The Job Search Guide          

By Project Success    

Today’s topic is jobs!

Before we go any further, I would like to make something clear: In Project Success, we encourage self-development and self-fulfillment. Despite the common misconception, a “good job” is not the solution to your misfortune or unhappiness; a job is limited to external conditions and dimensions which are defined by the employer. Usually the dimensions will not fulfil the common person’s potential and desire as it is restricted to the needs and conditions imposed by somebody else. We in Project Success stick to the belief that our goal in life is to feel satisfaction and joy in every single moment in our lives and help others get the same experience. Of course, I am talking about the average person and some exceptions do exist; It is possible that some people feel satisfaction in every moment of their working day and that is excellent, they just found their goal in life, however sadly these are only the rare cases. Typically, the average “John” will get up every morning to go to work just because he has to, meaning he needs to make a living, not because the job is any fun. I would guess, the typical person would have skipped work had he believed he doesn’t need the money. Saying that, I do believe that a job can be an integral step in our self-development in order to fulfil our god given talents. Bearing this in mind, we should always consider our personal development before taking a new position.

I define a good job as a position which fulfil the following conditions:

1. Monetary compensation- The monetary compensation should be high enough to sustain ourselves and to exercise an investment plan. I.e. After the deduction of our cost of living, we should have enough money to invest in our financial freedom. Notice that I don’t define a good job by an abstract amount of money which is earned, but by the investment potential considering our lifestyle.
2. Workload- The workload should allow us to engage in other constructive activities. Such activities should always involve learning. Don’t forget, project success is all about an efficient self-mental growth, if this endless goal cannot be achieved, then there is no use in the first place. I would assume that a good job will allow, the least, to hear some audio material (like audio books) while working, and won’t be too exhausting so the person will be able to follow his self-development plan in his off-work hours. Notice that even a security guard position can be a great opportunity to listen to audio books, or even read a book during dead hours. Of course, please don’t mix “free time” and illegal working habits; Using our employer’s time for our self-use is exactly like stealing, as we steal resources, in this case time. However, if the workload permits it, like in case no assignment is available or it is possible to study while working, then I highly encourage you to follow these activities. While searching for a job, above salary, the workload plays a major role.

Notice that I didn’t mention “enjoyment” as a part of a good job. The reason for that is, that a person, who is constantly in a self-development process will always enjoy the things he does in life “The doer” * as he is always in a process, and consider the job as another step for something better; a world where he creates and helps others to further create amazing things with their talents. For this individual, it should not be a big deal to enjoy any job he does, as long as the compensation fits his investment plan and workload requirements. Take for example, the garbage man; that person can always listen to learning material and plan in his mind, his future business/activities while completing the assignment at hand; he doesn’t care about things like prestige, since he doesn’t care about how others see him, rather he knows how he observes his future self in his mind, and this is a great feeling”.

The technique

After defining a good job, lets dive straight to the guide. I would like to offer you a guide based on an efficient technique to find this kind of a job*.

Obstacles which must be overcome

Preliminary Steps

I assume that at this step, you have already completed your official professional education or training (however never forget, real education never ends!) and chosen the right country to reside and work in. The following are the preliminary steps:

1. Positions list- Our first assignment is to compile a list of possible positions which are feasible for us and will fulfil the two conditions for a good job.
2. CV and Cover letter- The next step is to create a flexible CV and cover letter (notice that in some countries a cover letter is not required). Our goal is to adjust these two with small wording changes for every application for every field. The best way is to create multiple application templates for every possible application combination. Once we are ready, we simply choose the right template, change the wording regarding the company’s name and its specific traits (field, size, history etc.) and move forward.
3. Job search engines- The assignment here is to compile a list of job search engines, usually around three such websites will suffice.
4. Search Keywords- For the last preliminary step we should compile a list of key words for search, this should be any possible combination of words which might be included on a position title and description.

The Technique

The main idea of the technique is to apply the rule of large numbers for our advantage. As always, everything relates to the idea of abundance and possibilities. Suitable positions for our likings are always available in numbers. Thus, our assignment is to apply to those as much as possible. We should always consider the possible obstacles on the way like unsuccessful interview, HR failures (like failing to forward your credentials, bad judgement, etc.), high competition, personal conflicts, etc. Thus, a huge number of applications is essential in order to enjoy a statistical edge. Always remember, at the end you only need one success in a good job prospect in order to achieve a good job.

The Application

Using our gathered tools in the preliminary steps, we should apply daily in our jobs search engines using all the available combinations of our key words. You should expect to apply to approximately 20 different positions a day, five days a week, and in total 100 applications a week. The application process should be very efficient, and by that, I mean the following: The minimum time possible should be invested reading every job ad we see, and the the decision whether to apply or not should be instant. At this stage facts like the size of the company, salary, organizational structure, culture, size of the teams, etc. are irrelevant, our goal is simply to apply and increase our pool of possibilities as fast as possible. In time will you improve your job search efficiency and reduce the time spent on every ad. Remember, later on you can always reach the decision to reject the job offer, or not even apply to the initial interview, but the important fact is to let you have the decision and not anybody else. This the abundance mentality at its core; with a good job search technique you will be invited to a lot of job interviews and eventually receive multiple job offerings. Once the decision was reached to apply, follow the application requirements (will be stated in the ad); usually it means sending your CV, cover letter and letters of reference from previous employers. After completing the giving process, you should expect feedback from every application after a maximum of two weeks. If no answer is given, or a negative one, don’t worry, a lot of opportunities are there and nothing in this market is ever personal, you should just keep on applying till the very end, until a job contract is signed by both sides. If everything is successful, you will be contacted and invited to a job interview. In the long run, you should expect around 3-4 interviews per week meaning a success rate of 3%-4%! Again, this is a numbers game, and the numbers are there.

The Interview

Once an application meets the criteria of the employer, you will be invited to an interview. Usually, the invitation will be made in two forms: An email message or a phone call from HR. In both cases it is essential to express your full motivation and availability to fill the position. This step should be made even if you are not completely sure yet whether you are interested in the position. Remember, up until we sign a contract, our job is to create opportunities and options; we want to reach the situation where the last decision is exclusively ours.

Content preparation

Once the contact was made and a date for an interview was scheduled, it’s time to prepare ourselves specifically to the interview. Up until now, we worked generally on getting interviews. Now it’s time to convince our possible future employer. Our first assignment is to gather some fundamental intelligence. I would suggest to read thoroughly about the company and create a sheet with the following information: The size of the company, the field of the company, the corporate structure, information regarding subsidiaries and parent companies, year of establishment, famous customers (if applicable) and products. After gathering this content (or any other not mentioned interesting facts), we should add some questions for the interview; either areas in the company which might interest us or some artificial questions. The questions are important as it will impress the employer by appearing as a candidate who shows a big interest. Artificial questions are themes which not really interest us but can still create a good impression. Such questions can be: the plans of the company for the future, corporate structure, team structure, latest events in the media (for startups this can be about a new financing round) etc. Our next task would be to add our relevant personal qualification and answers to typical questions to our sheet. This personal information should include our relevant qualities, our experience and our motivation reasons. Remember, when talking about ourselves, we can always come up with infinite number of ways to express our motivation and adapt our experience to the given job opportunity, it’s always up to you to be in the right mindset and be prepared to think creatively about the presentation of your story. Finally, we should be prepared to take this preparation sheet with us to the interview.

After the content is ready, we should become familiar with it; we should simulate an interview in front of the mirror while answering the questions and speaking eloquently multiple times a day.

Mental preparation

This is the last step before attending the interview. A mental preparation is not a one-time thing, but a development stage. I would suggest to use meditations and mental control techniques. However, if no meditation experience exists, I would suggest to exercise deep slow nose breathing while maintaining positive thoughts (like what is good about life and gratefulness) multiple times a day (like once you get up and once you go to sleep). You will notice that in time constructive thoughts tends to come to your mind, in this step, always think positively by finding solutions to your problems in life (whatever they are), these solutions will come naturally without effort after a couple of days of training. The mental exercises should also be done a short time before the interview. For more information, please refer to our meditation guide series*.

Interview Logistics

Once we prepared ourselves to the interview both mentally and content wise, should we plan our logistics; Our goal in this step is to bring ourselves physically and mentally to the best possible shape to the interview and provide our best effort. Our goal in this stage is to arrive prepared and seemingly effortless to the interview. Remember, an arrival which is stress-based will always be reflected one way or another in the interview and will decrease your chances. The best method is to calculate the time needed to final arrival and add extra time for orientation and relaxation. If the address is located in an unknown location, I would suggest to plan an extra hour after arrival. This should cover possible orientation mistakes and mental preparation. In other cases where the location is known, I would suggest to plan a 30 minutes extra time. Once we arrive, depending on the time, our first goal is to locate the building. Once the building is located, based on our remaining time, will we take the next steps. We want to be inside the building on our way 10 minutes ahead; this timing will cover last possible failures but will not seem to be too early. Thus, any arrival earlier than 10 minutes gives us some more room for relaxation. If the remaining time is significant, we can find a local coffee place and have a drink, go to the toilet, relax, have another mental preparation session or just do a final repetition of the interview content using our preparation sheet. On the other hand, in case the remaining time is only a little more than 10 minutes, I would suggest to take a walk while reading our material and performing another mental preparation session. We should calculate the remaining time above 10 minutes and divide by two; this should be our small trip time back and forth. For example, let’s say we are standing 20 minutes before the interview in front of the building; i.e., we have another 10 minutes for our disposal and five minutes for each side. Hence, we can start walking and after five minutes turn back. Using this method, we will come refreshed, on time and in our best mental shape.

The interview- What to expect

A typical interview is usually based on three steps in a flexible order and at some instances, additional competence test**; You are required to speak about yourself (self-presentation stage); the position will be described (description stage) and a concluding questions stage will be offered. For us, the deciding factors will be the self-presentation and the ending questions.

Self-presentation- In this phase you are required to elaborate the details in your application. You are expected to talk about yourself and will be asked some relevant questions on the way. Sometimes the questions are friendly and sometimes it may not seem that comfortable to answer. Remember, we tell a story, and thus everything can be answered properly with enough experience and patience. Your job is to minimize the surprises by preparing yourself properly. But even when the unexpected happens, you can always find a way out with a good attitude and mental preparation. With enough experience after multiple interviews, possible solutions will come instantly to your mind. In general, it revolves mainly around experience; the more interviews you attend, the more variety of questions will you encounter, and thus you either prepare yourself every time better to a richer pool of questions, or you improve your ability to improvise and answer properly.

Description- At this stage the interviewer will tell you about the company and the position. Your task is simply not to blow it up. I.e., you need to listen attentively, maintain eye contact, smile and think positively. Your goal is to make the other person feel comfortable, and plan your questions.

Questions- At this stage the you are required to ask questions that interest you. Now you should use the relevant questions from the preparation and the new questions from the description.

After the three stages are completed the interviewer might discuss the technical details of the position. This is only formal and should not affect the overall result.

After all is set and done, my last assignment is to congratulate you!

* For more information I encourage you to read: “End Game” by Leigh Louey-Gung, and our material regarding meditations and goals in life.

**Notice the qualification tests, it’s your job to prepare yourself to any assessment test. Project Success will offer a guide for that!