Where are all the Jobs?: Solving the Job Search Puzzle

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Solving the Job Search Puzzle | Career Rocketeer

Link to Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 03:30 AM PDT

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." Charles Swindoll
The supply and demand of jobs are not approaching equilibrium any time soon. There are more qualified applicants than jobs. This started in 2008 and may not change until 2012 or later. Job seekers must be more resilient than ever. They also must look at their job search in new and unique manners.
Although there is no magic bullet to a successful job search, perhaps Alexander the Great offered the right advice in 333BC.
According to Greek legend, an oracle once foretold, to the populace that their future king would come into town riding in a wagon drawn by an ox. Then one day, a poor peasant named Gordius arrived with his wife in Phrygia, in an ox cart. As chance would have it, the people seeing Gordius' arrival via cart, assumed Gordius must be the Oracle's foretold leader and they made him king.
In gratitude, Gordius dedicated his ox cart to Zeus, tying it up with a highly intricate knot.
The Gordian knot.
The Gordian knot was thought to be an unsolvable puzzle. According to legend, Gordius declared the man clever enough to unravel the knot would inherit and rule all of Asia Minor. Hundreds of men from all walks of life attempted to unravel the knot in hopes of earning a Kingdom. However, only one man proved victorious.
It was Alexander the Great.
Although he failed at first, after careful deliberation he tried a unique approach — he swiftly cut the knot with his sword. No one had previously thought to employ such an unconventional method. For solving a challenge that seemed impossible, Alexander the Great inherited the crown.
Networking, elevator pitches, personal branding strategies and well-conceived resumes all make a difference in a successful job search, but for many, there are certainly other strategies to untie the knot.
As the herd is going to the river, perhaps the smartest steer takes a different approach.

Guest Expert:
Ian Levine is the founder of Career Brander. The Internet's first personal marketing portal focused on individuals in career transition. Career Brander's site includes software tools for dynamic job networking, creating resumes, instantly building personal career websites, financial planning calculators, professional business card printing, and proprietary content & links. Career Brander's Job Search Radar, is a robust tool that integrates Hoover's premium content, social networks and web agents into an effective career transition platform. You can read additional personal branding and career articles by Ian Levine on the Career Brander Blog.