No One Will Hire Me! Avoid 17 Mistakes and Win the Job (3rd Edition)

Description

ISBN: 978-1-57023-266-4 (13-digit), 1-57023-266-0 (10-digit)

By Ron and Caryl Krannich, Ph.Ds

#5258  It’s the often-heard lament of disillusioned job seekers who lack the will to go on with their frustrating job search – “No one will hire me!”

Misunderstanding job market realities, job seekers make numerous mistakes that frequently result in self-fulfilling prophecies. Two of America’s leading career experts identify 17 key mistakes job seekers make, from failing to articulate goals and knowing one’s worth to improperly using Internet resources, looking for jobs in the wrong places, and prematurely accepting a job offer.

Each chapter identifies a major mistake and then offers analyses, self-tests, exercises, and resources for avoiding the error in the future. The perfect job search guide for everyone, from students, job changers, and displaced executives to ex-offenders and transitioning military personnel. 208 pages. 6 x 9. November 2006.

THE AUTHORS: Ron and the late Caryl Krannich are two of America’s leading career and travel writers who have authored more than 100 books. Ron has authored several books designed for the military, ex-offenders, and others in transition: Military-to-Civilian Success for Veterans and Their Families, The Ex-Offenders New Job Finding and Survival Guide, The Ex-Offenders Re-Entry Success Guide, High Impact Resumes and Letters, Give Me More Money!, I Can’t Believe They Asked Me That!, and You Should Hire Me! A former Peace Corps Volunteer, Fulbright Scholar, and university professor, Ron specializes in developing career, life skills, and education resources for a variety of audiences.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Mother Was Both Right and Wrong!
2. Abandon Dreams and Lack Goals
3. Harbor Self-Defeating and Bad Attitudes
4. Fail to Do First Things First
5. Look for Jobs in the Wrong Places
6. Hang Around the Wrong Crowds and Networks
7. Disregard Skills and Accomplishments
8. Neglect to Deal With Key Employment Barriers
9. Write and Distribute Awful Resumes and Letters
10. Mess Up the Critical Job Interview
11. Fail to Develop an Attractive Pattern of Work Behavior
12. Appear Honest But Stupid or Dishonest But Smart
13. Project an Image of Need or Greed
14. Conduct an Outdated Job Search or Over-Rely on Technology
15. Unwilling to Take Risks and Handle Rejections
16. Fail to Implement and Follow Through
17. Avoid Professional Advice and Seeking Help
18. Resist Changing Behavior and Acquiring New Habits of Success
19. What’s Your Behavioral Advantage?

USER-FRIENDLY HIGHLIGHTS

• Illustrations and Charts
• Self-Tests and Quizzes
• Checklists
• Comparisons
• Myths/Realities
• Illustrative Stories
• Self-Assessment Exercises
• Bulleted Points
• Examples and Dialogues
• Sample Resumes and Letters
• Key Websites
• Resource Sections

PRAISE FROM REVIEWERS

“UNUSUALLY HELPFUL AND MODESTLY PRICED…the print equivalent of a process and resource-rich workshop.”
–Joyce Lain Kennedy, Syndicated Career Columnist, Tribune Media Services

“APPROPRIATE FOR ANYONE FACING A JOB OR CAREER TRANSITION, from ex-offenders to students to transitioning military to dislocated workers. An affordable addition to any Resource Room.”
—NAWDP Advantage, National Association of Workforce Development Professionals

“A SOLIDLY WRITTEN AND EXTREMELY PRACTICAL guide designed especially for intelligent job-seekers who have trouble getting hired because they do not fully understand business culture protocols. An extensive, easy-to-follow, and straightforward information manual on identifying and avoiding mistakes as well as what positive attitudes to project. No One Will Hire Me! warns against such commonplace errors as spending too much time on the Internet and not enough time networking when searching for a job, arriving late in the interview waiting lobby when other personnel may be watching, failing to thank the interviewer for his time, and a great deal more. Highly recommended for serious applicants entering the job market for the first time, as well as those who because of corporate downsizing must re-enter the competitive job application process. No One Will Hire Me! is a must-read for anyone having to adapt to the conditions of today’s job market.”
—Midwest Book Review

SPECIAL QUANTITY DISCOUNTS (Call 1-800-361-1055 to place special orders. Prices given below do not include shipping):

• 5-9 copies, 10% discount – $12.56 per book
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• 50-99 copies, 40% discount – $8.37 per book
• 100-499 copies, 50% discount – $6.98 per book
• 500-999 copies, 55% discount – $6.28 per book
• 1000+ copies, 60% discount – $5.58 per book

What’s your most important asset in today’s job market? It’s your pattern of work behavior. Most everyone, except someone first entering the job market, has some type of work experience. The more experience they have, the clearer their pattern of work behavior.

It’s this pattern that employers are interested in learning about and projecting into their organization. If, for example, you are a very talented writer and have had a consistent pattern of producing award-winning articles during the past 10 years, chances are you will continue doing so in the future.

People Perform, Patterns Predict

Many job seekers go naked into the job market with little self-knowledge about their patterns of performance.

Some rack up a spotty work history of being fired, changing jobs frequently, and performing poorly on jobs because of problems relating to negative attitudes, lack of initiative, failure to listen, errors in work, and insubordination. Some wander around the job market, going from job to job, with difficult and less-than-promising backgrounds.

They require some form of professional intervention to get their lives back on track or resign themselves to a continuing history of employment failures.

As more and more individuals discover each day, their past eventually catches up with them, in one form or another and often in multiple settings. Employers increasingly do background checks, probe references, and require prospective employees to take tests including psychological inventories.

If you have a criminal record, for example, you know it’s extremely difficult to expunge that record; it may follow you everywhere you go, including many minor offenses.

Indeed, nearly 600,000 individuals transition from incarceration to the work world each year with such career-damaging records. Many of them return to prison or jail within the first year. Very few employers want to hire individuals with a known pattern of criminality.

The employer’s goal is very simple: try to predict as much as possible your behavior and performance in their organization. Not wishing to host social experiments, they don’t have time to rehabilitate troubled individuals who believe this time they will do better if only given another chance.

Most people don’t change their patterns of behavior on the basis of wishful thinking or free will. Their patterns follow them wherever they go and then tend to repeat again and again.

Therefore, savvy employers know they had better understand behavior patterns of prospective employees before they put them on the payroll. If not, they may be in for disappointing and disruptive results from individuals who managed to ace the job interview and then trash the job as old patterns arise in the new work setting.

Identify Your Patterns

What exactly do you know about your work patterns? Can you summarize within two minutes what you consistently do well and enjoy doing? Is it an attractive pattern that will appeal to employers?

Individuals who know their patterns of performance are better able to communicate their qualifications to employers because they speak their language.

The best way to identify your pattern of performance is to complete the Motivated Abilities and Skills (MAS) exercise in Chapter 6. By generating data on your achievements and then synthesizing them into skill clusters, you will be able to identify your patterns of performance.

After you’ve completed these exercises, try to develop a list of five positive work patterns that best describe you.

For example, you might discover your patterns approximate some of these examples:

• Takes initiative in quickly solving problems and putting into place permanent systems for resolving future problems.
• Adept problem solver who easily transfers knowledge to teammates.
• Detail-oriented professional who responds to customer needs in a timely manner.
• Skilled in training sales teams that consistently exceed annual sales targets.
• Works well under stressful conditions that simultaneously require multi-tasking and trouble-shooting.

My Major Patterns of Performance

1. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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