Don’t send a CV

Amid all the gloomy economic news, the process of looking for a new job is undoubtedly a dispiriting one for many. So what tips can this blog offer?

First, it is important to be highly organised: to track every job for which you apply (even though most will not even deign to respond); to be rigorous in your networking; and to use all resources at your disposal (contacts, media, internet) to identify opportunities. Plus, you need to know exactly what your skill-set is, and what you can offer any prospective employer. That is the bare minimum and equivalent to a full-time job in itself.

Secondly, you should do everything in your power to circumvent the Wall of recruitment agents and HR departments. Don’t get me wrong, these people all have a job to do, but no matter what they tell you (recruitment agents in particular) their primary objective is not to find you a job. Rather, their primary objective is to offer to their internal or external clients a shortlist of candidates for each opportunity that is as safe as possible, thereby to close their deal and secure their commission. And this means that they will introduce candidates that (on paper) comply as closely as possible to the brief. This is not the same as finding the best candidate for the job. To go through the Wall (i.e. to follow the standard advertisement/application/interview process) you will only succeed if you match exactly the criteria that have been defined for the job. For many job applications you will undoubtedly have to follow this approach, and the more that your CV can be tailored quickly and easily to every opportunity, the better.

However there is another way: to try and go around the Wall. One of the best books I have read on finding a job is Jeffrey J. Fox’s ‘Don’t Send a CV‘. Fox’s proposition is summarised in one of his chapter headings: ‘You are a box of Cereal’. Essentially he makes the point that you have to think of yourself as a commodity that you are selling to a business in order to bring benefit to that organisation. And your selling process should be counterintuitive and enable you to stand out from all the other boxes of cereal on the shelves. It is not about what the employer can offer you, but about how you can bring benefit (preferably quantifiable) to that business. By all means make information about your skills available (e.g. by offering a link to your GazetMe profile), but don’t think that your opening shot has to be to send a formal CV and covering letter. Look for other ways into the business. Get around the Wall. It’s a great book and I recommend it highly because in a crowded job market, thinking differently from the crowd may well be the best way to get noticed.