do get the occasional voicemail.

Jessica Black:

Yeah we haven’t ever gotten a physical piece of mail with a question so if anyone wants to do that, please let me know.

Becky Thomas:

We would celebrate it.

Mac Prichard:

Google us, our postal address is on the web.

Jessica Black:

It is. Downtown Portland.

This week we have a really interesting question from, well they’re all interesting every week, but this question comes from Candace Thomas, in Portland. She did email her question and she says: 

“Here’s the good news: I just found my dream job posted online. The bad news is the job was posted 3 weeks ago. Is it too late to apply? How quickly do employers start interviewing candidates after they post a job?”

First of all Candace, that’s so wonderful that you found a job that you identify as your dream job because I think that that’s the hardest part. We talk about that a lot, of just boiling down what is your dream job. That is often the hardest part, so once you’ve discovered that and you’ve found that posted and still active, those are all great things.

You’re right, three weeks ago is a little bit long ago, but it’s not too late at all. Employers usually start interviewing candidates right away but most processes are on a rolling basis. Most employers will give in the job description, a closing date of their application. You can budget about thirty days and maybe that is because we have a job board where the job openings are active for thirty days. Maybe I’m basing that on that, but I do think that about four weeks is when most employers want to close. You don’t want to have your job description open for too long.

I think you’re still in the right window, so apply as soon as possible. Really make sure that you explain, 1) why and how it’s your dream job. Make that case, that this is not just any job for you, this is what you’re, “meant to do”. Especially focus on why you’re a great fit for the organization and what you can do and will contribute to the organization. Making sure to focus on those things it’s not just that, “This is my passion and this job will fulfill me”, but focus on the employer’s needs as well. How you can be a great fit for them.

There is a chance, I just want to give you another side of this as well. I do think that if you get on this right away and send it in and make a great case for yourself, that you have a really good chance of landing this job. But there’s also a chance that you may not land this job. That’s okay, it’s not the end of the world. I also believe that there will be another job like this that will be a dream job for you as well. If this doesn’t work out the way that you hope for this particular job, don’t give up.

I also recommend in that process, start making connections. Send in your application, do all of that, but start making connections, both in that organization, if that organization as a whole is a place you’d like to work in, but also with other people doing the same type of work. You can identify specifically…This doesn’t mention what the job is, but reaching out to other people that are doing that same type of work, and making those connections so that when there is another job like this, that opens up, you’ll be much more well positioned to land that dream job.

Also, you can demonstrate yourself as someone who is walking the walk and talking the talk about how this is your passion and things like that. That this is something that you are doing, despite the fact that you are not able to land that dream job for pay. But you’re still going to contribute, whether that’s on the side, or volunteering, or things like that to make sure you are still working towards that goal.

Do either of you guys have any feedback for Candace about how to ensure that she can get her foot in the door, even after three weeks of the job being open?

Becky Thomas:

Yeah, I mean, three weeks is, like you said, it’s not no time, it is probably a little bit later than I would recommend getting into the process. But yeah, it’s still not too late. It’s possible that the employer hasn’t found anyone that they really like yet.

Jessica Black:

Absolutely, that’s what I was going to say. We hear from employers, not all the time, but we hear from employers that want to extend their job posting because they’ve gotten applicants but they haven’t found the right person. It’s definitely not too late until you get that word back that says it’s too late and you’re not the right person.

I didn’t mean to cut you off. I’m sorry.

Becky Thomas:

Oh no, that was my point, really. That you don’t know what’s going on from the employer’s perspective so all you can do is do your best in your application and sell yourself to the employer. Show them why you’re the perfect person for this job and share your excitement but also talk about how you’re going to solve their problems and how you’re ready to go right away and all that good stuff. But yeah, I think she should definitely go for it.

Jessica Black:

Yeah.

Mac Prichard:

Yeah, I agree and if you’re anxious about it, one thing you can try is to call the employer. Say, “Hey, I see you posted this position three weeks ago. Are you still accepting applications?” They may tell you, “We are, but interviews have begun.” But then you know the odds that you’re facing.

I think your advice, Jessica, about focusing on… Your challenge then is, “How do I stand out?’ What you’re encouraging her to do, which is to position herself as a problem solver which is something so few candidates do, and hat will make her stand out. That’s really good advice because if she does that and the process is still open, it increases the likelihood that she will get a call.

Jessica Black:

That’s right, and I just want to reiterate, because I’ve been in this situation before where I found a job posted online, and I’m like, “This is my dream job. This is exactly what I want to do.” Then it doesn’t pan out to land that job, but then sometime soon, I find another job that is just as exciting to me and just as relevant to my skills and interests. It is just as fulfilling. I just want to reiterate, don’t focus too much on this one particular job being the end-all be-all because you can still find another job that makes you just as happy.

Just in case. I wish you all the best. I hope it works out but just in case. You never know.

Mac Prichard:

Yeah, sometimes a job slips away but that doesn’t mean there won’t be others, sometimes several dozen other, great opportunities.

Jessica Black:

Yes, hopefully. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you or anything like that. It just may not be the right one. Keep it up.

Mac Prichard:

Excellent advice. Well thank you, Candace for that question and thank you, Jessica, for that great counsel. If you’ve got a question for Jessica, please add to her physical mailbag that she drags down the hall every week.

Jessica Black:

Yes, it’s like a Santa Claus bag.

Mac Prichard:

It’s blue, it’s on brand. But send her an email. Her email address is info@macslist.org. We would love to get a voicemail from you, too. You can call the job talk hotline. That is area-code 716-JOB-TALK , or post your question on the Mac’s List Facebook group.

However you do it, if we do use your question on the show, we’ll send you a copy of our book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere.

We’ll be back in a moment. When we return, I’ll talk with this week’s guest expert, Jim Stroud, about the three things you must do now to find a job faster.

I meet thousands of job seekers every year. People who struggle to find meaningful, rewarding work that matters. I find that many of these people make the same mistake in their job search. It’s a fatal error the makes the hunt for work longer and harder than it needs to be.

What’s this critical mistake? People don’t have a clear job search goal.

You might think it’s wise to apply everywhere. But the more you narrow down your job search, the easier everything gets and the happier you will be in your next gig. Stop chasing every lead. Instead, put all your energy into the opportunities that you really want.

Of course, setting your goals is easier said than done. Especially when all you know is what you don’t want to do! That’s why I created a new resource that can help. It’s called Finding Focus in Your Job Search. This free step-by-step guide will help you figure out what you want in your career and in your next job.

To get Finding Focus in Your Job Search, visit macslist.org/focus.

Now, let’s get back to the show!

Now let’s turn to this week’s guest expert, Jim Stroud.

Jim Stroud serves as the global head of sourcing and recruiting strategy for Randstad Sourceright. He has also consulted on recruiting for such companies as Microsoft, Google, MCI, Siemens, Bernard Hodes Group, and a host of startups.

Jim is also the host of the “It’s All Recruiting” podcast and the author of book, The Number One Job Hunting Book in The World: Job Search Strategies for Unemployed, Underemployed and Unhappily Employed People. 

He joins us today from Atlanta,  Georgia.

Jim, thanks for coming on the show.

Jim Stroud:

My pleasure, thanks for having me, Mac.

Mac Prichard:

Well, our topic this week is something I know all job seekers care about. Nobody wants a job search to go on forever, and we all want to find our next job faster. Before we dig into that, Jim, let’s set some context here. How long can people typically expect to spend on a job hunt?

Jim Stroud:

That’s a tricky question, which I can answer by saying “It depends”. The market fluctuates; some jobs are always in demand, some jobs may be going the way of the Dodo bird because of automation. Then there are some jobs that are constantly evolving because of technology. It all depends on what you do and where you do it.

Where you do it, meaning that in some locations, for example, let’s say you’re looking for software developers in California, a highly competitive market. You’re going to have a higher salary and more offers but if you are in Florida, for example, and you’re trying to find the same type of job, there aren’t as many companies vying for that particular skill so it’s going to take longer.

Mac Prichard:

Where we are in our careers matters, too. Sometimes if we have more experience, can that mean that we’re going to face a longer job search?

Jim Stroud:

Again, it goes back to, “It depends”. I think that the more skilled you are, it certainly works in your favor, but a lot of times some companies need a lot of soldiers as opposed to generals. They say, “I might get over better with a few more soldiers than I would with a few more generals. They’ll be easier on my budget and I’ll be able to go a little bit further that way.” But again, that’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of answer. It all goes back to, “It just depends”.

Mac Prichard:

Okay. Well let’s talk about job searches and I know you’ve got many tips and ideas that people can use to speed up a job search. Let’s start with your top one.

What’s your number one suggestion for how people can find that next job faster?

Jim Stroud:

Sure, and I can preface that with… I’m going to step back a little bit to the first question. I have been laid off twice since I started my “real job”, not counting Burger King and a few other jobs through college and so forth. Both of those times were during a recession.

The first recession, I was out of work for maybe a month. Then the second recession I experience, I was out of work for two months. Those were during times when the economy was really rough and where a lot of my peers had been out of a job for eight months or maybe even longer. I did a series of things, which I put in my book, but one of the number one things that I did was that I positioned myself to be found.

As a recruiter, I know how recruiters think and where they go to look for people for different opportunities. I just put myself in a mindset of positioning myself to be found by recruiters, and this is what I mean. As a job seeker, your first thought may be, “Oh well let me post my resume on Monster, or on Dice, or some other job board then just wait for the calls to come in.” That is something that a job seeker must do. It’s a necessary evil…if that’s even the right word to use. It’s something that you must do, but it is not the last thing you should do by any means.

As a job seeker, you post your resumes out there on those job boards and you figure recruiters will see it eventually and they’ll call you. That’s not the case. Only those recruiters who pay for those services will see those resumes. As a job seeker you don’t think about that, but as a recruiter we certainly do.

Let’s say I work for company X, and because of our budget I have access to, let’s say, Monster and maybe Dice, but I don’t have access to Career Builder because it’s not in our budget. If you have your resume only on Career Builder, then I’m not going to see your resume and not only me, but also other recruiters who might have not that particular job board that you post your resume to.

The first lesson is to post your resume to several different job boards. Secondly, when you post your resume exclusively to job boards, it’s a disservice to you from the standpoint that only those recruiters who are paying for those services will see your resume. It works to your advantage to put your resume out on the web so that all recruiters, no matter who they are, can see it for free. Now the question may be, “How do you do that?” Several ways.

One way is to create a blog which you certainly can do for free. There are lots of services out there that let you blog for free. One of them is WordPress.com. What a blog is, I’m sure people who are listening may know, it’s like a website where you update information on a periodic basis with the most recent stuff on top. You may be thinking, “Okay, I don’t really have time to blog. I’m not really a writer.” It doesn’t matter. All you have to do is start up a free blog with a service like WordPress, post your resume there and boom. When a recruiter does a search on Google or some other search engine to find free resumes, which recruiters do…I know that recruiters do that because I train them to do that, and I teach them do this all over the world, how to find free resumes online.

If you post your information on the blog, recruiters that are looking for free resumes can see that information. Now recruiters that will see that will be all recruiters. Those recruiters that work for large companies, those recruiters who have their own business, those that own a mom-and-pop shop. From the standpoint of a job seeker, you don’t care who’s looking at it, as long as it’s a recruiter who has an opportunity for you.

I would strongly suggest putting your resume out there on a blog.

Secondarily, you can also use a site like About.me. About.me is a personal branding site. Not really a fully fledged website; think of it as a business card on the web. If you want an example of what one looks like, you can go to about.me/jimstroud. What you’ll see is a picture of me, so apologies for that.

Mac Prichard:

I saw it, it’s a great picture. I think people will enjoy the sight.

Jim Stroud:

Yeah, and then on the right side is where it’ll say, “Hi, I’m Jim, this is who I am, this is what I do. Here are the links to my blog, here are the links to my YouTube channel, here are links to other stuff about me.” So what that does is it gives Google something to work with. If I’m a recruiter looking for a resume of people with your particular skills, I can search Google a certain way and your information will pop up.

Mac Prichard:

You mentioned job boards and the value of posting resumes on a personal blog as well as sites like About.me which are basically online business cards.

What about LinkedIn, Jim? Tell us about how important LinkedIn is in this process and how recruiters use it when they’re doing these kinds of searches.

Jim Stroud:

Sure, I have been fortunate to train recruiters all over the world. I’ve been fortunate to attend conferences all over the world. One of the common denominators, whether I’m in the United States or if I’m in Amsterdam, or if I’m in Singapore, all recruiters tend to use LinkedIn. There is a site called Jobvite,it does something called a social recruiting survey, where they interview recruiters in a survey all over the world and asked them what the top sites were that they used to find talent. Invariably, since they’ve been doing this survey for four years, LinkedIn is always number one.

You have to have your profile on LinkedIn. I would say that a profile on LinkedIn is more important than having a polished resume. I think that if someone finds you on LinkedIn, contacts you, and you don’t have a resume, that’s a pleasant problem to have. You have to get their attention. I would do a number of things of things to make sure that I stood out on LinkedIn.

Among those is one, I would have a nice professional photo of myself. I wouldn’t have a photo where I’ve cropped out my girlfriend or my dog or kids or something. I want to exude professionalism so I want a nice neutral background in my photo.

I’m going to have a compelling headline. Eight times out of ten, when you go on LinkedIn and you look at a profile, they have their job title and the company they work for. That is okay, but it’s not the best. What you want to have is a compelling headline, for example, I’m thinking of a recruiting profile that I saw recently; the headline for that recruiter was, “I recruit Java developers for startups in Silicon Valley.” That was his title. Now if I was a software guy who wanted to work in Silicon Valley, if I saw that person’s headline, that is the first person I want to talk to. The headline is speaking to me as a software developer from that person. If you are a super sales guy or something, your headline might be, “The ultimate salesman wants to connect with you.” Something like that, something different.

How it works is that it helps you in the LinkedIn ranking. For example, when you’re doing a search, when anyone does a search on LinkedIn, LinkedIn is going to show you the results based on a number of factors. It’s going to base it on the keywords that are in your LinkedIn profile; it’s going to base it on how complete your profile is, so it’s important to have a very full profile with at least three jobs on it; your education; and at least three connections to rank high on the front page. As you come up in the search results, if every other search result is a job title at a certain company, then boom, there’s your compelling headline, you’re going to stand out. People are going to click on it and the more people who click on it, LinkedIn  will think, “Well because people are clicking on your LinkedIn profile more than the others, your profile must be special. Here, let me boost you up higher in the search results.”

That’s good for a couple reasons, then I’ll move to my next point. It’s good for a couple reasons because LinkedIn is starting to change their services from the standpoint of recruiters. They’re charging more for their services so the free stuff will always attract people to it. You want to make sure that your profile is at the top so that recruiters look for free stuff will see it.

Mac Prichard:

Okay, so you want to stand out and you want to get attention. Your second point, that we talked about before the show, was not only do you have to be found online, what you say about yourself matters a lot, doesn’t it, Jim?

Jim Stroud:

Oh, yeah.

Mac Prichard:

Let’s talk about that. Once people have established that online presence, what do they have to say about themselves to speed up their job search and get that next gig faster?

Jim Stroud:

Sure, you want to get some good references and people to give you good recommendations on LinkedIn. That certainly works in your favor. You want to make sure that you brand yourself a certain way. For example, if I say Colonel Sanders, you’re probably going to think chicken. If I say Bill Gates, you’re going to think Microsoft or computers. If I say Steve Jobs you’re going to think iPhone. There’s more to these people than chicken, computers, and iPhones, but they branded themselves so well that that’s the first thing you think about. One thing you should ask yourself is, how do people know me?

If someone was looking for a skilled salesman in Houston and you sit next to them in church every week and they had a job and they filled it with somebody else and you found out. You would say, “How come you didn’t think about me?” They say, “Oh I didn’t realize you were a salesperson.” You want to make sure that people understand who you are and what you do. You definitely want to do that on LinkedIn but then you want to do other things to stand out.

Here are a few ways you can do that rather easily.

There is a site called Help A Reporter Out. You can find that at helpareporter.com. What Help A Reporter Out is, it’s a website that reporters use to find people to interview for their articles. I’ve been featured in a lot of articles over the years because of that site. This is how it works; someone says, “I want to write an article about the latest HR technology in the country. How it’s being leveraged to find job seekers.” They’ll send out in the Help A Reporter Out Newsletter, “I’m writing this story about HR technology.” I’ll get that in an email and see that this reporter is curious about this. I’ll reply back to that reporter, because I got their information in the newsletter and I’ll say, “Hey, I’m JIm Stroud. I’ve been in HR for so long I can probably answer your question for you.” The reporter says, “Great. Let’s set up a time to talk.” We talk. Hopefully I’ll say something smart that will impress them and then get into the article. Then when they write the article, they’ll say “According to Jim Stroud, who works at this company, blah blah blah.” Then I’m in the Wall Street Journal or the Daily Global Mail, or I’m in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, or any other number of magazines and newspapers that I have been featured in.

Mac Prichard:

Yeah, so all publications that are good for your brand.

Jim Stroud:

Most definitely.

Mac Prichard:

Yeah, make yourself discoverable online, have a strong brand. I know your third tip, Jim, about how to find a job faster was not to think that you have to do it alone, but to work with a team. Tell us more about that, Jim.

Jim Stroud:

Yes, the hardest part about a job search is feeling like you’re all alone and suffering that way. What I always suggest, and something that’s certainly worked for me, is that you create a job hunting team. What does that mean? Think about this, let’s say you are a cashier at a Krogers and you’re looking for a job. You think about all of the people that work alongside of you. There’s the guy that bags, there’s the assistant manager, there’s the clerk, maybe there’s the janitor cleaning the floors. These are all people that work alongside you but don’t compete for the same job as you do. You reach out at work and you find people that fit those different slots and you say, “Hey guys, let’s all work together. I’m going to build a list of things I want to do and I am going to ask you to do likewise.” On this list would be search jobs on job boards, another item might be to go to a career fair, another item might be co-calling companies and asking about opportunities. Different things like that. You build up a list, then you go to your team members and you say, “Team member one, you go to this career fair. Team member two, you go to that career fair. Team member three, you search those job boards and I’ll search these job boards.” Then everybody goes out, handles their assignments, come back together and share intelligence.

When someone on your team gets an interview, after they’ve been interviewed, you have them ask the the recruiter, “Hey recruiter, thank you for your time. May I have just two more minutes of your time? You’re looking for me obviously because you’re interviewing me for this job, but do you mind if I recommend to you three or four other people that you may have an interest in?” The recruiter says, “Yeah sure, why not?” Then you send a follow up email to that recruiter, copying the members of your team saying, “Thank you recruiter for your time, here are the email addresses of the people I mentioned to you. John Doe, Sally Smith, whatever.” What that does is, it tells your teammate that you’re working for them by giving them referrals to a recruiter that’s actively recruiting. Likewise they’re doing it for you.

Now you are expanding your job search, getting out in front of a lot of other people doing a lot of other stuff without spending gas, without spending a lot more time. You guys are working together, so you get a job faster that way.

Mac Prichard:

I love that example and I know in many public employment offices, or churches and other faith communities, or professional groups, there are often job support teams or organizations. If you don’t feel like you can start a team on your own, there are opportunities out there to join teams that may have already been organized.

Jim Stroud:

Definitely.

Mac Prichard:

Yeah, well Jim, it’s been a great conversation. Now tell us what’s coming up next for you.

Jim Stroud:

Well next for me, I guess, my book comes to mind because I’ll be promoting that pretty soon. It’s the Number One Job Hunting Book In the World, available on Amazon. Please get your copy today.

Mac Prichard:

Okay, I know we mentioned the title earlier, but again it is The Number One Job Hunting Book In the World; Job Search Strategies for Unemployed, Underemployed, and Unhappily Employed People. People can learn more about you, Jim, by visiting jimstroud.com. I know you’ve got a blog where you write about HR, job search, and technology topics. I know you also encourage people to connect with you on LinkedIn, don’t you?

Jim Stroud:

I sure do. Come one, come all, all are welcome. Operator standing by, send me a LinkedIn invitation, let’s connect.

Mac Prichard:

Okay, well if you do connect with Jim after hearing this podcast, be sure to tell  him that you heard him on Find Your Dream Job.

Jim, thanks for being on the show.

Jim Stroud:

My pleasure, thanks for having me.

Mac Prichard:

Take care.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio with Becky and Jessica. What were some of your key takeaways from my conversation with Jim?

Becky Thomas:

I thought he had a lot of good actionable tips. I think that people who are looking for a job and are like, “I want to find a job fast, but I’m not sure how to get started.” They know that they need to become known and get in front of recruiters and employers and all that stuff but they don’t really know where to start. I think that he gave some really actionable tips like, “Here’s how you can set up an about.me webpage and get seen in search results more easily.” How to use LinkedIn. A lot of that really actionable stuff I really appreciate because I think that a lot of times job seekers are paralyzed because they’re like, “I don’t know what to do, there’s so many things to do.” Just pick one of those things that Jim mentioned and do it. It’ll give you a headstart on your job search.

Jessica Black:

Yeah, I agree. It was a lot of good tips about how to get started. I liked that he focused a little bit on the personal branding side of things. This wasn’t his main focus but, of being found a certain way, so that you’re not just putting things out and hoping for the best, but you’re being strategic and intentional about it. Making connections and those types of things but having goals in mind and setting out to make them happen in a really key way.

I thought it was really good and he just had so much good information.

Mac Prichard:

Yeah, there were a lot of pearls there. One thing that stood out for me was his point about job boards and resumes. Why should you go beyond Indeed or Monster, and it had never occured to me that recruiters are like everybody else. They have to work within budgets and it’s possible that their company, or if they’re self employed themselves, only have access to one or two job boards.

Jessica Black:

There’s only so many hours in the day, too.

Mac Prichard:

Right, so it might be a good use of your time to get on the top four or five boards. You want to be visible to all recruiters, not just those who have budgets for one or two sites.

Jessica Black:

That’s great. Increase your odds, that’s always good.

Mac Prichard:

Exactly. It’s all about managing the odds in the end, isn’t it?

Jessica Black:

That’s right.

Mac Prichard:

Alright, well thank you both, and thank you, Jim, for joining us this week, and you, our listeners, for downloading today’s episode of Find Your Dream Job.

Here’s another way to make your next job search go faster:  Know your goals and your strengths. You need to know want you want in your next job and you have to be clear about what you offer.

Now if you’re struggling with what you want, or you don’t know how best to describe your strengths, I have a new resource that can help.

It’s called Finding Focus in Your Job Search. It’s a free, step-by-step guide to setting your job search goals and getting clear about your strengths.

Download this new guide today. Go to macslist.org/focus.

Join us next Wednesday when our special guest will be Kate White. She’ll explain how to ask for the money and opportunities you want in your career.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job!