By Larry Goldsmith, CWDP, P.E.T.
Don’t be like Bill Murray in your job search. Remember that movie Ground Hog Day where Bill Murray woke up each day only to find he was repeating the same experiences over and over again? Are you finding that your search keeps duplicating the same experience day in and day out? Could it be that it is not clear to a potential employer what kind of position you seek? Or maybe it is a lack of clarity on your part in not identifying which skills you are selling? Looking for a job or changing jobs is more difficult when you do not have an occupational title. This problem is compounded when you can not state what skills you offer an employer. Employers will have difficulty figuring out where to place you if you cannot provide them with a job title, or at least a description of the skills you can bring to their workplace.
The point is, “How can an employer match you to a position if they can not identify you by an occupational title or at least clarity of the skills you offer?
You can’t search effectively for a position if you don’t know what you are looking for. When you have a job title, you can more easily write your résumé, search for a position. Learn to talk in terms of occupational titles or skills. One of the most important things you can do in your job search is to identify one or more occupational titles related to the jobs you seek. It may even be okay if you don’t have an occupational title, but you can rattle off at least three skills transferable to that particular company. Sometimes providing skills rather than an occupational title might work better for you because you might be associated with other positions in the company where you might be a better fit. If you can at least introduce a skill set when asked what you want to do, the potential employer will have a better chance to identify where you might help their organization.
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