I am trying to get a job and keep failing. What am I doing wrong?

We are often asked what a Position Ignition guide does to help a jobseeker.  We have also come across many questions and challenges that individuals go through.  We will therefore be creating a set of blogs around these key questions.  We will focus on a question that one of our guides has been asked and then follow it with some questions our guides have responded with to help jobseekers clarify their thoughts and move forward.  If you have experienced a similar situation you might find these posts useful.  The reasoning behind each question that our guides pose is explained - to help you with your thinking and progression to where you want to get to.  This is the first blog of this type. See what you make of it!

So the key question is: I am trying to get a job and keep failing. What am I doing wrong?

Guide Question 1: How are you actually going about trying to find this job?

Guide thoughts: There are two fundamentally different ways of finding a job: targeted, where you go for a particular opportunity you have identified: and general, where you look for any opportunity. The problem with a general search is that the way most of us do it is to hand our CV to a third party who we then rely on to find us a job.

These third parties are websites, recruitment agencies or headhunters. The way they operate is to process your CV in some way and then add the data to their (usually huge) pool of CVs. When a request for a candidate comes in, they search their stored CVs using key words to find a list of those who might be able to fill the vacancy. We believe that’s a terrible way to treat you and your employment experience and capabilities. You are much more than just as a series of key words. If you’ve gone this route, it may be why you ‘keep failing’.

At Position Ignition, we feel it’s much better to target your search. That gives you control over your destiny. Working with a Position Ignition guide, you construct a strategy for a job search, then go out and implement it.

Guide Question 2: How clear are you about the job you are seeking?

At Position Ignition, we believe that potential employers are seeking one key quality in those they employ. It’s authenticity. They are looking for someone who really wants to do the job they are offering, actually has the experience and capability to do it and will add something valuable to their organisation. To succeed at interview, you have to be absolutely clear about the job you are seeking, in the sort of organisation you want to contribute to, at the right level. Unless you have this clarity, it’s unlikely you will communicate successfully at interview, and you will tend to fail to get jobs.

Working with a Position Ignition guide will help you get that clarity. Once you have that, your success in job interviews will increase greatly.

Guide Question 3: Are you trying to get a job, or make something more of your career?

A career is like a staircase. As you climb, you are able to see up a couple of stairs higher than where you currently are. In your case, are you trying to climb the staircase with this next job? If you are, are you aiming high enough, or are you looking for work to tide you over for the moment? The latter is not bad, many ‘careers’ are formed out of temporary jobs and assignments. Again, being clear about what you are doing, will help you be more successful, and working with a Position Ignition guide will help you achieve that clarity.

Guide Question 4: Do you really keep ‘failing’?

Any job search involves looking – not just finding. ‘Failing’ – that is, not getting the job you have applied for – is all part of the process. ‘Failing’ to get jobs shows that you are out there, trying to get jobs, and unless you do that, you are never eventually going to succeed.

However, we believe that’s it is also important that you make the most of the process of ‘failing’. Are you using your failing to improve your chances of finding your next job? Working with a Position Ignition Guide will help you use unsuccessful job searches to refine your targeting, improve your CV, and gain added clarity on what you want.

That, in turn, will lead to your ultimate success in your job search.

If you would like to set up a discussion with one our guides you can contact us at: enquiries@positionignition.com and we will get back to you asap.  Or see more of what we do here.

If you don't currently want to work with a career guide, or it's not convienient for you at this moment in time, downoad our How to Get the Job You Want eBook for plenty of helpful tips, strategies and advice for finding your ideal job.

Comments

[Amorita Maharaj]

Finding the right job to suit you isn't an easy task at all. We all have struggled with it one time or another. I personally struggled for nearly 10 months before I was even offered an attachee job after securing my degree. A positive attitude will take you a long way and you must keep in mind that there are thousands others looking for a secure job with the best pay as well. Something great will come along surely - We just need to have hope!