The Difficulties and Frustrations of the Job Search
3 Ways that Men and Women Tackle it Differently
For decades, women have struggled to get into the board room, make the same compensation and have the same career opportunities as men. Most men and women will agree that women have great analytical skills, leadership skills and can move an organization forward, as well as any man. In fact, if you ask most professional women, “Are you just as good in business as a man?” You will get the adamant “Of Course! We are better.”
Whether men and women both have great education, track records in business and leadership skills, the bottom line is that men and women are still “wired differently” physiologically.
When it comes to a job search, it is obvious that the “wiring” can cause significant challenges in a woman getting the job she wants. Can a woman “overcome the wiring?” Absolutely, but we must first be aware of that “wiring,” so that we can “flip the switch.”
- Women by nature will not brag about what they have accomplished. Men have no trouble bragging and telling you how great you are.
Sample Question: Can you give me an example of your project management skills?
A Man’s natural reply – “I put together the entire plan, got the right people in place and launched. It was a great product launch and I drove the entire project to completion on time and on budget.”
A Woman’s natural reply – “The team is amazing. We all work together extremely well and really get along great. The culture in the company is wonderful and we can really make things happen for the company and our clients.”
- A man and woman’s natural thought process on rejection after an interview is different.
A Man’s natural tendency - If things don’t go as planned, men will at first blame the interviewer, hiring manager, HR person or recruiter. Men will say, “I could do that job better than they did. They didn’t even know what they were doing.”
A Woman’s natural tendency is to look internally, “What did I do wrong?” and then the proverbial, “What’s the matter with me?” These questions can cause a woman, after months of rejection, to spiral down and feel like there really “is” something wrong with her. This can affect her job search.
- People have always laughed that men don’t stop and ask for directions and that women will. When it comes to “changing” their resume in a job search, men and women react differently.
A Man’s natural tendency – To believe that he is the expert and that he knows what is best. Even when he does get input from colleagues or recruiters, he will sift through the information and then decide which comments bear merit and make those changes.
A Woman’s natural tendency – Woman are consensus builders. This is one of the reasons women make great leaders. In a job search, a woman will ask 8 or 9 people about their resume and change the resume every time, thinking that everyone else is the expert…except themselves. After all these changes and no change in the result of her job search, a woman will be totally frustrated and again think there is something wrong with her.
These are very general statements about men and women, but the fact remains that because the “wiring” is different in the genders, the “natural” tendencies during a frustrating job search can surface quickly. When a woman can use her “natural” tendencies as a guide and not the main driver, she can mentally flip that switch and have a better chance of beating her competition in her job search.
I want to know more about taking back control of my job search.
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