Five Job Search Myths: Find Your Balance

Articles on job search myths are quite common on the internet, but their chief drawback is painting the world black and white. True, misconceptions about job interviews, job search, and workplaces abound, but concepts do not generate in vacuum. What is relevant is that every concept or myth should be taken with a pinch of salt and one should decide whether a concept applies to a particular situation or not.

	Membership to Hound gives you instant access to over 70,000 employer jobs. Enter your email address below to become a Houndie. Email Address (Used as your profile ID)

As there are few absolute truths in job searches, so are there few falsehoods. What is true in one perspective would be considered a myth in another. Before you read this article, understand the first, mother myth of all: Career guides have the right solution for your problems. They don’t. They can only interact with a jobseeker, try to bring back enthusiasm and confidence, and provide guidance. The jobseeker needs to raise him or herself and make that advice work.

That said, here’s a list of myths about job search, which you need to consider carefully, because they are not universally, absolutely myths, but may be true in certain limited contexts.

1. Cover letters are useless: No they are not. Most probably your recruiter would be from an earlier generation, and from a time when cover letters were mandatory. Even if he/she may not be actually reading a cover letter, it would be expected. Don’t break norms in something as fragile as a job search.
2. Resumes must be single page: There’s no commandment about that in any religion on earth, and like any other tool a resume should fit your needs, and if in certain cases it needs to be ten pages, it can be ten pages. However, the most important things should be covered in the first page itself, and expansions and explanations given later. That said, it does not mean that single page resumes are out of fashion, rather to be able to write a clear single page resume is an art in itself. The main thing is don’t clutter the first page with too much information but draw focus on points relevant to the job applied for.
3. You need to be creative: Wrong, if you think being creative is synonymous with being a deviant and breaking established norms. Right if you think creativity implies application of your mind in intelligent ways within given parameters. Always remember the people who see and judge your resume may not possess the ability to comprehend your intentions if you break norms. Play safe, stay safe.
4. Jobs are found only through networking and connections: Wrong. Networking and connections are great tools, but not the only weapons in the arsenal of a job seeker. In fact in a modern world, you should not depend upon any particular method of seeking work, but use everything you have in a balanced manner. Networks usually operate within closed boundaries, and you might be missing out the wide open world, just by accepting whatever comes first. But then again, nothing is absolute, and your decisions always depend upon your situation.
5. Low salary expectations mean higher chance of getting a job: Wrong, because people always like to bargain down, and recruiters are no exception. As long as you mention your salary package is negotiable, and you can target your expected salary just one or two notches above that paid by the company for others in the same post, you’d be welcome.
   

While the number of misconceptions about job searches is quite high, the numbers of blind assertions are also high. Keep your eyes open, and hope for the best, and remember the recruiter across your interview table may also suffer from the same misconceptions.



 Create Job Alert   |    Email to Friend   |