Do you recall the shopping for jeans story in the last blog post?
The moral of that story – you don’t have to try on every pair of jeans (apply to every job you could do) to find the one that fits.
Going to the store (jobs market) with specifics already decided is your key to saying no without having FOMO (fear of missing out).
Today’s email is part 2 and there’s a lot to consume in this newsletter.
If you don’t have time to digest the whole newsletter, bookmark it for later and take these 3 appetizers for the road so you aren’t hungry for actionable tips.
1. Not every application is worth its cost to you.
Every job application you complete has a cost.
The most obvious one is the time you spend completing the application (a tangible cost).
There’s also the less obvious time costs:
➡️ The time you spent learning about the company
➡️ The time you spent looking up the people who work there (you aren’t the only one who does that 😉)
Then there’s the intangible costs:
➡️ Your energy (ever have time, but no energy? Yeah, me too)
➡️ Your expectations (what if “this” happens?)
➡️ Your perspective (how long will it take to hear back?)
2. You won’t get validation from the job market.
In a competitive market, expecting validation from the job search process will only leave you with uncertainty.
The market will toss you around like a beachball on an ocean wave crashing to shore.
You may get tossed back out to sea or you may end up stranded on the shore.
Either way, validation is not going to come from the market.
Affirmation comes by honing your confidence and ability to communicate the value you deliver. This takes time and practice.
3. You may have also seen my recent post about how the validity of 80% of jobs being hidden is suss. (I speak millennial once in a while).
Here’s the post in case you missed it.
Bottom line: That 1974 study doesn’t hold up 50 years later.
Now onto the delicious and satisfying main meal …
You’re here because you’ve already done the work to answer the formula,
“I desire X job at Y company”,
and you’re ready to gain an advantage in today’s executive job market.
Let’s dive in!
First Course: Build Your Awareness of Abundance
Awareness = your perception of a situation.
You look at the world and interpret it based on your perspective.
Your awareness determines how you interpret what you see.
Let’s summarize your social media feed in one phrase: You hear a lot of things about a lot of things from a lot of people.
To combat this reality, you need this awareness.
Landing a leadership position requires you to become aware of what to focus on.
When something comes across your feed – ask yourself: “Is this worthy of my attention and retention?”
Setting your intention daily to focus on what is worthy of your finite attention and retention means that you will:
Be in the minority. Gripe sessions are popular on social media.
Be selective. You hear a lot of things, but you get to decide what you retain.
Be diligent. Protect your awareness of the abundance that already exists.
👉🏼 👉🏼 Sidenote: If this sounds silly, that’s okay. I ask just one thing: consider that believing in the scarcity of opportunities is determining the actions you decide to take and the actions you take determine your outcomes.
Second Course: Devote Your Attention to Gain Access
Attention = directing your mind to notice something.
It’s interesting to me that we say, “pay attention”.
We pay with our attention.
We pay with our decision to notice something.
We all have a finite attention span so to focus your attention on gaining access means you’re devoting your focus to gaining entrance.
The primary access channels:
1️⃣ Who you know
Expanding your network online and offline requires you to pay attention to the people who are in a position to offer support or access to something new.
What does this look like?
There’s several ways you can do this.
Here’s how I’ve done it:
👍🏼 I don’t accept every invitation to connect that I receive.
👍🏼 I spend 4 days a week focused on building my network. The other days, I focus on other things.
These two boundaries I have in place are just as important as the work I do within them.
2️⃣ What you know
Showcase what you know online.
Because I know – and I hope you know – that your common knowledge isn’t common, there is a place for you to show up consistently and showcase your know-how.
👉🏼 👉🏼 Consider this:
Name 5 work colleagues/professional friends who do something similar to you.
It’s very likely that you have lots of knowledge in common.
Yet, even in that scenario, you have UNCOMMON knowledge related to:
- Your lived experiences
- Your specialized knowledge in the field
- A class or certification that you attended/achieved
- Your individual interests and priorities
IMAGINE how compelling your knowledge is when you share it with those who aren’t in your immediate circle.
3️⃣ How you know
This is the most fun you’re going to have online. Finding simple and repeatable ways to show how you know provides individuals with the opportunity to build trust with you …
… You in action
… You sharing your stories
… You learning and sharing how you learned
Third Course: Become Absolute to Gain an Advantage
Becoming absolute requires you to:
🛑 Stop comparing
🛑 Stop making long-term decisions based on a short-term outcome (like that rejection email)
🛑 Stop filling in the blanks with information you don’t have
Don’t do the don’ts before you do the dos!
Here are 3 do’s:
👉🏼 Build simple systems
Now that you’ve built your awareness of abundance and devoted your attention to access, falling to the level of your simple systems will keep you from goals that go unfulfilled (thanks to James Clear for the nugget o’ wisdom).
👉🏼 Boast about your achievements
Not in a look at me way – in a look at what my clients/team was able to do – way.
In my experience “I don’t like talking about myself” is code for “I don’t know how to share what I do comfortably.”
👉🏼 Bond with others
To combat the loneliness that creeps into a job search process, bond with others who you can learn from and share encouragement.
Looking for new communities? Ask someone you know where they like to hang out. I’m always surprised by how many communities exist. Some I tap into for a time, and others stick with me long-term. Either way, I give and I get.
Phew! That was a long one, thank you for making it to the end.
What stood out to you as one immediate action you can take? I’d love to hear!
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