January Discussion: Are you applying for the correct job?

[Michaela]

January Discussion: Are you applying for the correct job?

Wayne Gretzky once said that “You miss 100% of the shots you never
take”. When applying for a job, my motto is “You can’t take a shot if
you’re not even in the game”. If you apply for 100 jobs you’re not
qualified for, your chances of be offered employment does not
increase. It’s not only discouraging; it’s a waste of time to apply
for a job you don’t meet the qualifications for. Looking for a job
is hard work. There is no need to add extra work if it won’t amount
to anything.

Although it’s important to look for career growth when applying for
jobs, it is even more important to calculate whether the job you’re
looking at is a reasonable fit or a shot in the dark. To increase
your chance of being invited to interview, the following are four
basic questions to ask yourself before you apply to find out if this
is correct job for you.

1) Are the qualifications asking for education and/or experience that
are nowhere in your background? If the title is for a Registered
Nurse and you have no nursing experience or education, you should not
apply for the job. Many positions are covered by union, civil service
or HR manual regulations that require candidates to meet specific
competencies before they are invited to interview. These competencies
may or may not be advertised on the job announcement. Nine times out
of ten, when a hiring authority looks over your application, it’s
about what you’ve done and not what you think you can do.
2) Is the location a reasonable distance for you to commute to? For
the most part, working from home is not an option when starting a new
position. Not everyone is up to making a one hour commute five days a
week. Before you get too excited about a job, take into consideration
where the job is located and analyze if this commute is reasonable for
you. I once hired an employee that was ecstatic about the job and had
scored higher than any other candidate interviewed. They were offered
and accepted the position. A week later, that candidate resigned. As
a manager at that time, I asked them what I could do to convince them
to stay. Unfortunately their response was that they loved the job but
couldn’t handle the 90 minute one-way commute. Not only did I need to
look for a new employee, he also needed to find a new job closer to
home.
3) Are the job duties aligned with your strengths and interests? Not
all jobs are alike and not all titles reveal the true job duties.
Make sure you read through the entire position description to see if
the job duties and the position’s goal equal what you are looking for
in a career. I recently recruited for a higher level engineering
position and interviewed a candidate who was very qualified. However,
when asked to produce a sample of their writing, the candidate
mentioned that they did not enjoy writing. The position required
weekly detailed reports and projects and results. The candidate,
although impressive, would not have been happy in this position.
4) Is the pay scale acceptable? It doesn’t have to line up exactly
with your current salary but if it’s not a livable wage for you, it’s
not the right job for you. The same is true for the opposite end of
the spectrum, if it looks too good to be true it usually is. If
you’re currently making $38,000 a year and you see a job advertised
for $150,000 a year, the chances are you are not qualified for this
job. I spoke with one candidate who applied for a recent job I had
posted. Their previous experience was perfect for the job and they
had the “go getter” mentality that the hiring authority was looking
for. The only problem was that this job paid around $20,000 less than
what she was currently making. She convinced herself that she could
survive on the advertised income and made it all the way to the
interviews before she withdrew her application. Although it may have
been her dream job, the candidate came to the conclusion that she
wouldn’t be happy in any job if she was constantly worrying about
money.

Regardless of the economy, technology advancements have guaranteed
that you can view thousands of job openings at the click of a mouse.
CareerBuilder.com currently has more than 4500 jobs open in the State
of Washington. Reading through these job announcements to find which
ones are a good fit for you can be draining. These questions are
designed to help you efficiently sort through position descriptions to
see which ones are best fit for you. Remember that that a good self-
evaluation stems from a good resume. It's there, through writing down
your skills and experience, that you’ll see where your career is
headed. If you’re having trouble creating or looking to spruce up
your existing resume, take a look at our December Discussion: Start
the New Year with a new resume.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at any
time.

Michaela Favre
360.705.6932