Too often, highly qualified job seekers, like PhDs seeking their first non-academic jobs, sabotage their own job search process. I'm no psychologist so I won't delve into the reasons why. Instead, I'm sharing some behaviors common to job search self-saboteurs.

If any of them apply to you, please take a step back, think through what you're doing and why, then seek a different way forward. Speaking with experienced career coaches, or PhDs who've been where you are is a great starting point.

1. Limiting your network to your close and recent connections. Your immediate, current connections usually run in the same circles as you, and have access to the same information as you. Unless you expand beyond this circle, you will waste time without generating new information or uncovering new opportunities.

Do this instead: Reconnect with 25 people you haven't spoken to in ~3 years. Create a plan of how many people you will reach out to each week, set aside a few hours each week for 1 on 1s (live or virtual), then take action. If the conversation goes well, make sure to ask for 2 new connections you should speak with.

Never ask for a job in a networking session. Only ask for information (e.g., about the industry, their roles)

2. Blending in instead of standing out on the strength of your unique experience and skillset. I recently had the opportunity to hear 25 postdocs tell me their stories. Every single one of them said, "Hi I'm ..., I'm a postdoc at ..., my research is ... jargon, jargon, jargon" Could I tell any one of them apart from the other? No, I couldn't. So how will an interviewer, who has a full time job to get done, bosses to answer to, teams they are responsible for?

Do this instead: Take the time to identify your personal motivation, your drivers and values, and your innumerable transferable skills. Tell the story of how you got to that interview chair, in that company, and why you're the best candidate. Don't just claim to be a good communicator, tell them a story they will remember!

Never copy another person's story or structure. Generic advice is for the average soul. Apply what you learn to your own story and make it unique.

3. Standing out for all the wrong reasons. Yes, you are very qualified. Yes, you have the highest degree possible. Yes, you have transferable skills and you have value to offer. None of them will matter if you are arrogant, unable to work with others, or unable to demonstrate great work ethic. Delaying responding to recruiters, leaving typos in documents (e.g. resume), being inflexible about scheduling, having unprofessional email addresses, forgetting to clear voicemail, not having voicemail, are all behaviors that can be interpreted as being arrogant.

Do this instead: Clean up your online persona (social media, google search results, websites), get a professional email address, set up a professional voicemail response, respond promptly to recruiters, HR, hiring managers or future colleagues, and always follow up.

Never assume that they don't know what they are doing. Sure you have a PhD, but they've been running the company, and doing so successfully (without you). Remember your value but do not undervalue what they know and your opportunity to learn.

Got questions? Submit them below and Shalini will be happy to respond in a future post!