PerfectJob Job Search Techniques

Small Changes Add Up

2011-11-30T10:00:00.001-06:00

Today, when researching a start-up idea, I came across a quote by Marian Wright Edelman:

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

She is a longtime children's rights advocate, and was talking about activism, but her advice is equally good for every job seeker.

There are moments, and even days, where big progress is just not happening. You have to stay dedicated and have faith that all the little things that you are doing will pay off. We all try to second-guess the process and work on the 'biggest bang' items, the big things. But we can't foresee everything, and sometimes just keeping going creates success.

Introverted Job Search: It's not a High School Dance

2011-11-11T13:27:00.001-06:00

Remember those high school dances, the ones where you used to sit trying to get up courage to ask someone to dance (or waiting for someone to ask you)? Remember that feeling: not being sure what to say, feeling awkward, worrying that you’d embarrass yourself and the person you wanted to ask?

But, do you also remember all the energy there? The hundreds of things that you could think of to say, the cool lines that would ease the conversation, how you could see in your mind just how great you’d be on the floor?

A few weeks ago I read a good article about the value of introverts (25% of population are introverts, but 60% of gifted children are introverts) and their job search challenge when companies check their ‘influence score’ in making a hiring decision. As the author puts it, “the extroverts have won the values battle.” (Christian Science Monitor, “Introverted Talent in America, Buried by the ‘Influence Score’” by Jim Sollisch).

So, what’s an introverted job seeker to do? How do you translate all those great ideas into a successful search?

Play to Strength. You have a wealth of advantages in your job search. Maximize them:

Deep thought: Planning and problem-solving are strengths. Use them to be totally ready when going into new situations. Use them to help other people in your network – it will reap benefits.
Memory: Actually, Introverts typically remember better. So use that memory to remember birthdays and other key facts to help others.
Energy from Within: Because introverts get their guidance and inspiration from within themselves, they can be more resilient in their search – because you don’t rely as much on other people, you don’t get disappointed as badly.
Thinking before acting: Provide the analysis for your social networks. Become the go-to person to make sense of breaking events. Remember, everyone is suffering from information overload. An introvert is perfectly suited to sort through the data looking for information that will help everyone.

Mitigate Weaknesses. And, you can still work on the places that aren’t your strength:

Metrics are your friend: Actually, the new metrics are your friend. Go check out Klout and PeerIndex, then go all introverted-crazy on it – do the things that move your score.
Leverage Interactions: Ok, meeting people is tiring. Take time after every meeting to maximize your return by following up online, both one-to-one (emails, tweets) and broadly (LinkedIn, Facebook, a blog, Twitter).
Ignore your ‘stay-at-home’ impulse: Do whatever you need to do to ignore or get over your objections to getting out. Just go. And when you get back, do any analysis you want but stick that meeting in the “plus” column: By definition it was a worthwhile get-together because it got you out and talking to people.

5 Tips to Calculate Job Search Time

2009-09-03T11:10:00.006-05:00

I was recently talking to a partner who mentioned one of her clients who received severance when he was let go from his executive position at a media company. My partner commented that if Sue knew how long it would take to find a job, she would probably take some time off.

Time off to think about what she really wanted to do. Time off to unwind – she is the type of person that rarely takes vacation, never takes sick time, and is on the go constantly. She would love time to re-set her career and life.
But the problem is there is no guarantee or even prediction of how long a job search will take.

The conventional wisdom is to plan for 1 month per $10,000 of compensation. So if you were making $30,000 a year, on average your job search will take 3 months. If you were making $100,000 you should plan on 10 months of searching.
Ok, tell that to the financial services people who have seen their entire industry crash. Tell it to the people who are fresh out of college or in an industry with low growth.

In short, everyone is different. But here are some things to start thinking about as you plan your job search campaign:

If you have no safety net (few savings or no severance, even if you have a good network and job prospects): Take massive action immediately, and build your contingency plans as you go. I know people who found work quickly, in as little as two weeks, even as unemployment was spiking. But for each one of them I know many people who have more time than normal.
The clearer you are about your job objectives, the faster your search will go. This is true no matter what. With clear vision, you avoid pursuing opportunities that are not what you want, and you will present more forcefully. But see #3 below.
Fighting economics will slow your search. If you are pursuing a job opening in a field that is contracting, or one where the number of candidates far exceeds the number of openings, your job search will be slow. This is one place where I believe that you should carefully look at your job goals against the wider reality and decide how best to move forward. Careers that everyone wants are not necessarily a bad idea, but to be successful you need to be one of the best. All else being equal, if you’re competing against a lot of other candidates for a few slots, your job search will take longer.
How easy is it to describe and evaluate candidates for your target job. Some jobs, for instance some computer programming jobs, are relatively easy to describe and it is relatively easy to judge the candidate’s capabilities. Job searches that target these types of job go more quickly – each individual job opening get processed more quickly and the market moves faster. If you are seeking a job that is harder to quantify, describe, and evaluate, the job search will typically take longer.
Size of target companies. In general, smaller companies make decisions more quickly. The only real exception to this rule comes when big companies are hiring lots of people for a similar role. In these cases, often the process is streamlined and completed more quickly.

Job search time can vary dramatically from person to person, and even for the same person from one search to another. The best way to get a sense of the job search landscape is to network with people who are pursuing a job search similar to yours. Use what you learn to guide your own expectations.

Gerbil Job Search

2009-07-08T13:48:00.008-05:00

It has been a long time since I took a vacation where I could unhook from work and the Internet for a long period. I’ve just gotten back from two weeks’ vacation in Alaska (cruising in Inside Passage with Lindblad/National Geographic and then traveling with my family at Denali – wonderful throughout), during which my team handled all the day-to-day operations and I had little access to the Web.

So I’m returning to work with renewed energy and a broader perspective – everything one could want from a good vacation.

My vacation-rested brain gives me better discernment of busy work and critical work. I can see what parts of my day are activity without results, and I’m in a better and more critical frame of mind to evaluate all parts of our business.

I’ve said before that running a small business is a lot like a job search. There is a lot of marketing to be done. Few things are pre-established so we have to figure everything out as we go. If we are not successful, we don’t get paid and our careers suffer. There is too much to do and it’s easy to get overwhelmed with minutiae and the stress of the big picture.

So what does that have to do with gerbils?

Gerbil Wheels

When I had gerbils they spent a good deal of time running on the wheel we had set up in their cage. Hour after hour, usually late at night, they would scamper and the wheel would squeak as it came around. Lots and lots of energy went into that wheel as they continued to run. And if they stopped, they got swept backward, turned upside down, and dropped. So they had to keep running harder.

But they never got anywhere.

Only from our perspective outside the wheel can we see that it wasn’t producing any results. Instead of being miles down the road, the gerbils were still where they started.

Effective Job Search

Effective job seekers keep evaluating their progress. They keep stepping outside the wheel to make sure that they’ve moved forward. The best organization tools help them stay on track, working on the things that matter to progress instead of the unimportant. Good job search software shows you what is working in your job search so you are more effective. So companies are calling you. So you are setting up interviews instead of throwing another round of resumes into the gerbil wheel.

Effective job search makes the time you spend on your seach productive, so you can have a life as well as a triumphant job search. Try PerfectJob when you’re ready to step off the wheel.

Resume Black Hole at Ignite Chicago

2009-06-03T13:12:00.004-05:00

I had a great time at Ignite Chicago last week. 20 slides, 5 minutes, talking about the "Resume Black Hole" that sucks in resumes and applications, but never gives any acknowledgement or information back. I recommend this for anyone who likes a good time, or needs more practice speaking.

See the video at blip.tv. (last one in list)
See the slides.
About IgniteChicago.

Steve

When to Buck the System

2009-05-15T11:12:00.002-05:00

If you are a candidate for a job you really want, but you know that you’re not the strongest candidate, what do you do?

One thing you don’t do is play by the rules. The May 11th issue of The New Yorker had an article by Malcolm Gladwell about how smaller countries can beat larger countries in armed conflicts. When the smaller opponent (we’re talking 1/10 the size of the bigger one) used a conventional strategy, they lost 71.5% of the time. But when they chose an unconventional strategy, one that maximized their strengths and avoided their weaknesses, they won 63.5% of the time.

So, what does that mean for you pursuing a job you really want, but for which you’re not the favorite?

Assess where your strengths and weaknesses are with respect to that job. This isn’t as simple as which skills you are strong in—you should think about every aspect of yourself as a person. If you’re outgoing in an industry of mostly socially-awkward people, that’s a strength. If you don’t have the experience that the company wants but have lots of energy and enthusiasm, those are strengths.

Brainstorm your message: How can you succinctly highlight how important your strengths are for the job, while downplaying (or ignoring) the areas where you are less strong?

Figure out how to deliver your message. You will probably need to take an uncomfortable risk—but if you don’t, you’re not going to get the job anyway. Put an innovative package or video together, find a way to meet a decision-maker socially, or ride a train with a key decider.

Make a splash. You need to make a strong impression. Remember, you’re trying to change the rules of the evaluation process. You can’t do that by being timid.

MBAs: What Would Warren Buffett Do?

2009-05-01T14:24:00.003-05:00

This is our first guest blog posting from Julie:

There’s a game I like to play in grad school. It’s called: Who Would I Hire. There are no formal rules. I just think about the people I’ve worked with in previous jobs, and then observe those in my classes, and think about if I’d want to work with them.

Warren Buffett proposed an interesting scenario in a talk he gave to second-year MBA students. You can read about it here. Buffett suggested that the MBA students think about which classmate they would choose, if they were entitled to 10% of that classmate’s earnings for the rest of their life. He also wanted the students to think about which classmate they would go short.

His point was that you would choose qualitative factors. You would pick someone you responded well to – someone who is generous, who motivated you to do your work, and who gave you credit for it too. You would choose an honest and kind person over a greedy, egotistical, off-putting person.

Go ahead and try this out. Think about your classmates, and write down the qualities that you admire in them, and those you dislike. When you look at your list, realize that you have the power to cultivate all the positive qualities in yourself. They are behavioral, achievable qualities. And, with some conscious effort on your behalf, they can be all yours.

It worked for Warren.

Guest Blogger Julie Introduction

2009-05-01T14:20:00.003-05:00

We have started a guest blog column this month. Check out the next article for great insight into the challenges of an MBA job search in “What would Warren Buffett Do?” Julie is a Job Search Guru, with great insight into the job search for people at the beginning and midpoint of their career. Julie tells me that she is looking forward to sharing her wisdom to help more people find and win the job of their dreams. Please join me in making her welcome. Here is Julie's bio:

With a degree in English and Rhetoric, and no plans to teach, Julie began her search not only to find a job, but also a direction. It took her nine months, hundreds of resumes, and 40 interviews to secure her first full-time job as an encyclopedia editor.

Unfortunately, beginning a career that coincided with the 9/11 economy meant no job security – especially for a writer. Julie felt the pain first hand as she went through the layoff process. Twice. Rather than despair, Julie used each change as an opportunity to expand her job search skills and land an even better job.

To help enhance her skills, Julie enrolled in graduate school to study advertising and develop a creative portfolio. To pay her her way through graduate school, and with her personal experience as a foundation, Julie works with clients writing and creating editorial content including resumes, coaching and interview tips.

Use Updates to Re-Energize Your Search

2009-04-30T08:14:00.005-05:00

I received a very professional and upbeat ‘spring’ status update this week from someone I assisted in her job search early on. I was delighted to get the email, and immediately began to think (again) about what I could do to help her. Here’s what she did well:

The note was upbeat: While it was clear that she was still in transition, it talked about what she had done (two sets of smart training classes, exploring a new field that’s hiring, and specific job search activities). It was not so much that she didn’t need me, but that it sounded like she would make the most of any opportunity I sent her way.

She elegantly thanked us: This email was clearly a general message to her whole network, but it talked about a “lesson learned”, how important friends, colleagues and other people are in her job search. And she came out and thanked us for our support—that’s always nice to hear.

The note was informative: In addition to information about her upgraded skills and search focus, it also talked about her strategy and targets. So I again have a clearer view how I could help – that makes it more likely that I will help, and more likely that my help will be what’s needed.

She offered to help: She said that if there was anything she could do to help me, to just let her know.

That was enough to get me back in her active search network again. If you haven’t tapped them recently, think about a similar note to re-energize everyone you’ve encountered.

Distraction from Job Search News

2009-04-17T16:14:00.004-05:00

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics for March came out today, and they're not good. So despite some signs of improvement in the economy, the labor market is still suffering.

Since there is nothing that you can do about it, rather than read the statistics, you should go over to YouTube and see Susan Boyle win the world's heart on Britain's Got Talent. It's wonderful, and she deserves all the positive attention she's getting.

Spring is here in Chicago, so it's a good time to get out and recharge. Bless us everyone.

Quick Tip: Call Sales!

2009-03-24T16:30:00.004-05:00

Whenever you need information from a company, and you really need it, call the sales department. In many cases they're best positioned to help you:

They're in the business of giving out information and interacting with outsiders.

They like talking to you -- you might be the only person they talk to during the day that genuinely wants to talk to them.

They are well connected -- a good salesman knows how the company operates and who can help you.

One caveat: be professional. Assume that the details of your call will get back to your hiring manager. Make sure that will be a positive report.

Getting Job Search Focus

2009-03-18T16:41:00.004-05:00

One of the hardest things to do when starting a job search is to set up goals, schedules, and plans. Mary Elizabeth Bradford, over at No Job Jitters has outlined some of the basic things we all need to think about.

Steve

Quick Tip: Business Cards Do it Right

2009-03-18T16:25:00.006-05:00

Massimo, over at Massimo's Job Search Project has some good reasons to get a business card when you're job searching. There are a lot of places where you can get them very cheaply, so there's no real excuse.

Here are some things I've seen that you should avoid:

Sub-sized Cards: I got one at a networking event that I swear was 1/2-sized. That one also also suffered from the next problem.

Tiny Text: Make sure everyone can read it, even those of us who should
be wearing bifocals. If you're doing reverse print, especially white on a pattern, make the letters even bigger.

Coating All Sides: I was guilty of this. The recipient may want to write a note about you. Make it easy, or carry a Sharpie with you!

Forget to Give them Out: Whenever you talk to someone about your job search, make sure they get a card.

Give them to Everyone: Trust me, the bus driver doesn't need a copy of your card, unless you've talked job search.

Anyone have other tips to add?

Unemployment: Personal Circle

2009-03-09T11:31:00.005-05:00

The unemployment rate reported on Friday is the worst it’s been since 1983. That’s an interesting statistic for me personally, since 1983 was the year that I graduated from college. So, we’re just now hitting the type of market that I graduated into – that’s helpful for me to gauge how I can help.

In the next couple of blog postings I’ll talk about what I did given the market, those long years ago, and what it might mean for all of us job hunting today. In the meantime, I thought it might be worthwhile to talk a little about my work history.

As I said, I graduated from college in 1983. I’ve pursued 9 successful job searches since then. According to census reports, that is about average (typical is about 10 job changes, some of which are internal, in the first 15 years of an American’s career). Here are a few observations:

Only 1 Not By Choice: I was laid off once, a year after the company I worked for was acquired by another. They were clearing house of most of the management of the acquired company, and I was on the list. When everything was over, I was not unhappy about the action, but even so it took me a little time to get my job search in gear.

Networking: I found 4 of the 9 jobs through networking. In two of the opportunities, the company was not really looking for anyone, but after I talked to the company heads, explained what I could do, they hired me. The other two opportunities were jobs that the company wanted to fill, but I got into the process earlier than most, and it wasn’t really a contest. These were the most fun job searches, in part because I knew much more about what was going on—I wasn’t just a piece of paper or a name.

Using Job Ads: I actually found 2 opportunities through job ads – one of those was an online BBS in 1985. There were no internet job boards in 1985. But, both of these were technical jobs (much easier to reduce to paper requirements), and both during a better market than we are currently facing.

Career Center: I found my job after business school through on-campus interviews set up by the career center.

Walk-in: I worked in a factory just after college (one way I handled the fact that I didn’t know what I wanted to do in a difficult hiring market). I got that job by walking in, telling the foreman that I could do the job, and being a little lucky. But luck came in part because I was persistent: I came by and visited the foreman for a couple of weeks before he hired me. I was there at the right time in part because I was talking to him and getting the information I needed to be successful.

Entrepreneurship: My last job search I ended by creating the company and position. This job is the most fun, and most rewarding. Thanks for letting me help you.

Job Search Like a Whale

2009-03-06T14:10:00.002-06:00

To hunt for food, some whales dive half a mile into the depths of the ocean. They stay in the depths for an hour, then return briefly to the surface to breath before diving once more to the depths. We job hunters can learn a lot from this behavior.

While in a dive, whales are focused on one thing: hunting their prey. They are not worrying about whether this is the right place to be hunting. They cannot focus on whether they dove too soon, or were "ready" to hunt. They are on the prowl, the pressure is crushing, and they need to continue until they find what they need.

When we are in a job hunt, we should be like those hunters: focused on finding and landing job opportunities that come our way. We shouldn’t wonder if our resume is good enough as we hand it to someone. We certainly shouldn’t apologize or explain it. We should be in hunt mode – positioning our candidacy as best we can.

But the whale comes up for air every hour. We should also come up periodically.

Once in a while we should assess what we’ve been doing, whether we're hunting in the right place, whether our hunting techniques are appropriate and working. Maybe once a week, it’s appropriate to assess our search and make adjustments as needed.

The whale surfaces for air for 10 minutes out of the hour to breath. We need to do our assessment less often, but can take one tip from the whales: we should time limit the time we spend assessing and reviewing. The goal is to see where we are, determine if we need something different, make the change and get back to work.

Note that I’m not advocating sending out cookie-cutter resumes. The whale doesn’t swim to the bottom and swim in a straight line with his mouth open. We are hunting, and need to take that seriously. Our challenge is to maximize our hunting time while still making sure that we are adjusting course as needed.

Karen Reid's Job Search at WSJ

2009-03-04T12:10:00.004-06:00

Karen Reid, over at the Wall Street Journal is documenting her career transition from Citigroup to whatever comes next. Read her latest entry here.

She's taking a rational approach to manage her networking and follow-up time, which is smart. In addition, Karen's being flexible about that opportunities that she's considering, which is something I've blogged about recently.

There are a few critical comments about her search, many of which appear to be from people who are generally frustrated with the state of our financial institutions rather than comments on Karen's search in particular.

I recommend following her journey and posting supportive comments when you are so moved. We all need help.

Job Search Resources

2009-03-04T09:26:00.005-06:00

Curt Rosengren, over at M.A.P. Maker has put together a nice set of Job Search resources. They are mostly blog entries and other static information. You can access the list directly here.

Curt has organized the job search resources into the following categories:

Planning your search
Career planning
Resumes & cover letters
Interviewing
Networking
Using the internet
Organizing your job search
Working with recruiters
Maintaining a positive attitude

All of the categories contain useful information. I think the only place that he goes a little astray is by recommending a spreadsheet to track opportunities. Unless you have a very simple job search that will finish soon, get PerfectJob. We will ensure that you can track everything to completion, and help you maximize your opportunities.

PerfectJob. Better Jobs. Faster.™

Job Search 2.0

2009-03-03T11:51:00.003-06:00

Rachel, over at The Social Organization has a nice post about the importance of networking and attitude. Our focus should be on helping other people, and Rachel does a nice job of laying out how that works in practice.

Of course, we think that having some tools to help with the follow-up and tracking is important, so we recommend PerfectJob. It's the start of the month, so we're taking a minute to support our sponsor.

Great Job Search Video

2009-03-02T12:46:00.003-06:00

If you haven't done it yet, check out Jason Seiden's video on how to "Job-proof Your Recession." The video is fun, and the tips that go with it are good job search advice.

It's easy to lose track of the key things that are important in a job search. Sometimes we read the advice to let everyone know that we are in transition, and think that we should essentially rent a bulletin board that announces it.

I'm starting to call that the "Ghengis Khan" approach to a job hunt: Sweep in with thousands of warriors, crash through everything, and move on.

This is going to get uglier before it gets better, so applying (or developing) your own style will put you in better stead.

Anyway, check out Jason's video and tips. Well worth it.

Job News This Week

2009-02-27T14:14:00.003-06:00

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest Mass Layoffs News . This holds statistics about layoffs of more than 50 people during January.

Overall, the number of layoff 'actions' -- companies laying people off, dropped, but the number of people affected increased. So it's fewer, larger, layoffs. In this one, Temp Help Services were hardest hit.

The BLS summary was:

In January, there were 2,227 mass layoff actions, involving 237,902 workers. Mass layoff events decreased by 48 over the month, while initial claims increased by 11,785. Over the year, mass layoff events increased by 751, and initial claims increased by 88,834. Forty-eight states registered over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims.

Steve

Job Search in Context

2009-02-26T15:44:00.003-06:00

I was at a wonderful session over the weekend, sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, focused on how we manage in a time of crisis. In Pastor Christine Chakoian’s opening remarks she talked about context, how we are facing one of the toughest challenges in the last 25 years. But also that if we expand our viewing horizon to a hundred or more years, this is still a crisis but maybe not the most monumental one that we’ve faced as a society. And if we expand our horizon even further, we begin to realize that we have faced many tough challenges and prevailed.

Bringing that thought to job searching made me think about context. I talk to some people for whom the prospects look bleak. “I work in banking, and no one’s hiring.” “I work in hospitality and everyone is shedding workers.” I get that. It’s true. In context.

But, people are hiring. People are working. Just maybe not in the place that we are looking.

After college I travelled around for a while, and for a short time I traveled with an English Podiatrist and her sister. She was traveling in part because she hadn’t found a job yet (it was a tough market that year as well). She admitted that there were jobs, but just not where she wanted to live, or doing what she wanted to do. Her position was that she had trained for a specialty by attending medical school, and that it was society’s problem if she couldn’t find a job doing what she trained for.

To me, that was nuts. I still think it’s a nutty approach.

Being flexible is one of our best ways to be resilient, for us to land on our feet. For me, flexibility is all about stepping back and seeing things in context, or in a different context. We all have a set of filters that we use to interpret everything we see. But when those filters aren’t working, when the context is wrong, they prevent us from seeing better ways forward.

So, let’s all try to step back a little, try to look at our job searches with new perspective, and try one or two new things. They may work, and even if they don't, they may give us new perspective, and a new context for our search that will work.

Cold Calling for Job Hunters

2009-02-24T11:50:00.007-06:00

I've talked before how job hunting is a sales process. The difference between a job search and "traditional" sales is the product; in a job hunt, the product is you.

Even in the best job searches, the ones conducted by the best-networked among us, there is a lot of cold calling -- calling people that we don't yet know.

The best summary of how to succeed at cold calling that I have seen is over on the Bnet Sales Machine Blog.

The other articles there are also full of ideas how to shine when we have an opportunity to sell ourselves.

Check it out. PerfectJob software can help us prepare and organize our job search, but at critical points we have to step up our game and sell ourselves.

Soup is Networking

2009-02-24T09:26:00.004-06:00

On Sunday I made soup. A lot of soup. We had it for supper, but there are a lot of people in our neighborhood who are sick--here's been something going around that laid Laurie and Tommy low for a week, and has hit several other nearby families.

So, I took soup to everyone that I knew would need it.

Yesterday I got a call back from Sue, who was sick, saying that after I dropped the soup off she had to pick up her daughter at an event because she was coming down with something. The two of them sat together, eating soup and feeling better.

Networking's like that. I'm well tied to the people in my neighborhood because we do these things for each other. I'm not always home to shovel the walk -- others sometimes do it for us. We do things for them, and help where we can.

Even in the middle of a job search, we have a lot to offer. So we should make offers, and help where we can. We offer to help because it is the right thing to do, not because we expect something in return. It's the offer to help, and the actual help, that builds networks, and gets passed on from person to person.

Rowing as a Metaphor for the Job Search

2009-02-13T12:23:00.004-06:00

When I was in college, I was on the crew team—racing in 8-man shells. There was a time in my life where I saw everything that happened through the metaphor of racing, and although that time is well in the past, I want to dust it off to see if it can help.

Most collegiate racing is a sprint for 2,000 meters, beginning with a standing start where the boat is not moving, through 2000 meters (about 1 ¼ miles). Depending on conditions, the race takes about 6 minutes, or about the speed of a typical run.

The Start: Crew races have standing starts—we begin the race prepared but without any momentum. That is how most job searches start—often there is no warning, and we have to assemble a plan quickly. When a race starts, there is a flurry of motion as crews strain to get the boat moving. A job search often starts this way as well—lot of motion, trying to get something moving.

The Settle: Typically crews start the race with very fast strokes. But that is not sustainable—after a minute or so there is so much lactic acid built up in muscles, and so little oxygen in our bodies, that our muscles are on fire and we have tunnel vision. At this point, crews ‘settle’, they lower the stroke rate, lengthen out their strokes, and get a chance to breathe. When everything is working, the boat leaps forward.

This point for a job search typically comes in the second month. The initial flurry of activity is done, but the responses from the market are less than we hoped for. We realize that we might not find a job immediately, and begin to worry that we might not ever find a job. We need to “settle.” That doesn’t mean stop. That means find an efficient pace, and continue to work without giving up. When we start to be deliberate in our search, we often start seeing results.

The Middle: In a race, one crew or another may try to challenge and pass the other. Whoever is in the lead needs to increase the pace to keep their opponent at bay. Although a crew is pulling at full strength all the time, still they can always find another 10% to challenge or hold off another crew. Likewise in a job search, times come where we must put in an extra effort—to reach a critical contact, get a new resume in front of an opportunity, or just get to a meeting that is critical. In those times, no matter how much effort we have put in before, we have to have the discipline to make it happen.

The Finish: One of my teammates always told a story about a race that he should have won: his boat was ahead going into the finish, but their coxswain mistook where the finish line was, and they stopped rowing about a stroke short of the finish line. They didn’t win. From that point on, I always make sure that I’m still working on any opportunity until I’m sure I’ve crossed the finish line. The same must happen in our job searches. When we are the leading candidate for an opportunity, there is no room to relax. We need to ensure that we continue to respond positively, and smartly, to questions and opportunities before us. Only when the race is really over and we have a job, can we relax and celebrate.

The Splash: In crew, there is a tradition to throw the winning coxswain into the water. I’m not sure what the equivalent celebration should be for finding your next opportunity, but make sure you do take a minute and celebrate your win.

Why Network? Video

2009-02-06T16:12:00.006-06:00

I've been meaning to share this video for a while. It's from a blog over on BNET, which is a great resource for insight into business.

The video is here and shows Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone, talking about networking: what it is, and why it's the key to success in just about all of life.

Finding a job is a sales activity. You're selling your abilities. If that's not a comfortable thought, I recommend reading BNET, or some other material on sales. Good selling is a learnable art.

Check out the video, it's good.

Steve

Organizing a Web 2.0 job Search

2009-02-05T10:49:00.004-06:00

Martin Burns, over at the good to know blog, gave a great example of using social media to connect a candidate with a job opportunity.

He describes seeing a random person add him on twitter, and through several social networking connections (LinkedIn, Facebook), seeing that the random person might be a match for their job openings, leading to a conversation.

All that sounds fine, and easily managed. But what happens when that all takes time, or we as candidates are pursuing multiple job opportunities, or there are multiple connections? How do we organize and track our search then?

The truth is that almost any organization system will work well for the simple cases, the cases where the interactions happen one on another, or you only have a few leads to track. In those cases, your memory will provide the context for each step in your search.

But, the more opportunities you can effectively pursue, the faster you will find a job. And the more diligent you are about following up, the better the job that you find. What that means is if you have an organization system that tracks everything for you, you can pursue more opportunities.

So, the ideal system should give you immediate access to everything you know about a person, activity, company, or job opportunity. You shouldn’t wonder whether you’re seeing everything important – it all should be there automatically provided for whatever you are working on. And it should provide the information in context, to give you the full picture so that you can rely on it when you are preparing for a call or writing an email.

Here’s the plug: PerfectJob Online is free right now. Check it out, and especially check out how you can link People, Companies, Jobs, Documents, and Activities into a full picture of each opportunity.

Take Time to Remember in New Year

2009-01-05T16:44:00.004-06:00

Happy new year everyone. It’s important to take a minute to remember what is important. One of my favorite videos from last year is Dancing by Matt Harding. I watch it pretty much every week, and it always makes me smile. If you haven’t seen it, take a look here on YouTube.

There’s a higher quality version available there as well.

Here’s to a more prosperous 2009.

Steve

List Problems

2008-12-30T12:31:00.003-06:00

It’s that season again. The one to make resolutions for the new year, and to make lists of things that we want to accomplish. Lists are a good things – I use them all the time, and certainly our software is built around lists of things that need to get done (as well as the context of information around them).

But sometimes making a list is not productive. Let’s look at some of the ways and times that it’s probably better NOT to make a list:

List and Forget: Sometimes I make a list of things to do purely so I can forget about them. Hey, it’s on a list, so it’s under control, right? My wife particularly accuses me of this one. The solution: Only make lists that you’re going to look at and work on.

List it all: This is the list from hell. The list with everything on it, from finding a job to fixing the house, to losing some weight, to writing that novel. This is a list begging to be ignored – how can you work on something that big? The solution: Make a couple of lists. I have my life goals list, that I pull out once a year to see how I’m doing and what to focus on for the year. I have my ‘fix the house’ list that lists all the stuff we’d like to do on the house. One or another of these get worked on when we have house fixing time.

List it Big: Make no small items on the list. Everything on this list is big, and scary. It’s almost impossible to start. The solution: Break down items into tasks that you can get done. I find that 15 minutes is about my perfect task size for work-related lists. Anything bigger than that, and I have to schedule the time. But I can fit in 15 minute tasks between interruptions. Put the big items on a long-term list, and check them off when all the small tasks get done.

List it Bad: Make everything on the list something that you really, really, don’t want to do. That will assure that you never look at the list again. The solution: Put a mix of fun and nasty things on your list. Just make sure you don’t do all the fun ones first, leaving you with a bad list again.

Getting started on a list, whether it’s new year resolutions or job search to-dos, is the biggest challenge. Have a couple of ‘gimme’ items to get your momentum up. Then tackle the whole list.

Ignore the Economy

2008-12-23T09:38:00.002-06:00

Stop reading the economic forecasts.

Unless you’ve had your head in the sand for the last 6 months, you are aware that the world economy is not in good shape, and that the job market is difficult, at best. And the headlines keep shouting this at all of us (I must have a couple dozen emails in my inbox that start with something like, “The unemployment rate has increased to 6.7%...”).

We should all be reading the newspaper (online or dead tree edition, take your pick) to get background information, topics of conversation, and to basically show everyone that we’re connected. So if the economy suddenly takes off (or there is a miracle breakthrough and none of us have to work again) you will probably hear about it.

The problem with reading each of the doom-and-gloom articles is they don’t help. Job hunting is a tough undertaking. It is hard enough staying optimistic, and constantly reading about how bad the economy is doesn’t help.

Instead, focus on measuring your own job search success. If you’re not getting interviews or call-backs, those are problems – but they are job search problems whether the economy is in good shape or not.

The great thing is, job search problems you can work on. The overall economy is not anything you can work on.

If you are celebrating the holidays, take cheer from family and all the blessings you have. If you are not celebrating, still take a minute to think about everything you have going for you right now.

When you get back to your job search, approach it with clarity and confidence, knowing that your blessings will get you through.

Job Search Organization: Activities part 2

2008-11-30T08:42:00.004-06:00

You can find part 1 of this article here.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step -- Confucius

Every job search consists of Activities — getting things done to push our job search forward. Some of these Activities are simple, and can get done immediately. For those, almost any system will work – remember them and do them, or write them on a daily to-do list and cross them off. But many of the Activities that we pursue for our job search cannot be so quickly completed. We call, but we get voicemail, or assistants, or it’s the wrong person. The activities that straggle along day after day are the ones we really have to track.

One of the hardest things about Activities that drag on is the effort it takes to remember what we were doing; to remember the context. When we first set up the Activity, its goal and reasons are fresh and in-mind. A day later when we are working on it, it may take a little effort to recall why it is important, and how it fits in our job search. Two weeks later we may have even more trouble recalling the context. Recalling information takes additional time and effort when our search is already challenging. We don't need extra work and stress when we're trying to make a good impression.

We can combat the cost of starting up a task again by recording the context of the Activity. Make sure the Activity also shows the person or people associated with the Activity (who you are calling, who recommended that you call, etc.), record which job is for, background research and notes about our progress on the Activity.

Every day, we should add at least one task that will expand the universe of jobs we are pursuing. Ideas include sending an inquiry letter to an industry leader that we’ve always admired but never thought we could work for, or calling a small company that is growing in a different field from ours. We try to get used to trying new things while we job search. It keeps our search interesting and us more nimble. And it’s good mental exercise for when we have a new job and need to learn a whole new set of skills.

Activities get us from our starting point to our destination, a good new place in our career, whether it is a mile or a thousand miles away. Each step takes us closer to our goal, and gives us an opportunity to show the world how good we really are.

Job Search Organization: Activities part 1

2008-11-29T22:35:00.006-06:00

In a recent post for Job Action Day (http://perfectjobsoftware.blogspot.com/2008/11/job-action-day-2008-organize-for.html) we talked about the need to organize every job search. This is the first of the follow-up articles to talk about what that system must do.

Activities

Ideally, every job search should take us a big step forward in our lives and careers. But making progress is a series of small steps that take us from here to our goal.

It’s vitally important that we look organized and in charge of our search for everyone watching us. Being on top of our search is almost a pre-first impression—what people “see” before they even see us. It shows we are someone they should want to hire or help. We can show that we’re on the ball by getting the important things done and done on time.

We’re going to need a system to maintain and prioritize our ever-changing list of tasks. As our job search progresses, we need to check this list regularly and re-prioritize as needed. To look our best we need to be disciplined and finish all high priority items every day.

It’s important that we set realistic due dates for items that involve other people, remembering to factor in extra time when we need input from others. Always meet outside commitments. Always. If something unforeseen comes up, contact the person to let them know what happened, and check that delivering later is ok. It’s often fine to make a new date, but then we have to ensure that we make that new date at all costs. If we make a note on that Contact’s record, we can ensure that we deliver on time the next opportunity we get. Remember, this is our pre-first impression.

If we do this, we can maximize our opportunities.

It is estimated that one third of job seekers lose momentum and stop searching in the second month of their search. We can fight against this by always making sure that we have a new follow-on activity for each one that we complete. When entering that dangerous second month, we try to end the day with one or two more new tasks than when we started the day. Knowing what is next on our job search is an good way to make sure that we keep going.

Everyone has their own style for creating activities. I have a friend who always starts a to-do list with the activity, “Make To-Do List”. When she finishes the list she can already cross one item off. For some people, making the tasks small enough to accomplish a few in one sitting is the best way to go. Other people do better with larger Activity scopes. For me, if an Activity can be completed in less than an hour, I’m more likely to start and get the Activity completed.

There are lots of ways to make our Activities work for us, but the most important thing is that we are setting daily goals and using them to move forward.

We will continue our Activity job search tips in the next installment.

Copyright 2008 Steven D. Davies

Look Beyond Job Statistics

2008-11-10T10:14:00.002-06:00

The Conference Board issued its October survey of employment and job listings last week. The news is unmistakably bad, but it is worth spending a little time digging below the headlines (which are the only thing that news agencies typically report).

The Conference Board report says that for October, “…high-paying jobs in Management, Business/Finance and Architecture/Engineering occupations make up over 50% of the drop in over-the-year online advertised vacancies…” Now, on the face of it, that sounds bad. Very bad.

But if you look at the accompanying chart, for each of these occupations there are more ads listed than people unemployed. That’s right – there are open jobs without enough people to fill them. So while the number of listed jobs in those occupations dropped, there are still plenty of jobs there for job seekers with those skills. The rations range from 0.6 (roughly two candidates for every three jobs), to 0.86 (roughly six candidates for every 7 jobs).

So, don’t despair. Review your materials and your story to make sure you are presenting yourself at your best, and try to look beyond the statistics, no matter what they are for your industry.

But the news overall is not good, and it is certainly bad for specific industries. If you are in an industry that has more unemployed than job opportunities, try one thing new each day in a different industry. One of them will catch, and trying them will expand your options in this tough market.

Job Action Day 2008: Organize for Success

2008-11-03T00:21:00.011-06:00

Job Action Day 2008 is today, November 3rd. It's our day for you to take control of your job search in the face of the realities of modern business. Many job search thought leaders are participating and you can learn more about Job Action Day at Quintessential Careers.

Let’s face it, the old ways of managing a job search using a binder or even a spreadsheet just will not work in today’s environment. There is too much information online, too many ways to connect to jobs, companies, and people, to master your job search using out-of-date tools.

The complexity is in the breadth of the five things that you need to organize for a modern job search:

Activities: Tasks or To-Do items, meetings and follow-up.
Contacts: Networking and relationships.
Documents: Everything from resumes and cover letters to research and tips.
Jobs listings themselves.
Organizations: Companies, social organizations, schools, and other groups that people belong to. Tracking these are critical for you to expand your universe of available jobs.

In addition, you need a system to keep track of your search overall. Some of your search is likely to be high volume, low involvement (such as responding to job boards). Your system needs to help you track those opportunities without spending a lot of time on them. Until you get a response. Then your low-involvement system needs to go high-touch for you so that you can engage with your caller as if they have the only job you are pursuing.

At the same time that you are responding to job listings, you should pursue a targeted approach–focused on a set of companies, or people you want to work with, or a specific type of job. For this part of your search, you need to be sifting and sorting a lot of information to figure out how and where to present your skills and abilities at their best. Later, when you identify an opportunity, you need to make this research instantly useful. This is your high-touch system again, but from another angle.

An automated system can do both of these things for you, and do them well. In a series of posts we will explore how each part of your job tracking system should work best. Take a step forward with your job search today on Job Action Day, and keep working with us in the next weeks to maximize your search.

Copyright 2008 Steven D. Davies

Labor Statistics and You

2008-10-31T15:26:00.003-05:00

The Bureau of Labor Statistics city unemployment figures came out this week for September. You can find them here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/metro.pdf

My advice is if you are thinking about moving, they are worth looking at. There are a few cities where the unemployment is very low, and a few where the unemployment is staggeringly high.

For most of us, the important thing is to focus our search on the companies and types of job that best fit us, and to conduct a powerful job search. Focus on that objective, and let the statistics take care of themselves.

Copyright 2008, Steven D. Davies

Fixing Trajectory (Part 2)

2008-10-27T15:49:00.003-05:00

tra•jec•to•ry [truh-jek-tuh-ree] –noun, plural -ries. 1. the curve described by a projectile, rocket, or the like in its flight. (from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trajectory)

Last time we were talking about career trajectory, and this blog I promised to identify a few things that you can do if you think your career trajectory doesn’t match that of the company you’re talking to:

I shouldn’t have to say this, but don’t make stuff up. Your career is your career. Put the best face on the truth that you can, but trust the truth that is you.
Highlight the things in the new positions that you were learning or taking on. If your resume reads like the same job repeated at different companies, look for what you accomplished at each company that was different. Highlight the breadth you were gaining because it is a valuable component of trajectory.
Make sure you have convincing stories for each place that your career tapered or faltered. Most companies these days will understand a period in which career takes second place to family. Just be sure that you positively position what you were doing, why, and how it will fit into your overall life plan. And if they look skeptical, be ready with a convincing explanation why it was a one-time thing in your past.
Sometimes the best way to deal with trajectory issues is to side-step them or avoid them. The HR people, and more junior staff are less able to overlook trajectory issues. But often there are people within your target organization who have taken a non-standard career path. Find those people. They can give you advice, and act as your advocates in the process.

Good luck. With a little positioning, you will be on your way.

What Does "Over-Qualified" Mean?

2008-10-10T09:40:00.005-05:00

On LinkedIn, someone just posed a question asking what companies mean when they tell a candidate that they are “overqualified.” There are several interpretations (read them for yourself at LinkedIn Answers) , but mine had to do with what I call ‘career trajectory.’

Hiring people is a difficult process for companies as well as candidates. So usually a company will want to hire someone who not only can do the job they are hiring for, but who can also take on more responsibility as they grow. The speed at which an individual takes on new responsibility in his or her career is ‘trajectory’: how quickly they are going up.

So, what do you do if you suspect your career trajectory isn’t fast enough? That’s a topic for next time.

Materials for Your Informational Interview

2008-10-03T11:12:00.003-05:00

I just talked to someone who was heading out the door to an informational interview. She had thought through what she wanted to talk about, looked great, and had her resume with her. I asked whether she wanted a portfolio to put the resume in. She said, “No, I’ll just fold it and put it in my purse. This is just an informal meeting and I don’t want to look too eager.”

Ok. I get that. You want to go in looking cool. You don’t want to make this look like it’s more than it is, an informal interview. But let’s face it, informational interviews are a bit of a game. You wouldn’t be having it if you weren’t interested in a new job. The person you’re talking to knows that you’re interested in a new job (incidentally, that’s why folks are often so skitterish about saying “yes” to an informational interview), so just having a portfolio with you doesn’t tell them anything they don’t know, and doesn’t put the conversation on a different footing. You can always just leave the portfolio leaning against your chair, where it will be forgotten during the interview (just don’t forget it afterward!).

The problem is that if the person my friend is meeting asks for a resume, it will be to remember the conversation and possibly to send it on to her colleagues. My friend, and you, should not want the physical reminder of the conversation to be folded. It should be pristine.

So go ahead, take what you need with you to present at your best. If you don’t feel comfortable taking something you need, be prepared to send it afterward. Just don’t compromise and take something that is almost ok.

Getting Hiring Manager Attention

2008-09-26T11:22:00.002-05:00

Personified just released the results of a survey of hiring managers. You can read some highlights here, http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/energize-your-job-search-in-this-tough-economy,555196.shtml . The man points are:

Managers are continuing to hire, and getting more creative about how they find candidates
Candidates need to use more tools to ensure they are visible to the hiring managers
Networking continues to be a key strategy

Whatever tool you use, make sure you are tracking your job search progress and following up on every lead.

Effective Job Searches

2008-09-24T12:20:00.004-05:00

There is a great cautionary tale with a happy ending over on the US News Blogs (http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-inside-job/2008/09/23/why-google-might-be-killing-your-job-search.html) about a strong job candidate who would get to the final rounds of hiring and repeatedly get passed over. There are two things to learn from this: evaluating your results, and checking your online reputation.

Evaluating Results: “Josh” was getting to the final rounds of hiring, and knew that he was a strong candidate, but kept being passed over. He was dropped without good explanation. Rather than continuing down the same path, Josh realized that something must be wrong with how he was conducting his search. When he could not figure it out himself, he asked for outside help.

Periodically you need to review your effort and progress in all parts of your search. If you are sending out lots of resumes but never getting called, your resume is not doing its job. If you are networking, but not finding opportunities, your networking skills may need an overhaul.

Salespeople talk about a sales funnel: you need a certain number of calls to generate a meeting, a certain number of meetings to generate a sale, etc. Look at your search the same way and make sure that you are getting through the stages of your search often enough to be successful.

Online Reputation: This is covered in many online articles, but it is worth repeating. Josh had a problem with ex-employees ruining his online reputation. Your name may resemble someone else’s enough that you are hurt by their online activities. Check the things that you do online, but also try to find your name the way someone else might: through Google, or LinkedIn, or Facebook, or Spock, or any one of a number of other sites. They may be finding someone that isn’t you.

Quick Tip: Resume Writing Keywords

2008-09-19T12:07:00.002-05:00

If you just got laid off from Hewlett-Packard, Lehman, one of the other Wall Street companies laying off people this week, you are probably working on your resume right now. One of the questions I frequently get asked is how to make a resume work best for machine filtering and online searches. Part of the answer is to focus on keywords.

Key words are words or short phrases that summarize you, your expertise, experience, or skill set. These are the phrases that filtering software will use to decide whether you match a job listing, and they are what recruiters will search to find your resume in a job board.
Once you have written your resume, go back and write a keyword (one word or short phrase) that best describes each job on your resume. Then go back and do the same next to each key experience, each key skill, and each accomplishment.

I then like to do a little research. My favorite tool is Indeed.com’s Job trend tool (http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends) . This will tell you how often each term is searched, across all of the job boards they work with. The more often a term in your resume is searched, the more often your resume will appear in a search. If you are unsure of the best term to use to describe a part of your resume, brainstorm several terms and check them on Indeed’s jobtrends. Use the one that will generate the most searches. If you have room, you can also use several to vary the text for readers, and to pull in wider traffic.

As with most things on the web, experiment a little with your resume. Post one version for a few days or a week, then make some changes and see if the results are any better. Keep working until you’ve found your optimal online resume.

Re-Energizing a Recent College Graduate Job Search

2008-09-11T12:52:00.004-05:00

This year’s college graduates are facing a challenging market, according to a recent article in WorkForce (http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/25/63/97/index.php). If you are a recent graduate, several months into your job search without any luck, here are some thoughts to get you re-energized.

Don’t panic. It is typical that an individual’s job search begins lagging in the second and third month of the search. It is especially true if the candidate is only using one method to job hunt. Don’t panic, you will get through this.

Evaluate your current job search. What techniques have you used so far (Job Boards, Networking, In-Person/Walk-in, Targeted Company, Mass Mailings, etc). How has each one done (Number and Percentage of responses, number of first conversations either in person or by phone, number of conversations with hiring decision makers, number of offers if any).

Improve the Things that you are doing. Look at your numbers and see if there is a pattern – is the search consistently stopping at one point? If so, get coaching for that one area. If the problem is no response at all, look at try adding another search technique for the next month. If you are using four or more techniques, drop whichever one is least effective.

Try Something New. Try doing one totally new thing each week. If there is a career that you’ve always wanted, but never thought was within reach or practical, send a letter or make a call or two to explore it this week. You have nothing to lose! If there is someone you always wanted to work for, write them and make them feel how much you want to work for them. Make sure in each of these calls or letters you ask for a job.

Set up a Support Group. If you have friends who are also having trouble, meet with them weekly. Often local libraries or other groups have job seeker support groups. Make sure that whatever group you join is focused on results and improving performance. You can use your other friends to be understanding. The support group should be supporting you in finding a job, not in feeling ok where you are.

Good luck. I graduated from college into a tough market, and while it took me a little time searching, and a few temporary jobs, I did find work I loved.

Unemployment at 6.1% Should You Give Up?

2008-09-05T15:40:00.004-05:00

It's time to get serious about your job search, and here's why. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released August unemployment statistics today (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf). The news is not good for the economy, but this is your call to action not an excuse to quit.

Don’t Quit: While unemployment increased from 8.8 million to 9.4 million, there are still almost 150 million jobs out there. New ones open up all the time as workers switch jobs.

Get Serious: There is more competition for the jobs. If you are just relying on Job Boards, you are hitting the sites with the most competition. You are better off looking at sources where others are not.

Refocus: Check where your job search is stalling now. If it's at the beginning, look at where you are finding your job leads and at your cover letter and resume. If it's stalling in phone or live interviews, consider hiring a career coach.

Be Creative: Try something next week that you haven't tried before. Maybe a completely different line of work. Maybe a different way of finding openings. This is an important next step, and worth taking some risks.

The statistics are about everyone else. You just need one job, and it's out there.

Conscientious Follow-up or Stalker?

2008-09-04T01:28:00.005-05:00

I often get questions from people who have their sights on an opportunity – a specific job that they want, or a company or manage that they want to work for – and they want advice about how best to make contact. In most cases the question comes down to, “At what point do I stop being seen as proactive and aggressive and start being treated like a stalker?

For my business I’m often calling people to get them to look at our software, and often cold-calling. My rules of thumb are:

Wherever possible, I try to reach them through mutual friends or casual interactive. I mention once that I’d like to talk to them some other time about business. If they are eager to talk, I listen hard and discuss a little about what I want. If they are receptive but not eager, I’ll ask whether I can call next week (or some not-too-distant time in the future). If they are noncommittal or hostile, I move on to other subjects and don’t bring it up again.

I (networking again) try to find out what the needs are of the people I want to work for and with. What causes them trouble at work? I try to figure out what I can do to solve their problem, even if it does not involve a job for me.

After talking to someone at the company I say, “thank you” either at the end of the conversation, if it’s short, or in an e-mail if a longer casual conversation, or by sending a letter.

I make sure that I contact them with something of interest to them between conversations about things that interest me. Depending on the response I get, sometimes I’ll wait even longer between conversations about things that matter to me.

I am reliable about everything. If I said I would call at a certain time, I call. If I said I would find something and send it, I send it.

These simple rules can help keep you in the “Valuable Resource” category rather than the, “Restraining Order Needed” group!

Networking: 5 Steps to Success

2008-08-26T14:04:00.006-05:00

To find out information for your job search, you must talk to people. That’s what networking is about: building relationships through sharing of information. You will probably find out about job opportunities through networking, but much more of your conversations with be sharing lots of other useful information: Who’s hiring, who’s good to work for, what companies should be avoided, who might know about a specific topic, how best to present yourself, and the list goes on and on.

If you don’t prepare ahead of time, it’s easy to focus too much on finding a job opportunity, and miss out on other equally useful information. Here are five tips to get you ready for a networking conversation:

What one question you would ask them: If you only get a few minutes of their time, and they ask you what they can do for you – what one thing will you ask?

How will you lead up to your #1 question? Think about how awkward the question is for the other person (“Will you hire me” is very awkward, “What do you think about this development in the industry” is much less awkward), what you can do to lead up to the question, as well as what other information you want before asking.

What are you bringing to them? The conversation should be between two people who each bring something valuable to the relationship. Think about this – you may even want to do a little research before calling, just to ensure that you know your contact’s interests.

What other information would you like? Most people like to talk about themselves and what they are doing. If you get an opportunity, what other information (beyond your #1 question from step 1) would be most helpful?

How can you present yourself in the best light? Think about what one or two messages about yourself you want the contact to hear. Get these down to short, compelling statements. Be ready to present them in a confident, conversational way.

That’s it. You’re ready to take on the networking world. Another way to "give back" is to show interest in your contact's thoughts and concerns during the conversation, and by following up afterward. Don’t forget to send a thank-you note afterward to cement the positive impression that you’ve made.

Quick tip: Job Search Follow-up Calls

2008-07-02T11:26:00.002-05:00

When you’re following up with a prospect, you are working your way through several minefields: Striking the balance between the extreme of being invisible and the opposite extreme of being a stalker. Less obviously, you are also threading between targeting this specific job and setting yourself up for the next one.

Technique: Good salespeople (and as a job candidate, that is what you are, right?) know that it’s always easier to go back to someone when you have something new. The best thing to offer is something that is of interest to them: An article, a whitepaper or solution, etc. That way you’re not calling to nag them, instead you’re calling to provide them with something that they want. And you can rest easy knowing that you have just added another positive association to your name.

Bringing something new that is of interest to them also sustains your long-term goals by showing them that a relationship with you is mutually beneficial. So even if you are not chosen for this job, you have a better chance to go back to them later.

Having a reason to call is also a good way to quell your jitters. You’re not calling to sell yourself, instead you’re calling to help them. That’s always a much more comfortable, and fun, call.

Part Time Job Search

2008-04-30T13:36:00.004-05:00

Everyone says that, if you can, you should keep your current job while looking for a new one. That’s easy to say, but the few times I’ve tried to do it, it’s been very hard. I find that the part-time search is very difficult to do well. Here are some things that can help:

Small Tasks: I find that if I split up my search into small tasks that can be completed in 15 minutes or less, I can find time to do them, and focus long enough to be effective. A 15-minute task can be completed over lunch, on the train, or in a few spare minutes. If you end up with longer blocks of time, do several of them.
Time to Focus: I need to focus when I’m searching. So I plan out where and when I can have a little bit of time to clear everything else away. Even with two not-so-small kids, only needing to clear out 15 minutes at a time is possible.
Organize: The time spent switching from task to task kills productivity, and for me kills my motivation. If I have 15 minutes and I spend most of it finding my materials, it’s very hard to get motivated the next time. You need tools to organize, and make sure you organize everything at the END of a task so that it’s easy to pick up the next step whenever you get back to it.
Reasonable Expectations: One advantage of searching while still employed is you have a safety net. So set reasonable expectations about what you can get done in a week or month, and be happy about whatever progress you are making.

Finding a new job while still working at an old one is possible, you just need good tools, good organization and a share of motivation. Visualize the moment when you accept that great new job, and get moving.

The Tyranny of a Blank Piece of Paper

2008-04-18T16:39:00.002-05:00

Writers talk a lot about writing blocks and the difficulty of starting a new work. I’ve seen it referred to as “Blank Page Syndrome” and other names, but the problem is always the same: the writer knows generally what he or she wants to say, but can’t get started. Somehow the challenge of getting the first sentence right blocks any forward progress.

In thinking about it, starting a job search has similar challenges. Personally, I have a general idea of what I want, but in truth I’m not super picky. There are a lot of things that I would find interesting to do. But you can’t call people up to network and say, “well, I want to work at just about anything. Do you have any ideas?” It won’t get you anywhere.

Neither will calling people up and telling them what you won’t do.

So for most of us, we need to fill in that blank piece of paper before we start the search. Luckily writers have a bunch of ideas about how to get beyond the blank paper. Here are my interpretations of some of them:

Start in the Middle: I think this is some of what “targeted company” approaches do for people. They start part way through, with a company they want to work for, and fill in the other stuff (like what can I do for them, what jobs do they have, etc) after the fact. It’s also pretty effective to think about who you’d like to work for. I’ve called people I like working with to tell them that and to brainstorm how I could work with them again.

Tell a Story: Write a story of your career. Start in the past and work through today and into the future. There will be a lot of good bits that you can use both for your resume and to help figure out what you want.

Free Write or Talk: Start somewhere. Find a random job and apply for it. Call someone to network. Do some job-search activity without worrying about whether it is the right thing to do. You will quickly see what’s working and what’s not, and start focusing your time on the things that matter. That’s your search.

Change Things Up: If you’re most comfortable with sending e-mail inquiries, then get on the phone or walk into someone’s office for a conversation. Send an inquiry to a company or person instead of responding to a specific advertisement. Try something new.

Set Short Goals: Who cares if your target is to talk to 5 people a day, if you can’t make that first call. Set a goal of calling one person. Then call.

The idea is to get something going. To do that you need to start somewhere. And sometimes we get so bogged down in doing the right thing that we lose track of the importance of doing something.

Job Search Networking -- Groups

2008-03-18T09:52:00.003-05:00

I was at a focus group of business school students last week and they talked a lot about networking into a job search. They verified something that I’ve been thinking for a while: we each keep circles of networking contacts. There are not enough hours in the day to stay close to everyone that you meet, so everyone comes up with ways to manage the network.

The first step of this is categorizing your networking contacts. Some people do this formally, others do it more ad-hoc, but everyone does it. It’s a little-discussed topic, but even my 12 year old daughter can quickly sum up her school relationships based on whether the person eats lunch at her table (her inner circle), is a friend who eats elsewhere (her outer circle) or someone else.

The interesting thing is where do the job search networking contacts fit in? I always envision them as a box or circle that sits on the side of my networking circles. Many of the contacts I have during my job search are transactional – I need something, or they need something, we communicate and there is either a match or not. During the course of my job search, I keep track of these people both as background for my search and so I can thank them at the end of the search.

But at the end of the search, what happens to the people you have met during your search? If you are lucky, a few of them will join your inner circle of friends – these are the people who were part of your job search group, or folks with whom you had a strong connection. Others will go into your outer group of friends, and some of them you will have a tenuous connection to, and will let drop from your network altogether.

How do you maintain those contacts so that the next time you are thinking about starting a job search, you have a warm network to work with?

For me, I contact my inner group of friends all of the time – I am drawn to them and even if nothing is going on for me, I will call them to see how they are doing. The challenge for me is always the outer group of friends – and this is where most of the new contacts from a job search will end up.

Here’s what I do:

Set up communication targets for each person, and put that communication on my task or activity list. That way I get reminders about contacting them.
When the reminder comes up, I think about whether there is anything I can do for them. If I have something, anything from a business lead to job opening, or information in an area they have interest, I will send or call them to see if it would be helpful to them.
I look for materials to send them, or important dates for them as a reason to call or e-mail. I’m not good with just calling up this outer group of friends to say, “hello.” But if I’ve seen an article about a topic they’re interested in, that is enough for me to send.
I track what I sent or why I contacted them last time. I don’t want to be sending an old joke every time.

I’ve found that just doing this is enough to keep my network of friends growing over time. I’ve also found that the people I connect with in my outer circle are as interested in keeping in touch as I am. So as long as I have some reason to reach out occasionally, the contacts are great and the relationship builds over time. Finding those reasons to call is a little work, but it’s also incredibly rewarding as well.

Finding Job Leads

2008-02-26T11:13:00.005-06:00

Job Boards Are Only Part of the Story...

I got an e-mail today from one of our users, requesting an enhancement to bring in RSS feeds from job boards like CareerBuilder and Monster. It’s a good idea, and one that was on our development list, but which just moved up to a top slot (because a user requested it – feel free to request additional functions and features at our forum http://www.PerfectJobSoftware.com/forum).

That request got me thinking about the challenge of finding job leads. Every time I start a search, and even when I am not searching, I look at the job boards. Why? Because there are a lot of jobs there, and it’s easy. I have also found some of my previous jobs through job ads, so it has been a successful strategy for me.

But, all of the statistics show that job boards are a low-return way of finding a job. Unless you have a skill set that is in high demand, and one that can be easily described by keywords, finding a good match on a job board will be a challenge. Most people have to send out a lot of inquiries. Each inquiry requires follow-up to be effective, few result in any feedback, and it is a challenging job search approach.

I believe that job boards have a role in your job search strategy, but those roles should be limited (unless you are one of the lucky few with an easily-described, highly desirable skill set – at the time that I write this, Flash developers are in that category, at least in Chicago). As a job candidate, you need to focus on results and progress, rather than on activity for its own sake. The challenge of job boards is they can mask a lack of progress by providing lots of opportunity for non-productive work.

How I use job boards:

Warm-up: I am not a morning person, and some days I am not ready to tackle tough phone calls or letters first. But reviewing and responding to ads is pretty straightforward, and I can do that while I have my coffee in the morning. My trick: set a time limit to the activity. When I am fully into my search, I generally try to get through all listings and send applications within an hour. If there is an opportunity that requires more research or work to best position myself (e.g. if I need to create a significantly different targeted resume or cover e-mail), I will set up an Activity or set of Activities in PerfectJob to finish those later in the day.
Jump-start: Getting a job search started is always hard for me. By using job ads I can start my search, learn what has changed since the last time I looked for work, and have a focused reason to get my documents completed and clean.
Barometer: By getting a daily feed of opportunities, even while I am working, I get a feel for how strong the market is, and see what specific opportunities and skills are needed. The general understanding I get from this feed helps me position my search better.
Research: Job boards are wonderful to see whether companies I am targeting are hiring now, and who they want to hire. Job listings provide specific wording, and especially keywords, that help position my resumes and cover letters so that they get through initial screenings.
Good luck: I can’t imagine doing a full job search without looking at job ads. Maybe it’s my personal tradition, but by looking at them I feel that I am trying every avenue I can to find a new job. That makes me feel better about the search.

So use job boards, but be mindful of the work that they require for each opportunity that comes from them. A listing is not an opportunity until someone expresses an active interest in you. If you periodically check the number of opportunities arising from your job board efforts, and appropriately manage the time that you spend working on job boards, you can keep them a positive resource for your search.

Personal Introduction to Job Search Tools

2008-02-22T10:43:00.007-06:00

About Me…

It feels odd posting a background piece on myself, both because it comes before I have written anything else, and because I firmly believe that the content of this blog will speak for itself. But I think it is important that you know my background, both to understand my potential biases and to understand from where my wisdom, or lack thereof, comes.

I am Steve Davies, President of PerfectJob Software. I started this company in mid-2007 when I was starting a new job search and was appalled that there was little or no software available to help in a job search. The few applications that I found provided no benefit over a manual system, and certainly weren’t up to the complexities of a modern job search.

If, instead of starting a company, I had gone ahead with my last job search, it would have been the 9th since graduating from college, more years ago than I can count. Of those job searches, one (my first, and not a professional job) I got by walking in and filling out a job application. Two I got through job listings and Want Ads – the precursors to today’s job boards. One I got through the career center at my business school, and four I got through networking. That’s 8, for the 9th I created a company.

My experience, surprisingly, closely matches the statistics about how people find jobs. Most are found through networking. A few are found through just showing up, with a middle group of jobs found through sending resumes in to job ads.

As a youth I had a range of jobs, from working in a cannery (where I learned that working on an assembly line is not for me), worked with the mentally ill (which gave me great respect both for humankind’s resilience, and for the people who work with disadvantaged populations), and a summer as a llama herder (don’t ask!).

My post-college career was spent doing computer programming and product development, both for a start-up company and a medium-sized healthcare company. I had the fortune of being accepted to, and receiving a degree from one of the best business schools in the world. From there I gained practical knowledge from five years of doing strategy consulting with Fortune 100 companies, and spent a year recruiting for a top management consulting company. During the internet boom, I joined an internet consulting company, ran a P&L while they were publicly traded. Most recently I have been developing green energy projects in eastern Europe and former Soviet Union.

Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about recruiting, about job hunting, and about how companies work. I look forward to sharing my insights through this blog, and through the tools that our company produces. PerfectJob is a full job search manager and organizer that also helps you navigate all of the information associated with your job search. Use PerfectJob to manage your jobs search so that you maximize your options and master your search. Download it at http://www.perfectjobsoftware.com/.