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Job Hunting – If only Albert Einstein was alive today

by Paul Mullan on November 22nd, 2009
10 Comments



I wish Albert Einstein was still alive today as I know most jobseekers would listen to him. As much as I try to inspire creativity and invention in job search I fear that many jobseekers gravitate back to the same routine, tasks and approach. This is insanity but you don’t have to believe me. According to our friend Mr Albert Einstein insanity is defined as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Unfortunately most jobseekers define insanity as moving out of our comfort zones and trying something different, creative or god forbid even risky.

Your results never lie….

To release the brakes on the wheels of change you must be honest with yourself and accept what is not working. You have to realise that you are not helping the situation by burying your head in the sand. If you have taken previous advice you should be recording your job search activity so your results should be obvious. It is clear what is not working so accept your results and let this feedback drive change.

So how do I change Paul?

Since we are on the topic of change let me offer you a different approach. Start talking to successful business people, company owners and entrepreneurs. This will offer a different perspective but an important one – remember these people implement many relevant strategies on a daily basis. These people embrace change, they are open to new ideas and they take risks. You have to realise that job hunting is all about sales and marketing especially in this tough job market. It’s about understanding your product, identifying opportunities and targeting these opportunities. It’s about creativity, visibility and differentiation from competitors. Business people are experts in these principles. I always maintain that 10 years running my own businesses delivers as much value to jobseekers as my knowledge about job hunting and the job market.

The traffic lights have just turned green – GO!

If you are not getting positive results in your job search then there is no risk trying something new – you don’t have anything to lose. If you try something different and mess up you are no worse off because you never had the job and you still don’t have it. I would rather look like a fool trying something new to get different results. In a weird way I take comfort when I mess up or make mistakes as it means that I am trying, taking risks and out of my comfort zone. So remember Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity – “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.



Category: HR and recruitment

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The Author:

Paul Mullan is an experienced career and outplacement professional with 14 years experience working within careers, outplacement and recruitment in the UK & Ireland. He is a former owner of Eden Recruitment and founder of career firm Measurability in 2006. Paul has delivered outplacement programmes for many leading organisations and ran graduate career workshops for leading third level institutions. He has worked with many individuals helping them define and achieve career goals through creative approaches to personal marketing and job hunting. Paul integrates traditional strategies with new Web 2.0 strategies to deliver optimum results. He is known for his up to date, creative and friendly approach to delivering career solutions. Paul is a recognised career professional regularly commenting on career related topics in the national media. He has acted as Career Doctor with Irish Independent and he is currently an online career expert with RecruitIreland. http://www.measurability.ie

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  • http://www.domybooks.ie Ralph Smith

    Great post Paul, In my experience a lot of job seekers aren’t making a serious effort to gain employment.There is an attitude that there’s a recession and they’ll never get a job which of course is untrue.

    I’ve also received some dreadful CV’s over the past few months.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Ralph for the comments.

    Even in this tough job market it is important to maintain a positive attitude and approach. If things are not working then try something different.

    P

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  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Agreed! :)

  • Tori Hawthorne

    That’s so true Niall,

    It is brilliant Niall, twitter introduced me to you ;) Its the moving it forward that takes the time and skill. Everyone is so determined to have Social media as part of their Business Plan they need to be sure they know how to get a return on the time spent Tweeting and Facebooking ;)

    Thanks for your comment Niall

    Tori

  • Steve Fitzpatrick

    If you’re making statements like “it has become apparent that businesses and consumers alike find it horrific to do and horrific to receive.” Then businesses really need to think about how much they are annoying people – more than helping them. Cold calling could be damaging your business more than building it.

    This whole article seems to be written about how businesses who are doing well using new mediums shouldn’t throw out old redundant ways of selling. Perhaps in your next article you may want to write about “increasing market share by paying for a much larger ad in the Yellow Pages for the 10 people left reading it”

  • Torihawthorne

    Hi there Steve,

    I am not for one minute suggesting Businesses that are doing well using new mediums should drop them for what you are suggesting is old and ‘redundant’
    This is about adapting methods that traditionally worked (and still do when done correctly) to working within a new faster paced environment… 

    Business and customers alike have difficulty with Cold Calling because some of the aggressive manors and approaches that cold callers have decided to use in recent years. Cold calling isn’t redundant it has evolved into Business Development, which is something that I know many still do.

    And It isn’t that Cold Calling doesn’t work this is about remembering that we still need to move from initial contact to meeting prospective clients. As I stated in this and the last blog post, this is Business Development that is still needed. I know many small Businesses that cant afford a small advert in the Yellow Pages (or similar), let alone a large one! So they chose Business Development calls. I am addressing the point to go about it correctly so it isn’t ‘horrific’.
    Thanks so much for your comment…

    Much appreciated
    Tori

  • http://twitter.com/virtualvip Jeff Yablon

    You’re missing a key point here.

    Regardless of the point of your cold call (and I’m limiting that term to mean “picking up the phone to reach out to a stranger”), it’s become nigh on impossible to get to people that way. Even people you know don’t pick up the phone any more.

  • Torihawthorne

    I believe calls are being answered. Businesses are afraid to miss possible business opportunities. The point here is we need to gain the skill set to make Business Development Calls and how to receive them. We have to get their attention and that’s where a good online plan can help taking prospects and making them sales.
    Thanks so much for your comment
    Tori

  • http://twitter.com/virtualvip Jeff Yablon

    Tori, your point is well put; to be good at sales you need to actually BE good at sales. But … I’m afraid I disagree with the base principle. Seriously, think about it; we ALL say “email me”, and only answer the phone live if we think there’s something in it for us (and rarely do)

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