6% vs. 94% – Which career transition path will you take?

6% vs. 94% – Which career transition path will you take?

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by Rich Kolodgie, Managing Partner

Career transitions are different for everyone. For many people, losing a job poses economic concerns and it’s critical that you land a new job quickly, especially when you’ve been laid off unexpectedly. For others, who either have the fortune of backup savings or who have received a severance package, you have a little more time to think, reflect, and explore future opportunities.

But one thing is certain: most people do not really know how to go about finding their next job. And, many believe it is just a matter of developing a good resume, applying for as many jobs as possible online, waiting for the phone to ring, getting an interview, and then “you’re hired!”  Not quite…

Did you know that according to a recent survey (Execunet Job Intelligence Report, 2013) only about 6% of people actually end up getting a job by just applying to online job postings? That means 94% of the job seeking population pursue a more proactive approach. That’s where outplacement and career consulting companies like Barton Career Advisors play a significant role. We provide perspective, structure, tools (including resumes), and resources – as well as intangibles like encouragement and open/honest feedback that fill the ‘tool box’ needed for a successful, 21st century job search.

I encourage you to take a few minutes comparing these resources against the common, online job boards approach.

Assessment – At Barton Career Advisors, our clients complete online assessments as they start their journey with us. What is your business and personality behavior? What do you value in the business world? What has been your career preference? What have you enjoyed the most? What have you enjoyed the least? Do you have any work/life balance issues? What is your goal in your career transition? Our clients find this introspective process very valuable to help them to step back, reflect, and really get to know themselves. This helps you in being grounded at the outset of your career transition journey.

Accomplishments – We ask our clients to document their wins and accomplishments during their career. What are you proud of? What have you done that’s made the most difference? How have you helped the companies you have worked for? Our clients have commented that processing accomplishments is invaluable to assisting them with being able to articulate and describe very succinctly what they are good at and what they have done. It’s especially helpful to have those clearly defined accomplishments fresh in your mind to talk about in interviews.

Materials – A job search is all about marketing yourself. We assist our clients with preparing 1st class resumes, bios, and all forms of communications; Marketing letters, responses to applying for jobs online, cover letters, thank you letters, letters of interest, etc. Our clients have found our resumes and correspondence to truly create a unique selling proposition for themselves. And, our resumes are praised by recruiters, hiring managers and most importantly our clients. They truly help our clients get noticed.

Job Search – We have fantastic tools to help our clients with all facets of their job search. The availability of state-of-the-art search engines, which can locate jobs within a 50 mile radius of any city in the world and aggregate information from every major job board and place it at your fingertips. Our CoachOnetoOne portal provides quick access to information about companies through Hoover’s database and advanced search engines. You are able to connect directly to your LinkedIn profile from within the portal and keep track of your career efforts with every company you apply to. Our clients tell us that our online portal is an invaluable tool as it enables them to do everything from soup to nuts that someone needs to do to be successful in their career transition.

Selling Yourself – We help our clients with interviewing skills, recommendations around how and where to network, as well as many different forms of communications.  And, fundamentally we advise clients to talk about themselves not too aggressively, but in ways that enable them to make a good first impression and to connect, impress, and be remembered.

Well, I could go on to describe so many other ways that our clients indicate that we provide valuable services to them. But really, the truth in all of this is that our clients are happy when they land a job, and our coaches get high fives when their clients land a job. We are proud of our track record which reveals that 60 to 80 percent of our clients land a job of their liking within two to four months.

View your job search through two images: in one, you see yourself and your computer in a poorly lit, empty room.  In the other, you’re still in that room with your computer, but here you are surrounded by ideas, books, lists of contacts, coaching/feedback statements and plenty of bright light. Which looks better to you?

Next blog: The Role of a Coach in Your Job Search

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