Update on William's 1,000 Job Applications

William was our job-seeker who made 1,000 applications in 13 weeks

This is a video update to William's story...

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William's 1,000 Job Applications

William made 1,000 job applications in 13 weeks

For all his effort he only got 1 reply and that was a 'No'.

Numbers like these are more than disappointing. What makes them even worse is that William achieved them on an 'intensive job-searching course', which means he was under someone else's care. A company or a group of professional people who were supposed to be helping him and his job search.

Despite the negligence and unprofessionalism of everyone involved with William's intensive course, these numbers hide something positive and encouraging that now belongs to William - and can belong to anyone else who has experienced something similar on a job search.

By any measure, 1,000 applications in 13 weeks is an impressive workload. It shows real effort and determination on William's part. He could have given up after 500 applications. Many people on the same course did nothing like his total, let alone half of it. If there was any failure it wasn't in William's effort and persistence.

Here's another failure William can't take the blame for. He was encouraged to send out as many applications as he could. 'It's a numbers game' he was told. 'If you send enough emails and letters and make enough calls, something will come back'. Empty statements like this are hard to argue with, especially when they're coming from an 'expert' or a 'professional'.

William was encouraged to make as many applications as he could instead of trying to make every application count. At the end of his 13 weeks there was no way for William to tell how many applications even reached a real person at the other end. There was no attempt to measure anything he could follow up on. There were no connections or interactions for William to learn from. There was nothing coming back the other way at all.

A job search is much more than racking up numbers and, as William's experience shows, it is much more than effort and persistence too. A job search is built around a combination of many things but somewhere close to the heart there has to be the knowledge, the feeling even, that we are making progress. We need something to measure and therefore prove that the applications we make add up to more than just a number.

William will never repeat this experience on his job search again (maybe this was one more valuable thing he learnt on this course?). From now on he isn't measuring his effort or his job search by the numbers. William no longer thinks will have to make another 1,000 applications and I agree with him. That's because instead of vast numbers of job applications, William is now focused on the people he is able to meet and talk to one at a time. He's also much more focused on the work he is able to do. The skills, experiences and qualifications he has earned over the years, the skills and experiences that will help him get back to work.

William's job search is now focused on much smaller numbers. He talks to people about the company they work for, the job they might be offering, the qualities in the person they are looking for, the skills and experience they need. William's job search might only be moving forward in single figures but they are now based on real conversations, genuine connections and personal interactions. His job search will still take time but he now has proof of his progress. Maybe a statistic on a spreadsheet somewhere won't show a big enough number but in William's opinion that's just something else he doesn't have to take the blame for.

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This post has also been published on

www.exploreyourcareer.com

Interview with Lamar Smith

There aren't many people with a career that includes Air Force Special Forces attack pilot (decorated), successful CEO and published Author. Lamar Smith can claim all three!

Lamar has very kindly answered a few questions for us here on work/life fusion about his newly published book, There's More to Life than the Corner Office. So without any further delay, it's over to Lamar himself...

1. What was your intention behind writing this book?

Motives in approximate order of priority:

✪ I want to leave a legacy that I was here and may have paid attention to life and the dynamics that drive us all.

✪ I want to offer “service” to others. We need to learn from each other. If I can shorten my learning curve by paying attention to the offerings of others, I want to “pay back” by offering some things I have learned in return.

✪ I love people, God’s highest creation. He constructed each uniquely and for greatness. I wish to encourage others to claim as much of each as possible.

✪ I love America, the land of the people. The power of America is the collective power of the residents and citizens. I want to have positive effect on individual power and see America benefit.

✪ I have written much, but not fiction and not commercially. I wanted to see if I could meet the challenge.

2. What kind of people do you expect to read it?

Any one who wants to engage in personal development. “Fellow travelers” in life who want more…more hope, joy, significance, purpose, connection, clarity and effectiveness. Additionally, those who have much to offer others can benefit from reading the book and seeing how the mentoring process can be used to pass on benefit to others. The skillful mentor mostly asks questions.

3. What would you like your readers to say about this book?

For a tiny investment of dollars and time, the “pay off” in life change was HUGE. And I want readers to tell others about it IF they find it beneficial.

4. Was there an Al Crafton figure in your early career? (Al Crafton has a coaching/mentoring role in the book)

Not one in a ‘bright and shining’ category by himself. David Swartz, PhD, author of The Magic of Thinking Big and a college professor of mine was first, then George Talley CEO of First Command 7 years while I served him as President came along. There were others on the list for sure in early career as was the audio programs of Zig Ziglar. Later, a friend named Bill K came along and really added great mentoring value, which continues to this day.

5. To what do you attribute your own success?

All involved in an enterprise, effort and/or transaction must win. Attention must be paid to that basic fact. I spent much time analyzing each party’s likely perspective and I asked many questions to try to understand. I was slow to move until I had a pretty clear path/picture to follow that I had confidence would deliver success to all. Hard work is key too. Successful people show up, apply themselves, and take responsibility. Success is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration.

6. Do you expect the book to have a lasting effect on people and their careers?

The lessons and principals presented in the little story will have a transforming effect on the people who apply them consistently and use the book as a starting point (or booster) to a personal development commitment.

7. Patrick's journey in the book relies heavily on regular meetings with Al Crafton to keep him moving forward. What support are you offering to readers once the book has got them asking fundamental work/life questions?

Some supporting material is available on my website and I expect to add to it as this experience continues to unfold. Keep in mind that major themes of the book are the uniqueness of each of us and the joy of taking personal responsibility. “Empower yourself” is the message. Those who really engage this message will not want a confining, step-by-step formula, but will enjoy the self-discovery of defining their own specific path.

Lamar Smith, on behalf of the work/life fusion and our readers, Thank You for answering these questions and good luck with the new book!

For more information about Lamar and his new book visit: http://www.improvingyourbalance.com/

Best Regards for now,

Paul

What would you like to be doing 5 years from now? - Revisited again!

Having a standard answer to this question - especially for interviews - can be successful but it misses a fantastic career opportunity.

If you genuinely explore this question and try to find out what you would like to be doing in 5 years time, you can increase your chances of making it happen.

[In 5 years time, Moon Bear just wanted his psychedelic phase to be over]

Rather than an unfair trick played on us by interviewers - as it has been called by some in the past (myself probably included) - this question can become something that we can't wait to be asked. It could even become a question we feel privileged to be asked and have someone listen intently to our answer.

It is in our own hands to create a response to this question that is not only clear and incisive but also compelling to our audience whoever they may be.

When we can answer this question for ourselves, it proves that we not only know where we are heading but what we are depending on to get us there - and from a career management perspective - that is a pretty good place to be!

Best Regards

Paul

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Learn how your answer to this question can evolve over time at exploreyourcareer.com

Where do you want to be in 5 years time?

Prepare for the worst (Question that is..)

I've spent most of today preparing for an upcoming meeting. Making sure I have done my homework. Trying to anticipate the kind of questions I am likely to be asked. Looking for the unexpected holes that the other person always seems so skilled at finding.

The whole process has reminded me of preparing for an interview. So it seemed appropriate to post a few thoughts on preparation or readiness. As always, these thoughts aren't so much my own as they are a collection of the best advice and best practice I am lucky enough to have encountered over my career in live interview and assessment.

The best advice I have encountered on the subject of preparing for a big interview is knowing the outcome you are working towards and why you want to achieve it. There are snappier lines but for one reason or another, this is the one that has stayed with me.

When everything else is removed, the components that remain are you, the person(s) you are meeting and what each of you would like the encounter to achieve. Yes, it is important to know what the other side wants but turning up to an interview just to please the interviewer is rarely a winning strategy on its own. At some point, your interests have to be aired and justified too.

If you are asked, 'Why are you here today?' or 'What would you like this meeting to achieve?' or an old interview favourite like 'What would you like to be doing 5 years from now? ...', if your preparation on the above is clear, your answer will be clear too.

Good luck to anyone preparing their answer at this moment in time!

What would you like to be doing 5 years from now? - Revisited

A previous post on this blog (What would you like to be doing 5 years from now?) suggested that the most successful answers to this question place genuine career knowledge ahead of what might get you through an interview. For that reason, it is probably worth considering that the most successful answers have two main components:

1) Relevance to their audience (company, job, interviewer, etc.)

2) Relevance to the future of the individual's career

A great deal of effort is expended to ensure that our answers are relevant to their audience, particularly the interviewer. Of course the most successful answers do not forget this but they also do not forget the importance of the individual's career.

Understanding a preferred direction for the future of your career offers insight into both areas. With greater insight into what is important to you, what you are good at and what keeps you going, your answer begins to resonate with interviewers for its clarity and depth.

Whether you are interviewing for the role of a chief executive or an administrative assistant, an answer based on your values, talents and goals is arguably the best method of creating a link between this question and your personal success.

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Learn how your answer to this question can evolve over time at exploreyourcareer.com

Where do you want to be in 5 years time?

Interviewing is easy

Anyone telling you that interviewing is easy is probably not being entirely truthful about their experiences. But what makes interviewing difficult?

The interviewer holds all the aces for a start. He or she can ask almost anything they like and the burden of proof is on the interviewee to answer convincingly. I always seemed to be asked at least one question per interview that I wasn't expecting. A friend of mine was asked recently, "Why have you spent 8 years with your current company?". I am still trying to understand the logic behind that question as I write so would hate to think of my response during interview!

So how can interviewing be made easier? In my view, interviewing gets a lot easier when you know why you want to be there and how you are qualified for the job. When this is true, your answers no longer need to be precisely prepared because the subject matter is distinctly home turf. Answering questions that you have already given a great deal of thought to no longer feels awkward and the way you respond to the interviewer benefits as a result.

Successful interviewees are very comfortable being questioned. They have taken the time to understand what is important to them, what they are good at and what they would like to have more of in their careers. The foundations for interview success can sound simple but as interviewing proves to us time and again, simple questions don't always have easy answers.