by Karen E. McMahan
Do you remember the penny and magnifying glass experiment from your science classes in grade school? Well, let’s hope your class performed this experiment.
Most likely you and your classmates walked outside with your teacher on a bright sunny day and you watched as your teacher placed a penny on the sidewalk and asked you and your classmates to observe. The teacher pulled out a magnifying glass and held it a few inches above the penny, directing the sun’s rays through the glass onto the penny. After a few minutes of breathless anticipation, you watched in amazement as the sun’s rays began to burn a small hole through the center of the penny.
Focused Energy
So what lesson were you and the other students supposed to learn? The power of focus and focused energy. When we narrow the focus in and apply focused energy to our careers, we see dramatic results just as we witnessed in the physical universe with the penny.
By opting to leave their career options open, job candidates feel they are exposing themselves to greater opportunity, when in fact the opposite is occurring. Without a precise target, job candidates are like the penny sitting out on the sidewalk waiting for the sun’s rays to heat it up enough to burn a hole through it. But without the aid of a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays, the odds of any real action taking place on the penny are nil. The same holds true for job candidates who are reluctant to pinpoint specific positions, companies, or so forth in their job search. An occasional phone call or request for additional information merely fools candidates into believing their efforts are paying off.
To really heat things up, you must narrow your focus. Think about how big and sharp the letters and images appear on the penny when the magnifying glass is placed over it, or how a narrow beam of sunlight channeled through the magnifying glass can burn a hole through the penny. The narrower your focus becomes, the greater your visibility. For example, if you are attempting to target management positions in accounting, sales, and information management and are blasting the same résumé and cover letter to every company, job board, and networking contact, you are not likely to achieve the results you seek.
Magnifying Visibility through Branding
You have to brand yourself in much the same way that a company does. Branding limits your focus and expands your visibility in your target market. Successful companies have purposely narrowed the market they want to reach, and they carefully craft the image they want to present. They position themselves to reach the precise market they intend to reach. Companies don’t waste their energies and resources going after every type of consumer, only a particular niche. That’s the power of focus and focused energy.