The THREE Biggest JOB SEARCHING Mistakes

A conversation series between Lindsay Boccardo and Lauren Moffatt, HR expert.

Lindsay: Let's talk about three mistakes that people make when they're looking for their next job. The first one, that I see all the time, is people go onto career sites like Indeed or monster.com and they're just browsing for what jobs are out there. It's almost like when you go to the mall and you don't know what you're shopping for and you're broke. So you're like, this is really not satisfying. I don't even know what I'm looking for. And then you walk out, you're like, well, there's three hours of my life.

Lauren: Imagine stepping into Macy's and knowing nothing. I mean, you can buy a couch, you can buy a table.

Lindsay: [laughs] Do you want a suitcase while you're here? It's just a lot to process. So we believe that it's not helpful to look for career opportunities until you know what you're looking for.

Lauren: 100%. You're wasting your time.

Lindsay: Second mistake that people make when they're looking for a new job?

Lauren: It's not preparing for the interview.

Lindsay: They're like, "Ah, I got the interview. I'll just follow my heart at this point."

Lauren: That's like your biggest financial investment of your life! It has such a cascade
effect for your lifetime. So if you were to prepare, then you are at a better leverage point to potentially ask for more [money] or to get the job, which then affects the rest of your life.

Lindsay: We also see people come into the interview thinking, "You have my resume, what questions can I answer for you?" And they're expecting the person who is interviewing them to do the heavy lifting when the interview is actually a chance for our candidate, our client, to sit in front of somebody and be very clear about the value they would bring to this organization. So it's the opposite.

Lauren: 100%. I coach my clients all the time, the ownership is on the interviewee -- the person who's going to the interview -- to be able to highlight how they're going to add value to the business. That's their responsibility. It's not like, "Here's my resume and ask me all the questions." It just doesn't flow like that. So you can see that that's a different language than framing your skills purely as a value to the company, that's how you want to communicate your strong points to the interviewer.

Lindsay: Yeah. So when somebody is talking about themselves to an interviewer, you're not really there to say, "I'm amazing. Look at what I've done. You are lucky to have me if
you choose me." It's more, "Here's how I could add value to your company based on my experience and my skills." You're actually selling them on how you would integrate and make their organization better. Not just, "Here's my accomplishments. You're welcome."

Lauren: Right. Which means you look at their website, you understand their strategy, you understand the role, you understand the hiring managers. You have to understand all those pieces so that you know how to communicate your value in relation to what matters to them.

Lindsay: Yeah. That's good. The third mistake is waiting too long to network. So you're ready to apply. "I've got my new resume, I'm prepped. Now... I should probably
go ahead and meet some people." We talk about networking as just a part of your career, period. Always.

Lauren: Always. When a client comes to me, the first question I ask is what's your
relational wealth? That's what I call their active network. Everyone answers, "Not that great." So starting off, one of the first assignments is that they should be meeting five people a week. Yep, five people just because we're at a fast clip of trying to get their relational wealth up so that they can know people who know them. They're more likely to get into doors cause we know that you get jobs more likely by a second degree connection.

Lindsay: Yep. Absolutely. So even if you aren't even looking for a job, now you know that networking is something you should be doing regularly. And if you're not looking for a new job, how often would you suggest somebody just continue to slowly build their network?

Lauren: I would say that it should be at least one reach out a week or one networking event that they're going to. So depending upon what your vibe is -- I know that for an introvert it might be easier to do a one-on-one thing. Totally cool! If you're an extrovert, or even if you're an introvert and you would like to have 30 people that you can choose from, then go to an event like that.

Lindsay: And where would you start looking if you're not sure what you want to do next?What kind of events should you be going to?

Lauren: I think that you have a lot of options. So I'm thinking about, what type of position am I in now? You can start in that type of group because even if you're going to a sales conference or a sales meet up, there are people still considering other
opportunities or they might know someone. So you can always start in your current profession. Or if you have like a curiosity about marketing and you're in sales, then try out a marketing event.

Lindsay: So follow your curiosity really. That's great. Okay, so three biggest mistakes:

1. Shoppin' around on the internet and wasting your time and energy. 

2. Not preparing for interviews and not understanding that you are in the position to prove your own worth, not the other way around. And number 3...

Lauren: Relational wealth. Keep that network up.

Lindsay: Right, the mistake being not building it at all by not networking until it's kind of late in the game. Awesome. That was great. Thank you.

Lauren: Yeah! Thank you.


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