Strength for the Job Hunt: Create a Bulls Eye

The Bulls Eye:
Job hunting is often ‘all-or-nothing’, wherein at the end of the day the hunter feels like he has failed unless he has hit the bullseye and landed a job.  Any other outcome for the day, from the number of applications filled out to the number of interviews participated in to how many employers met with is met by the sad reality that he is still not working. 

An exercise from an earlier chapter has the hunter making a list of different actions that are part of job hunting like writing resumes, meeting employers, etc.  Next the hunter draws a target with concentric circles (see the diagram below) and places “landing a job” in the center or ‘bulls eye’. 

Outside the center each succeeding circle represent another type of action needed in the hunt.  Below is an example of what I mean.   

Your role is to help the hunter appreciate that at the end of another long day he has worked hard and should celebrate the work achieved in the day and the parts of the target hit that day. 

Making It Work:

Put together a new target for your friend to use.  First make a list of the different types of work he can do toward landing a job.  He may already have made his own target but by making your own it shows you understand the different parts of the hunt and his new way of facing them.   As you build the target, think of the different circles you can help with.  In writing resumes or practicing for interviews consider what you can do to promote movement and showing that you
are part of the solution.   

Don't Leave Home Without Your Cheeseburger Voice

When you are talking to that employer... use your Cheeseburger Voice:

A job hunting basic is the tone quality of your voice. On the long days when you are facing more rain than sunshine, your voice can start to wane and you lose the impression you have tried so hard to craft.

Present yourself as ambitious and having the courage of your convictions (remember from the employer's Oz Factor*) but you do not want to cross the line into obnoxiousness where they call security to haul you out. Reach down deep and use a voice you have used countless times and say confidently that I know what I want and I do not plan to leave until my concern is addressed.

That is your cheeseburger voice.

For a moment remember the last time you ordered a cheeseburger (soyburger, taco... whatever works

best for you). Here you are walking up to a stranger with confidence in your stride and you are saying
that you want a cheeseburger and will not leave until you receive one.

This tone is effective only when you know what it is you want - - a meeting with the person who can

offer you the job. Walk in with a goal for the day (see “building your bulls eye”), be assertive with a
voice you have known was inside for years. And no, they will not have to call security on you.

This tone is also important to remember when the day is cloudy and you may have lost part of the

spring in your step. Your goal and your cheeseburger voice are the keys to showing respect and
assertiveness to get there.



* = Follow this blog to learn more about the Job Hunting Oz Factor

Welcome to Job Hunting Flight School

Find that job and move toward your future.  First get taht sense that you will never again face that sense of being stuck in your job search.  More on this later.