Top 10 Ways To Slow Down Your Job Hunt

1. Play The “Happy Game”. Don’t deal with depression, frustration or other emotions.  Don’t cultivate a support network to which you actually can go to for support.  And if you already happen to have a support network, don’t let them know how they can help you… make ‘em guess.
2. Channel the St. Louis Rams with their .125 Win percentage this past season. Have as few goals as possible.
3. Believe Your Resume Is “Where It’s At”. Embrace Resume Paralysis.  Don’t bother to tailor it to every job you apply for.
4. Become One With Your Laptop. Spend the majority of your time at home, behind the screen.
5. Nurture Your Inner Child. Be helpless. Focus on yourself and your own needs – don’t worry about what any perspective employer would want from you.Do the bare minimum to get by.
6. Become An “Island”.  Avoid meeting people.  Don’t even think about going to a networking meeting where you don’t already know someone.
7. Discount Your Contacts – Even Better, Annoy Them!  Don’t bother to follow-up every lead that someone gives you.  Don’t bother to write thank you notes to people who help you.  After all, you are entitled to all the help someone can give to you, right?!
8. Avoid Non-Traditional Paths. Pass up contract and temp work, and don’t even think about just taking on a project to keep you skills up to date.
9. Talk Until They Drop. Don’t bother to listen to what people are asking you – just hammer away at your own canned message.  Be as vague and ambiguous as possible – that way no one can pin you down to anything specific.
10. Believe In Your Heart That Your Next Job Is Forever. Stop networking as soon as you land.

I’ve seen various forms of this list floating around on the internet, but I don’t know the original authorship.  I have added some of my own comments throughout.

If any of these suggestions are ways that you are actually conducting your jobhunt, you need a jobhunter coach!  If you mention this article when you sign up for three hours of my coaching service between today and March 31, 2012 I’ll throw in a 4th hour absolutely free!  This offer is valid for new clients only.

Happy Hunting!

Arnie

 

MAKING FRIENDS WITH HR

Not long ago, I was at Disneyland on vacation.   While waiting to get into the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor in the Magic Kingdom, I spotted a sign on a door that read:  “Inhuman Resources”.  Good humor, of course, is best based in reality, and the reality here is simple: most Job Hunters think of HR as inhuman.  Like the late great Rodney Dangerfield, HR staffing specialists often get “no respect”.

Take a minute, however, to look at the hiring process from the other side of the desk.  A typical HR staffing person might be assigned to deal with 20 to 40 job requisitions at a time.  Each one of them will likely attract 100 – 500 candidates in today’s job market.  Assuming each applicant has a 2 page resume, that amounts to 200 – 1,000 pages of repetitive, boring, and all too often, irrelevant resumes to be considered for EACH job requisition.  Overburdened staffing specialists can’t possibly afford the spare seconds to ask: “The candidate said XXX.  I wonder if that means he/she has done/can do YYY.”  They simply don’t have the time to contemplate what the resume writer is “really getting at”.

The reality is that the HR person’s role is screen OUT more than screen IN, to look for any excuse to reject rather than to accept a candidate.  The human impulse to help people is replaced by the unfortunately necessary “inhuman”, unforgiving response to any typographical error or small doubt about any given candidate.  It isn’t about whether any given candidate might be able do the job if given a chance.  Rather, it is about winnowing the field to find 5 or 10 exceptional candidates out of hundreds to pass on to the hiring manager.

I know this to be true, because I used to be one of those people, sorting through the resumes, dealing with Applicant Tracking Systems, deciding who merits an initial interview, and conducting those phone screening interviews.  The wise job hunter will look at the phone screening interview as a prized opportunity to gain an initial advocate.  Here are tips how to do so:

1.  SPOON FEED INFORMATION IN A WAY THAT THE INTERVIEWER WANTS IT.  The screening interview is about doing Due Diligence on the part of the company, dealing with “red” and “yellow” flags on otherwise stellar resumes, discerning a candidate’s true interest level in the job, knowledge about the company, and general fit for the position.  It is ALL about the EMPLOYER’S NEEDS, and NOT AT ALL about the candidate’s concerns.  If you are asked about a potential “red flag”, be grateful for the opportunity to deal with it and put it out of the way—and be ready to do so.  By the way you deal with these and other issues you can build rapport and give the ammunition needed to help the HR staffer make your case, or you can shoot yourself in the foot.
2. BE COOPERATIVE, AND UNDERSTAND THAT EACH QUESTION HAS A PURPOSE THAT ISN’T ALWAYS OBVIOUS.  Often hiring managers provide HR with questions that every candidate must answer, even if the answer is as plain as day on their resume.  Responding by saying, “If you read my resume you would see what you are talking about,” will be regarded as hostile.  The process, especially at this stage, is all determined by the employer.  You may not like it, but you have to conform to its contours.  From your answers your interviewer will derive insights about your intelligence, ability to communicate effectively, emotional disposition, eagerness to learn from failure or mistakes, and more.
3. DON’T BE DEFENSIVE OR COY.  For example, if you respond to the question, “What will be your salary requirement?” with an answer like, “I’m negotiable”, or “Make me an offer and I’ll consider it”, you are more likely to generate antagonism than a next interview.  It’s much more reasonable to say something like:  “In my last/current position, I was/am earning XXX, but I can’t at this stage know how that would equate to this position in your company.”
4. DON’T WASTE TIME WITH PROCESS QUESTIONS such as:  “When will I hear back from you?”, “Where are you in the hiring process?”, “How did I do?”, or “When do you want the person you hire to start work?”  It’s obvious that every job seeker wants the answers to these questions, but this isn’t the proper time for them.

Toward the end of the interview, you will likely be asked if you have any questions.  This is an opportunity to show, by the questions you ask (and the way you ask them) your understanding of the role, the company, your skills and your enthusiasm.  Don’t forget to close by expressing your appreciation for being considered, and offer to give any follow-up material that would be helpful.

The really good screeners know how to interpret tone of voice, attitude, levels of competence and self-confidence.  Speak clearly, articulate your words, make sure you respond fully and forthrightly to the question that is asked rather than spewing out some canned message that you want to get across.

It all comes down to this:  be the professional that you are to earn the respect you deserve, and the chance to proceed in the hiring process.

Happy Hunting!

Arnie

2 Key Ways To Focus Your Message

After years of very high unemployment, things appear to be turning around.  The N.Y. Times reported (1/6/2012) that the U.S. added 200,000 jobs in December, 2011.  This was the sixth straight month that the economy has added more than 100,000 jobs. 

Are you telling your story in a compelling way to make you 1 of the next 100,000 people to be hired?

Are you effectively providing your message to snag one of these new jobs? 

Your job as a jobhunter is to make it easy for people to understand how you can add value to the company that hires you.  Everything about your resume, networking, and interviewing should be designed to strategically further this fundamental message. 

Here are two of the most common examples of off-track messaging and how to fix them:

SITUATION #1:  You are between 45-65 years old, and your cover letter begins like this:  “… I’ve got 25 years of experience doing XXX in YYY industry.”  You get rejected, and fear that it is due to age discrimination.  In reality, that might be the case, but by the way you project your own case you give the underlying message that you are an older worker. Remember that you aren’t selling decades of experience.  Rather, you are selling the knowledge, skills, and abilities which you happened to attain during your years of experience.

• THE FIX: Lead with something like, “In my most recent position as XXX, I provided value for my company by…”  Then give a brief story that conveys a situation, how you took control of it/dealt with it, and the glowing results that you accomplished.  Sell the story of your experience – not the length of it.

SITUATION #2:  Point after point in your resume begins with the words, “Responsible for…” or something else that describes your prior job description.  Such language fails to give any positive message.  It doesn’t say anything about what you actually did, how you think, how you interact with others, or the results you produced.  Worse, you simply position yourself as one of countless others who have had similar roles and responsibilities.

• THE FIX: Make each point in your resume is about something that you actually did, and briefly tell the story providing three basic elements:  a) The situation or problem; b) your actions; and c) the success/results you achieved.  Wherever possible quantify your results in terms of increased sales, decreased costs, reduced liability, potential savings, or increased productivity. 

Example:

Sales people have the greatest quantifiable results.  The numbers speak for themselves, but they speak even louder when you tell a story about how you achieved your numbers like this:

• Uncovered and exploited opportunities to increase revenue from new and existing accounts, and rekindled dormant relationships, resulting in year-to-year sales increases of 16-18%.

 Of course, not everyone has a job whose results are measured in dollars.  Still, you can tell a story and give a “soft” result like this:

• Achieved customer satisfaction for engineers involved with new product development by organizing seminars on emerging technologies.

Remember this:  you can fashion the impression people will have of you.  The words you chose can tell important stories, and convey purposeful messages.  One of my greatest joys as a coach is working with my clients to frame the messaging that builds the case for them to be hired. 

What’s your story?  What’s your message?

Happy hunting!

Arnie

New Year Special Incentive to Step-Up Your Jobhunt!

My very best wishes for 2012 to all the followers of this blog!

To get the New Year off to a great start, I’m offering a 20% Discount on a package of 3 hours of coaching to any member of this JOBHUNTERCOACH group – or anyone you recommend. This offer must be accepted by Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan. 16th.  After that, the offer will no longer be valid.

This can be for more coaching hours for current clients, or new clients. BUT… to take advantage of this offer you (or the person you refer) must indicate that you are responding to the JOBHUNTERCOACH.COM JANUARY SPECIAL.

You can use these hours of coaching for:

• RESUME WRITING / EDITING
• GOAL SETTING
• MESSAGE CREATION
• SOCIAL MEDIA UTILIZATION (LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, etc.)
• ENHANCING YOUR PERSONAL NETWORKING SKILLS
• INTERVIEW PREPARATION / DEBRIEFING
• COMPENSATION NEGOTIATION

Be in touch with me directly at: fertig@jobhuntercoach! And, if you haven’t already done so, be sure to sign up at this site to get all my latest writings and tips for jobhunters!

Happy New Year to all!

Arnie

Tags: Holidays, LinkedIn, New Year, resume employment jobhunt jobsearch "job search" "job hunt", Twitter

Year End Greetings

Please accept my heartfelt good wishes in the midst of this holiday season.

 

I hope that in 2011 JOBHUNTERCOACH.COM has provided insights you have found to be of value, and plans are in the works for making the site even more useful in the new year.  Look for enhancements, including video presentations, in January! 

 

Thank you for following JOBHUNTERCOACH.COM.

 

May whatever holiday you celebrate or observe at this season be festive, merry, and happy… may your jobhunt be as brief and fruitful as possible, and may 2012 be filled with blessings of health, love, and prosperity!

Arnie

 

TODAY’S HOTTEST OCCUPATIONS

A newsletter circulated to recruiters is suggesting that they focus on today’s hottest occupations to maximize their commissions.  This should indicate to job hunters the kinds of skills that are most sought after, and which are most likely to land you your next job.  If you are in a career transition, you might want to consider one of these fields:

Computer software engineers for applications and salespeople are among occupations with relatively healthy growth in online job postings, according to career-services company Monster Worldwide.

Listed below are some occupations in which online job ads over the past 120 days are up strongly from a year earlier:

1. Industrial engineers, up 28%.
2. First-line supervisors/mgrs of mechanics, installers and repairers, up 25%
3. Automotive specialty technicians, up 24%.
4. Mechanical engineers, up 21%.
5. Sales agents, financial services, up 20%.
6. Retail salespeople, up 19%.
7. Electrical engineers, up 17%.
8. Loan officers, up 16%. Computer software engineers, applications, up 14%.
9. Accountants, up 12%.

Tags: Employment, Business, Engineering, Monster, Sales, Industrial engineering, Monster Worldwide, Mechanical engineering

3 Critical Elements for LinkedIn Connection Invites

 

LinkedIn is a great medium for building and expanding relationships.  As you expand your connections, it is important to communicate in a personal

 

way with people when you invite to LinkUp.  The building of effective, worthwhile networks requires personalized, thoughtful communication.

While it may make perfect sense to you why you should link up with someone, you need to help that other person come to the same conclusion rather than assuming that they will do so on their own.  No matter what your relationship is with the person you are contacting, even if you have never spoken with him, it is critically important to personalize your invitation! When you only utilize the default message, “I’d like to add you to my LinkedIn network”, you don’t motivate your new connection to assist you. 

Keep in mind that often people are known by a much larger audience than they can possibly know themselves.  For example, as one who frequently speaks before groups of all sizes, I’m known to many people.  The reality of these asymmetric encounters is that I rarely remember the individuals in attendance as well as they remember me.  When your hoped for new connection doesn’t recognize you, he/she is more likely to ignore your invite.  Worse, they might hit the “spam” button.  That is really bad for you, because if three people respond to your invites this way, your LinkedIn account privileges will likely be suspended.  Once that happens, I can guarantee you it is a royal hassle to get them back!

You don’t need to write a long letter in an invite… just a couple sentences will do wonders! Be sure to personalize each invite by including:

1. How you know/found the person the person you are inviting.  Convey something uniquely personal
2. Why you want to linkup with him/her
3. Your offer of reciprocity

Invitations with these simple points help to remind the person who you are.  They can serve as a great follow up to a first meeting, or a reminder/rekindling of a dormant relationship.  Instead of a person seeing your invite and saying to himself, “I wonder what he wants now?” he can think: “How great it is that [your name here] followed up with me!”  Or, perhaps: “It’s great to hear from [your name here] after such a long time!”

Here are four samples of LinkedIn invite templates that you can tailor to your situation:

•  XXX, great to see you at the XYZ event last night!  As a follow-up to our conversation about widgets, I would love to linkup with you in order to further explore [insert areas of common interest].  This is a way in which we can both expand our professional networks.  Of course, if there is anything that I can do for you by way of introducing you to any of my contacts, do feel free to reach out to me!  Thanks in advance for accepting this invite.

YOUR NAME

•  XXX, although we’ve not met, I read the article you wrote, [insert title and where it was published].  I appreciate the insights you shared because [fill in the blank].  You indicated that you would be happy to linkup with readers, and I would like to take you up on that.  Of course, if there is any way that I can help you in return, please do reach out to me.  Thanks again for sharing your expertise on [fill in the topic]!

Best,

YOUR NAME

•  XXX, as you may recall, we did some business together/worked together when I was in the ABC position at XYZ Company last year.  I know that is has been a while since we were in contact, but I am reaching out now in hopes that through LinkedIn we can maintain our relationship, and assist each other in building our professional networks.  I always look to recommend those with whom I share a connection, and would be happy to assist you wherever possible.  Don’t hesitate to be in contact anytime! Thanks in advance for accepting my invite.

Best,

YOUR NAME

•  XXX, I was in the audience last week when you gave a fascinating presentation to the XYZ group.  Your point about [fill in the blank] was intriguing because [insert something that shows you are paying attention].  I would very much appreciate becoming a part of your network of LinkedIn connections.  I am a professional with expertise in the area of [be specific] and am currently actively networking to expand my knowledge base and gain contacts in this field as I seek a new position. Of course, along the way, I hope you will contact me if there is anything I might do to be of help for you!  Thank you again for your presentation, and for accepting this invitation.”

I have nearly 1,200 first degree contacts on LinkedIn, and was among the first 100,000 users (there are now more than 120 million of us).  I’d be happy to share my network with you if you invite me.  But if you do, please don’t use the standard “I’d like to add you to my network” language!  See my profile at: www.linkedin.com/in/fertig.

Happy linking… and happy job hunting!

Arnie

Tags: Facebook, Head coach, LinkedIn, Online Communities, Social media, Social network

Social Media Cheat Sheet – Free Offer

Image via CrunchBase

People are getting hired!  The economy remains in the doldrums, but savvy job hunters who effectively use social media become prized targets for recruiters and HR staffing specialists.  I’ve just put together my latest “Cheat Sheet” which includes 20 tips for how to use LinkedIn and Twitter to get a job.  There is even an October Jobhuntercoach special offer included with it.

I’d be happy to send you my cheat sheet as a PDF file.  Send me a request with you name and contact information and you will receive it via return email.  Contact me at: fertig@jobhuntercoach.com.

Happy Hunting!

Arnie

Head Coach, JOBHUNTERCOACH.COM

 

 

Tags: LinkedIn, Online Communities, Social media, Social network, Twitter

Celebrating! Client out of work > 2 year

Celebrating! Client out of work > 2 years just offered a position at MIT and will start next week! #jobs #jobsearch #employment #success http://ow.ly/6hVBn

Invitation to: “LinkedIn’s Nuts & Bolts” for Jobhunters

I’ll be presenting a program, “LinkedIn’s Nuts & Bolts” for Job Hunters at the Leominster Library, 30 West St. on Tuesday 8/30/2011 from 9:30-11:30 a.m.  This presentation is free and open to the public!  I hope to see you there.