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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Sharing Great News

I know I should do more of this, especially when there is great news to share…

A good friend to ExploreYourCareer.com (and work/life fusion) has just found and started a new job

Art was one of the first people to sit our Job-Seeker’s Interview last year (you might find it interesting to take a look at his answers, particularly now he has landed this new role)

In the end it all happened in a flash (there were less than 2-weeks between first-contact and his start-date) but a quick turn-around like this hides a great deal of hard work and effort

Today I wanted to celebrate Art’s great result (and rightly so!) but I also wanted to celebrate every single one of those hard-won yards that played a part in this well deserved outcome

If you’re looking for a job right now a story like Art’s might catch your eye

Sure it has the happy ending we might all like to hear (at least every now and then) but I reckon there’s even more to take away from a personal job search story like this...

Art might not have known how it would come (or even where it would come from) but something in his interview answers tells us he knew a result was getting closer

Even when the going got tough (and when is it anything but tough on a job search today?), Art stayed positive, stuck to his task, remembered his value to employers and shared experiences (back and forth) in a small group he trusted

Art’s too modest - unlike me, I'm a blogger ;) - but he might forgive me for saying this in public one more time…

Good on you Art, you’ve earned this. Congratulations once again!

And all the very best for the future in your new job.

Paul

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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

Proof that You're Making Progress

Everything we do on a job search counts towards the final goal

Every effort, every rejection, every unreturned email and phone call plays its own unique part in the end result.

It doesn't feel that way sometimes

But those feelings couldn't be further from the truth.

Infinity: The art of reflection [Image courtesy of Mrs Logic on Flickr]

Let me make a comparison,

In October 2008 I said the following on this blog...

When choice - even limited choice - is available,

knowledge and understanding are available too.

Reading it back today, what I really wanted to say was this...

Our choices always teach us something.

I'm still the same person but for some reason I'm now a bit clearer. A little bit sharper and more to the point.

[By the way, I could choose from a hundred other examples that show the same thing. How "No one is born with knowledge of work. Knowledge of work is something we have all acquired." now becomes "Anyone can learn anything about work." How "Personal success is a particular way of considering success. Not better or worse in comparison to anyone else, just appropriate to your unique perspective." can be simplified to "Measure success by the way it makes you feel."]

If I hadn't said or done any of the above, and then looked back to see how to improve it, I wouldn't be able to prove that you can make the same progress.

When it feels like the right time, take another look at your job search. Look at what have you said and what have you done. How could you do things differently now? In what ways are you clearer now or easier to understand?

A job search is just another way for us to learn about ourselves. To get closer to the facts, to keep the things that feel right, work hard on the things we want to change, speak as clearly as our voices will let us today and do our best to be even clearer tomorrow.

A job search can be proof that you're making progress.

All the best for now,

Paul

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Experienced Job-Seekers Wanted!

We all struggle with a job search at some point in our careers.

But not all of us struggle with the same thing.

Someone out there (looking for work right now) could use your experience.

Someone else has experience that can help you.

Some people call this the wisdom of crowds.

I prefer to see it as the best reason for job-seekers to start helping themselves.

Discovery begins with experimentation
[Visual experimentations shared by Sanchtv on Flickr.com]

What it does for job-seekers?

If you're a job-seeker and you want to get involved (in something with the potential to help you and people just like you) to get the ball rolling just answer this short list of questions I'm calling The Job-Seeker’s Interview.

You'll get immediate pay-back if you do because this interview helps you understand your job search experiences and learn more about the support that you need.

Your pay-back for taking part will also grow as more people like you take this interview, adding to the knowledge and experience within the group.

If enough job-seekers share their stories and talk about the things they are struggling with (and I'm making it my job to see that they do) a cross-over of experiences will start to take place. Job-seekers will start helping job-seekers. People will be helping themselves as they help others.

OK, I'll take the interview. What happens next?

When you have submitted your interview, I’ll get back to you with a unique reference number for your answers. Right now the counter stands at ‘00000’, which means the first set of answers I receive will be labelled ‘00001’ and we'll go upwards from there.

When you have your number, I’ll post your interview up on the Explore Your Career blog so that you and other job-seekers can read it and the exchange of experiences can begin. Only you will know what number you are, so the whole thing can be anonymous if you want it to be.

Each numbered interview will have its own permanent page and can be commented on and even linked to other job-seeker's interviews where cross-overs happen. You and anyone else can comment on any interview and talk/network as much as you want. When you comment, you can use your own name, a nickname or your unique interview number, it's your choice how you get involved from there.

Looking Further Ahead

I see a community of job-seekers helping themselves. Sharing their 'real-world' job search experience. Encouraging and supporting one another as they go. It will take time to arrive at a place like this but I believe it can be done and that there is genuine potential to move careers and job searches forward along the way and when we get there.

In the meantime, whether your number is ‘00001’ or ‘01001’, I know there is value in this interview (even if you do it alone) because it gets to grips with life as a job-seeker and aims to do something positive with the experience. Something positive that has the power to benefit you and other people just like you. Out there right now looking for work.

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Be one of the first to take The Job-Seeker's Interview
Do you have any questions or suggestions?
Send them in here or add a comment below!

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