Day 3

Slowly but Surely

Well, no job offers yet, but I'm not surprised.  I've been talking to a lot of people who aren't in the position to hire me.  Right now I'm gathering information, which will allow me to adjust my Master Plan as I learn more of what I want to do and what I can do.

What I did
Today was another day of travel.  I started by heading to Salem to talk with another church career resource center.  She gave me a new list of resources, but even more important, she told me of someone she knows who works at a community college in the area.  So now I have a specific name, and I can say X sent me (not her real name).  It's always better when there's a previous connection.  I would have followed this up immediately, but I had to drive 45 minutes south to my next appointment.

I had a meeting scheduled on another college campus.  The person I talked to was able to, among other things, give me more insight into a job I'm currently applying for.  This allows me to customize my resume and cover letter to exactly what they're looking for.

I had already driven for over 2 hours by this point, and I decided I didn't want to leave yet.  So I wandered around the building, carrying on mini-interviews in various offices.  I walked into the registrar's office, where I got a 6-minute interview with the director.  It turns out I don't want to be a registrar.  Then I went to the career services center, and talked to the receptionist, who was very helpful and gave me a lot of information.  Then I went to another promising-sounding office, where I interrupted them from their work, and I got the impression they just wanted me to go away (not my best interview of the day).

I then headed off to the admissions office (they are extremely busy this week), affirmative action office (very informative interview), disability access center (too busy again), and intercultural student services office (another helpful receptionist).  I learned a lot about quite a few offices on campus, and I feel like I have a better idea of what each area requires in the way of education and experience, and which ones I'd be interested in exploring further.

On the way home, I stopped at a wildlife reserve and got pictures of some very interesting animals.

What I learned
While it's possible to just drop in for informational advising, it works better if you schedule beforehand.

Leave enough time between scheduled appointments to follow up on leads (especially when your appointments are long distances apart).

Receptionists/secretaries/office managers generally have helpful temperaments; don't dismiss them as a source of information, and always treat them with respect.

I've got to come up with and memorize a 30-second introduction

Not all people are people people.

How it went
Interviews – 4 interviews with professionals, 2 with support staff, 2 were too busy, and 1 failure
Cold Calls – 0
Friend reunions – still none
Mood – Confident in my informational interview ability, still not sure how to find a job.

Day 2

Talking to “real” people

Today worked out pretty well.  Both my scheduled appointments were on the same college campus, in the same building, and on the same floor.  But 5 hours apart.  So instead of waiting around (which would have been dumb), I did some stuff in between.

What I did
My first appointment of the day was in an office where I recently applied for (and didn't get) a job.  After I called the office and set up an appointment yesterday, I emailed the person I was going to meet with and let him know that I was coming and what to expect.  Because of this, he was able to review my application and tell me why I hadn't been chosen for an interview.  It turns out, I was close, but was a little lacking in education (I'm still working on my Master's) and experience (I haven't worked specifically on a college campus).  He gave me all sorts of other helpful information, which was good.  I had a list of questions to ask him, but most of them were answered in the course of the conversation.

My next stop was at my church's employment service.  If your religious organization has an employment service, I highly encourage you to check it out.  Unlike some for-profit employment agencies, there was no hidden agenda there.  The man I worked with gave me some very good city-specific advice, as well as some general job-hunting information I already knew.  But if you are looking at this blog to find out how to get a job, reading information online doesn't compare with talking to someone face-to-face.

The final interview was back on the college campus with another advisor.  I never felt like our conversation got into a smooth rhythm, and I went through all my questions quickly.  It was a little awkward, and I'm still not sure why.  Basically, it was a repeat of the earlier conversation – if I want to work on a college campus, I need to already have experience working on a college campus.  Oh well, I've still got a week and a bit left.  We'll see if I can't get an answer I like better.

What I learned
Get an interview with a company that already rejected you.  They can tell you exactly why you weren't selected.

You're not going to click with every person you meet.  That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with either one of you; it could be a cultural difference.

It's possible to be doing “everything right,” and still not find a job.

Make sure to have enough time in the morning to pack a lunch, and enough time to find a parking spot, allowing for detours.

If you have time between interviews, make sure you have something to do (like a list of companies to cold call).  Otherwise, go sightseeing.

Get a watch, so you know how much time has passed, so you don't overstay your welcome.

If you're going to take pictures of yourself, try to time the shots between rainstorms, or bring one of these.

How it went
Interviews - 3
Cold Calls - 0
Friend reunions - 3 in the works, 1 planned

Mood - Worn out, a little frustrated, but still hopeful.

Microcultures

At the international school where I work, I recently noticed an interesting phenomenon.  There are three female friends who don't fit the usual patterns.  Now, normally the students group themselves according to language or level.  For example, either the Koreans hang out with other Koreans, or the low-level English speakers stick together.

Not with these three.  Two are low-level English speakers, one is advanced.  One comes from the Dominican Republic, one from Portugal, and the other from Mali.  Two are in their 20s, one is in her 30s.  Two are Christian, one is Muslim.  There are other Spanish, French, and Portuguese speakers around, so why do these three hang out together?  If you saw them, you might understand.

They are the only Black girls in our school.

Now for some reason, their commonality of skin color and gender has overcome the usual social and language barriers.  Something about the experiences they share draws them together, and it's enough to start a friendship.

Think Small
Over the past couple of years, I've developed the concept of “microcultures.”  We generally talk about cultures and subcultures (like the American culture and the African-American subculture), but working with international students has shown these divisions to not be sufficient.  There needs to be one more level of division.

We all belong to multiple microcultures, and just like cultures and subcultures, each microculture influences us in different ways.  For instance, my WASP background gave me one set of values, while my experience as an ESL teacher gives me another.  I'm a college graduate and tend to associate with other educated people, but at the same time, I lived in Brazil, so I love to hang out with the Brasileiros, educated or not.

There are two teachers at our school that I often talk to.  One is a recently-married White American male who has no kids.  The other is a single Black female from the Bahamas.  Which one do I gravitate towards?  Although my life experience has been very similar to the male's, I feel a deeper kinship with the teacher from the Bahamas.  Why?  Because we are both Gen-Xers who are borderline Millenials.  We both remember G.I. Joe and Transformers as cartoons.  We remember the fall of the Berlin wall.  The other male teacher is about 5 years younger, and it's enough to change the dynamics between us.

What am I?
So which culture do I come from?  A better question is which microcultures.  I'm not just a White American.  I'm also a college graduate, Humanities major, ESL teacher, advisor, middle class, married, Oregonian, Gen-Xer, male, small-town type, mountain unicyclist . . .  All of these have influenced me in different ways, and are part of my personal culture.

What does this have to do with job hunting?  I'll explain that in another post.  For now, just ask yourself, which microcultures do you belong to, and how have these influenced you?

Day 1

And I'm off!

Today was the first day of my job hunt.  After traveling all day yesterday (16 hours is a long time in a car by yourself), I wasn't ready to spend hours driving around again.  So I stayed home and called people.

What I did
Before I left, I started a list of organizations I wanted to contact; in my case, academic advising offices in schools.  I'm not contacting them to ask for jobs; I'm exchanging information with them.  I'm receiving information on the field of advising, more specifically, on how to get a job in the field.  In return, I'm giving them information about someone who has the desire and, I think, the talent to fulfill a future need they might have.

What I learned
I learned something very important in the midst of my calling.  There's a reason I want to be an advisor; advisors are people people.  Everyone I talked to was nice and friendly and more than willing to set up an appointment for me.  Of course, I mostly talked to office assistants, but still.

After one day of job hunting, I have 5 interviews set up.  Remember, these aren't job interviews – they are informational interviews.  Two of the places are hiring at the moment, one just finished hiring, and the other two don't have any openings right now.  But the important thing is that I'll be talking to people in my chosen career, even in my chosen location.  This is much better than the last 15 months, where I got almost nothing but rejection letters.  Kind've hard to see what to do better with no feedback.

Worst case scenario – after telling a bunch of advisors that I'm interested in working in the field, nothing happens.  I will still have gathered very valuable information, and will be able to adjust my future strategy according to the suggestions I hear.  No matter what, it will have been a good experience.

One more thing I discovered – with a limited time frame, I've really got to learn how to organize my time and plan ahead.  Right now, I'm traveling to opposite ends of the state on different days for single 20-minute interviews.  I need to figure out how to fill that time better, like stopping at other colleges in the area.  If I master this, I'll tell you how.

How it went
So at the end of the day . . .
Interviews – 5 set up
Cold Calling – 0
Friend reunions – 3 in the works

Mood: Optimistic, a little nervous, enthusiastic

The Hunt is on!

You may be wondering where I'm at in the job hunt.

Well, to tell you the truth, I'm pretty much nowhere at the moment. That is, I've sent out resumes, and that's it so far.

If you've read “What Color is your Parachute,” you know that sending out resumes is one of the least effective ways of finding a job (he gives it a 6% success rate). 

So although I've been sending out resumes for the past 15 months, I've only had one nibble, and that was over a year ago.

That's about to change.

As of Monday the 26th, I will be starting the job hunt in earnest.  I will be spending 2 weeks in Oregon, hitting the street for 8 hours a day, contacting businesses, contacting old school friends, contacting anyone who will talk to me.  I have a Master Plan, I have business cards, and I have the determination. 

And soon you will have daily updates on my progress.  During this time, I will be posting every day after I return home from the Hunt, describing my experience, describing my mood, describing how well my great ideas are working in the real world.  I hope this will be valuable as well as entertaining, as you get to feel what it's like to be on the job search.  And in the process, I will talk about which techniques I'm using, and how they turn out.

What to do
Speaking of techniques, I want to mention the three main methods I'll be employing.  The first is cold calling.  This is essentially either calling or visiting every business that sounds interesting and asking if they're hiring.  It has a low chance of success per call, but it relies on the law of probabilities.  By sheer numbers of companies I'll visit, there's a good chance that someone will want me.

The second method I call “Friendworking.”  This technique has me getting together with all my old friends and asking if they know of any job openings.  It's a way of having 100 pairs of eyes open for jobs instead of just 2.  Similar to the cold calling, by the sheer number of people looking, there's a good chance that someone will know of something.

The third method is true networking.  I will be talking to specific people in specific businesses that I have previously researched, where my skillset is particularly strong.  I will gain as much information from each person as possible, including names of other people I can network with.  In the process, I will get my name out there, so that when it does come time to hire, they will remember who I am and will want to contact me.

At least, this is how it should work in theory.  We'll see how it works next week when it's the real thing.

Wish me luck!

Creating a Master Plan

No, I'm not talking about world domination (although I guess you could use this technique for that).  This is a method I use to break down a large overwhelming goal into bite-sized tasks.  In this case, we're talking about finding a job, but this technique could be adapted for any other situation as well.

Dissecting the Big Picture
The first step is to articulate what it is I'm trying to accomplish.  My overarching goal is to find a job as an academic advisor in Oregon.  Great, except that if it were that easy, I would have had a job 15 months ago.  I know the “What” (get an advising job in Oregon).  The next step is the “How,” as in, How can I find a job?

For my situation, there are three areas of focus to reach my goal  The first, obviously, is looking for a job (in my case, anything in Oregon for the time being).  Second, I need more education to be more competitively qualified.  And the third area is taking a look at what I really want out of a job.

Dissecting your “How”
Each one of these areas is now a new goal.  Articulating my educational goal, I want to finish my Master's degree by December 2010.  Remember, each of these smaller goals is "How" you will achieve your overarching goal.

Now that I have an articulated goal in the Education category, I can break that into smaller “Hows.”  How do I get a Master's degree in Academic advising?  Well, I need to finish EDCEP 816, take my other three classes, and create a graduate portfolio.  How do I finish EDCEP 816?  I need to pass the remaining tests.  How do I pass the tests?  I read the chapters and fill out the study guide.

AHA!
Now we have reached an actual task.  Out of my entire Master Plan, I have a bite-size piece I can accomplish.  Maybe I can't “get the advising job,” but I can read the chapters in my textbook.

By looking at the big picture and by constantly asking “How,” I can see what I actually need to do.  Yes, I want a job, but to get there, I have a thousand little tasks that will lead me to that big goal.  It might seem obvious for the Education category, but what are the tasks that need to be accomplished in the Job Hunting or Personal Exploration categories?  This technique allows you to find out what those little tasks actually are, or at least identify where it is you're running into walls.  Either way, you know what to do next!

Talking to Myself -- An Example

As requested by one of my readers, I am putting up a demonstration of my Conversation Freewrite technique.  I usually write by hand, and I knew I was writing for an audience, so I was a little self-conscious, but you should get an idea of how these usually go for me.  The left indented text is my conscious self, while the tabbed and italicized text is my subconscious speaking.  Feel free to skip over sections of the lengthy text; the technique, not the content, is what's important here.

Okay, Paco, here it goes.
    -Yep, I'm ready.
It feels weird writing for an audience.
    -Yeah, but we've used this method enough that we know it works.  Why don't we get started.  Tell me what's on your mind.
Well, as you obviously already know (considering you're me), I'll be heading to Oregon the week after this, and I want to go over my feelings on the subject.
    -Go on.
Well, it's a little scary for me.
    -Because you're afraid of looking for a job?
Not exactly afraid.  More like nervous.
    -What are you nervous about?
The idea of talking to all these different people.
    -You talk to people all the time.  What's the difference?
I guess it's because it's a new area that I haven't had to deal with before.
    -Do you not like new experiences?
Well, that's a good question.  I think I'm uncomfortable with change.
    -How so?
I'm afraid that I'll say or do the wrong thing, or that I won't know what to do when the time comes.  It's like when we were looking for a new apartment.  I hated calling apartments at first.
    -But then you got over that fear, because you called so many places.
Yeah.  And I think the same thing will happen when I go to Oregon.  The first few days are going to be scary.  But I'm starting to detect a hint of excitement in myself as well.
    -Excitement about what?
Well, I think it has to do with becoming a pro at talking to people.
    -You felt pretty confident about talking with the advisors at BYU after your initial experience.
It's true.  I think I might start enjoying the experience after a while.
    -How long do you think that will take?
I'm thinking maybe after I do each of my categories (friendworking, informational interviewing, and cold calling) at least once, it will get better.
    -I'm sensing that you don't feel exactly great about the cold calling.
Yeah; I don't know if I'll ever really enjoy that part.
    -And why's that?
Because it's mainly about being rejected.  The other two methods will bring forth information, but the cold calling will just be, “Do you have any jobs?” “Nope.”
    -So do you still want to do it?
I think so, because it will be all about quantity of contacts.  Maybe it will lead to something good, just because of the laws of probability.
    -Do you think you'll be able to find something full-time through the cold-calling?
I really don't know.  But I won't know until I start doing it.
    -One more thing – would you prefer to call companies or walk in the front door and ask them?
I think that it would be less-intimidating to call, but it sounds more interesting to go to the place of employment and talk to the front desk.  I would get to see a lot of Eugene that I wouldn't normally see.  Plus, I'm less likely to get the cold shoulder this way, since I'll physically be there.  Besides, I might see something while walking around.
    -Well, Paco, I think this has been a pretty good discussion.
Yeah, me too.  Thanks again for talking to me.
    -No problem.  I'm really enjoying our conversations.
Me, too.  Well, I guess I'll talk to you soon.
    -You can count on it.  Bye!

As usual, I discovered something about myself while doing this activity.  I knew that I was nervous about going to Oregon, but I didn't know I was also excited about it.  This conversation freewrite revealed another layer of my emotions that I didn't know were there.  Once again, I recommend this method.

The cheapest self-help book you'll ever find

Going on a voyage of self-discovery?  Don't forget the phone book!

In my last post about using the yellow pages to find a job, I said it was mainly used for finding specific companies in a specific geographical location.  Well, there's a way to use the same tools for personal exploration.

As I was browsing through companies on CityOf.com, I found that I skipped over some categories completely while other categories I really got excited about.  For example, while I couldn't gather any enthusiasm for the Battery businesses, I did look into the companies that worked with Aromatherapy.

Do I want to work in the aromatherapy business?  Probably not.  But I obviously felt some draw towards that field.  What was it that drew me in?  Well, I feel my mission in life is to help people, and I like to work with my mind to find unique solutions to problems.  So why don't I want to do this job?  Partially because I don't think it would pay enough, and I want to work with people for more than 5 minutes at a time.

What do I value in a career?  Helping people, using my mind, finding unique solutions, making enough money to support a family.  And I learned that just by looking at one category.  There are something like 580 categories on this website.  Just think of what I could learn about myself on here!


How to use this method

1. Go to CityOf.com.  Pick a city, any city.  If you have a particular location in mind, great.  If not, just choose somewhere (it won't matter).
2. Imagine that all it takes to get a job is to choose a company on a list and they will automatically hire you.  The only thing you have to do is pick the company.
3. Start browsing the business directory.  If you have any interest in a category, open it up.  Scroll through the lists of companies.  Do any of them appeal to you?  Google their name if you want.
4. Think about what it would be like to work for these companies (if you don't know, think about what you think it would be like to work for them).
5. Examine your reactions to these businesses.  Why did you open up the category in the first place?  Which companies got your attention, and why?  What is it about these companies that you feel drawn to?  What aspects of your personality would be a good fit for these businesses? What do you think you'd like about the working conditions, the people you'd work with, and the job you'd be doing?  What don't you like about this field, or these specific companies?
6. What did your reactions to this category demonstrate about you?  Distill your thoughts into non-specific statements (example: I like working with my hands.  I like to help people.  I dislike working in retail.  I want to work normal business hours.  I have to make a lot of money to be satisfied.  My specific career is not that important to me).  Write down these statements.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 until you either run out of categories, start repeating the same statements with nothing new, or you get bored.
8. Rate these statements.  Which do you feel are the most important?

When you're through, you should have a list of personal beliefs and values.  When thinking about a possible career, you can rate it against this list to see how good of a fit it is.  Viola – no fuss introspection!

So what did you learn about yourself?  Any surprises?

Let your fingers do the surfing

One of the methods for finding a job is to flip through the local yellow pages and call every company that sounds interesting to see if there's a job opening (What Color Is Your Parachute says this is 47-69% effective in helping people find a job).  Great, except that I'm trying to move to a new state, and don't have the Yellow Pages for that area.  If I want to find a list of all the businesses in the area, how do I do it?

I found a website called CityOf.com.  If the city you're interested in is on this website, they have a pretty comprehensive list of businesses in the area.  For example, being a former clown, I looked up “Balloons” in the Eugene, Oregon area.  It turns out that there are 10 companies under that heading.  I can also find 9 companies in the archery business, 14 that specialize in firewood, and if I were really into bicycles, there are 20 different companies I could contact.

How I use this website
The method I'm using is as follows:  First, I choose the city of Eugene, Oregon, as that's where I want to be.  I then browse the business directory for topics that sound interesting.  For me, the first one that caught my eye was “Amusements.”

After opening a topic, I look at the businesses in that category.  At the top of the list is “Amusement Unlimited.”  What do they do?  No idea.  So then I Google [“Amusement Unlimited” Eugene] and lo and behold, their website pops up.  It turns out that they specialize in installing video games and pinball machines.  Not my cup of tea.  So I go on to the next business that sounds interesting.  I find “Science Factory Children's Museum & Exploration Dome.”  I Google it, and it turns out to be a  learning center for children.  It sounds fascinating to work there!

Are they hiring?  Do they pay enough?  Would I even like the job?  I don't know.  But I can mark down their name, address, phone number, & website so I can contact them to find out.  This method doesn't guarantee a job at any specific company you research; but you can't get hired if you don't know the company exists.

A Caveat
This method works best if you have a location in mind, but aren't as picky as to the type of job.  It wouldn't work as well if you know the job you want but don't care where.  Since location is a higher priority than specific job for me at the moment, this method is giving me a broad view of companies I can contact when I'm ready to start knocking doors.

Any success for you?  What jobs or companies did you find that you wouldn't have found otherwise?

Talking to Yourself -- How To

As discussed in a previous post, carrying on a written conversation between your conscious and subconscious can be a very beneficial way to work through issues.  But how do you do it?  Here's the technique I use.

1. Think of a situation where you opened up to another person about a problem you were facing.  Visualize the situation.  Try to remember how you felt while talking to that person.
    
2. Then think about a situation where someone came to you to talk over a problem.  Visualize that situation.  How did you feel while helping that person?
    
3. Now, superimpose the two situations.  Eliminate the other people & see two versions of yourself; one with the problem, and the other who is there to listen.  Or imagine talking to yourself in the mirror, and the mirror responding.  You want to feel that there are two of you, each representing a different aspect of yourself.  The one with the problem is the conscious self, and the one listening is the subconscious self.
    
4. The final step is to start the conversation with yourself.  How would you initiate a conversation with a friend about a problem you were having?  How would you respond to a friend who wanted to discuss a problem?  Where would you go from there?  Keep the conversation going as long as you need, and when you're done, thank the other self for talking to you, just like you would a friend.

Some helpful tips
To get this down on paper, imagine that you need to talk to a friend, but are in a situation where you're not allowed to talk.  Either type your conversation, or write it by hand (I prefer handwriting for this exercise).  Maybe you'd feel more comfortable instant messaging yourself.  Open up two windows and invite yourself to chat.  You could even text it, but that might end up costing quite a bit unless you have an unlimited plan.

Make sure to keep the two selves separate.  The first few times I did this, I couldn't keep track of who was who.  While it's not absolutely necessary to differentiate (they're both aspects of you, remember), I find it makes the conversation flow easier when I know which part of me is talking.  For myself, I indent the subconscious and start on the left border with the conscious.  You could try italicizing one, using a dash mark, a different color pen, whatever works for you.

And as in all personal exploration, it helps to be in a quiet place, free from distractions.  The subconscious has a hard time expressing itself when it's surrounded by constant noise.

Does this work for you?  How does it work for you?  Do you have any suggestions to make this better?

For an example of this technique, see this post.

Talking to Yourself -- An Introduction

Years ago, I was dating a girl pretty seriously, but I was having second thoughts about the relationship.  I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do until I went to talk to a friend about the situation.  I talked her ear off, telling her all the reasons I was feeling conflicted.  At the end of the conversation, she just said to me, “it sounds like you have already come to a decision.”  It was then that, while I had wanted my friend to give me sage advice about what to do, she pointed out that I had my answer already.  If it hadn't been for my friend's insight, I don't know how much longer I would have remained confused and indecisive about the situation.

Talking to a trusted friend about your problems can be very beneficial.  The friend doesn't have to be trained in psychology to help out.  Heck, they don't even have to understand you or the situation.  The important thing is that they are willing to listen.  As you explain the situation to a friend, and they encourage you to keep looking for the solutions, quite often the solutions come.  At least, that's my experience.  Recently, when I tried to work through some issues, I discussed the situation with a very close friend.  Me.

I've designed a system of conversation that requires one person, but two different voices.  Who are these voices?  Well, one is the conscious self, the self that interacts with the world on a daily basis.  The other self is the subconscious.  Without getting into deep psychoanalysis, it's the little voice inside of you that has opinions.  Every once in a while, it pops up to disagree with what your surface self thinks.  Like the voice inside of you that says, “maybe you should skip that sixth donut,” or, “I know you don't want to hear this, but maybe the person you're arguing with has a point,” or in my case, “deep down, you know the relationship isn't working out.”

When is the Conversation Freewrite useful?
I find it comes in handy in the following situations:

• When you're trying to work through a complex problem and you need to organize your thoughts
• When you've got conflicted feelings about something and need to talk it through with someone
• When you are doing personal exploration and want to discover what you really think about a topic
• When doing a certain task brings up issues (like throwing old things away causing anxiety) and you want to explore the reasons why

In the first two situations, your conscious talks while the subconscious listens, offering helpful insights and advice.  In the second two situations, your conscious and subconscious engage in a dialogue, discussing both your surface and deep-down thoughts and feelings on a topic.  The conscious seeks to understand the subconscious.  This may sound strange, but I can tell you from personal experience that this really does work for me.  I'm guessing it will work for others as well.

So how do you go about engaging in a conversation freewrite?  Well, keep reading to see how I do it.

Winning by Giving Up

There's an article on WikiHow called, “How to Retire in your 30s.”  It gives a lot of advice on how to live your life in order quit working by your mid 30s and live off your savings for the rest of your life.  It says you will probably have to avoid getting married, work in a high-stress job that you hate, live cheaply while you're amassing your nest egg, and retire to another country where the cost of living is cheaper.  Even then, you won't retire to a life of luxury; it will still have to be a modest life.

The article does a good job of explaining that this path isn't for everyone, and it may not be worth it to sacrifice 15 years of young adulthood for this goal.  As I read through the article, I knew it wasn't worth it to me, which got me to thinking, what would I be willing to sacrifice for my life goals?  For that matter, what are my life goals?


Creating a hierarchy of values
I've discovered that one of the most important things to me is where I live.  So much so that I'm willing to sacrifice my dream job for my dream location.  But even a higher priority is my family.  If I had to choose between a job, location, or family, I'd live anywhere and take any job in order to stay married to my wife.  Other values that I considered are money (as in how much I'd have to make to be satisfied), health (would I take a job where I sacrifice my health?), and honesty (would I do a job that expected me to be dishonest?)  Your list of values will be different than mine, but the question remains, what are you willing to give up in order to achieve your greatest desire?

Using your values in creating a plan
Recognizing what was most important to me was a very important step in creating a plan for my future.   In the past, I thought I'd be willing to move anywhere in the U.S. to work as an academic advisor.  But as I looked at my value system, I realized that I'd rather move to Oregon and take a job in an unrelated field, than get an advising job but give up Oregon.  This limits my range of locations to search, but broadens the job possibilities.  You may completely disagree with my conclusions.  Good.  It all depends on your particular value system.

So what are your most important values?  What are you willing to sacrifice for them?  I'll go into this in more detail in another post, but for now I'd like to know what aspects of your life are important to you.

Consider the source

Pop quiz – how many job hunting books out there are written by and for graduate student Portuguese-speaking ex-clown ESL teachers?  If you answered zero, you're correct.  If you answered thirty, you should probably go lie down.

From my limited research, job hunting books are generally written by business-oriented people.  That's fine and dandy, but I'm not that kind of person.  Heck, I'm in education, partially because I don't enjoy the business world.

What I disagree with
Some of the books I've been looking at since my recent trip to the library are written with one type of person in mind.  One book gave the following pieces of wisdom. “Working 8 hours a day is a job.  Working 10+ hours a day is a career,”  and, “you will spend 8+ hours a day with your secretary and only 4 hours a day with your wife.  Send her flowers (your wife, not your secretary).”  The message I seem to get from these books is success in life is making the most amount of money.  I'm sorry, but if that's what it takes to get ahead in the world, I'll stay behind.  If these ideas resonate with you, great.  But they don't do it for me.

What to do about it
I give you full permission to disagree with as much of a job-hunting book as you choose.  But what is important is to recognize where the author is coming from.  If you're an engineer, an architect, a liberal-arts major, a construction worker, or a graduate student Portuguese-speaking ex-clown ESL teacher, you should disagree with the author.  Your perspective and your experience will be different.  If you say, “That's fine and dandy, but that's not how it works in MY field,” you could very possibly be right.  Who knows better?  People in your field.  Run any troubling parts of these books past someone you know who has a job like the one you want.

On the flipside, however, don't just reject an author just because they come from a different field than you.  These authors experts in the field of finding a job, and the fact that you're reading their books or this blog means that you're not an expert in this particular area.  Seriously consider what they have to say, and if you still don't agree with them, seriously reject the message as well.  No book or website can take the place of talking to people in your field, but those in your field may not know how to get a job in this economy.  Like most other things in life, it takes a balanced approach.

Don't judge a book by the cover -- judge it by the publishing date

A word to the wise: job hunting is not the same as it was in 1986.  So don't trust a book about job hunting from that era.  That's one of the lessons I learned while perusing the career changing and job hunting books at our local library.

Have you ever heard of Indeed.com?  It is widely considered one of the best job hunting resource, and Time Magazine called it the 10th best website in 2007.  It didn't exist until 2004.  Then there's there's the issue of YouTube (which went public in 2005) and Facebook (2006).

And there's also The Great Recession.  The world economy was still riding high until somewhere in 2008.  Job searching is MUCH different with 17% unemployment! Would you take the advice of someone who'd never heard of Facebook and who thought investing in real estate was a great idea?  Then be wary of any book published before 2009.  That's not to say that you can't learn from these books; just that you must realize that the information will be dated.

So how do you know what is good advice and what's bad advice?  First off, anything that deals with technology that is more than 5 years old is bad advice.  Period.  Other things may take longer to go out of date (writing resumes, for example).  But when in doubt, there's a magical world called the Internet that can give you plenty of other opinions.  So why not skip the books entirely and only learn from the net?  Anyone can put up a website (even me); people who write books generally have some credibility.  I would recommend a healthy mix of online and offline content.  Try it and see what you think.

But if the models on the cover of the book have 80s hair, try something else.

Don't follow my advice

At least, don't take my word on job hunting just because I have a blog.  And don't follow the advice of something you read in a book just because it's published.  Anyone can set up a blog, and there's no Absolute Truth Test applied to the publishing world.  If something that I or anyone else says doesn't jive with your personal belief system, get a second opinion.  Or a third opinion.  Or a thirtieth opinion.

There are a lot of books on Job Hunting, and they all have a different slant on the subject (if they were all in agreement, why write another one?).  You may resonate with one author and not another.  And if you're looking for a job right now, chances are you don't have a lot of extra cash lying around to spend on books.  So how can you find the perfect one?  Try the library.

I live in a city of 100,000 people.  Yesterday I went to the library to see what they had to help me in the job hunt, and I found a section with 115 books that were checked in (who knows how many were checked out).  Along with the comprehensive approaches, there were also books on interviewing, resume writing, cover letters, networking, career changing, what to do when laid off, books tailored specifically towards women, job hunting for those over 50 or retirees, even a book on job hunting for ex-criminals!

Before you go out knocking doors or mailing resumes, I suggest you look at a few of these references.  Get an idea of what the “experts” say.  You may agree with someone or you may not; if not, find another perspective.  You don't have to read everything, but it can't hurt to get that second opinion.  The only thing it will cost is a trip to the library and a bit of your time.  I grabbed 7 books, and I've already read 3 chapters from the first one I picked up (review coming later).  Once again, don't trust everything you read, and there are specific pitfalls to watch out for, but those will be covered in another post.

So have you checked out your public or school library yet?  How are they at providing books on this topic?