The traditional employment marketplace preaches that there are special job hunting skills you must develop before you can seek a job. Skills like writing a great resume, answering the Top Ten Interview Questions, and how to shake hands in the right color suit.

Meanwhile we, as recruiters, are busy learning exactly what work the client needs to have done, and what work skills the perfect candidate needs to demonstrate in the interview. In numerous presentations I try to emphasize this point; To get the job you want - learn to think like an employer. Seeing things from their viewpoint is like your secret weapon.  I have seen tremendous candidates not get hired because they failed to realize what was most important to the employer. Check out our employer articles, search for articles on the company  and check out their competition.

One big caution here - don't make a career out of getting a  job. With the capabilities the Internet provide as well as the traditional avenues it is easy to lose time and momentum by surfing the career boards constantly for openings or rewriting that resume -one more time. If this is you, you are just avoiding the issue and waiting on whatever life throws you next. Be assertive, be proactive and take control of your career.

The Tools you use to "Get a Job" are not normally the same tools you use "On the Job"
Employers don't pay for job hunting skills and resumes don't get offers - people do. What you have probably been taught is to research a company, tailor your cover letter, polish your resume. Get the Interview! To a small degree this is true, the tools you use at this phase are designed simply with the end goal of getting an interview. Looking at the broader picture though; why waste time and energy pursuing an employer that can't really use your skills much less offer your career any  growth opportunity? Hopefully you have already abandoned the "shotgun" approach of mass resume mailings, (just hoping that one will hit) in favor of a more targeted effort but lets' dig a little deeper in the tool box.

A better way.
Identify employers that need your work skills. Find out who exactly: the specific industry, then the exact companies, and finally the specific manager. If you're good at your work, talking to the relevant people will be easy. You have everything in common with them. Find out what exactly are the problems, challenges and opportunities these employers are facing. Follow these steps, and you'll be talking with the right people about the right job.

If you're good at your work, you can be good at interviewing. The kinds of interviews where people get hired are ones that are about the thing you are already very good at: your work. What you need to bone up on is the problems and challenges the employer is facing. Then you can appropriately apply your work skills to demonstrate how you're going to handle them. 

Review your work skills, and answer the only question that really matters: What can you do to help this employer succeed?

Think that takes more research? Absolutely right. Do what the we do: talk with other employees at the company, talk with the company's vendors and even its customers. Figure out what the work is all about before you interview.

Employers pay us as recruiters for solutions, not for crisp resumes and clever chatter. So, we make sure our candidates specifically targeted to the clients needs and are prepared to "go live" in the interview and more importantly - do the job. That's the tool that helps get the job offer.