7 common job search objections and how to overcome them

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.icbdr.com/artieimages/dd/ar5f0s46jnqv77xp3bdd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.icbdr.com/artieimages/dd/ar5f0s46jnqv77xp3bdd.gif" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Don Asher, "America's Job Search Guru" and author of "Cracking the Hidden Job Market"</span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If you've been in the job market for more than five minutes, you've heard some networking contact or employer give you the brush off with these objections:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">1. We're not hiring.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">2. Just apply online.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">3. I'm too busy to talk to you.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">4. Just send me your résumé.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">5. I don't have any leads for you.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">6. I don't handle this type of thing. Call <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/human+resources/" style="color: #000099; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">HR</a>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">7. Don't call us. We'll call you.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">These are the seven deadly objections you'll run into in a job search. Objections are an interesting linguistic device. Objections are neither literal nor logical. The meaning behind an objection may be quite different from the words that come out of your contact's mouth.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">For example, "I don't have any leads for you" may mean "I'd love to help you, but I'm sitting here hoping that you don't ask me for a job, because I like you and I don't want to be put in the uncomfortable position of saying 'no' to you. Besides, the whole idea of unemployment scares me, and if you sound desperate it might just totally creep me out."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"We're not hiring" is almost never true, either. They're hiring somebody, maybe in some other department or in some other state, but they're definitely hiring somebody.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Just send me your résumé" usually doesn't mean that at all. It usually means "Get off my phone." Same goes for "I'm too busy." "Just apply online" means, yep, you got it: "Get off my phone."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">You can overcome some objections by making it clear in advance that you're not asking them for a job, and by being enthusiastic about your search and the world of possibility out there.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Remember that you don't have to overcome the objection literally or logically. In fact, an advanced technique is simply to agree with the objection. "I'm too busy to meet with you" is completely disarmed when you say, "Yeah. I heard you guys were really successful right now. That's great."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Suddenly, it's the other person's turn to speak, and the conversation continues. There may be a pause, and you may want to fill that pause, but don't. It's the other person's turn, and I assure you, she'll start speaking soon enough.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">She'll jump in with something like, "Well, how can I assist you? I'm underwater with work, so a face-to-face is out, but what else could I do that might help you out?" That's exactly what you want to have happen.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In fact, objections appear right before someone decides to help you. In <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/sales/" style="color: #000099; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">sales</a> theory, the sale only begins with the objections. Sales professionals are trained to listen for objections, because they are a buy signal.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Objections can come over the phone or in e-mails, and you'll see the same ones over and over. Learn to juggle objections and you can massively increase your success in networking and accessing hiring managers. Here are some lines to help you get started:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Objection: We're not hiring.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Response: That's okay. I'm not applying for a job with you anyway. I am just interested in your advice.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Objection: Just apply online.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Response: Actually, I'm going to be applying through official channels, as well, but I wondered if you could give me a little inside information.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Objection: I'm too busy to talk to you.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Response: This will only take a moment.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Objection: Just send me your résumé.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Response: Great. What's your e-mail. I'll send it to you while we're talking.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Objection: I don't have any leads for you.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Response: No problem at all. I wonder if you could share any advice with me. What's the best thing I could be doing to find a job in this field?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Objection: I don't handle this type of thing. Call HR.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Response: Who should I be talking to about this? I appreciate the referral. May I mention your name?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Objection: Don't call us. We'll call you.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Response: Great. No problem at all. But when, if I have not heard from you by then, should I check back in with you to see where I stand? Two weeks? A month? What's best?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Remember, you don't have to overcome the objection logically. You just have to keep the conversation moving over this rough spot. You'll double or triple the number of people who can help you find your next position.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Adapted with permission from "Cracking the Hidden Job Market: How to Find Opportunity in Any Economy." Copyright © 2011 by Donald Asher, Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, Berkeley, CA. Donald Asher is the author of 12 books on careers and higher education, and the creator of the Stone Soup Club phenomenon for job seekers. Get a Stone Soup Club starter kit from </i><a href="mailto:don@donaldasher.com" style="color: #000099; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;"><i>don@donaldasher.com</i></a><i>.</i></div>

7 common job search objections and how to overcome them

Don Asher, "America's Job Search Guru" and author of "Cracking the Hidden Job Market"If you've been in the job market for more than five minutes, you've heard some networking contact or employer give you the brush off with these objections:1. We're n…

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