Need a new job in Norway?

Last week I received a call from a Senior Director for a company here in Norway, focusing on career guidance and job seeking courses. He wanted to congratulate me on the results we have had with The unique interview course, DUJSK. Nice of him I must admit but then again it isn’t me he needs to congratulate but the participants themselves.

To be fair, he didn’t just call me to congratulate. He also wanted to hear more about how we have achieved such great results (his own words) with DUJSK. Once again, this time with a smile, I had to say that it isn’t me who has achieved these results but the job seekers themselves. It didn’t take him long to understand my way of thinking and he decided to change tactics with a new questions: “Erik, why do the job seekers attending your DUJSK course achieve so good results? Finally, a reasonable question / comment I thought to myself but at the same time, I couldn’t give him a specific answer. The information I sit on becomes somewhat sensitive considering he is a competitor, so I answered in the manner of a politician or any other person that is good at giving vague answers that doesn’t answer the questions. “There are many reasons why those from DUJSK achieves good results but first and foremost they understand the importance of being themselves throughout the process. As soon as you enter the A4 text box that so many experts try to put you into, you have no chance” I continued. I couldn’t see him nodding (you can`t really when on the phone) but I was still pretty sure that he nodded in agreement. He quickly realised though that he wouldn’t get anything more from me. I jokingly suggested that he could by DUJSK for 5 million NOK and thanked him for the chat. Perhaps I will receive a big check in the post by the end of the week hey?

Having had the chance to think about the reason behind why so many from DUJS have secured new positions I finally discovered what the key reason behind their success (apart from the fact that they understand the importance of being themselves), and this “key reason” I will share with you today. HOWEVER, when I say “key reason”, this does not mean that you will secure a new job if you do as I say but it may at least open your way of thinking and perhaps give you a better approach towards the end goal: A new job.

Let us assume that 90% of all job seekers in Norway spend most of their active job seeking time on the following:

Finn.no | NAV.no | Job adverts in newspapers | Speaking to family and friends | Recruitment Companies

Yes, that is five channels one can use in order to secure a new job.

Let us also assume that 90% of all job-seeking courses focuses on these channels of securing a new job.

We do not have to be a great mathematician to then realise that most job seekers in Norway spend most of their active day by focusing on these five channels.

Perhaps five channels is enough? Perhaps all job seekers and job seeking courses are correct in assuming that one should focus on these five channels? The answer is simple: No, No and another No.

I can easily think of well above 30 channels one can use in order to secure a new job. Here are some of them:

LinkedIn. Perhaps the most likely channel in which you will get a job but yet so massively under used here in Norway. With LinkedIn, I don’t mean that it is enough to have a good profile. No, you need to learn how to be seen, how to take advantage of its great functions and of course, you need to use it every day.

Facebook. Same as with LinkedIn in many ways, but perhaps even more effective. If there is anyone willing to help you in securing a new job it is your friends, and your friends you tend to be connected to on Facebook. Therefore, isn`t it somewhat strange that people are more bothered about posting pictures of their dog, sun tanned legs or dinner then actually asking people for help in terms of finding a job?

Twitter. Same as with LinkedIn and Facebook.

Blog. We have read a fair few stories from people having created a blog and thus “blogged themselves to a new job”. Why more people don’t do this I don`t know. It is free, it is easy and probably a lot of fun too.

Industry related magazines. Believe it or not, here in Norway some companies only advertise in these type of magazines and don’t use finn.no or nav.no.

Industry related organisations. Perfect way of building a new network and as we all know: The larger network you have, the bigger chance of finding a job.

Conferences and exhibitions. Kind of the same as with industry related organisations. Here you can build a network and meet interesting people with similar background to you.

Open approach. With this, I certainly do not mean an “open application”. The latter is a big no no. I mean that you can set up meetings with companies that you have an interest in but not as a job seeker but in order to simply learn more about them and their products / technology.

Organisations. Let us assume you are a member of an organisation with 200 + members. Have you ever thought of checking each individual members LinkedIn profile in order to find out if they can be relevant in terms of you finding a new job?

Kids activities. If you have kids, it is highly likely that they are part of some night-time activities such as football, ice hockey, scouts etc. Have you, as with organisations above, checked out the LinkedIn profile of those other parents who have their kids in the same activity groups as you kids? Perhaps they too could be relevant in terms of you finding a new job.

Holiday. I met a Welsh man on holiday a few weeks back and after a few beers with him one night he told me he had lost his job. I informed him I had a good contact back in the UK who could help him. I received an email from this Welsh person yesterday and let us just say that by Monday next week there is one less unemployed person in Wales.

I think that will have to be all for now. Perhaps you now have some more work to do that will lead you to a new job. Who knows, maybe this has you thinking and maybe you can come up with other “non-standard” ways of securing a new job. If so, I be keen to hear from you. I am one of them “experts” who doesn’t view myself as an expert who knows it all and always open to learn new tricks in terms of the job seeking process.

Before I go, I have to stress the following: As a job seeker, you MUST use all channels available to you in order to find a new job. One should never and one could never, in advance, say where the job is going to come from and thus the best way forward is to do everything. If you can do so, well then you have a great chance of securing a new job.

Best of luck

Erik Falk Hansen

For more posts in English and / or Norwegian, follow my blog on www.erikfalkhanseniogs.com