Book Commentary: Never Search Alone by phyl terry
❌ Being out of work can be really upsetting.
❌ Getting out of that uncomfortable position as fast as possible is often a priority.
❓ How do we balance the real practical and psychological needs for a job – any job – while still giving yourself the most options to find the best role for you that meets your career goals?
As a career transition coach, one of my jobs is to help people through the process of finding a new role when it is time for them to move on. Most people who are out of work focus first on the need to get the “mechanics” of the process in order: update LinkedIn and resume, let everyone know you are looking for work, and to do it quickly. While the mechanics are important, rushing to this stage often causes us to skip the most important steps and risks a frustrating job search or ending up in a job that doesn’t fit long-term.
In the search for good resources for my clients, I read a book by phyl terry called Never Search Along: The Job Seeker’s Playbook.
This book contains so much practical advice about defining the right job for you, communicating that effectively, networking and interviewing and negotiating to be compensated fairly and set up for success. There’s a website that contains helpful downloads (of forms and templates Phyl recommends) and offers videos and other resources for people looking for a job. Phyl and their organization Collaborative Gain are active on LinkedIn.
I won’t try to summarize the book here. Instead I’ll mention two specific recommendations – Phyl would probably say these are essential:
1️⃣ Never Search Alone. It’s the title of the book! Yes, you should be asking for help. Yes, you should be tapping into your network. Most importantly, you should form a group with peers who are also seeking a job and go through the process together. Mutual support from peers is essential to dealing with the emotional roller coaster that comes with a job search and is a great place to get the perspective you will need from people you can trust – and give back to them at the same time.
2️⃣ Define your Candidate Market Fit and use it as a benchmark for your search. A Candidate Market Fit is short statement that says, in specific terms, what you are looking for that has been refined based on data you’ve gathered about yourself and about the market during the early steps outlined in the book. This approach of being quite specific might seem limiting, but Phyl insists that it’s the best way to guide your process, much better than making general one-size-fits-all statements.
Basic Message: Job hunting is hard, emotional, and uncomfortable. By working with others (peer group, network, weak links, etc.), asking for help, understanding your wants and needs, and bringing in the right perspective
s and information, you will be more successful in landing the right job.