“It’s better to be active today than radioactive tomorrow” Steve Martin

This quote by the actor and comedian Steve Martin was made during a time when the nuclear arms race was at an all time high and their were protests all over the world to stop the proliferation of nuclear bombs. The irony of this is that during that time, being proactive had a real chance of making a difference in the world. Now, as we face a new world challenge of a pandemic and all the uncertainties that come with it, being proactive today can help you succeed in landing your career more than at any other time. “It’s better to be proactive today, than inactive tomorrow!” Russell Garrett

So what does being proactive look like when it comes to job searching? Such a great question. I will answer it for you. But first, it is important to understand what is NOT being proactive.

Here are a 10 examples of how NOT to be proactive:

1. Wait for people to come to you to find out what your career plans are.
2. Convince yourself that social media does not have a place in your life or career success.
3. Only respond to job postings that pop up on COOL, company websites or other online job boards.
4. Register with recruiters and let them do all the work and hopefully match you up with their company clients.
5. Disregard the importance of company and labour market information research.
6. Produce a general cover letter you will use for every application.
7. Create a general resume.
8. Prepare memorized interview answers.
9. Guess at your salary expectations.
10. Conduct your job search without the support and direction of a career consultant.

Okay, you are probably starting to get a sense that you may have been doing some or all of the above. It seemed natural when you started and it may have been what you have done before. However, not only have these strategies been ‘the worst ways’ to land employment, they will especially leave you at a disadvantage if you use these poor strategies now. It is time to adjust to a new normal in job searching and be proactive and take control of your career. This is especially true in a challenging market when there are less positions available. The proactive people will be noticed, become known, be valued for their efforts, be the ones who are invited into interviews and be the ones offered employment.

Here are 10 examples how you CAN be proactive:

1. Reach out to people in the field you are targeting and connect.
   
   Be sure to include career conversations into all your social interactions. Prepare your approach by creating a few versions of a networking script to use for email, phone conversations, tweets, and Linked in ‘Personal Invites’ to begin connecting with people of interest in your targeted profession. Don’t simply target Human Resources staff but target a balance of, HR reps, team members, managers and even owners/partners. Ask to meet them online or in person (if appropriate) for 15-20 minutes to ask them questions about their industry, company and their personal career journey. Then meet with them and dazzle them with your well prepared approach and your timely follow up. You will learn so much, make connections, become known and prepare the way for future relationship building, interviews and eventual employment offers.
   
2. Effectively utilize social media in your job search.
   
   Just like technology and business merged together to become one some 20 years ago, social media is already intrinsically engrained in business culture, in community engagement and hiring practices. Search for the company profile using your search engine of choice and engage them on their preferred social media platforms. Then, get your own social media presence up to speed with your job search by completing your LinkedIn profile and other social media platforms that you can use to engage people and follow what companies are doing and what their thought leaders are saying.
   
3. Job postings.
   
   As much as they may represent only 20% of the hiring when other strategies are not used, applicants find themselves screened out because they are unknown and in a large group of applicants when competition is stiff. Do not spend all your time here, but rather connecting with people, learning about companies and sending specific applications by invitation or when postings drop after you are already a person of interest. Relying on advertised job postings alone will leave you discouraged and feeling like there is no employment out there, when the opposite is true. Do not allow the amount of job postings to convince you of the condition of the job market. 85% of all hiring is done through connections made when both individuals and company staff are being proactive on purpose.
   
4. Using Recruiters
   
   Recruiting companies represent approximately 5% of the hiring that takes place in the labour market and even less among accounting firms. Why would a company pay 10-30% of an annual salary as a fee for finding new hires when they can find them without help from a recruiter. As well, why would a company rely on a recruiter to locate someone to fit into their company and culture when company staff are the best at judging this because they live and work in that culture every day. If you choose to use a recruiter, then do so, understanding they do not work for you, nor do they try to find you employment. They work for their clients and try to find them staff. Get out there and do the work and make connections yourself. You will stand out and save your employer thousands of dollars in the process.
   
5. Research company and labour market information.
   
   There are few things more compelling from a company staff perspective than someone who is not just looking for a job, a paycheque or help to achieve a designation, but rather truly knows the company and wants to be part of it. This is why many companies asks the question during an interview, “Why do you want to be part of (X company)?” They are genuinely interested is you just want a job or if you truly want them. Company and labour market information from business media sources will give you fresh information and will help you know things about the company and their people far beyond the surface of their website home page. Effective conversations, information interview questions, cover letters, interview questions to employers and specific follow up all are born out of great research.
   
6. Create specific cover letters.
   
   General cover letters are easy to spot by employers and reveal a lack of knowledge, connections and interest. Specific cover letters are known for a much higher rate of return on interview invitations. There is no doubt that specific letters take more time, but they actually save time by leading to more meaningful employment sooner. When specific company terminology, program, marketing phrases, values, community involvement and staff connections are used, they make a cover letter so specific that it could never be used for another company. This is the test of a great cover letter. Even when responding to postings, applicants can key into the specific wording of the posting and create a letter that matches what the employer has clearly identified as important in their future hires.
   
7. Create a relevant resume.
   
   General resumes are the result of putting together a document without considering relevant skills for the targeted role or just simply using something that was used before for another job search. Each profession has core competencies that can be amassed by collecting frequently used terms during lectures, from curriculum, researching job postings, WorkBC career profiles and through conversations with staff. It’s now time to drop the petrie dish and elevate the analytical, research and report writing skills that were used. It does not matter that you made really cool drinks as a barista but that you remembered your customers’ favourite beverage, provided excellent client service and worked effectively with your team. So become relevant!
   
8. Create specific interview answers.
   
   Generic interview answers are usually the result of poor preparation, lack of relevant skills being expressed and void of an effective example. From the list of core competencies you are gathering, determine where you have used these skills in the most impacting way. Where were you, what did you do and what happened?! This kind of specific response to a question gives the employer the type of information they are truly seeking. For employers, past performance equals future behaviour. So, self market effectively with a process of steps and actions you took to reach a compelling result. Everything you do has a result, so be sure to them who benefitted from your skills in use.
   
9. Know your salary expectations.
   
   You will very likely be asked this somewhere along the way during conversations with company staff and/or during an interview. You have to do your research and know the salary range, your value and where you fit in the range. Be ready to answer this question when it comes with a 10-15% range rather than a firm number. Also, you need to know if there is a common starting salary for entry level positions in a company or firm. You may or may not be comfortable with the salary range a company will expect you to start at which may help steer you toward a career objective more inline with your financial plans and quality of life. Life is not all about money but it sure helps.
   
10. Get input from a career consultant.
    
    Yes, I know you are very capable and self sufficient. But you don’t know what you don’t know. Most students and professionals alike have large blindspots when it comes to career pursuits. A qualified and experienced consultant can save you much time, effort and negative emotion by helping you prepare for your entire job search. Be sure to take full advantage of coaching opportunities and workshops designed to prepare you around the things that your student demographic have consistently shown weaknesses in. As a DAP student, you have already paid for these service in your course fees, so don’t leave that investment on the table. Book an appointment sooner than later.

Best of luck as you pursue your dream career 2 metres apart!

Russell

Russell Garrett is your DAP Career Coach, a Certified Career Consultant and the Owner of Protocol Business Solutions and has been delivering coaching support to DAP students for over 15 years. Russell will be delivering a Fall Career Series for DAP students through online workshops. Also, Russell will be delivering Fall Public Practice Recruiting Workshops for both DAP and BCom students online in August. You can register for these workshops through COOL once they are advertised through your DAP Blog. Also, you can meet with Russell for 30 minute online coaching appointments twice each term. You can register through COOL for designated days or if the dates do not work for you, yo can make an email request to meet by emailing Russell at dapcareersupport@sauder.ubc.ca.