There is no "Passion Fruit"
By Dan Puleio
You sit back with a pleased smile on your face. Your resume is finished, it’s a “masterpiece” and finally ready to go! Moments later your satisfaction is replaced with the nagging question that you have tried your best to put out of your mind, “Now…what do I do with it?”
A lament I often hear from individuals pursuing a job search is, “Who do I apply to? I need to be ‘passionate’ about my next job and, frankly, I don’t have any target companies that I am passionate about!”
The fact of the matter is that most job seekers do not have a “passion” about the companies to which they submit their credentials. They may have followed a few in the various media and may be intrigued by what they have seen, but those few are quickly exhausted from their meager “Passion Fruit Inventory”.
The vast majority of companies hold no passion whatsoever for the job seeker and, therefore, the contact requires a bit of gamesmanship. The job seeker states, either verbally or via cover letter, how excited they are about joining the organization (and maybe personalizes the communication with some choice news item that the reader or company is proud of). Add a brief “by way of introduction” biographical sketch and, lastly, tie your background into the reason why the reader should be interested in you.
Your current materials should present you well…as a sharp and focused individual, proud of your many successes and looking for the next opportunity to excel. (Implied in those words is that the reader’s life will be easier, more productive and profitable by having you on their team.)
Either the job seeker initiates a personal follow-up, or a company rep will call/email you based on something in your background that caught their eye. Please note for the record that follow-up greatly increases your contact rate.
Any glimmer of “passion” for the job that may be offered only begins to become apparent once meetings start. Only then do you begin to see, first-hand, what the challenge is, evaluate the corporate culture and the type of folks with whom you will be working. By way of an analogy, you gotta’ be in the store to judge the fruit!
Over the years many job seekers have confided in me that they spend seemingly endless hours staring at the computer screen, hoping that rays of enlightenment will emanate forth to show them “the path”. I know its human nature, but I also know it doesn’t work. The computer, and the Internet, is a tool in the job search, not the entire solution.
The only thing that does work is getting your materials out “to the world” in a professional manner, and getting out of the house or office and meeting people…all in pretty large numbers, regardless of how you “feel” on a given day.
Okay Dan, you made your point, but company passion aside, can you give me some suggestions on how to target my market? Who is going to be that lucky next employer?
Good question! In evaluating who is in your market, to present yourself, consider such factors as your primary and similar industries, the company size or environment in which you prefer to work, companies experiencing change in general and the geography of your job search. These are simply factors to consider. Rarely will a company meet all your ideal criteria. Remember, the goal of this exercise is to come up with a large number of targets. Avoid the “mind game” of questioning whether you would be passionate about working with them if an offer was made. That question can be resolved later, after the job interviews!
I encourage you not to be “penny wise and dollar foolish”. It may be wise to invest the equivalent of a few days pay to shave weeks or months off a job search by purchasing a quality subscription, targeted company research or professional assistance services.
Once you have built your list, go for it and don’t look back! The time for self-doubt is over. Pardon my humor, but I can’t help conjuring up images of the “good guys” charging over the hill and into the heat of battle in any number of adventure stories. Their decision has (obviously) been made. The good news is that there are no spears, arrows or bullets flying and you will live to fight another day!
About the Author:
Dan Puleio offers 20 years "hands-on" experience as a recruiter, career coach and employment offer negotiator. A principal with Your Life-Your Career LLC, his proven systems get job seekers into the "game" quickly and cost effectively. See www.yl-yc.com for more on Dan's approach.
