Is Your Job Search Strategy a Snore?

As co-coordinator with my colleague, Miriam Salpeter, I am pleased to participate in our first round of posts in 2010 from our community of expert career advisors and resume writing professionals called the Career Collective.

This month’s articles address the topic of helping job seekers transition and make the most of the new year. Please follow our hashtag, #careercollective, on Twitter. Responses from other contributors linked at the end.

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As I lay in bed at 3 a.m., distracted by dear hubby’s snoring sounds erupting in my ears, I realized a correlation between this not-so-gentle disruption and the disruptive tenor of today’s job search.

From unrealistic resume expectations to the run-rampant highways of the digital media highway, the din of multimedia job search in 2010 is, at times, earsplitting.

During daily conversations with job seekers, I often am asked how they can ensure their resume words are heard and spark that elusive call for an interview. This is when the clatter begins, as new-to-the market resumes often are just  regurgitations of laundry lists of to-dos and ‘responsibilities for’ peppered with a handful of percentages and dollars–both ineffective and, well, noisy.

I witness job hunters’ zealous ‘hope’ to hand off  this unfiltered career brain dump to someone to magically push through a chute and out the other end, causing the resume and job opportunity to now miraculously and harmoniously be linked together.

As I navigate Twitter, wander through LinkedIn and tread lightly through FaceBook, I’m often overwhelmed and overcome by the unfiltered content and constant chatter, each voice escalating just a bit to outshine the next.

That said, with a bit of ferreting and organizing of my preferred groups, I also find eloquently targeted conversations. Such elegant conversation is fleeting, however, and like the snoring that disturbed my ears this morning, the constant Twittering, chatting and self-promoting often is distractive and disruptive. For these reasons, I find myself publicly signing on and off Twitter, so as not to be perpetually distracted.

As such, my advice for job seekers to tune up their job search in 2010:

1. Develop unique career lyrics that add value to the social media orchestra. Hone your search goals, then create and share your message aimed at a well-tuned ear. This voice artistry, like a hummingbird to nectar, will attract the right-fit audience.

2. Be somebody with unique talents and problem-solving abilities focused on precise employer needs; avoid the ‘everything to all people’ approach. Tune your instrument to fit within a particular employer’s ensemble.

3. Be proactive. Remember, your resume rhythm must resonate with an employer’s needs; research those needs and adjust accordingly to create a befitting tone. Like stringed, brass and woodwind instruments that coalesce to create a symphony, the combination of your skills with the right complementary environment will ultimately harmonize to help you achieve your goals.

4. Toot your own horn, but not in every room of the social media house. Because you blasted your value on Twitter doesn’t mean you must stream it into LinkedIn and Facebook. Loud and omnipresent doesn’t create a buzz; instead, it creates the buzz-saw snoring sound that drives people away.

5. Stop listening to all the voices. If this means, ceasing to Tweet for a bit, donning your coat, gloves and boots and taking a brisk walk, do it. It’s VERY noisy out there—find your quiet place, refocus and then return to the Internet highway. As well, getting a good night’s rest — 6, 7, 8 hours – is helpful to your staying alert alert, hopeful and energized in the rigorous job search.

Bottom line:  You can control your actions, and ultimately, the outcome to achieve YOUR target goals during the 2010 job search, and beyond. It’s about observing and researching the corporate symphony with which you wish to unfold your music stand. Find your dream company, court them with your career notes and contribute to an  orchestral new year career.

Please read what other Career Collective members are saying:

@KCCareerCoach, Career Chaos, “The Art of Being Gracious: Much Needed in Today’s Job Search,”

@MartinBuckland, Elite Resumes,  Career Trends and Transition 2010

@heathermundell, life@work, Kaizen and the Art of Your Job Search

@barbarasafani, Career Solvers, Looking Into the 2010 Careers Crystal Ball

@resumeservice, Resume Writing Blog, The Resume and Your Social Media Job Search Campaign

@kat_hansen,  Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog, New Year: Time to Assess Yourself and Your Career

@keppie_careers, Keppie Careers, Help for job seekers in a rut

@heatherhuhman, HeatherHuhman.com, Job seekers: 5 tips for making the most of 2010

@DawnBugni, The Write Solution, Ya, but

@ErinKennedyCPRW, Professional Resume Services, Advice to Job Seekers in 2010–learn Yoga?

@Chandlee, The Emerging Professional Blog, Starfish, JobAngels, and Making a Difference

@ValueIntoWords, Career Trend, Is Your Job Search Strategy a Snore?

@debrawheatman, Resumes Done Write, Making the most of a new year

@walterakana, Threshold Consulting, Starting anew – tips for truly managing your career

@careersherpa, Hannah Morgan: Career Sherpa, The Year of the Tiger

@WorkWithIllness, WorkingWithIllness.com, Dogs Can Do It, Can You?

@JobHuntOrg, Job-Hunt.org, Lifelong Learning for Career Security

@AndyInNaples, Career Success, What Are You Getting Better At? Make This the Year You Become the Best You Can Be!

@GLHoffman, What Would Dad Say, A Flash of the Blindly Obvious