Last month, while walking in the magnificent Central Park in New York City, I saw a man taking a picture. As you can see in the photo I took of the man (to your right), it wasn’t that he was taking a picture that was striking, but HOW he was taking it — on his back, on the ground, pointing the lens up at the trees. His tripod (if that’s what you call it) covered his body like some sort of shield.
Clearly, there was something significant he wanted to capture. (It didn’t look particularly special to me — just leaves and the sun shining through.) Regardless, he was willing to go all out to accomplish his target photographs.
“Ah ha!” I thought. “THIS is a blog post.” Have you tried approaching your job search from a different angle? When is the last time you turned your focus a bit and thought about how you could do things differently?
Do you ever stop and think about the hiring manager’s point of view, for example? Do you ever read books or blogs written for recruiters or hiring managers? Do you know what they are thinking? What they say they like? Do you consider how your resume and other application materials may or may not appeal to them?
Maybe you’re too busy writing your resume all about you, when you really need to re-focus and write it focusing on the touch points making you qualified for the job? Are you looking backward (metaphorically) in your application materials, when it’s time to turn around and look to the future? Your resume needs to be about that future — it’s not a historical diatribe; it’s a marketing document. Focus it on your NEXT opportunity, even if it means you need to look in a different direction to do it.
Have you thought about applying for different types of jobs? Maybe “your job” doesn’t exist anymore; your field isn’t hiring. It may be time to look at your career from a different direction. Avoid being linear in your thinking; start exploring new opportunities and options. Maybe that includes working for yourself or branching out into a different field altogether. The first step is being willing to look at things from a new angle.
Are you letting people around you dictate your direction (where you’re looking)? This is often the case for young people, just starting out in their careers, but I think it is pretty common for more experienced workers, too. It’s too easy to hear the voices telling us to follow (or stay on) a certain path, when we may be happier looking elsewhere.
Are you looking at the writing on the wall, but ignoring it? Give yourself some credit. Stop and think about your plans, your goals. What are you doing to accomplish them? How can you turn your lens and re-focus your search to help you accomplish your goals?
(For more inspiration from NYC, you may enjoy “Are your perfectionist tendencies helping or hurting you?“)