Nagging suspicion: The kid who gets through school by copying friends’ homework grows up to be the job hunter who has trouble finding a job.
The reason may be that they’re the sort of people who seem to be sitting around waiting for jobs to land gift-wrapped in their laps.
Looking for a job requires more than circling some want ads. It involves research and personal contact. It involves going to the library, getting on the Internet, and talking to people in the industry or in the target companies. It requires focusing the job search to best match personal abilities and experience with target jobs–not firing scattershot inquiries at all advertised openings.
Human resource departments and hiring managers in small companies say they’re burdened by calls from obviously unqualified job candidates who have done nothing to research the job and assess whether they’re likely candidates.
Employers are looking for workers who have some basic smarts and the initiative to use them. Job hunters who expect someone else to look in the phone book for them aren’t exhibiting those desired traits.
It’s often said that job hunters’ best resources are people who know them and the quality of their work. If former co-workers remember someone as lazy or content to let others take up the slack, there’s little chance of job recommendations.
Do your own homework. It makes for better students–and better job candidates.
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