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I read an article on CNN that shared stories of discouraged job seekers who halted their job search. It was clearly evident that several of them were making similar, common blunders. Below are the job search mistakes you do not want to make during your career guide search.

Flood the Market with Your Resumes

How many times have you heard these stories? “I applied to 700+ jobs and only generated 0-2 interviews” OR “I spend 4 hours a day using the Internet to put my profile and information out there.” Obviously if you are applying to hundreds of jobs, some of them are not ideal or relevant and suitable for you. Also it takes time to apply to online job postings including customizing your resume and cover letter for each career guide position (if you are doing this).

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If this is the job search strategy you are using, you also need to find a way to get in contact with company insiders. You need to locate current employees (at the companies with openings) to serve as your advocates and deliver your resumes and cover letters directly to the hiring managers. If this is not possible, you can identify the appropriate hiring managers and mail and email your resumes and cover letters directly to these individuals. You could also call them and request informational interviews. Once you establish rapport, you can then inquire about the potential job openings.

Not Using your Network

It’s important that you take advantage of job leads you receive from friends and others. Most importantly, you should use these individuals and your network to get referred or introduced to the people who could hire you. Do not make the mistake that one of the job seekers in the CNN article made. She believed that job leads from friends would generate similar results as online job postings. Likewise, she did not take them too seriously.

This is one sure way to turn off individuals who are trying to help you. Even if these individuals supply you with unsuitable job leads, they know people who could eventually connect you with hiring authorities. As a result, thank them for their leads and ask if they can open up their networks for you.

Stop Your Job Search

Most importantly, you do not want to halt your job search. Instead you should ensure you are performing the most efficient and impactful job search activities. Also do not try to justify halting your job search since another activity could be taking up to 40+ hours a week of your time. There are 168 hours in a week. So let’s assume you spend 50 hours a week volunteering and sleep 8 hours a day. There are still 62 hours left for you to perform other activities and conduct a smart job search.

Remember, the wisdom of a crowd is greater than the knowledge of a few. So participate in JobRadioUSA’s career community and entice others to do so as well.

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