The First Job in Your Job Search

Will anyone want me? Will anyone need what I have to offer? Will I be able use my talents and skills? These are the kinds of questions that come up when we start looking for a job. What most of us don’t realize, however, is that “they” really do need us.

The press is oh so fond of focusing on the numbers and percentages of unemployment – and this repetition of gruesome statistics can demoralize even the most dedicated job searcher.

The deflating result is that we begin to think, “How will I ever get the kind of job that will fulfill me?”

The Opposite Problem

Consider this. There are tons of unfilled jobs in this country. The challenge is to put the right people, with the right skills, into those jobs.

Sounds easy, right? And, in this age of computer databases and 1/10th-of-a-second Google searches, what could possibly be the problem? Obviously, technology is the answer, right?

“Putting Folks to Work”

Well, maybe not. Say hello to Michelle Diaz. Her job is, as she herself describes it, “putting folks to work.” She doesn’t work for the government. She’s doesn’t work for a non-profit. She works for a company that actually makes money putting YOU in the right job.

Michelle is the Regional Vice President for Spherion Staffing Services. She covers four states and any number of local offices that generate 75 million real live American job-placement dollars.

Motivational Job Hunting

The way Spherion makes its money (and keeps its investors happy – look for SFN on the New York Stock Exchange), is to help employers match the right people to the the right job openings. This matching process, it turns out, is only partly about skills.

When we talked to Michelle, she told us:

“We can interview for skills, but the right match is mostly about getting to the bottom of the question of motivation.” 

And, guess what, it turns out that computers just aren’t all that good at plumbing your true motivations. It still takes people like Michelle, and the folks who work for her, to do that.

Don’t Beg Uncle Harry

So, if you are looking for a job, before fixing your résumé, before buying a new suit and even before calling up Uncle Harry at the factory, you need to get your head on straight.

What you need to know is that there ARE jobs and that companies ARE looking for you. You just need to find the right kind of agents who will not only match your skills, but also get to the bottom of your motivations.

That’s what we liked about Spherion. They “put folks to work.” And that has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Editors Note: As always on this blog, we do not accept referral or affiliate fees from any of the companies or resources we write about.