Tip For Job Seekers - Strategies For a New World Order Post Covid-19

GETTING A JOB - Recently ABC Founder, Simon Collyer was counselling a friend who has not had a job in over eight years. The person in question never buys any airtime and calls people and hangs up expecting them to call him back. This is an irritating habit, but it is a clear indication, that though this individual has convinced himself he is trying to get a job and making no progress…in reality, he is trying much less hard than he thinks. 

What counts on your CV as you get older is; what you have achieved recently, especially in the last ten years. What you did education-wise (in my friends’ case forty or fifty years ago) gets less important the older you get, except in certain special situations. What you need to show is how you have; added value. 

Too many job seekers are thinking about their needs when they go for a job. What you need to do is to put yourself in the employer’s position. 

If you have nothing current to show, going for a job where you lead in with your CV is not a good idea. You can still do it, but do not rely on that as your only strategy, that is a very sound piece of advice.  

If you use job boards, you will be judged on your CV which is likely to be rejected by software long before it even gets human scrutiny. To review 150 CV’s is a huge job. The way to get a job is to approach companies and seek out the unadvertised job market. It requires focus and effort and you will have to sell yourself. 

The suggestion Simon made was to aim to get a less glamorous job and build yourself up, or do some volunteering, and get something recent on your CV. Simon suggested cleaning is a large growth area in this current pandemic. Not much glamour in that occupation most would agree and Simon's friend was incandescent..he had A-levels in computer science from years ago he said and the idea of him being a cleaner was rejected outright. Cleaning, however, is an ideal job, you can do office cleaning at night and leave the daytime free for more job searching, it does not require training and qualifications or a lot of mental resources. Firstly though, people need to get into the work habit. 

In the video below psychologist Jorden Peterson explains the way to tackle a boring mundane job is not to do the very minimum you can get away with, it is to try as hard as you can. To arrive early for work and not dash straight out the door at finishing time. In between to work as hard as you can as long as you can.

If you do that, Jordan argues, you will start to be recognised as a grafter. You will start to earn more. If not then move jobs he says, however, never quit without another job to go to. 

Some staff when reprimanded by a superior for being lazy - for example, say they are leaving in a few months to escape the pressure - inevitably they find themselves getting laid off and a month or a weeks’ notice. If you are planning to leave never announce it in advance. 

Madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result according to psychologists. Yet, how many people bash away with the same approach looking for a job? 

Successful people are pro-active. Obstacles are there to be overcome, they are not permanent barriers. 

Do not fight this war [to get a job] with the tactics of the last war – the world is different today. 

In the world of IT, companies can take on young IT graduates, fresh out of university. The average salary a graduate earns around £22K. Someone my friends' age in his late fifties needs to show career progression, the taking on of more responsibility. Training and learning and up to date skills and experience, plus a mature attitude.  

People, in the end, are a collection of attitudes and habits. Hard work is a habit. You can train yourself to work hard. Simon explains this in the ABC talk, Human Potential. 

Image: Warren Buffet.

Warren Buffet. American investment guru explains there are three things to look for in an employee:

• Intelligence
• Hard Work, and
• Integrity

Intelligence - Regrettably, some people are simply so stupid they cannot learn anything, fortunately, these people are few and far between. The more you learn the more you earn goes the adage. You do not get a fixed quota of intelligence. Your intelligence can be expanded and there are different types of intelligence. The human mind organises itself over time and Ray Dalio, manager of the world largest hedge fund talks about systems. You should develop systems over time, and these can be written down. Recently at ABC, we bought a car and found its true value was double what we paid for it. So now we have a system for buying cars. In computing, this can be called an 'algorithm' a mathematical and logical sequence. You can develop systems over time and refine them, even for job searching.  

Hard work - There is no substitute for it. Some people want success, but they are frequently not prepared to work hard consistently over a long time. Lazy people can suffer from mental health issues, depression and alcoholism or drug abuse. Depression is anger turned against oneself. People know they are not trying as hard as they could sub-consciously and they start to feel guilty. Salespeople sacked for laziness can feel this inner guilt. The way to tackle finding a job is through massive action. To succeed by really trying, harder than you have ever tried in your life. People who are still unsuccessful can at least feel good about themselves, they will not blame themselves in the way the lazy do. My friends’ condition has become that of the person who sees the glass half empty… Nothing will ever work out in his mind; he is a victim of a cruel world that has singled him out. Rather than suffer the pain of failure his way of dealing with it is to do as little as possible to avoid disappointment, thereby this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Like an alcoholic, people like this want to move somewhere else, but alcoholics frequently move because they want to leave themselves and their past behind. The only way out in reality is to change yourself from the inside. To throw yourself into the task of finding work and to take on volunteering, anything – to get busy. When reviewing CV’s of university students, we picked those who were the most active. Who joined clubs and societies? Who had a track record of being active? It pointed to a lively mind and an abundance of personal ENERGY. 

Integrity - Lots of young people…especially those who go into business try and cut corners and find a quick way up the mountain. Life is a long-distance race and your reputation, and how you treat people, will affect your life’s outcomes, assuming you do not die young. If you get given company expenses, treat them with respect. You will be watched like the bank manager who gives you your first overdraft or loan. Did you rush to spend it and live at the bottom of your overdraft permanently or did you use the money practically and sensibly? Did you meet your loan repayments? Bankers use the ‘C’ word - it stands for character. Build a reputation for being trustworthy and reliable. A person of their word. In the long run, the doggy characters who seem so promising heading for overnight success – in our experience, they crash and burn...so above all else preserve your reputation and good name. It is your most valuable asset. 

Every time someone meets you, they are judging you. Businesspeople get judged by the company they keep. So do a 'friend’s' audit and get rid of those who could be a liability. Simon shocked a room full of 16-year-old schoolchildren suggesting this, but avoid negative people and steer clear of those who seem to be permanently unlucky. 

In the end, you become what you think about. You can never manage others till you can manage yourself. Learn to control your finances, your vices and your relationships with others and be prepared to organise and plan for the future. The people who succeed long term are the ones who look ahead and not just live in the moment. 

ABC Note - Simon Collyer and the ABC are bidding for funding to train Millennials is has been joined in his bid by Reed Global. This is a first for reed Global according to their communications department. Simon will be resuming his Human Potential talk in schools as soon as it is safe to do so. 

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