Job Search Skills Aren't Born. These Skills Are Grown.

While in school, there’s little time to read anything other than what is assigned. So when I read what are work-related books for me, I read with a filter: Will this information help my clients—graduating college seniors and recent graduates—in their job searches, and in their success in their first professional job starting on Day One? The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle is one of the books. It supports what I know to be true for many first-time job-seekers—job search skills, particularly networking and interviewing can be learned and mastered with practice.

The following simplifies and links the principles discussed in The Talent Code to the principles of an effective job search.

Lessons from The Talent Code
For The Talent Code, Coyle studied talent hotbeds— places that produce an inordinate number of athletes and musicians. Along the way, he uncovers studies, which connect increased practice and skill with a brain substance called myelin that some neurologists describe as an epiphany and others as a revolution. We all have myelin. Now, there’s not a chance I can explain myelin (here’s a link) and for those who want to become more effective in their job search it’s not required to know more other than scientists believe that there are physiological changes in the brain that take place during repetitive practice particularly at a young age.


Don is a hockey player; played at Division I school. When I met him in his senior year, I expected to see a tallish, athletically built, banged up and bruised guy. That’s not who Don is. He’s all of 5’ tall. We talked a lot about what he needed to do to play hockey at that competitive level especially against players much bigger than him. With everything he told me, it came down to this: Don wasn’t a “natural” if there is even such a thing, but because of his coaches, he put his time and energy into the right kind of practice to make him a valuable player. Coyle calls this deep practice.

Deep practice
When you operate at the edges of your ability, the place where you make mistakes is when you make yourself smarter, better. Coyle says, effort is the better way to learn. For many job-seekers, the first encounter with networking or interviewing is at the edges of their ability or comfort zone. Although first attempts might not be successful in achieving the goal set, it is far more useful to have the experience regardless of how awkward or painful it might be. This is because the more you encounter and overcome difficulties, the more you learn. The trick is identify and target the struggle you have networking or interviewing. When you find the sweet spot—the gap between what you know and what you are trying to do—that is where learning takes place.

Mary graduated college in 2011. Although she is working, Mary has been unable to launch her career in early education. When I first met her, she told me everything she was doing in her job search. All of her activities seemed appropriate for getting a teaching position. Why was Mary not having success? I asked her the one question you know for certain you will get in an interview, ‘tell me about yourself’. With her answer, I found her sweet spot. Mary did not know the value she offered and couldn't talk about herself in ways that are relevant to employers. We figured out her value and spent hours practicing and practicing her statement until she became one with her statement. What did we do? We took Mary’s mistakes in talking about herself and turned into her talent. Now when Mary meets potential employers or people who can connect her, her answer to ‘tell me about yourself’ is natural, as if it is a skill she has always possessed.

When I asked Mary how it felt to go through this process, she said it was frustrating sometimes painful because I made her start, stop and think, and then start, stop and think more about what she was doing incorrectly, fixing errors along the way. Mary did get to the place where she was able to visualize her statement and then recite it quickly and intuitively. That’s deep practice.

Developing your job search talent.
Don and Mary achieved their goals through deep practice. Here’s how it worked for Mary.

1. Targeted one specific aspect of her job search that prevented her from achieving her goal.
2. Identified Mary's value and wrote a compelling value/brand statement—also know as an elevator pitch.
3. Mary read word for word her new ‘tell me about yourself’ answer which we recorded so she could study the skill.
4. We then broke it down into small sections so Mary could practice and fix specific problems she was having in each of the sections.
5. Then we put it all together and Mary repeated it over and over again. Repetition is invaluable and an important aspect of deep practice.
6. Finally, when Mary closed her eyes she could feel and see herself in an interview answering what is no longer her dreaded question.

What is not working in your job search? What specific aspect of networking prevents you from building your professional network? What questions do you stumble over in an interview?

▪ Identify your target—your struggle
▪ Set your goal—the skill you want to develop
▪ Find the sweet spot- the gap between what you know & what you are trying to do
▪ Practice until you feel it

According to Coyle, deep practice “evokes a feeling of reaching, falling short, and reaching again.” It’s a feeling of uncomfortableness because you are working just beyond your current abilities. However, for Don and Mary, deep practice was not simply about struggling. It was about seeking out a particular struggle to target, and then putting their energy, passion and commitment into growing that targeted skill