Needle, Meet Haystack

We’ve all got our own routines designed to help us maximize our time and become more efficient.  And there are many methods to chose from.  Unfortunately, there are lots of counterproductive things that many people do without realizing it, creating problems for their careers, job searches and personal lives.  Here are five of them.

1. Using job boards.  Recently, Dan Schawbel wrote a post in which he discusses why using job boards is not practical.  And while it’s true that the amount of people hired from online applications has gone up considerably (I recall a figure from six years ago citing the average as 6%, Dan cites 12%), a lack of responses from employers, potential subscriptions and all of the problems that they entail, the odds of your application even being seen and dozens of other problems make job boards a time-waster.  Instead, try some of Dan’s suggestions, which include the most successful method that leads to employment: networking.
2. Using social networks poorly.  There are many articles and websites dedicated to the abuse of social networking sites.  Whether it’s a lack of self-censorship, not using privacy settings or general stupidity, a lack of concern for one’s personal brand through social media can lead to a host of problems.  But if used properly, the sites can be a great boon to individuals and businesses.
3. Forgetting social barriers.  Web 2.0 has made people more informal with each other, but the degree to which casual relationships are used is becoming absurd.  Sure, it might be fine to friend someone you sat near at lunch in 7th grade but never talked to, but playing on your social networks without an established interpersonal relationship is never a good idea.  What’s even worse is treating one’s superiors and co-workers in a non-professional way.  Not only does it lower the respect others have for you, but it can do damage to your reputation and personal brand both within the company and outside of it.  As unappealing as it might seem, show respect and restraint for others at the office, and if it helps, pretend that there’s a generation gap to blame for this.
4. Forgetting how to plan.  Communication in the modern world is instantaneous.  Internet and cell phones have made almost anyone available for contact at almost any time.  But a lack of foresight when it comes to scheduling can cost you dearly.  Try going low-tech and prepare your agenda days or even weeks in advance.
5. Ignoring history.  If you turn on the news and listen to the discussions about the economy, you’ll find a lot of comparisons to earlier economic downturns.  So shouldn’t this foresight have helped prevent the current slump?  And if you’re having trouble finding work or with a project that’s similar to a situation that you (or others) have been in before, shouldn’t you be using that experience to make your current problems more manageable?  As much as we’d like to think that things are always new and exciting, there’s usually enough patterns and repetition that exists to help us come up with a solution without reinventing the wheel.  So if you’re stuck in the present, don’t forget to take a look in the past before you stretch yourself too far into the future.

Sure, there are lots of mistakes that thousands of people unwittingly make every day.  But with a little self-awareness and planning, you won’t be one of them.