Revealed: the JOBSEEKERS UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
Hi, I'm Andrew Barrett
I help people who are interested in health and safety to become more effective leaders.
Today, I want to help you get that job you are after.
PART 1 OF 6
Competition is Fierce
Jobs in health and safety are hot.
I don't mean in a particularly sexy way, more that 'the job market is hot'. More companies are taking health and safety seriously.
Competition is fierce.
The salary is generally pretty impressive.
And the quality jobs have many applicants (even the less desirable jobs have a line out the door!)
PART 2 OF 6
The Fast Path to Failure
When you are job hunting, I'm sorry to say, but each job you don't get, is another failure. Sounds grim, huh?
Failure isn't a bad thing, but it's still failure. Let me explain.
In a job market, we are competing against a bunch of other people, similar people, with similar qualifications, and similar experience, offering similar things.
After all, the job advertisement tells us the kind of person they want, right?
But we can't influence or control who else sits in that chair in that boss's office and has an interview. We have no control over those outside factors which may lead to our success or failure in getting that job.
What is within our control, is who we are. How we show up. What we say, and how we say it.
So when we look, and sound, and show up like everyone else, all we are doing is competing.
And leaving our success (or failure) up to the universe.
Or there is another (better) path. To success.
PART 3 OF 6
How to Effectively Compete for Safety Jobs
The short answer, is don't compete.
Don't compete?!
Yes. Competition is for similar people offering similar things.
The way not to compete, is not be similar.
Be beyond comparison.
Stand out.
(In a good way. A relevant way)
By demonstrating that you have what they want, but never ask for.
PART 4 OF 6
What They All Want But Never Ask For
Before I give you the juicy insight, just pause with me while we think about the recruitment process.
They advertise (or you hear about) a job. You prepare an application, a resume, a cover letter, maybe all of these things. You send that all off.
They will spend about 30 seconds to one minute (if you are lucky) looking at your resume, and their only question is "Does this tell me enough about the person that they meet the minimum criteria to go to the next step".
The Next Step. The Interview.
The Resume is your Ticket to Play. The Interview is game Day.
They already know what makes you similar to the other candidates.
What they want to know now (but never ask), is what makes you different.
Ummmm....uhhhhh....I dunno.....
(Let's try better....)
PART 5 OF 6
The Simplest Way to Be Positively Different
There are lots of things that make you stand out. Make you appear different from everyone else.
Things like your experience.
Things like how satisfied your previous boss/company/customers were with you.
Things like the results you have achieved (not just what you did - what outcomes did you get)
These are things that you need to clearly articulate.
But you can't manufacture (make up) experience, customer satisfaction, and results.
So what can you do to stand out? To show you are different?
The simplest thing you can do is to show how you are continually improving. Always learning. Searching for new ideas, different opinions, challenging knowledge, shared experiences.
That you can hold a conversation about differing schools of thought. That you've seen or heard of ideas and approaches from different companies, industries, even countries.
You will stand out because of the person you have the potential to become, not the person they are buying (giving the job to) today off your resume.
(And the best bit is not only will you get the job you want, you will continually get better in the process, leading to the next job, promotion, pay rise....)
PART 6 OF 6
Take Action: Stand Out. For Free
You can get started today, becoming that learner who stands out.
You can buy books. You can go to conferences. You can go back to study.
But all that costs money.
One of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to get started, is to listen to a podcast. Cheap as in free.
No reading required. (Unless you want to ready the transcript)
Listen on the bus, in the car, on the treadmill, walking the dog.
I've curated a couple of podcasts which have been most helpful to job seekers like you. I hope you enjoy.
But mostly I hope the learning you experience through listening enables you to stand out as the candidate who deserves that job.
Have a listen. Let me know how you go.
All the best, Andrew.
The issue of changing behaviour is ever-present in health and safety, Critics argue the system of work, not the individual, should be the focus.
In this episode, we explore this through the lens of Behavioural Science, and ask whether Behaviour Change is a dirty word in health and safety.
Ever really thought about exactly what our role is?
Or should be?
Turns out that we don't often agree. Getting clear on your role and your boss's expectations will help you be more effective. Listen in to world-first research on this very question.
Any potential boss wants to know that you will be effective. Spend your time on important things.
Trouble is that we don't often know what those things should be.