A new book entitled The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business looks at the power of habit in business success. Ad managers long ago discovered the importance of changing habits – and how doing so could ensure their product’s viability.
At the heart of a habit, explains the book’s author, New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg, is cue, routine, and reward. Not exactly rocket science, is it? But it’s a powerful series of steps that take something from what might only be an occasional action and turn it into a regular process.
What’s the first thing you do when you turn on your computer? For many it used to be checking email, or your favorite news network. Now maybe it’s spending a few minutes scanning Facebook or Twitter. Whatever it is I can almost guarantee you follow a pretty similar pattern when you open up your Mac or turn on your PC.
What about your job search? If you’ve decided it’s time to move onto a new position, do you have a predictable routine you jump into? Probably not – while more people are job searching now than perhaps ever before in recent memory, few have gone through the process enough to develop habits for success.
But, just like a New York Times best seller tells us there are habits of highly successful people, there are also successful habits for job seekers – active or passive. And the best ones involve Duhigg’s habit forming process of cue, routine, reward.
If you’ve been job searching for months, you might scoff at job search habits, which may seem more like a gimmick than anything. But I can tell you from interacting daily with job seekers, those that move from the sidelines to the office form predictable and effective habits in their job search. They include following a similar routine for reaching out to potential employers as well as dedicating daily time to networking.
A perfect example of a job seeker habit is also one of my favorite pieces of advice for active job seekers – keeping “office hours”. What does it mean? Well, you get up, get out of your pajamas and if you know what’s good for you, find a coffee shop to spend a good part of the day actively looking for jobs, rewriting your resume and perhaps networking with colleagues. This is a personal favorite tip because it gets you out, gives you the possibility of networking (especially if you go to the right coffee shop), and it gives you the reward of a good cup of Joe, to top it off.
- Cue – You’ve been sitting at home far too long and desire getting out to network.
- Routine – Getting out of the habit of getting up, putting on business attire and going to work can be a real drain on motivation. If you ever find yourself out of a job try to keep your workday motivation going.
- Reward – For me, the coffee alone would be enough, but perhaps a good conversation, a nice pastry, or the fresh air will do it for you.
There is a real method to the madness here. If you’re looking to get a job in the defense industry and live in the Washington, D.C. area there are at least three Starbucks in Crystal City, Va. – hit up any one of them and you’re bound to run into people in your industry. They’re not likely to offer you a job on the spot but they might have a great tip about new contracts or departments looking to hire.
Note: I’m NOT telling you to go to the local watering hole and put up a sign at your table that says “TS/SCI engineer looking for new job.” Please, don’t do that, and don’t ever mention your security clearance in a public location. It’s dumb, and makes you look silly (the Cleared Network is still the only secure online network for making connections with vetted companies). But getting out of you house and considering your job search a job in and of itself is a great habit for successful job seekers.
This is just one example. Effective job seekers will tailor habits to their industry and personality. Whether it’s a regular method for re-writing resumes to the best times to network with recruiters, it’s good to get in the groove of setting job search habits.
Have any personal career development/job seeker habits to share? I’d love to crowd source a list of the best advice!
Lindy Kyzer is the editor of ClearanceJobs.com. She loves cybersecurity, social media, and the U.S. military. She is very much a creature of habit and always orders the same thing at restaurants. Have a conference, tip, or story idea to share? Email editor@clearancejobs.com.
