REALITY 1: This is the "form versus substance myth" developed and perpetuated by some career counselors as well as leading career writers during the past two decades. They have been more concerned with promoting a job search philosophy - which emphasizes process skills - than with urging more job generation, the development of work-content skills, and relocation. It reflects a disturbing preference for style and image rather than substance and performance in the work-place. This myth was most likely a reality in an industrial society with low unemployment - the 1950s and 1960s - or in certain high turnover service sectors requiring low level skills - the 1980s. But it is a myth for the post-industrial, high-tech society of the 2000s. In a society that requires more and more highly skilled labor, knowing how to find a job is not enough to get a good job. Getting a job in such a society also requires that (1) jobs be available (job generation), (2) individuals have the proper mix of skills to perform those jobs (work-content skills), and (3) individuals be willing to go where the jobs are located (relocation). While it is extremely important to learn job search skills, these skills are no substitute for concrete work-content skills, job generation, and relocation.
FINDING JOBS
MYTH 2: The best way to find a job is to respond to classified ads, use employment agencies, and submit applications, and mail resumes and cover letters to personnel offices.
REALITY 2: This is one of the most serious myths preventing many individuals from finding a good job. Many people do get jobs by following such formalized application and recruitment procedures. However, these are not the best ways to get the best jobs - those offering good pay, advancement opportunities, and an appropriate "fit" with one's abilities, goals, and values. This approach makes two questionable assumptions about the structure of the job market and how you should relate to it. The first assumption deals with how the job market does or should operate:
Assumption #1: There is an organized, coherent, and centralized job market "out there" where one can go to get in-formation on available job vacancies.
In reality no such market exists. It is a highly decentralized, fragmented, and chaotic job market where job vacancy information is at best incomplete, skewed, and unrepresentative of available job opportunities at any particular moment Classified ads, agencies, and personnel offices tend to list low paying yet highly competitive jobs. Most of the best jobs - high level, excellent pay, least competitive - are neither listed nor advertised; they are uncovered through word-of-mouth and learned about during the process of networking. When seeking employment, your most fruitful strategy will be to conduct research and informational interviews on what is called the "hidden job market - a loosely structured network of employers and job seekers who exchange job vacancy and hiring information.
The second assumption deals with how you should relate to this job market:
Assumption #2: You should try to fit your goals and abilities into existing vacancies rather than find a job designed around your strengths.
This may be a formula for future job unhappiness. If you want to find a job fit for you rather than try to fit yourself into a job/ you must use another job search strategy based upon a different set of assumptions regarding how you should relate your goals and abilities to the world of work.
MYTH 3: I know how to find a job but opportunities are not available for me.
REALITY 3: Most people don't know how to best find a job. They lack marketable work-content skills to communicate their value to employers, or they look in the wrong places where jobs are not being generated. They continue to use the most ineffective methods - responding to job listings, sending resumes, and contacting employment agencies. Opportunities are readily available for those who understand the structure and operation of the job market, have appropriate work-content skills, are willing to relocate, and use job search methods designed for the hidden job market Networking is the key job search strategy for penetrating the hidden job market
MYTH 4: One should not network in a case where there is an advertised vacancy and an employer requests a resume or completed application form.
REALITY 4: Networking should especially be used in the case of advertised job vacancies. If you only complete an application form or submit a resume, chances are nothing will happen. You must take additional action - a telephone call or a personal visit - to assist your application. Such forms of networking can help your application and resume stand out from the rest.
RESUMES AND NETWORKING
MYTH 9: One should network rather than use resumes and letters for finding a job.
REALITY 9: Networking is no substitute for the more traditional means of communicating your qualifications to employers - resumes and letters. Again/ confusion often arises over the purpose and role of both resumes and networking in the job search. During certain stages of one's job search, resumes and letters must be written and disseminated. This occurs - after identifying one's motivated abilities and setting an objective - and before networking. At the same time/ resumes and letters play an important role in the networking process. The resume, for example, should be presented at the very end of an informational interview for the purpose of receiving advice on how to improve its content as well as for summarizing your goals, experience, and qualifications. You will want your networking contact to refer you and your resume to others who might be interested in your job search and qualifications. At the same time, you must write different types of letters - referral, cold-turkey, and thank-you - as part of your networking campaign. To conduct a job search or engage in networking activities without a powerful one or two-page resume, or without using referral and thank-you letters, is simply foolish. Always keep copies of your resume close to you. You never know when you will use it as part of your networking activities.
