One of the people I’ve interacted with professionally over the past few months suggested my job search would be enhanced by a book called Never Search Alone. The idea is that when you’re on job search, the most important thing is your mental health and that’s best supported by others who are also looking for a job.
I bought the book, put it on my bookshelf and forgot about it.
A month later, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, I was talking with a friend I’ve known for decades. He mentioned having job interviews that week. I was incredulous. As far as I knew, no one hires during the holidays and certainly not during that three-day (for most office workers) week.
He said he’d had better luck getting interviews since he started using a process described in a book called Never Search Alone. I didn’t need to hear it a third time.
The first thing that impressed me is that the Never Search Alone process begins with joining a small group of job seekers. This is called a Job Search Council, or JSC, and they’re usually 4-6 people, all of whom are looking for work. They pool their knowledge, troubleshoot for each other, and keep each other’s morale up.
Second, I was impressed by this job search organization being free. It’s an international organization at this point, but it’s completely volunteer run. Never Search Alone was written by Phyl Terry who developed steps to help you figure out what you want in your next job, what you have to offer your next employer, and what the market is currently hiring for.
Third, it impressed me that the process includes looking at what the market is currently hiring for. By figuring just what jobs/industries are looking for your skills right now you make your resume completely appealing to a specific kind of employer. I’ve never done that before. This is what gets so many followers of Never Search Alone jobs they’re really happy with.
In each meeting with my JSC we work through a chapter of the book. So far we’ve made lists of what we want, what we don’t want, our strengths and our weaknesses. Next we talk to former coworkers and others to get a clear picture of what we do well and what we could do better. We also get ideas about what kinds of jobs/industries are looking for people with our skill set.
Yes, asking former coworkers to tell me what I could have done better makes me a little nervous, but it is valuable. I’ve done a couple of these discussions and while hearing about my strengths (some of which I didn’t know about) is good, hearing about what I could change feels like gold. Those things I will definitely work on!
Next week, I’ll speak with my former supervisor. Sure, it’s scary to ask your former boss what you could have done better, but I know it’ll be worth it (the process doesn’t require you to talk to your former supervisor. I’ve chosen to).
But however intimidating or overwhelming the process is (including the stress of not having an income), it’s so much better to do it with a group of peers who quickly become friends. We support each other through every exercise of every chapter. We’re there for each other when someone gets an interview request they’re unsure of, or when they need to draft correspondence and don’t know where to start.
ID 49136559 Sergii Gnatiuk dreamstime
And because we stay in touch between meetings (on Slack), I have a group I can bounce things off of all week long. I don’t repeatedly text the same few friends with my incremental job search developments and wonder why they don’t respond. Instead, I have a group that’s eager to hear about the minutiae of how this process is going for me, and I’m always ready to respond to how things are going for them.
The greater Never Search Alone community also meets and stays in touch. There are various Slack channels for different steps, including one for announcements of people finding jobs. I love that channel. It reminds me that people are getting jobs, it will happen.
I’d never heard the term “silver medaling” before, but it refers to someone who makes it through an entire job interview process, all the way down to being one of two considered, but doesn’t get the job. The world is full of silver medaling stories, but with Never Search Alone, I hear about the silver medalers who get the gold.
ID 49136164 | Gold Medal © Sergii Gnatiuk | Dreamstime
Sounds like an excellent community! I’m glad to know it exists.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks!
Very nice and I like your positive energy!
Thanks!
I’d never heard of this book, but the concept makes so much sense! I will keep it in mind for others on the job search.