7 mantras for successful job seeking

There was an excellent article in Saturday's Guardian, looking at the differences between successful jobseekers ("Aces") and the rest ("Chasers"). The whole article is here, but since this situation applies to many of us I thought it would be worth summarising the key points.

The seven mantras that the Guardian's researchers found make the difference are:

1. I will think more positively
Throw the self-pity, bitterness and cynicism overboard. They discovered that Aces were over 60% more likely than the Chasers to have been very optimistic about finding the role they wanted.

2. I will be more pro-active
Looking for a job is a job in itself. Aces were more likely than the Chasers to register for job alerts and upload their CVs on job sites. Aces were 25% more likely than Chasers to use five or more sources to find a job. And they also used recruitment consultancies to a greater degree.

3. I will milk my friends and family for contacts
Get over your embarrassment and put that "friend in need is a friend indeed" saying to the test. More than two thirds of Aces rated friends, family, word of mouth and networking as useful, compared to just under half of Chasers. As the Aces are generally more optimistic and motivated than the rest, it's possible networking may well also have been used to better effect by this group.

4. I will speculate
He or she who dares wins when it comes to off-piste job-hunting. Aces are over 50% more likely to send speculative applications to prospective employers. And this method is obviously working for them. Almost half of Aces found speculative applications useful, compared to only a quarter of Chasers.

5. I will be decisive
How will you convince employers of your decisiveness if you can't even make up your own mind what you want? Another differentiating characteristic of Aces is their decisiveness in determining exactly which organisations to consider. They were more likely to be specific about potential employers and have more of an understanding of what they would be like to work for.

6. I will do more
Improve the odds on finding a job by cranking up your output. When the researchers first spoke to them, Aces applied for more jobs than the Chasers. One month on, they'd applied for an additional eight, again more than the Chasers. Aces had an average of two interviews when they first completed the survey and another two, one month on. Almost two thirds had applied for their job directly to the employer, and a third via a recruitment consultancy.

7. I will embrace the digital age
The web is the jobhunter's best friend. Aces are twice as likely as Chasers to use social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Myspace. Aces are also more likely than Chasers to read blogs written by current employees of potential employers, and to see if their employer of choice has a presence on their favourite networking site.

We're all different so the same approach isn't necessarily going to work for everyone, but I think this is good advice and worth taking on board.

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This just in: while registering with jobsites is good, registering with Monster might not be quite so good, now that hackers have stolen the personal details of 4.5 million UK users. Watch out for those dodgy emails!