Being your own recruiter
Today I’m talking about a mental shift that might help you get past some big hurdles in your job search.
I’ve been hitting LinkedIn hard lately - asking for connections, making comments, posting my own content. (I will write more about LinkedIn soon.)
And I was bemoaning how everything feels like sales these days, on LinkedIn and everywhere online, and how as an introvert that makes me want to curl up into a ball and die.
Selling yourself constantly is exhausting. Even for people who like sales — which I do not.
A wonderful HR consultant, Sidney Williams, suggested that I look at myself in the third person, not as “me” but as a qualified, experienced person I was trying to find a good fit for.
That was a revelation.
Because it allowed me to put aside all of my personal issues — fear of failure, exhaustion with the process, feelings of inadequacy, and on and on — and just consider myself a job candidate. And instead of me trying to sell myself, I’m just trying to find a fantastic job for this persona named Adam J. Blust.
Looking at myself in the third person, I have a lot of great qualities! 😃
An exercise for you
As part of this “be your own recruiter” philosophy, here’s what I would suggest:
Take out your latest resume, and your latest couple of cover letters.
Read through them thoroughly, trying to think of yourself as a recruiter reviewing a new candidate.
Design a profile of yourself as a job candidate.
There are lots of ways to do this, but my friend and HR expert Lydia Lightfoot taught me about SLOMA: Skills, Location, Opportunity, Money, Availability.
Write out those things (or similar categories) and create a detailed description of who you are and what you are looking for.
Once you have this profile, use it to evaluate every job posting and opportunity you come across. Will your candidate (you) work well in this environment? Do they have the skills? Does it fit their needs of finances and work schedule?
Taking your personal issues out of the equation may seem silly and even impossible. But just try it. I think it might be just the shift you’re looking for.
Let me know in the comments if you have found strategies that help you get past mental blocks in your job search. Maybe it could help someone else. I write this newsletter not because I’m an expert, but because I’m going through these things too, and I want people to know they are not alone.
You’re not alone.
Watch out for next week’s newsletter, where I share a technique that has already been getting me results — and I’ve only been doing it for three days.
Great mind-shift idea! Another one I wish I'd had when I was job hunting. I wonder what other situations it might help in.