A highly effective job hunt includes utilizing every experience in our lives to land that critical position. Combining professional skills with your intuition is a powerful tool to make yourself stand out in a tough job market. Even insignificant skills that you have learned help to create a picture of who you are. Expressing your natural abilities through your interests, passion or hobbies is a highly effective way to show your authentic self.
The key is to carefully balance the interview process to showcase your skills and abilities with your special interests. Working at this level requires dedicating time to writing a script, combining the tool sets derived from your past jobs, as well those acquired through organizations or social activities. Taking the time to develop and practice your elevator speech should be a part of any effective job hunting arsenal.
One female executive who was unemployed for close to two years, said her involvement with a local business chamber is what led to her being invited back for a second interview. Showing leadership ability made her standout in a highly competitive search and she was selected for a $80,000 position after six interviews. Questions that you can expect to be asked include:
Give a specific example of what you have done recently to display leadership ability.
Describe a risk that you have taken and the outcome that occurred as a result of this experience.
Discuss a team interaction you were a part of and the results.
Spotlighting your strengths is a way to emphasize to a potential employer the flexibility and willingness to give your best to any job. Candidates who have not invested in extracurricular activities that offer growth opportunities will find themselves in an extremely difficult position in an already crowded job market. The key is to get involved in organizations that speak to your soul while you are looking for work. Volunteering is also an excellent tool for networking.
An unemployed male sales manager, has advanced to the final interview stage as a direct result of his volunteer work as a football coach. His ability to coach separates him from all the other sales manager candidates.
Volunteer with with an organization or association that works in an area that intuitively calls you. Don’t expect immediate results. Building a reputation for chipping in and meeting commitments is what makes people standout. Know what jobs emit a healing energy and make you feel a sense of service. Our energy reflects our experience and if you are interviewing or working in a job that you really don’t like or doesn’t serve your soul, others know it as well. Working in an energy restorative environment penetrates every level in life.
In tough times, the tough must be creative!