Tag Archives: job search

Do you know who your friends are?

As I venture out to do some different things with my career and try to give flight to some of my long-held dreams, I was excited to come across the following story I first encountered years ago.  I am a fan of John Maxwell.  What follows is an excerpt from his book Your Roadmap For Success:

When you’re trying to realize your dream, sometimes you’ll be surprised by which people want to light your fire and which ones want to put it out.  Let me tell you a humorous story that vividly illustrates this point.

A Canadian bird decided that it was too much trouble to fly south for the winter.  He said to himself: “I can brave winter.  A lot of other animals do it.  It just can’t be that hard.”  So as all the other birds flocked away toward sunny South America, he stayed behind and waited for winter.

By the end of November, he was having serious second thoughts.  He had never been so cold, and he couldn’t find any food.  Finally, he broke down and realized that if he didn’t get out of there soon, he wasn’t going to make it.  So he started flying south all by himself.  After a while, it began to rain.  And before he knew it, the water was turning to ice on his wings.  Struggling, he recognized that he couldn’t fly any longer.  He knew he was about to die so he glided down and made his last landing, crashing to the ground in a barnyard.

As he lay there stunned, a cow came by, stepped over him and dropped a plop right on him.  He was totally disgusted.  Here I am, he thought, freezing to death.  I’m about to die.  I’m on my last breath, and then this!  What an awful way to go.

So then the bird held his breath and prepared himself to die.  But after about two minutes, he discovered a miracle was happening: He was warming up.  The ice on his wings was melting.  His muscles were thawing out.  His blood was flowing again.  He realized that he was going to make it after all.  He got so excited and happy that he began to sing a glorious song.

At that moment, the farm’s old tomcat was lying in the hayloft in the barn and he heard the bird singing.  He couldn’t believe it; he hadn’t heard anything like it for months, and he said to himself, “Is that a bird?  I thought they’d all gone south for the winter.”

He came out of the barn, and lo and behold, there was the bird.  The cat crossed over to where he was, pulled him gently out of the cow plop, cleaned him off – and ate him.

There are three morals to this story: 1) Not everyone that drops a plop on you is your enemy; 2) not everyone who takes a plop off you is your friend; and 3) if somebody does drop a plop on you, keep your mouth shut.  The same can be true for you as you realize your dream.  Some people you consider friends will fight your success.  Others will support you in ways you didn’t expect.  But no matter which people criticize you or how they do it, don’t let them take your focus off your dream.

Is your job search going mobile? It should.

Here are some quick stats to get you thinking about one way you should approach your job search.

  • 1 in 5 of all job searches are now made via mobile (Google)
  • 30% of company traffic is now coming from a mobile device (WRC)
  • 63% of passive candidates used mobile to search for their next role (Educate)
  • 90% of smart phone users use mobile to read emails and search the web (ALP)
  • 61% of users will go to a competitor site if you do not have a mobile site (Forbes)

In my life there have been two distinct job-search worlds; one when I graduated from college, the other just recently.

Here’s what my job-search world looked like when I graduated from college:

I graduated in May of 1995.  The next month I got married.  At that point, we certainly had no money and only an idea of what we wanted our future to look like.  Obviously, the first priority was finding me a job.  It seemed only fair.  At that point, my wife had two.  Actually, I was working a retail position.  But it was time to find that ever elusive “career” track.

Back then I read the want-ads in the Sunday paper and circled the best possibilities.  Because we did not have a home computer or printer I would find some time during the week to go over to my father-in-law’s office and use his.  I would update my resume and write a cover letter, print it out and put it in the mail.  So after reading an ad on Sunday I would be lucky to have my resume/cover letter in the mail by Wednesday or Thursday.  Talk about lag time.  Obviously, it was not the quickest or most efficient system.  But I had to use the resources available to me the best way I knew how.

Contrast that to what my job-search world looked like when I was searching for a new position just a few months ago:

This time, no want ads.  It would have been difficult to do that since I haven’t had a subscription to the paper in several years anyway.

I did lean on all the other avenues available to me, however.  The most valuable was my network.  I have spent the intervening 15+ plus years since my post-college job search building it and I knew it would be a powerful tool.

I also created several job-search agents on various job boards that met specific criteria I entered.  The various systems would then email me the daily results.  By the time I woke up every morning, I would have anywhere from a handful to several dozen opportunities waiting for me in my inbox.  Even before my feet hit the floor in the morning, I could respond to any particular opportunity I chose by submitting my resume which was stored on my smart phone.  I use the Galaxy S II and am a huge fan.

I had several versions of my resume to reflect various aspects of my career.  I could choose which one to send based on the details of the opportunity.  If a particular opportunity required me to make additional changes to my resume I would get on my laptop, make the changes and store the new version on my phone as well.

If a lead came through that looked really exciting I would get on Linked In and see if anyone in my network worked at that particular company.  I would then reach out to them and ask for their help in networking with the right people at the target company.

The best example I can think of to illustrate how things have changed in my two job-search worlds is this story:

I was meeting a member of my network for lunch.  I got there early and as I was a waiting, another member of my network who happened to be located in Pennsylvania had forwarded me a really good job lead.  I looked through the details, composed an email/cover letter and sent it off with the appropriate version of my resume.  By the time my lunch was over I had already received a response from the recruiter.

It’s fascinating to me how things have changed.  Years ago, looking through the paper it took days to respond. Today, anyone can receive and respond to opportunities in real-time all thanks to advances in technology, their network and their smart phone.  Did I mention I love my Galaxy S II?

If you don’t use your mobile device for your job search, you are missing out on a lot of opportunities.  The ability to respond to opportunities in a timely manner is essential.  Don’t miss out.

How do you stay positive?

Better Get to Livin'

Better Get to Livin’ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Can we all agree that there are just some days we do not feel motivated?  It happens to the best of us.  The daily grind can get you down if you let it.  My favorite way to get my mind right in a hurry is to listen to music.   And of course there’s a song for just about everything.  I must also admit if there is any advantage to having a long commute it provides a wonderful opportunity to dive deep into your favorite music. Every couple of weeks I try to remember to listen to Better Get To Livin’ by Dolly Parton.  If you’re not familiar with that one, go look it up on You Tube or iTunes.  Another song that can keep me in a positive frame of mind is My Best Days by Danny Gokey.  You’ll want to find the video for that one as well.  I have my favorite music for reminding me how awesome my life is because of my family, my roots, my successes and even my failures. In no particular order I have listed out just some of the music I like to listen to.  Is there a song you like to listen to that gets you back on positive ground?  What is it?

  • Sanctus Real – Lead Me
  • Lee Ann Womack – I Hope You Dance
  • Danny Gokey – My Best Days
  • Tim McGraw – Live Like You Were Dying
  • 10,000 Maniacs – These Are Days
  • John Mayer – Say
  • Chris Cagle – Chicks Dig It
  • Dolly Parton – The Sacrifice & Better Get to Living
  • Jo Dee Messina – That’s God
  • John Michael Montgomery – Life’s a Dance
  • ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man
  • Five For Fighting – Chances & 100 Years
  • Dire Straits – Why Worry
  • Tom Petty – Free Fallin’
  • Barry White – Can’t Get Enough of Your Love
  • Aerosmith – Livin’ On The Edge
  • Darius Rucker – This
  • Toad The Wet Sprocket – Crazy Life
  • Nickelback – Gotta Be Somebody
  • Lady Antebellum – Perfect Day
  • Enrique Iglesias – Hero
  • Jason Jones – Ferris Wheel
  • Sting – Brand New Day
  • Hal Ketchum – I Know Where Love Lives
  • Shawn Colvin – Climb On (A Back That’s Strong)

To get the job would you do this?

This is by far one of my all-time favorite recruiting stories.

Years ago, a co-worker was working to fill several administrative positions.  Part of her responsibility was to verify the information a candidate would enter on their application.  It was common for her to ask candidates to send in copies of their high-school or college diplomas as a way to verify their education.

One day she stopped by my cube and handed me a fax and with a big grin on her face asked “does anything look out-of-place to you?”  It was a copy of a high-school diploma.  The copy was a bit grainy but it was still fairly easy to read.  I read it three times before I finally started to believe what I was reading.

Keep in mind that a candidate was submitting this document as proof of their high-school graduation.  It had not one…not two…but three typos on it.  I must say, it was quite an accomplishment to pack so many typos in a document that had so little verbiage.

As if that wasn’t significant enough, the signature for the district’s superintendent was not the correct name.  It was fairly common knowledge who the superintendent was because that particular school district was in the news a lot and they were currently on the hunt for a new superintendent.

To this day I still do not know what would possess someone to submit a document like that.  I understand there are some people who are willing to lie, cheat or steal.  But in this case, if they are willing to falsify employment documentation, don’t you think they would have someone look it over?  I guess that story ended the way it should have.  Cleary, my co-worker passed on the opportunity to hire this individual.

A recruiter’s job

I was talking with a friend the other day and our conversation reminded me of an experience I had while working at a job fair.

It was several years ago (maybe 2002 or 2003) and I had signed up to attend a career fair for the company I was working for at the time.  It had been a long day as I was the only recruiter there so I talked to EVERYBODY that came by.  During a lull in the crowd this gentleman stopped by and started a conversation.  He had a technical background and I was there recruiting for sales people – I’m a sales recruiter, that’s what I do.

I told him I was not aware of any specific technical positions at our company because I had a different focus.  I told him I could take his resume, share it with the other recruiters on the team and that he could also apply on-line directly to any specific position that interested him.  Judging by his reaction, you would have thought I threatened his life and the lives of each of his family members.  He  instantly started wagging a finger at me yelling about the ‘black hole’ and how it was my job to find him a job.

For those of you that know me, when I say that I am a really easy-going, laid-back kinda guy, it wouldn’t be a shock to you.  That’s the way I like to live my life.  But when necessary, all that can go away.  And it did, considering the way he reacted to my comments.  He had clearly fallen prey to a serious misconception that I now felt was my duty to cure him of – and quickly.

I told him as much as he may want to belive it, my company does not (did not) pay me to find him a job.  I had a long list of positions I was tasked with filling and THAT was my job.  I also told him it was not my job to find any single individual a job.  My job was and is to find the best possible candidate I could find to fill the positions I was responsible for.

That’s the message I want to share with you today.  When you are in the midst of your job search, remember that it is not the responsibility of the recruiter to find you a job.  They are responsible for evaluating as much talent as they can find and making selections based on that pool.  It’s also important to remember that no matter what news you’re hearing, you must always stay professional.  The gentleman in this example lost any and all opportunity to find a position with my company because of his behaviour.  True to my word, I did go back and share his resume with my team.  But it came with a  warning to stay away from him.  He was far too volatile to consider.

And just so you know, there are people out there that will be more than happy to take your money, leading you to believe they will guarantee they will find you a job.  It is my strong recommendation you tell those kinds of people what they can do with their offer.  They are about getting your money not finding you a job.

In your job search, stay positive and work with trustworthy people.  How do you know if they’re trustworthy?  Ask lots of questions and trust your gut.

Happy hunting!

How should you submit a resume via email?

In your job search, a recruiter or hiring authority has asked you to send them your resume directly.  Or, perhaps someone in your network has told you “I heard about an opportunity you would be perfect for.  I know who you need to send your resume to.  Here’s the email address.”  They provide you with the email where they would like you to send it.

Ideally, the subject line should contain only three things: 1) your name 2) the word ‘Resume’ and 3) the city or location of the opening.  It should look like this:

Chris Gustafson Resume – Dallas

Those elements in a subject line tell the recipient everything they need to know about what the email is for and what it contains.  There’s no guess-work or excess information.  If there are any other details you believe should be included, I recommend you leave that for the text of the email.  I recommend adding the city because all too often recruiters or hiring authorities have multiple positions in multiple markets.  Listing the location is a very simple way for them to know where the candidate is located.  It also makes it easy for future searching.  Presenting your information this way prevents the recruiter from having to guess what email your resume is in or opening multiple emails trying to find the one with your resume in it.  Additionally, if it gets forwarded, more often than not, nothing needs to be changed in the subject line.  It’s already ready to go.

And another quick suggestion is to label (name) your resume with your name only; first and last.  Don’t put the date it was last updated or anything else.  It just makes things confusing. Ultimately, you want to make the experience of receiving your resume via email an easy experience.  Who ever you send it to will want to name it based on their system so having a lot of additional information is unnecessary.

Spelling 101

The importance of spell check cannot be overstated.  Weather you are preparing your resume, an email, a presentation, or another form of business communication you cannot skip this step.  It should go without saying but it is often overlooked.  ALWAY, ALWAYS, ALWAYS hit spell check.

I was once preparing a job-search email, hit spell check and realized I had misspelled the recipient’s name.  Had I not caught the error, my job-search query would have been over before it even began.  In my career I have seen countless resumes and cover letters with typos.  Those are the ones that do not make it to the top of the stack.  A major and consistent complaint from job applicants is that they never hear back from employers after applying for a position.  Many candidates would do well to go back and double and triple check there documentation.  Their “hit” rate might increase if they do.

Once you have gone through the spell-check suggestions be sure to re-read your whole document slowly to ensure you have used the correct words (or have not omitted a word).  You many have spelled “there” correctly so it will not flag as an error.  But do you need to use “their” instead?  Or “whether” instead of “weather”?  Spell check won’t let you know that’s wrong.

Did you notice when you spotted the errors in this post how it distracted you from the message?  That’s what those types of errors do…take away from the message you are trying to convey.

Happy hunting!

Simplify

A very good friend of mine shared this list with me years ago.  It’s an important list and I thought you would appreciate it as well.  It hits the mark and helps you keep first things first.

Walden Pond

Walden Pond (Photo credit: qwrrty)

The angels say “Never borrow from the future.  If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain.  Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.”

Rules to live by –

1)      Pray

2)     Go to bed on time

3)     Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed

4)     Say no to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule or that will compromise your medical health

5)     Delegate tasks to capable others

6)     Simplify and unclutter your life

7)     Less is more (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many)

8)     Allow extra time to do things and to get to places

9)     Pace yourself.  Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together

10)   Take one day at a time

11)    Separate your worries from concerns.  If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety.  If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it

12)   Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases

13)   Have backups – an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps

14)   K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut).  This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble

15)   Do something for the kid in you every day

16)   Carry a spiritually enlightening book with you to read while waiting in line

17)   Get enough rest

18)   Eat right

19)   Get organized so everything has its place

20) Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life

21)  Write down thoughts and inspirations

22) Every day find time to be alone

23) Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until it’s time to go to bed to try to pray

24) Make friends with Godly people

25) Keep a folder of favorite scriptures  on hand

26) Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good “Thank you God.”

27) Laugh

28) Laugh some more

29) Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all

30) Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can)

Want a resume that writes itself?

Moment of truth…does anybody enjoy updating their resume?  That’s what I thought.  I think it’s safe to say most people don’t.

Your resume is one of the most difficult documents you will ever have to write.  That’s because there is usually so much at stake to getting it right.  And even if you happen to get everything right that doesn’t mean it will ensure a quick transition or that you’ll get called every time you submit it.   If you are updating your resume there is a really good chance you are experiencing some major changes.  I believe that writing a resume is a very stressful exercise.

Add to the mix the fact that it’s tough to remember all the details of all the great things you accomplished over the years.  That all adds up to a lot of pressure.  Over time memory fades.  The details become blurred.  What’s the best way to overcome all that?  I have found it to be a resume that writes itself.

The best resumes are full of specific details.  Those details include almost anything you can substantiate by numbers including but not limited to:

  • Money saved
  • Specific percentage increases in good things such as revenue, sales, quota, productivity, growth, etc.
  • Specific percentage decreases in bad things such as turnover, cost over-runs, expenses, etc.

You might be saying “Well that’s great Chris but how do I manage to pull all of that from the deep, dark recesses of my memory and get it on paper?”  If you use this very simple system, you will not have to remember any of it.  It has proven itself time and again over the years.

Every time you start a new position take a file folder (yes, an actual manila file folder to keep in your drawer) and label it RESUME.  If you feel uncomfortable with that particular label, you can certainly use anything you like.  I like keeping an actual file folder in my desk drawer for a few reasons.  First, it’s easy to reach over and grab.  Secondly,  it’s not a file in your email system on your work computer.  Storing things on your work computer can be a gamble.  Third, on your last day, you can grab the folder, throw it in your bag and take it with you.  Your computer stays behind.

On a post-it note, write the month, day and year you started your new job as well as the complete address and phone number.  You think you will never forget your work number or the zip code at the office but it never fails, you will.  We all have so many other things to remember that are more important.  That information will be needed when it comes time to completing applications for your next job.  It’s a sad fact that these days, the average job lasts a mere three years.

Now, every time you accomplish something at work like smashing a company record or completing a project early and/or under budget, write the specific details on another post-it note and slap it in your file.  I like using post-its because they won’t fall out of the file folder.  You can use index cards or a regular sheet of paper if you like but I am used to post-its.  They are always sitting on your desk and they’re quick to grab.  Jot the details of the accomplishment along with the date and off to the file it goes.

What are the specific details to include?  The ones you can substantiate with numbers; the amount the project came in under budget, the amount of time the project was completed early, the amount of money the company will save.  If you write the details down as they happen, you won’t have to remember them later.  This system is fast, easy and painless.  No more wracking your brain for details years down the road.  By the time you need to update your resume again, pull out your folder and see that you have already written it.  All you need to do now is make it look presentable.

No matter what your line of work, you’re in sales.

After recruiting sales people almost exclusively for the past 13 years, I have come to view the job-search process as a sales process. Here’s why I think you should too.

If you are looking for a new job, you will be required to sell yourself, your skills, experience and training. Like it or not, you are now officially in sales. It makes no difference what your background may be. If you make the connection and see the similarities between the sales process and the job-search process, it will be much easier to navigate through it.

Some people have a difficult time tooting their own horn. Others find it difficult to even list the successes they have had in their career on their resume. They become uneasy in their own skin when circumstances require them to do so. If it has been awhile since you have had to create a resume I understand how difficult it can be. And by ‘awhile’ I mean 10 years or more. Things have changed dramatically since the last time you had to dust off your resume. I’ll address crafting a resume in subsequent posts.

At its most basic, the sales process consists of only a few steps:

  • Prospecting – What companies or people do you want to seek out? This also includes networking and getting referrals.
  • Setting appointments – How many interviews are you scheduling?
  • Making your presentation – Performing well in the interview.
  • Handling objections – Address their questions about your background and sell your skill and experience as the solution to their needs.
  • Closing the sale – Ask for the job!

Let’s start with prospecting:

You have lost your job and now you’re looking for another. Tell everyone you know. Your first thought might be to keep the information to yourself and I understand that. However, you need to overcome that initial instinct so you can prepare for what’s to come.

Telling your story often you will find you can never know where the next lead or opportunity will come from. They can literally appear from out of nowhere. Until you opened your mouth, you had no idea your neighbor of 15 years is a good friend with the hiring authority for that choice position you are after. Or, the high school or college buddy you haven’t seen or talked to in the past 20 years reaches out unexpectedly. You talk and find out he or she is well-connected in the industry you are trying to get into.

In these situations, you will need your connections to refer you to the people you need to get to. Likewise, the more people you talk to, the more referrals they are likely to provide. They can provide job leads you were unaware of, they can give you names and contact info of people at your target companies and they can uncover additional sources of leads. All of those activities can be considered prospecting. And you thought you weren’t good at sales.

Next is setting appointments:

On this step there is no direct correlation between the sales process and the job search. In sales, one can call prospect after prospect until they have the necessary number of appointments set to meet their goal. When looking for a job, unfortunately you cannot call every company you would like to work for and set interviews with the hiring managers. It would be nice if it worked that way but I’m quite certain those hiring authorities will have something to say about that. Instead, be ready when your phone does ring and a recruiter wants to schedule an interview. The goal is to have so many opportunities working at one time that you can have multiple interviews in any given week.

There is a good chance that your first interview will be a phone interview. If you successfully pass that test they will be scheduling the follow-up face-to-face (F2F) interview. And like the professional sales person you are, you want to schedule that next interview before you are off the phone. It may not always happen. But at the very least you want to ask the question: “Let’s go ahead and set that interview now. Is Thursday at 2:00 or Friday at 11:00 better for the hiring manager?”

Phrasing it that way is called the alternate advance. Give them an option to choose from. If neither of them works for the hiring manager they have to say so and will more than likely come back with yet another alternative.

Making your presentation:

This is the F2F interview. You are prepared, your resume is letter-perfect and you are exhibiting confidence and energy. Thinking like a professional sales person, what are they really good at doing? Asking questions. A professional sales person likes to get the other person talking. They listen more than they talk. Your job in the interview is to ask questions as well. What are the potential employer’s pain points? What are their biggest problems? If you were to start tomorrow what needs addressing right away? Find out by asking.

Handling objections:

By uncovering their issues you can craft your responses specifically to their needs; all based on your skills and experience. It is important to keep in mind that nothing about this process is about you. It is all about them and their needs. Solve their problems and you will be certain to stand out above all the other candidates.

Closing the sale:

After you have made your presentation and overcome their objections it is time to review a few things before closing the sale. You should review the process with them and ask about next steps. Some good questions to ask are:

  • Is there anyone else I need to speak with as a part of process? (Companies these days are notorious for not wanting to make a hiring decision. To support this behavior, many of them will throw in additional interviews at that final stage for additional reinforcement of their decision to hire or not hire.)
  • What is the rest of the process? (Do they know or does it sound like they are making things up as they go?)
  • When do you intend to make a decision? (Listen carefully to their answer. You will be holding them accountable to this if it drags on.)
  • How many other candidates am I competing against? (You want to know as much about your competition as possible.)
  • When can I expect an offer? (You know what their offer would look like because the salary has already been discussed. More on this in subsequent posts.)

If they dance around any of the questions pin them down. You can do that in a professional manner. Do not leave the interview not knowing the next steps and timeline. Sure, things can change but that just gives you permission to continue following up.

If you can envision yourself working there be sure to ask for the job. Tell them you can see yourself working there and would like the opportunity to do so. Keep in mind there are professional sales people who have difficulty doing this and it is their career. Feeling a little nervous is ok. But it is important to overcome that fear.

The salesperson that never asks for the business will never feed their family. It’s the same way in looking for a new position. When interviewing, you can never expect an offer if you do not ask for it. You would be surprised how many candidates never ask for the position at any point in the process.