3 Fixes You Can Make Today To Your Broken Job Search

3 Fixes You Can Make Today To Your Broken Job Search 3 Fixes You Can Make Today To Your Broken Job Search INBOX: Jewel, I'm having a problem with my experience apparently working against me. I have applied for more than a dozen jobs that I meet 100% of the qualifications for. But they're telling me I'm overqualified. Doesn't overqualified, also mean qualified to do the job I applied for?The last time you looked for a job, you didn't have as much experience, and the opportunities seemed easier to come by. Now that you bring more experience to the table, what gives? Why would't that be a bonus? The reality is that when you offer a wealth of experience, you're showing yourself to be a multi-dimensional professional who brings nuances to the table. Since you are not typical, your job search can't be typical either. Let’s talk about 3 fixes you can make today to your broken job search. Fix #1: Start Breaking The Rules The employers, recruiters, and job boards will have you think the reason you don’t get the calls back you think you should, or don’t get invited to interview for roles you could do with your eyes closed, is simply that you didn’t follow the directions on the application â€" you didn’t check off all the boxes. Well, that’s not the whole truth. Here’s what works: check off all the boxes, then break the box open. At the same time that you complete your online application, identify the decision maker in the organization and reach out directly to that person. It’s important to follow the directions 1st because, otherwise, the person will just tell you to apply on the corporate web site. But if you’ve done that already, say so, then initiate a conversation centered on what you know is happening in the organization right now, and how your particular brand of expertise may prove useful. Fix #2: Expand Your Horizons If your job search consists of clicking “apply” and “submit” online, you’ll be in the job search for the better part of a year, if not longer. There’s almost infinitely more available than what you see online. In fact, it’s what you don’t see online that is usually where the magic happens. More than 70% of opportunities are unadvertised â€" otherwise, “the hidden job market.” It’s not really all that hidden. You just need to know where to look. Identify the organizations you’d like to work for. The criteria you use to build a list of organizations is largely up to you â€" you control this. What is within a commutable distance from your home? What industries are growing in your area? Most major metropolitan cities offer a Business Journal newspaper that provides a wealth of information. You learn the comings and goings of different companies. You see what organizations are growing â€" these are the ones that are hiring. Research to find the decision maker and directly reach out to that person. Fix #3: Step Out Of The Yesterday & Into Today “Research” does not necessarily equal “history.” If your 1st thought is to jump on the company’s web site, understand that the “Company History” page is unlikely to yield anything about what’s happening in the organization right now. When you approach a decision maker, you don’t need to regurgitate the old knowledge you gleaned from the corporate history page. Much more impressive is when you get social. Twitter is an ever-flowing river of information that’s happening right now. Nearly every corporate organization has a Twitter presence. Follow them online to see what they’re working on and what’s coming up. Be a super-ninja by finding out who the principals of the company are and following their personal feeds. Doing so makes your approach fresh and timely, putting you light years ahead of most of your competition. Contact with real human beings can skyrocket your likelihood of job search success from 1-2% to 40-70%. There’s a 1-Page “New Job” Cheat Sheet & Webinar that shows you the exact steps to triple your responses from the employers and recruiters. We walk you through it so you know exactly what to do and say. Make sure you don’t miss out on another opportunity where you know for a fact you meet all the qualifications. Download the 1-Page “New Job” Cheat Sheet today.