Despite the tight labor market, you CAN stand out from the crowd and get the job you really want.
Consider Eugene, a software developer from Savage, MN.
After getting serious about his job search, he found his ideal job -- at a higher salary than he expected -- in just over six weeks.
Here’s what he did …
“I saw a job posted on the Internet that I really wanted,” says Eugene. “Like most people, I thought I would just email my resume and wait. But that approach had not produced any callbacks for three months, so I decided to try something different.”
Eugene picked up the phone and called the contact person listed in the job posting, after getting her phone number from the company switchboard.
“I asked if I could hand-deliver my resume. She said ‘No,’ but I struck up a conversation and learned enough about the position to write a very targeted cover letter, which I emailed with my resume,” says Eugene.
After that, Eugene made three follow-up calls, one week apart, to very politely ask if a decision had been made. Since he had already built a rapport with the hiring manager during his first call, she did not see this as an intrusion.
Between his second and third follow-up calls, Eugene employed a brilliant tactic that set him apart from every other candidate.
“During my second follow-up call, I offered to deliver a portfolio of additional material. I wanted to maximize my chances of getting that job!” he says. The hiring manager agreed.
So Eugene put together a collection of awards and descriptions of projects he had worked on. As he was dropping off this “brag book” with the receptionist, he met several employees in the lobby. “I asked about the four biggest problems they were facing on the job,” says Eugene. “I took notes, then went home to think up solutions.”
Finally, after four weeks, three follow-up phone calls and one hand-delivered portfolio, Eugene was called for an interview. He aced it, aced the interview that followed ... and got the job.
“After talking to employees and researching the company’s products and customers from their Web site, I was able to talk intelligently and make helpful suggestions. The interviewers were impressed by that,” says Eugene.
Does all this research and telephone follow-up sound like a lot of work to you? Not if you consider your job search to be a full-time job in itself. Eugene spent only a few hours total on this approach, but the pay-off was enormous.
“I start next week at a higher salary than before and with a great company. I’m really excited about this new position,” says Eugene.
Action Step: You can hit the jackpot with some old-fashioned persistence and creativity. Of course it takes work. But doing a thing right is never really work, is it? One thing’s for sure – the other people who want your job probably won’t go to the lengths Eugene did. Will you?
Job search expert James Adams, based in California, once advised an applicant to talk about her hobby as a private pilot when interviewing for a position at a utility company.
Why?
The job required a manager to oversee a plant delivering electricity to consumers across California. Making the wrong decision -- or no decision -- would put thousands of people in the dark.
As a private pilot, this woman had safely landed a crippled aircraft not once, but twice. Had she not made the right decisions fast, while focusing on a solution, she wouldn't have survived.
By proving her decision-making ability, which transferred easily from piloting to power plant management, she aced out dozens of other applicants -- and got the job.
Action Step: I’ll say it again -- you are more qualified than you think.
If you need confirmation of this, ask the opinion of at least 3 friends or family members whose judgment you trust. They can provide insights on how your hobbies, interests and experience (paid or unpaid) have given you a valuable set of skills.
Robbie Brawner Ouzts, Director of Career Services at Oglethorpe University, tells the story of a gung-ho job seeker who got hired after walking into a job interview meant for somebody else! “An administrative professional, we’ll call her, ‘Shirley,’ got so frustrated after sending out resumes with no response that she decided to call on companies in person.” At 10:00 one morning, she walked into the lobby of a local business. Unknown to her, the hiring manager was expecting another woman for a 10:00 job interview. “Shirley walked in and looked dressed for an interview, so the employer thought it was his 10:00 appointment. He started talking to her and thought she was wonderful,” says Ouzts. After 10 minutes, the hiring manager realized his mistake, but Shirley handed him her resume for review. The interview continued … and she got a job as an office manager. What about that candidate who was originally scheduled to interview at 10:00? “She never did show up,” says Ouzts. Action Step: Shirley’s stroke of good fortune seems pretty incredible, like winning the job lottery. But before you dismiss her tactic as something that could never happen to you, understand this critical point: Shirley created her this break all by herself. Put another way, this could have never happened to Shirley if she had spent that morning at home in front of the TV, sulking about her job search. You can literally make your own luck if you get proactive and seek out hiring managers in person. If you’re at all reluctant about calling on employers in person, you have company. The thought of cold calling can be intimidating. Yet, ask yourself this: if you go out to meet hiring managers, what’s the worst that could happen? They say no. Big deal. Dust yourself off, and try again. But what’s the worst that can happen if you sit idly at home and wait for the phone to ring with job offers? The bank could foreclose on your mortgage. Your landlord could evict you. Your significant other could leave you for someone else. Hmm. That’s an easy choice, isn’t it?
Here are 3 ways to locate job openings using free resources at your disposal.
I interviewed Bob Picha, founder of San-Diego-based Ideas At Work, a company dedicated to the release of human potential in individuals and organizations.
Based on 30 years of career-consulting experience, Bob’s insights are sure to surprise – and more importantly – help you find a job faster.
Research is your first step in ferreting out job openings. And since almost everyone gets a daily newspaper, why not start there? But don’t spend a lot of time on the want ads, advises Picha.
“I take an indirect approach in looking for companies that might be hiring. For example, I skimmed today’s Wall Street Journal and found these tidbits:
“Toyota now wants 15% of global market share, which means they’ll be expanding worldwide and perhaps hiring locally;
“China is buying $1.2 billion in telecom equipment from Lucent and Motorola, which points to both firms needing new personnel;
“Earnings for Cendant rose 19%, so they may be hiring …
“The list goes on,” says Picha.
Two more ways to use the newspaper to uncover expanding businesses are:
Monitor the business section for firms signing new commercial leases, a sure sign of a need for increased capacity, and
Look for companies receiving venture capital -- since it’s so difficult to get these days, such firms are likely to have a viable business model … and a need for new employees.
Action Step: With a little digging, you can uncover the employment clues that point you toward companies in need of new employees. And you’ll have almost NO competition, since 99% of job hunters look only to the help-wanted ads when they read the newspaper.
One client, Rebecca, told me how she regretted not keeping detailed records in her job search.
Reason?
She got calls after submitting her resume to positions, but had forgotten all about what jobs and companies she had applied to! Needless to say, she didn’t get any interviews this way, and all her efforts in sending out resumes to those companies were wasted.
Don’t let this happen to you.
Action Step: Write down the following every time you send out a resume:
title of job you applied for,
company name,
name of person addressed in cover letter,
source of job lead,
date resume and cover letter were sent,
date of your intended follow-up, and
any other notes that will help you talk intelligently should that company call you for an interview.
You should also keep a copy of the classified ad or Internet job posting you applied to, if one is available. That way you’ll be able to discuss the job when you get called to interview.
In my ongoing series of interviews with job search experts, I tracked down Marky Stein, a career coach in San Jose, Calif., who’s perfected a strikingly innovative approach to finding a job fast – in any economy.
She’s the author of "Fearless Interviewing: What to Do Before, During and After an Interview" (iUniverse.com Press, 2001). Her Web site is http://www.markystein.com.
I questioned Marky to get her very best tips to help you access the “hidden job market,” where upwards of 70% of all jobs are filled. Here’s our conversation …
Kevin: “Let’s cut to the chase -- what’s the very best way people can uncover and apply for job openings right now, in this time of economic uncertainty?”
Marky: “Study after study and my own 10+ years of experience have proven that, hands down, cold calling employers is superior to all other methods.
“Now, before your readers say, ‘Yuck! I don’t want to cold call anyone – I’m not a sales person,’ read the following facts.
“The firm JIST Works, in Philadelphia, trained 1,000 job seekers in cold calling during the last recession, in 1990. These 1,000 people were trained to devote 25 hours per week to their job search and cold call employers to ask for a face-to-face meeting. As a result, 66% of them were employed within 2.3 weeks and 90% of the rest were employed within 90 days.
“In my own study, from 1992 to 1998, I trained over 700 disabled job seekers to spend at least 17.5 hours per week cold calling employers. Of those I counseled during those six years, 90% found jobs within 90 days.
Kevin: “OK. So what is cold calling? How is it done?”
Marky: “It’s simply direct contact to set up an interview. And it works for anyone, from entry-level job seekers to CEOs.
“To succeed, you must stop seeing yourself as a job seeker and think of yourself instead as a business person making a proposal. Instead of thinking ‘Please give me a job,’ think, ‘Here are all the good things I can do for you.’”
Kevin: “Who, specifically, should job seekers try to get on the phone?”
Marky: “Try to connect with a decision maker above your future boss. This is important.
“The person directly above you may, and often is, threatened by such a call. They may figure, “If this person is so assertive NOW, they may be after MY job in the future”.
“Also, a more senior person, such as your potential boss’ boss, has a more expansive view of the kinds of changes that could result in a new job being created or in someone being replaced.
“Third, executives often enjoy mentoring junior people, and those with a generous character can do wonders for job seekers, even if that means referring you to someone DOWN the ladder. If you get such a referral from an executive, other members of the team are likely to be open to meeting with you.”
Kevin: “Is there a script job seekers should use?”
Marky: “Yes, you can use the following example script to get started:
“Hello, my name is _________. I have _______ years’ experience as a ____________, specializing in _____________, ____________, and ______________. I have a (B.A., M.S., certificate) in _______________ and I recently completed (name a recent successful project with a measurable result). When may I come for an interview?"
Kevin: “What can job seekers expect when they start calling employers?”
Marky: “Cold calling has about 1 in 20 success ratio, in general. Of course, 19 ‘Nos’ on the phone may hurt more than 1,000 rejection letters, but you’ll hear it less often. Just make those calls until you connect!”
---
Action Step: Cold calling can dramatically shorten your job search, by putting you in direct contact with employers who can hire you. You’ll have no competition, because 99% of job seekers would rather answer classified ads and complain about the economy than be assertive and proactive.
Want to access the hidden job market and find a job faster?
Working with a recruiter may be just the ticket.
But how do you locate one? What should you look for? And what should you expect?
To find out, I interviewed two experienced recruiters: Rick Fox, Branch Manager at the Minneapolis office of MRI (www.mrimpls.com) and Pat Riley, principal of Houston-based, 10 Abbott Street, a national search firm (www.10abbottstreet.com).
Where do you start looking for a recruiter?
An excellent ways to locate a recruiter is the same way you’d look for a barber or dentist -- ask around, according to Pat Riley. “I suggest using the ‘friend network’ first by asking friends and family if they know any good recruiters,” he says.
Other avenues include the Yellow Pages (look under Employment Agencies) and the Internet (visit www.google.com and search for “recruiter” plus any industry or geographic terms that apply to you; example: “recruiter retail Chicago”).
“Look for a recruiter who specializes in the industry you’re in and want to stay in. Recruiters really can’t help those who want to change industries or careers -- this is a common misconception,” advises Rick Fox.
What are the benefits of working with a recruiter?
A good recruiter can introduce you to good jobs before they’re ever advertised.
“If an opportunity is available in your industry, you may get a call from a recruiter with information that very few people are going to know about,” says Fox.
A recruiter may offer tips on interviewing, too. “The headhunter will probably know at least a couple of questions the hiring manager is going to ask you. They should never put words in your mouth, but they can at least tell you what to expect,” says Riley.
How much, if any, should you pay a recruiter?
“Not one red cent,” says Riley. “The hiring company should pay the recruiter to fill the position. This is known as a contingency search, and it forces the recruiter to find the right person more quickly and work harder for you.”
Fox concurs. “If you’re a candidate going to a search firm, you should never pay a fee.”
Is it OK to work with more than one recruiter?
In a word, yes. “I view recruiters as strong horses that you hitch to your wagon -- you want to have as many pulling as you can,” says Riley.
Every recruiter understands that you want a job and that you’ll work with whoever can help, so don’t worry about hurting their feelings.
BUT … if a recruiter takes you to market and starts shopping your resume around heavily to companies, it’s wise to stay loyal. “They may feel cheated if you use someone else,” says Fox.
How can you get the most from working with a recruiter?
It may help to call and offer to sit down face-to-face with a recruiter. “Only 5-10% of job seekers do this. I respect the initiative of those who come and see me, and I tend to work a bit harder for them,” says Riley.
You can research your way to better results, too. “If you call up and say, ‘I’ve prepared a list of 15 companies I should be working for -- companies that need me -- and here’s why,’ that recruiter will be all over you, because you’ve just made their job really easy,” says Fox. You can do corporate research and find target companies at both www.hoovers.com and www.referenceusa.com.
Action Step: It’s easier than you think to find and work with a recruiter. There’s one for almost every career and level of experience, so why not hook up with one this week?
Here's a great way to network better, uncover more job leads -- and get hired.
Because it's a true guerrilla job search tip, you won't find it in any traditional job search book.
Instead, you'll find it in The Little Black Book of Connections, by Jeffrey Gitomer. He's a favorite of both David and myself.
Gitomer says that the key to making good networking connections is to start with your own. "Your lawyer knows other lawyers. Your accountant knows other accountants. And they both know all of their clients and can potentially leverage your position with a third-party introduction," writes Gitomer.
What does this mean for you? If you introduce the professionals in your network to each other, you can leverage the resulting good will to find new job leads.
Example: Introduce your banker to your lawyer, or your accountant to a friend who owns a small business. They will all thank you ... and be more likely to introduce you to decision makers who can hireyou.
Action Steps: Why not get on the phone today and set up one lunch or coffee meeting for later this week? Matchmaking like this can increase the value of your network exponentially -- and get you hired.
For me, Mark's story is an inspiration for Career Mavericks everywhere demonstrating that good guys do win.
In a breathless résumé spanning 33 years, his changing interests and passions have led him to work variously as an auto mechanic, scuba diver, salesman, retailer, venture capitalist and manager in a municipal government business development agency.
It's a story that might entice a literary agent more
If you're currently employed, why not ask your manager about the possibility of creating a new job that suits you better? Or, ask your co-workers to see if any job functions were created for them. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you find!
Here are two ways to create a new job in your current company.
1) Add Value
“Adding value is the single most powerful personal attribute you can possess,” says Les McKeown, President & CEO of success-at-work.com and author of numerous books on career achievement.
Did you ever hand a job or task to someone, knowing you would have to go back over it once they finished, to fix the inevitable errors and generally “mop up” after them?
“People who add value are just the opposite. You *know* when you give them a task that it will be completed on time, the way you want it, with no loose ends or unfinished parts,” says McKeown.
However, really successful “value adders” see the completion of an allocated task as only the starting point.
Maybe it’s by turning an event into a process. Example: not just clearing up a filing mess, but putting a filing system in place to avoid future backlogs.
“In whatever form it shows itself, naturally successful people consistently and appropriately add value -- all the time,” says McKeown.
2) Become an Expert
A sure-fire way to increase your value on the job is to keep learning. This can be as complex as getting your MBA or as simple as reading a book every week.
Whatever you do to increase your expertise, make sure your boss knows about it! Completing training, such as Microsoft’s MCSE certification, can make it more likely that you'll be rewarded appropriately in your next performance review.
Here’s an example from the field of medicine.
I’m told the average physician makes $160,000 per year. Not bad. But I know a liver specialist in Michigan who makes $500,000 and lives in a house the size of an airplane hanger. He’s a recognized expert. And he’s rewarded appropriately.
What subject can you become an expert in for your employer?
3) Be There Every Day
Can 80% of success really come just from showing up, to paraphrase Woody Allen?
In the minds of many, the answer is “yes!”
“I still remember my first promotion with a mixture of pride and amusement,” says McKeown.
“I was a young kid back in Ireland, and I had a paper-route before school. I needed the money and never missed a morning.”
“After 3 months, the owner pulled me aside and said: ‘Les, I’m going on vacation for three weeks. I want you to be in charge. I’ll give you an extra five shillings every week.”
When McKeown asked his manager why he had been chosen over older, more-experienced newsboys, he got this reply: “Simple. You’re always there. That means more to me than anything else. I wanted piece of mind on vacation. I knew you’d be there every morning.”
Are you THERE every day for your employer? If so, you may find your steady presence makes you more valuable than less-dependable co-workers.
Action Step: By adding value, becoming an expert, and “being there” every day, you can make yourself indispensable to any employer. Which can lead to faster promotions, keys to the executive washroom -- whatever it is that defines career success for you.
Yesterday Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters surpassed the 1 million mark. Google revealed that a search for “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters” returned 1,010,000 page references.
You may laugh, but I think it’s a big deal. I can still remember when McDonald’s declared “more than a million served” – okay so I’m showing my age. I know Lady Gaga and Bieber have a billion but it’s a start AND honestly what’s more popular GAGA or a book that tells you how to take control of your life and get a great job? GAGA of course!
Of course the real test is what are the numbers for my mentor’s book? Dick Bolles and What Color is Your Parachute is the reason I became a head-hunter. After reading Richard’s book I created a self-help group with my friends and actually placed 23 of them before I naively thought I could do this for a living ... but that’s another story.
So while Parachute remains the most popular seller on Amazon, clearly people are talking about the guerrilla books too [there are three editions now... I got that idea from Dick... I’m just not as prolific.]
And Dick is ever the gentleman. Here is the cover quote from the first edition of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters in 2005:
This is an immensely helpful book, with the ancient wisdom of recruiters, and the up-to-date insights of two skilled Internet surfers. If you're job-hunting, you’ll be grateful to learn the tips and tricks of these two seasoned veterans. I learned a lot myself."
-Richard N. Bolles, author, What Color Is Your Parachute?
We feel great that people are landing jobs faster because of the book. Our Guerrilla Job Search methods have already passed the test in some of the toughest cities in America, like Detroit where one man landed a 6-figure job just 8 days after hearing us speak. Three others whom we tracked landed just 7 weeks later – 5 times faster than the national average of 38 weeks [9½ months].
Read that back – 5 times faster than the national average of 38 weeks. Why should your family or friends have to look for a job for 9 months? Imagine if everybody in America had this information. How much faster would this recession be over!
Commentary from the Jaded Hacks at the New York Post. Praise from New Yorkers is great. High praise from BRIAN MOORE is golden as he writes Jaded hacks with little remorse for the ordinary.
Fortune Magazine’s Cover Story didn't hurt though. What started as a request for a single coment for a 300 word piece evolved into the cover story for writer-reporter Jia Lynn Yang,
The secret to finding a suitable job today lies in mastering the digital search environment used by employers. A rapid transformation in hiring practices has gone unnoticed by those looking for work.
Every year, 50-million jobs are filled in the United States -- almost all without a job posting because employers can’t deal with the avalanche of resumes they get. Today, employers are relying on a brand new digital suite of tools and tactics to find the handful of “most qualified” recruits that they want to interview.”
Taking control of your employment is especially important in today’s demographic because so many people are looking for new kinds of work - work that has meaning for them. Our population is getting older – for the first time, there will be more people over 65 than under 5 -- and older people are more reflective: they want to know they are doing something meaningful. Our book helps provide a catalyst for their productivity.
The nature of work is also changing, as people seek control. A new business model for the 21st century is arising. Enjoyment-based motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and most pervasive drive for workers today. When you are in control of your work there is the pure joy of creating.
As the economy moves toward more right-brain, conceptual work, the motivators need to change as well: to those stressing self-satisfaction and self-motivation. More and more people are working to their own tune: 15 million people telecommute every day…a large part of the workforce beyond the gaze of a manager. These kinds of jobs require confident self-driven control of employment.
" In late 2008 I was in a challenging spot, professionally. But a combination of guerrilla tactics, personal branding and fortuitous timing got me back in the game. Several events conspired to create Brand Man, my fictional alter ego. The first was the economic crisis of 2008-2009 and the subsequent implosion of the job market. I knew there would be lots of qualified candidates applying for the same positions I was targeting. Plus, I was at a disadvantage because I had been doing contract and freelance work for the previous year and a half."
Sometimes FREE is good - especially if you're job hunting - but in ZoomInfo's case it's absolutely essential.
People that know me well and understand how the recruiting and search business function know why I'm a HUGE fan of ZoomInfo. It works. It makes my life simpler by doing the upfront grunt research work involved in every search project faster and in a lot of cases more meaningful.
ZoomInfo makes gathering a long list of potential candidates blindingly fast. Now our database is 2.2 M strong [which rivals the largest search firms] but ZoomInfo's is 42M. Cross referencing our info with theirs helps us start every search on a solid foundation.
Why should you care as a candidate? If you're not found in the research phase of a search you'll very likely never be called. The search project will be completed before you even know it's happening. It doesn't take the "art" out of the recruiting process but it sure adds a depth of rigure to the science of sourcing.
So listen to Peter Clayton's pod cast and you'll understand why need to be in ZoomInfo if you value your career. Did i mention it's FREE? Who cares! Some day ZoomInfo may wake up and start charging for this. In the meantime click quiockly over to ZoomInfo.com
This is just like producing a newsletter but you only need to do it once and you can reuse it until the topic falls out of vogue. Summarize the industry pundits and then offer your own take on it. Read up on a hot topic like VoIP [voice over internet protocol] and write a 10-15 page summary linking it to your industry. A hot topic like VoIP will have effects on every industry in America but you need to concentrate on what’s important to your sector. Call some of the more quotable people you discovered during your research, and interview then for your own piece. Ask them for feedback before you publish. Print it and distribute it
Mail it to employers you want to work for.
Make it available electronically for e-zines.
Send it to business publications as a possible article.
Send it to trade publications relevant to the industries you have targeted for your job search.
Allow other publishers and editors to re-use your White Paper as long as they include your byline, email address and web site URL.
In the middle of the Tech Wreck I wrote a best selling book on how to get a job. Following the launch of "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters" I was besieged by tens of thousands of people who wanted my help finding them a job [that's not what I do for a living - that's what the book is for...]. There where a few people who offered to partner with me and one such person is Kevin Donlin - a master job hunting guerrilla and best selling author himself. I think you'll really enjoy this clip from his blog : GetHiredNow.tv A low tech idea for reaching your career and job hunting goals.
ISSUE: This question seems like a softball lob. Don’t kid yourself - be prepared. Don't come across as egotistical or arrogant. Humble is out too. In America you're expected to “pitch” yourself.
Prior to any interview, you should have a list mentally prepared of your greatest strengths.
You should also have, a specific example or two, which illustrate each strength, an example chosen from your most recent and most impressive achievements are ideal.
These should be so well committed to memory that you can recite them cold after being shaken awake at 2:30AM. You won't get a 2nd chance. Nobody cares about you until after you're hired.
Then, once you uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs, you can choose those achievements from your list that best match up.
As a general guideline, the 10 most desirable traits that all employers love to see in their employees are:
1. A proven track record as an achiever...especially if your achievements match up with the employer's greatest wants and needs.
2. Intelligence...management "savvy".
3. Honesty...integrity...a decent human being.
4. Good fit with corporate culture...someone to feel comfortable with...a team player who meshes well with interviewer's team.
5. Likeability...positive attitude...sense of humor.
6. Good communication skills.
7. Dedication...willingness to walk the extra mile to achieve excellence.
I have to admit this is an unusual post for me. It's not about you. It's about me. Or more precisely --- my book, "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters". Which, when I think about it is really about you and your job search.
Quite a few people have asked me lately how to write a review for my book on Amazon, so today I'm going to walk you through the steps.
The mechanics for posting a review are the same for ANY book you read on Amazon.
As an author I'm telling you that there's nothing more gratifying than seeing a 5-Star book review on Amazon. Barnes and Noble or where ever. It means I've connected and helped you. And that puts a huge smile on face!
So without further delay... here’s what Amazon readers are looking for in terms of information and commentary to help thme decide if a particular book suits their interests. ( i.e. will they actually read and get value from your recommended books).
How to write an amazon book review
1st a few suggestions on what to write to get you thinking
2nd understand the mechanics for writing a review
Suggestions on what to write in a non-fiction book review
Think about the person reading your review. Take my last book for example; the person reflecting on your review is very likely:
Looking for a job themselves;
Looking for information for a friend or relative that’s in job hunting mode; and/or
A career or guidance counselor who’s adding to their library of job hunting, resume writing and cover letter books.
The potential reader likely wants to discover a better way to write their resume, find job leads faster or network using social media tools like LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace. Perhaps they need to know how to build a blog for job hunting, use Twitter, or discover what the best creative new ways to get in front of a hiring manager are – without being blocked by gatekeepers or getting stuck in human resources.
In short, they’re seeking an edge.
So with that in mind the first question you have to ask yourself is, "what where the “take-aways?” or the “Ah-Ha” moments in the book for you personally. What did you learn? What made you uncomfortable BUT you tried it anyway and were successful? Next, would you recommend the book to your best friend if they were job hunting?
Now, you just tell the reader.
Here are some possible ideas to start you off:
Did you like the book? --- I liked this book because...
Was it written in a style you liked? --- I liked the way the author writes...
If it was highly technical were there examples? Were they good examples? Were there references or links to additional information?
Is the author credible? Did they know the subject matter? Did they bring anything new to the discussion or body of knowledge?
Example
For example, if you wanted to write a book review for "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0", here are some questions which you might reflect on in order to help you write a review which will be meaningful to those people who will read the review:
What was your personal situation? Where you employed and looking? Unemployed? How long had you been looking?
Did the ideas in the book accelerate your progress?
Did the ideas help you get interviews?
Did you find a job? How quickly?
Think about the type of job you were looking for – which of the 1001 tips, tricks and tactics worked best for you?
Did it force/challenge you to change old habits?
How did you apply the personal branding section?
Did your Guerrilla Resume get an employers attention?
Did you engage in eXtreme Networking activities, create a LinkedIn profile or start a blog?
Did the chapter on interviewing {Hand to Hand Combat} help prepare you? How?
Was there a chapter/vignette/antidote that struck a chord with you?
What was your favorite part of the book or what was the most useful section for you?
Did the book spark your creativity and led you to develop fresh ideas on your own which lead to interviews?
How did the book affect you?
Were any previous ideas you had on the subject changed, abandoned, or reinforced due to this book?
How well has the book achieved its goal?
How did you originally hear about the book: friend, networking event, or counselor?
Did you like the author and contributing co-author’s styles?
Did you like the War Stories? Anyone in particular? Why?
Another suggestion
I suggest you write a first draft in your word processor and then when you’re comfortable with it, cut and paste it in to the text box [step 5 below] BUT mostly I suggest you write it from the heart and not just your logical mind.
The mechanics for writing an amazon book review
To create a book review please follow these exact steps:
First and most importantly, you have to have bought the book and read it. Don't write a review for a book you haven’t read. It does no good for anyone.
Find the book you want to review on Amazon and find the "Product Details" section. This is the section that details how many pages the book has, who the publisher is and the average customer review.[For example - Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters- http://amzn.to/gJx2wa ]
Click on the "Write a review" link located right next to the "Average Customer Review" information.
Rate the book on a scale from 1 to 5 stars, with 1 being worst and 5 being best.
Enter a title for your review. That could be an overall statement about how you felt about the book.
Enter the full text of your review in the provided text box There are no length requirements or restrictions.
NOTE: If you're a friend of the author say so. If you received the book from the author to review it - say so. People don't mind those types of reviews but you need to tell the reader or your review has no credibility OR worse someone buys the book and feels "had", which destroys the review process Amazon has set up.
Certify that you are over the age of 13 (and thereby allowed to contribute a review) by checking the appropriate box.
That’s it. If you followed these steps your review will appear within 24 hours on Amazon.
David Perry
PS A lot of headhunters read Amazon reviews looking for possible candidates to recruit. This is especially true for highly technical books that are written for a very focused audience for example in engineering, medicine or leadership. Take advantage of that fact and also review books that will get you found by headhunters in your industry.
Do a case study on a project which showcases your skills. This could be as simple as a new coveted client you sold, or as complex as a new product you helped introduce to the market.
Send the case study to firms you know have similar needs for the skills you emphasized in the case study. Not only do you get to showcase your writing, as well as your research and analysis skills, it demonstrates your business acumen too. For example: Did you establish an innovative compensation program for resellers that increased sales and decreased spoilage or returns? This is a big deal in retail, where 90% of profits are lost due to returns.
Chose an example that builds your credibility with your targeted employers.
Explain why you did what you did and what the short and long term effects were.
Results which would be of interest to a potential employer include: increased efficiencies, new marketing techniques, new or different distribution channels.
Ideas that would be good for competitive analysis include:
sales/marketing: distribution channels;
manufacturing: the use of just-in-time techniques; and
Everyone needs a job-search buddy. The main objective of your “buddy” is to keep you motivated and honest with yourself. Few people can work well in isolation, but that’s exactly what happens when you’re looking for a job. You’re typically sitting at home night and day doing research, making calls, and writing letters. Life can becomevery lonely very quickly. It’s toughto stay motivated and committed to your job search. It’s important to have someone else to bounce ideas off who will make a “big deal” over your daily accomplishments, because you’re not likely to do it for yourself.
Your buddy can be looking for a job too but that’s not a necessity.
The number one rule: be honest with each other.
When someone is slacking off, the buddy needs to ask why and try and help work through the blockage.
Your buddy needs to hold you accountable, for both the quality and quantity of leads you are following.
Your buddy’s main jobs areto point out opportunities you may have missed, and to keep you motivated.
Trade shows: Don’t get stuck on booth duty.
Go spy on your competitors. Guerrilla intelligence is invaluable.Do they have new products or services? Are they expanding or contracting?
Does their booth look old and tired? Talk to their people (without revealing your identity) to see if they’re hiring.
Use LInkedIn.com and Zoominfo.com to follow up on leads and/or prepare for the event aead of time.
There’s a huge obvious benefit to engaging in creative out-of-the-boxactivities which will bring you to the attention of hiring managers. There’s also a real danger of crossing the line and doing something in poor taste or something that puts youor the potential employer at risk. Here’s an example pulled from the pages of the Montreal Gazettein Montreal, Canada on October 15th , 2004:
“The job hunter hoped his resume would land him an interview. What he got was the attention of the bomb squad. The man was arrested after he included his CV in a ticking package left in a Montreal marketing firm’s washroom last month. It was his way of drawing attention to the application, as he was among 400 contenders vying for six paid internships. The 24-year-old didn’t get the job but he did get charged with public mischief. He had handed the receptionist an Arabic newspaper with a note alerting her to the ticking parcel in the men’s washroom, police said. At a time of heightened concerns over terrorism, the package raised the specter of a bombing.
Montreal police evacuated the company’s building. Later, police discovered the package was harmless. It contained a metronome - a device used by musicians to help maintain rhythm and tempo - along with the candidate’s CV. “
People make all kinds of claims about their skills and abilities when in fact they’re not true, so it’s little wonder that employers are naturally skeptical. So if you have won awards, have been quoted in the news, or have any other type of “proof” that your accomplishments really do exist, then build a portfolio and send it with your cover letter and resume. I’ve done this myself many times, first as a job-hunter and than later as a head-hunter in search of projects. A picture is worth a thousand words and an article, reference letter, or thank you note from a client, is worth a thousand more.
If you’re a student looking for your first real job, send a transcript of your marks. It probably doesn’t matter but it might, especially if you kept a high GPA and a part time job.
Copies of articles and awards should be included
Use Xeroxed copies; don’t send originals because you may never get them back
In articles, highlight the part about you so they don’t need to search for it.
Bring this with you to an interview as well because the individual items in the Press Kit make good talking points.
This is a perfectly logical idea and a natural extension of your resume. For years architects and designers have been dragging around portfolios to sho prospective clients and employers. Why not you?
The most recent hire was hired because she sent me a beautifully hand designed booklet which contained the best samples of her design work. She didn’t just email me a link, or send a resume. The fact that she went over the top to design a hand made booklet was impressive. In fact, her experience on its own wouldn’t have gotten her the interview, much less the job. But the book did it!
I know this sounds like heresybut there’s method in my madness. Call the personnel department of the companies on your target list. Ask their manager or recruiter what outside agency or third party recruiting firm they use. Why? For two strategic reasons, First, any personnel person will immediately ask why you want to know. To which you answer, “I’ve been to your web site and I understand that you’re not looking for someone with my skill set right now but the agency you use may be dealing with other firms who could use my skill set --- so I guess I’m looking for a recommendation from you.” After they get over the compliment they will likely ask you about your skill set etc., in which case you should tell them that, “I didn’t call you looking for a back door into your company but if you want to have a cup of coffee sometime I’d be happy to share my accomplishments with you.” If they push you be prepared to sell yourself shamelessly. Second, if they don’t press you for an interview, insist on knowing whom they use and why.
Personnel Managers love saving money on fees, so they may try to hire you directly.
Personnel Managers tend to group together by industry and make referrals to each other.
Getting a referral from one of their customers will insure the agency treats you with kid gloves.
Always ask for the name of a specific person and their direct dial number.
Get permission to use the Personnel Manager’s name as a reference.
Ask if they personally know of any other companies that could make appropriate use of your skills.
Send them a thank you note with a copy of your resume to keep on file for their future requirements.
Do a competitive analysis on one of your targeted employer’s products and send it to them. People assume that all companies keep up to date on their competitors, but this is rarely the case. Most companies don’t have the budget or the ability internally to keep on top of innovations and best practices so your piece will likely be most welcome.
Focus on companies that are direct competitors with those you want to work for, not your own company.
Potential employers need to get something out of reading the piece.
Use graphs and charts wherever possible because people like visuals.
Make it only as long as it needs to be.
Ask for an opportunity to discuss your findings with the hiring manager if they’re interested.
Offer to share your primary research if they’re interested
A letter from a job hunter after I presented at ExecuNet.
"Dperry"- Thanks for a stimulating and frank discussion of guerilla job tactics and for not recycling the same old tired mantras on the Execunet webcast. I would like to see what your lost chapter is all about.
Also, although you demonstrated that direct contact was the way to go, the reason a lot of people aren't doing it more is that there is so little agreement about the best way to accomplish it. Your story about tracking the exec down in his bathroom was cute and made for a good journalistic newsbite, but I don't know how practical and systematic that is for most of the non-sales executives on the broadcast, especially when there is some uncertainty about how how good a match or how great a need there may actually be at one particular employer. (I'm also the one who asked about "research" and the lack of specifics it yields.)
As a "for instance" of the propaganda we get, see the quote below for a hardened opinion by one of the opinion makers in the executive job search business, John Lucht (Rites of Passage at $100,000...). I'm sure you and Jay would not be anywhere in the ball park on this line of thought. Does the book lay out some sound approaches?
UNLESS YOUR NAME AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS WILL ALREADY BE KNOWN TO THE DECISION MAKER, THEN YOUR MOST COURTEOUS AND EFFECTIVE APPROACH WILL BE AN IMPRESSIVE ON-PAPER SUBMISSION.
If you're unknown to both the gatekeeper and the decision maker when you phone, you'd have to be the world's glibbest con artist to imagine that you can talk your way through to an exceedingly busy and prominent person. So don't even try. You'll only make yourself look ridiculous and spoil the majestic entrance you could otherwise make on the wings of a powerful referral. If, in the long run, you have no better introduction than a superb on-paper mailing, don't doom it to failure by being remembered as the dope on the phone who tried to barge in with no credentials earlier. THE BOTTOM LINE Gatekeepers will do their job, whether you like it or not. So, cooperate ... or move along to another gate. THE TAKE AWAY Sometimes, you can't bypass a good person doing a good job.
###
Dear Job Hunter
Yes GM4JH lays out many tactics and strategies to lead you to your ultimate goal – an interview and an offer. The book is heavy on the do-this and not-that advice. The tactical “dirt under your fingernails” stuff.
I am quite sensitive to the needs of the non-sales executives. Of the 999+ ways to find a job perhaps 3 require the type of outgoing personality normally found in a sales or marketing type. We knew full well that the readers of GM4JH would be 95% comprised of people who are NOT S&M people.
The book is slanted toward creating interest in yourself as a candidate by showcasing what you have already done for others – thereby implying “I can so the same for you” – through creative packaging of your experience.
As to John’s assertion: UNLESS YOUR NAME AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS WILL ALREADY BE KNOWN TO THE DECISION MAKER, THEN YOUR MOST COURTEOUS AND EFFECTIVE APPROACH WILL BE AN IMPRESSIVE ON-PAPER SUBMISSION.
I can’t agree and here’s why. The purpose of Guerrilla Marketing is so your name “will” be known –even if you can’t ride on “the wings of a powerful referral” – and your experience desired by employers for the rest of your life.
A career is a process with many transactions [jobs] with you as the CEO of Me Inc. Deciding who you work with is your business – literally. You’re not “powerless” which is the impression this quote leaves me with. As the holder of the asset [knowledge+ skills+ aptitude], you have ALL the power. Your job is to articulate your value in a manner they understand – that’s the challenge. If the Gatekeeper – gets it – and most do, s/he will let you through whether your approaching them by phone, fax, email or paper. It a gate keeper’s job to pan for gold for their boss and to keep the “claim jumpers” at bay. What impression does your approach leave?
In this instance the author is talking about networking which is the major underpinning of the book – in the context of 1988 when it was first published - and it’s a good book on networking, but networks are passive not active. The challenge becomes what do you do when you don’t have a powerful referral? When you’re not known outside your circle of acquaintances? When your circle drive Chevy’s and not Jags?
The challenge with networking in general is that traditional networking ultimately relies on having a fundamental belief in the kindness of strangers.
At its core, it preaches that job-hunters must have faith that they’ll find a job through a friend of a friend of a friend. This is largely a myth.
Although I’ve heard that this strategy yielded great results in the past, it’s not enough today. With the constantly changing marketplace, there is more competition for fewer leads. Traditional networking is much like casting your fate to the wind. It is too passive to rely on. Moreover, there are three flaws in traditional networking in my opinion:
1. You need to have a network at hand when you find yourself out of work (by the way—being out of work is not the best time to start building one).
2. It requires you to be at least a little outgoing because you need to talk to strangers.
3. There’s no way to guarantee the jobs people refer will be ones you’ll excel at, much less be interested in.
On the networking front, Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters shows you – in great detail – how headhunters and executive search professionals use networking to discover opportunities where it would appear that none currently exist.
Beyond networking, GM4JH shows you how to command attention. How to leverage the halo effect of your previous employer[s] brand; how to build buzz; how to become the designated expert - even how to work with the gate keeper to make them beg to hire you!
David Perry Coauthor Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters
You Guerrilla doubters out there are going to appreciate this article because it is added proof that a Guerrilla Resume simply is not everyone’s favorite flavor; and that our methods are especially disliked by many so-called, process oriented job experts out there.
One of our current students (Mark G.) who is enrolled in the 10 week Guerrilla Job Seekers Boot Camp shared an interesting in the trenches story during last Friday’ job seekers conference call.
Per one of his weekly assignments, Mark applied to a particular department, and to a specific person within a company that piqued his interest. He used his Guerrilla cover letter and one page Guerrilla Resume in the “precise manner” that he learned in our boot camp. (The former is where I believe the overwhelming majority of “maybe want-to-be” Guerrilla job seekers fail. That is because they don’t follow our EXACT Guerrilla instructions and/or the job seeker puts together what they “think” is a Guerrilla cover letter and resume when in reality, it simply isn’t.)
To continue Mark’s story, the hiring authority routed Mark’s resume to Human Resources (HR) and “directed” them (HR) to call Mark in for an interview. Therefore, HR had no choice but to call Mark because HR does not have the authority to tell the boss –“no !”
Here is where the story gets interesting…
Upon arrival for the interview and following company protocol, Mark first sat with the HR Manager before meeting with members of the actual hiring team. According to Mark, after the HR person looks over his resume, that individual sits back and says, “You truly do yourself a disservice using a one page resume such as this.”
Mark asks, “How so ?” The HR professional responded by saying, “Well this is really nothing more than a dressed up functional resume that lacks sufficient detail. It’s not the way things are done.”
Mark responded by saying, “The cover letter and the 1 page resume method I used was only intended for the sole purpose of an employer to sit-up, pay attention and want to talk with me.”
The HR person then said, “But this resume leaves out particulars that we would like know before an interview takes place.” Mark then said, “Well, my one page resume and the information I provided got me in the door for an interview, didn’t it ?”
Purportedly the silence in the HR persons office was deafening regarding the matter and Mark was sent on his way to interview with the real decision makers !
Did I say, “Do yourself a favor, dump that Guerrilla resume ? “ Sorry, I didn’t really mean that, but it got your attention didn’t it ?
Mark J. Haluska, Senior Certified Guerrilla Job Search Coach for North America
“I saw a job advertised online and applied by mail. I sent a box with a paper Starbucks coffee cup, my cover letter, and resume inside. On the side of the cup, where it has boxes for the type of coffee, I made my own box that said, ‘Hire Mary’ and checked it with a black marker. I heard back a couple days later to get my first interview,” says Berman.
After her first job interview, which went well, Berman followed up with panache. “It was Halloween time, so I decided to send them a chocolate covered apple with my hand-written thank-you note in a bag. I had a friend of mine, who was off work that day, take it over and deliver it to [the employer]. That was a big hit — they were thrilled — and I got the second interview out of it.”
Berman’s second job interview was with the executive vice president. Afterwards, she followed up diligently. “When I came home, I wrote a 30-60-90 day plan. I had taken copious notes during the interview and used that information to create suggestions for what I would do in my first 30, 60, and 90 days. I sent that to them via FedEx with another thank-you note. And I got a job offer.”
Now. Let’s break this successful Guerrilla Job Search down …
1. Start smart.The Coffee Cup Caper — a paper Starbucks cup, full-color Guerrilla Resume, and a cover letter (asking to meet for coffee), shipped in a box — gets extraordinary results. By contrast, ordinary resumes and cover letters, sent by email, get ordinary results.
2. Follow up with style. Delivering a Halloween treat with her thank-you note was correct seasonally, if not politically. Use good judgment before sending items that might be perceived as bribes by employers sensitive to such things, such as universities or public-sector organizations.
In Berman’s case, however, it worked like a (chocolate-covered) charm.
And, leaving out the gift, think of the impact a hand-delivered thank-you note can have on an employer, versus standard U.S. Mail or email. Could you arrange to have your thank-you note delivered by a courier, or a friend acting as one? Of course.
3. Give employers another reason to hire you. Mary did this in spades after her second interview, when she sent a written plan of action that outlined her first three months on the job.
A 30-60-90 day plan is a way of proving you can do the work — before you’re even on the payroll — by describing how you would learn the job, build rapport with employees/customers, and contribute to the bottom line.
Mary’s plan was 8 pages long and took the better part of a Friday night to prepare. (Before you balk at spending an entire evening at home researching and writing a 30-60-90 day plan, ask yourself if you wouldn’t trade a night out for getting a steady paycheck again.)
4. Score style points with your delivery. Mary’s first follow-up, the chocolate-apple-thank-you note, was delivered by a courier, not by email. Her 30-60-90 day plan was delivered by FedEx, not by email.
Do you not see a pattern?
Email should NOT be the delivery method for your career documents. Because you can’t delete a courier, and a FedEx envelope can’t get caught in a spam filter.
Bottom line: This smart Guerrilla had failed to get even one job interview in 20 weeks of job hunting with conventional tactics.
After adopting unconventional Guerrilla tactics, she found work in only 7 weeks.
If Guerrilla job search methods can work in Michigan, where the unemployment rate tops 15%, they can work where you live.
The only thing stopping you from thinking and acting like a Guerrilla Job Hunter - is you.
First, find a company for whom you would like to work. Write a compelling covering letter describing why you are good for them, pointing the receiver to the enclosed CV for further information. Don’t seal the A4 envelope and don’t enclose a CV. They’ll think the CV fell out in the mail. Wait for the phone to ring, speak to the hiring manager personally, engage them in a conversation, and sell yourself shamelessly.
Compliments of Matt Foster, Managing Director, CVO Group
use high quality stationary
Make sure the letter fits very snugly in the envelope so it doesn’t really fall out.
Make sure your phone number is on the covering letter.
Recruit your entire tribe: doctor, dentist, lawyer, mechanic, hairdresser, butcher, banker, and real estate agent to help in your job-hunting. Ask everyone who’s connected to the community you want to work in. Commercial real-estate brokers are usually plugged in better than anyone else. They know who’s growing and who's going… out of business that is. They’re among the first to know when a new business is coming to town or when a company is growing or downsizing. Brokers usually belong to local business or service clubs.
Brokers live and die on referrals so they understand your need for leads.
Bribe them with regular breakfasts.
Reciprocate when you hearabout leads for them, but don’t ask for a referral fee yourself.
Veteran Ottawa Citizen Reporter Juliet O’Neil has delivered a brilliant 5 part series on the growing phenomenon of temporary workers entitled “Trapped & Temporary”. It’s brilliantly researched, well written and a must read. “Temping, Contracting and Offshoring” aren’t going to go away. They’re permanent fixtures on the North American employment scene.
Here’s what you can bank on:
1. The offshoring trend won’t stop anytime soon.
2. Companies will continue to maximize profits and reduce costs.
3. The government will not solve your career problems—at best it will provide limited retraining assistance.
Job Scurity
Your job is at risk and subject to being replaced by a “temp” if:
1. It can be broken down into many smaller tasks that can be redistributed to lower skilled, lower paid workers;
2. Your company’s profits are under constant assault by low cost competitors; or
3. Someone else with a high-school education can do your job with less than a week’s training.
Take control of your job and your life today. Start managing your career as a professional services provider of YOU INC.: learn how to brand yourself, increase your value, and ensure a steady stream of demand for your unique talents.
It’s not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent, that survive; it’s the one most responsive to change. —CHARLES DARWIN
It's Friday Guerrilla and Friday is the best day to do two things:
book interviews for next week
fill your opportunity pipeline
It's also a great day to examine your job hunt progress.
What progress have you made this week? [Which employers are you going to speak with next week?] How where your interviews? Did you send thank you notes to everyone you talked to? Even the ones where you where not successful.... that's an often over looked source of leads. Just because you didn't get the job or even the interview shouldn't stop you from saying thank you.
Stop and think about this for a minute. Have you ever gotten a thank you card from someone whom you didn't hire? What would you think? Crazy *&%#* Let me tell you how I would react - yes I know CEOs and hiring managers in general will react this way – remember I do this for a living.
One of your best sources for leads to fill your pipeline are the people who turn you down. That’s right – and it doesn’t matter at what level in the company they’re at. They know who else is hiring … they also know which companies may have a problem you can solve BECAUSE they’ve just spent more than a few hours interviewing a ton of people. Talk about competitive intelligence!
Now you just need to follow up with a thank you note for the interview – expressing your sincere gratitude for their time and your interest in staying in touch. And 5 days AFTER you mail the note you call them and ask who else among their colleagues has plans to:
Increase their sales this quarter
Take market share from competitors
Open new markets
Or what ever it is you specialize in....
PS. THEY ALSO KNOW WHERE THE PERSON THEY JUST HIRED IS COMING FROM. Think about that …
Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job serach tactics go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.
Grant Turck takes time out to talk to me about how he launched a targeted Facebook campaign at the Public relations firms he wanted to work at. Grant explains how he did it. What it costs and the results. He also has advice for others considering doing the same thing.
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT of the VIDEO
David Perry: How do I find you on Facebook, because that is what we’re here to talk about today?
Grant Turck: On Facebook you can search for me in the Search box under Grant Turck and I should pop right up.
David: I wanted to talk to you today, Grant, about what you did specifically on Facebook because you just graduated from Pepperdine University in Public Relations, right?
Grant: Correct.
David: You’re looking for a PR job in Hollywood, here in Los Angeles. Tell me, why did you use Facebook, how did this come about, what have the results been?
Grant: The first thing I did is I picked up a copy of your book, which I found out about one day when I was watching NBC News and they had some recruitment guy {The Recruiting Animal} on there talking about what you should do and he said, “The number one thing you should do is pick up this book-“
David: I’ll have to find that tape! [Laughter]
Grant: “-by David Perry and Jay Conrad Levinson called Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0.” I picked that book up and read through it and was looking for good ideas and one of the ideas in there was talking about Facebook advertising. It talked about how despite our recommendation to do Facebook advertising and how powerful it is at making one stand out, the percentage of people that will actually take us up on what we say is very, very, very, very miniscule. I said, “What the heck. I’ll try this. They say it’s not going to cost much and it’s very easy.” So I did. I took you guys up on what you said in your book and it’s turned out great.
David: How did it work out? Did you get interviews out of it?
Grant: The greatest thing I got out of it was exposure and publicity for myself, which is the number one thing, and not just in Los Angeles or Hollywood but in this world at large in this job market is to make myself stand out from the crowd, so with Facebook advertising, if you target your ads specifically to those people that you want to reach directly in a very, kind of creative manner that not many people seem to take advantage of.
David: Everybody wants to know what are the results? Did you actually get any interviews?
Grant: Yeah, I’ve actually had, in the past four or five weeks, about one interview a week.
David: Okay. Have you gotten any offers, or are they ongoing conversations?
Grant: Several ongoing conversations and I’ve had one offer.
David: Obviously you didn’t take it because we’re sitting here talking, right?
Grant: Yes.
David: That’s an assumption. So with the Facebook targeting, is there anything else you’re doing in conjunction, or is there anything else you think you should be doing, or somebody else that is watching should be doing in conjunction with Facebook?
Grant: Yeah, definitely. There is always more one can do in the self promotion game. I think that is the key to getting a job these days. You have to self-promote yourself because if you’re not self-promoting yourself nobody else is going to.
I’m finally getting my blog started, so I just have my blog up and it’s going to be TurckishDelights.com.
David: Turckish Delights?
Grant: Yes, playing off of my last name and the unique branding of Turckish Delights.
David: That’s cool.
Grant: I’m going to start doing a blog. I do Twitter. I do LinkedIn.
David: Where do you get the most amounts of hits? I know you’re on LinkedIn. Where are you getting the biggest bang for your buck? Is it with Facebook? With Twitter? Is it with LinkedIn?
Grant: I think with Facebook, I think it really has all come about the entire nexus. I’ve recommended people to be on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, I would say those are the top three to invest time into doing each one of those in conjunction with one another as being the most important.
David: How much time is that typically taking out of your day?
Grant: To maintain it I would say anywhere from two to three hours.
David: Okay, that’s just two to three hours casually, or two to three hours working at pushing it to the next level?
Grant: I would say two to three hours casually, maybe like one hour hardcore direct focus.
David: The Facebook interviews that you got, they were target companies?
Grant: Yeah.
David: And how did they come about? I mean, who did you target? How did they find you? What unfolded?
Grant: I’ve done several different types of ads on Facebook. I’ve done ones that have just been focused on the keyword “public relations” in Canada and the United States. I put focused on specific companies within public relations, sometimes I was running maybe 20 different ads with all basically the same relative body copy within the ad but the headline was different. So it would say “I want to work at Bite.” “I want to work at GH” for Golin Harris, or “I want to work at _____” and then just target those specific company names within the targeting. With Facebook advertising you don’t have to worry that somebody from Golin Harris is going to see your ad that you’re running the same time for Bite Communications because-
David: Oh, I didn’t know that.
Grant: -if you don’t have that you worked at Bite Communications in your résumé and you’re now working at the other company, you’re never going to see the ad.
David: So what these people, Bite is one that you talked about, what happened at Bite? Who did you connect with and how did that interview come about?
Grant: That interview came about from a senior account executive at the company who saw the ad and wrote me an e-mail directly and actually said to me that he had never responded to an Internet ad ever before but saw my ad, was kind of uniquely intrigued by it and wanted to reach out to me and that it seemed like I had some great qualifications that could be a great fit for Bite and I should look at their Web site. If I was interested I should e-mail their HR person, and they gave me the HR person’s e-mail address and he said I could then say that he had referred me to the HR person. I took a look at their Web site, it seemed like a great place to work, it was in San Francisco, so I emailed the HR person who then scheduled a phone interview which took place about a week, week-and-a-half later, and then about two weeks later I went out for a physical in-person interview where I interviewed with four different people within the company.
David: Then you got an offer that you ended up not taking.
Grant: Right.
David: So you went in at the HR level and the senior executive level, and we talk in the book specifically about entering, going in at the level of your boss’s boss. Is that the level you went in at?
Grant: With Bite Communications I would say probably so because I went in, the senior guy was the person who reached out to me and directed me to the HR person, and the interviews I landed I interviewed with the account manager with the team I would be working on, the senior account executive, the account executive, and then the HR person again, so I think I did go in at that higher level.
David: Okay. Now, do you have a top ten list as we talk about this in the book? Do you have a top ten list?
Grant: I don’t know if I have a top ten, like a full top ten list? I would say I have a top five list.
David: Are they all here in LA?
Grant: Yes.
David: Looking at the camera, who do you want to work for?
Grant: I want to work for Golin Harris; Rogers & Cowan; Bragman, Nyman, Cafarelli; Solters & Digney; or Warner Brothers.
David: Why those companies because you’re involved in other things. I mean you graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in Public Relations, but you have other things that you work on that are really interesting. How can those programs you’re working on, the movies you’re working on, the books you’ve optioned…what was that one, The Secrets of…that you optioned for $20?
Grant: How to Succeed with Women Without Really Trying by Sheperd Mead, which is a book written in 1957. I’m pursuing that as a movie right now and we’ve just attached some great comedy writers, Dax Shelby and Robert Stevens. They’re a writing team so we’re currently going out next week to actors and talk with some people, Robert Downey, Jr., Matthew McConaughey, and folks like that to attach one of those names with the pitch that these guys come up with because the book is non-narrative, non-fiction and the plan is to take that pitch with the actor and take back to the studios for financing to have it written and developed and turned into a motion picture.
David: What is your involvement once it becomes an actual, what is it called, a product or…?
Grant: Once it gets put into active development and pre-production, which is basically my involvement, I’m a producer, I’ll be credited as a producer on the project, but when it comes down to the physical production that will be basically left up to another producer that does the physical line producing and on the set type stuff.
David: Once that happens, your involvement, other than getting paid for it, is gone?
Grant: Yeah, it’s minimal.
David: Tell me then, how these companies that you mentioned before, would benefit from hiring you given what else you’re doing. Is there a crossover? Is that an eco-system in itself that cross pollinates?
Grant: One of the things to look at from what I’ve done in the entertainment business is the ability that I’ve had to uniquely position myself and get things done that basically very few to no one else has been able to do. For example, one of the other projects that I’m working on, which is John Grisham’s The Partner, which I’m producing with Lynn Hende and Robert Chartoff, and people might know Robert’s name because he won an Oscar for Rocky, is I brought the money to the table to get it done but I had never produced a movie ever before. I knew one of the key things is that John Grisham - there are a lot of people in this city and Hollywood that want to make a John Grisham movie – is that because I never produced a movie before that John Grisham would never give me the rights to take his book and make it into a movie, so I knew that it would take somebody bringing somebody else on to the team with producing credibility to get that done so I went and brought Robert Chartoff on board and we pursued it together.
David: This is a family friend? How did you get Robert-?
Grant: I met Robert Chartoff through Lynn Hende who is the president of his company, and I met Lynn Hende through a client of mine, a science fiction author I was working with introduced me to Lynn Hende and said that if there is anybody in this business you can trust its Lynn. I went to Lynn and said, “I have the money to get this project up and running but I don't have the producing credibility. Can we pursue the co-production together?” Luckily it turned out and she said yes and so we did pursue that together. It’s very fortunate because a lot of times, especially in Hollywood, if you approach somebody and say, “There is this great book that would make a great movie,” they say, “Awesome, yeah, we’ll work together,” and you never hear back from that person again and they take that book and make it into a movie and you’re left on the sidewalk. I was very fortunate.
David: Where did you learn to do all of this? You’re not from here, right?
Grant: No, I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio, and I pride myself on the fact that I have no entertainment familial connection at all.
David: Where did you learn to do all the connections?
Grant: Just by doing. I learn best by doing and learning from mistakes and going with the flow. You learn so much more on the field than you do in the classroom.
David: Interesting. Facebook aside and LinkedIn aside, let’s go back to job hunters. I can see the value in hiring someone like you because you’ll just make connections until the deal is done, and that is the way things happen, right? Most people don’t realize that. What kind of advice would you offer job hunters now that may be struggling? For example, how do you keep yourself motivated? You’re here in Hollywood, you’re family is not here, right?
Grant: Right, they’re back in Ohio.
David: They’re back in Ohio. You supported yourself through Pepperdine, you graduated, you’re now looking for a job, you have all these different projects on the go, and you’re looking for a full-time gig as an account manager for one of these firms, how do you keep yourself motivated? How do you keep yourself going every day?
Grant: I exercise. That’s very helpful, but very basic, too. It releases endorphins, but beside that I do a lot of reading and ultimately, it may sound kind of dumb but you just have to tell yourself that in the long run it’s all going to work out and it’s all going to be okay. Think positive. You just do it.
Tomorrow July 8th at 6 p.m. Eastern Time is the deadline to express your "genuine" interest.
It’s going to be an unforgettable summer for those fortunate enough to join he and I for the upcoming 10 week Guerrilla Job Seekers Boot Camp.
Why?
Because in this highly structured Guerrilla Job Seekers program, we are going to teach you unconventional tips, tricks and tactics that you WILL NOT find; even in the best-selling “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters” series of books !
Naturally the course will include countless strategies that we NEVER blog about herein or anywhere else for that matter.
Best of all---you will be getting your weekly lesson plans, our exclusive Guerrilla Job Seekers software not available to anyone who is not in our class ---at any price, you’ll be joining us for small group sessions as well as “one-on-one” time with us (both) throughout the program.
Participation is LIMITED in order to give those who enroll in our program the individual attention you will not only need--- but deserve, in this unprecedented lackluster job seeker market.
After some discussion, we came to the decision to extend enrollment until Friday, July 8th at 6 p.m. Eastern Time.
We cannot accept any further applicants for the upcoming 10 week session after this firm date and time because Day 0 of the course is Saturday July 9th and you don’t want to fall behind !
For questions and more information you can call me (Mark Haluska) directly at my office at 724-495-2733. Should your reach my voice mail, simply leave me a message and I will return your call as quickly as possible.
Mark J. Haluska
Senior Certified Guerrilla Job Search Coach for North America
p.s. If after the 10 week course, and provided you perform all of your Guerrilla assignments, if you not working by then, we will stick with you FREE of charge until you are working !!!
Really want to stand out and get ahead? Got a couple of hours! Sit down and write a booklet relevant to your industry with helpful information AND then give it away. Everyone loves a freebie so give away something that demonstrates your expertise. In my case, for example, I designed, wrote and distributed a free booklet on how to do a reference check correctly, called Don't Hire a Liar. The booklet subtly points out the
benefits of using a professional - like myself - to do their hiring. The booklet hot-links to a supplemental software program for reference checking which my firm sells. You could embed a hot link to your web site, resume or bio. - Give the booklet away everywhere you can. - If you send a printed version to someone make sure you indicate where they can get extra copies for their colleagues. - Ideally give a web site address people can pass on to others. - Advertise it on your web site and through those newsgroups frequented that hiring mangers in your target market and their recruiters frequent. - If you print your own business cards, put the URL for link to the booklet on the back.
Everyone's face lights up when they see one of those little envelopes that are peculiar to "thank you" note cards - those tiny little 4 x 4 white envelopes with barely enough room to write a name and address on the front and a return address on the back.
Fold your resume and cover letter together carefully until they fit inside and then mail.
Don't use labels, address each one by hand
Use this technique around any holiday - Christmas, New Year's, Fourth of July, etc.
Use a small size tasteful stamp.
f you feel you can afford it, use a stamp with your picture on it. In Canada you can put any picture you wish on a stamp. Details on their Picture Postage program can be found here: http://www.canadapost.ca
To really get noticed, use a stamp with their logo on it and send them the rest.
Does your resume excite and motivated people like lingerie from Victoria’s Secrets or keep them guessing like flannel?
Make it easy for an employer to see what they’re after. And what exactly is sexy to an employer? Quantifiable results and accomplishments!
Prepare a 1 page resume and dress it up with the names and logos of the major clients you’ve sold. Employers want to know about your wins first not your responsibilities.
Boring black and white resumes are like flannel nighties - they're comfortable but may not get you the attention you're looking for.
Be Hunted. Like Google, if you don’t rank among the first 3 people a recruiter thinks of when they’re starting a project… you won’t get “clicked” for the opportunity.
Increase your visibility and expand your network by presenting at conferences, seminars – even usergroups. Ask to be your company’s designated speaker. You can have someone else write the material if need be. Public speaking is an effective job hunting technique. Recruiters will beat a path to your door.
It's a million times easier for yoiu to answer the phone than to try and get an employer to talk to yoiu if you're looking for one - right!
For more great Guerrilla ideas, grab your copy of our Free Audio.
David Perry and Kevin Donlin Co-Creators, "The Guerrilla Job Search System"
Cindy "X", is a former HR executive responsible for hiring who agreed to be interviewed by Kevin Donlin and myseld today so long as we did not user her last name.
Cindy discusses several touchy HR issues including the ramifications of going around HR. Her insights will surprise and I say - encourage you! I was suprised by her answers.
So, if you're looking for job and not gettng the results you want then you might benefit form watching this webinar.
I’ve stated in prior articles that the moment you become a job seeker, the FIFTH (5th) task you should undertake (in order of importance) is your resume and cover letter. To me, doing a resume right off the bat is like planning an important business trip but not knowing where you are going, how you will get there or what your real agenda will be once you arrive.
If I were a job seeker however, the SECOND undertaking in order of importance that I would carry out is drawing up a list of potential organizations that I would want to work for…and at this time not care if they were hiring or not. The idea here is just to get this list fully completed with the knowledge that modifications will likely be made as necessary and as time passes.
Now, here comes the tip:
As “a part” of your SECOND most important undertaking as a job seeker, and once you have fully researched all the information you need regarding your list of potential employers, you should also visit and sign up with a web site called “Watch That Page” or http://www.watchthatpage.com
Why should you sign up ?
You’ll save a lot of time and (time) is the only commodity in life you can never recover. If you are a serious job seeker you need every moment of every working day to be productive in your job search. I think most of us can agree that as someone devoted to landing their next position, you can never know enough about a new potential employer. Moreover, many organizations are highly active in keeping their website pages up-to-date especially in terms of its current openings page, the executive and sales team pages, and especially it’s PR or (latest) News page. These are pages you should be paying attention to !
How is this a Guerrilla tip ?
Beyond the time savings, you will be automatically tracking employer web pages that could potentially be of value to you. That in turn can lend itself to opening up a number of way Guerrilla Job Seeker tactics could be put in motion to either swing an interview in your favor or “earn and interview” you may not have otherwise been granted !
Now ask yourself what would be easier; taking the time to (manually) “frequently and deeply” comb through each and every website that is on your list of potential employers to harvest the latest information (or) being automatically notified anytime a page(s) change on those would-be employers websites ?
Interesting to note is that using “Watch That Page” is FREE…unless you get ridiculous and become an unadulterated power user. I’ve been freely using Watch That Page for several years now and I have found it to be highly reliable. It has saved me hundreds of hours of mundane research. What’s more is that it allows me to keep tabs on designated pages within websites of interest because when a “tracked” page has any changes, I am notified either the same day or the next via email. It’s a great research tool that I highly recommend you put to use today !
Have a Great Guerrilla Day !
In closing, there are copycats out there but; if you or someone you know are looking for a new job, get one faster and would to like to learn more about authentic "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters" training; don't be bashful, visit me at http://www.psychoape.com
While you are there don't forget to grab a copy of our FREE audio CD for Job Hunters --- a $ 50 value !
We've heard the arguments ad nauseam, and they can be said
to be true of almost any age. I'm sure you've heard time and again, that
because of the precarious economy, competition is extremely stiff and the only
way that anyone is going to make it is to "stand out from the rest."
This is certainly a valid argument, but in an economic climate in which
everyone is trying to one-up one another, standing out isn't simply about being
flashy. Creativity as distinguished from ostentation (or flashiness) is the
most essential element in searching for a job, but it's absolutely necessary
once you get your job, too. In fact, creativity is perhaps the most
sought-after quality in the job market today.
Consider this—economist and social scientist Richard Florida
speculates that what he calls the "creativity
class" has and will become the driving force in America's economic
development in the twenty-first century. Although Florida defines the creative
class in a number of ways, he identifies two groups of creative types—the
Super-Creative core, whose work "along with problem solving, may entail
problem finding," and Creative Professionals, who "draw upon complex
bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems."
Now what does this all mean in terms of your job search? For
one, if the creative class is indeed a highly-sought after group of people,
then the process of successfully finding employment will be, by definition, a
whole other ball game. Instead of simply come up with cute, new
"tricks" to make yourself stand out, the best course of action is to
demonstrate—every step of the way, through your resume, your interview, even
approaching the initial job search in the first place—how you fit this mold of
a creative individual.
One very small example of demonstrating creativity that
Richard Florida mentions in a Creative Class blog
article is Facebook and Twitter status updates. Although the article
initially explains how portraying a bad image on social networking sites can
cost you your job (as we all know by now), he suggests that the opposite also
holds true. Florida posits that posting interesting, clever status updates with
relevant articles and other resources will demonstrate to potential employers
your enthusiasm for living a creative life—something that many
recruiters are increasingly looking for in job candidates.
Above all, being creative in your job search is not just a
way to help you get noticed among the legions of potential job candidates.
Rather, creative job search techniques—something that Guerilla Job Hunting is
all about—are important for their own sake. They are a window into the world of
the Creative You, someone whom employers are desperately seeking out.
By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Angela Martin, who writes on the topics
of Career Salaries.She welcomes your comments at her email
Id:[email protected].
“Age Bias,” has become somewhat of a buzz word associated with job seekers over a given age, but let’s call it for what it is…Age Discrimination. There I feel better now.
When does it begin?
It’s been my experience that age discrimination starts rearing its ugly head when one is over 40 years of age and not 50 as is widely believed.
Does age discrimination exist ?I know it does, at least to some degree.
In fact, as an Executive Search Professional, I once had a new client (a household corporate name you would know) who screamed obscenities into my phone and further threatened to fire my search firm; if in the future we sent them anyone 40 or older.
What was their (twisted) rationale ?
“People over 40 simply do not have enough (runway) left in their career to advance far in this company,” they were quoted as saying to me.By the way, this was the belief and a rigid mandate set forth by the company’s Regional President who ironically enough was closing in on 60 !
Did my firm get fired ?
No, I fired the client because it is both wrong and illegal.Now before anyone asks, when we took on this new client, they neglected to mention that they discriminated based on age. I can only assume that they were accustomed to working with recruiters who would look the other way; they must have assumed that my firm would do likewise.
Did I try to “educate” this Regional President as to the consequences of being convicted of Age Discrimination ?
Yes I did, and to no avail.His response was short and sweet, “That’s what our lawyers are for and that is the end of this discussion.”Oh well, that just goes to show that not “everyone” in a position of authority will modify their moral compass even if at their own peril.
So, how do the “more experienced” workers over 40 gain meaningful employment ?
First and foremost, even though you “feel” you may have been a victim of age discrimination it does not mean you in fact were. Let’s face it; on a national basis, this is likely the most competitive job market we have seen in our times.You may have been a casualty due to the sheer numbers of unemployed people you are competing with.Then again you may have been competing with a Guerrilla !
If you are a job seeker over 40 or over 50 for that matter, here are seven rock-solid proven points to seriously consider while looking for your next gig:
Your resume and cover letter must quickly and clearly articulate your value in that it addresses an employers primary pain points; no great revelation here except for the fact that very few people can skillfully do it.
Approach your search with an absolute goal in mind that goes above and beyond just getting “another” job.
Remember that what YOU want is of no significance to a potential employer.
Humanizing your job search is a cradle to grave undertaking, you must do so throughout the ENTIRE process.
It is of the essence that you’re talking and meeting with “yes” people.
Don’t be a nuisance, but be “imaginatively” persistent with potential new employers.
Networking, be it direct or indirect is still the number one proven way to land a new job. Learning to socially engineer your way into a new position will pay off.
If I were to describe a “typical” Guerrilla Job Boot Camper,” they would be over 40 (or 50) and of course unemployed when they joined us; as a best guess I would have to say that less than 1% of our boot campers have been under 40 years of age.
Go here to WATCH several short videos and see what these people did to overcome (either) real or imaged Age Discrimination. You’ll note that not one of them is under 40 !
You can actually “meet” Steve momentarily on a couple of short video interviews that Steve (along with my Guerrilla colleague Kevin Donlinand I) at a Holiday Inn just outside of the city last Tuesday.
When Steve was first laid off and as part of a severance package, his employer paid $ 5,600 for him to attend a short employment outplacement program with one of the well known “big boys” in the outplacement consulting industry.
The end result for Steve was that by using their recommended methods for finding a new job; he ended up submitting literally hundreds of resumes to prospective employers with nothing to show for his time and efforts. Before Steve knew it, he surpassed the one year mark of unemployment. By Steve’s own admission, he was losing confidence in himself and enough even some of his own identity.
Has this happened to any job seekers you know ?
Steve has been a financial service’s professional for nearly 30 years. Before joining us at the Guerrilla Boot Camp, the very few employers who actually did talk with him quickly dismissed his candidacy telling him that he was “overqualified.”
Do you know of any job seekers who have heard that line before ?
A brief history - Steve had been out of the workforce for 14 months and felt he was running out of options. As it turns out and unknown to me at the time, he had been following my blog postings for a time and decided he had nothing to lose by contacting us. Steve did so in January 2010 to ask about our 10 week Guerrilla Job Seekers Boot Camp.
Now the bizarre part:
While Steve was enrolled in our Guerrilla Job Seeker consulting program, (he was) all along sharing his experience regarding our unconventional tips, tricks and tactics with his immediate family members as well as a “job search buddy” we require all Guerrilla Job Seekers to enlist.
His “job search buddy “embraced our methods and was intrigued, but one Steve’s highly successful family members was quoted as saying, “Those things you are being advised to do in that boot camp are simply too bizarre ! “
I’ll let you as the reader be the judge.
I say that because what is truly “bizarre” is the fact that while Steve was enrolled in our job seeker boot camp, his first offer was delivered in a mere 4 weeks and 3 days after joining us. Furthermore, Steve was asked to entertain a total of six (6) offers after talking with eight (8) potential employers within that very short timeframe.
Oh, did I mention he only sent out a total of 10 resumes while working with us ?
In this day and age, that kind of job search success is staggering !
On a closing note and as I type this, Steve is savoring his hard earned job search victory with a start date of March 15th. He is a newly appointed Senior Vice President at a most prestigious organization here in Pittsburgh.
This new Guerrilla Boot Camp graduate is now positioned to earn nearly 4 times more in guaranteed base and potential bonus than he was “originally willing to settle for” because of 14 months of rejection by employers and resigning himself to the fact that; even if he did find a job, he may be forced to join the ranks of the grossly under-employed.
To watch Steve’s story…………..
Simply go to: http://www.psychoape.com and click on the button titled,” What Do Job Seekers Say about Us”
Once you have clicked on that button, near the top of the page there will be two side-by-side video’s featuring Steve. The videos are titled:
• “80% Interview Success Rate for Guerrilla Resume!”
• “Guerrilla Job Search Coaching: Shock and Awe!”
Have a Great Guerrilla Day !
In closing, if you or someone you know are looking for a new job, get one faster and would to like to learn more, don’t be bashful, visit me at http://www.psychoape.com
Mark J. Haluska
One of only 4 certified Guerrilla Job Search Instructors in North America
Publications:
·A Contributing Co-Author of the highly acclaimed"Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0,"1,001 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released June 2009
·A Contributing Co-Author of the best selling book “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters,” 400 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released September 2005
The Guerrilla Marketing series of books has sold over 20 million copies in 62 languages worldwide !
·Recommended reading for Corporate Hiring Authorities: “Executive Recruiting for Leaders,” Insider Secrets for Locating, Evaluating and Retaining Top Talent by David Perry and Mark J. Haluska, Released July 2008
If you read Part 1 of this posting, you might be thinking, Mark you implied in Part 1 that more or less a high number of companies would want to interview me if I do a “Best Resume.”
Is that right ?
I would have to say, “Yes, that would be correct.”
As I stated in Part 1 of this article, your cover letter and resume “should “realistically net a 30% to 75% success rate in terms of being contacted by your targeted employers. Those percentages are based on the ranges that our Guerrilla Job Seeker clients have enjoyed to date, even in this recession !
As a practicing Executive Search Professional (aka Head Hunter), a Certified Guerrilla Job Search Coach and a contributing co-author of two best selling books on the subject both (published by Wiley) within the last 5 years, what I will say is that your cover letter and resume must pass the 15 – 20 second smell test or you’re toast.
Your cover letter must be concise and articulate your value to the point of making that potential employer slam on the on the breaks, come to a complete stop and really pay attention.
Likewise, your resume has to deliver a quick and hard one-two knockout punch. Your message has to hit them right between the eyes; because the clock will still be ticking on that 20 – 30 second smell test.
So, how would I define “the BASICS” of a “Best Resume” ?
Here are just 12 basic ideas to get you started.
As I stated in Part 1 of this article, your newly updated resume ought to be your 5th (fifth) priority when it comes to finding a new job. Now, aside from the usual punctuation, spelling and layout errors resumes are prone to have, here are some “BASIC and simple” Guerrilla rules: (Well they are not entirely trouble-free because it requires people to in fact think followed up by the execution of a well thought out game plan. )
1. Your cover letter must be aimed at the one person in the company who genuinely cares about filling the position. I say that because it just stands to reason that the job would not be open if the company did not have a dilemma on their hands in need of resolution.
2. The first thing the recipient at your target employer is going to read, if done properly, is your cover letter. If done as I suggested earlier in this article, this will at least get you on first base. Don’t believe all that blather that recruiters and employers “never” read cover letters. Many people WILL but only if the cover letter is personalized, intriguing, to the point, and begs for more.
3. Sign your cleverly created cover letter in light blue ink.
4. Add a post script at the end of the cover letter using a presumptive sales technique to close it out.
5. Your resume doesn’t necessarily have to be on top grade paper in most cases. Paper in the medium price range will do just fine as will the color of white.
6. Don’t use an ASCII (Plain Text) resume format unless you are expressly instructed to do so. ASCII resumes are first read by computers. To the human eye however appear and most often read like a Microsoft instruction manual.
Due to time constrains I have to run for now. Let’s hook up in a day or two at the same place. I’ll outline the next 6 (six) additional points to consider relative to what constitutes a “Best Resume” and also share with you an absolutley astonishing resume success story by a client of ours who did the exact things I am talking about and with astounding results.
I hope you join me for Part 3 of this articleand in the meantime, have a Great Guerrilla Day !
In closing, if you or someone you know are looking for a new job, get one faster and would to like to learn more about authentic "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters" training; don't be bashful, visit me at http://www.psychoape.com
To quote Bill Clinton, “it depends what you mean by "The Best.”
Ok- that is not EXACTLY what Bill said, but you get the idea. :)
If you gave your resume to 10 different resume writers, (or wannabe writers) I’d venture to guess you’d likely get 8 to 10 diverse opinions as to “what” your resume really needs to be considered “The Best” and land you an interview invitation.
Did I mention that if you lost your job today, that scrambling to write / update your résumé should NOT be the FIRST thing that you do to find a new job?
Other than breaking the bad news to the family and filing for unemployment compensation of course, Guerrilla Job Seekers know that putting your “best” resume together should be the 5th (fifth) thing you would do as a matter of setting priorities in obtaining a new position. .
You read it right; the FIFTH chore you should carry out!
One thing that “most” resume writers will not disagree with is that your résumé is a very important part of your personal branding. Your resume AND cover letter should sell both the steak AND the sizzle at the same time!
Yes, despite what you may have read elsewhere, cover letters will be read IF you give the recipient a reason to do so !
More often than you would imagine, the most qualified person does not always get the position. I know this to be fact because I was a senior decision maker for years and (I) knowingly did not always make an offer to the “best qualified” applicant for a variety of reasons. Moreover, our Guerrilla Job Seeker Boot Campers have reported back to us scores of times where they were told after being hired that they were not “the most” qualified.
According to these new employers, it was their unique approach that put them over the top.
Why?
Because the best qualified individual was never viewed in quite the same light as the person who branded and marketed themselves as the ultimate commodity. In this highly competitive job market, these people discovered how to get, and then keep the attention of the prospective employer.
In fact, the best qualified candidate may never have been interviewed because of a poorly prepared resume, cover letter and then failure to follow-up. Then again, their resume may have just fallen into the HR Black Hole as a result of a poorly trained HR screener.
What is an ill-prepared resume?
Aside from the usual punctuation, spelling and layout errors resumes may have, an inadequate résumé is one that fails to compel of AT LEAST 3 of 10 carefully targeted hiring authorities to want to immediately talk with you. In fact, if you were to contact 20 targeted employers and batted a .750 (or a 75% call back rate) I would not at all be that surprised. It would not be the first time!!!!!!!
So, what I am saying is that “The Best” resumes can only be measured by the results you achieve in terms of invites for an interview.
Wow, in light of the competitive job market we’re facing today, that’s a bold statement isn’t it Mark ?
Due to time limitations today, I have to close for now. Catch me in the next business day or two and I’ll continue this thread, going over “the basics” of a “Best Resume.”
In closing, if you ever thought about being a Guerrilla Job Seeker, don’t to be bashful. Visit us at www.psychoape.com
There’s a FREE audio CD valued at $ 50 in it for you!
LinkedIn has over 50 million users worldwide. Of that 50 million, approximately half of those members are in the U.S. LinkedIn is one of the many tools I use to locate hard to find candidates to fill my client’s needs; and I know that other executive search professionals and company talent scouts do the very same thing.
If you are a job seeker why not use LinkedIn, turn it inside out just a little bit and use it to your advantage as well ?
• Do you have an interview lined up with a hiring authority ? (If not hopefully you will soon)
• Do you know the name and title of that decision maker and especially anything about that individual ? (Getting inside that persons head, learning how they think, their background and some of their hot buttons etc., will afford you a one up especially if your competition has not invested their own time to some homework)
Here is a Guerilla strategy that could prove very beneficial to you.
Within Linked-In, do some pre-interview groundwork to see if that person is listed. The higher up in the corporate hierarchy that person is, the more likely they are to be on Linked-In because higher-level people recognize the potential value therein as the site is proving to be just one of the places "people in the know" hang out.
If that person is listed on Linked-In, (lucky you) go to that profile and find out as much about that individual as you can. Then review all the recommendations they have given to other people. This will allow you to ascertain what personal or professional qualities are important to that hiring authority. Next, review all the profiles of the people that hiring authority has recommended; particularly those people who now work (or have worked) at that company or people at other companies who have work for him/her elsewhere. This step will supply you with job search intel as to the backgrounds that particular decision maker tends to favor, the character, values and work ethic that s/he admires, etc.
Lastly don’t overlook the people who have recommended that hiring authority. Endorsements will tell you a lot about that executive and why those endorsers have a high regard for that person. If the moon, stars and the sun are perfectly aligned you may even be able to get a 360 degree view of that hiring authority.
Be creative and think like a Guerrilla ! LinkedIn can be used as a tool for other job search related background work as well; but this should give you a start. Doesn’t it just make good sense to take the time to uncover this information and use it to your advantage as a job seeker ?
In closing, being listed on Linked-In isn't a Guerrilla Strategy. Knowing many of the insider secrets on how to get the most out of Linked-In and then “in fact putting it to work for you” IS VERY Guerrilla !
In closing, have a Great Guerrilla Day !
For information on corporate sponsored outplacement services, career coaching, resume assistance, the Guerilla Job Seekers 10 week boot camp, or if you would prefer personal one-on-one Guerilla job search assistance, contact me at: [email protected] or call me at 724-495-2733.
Mark J. Haluska Real Time NetWork & Guerrilla Job Search International 724-495-2733
• Contributing Co-Author of the highly acclaimed "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0," 1,001 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released in June 2009
• Contributing Co-Author of the best selling book, “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters,” 400 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released in 2005
There are scam artists in all professions. Be it a doctor, investment advisor, lawyer, roofer, auto mechanic, you name it and you'll find someone who will intentionally take advantage of you. There are some so-called career coaches / counselors that are no different. The crooks live among us and they want your money and in actuality may offer little if anything in return.
Here are some other options both free and fee paid that you may want to consider:
You can go to one or more headhunters. Their services are free, but unless they have a position for you on their books, all they can really do is put you in their data base until something comes along for which you are an EXACT fit. Don’t ever count on the Executive Search Professional to find a job FOR YOU. It’s their job to find people for companies; not find jobs for people.
There are a gazillion blogs out there that you can start to follow on line. In fact there are so many out there, you’ll never have time to proactively look for a job if you spend all of your time following them. I would suggest that you pick a select handful of blogs or articles that are written by credible sources and seem to offer helpful advice and follow them. Don’t be bashful about asking forum questions if you have that option. You are welcome to do so in this group !
Join local job seeker networking groups. If you reside in a different area outside of the geographical area where you want to work, find a virtual networking group(s) located in that region. The most successful participants in these groups seem to be those who attend the meetings and are people who freely offer to be of assistance to others when they can in order to get help from others later. Joining these groups also gives you a good excuse to get out of the house and interact with others.
Most likely there are free job seeker services in your area that are available to you and they have been known to be very helpful. These may be funded via a federal, state or local government agency or they may be a registered non-profit entity. Give the free services a shot because it shouldn't cost you a dime. (Ok, some non-profits might ask for literally a dollar or so "donation" but hopefully that would be deemed a value on your part---- because it is --- and they have expenses too)
If after a 6 to 8 weeks (or so) taking advantage of the previously mentioned free services, you've still gained no real traction in your job search; you should recognize that you're market value (in the meantime) is more often than not diminishing to prospective employers the longer you are out of work.
For that reason alone, it might be time to seriously consider talking with a legitimate professional who has the credentials to help you build your professional branding. This step would require an investment on your part; therefore you need to take it upon yourself to perform your own due diligence. Talk with the prospective coach / counselor, ask questions, etc., but be wary of any out-and-out verbal or worthlessly written “guarantees” of a new job because THAT does sound too good to be true. There are simply too many variables for anyone to make such a claim.
Lastly, there are legitimate career coaches / counselors out there who are former HR executives. At first glance that may sound great but that credential alone may not be enough if YOU are a paying client. If outside the corporate world, they have no demonstrable track record of “helping” job seekers (as a coach / counselor) find work in a variety of professions, verticals and levels, you might want to keep looking.
"Let the Buyer Beware," and hopefully you will not get swindled into working with a scammer. He is just one link you might want to visit: http://www.rileyguide.com/scams.html
Have a great Guerrilla Day !
Mark J. Haluska Real Time NetWork & Guerrilla Job Search International 724-495-2733
There are scam artists in all professions. Be it a doctor, investment advisor, lawyer, roofer, auto mechanic, you name it and you'll find someone who will intentionally take advantage of you. There are some so-called career coaches / counselors that are no different. The crooks live among us and they want your money and in actuality may offer little if anything in return.
Here are some other options both free and fee paid that you may want to consider:
You can go to one or more headhunters. Their services are free, but unless they have a position for you on their books, all they can really do is put you in their data base until something comes along for which you are an EXACT fit. Don’t ever count on the Executive Search Professional to find a job FOR YOU. It’s their job to find people for companies; not find jobs for people.
There are a gazillion blogs out there that you can start to follow on line. In fact there are so many out there, you’ll never have time to proactively look for a job if you spend all of your time following them. I would suggest that you pick a select handful of blogs or articles that are written by credible sources and seem to offer helpful advice and follow them. Don’t be bashful about asking forum questions if you have that option. You are welcome to do so in this group !
Join local job seeker networking groups. If you reside in a different area outside of the geographical area where you want to work, find a virtual networking group(s) located in that region. The most successful participants in these groups seem to be those who attend the meetings and are people who freely offer to be of assistance to others when they can in order to get help from others later. Joining these groups also gives you a good excuse to get out of the house and interact with others.
Most likely there are free job seeker services in your area that are available to you and they have been known to be very helpful. These may be funded via a federal, state or local government agency or they may be a registered non-profit entity. Give the free services a shot because it shouldn't cost you a dime. (Ok, some non-profits might ask for literally a dollar or so "donation" but hopefully that would be deemed a value on your part---- because it is --- and they have expenses too)
If after a 6 to 8 weeks (or so) taking advantage of the previously mentioned free services, you've still gained no real traction in your job search; you should recognize that you're market value (in the meantime) is more often than not diminishing to prospective employers the longer you are out of work.
For that reason alone, it might be time to seriously consider talking with a legitimate professional who has the credentials to help you build your professional branding. This step would require an investment on your part; therefore you need to take it upon yourself to perform your own due diligence. Talk with the prospective coach / counselor, ask questions, etc., but be wary of any out-and-out verbal or worthlessly written “guarantees” of a new job because THAT does sound too good to be true. There are simply too many variables for anyone to make such a claim.
Lastly, there are legitimate career coaches / counselors out there who are former HR executives. At first glance that may sound great but that credential alone may not be enough if YOU are a paying client. If outside the corporate world, they have no demonstrable track record of “helping” job seekers (as a coach / counselor) find work in a variety of professions, verticals and levels, you might want to keep looking.
"Let the Buyer Beware," and hopefully you will not get swindled into working with a scammer. He is just one link you might want to visit: http://www.rileyguide.com/scams.html
Have a great Guerrilla Day !
For information on corporate sponsored outplacement services, career coaching, resume assistance, the Guerilla Job Seekers 10 week boot camp, or if you would prefer personal one-on-one Guerilla job search assistance, contact me at:
• Contributing Co-Author of "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0," 1,001 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released in June 2009
• Contributing Co-Author of the best selling book, “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters,” 400 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released in 2005
Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the Buyer Beware." Early on and before our time, caveat emptor was acknowledged as the property law doctrine that controlled the sale of real property after the closing date.
In this day and age, it seems to me as a layman that caveat emptor is more loosely and frequently identified as a transaction between two parties when most anything is purchased, be it a piece of property or any type of good or service.
Most of us have learned as adults, for every unfortunate situation where a buck can be made in our society, someone with nefarious intentions will seize an opportunity. In this case I am talking about Job Seeker scams on the part of some so-called "career coaches / consultants."
You'll find these "consultants” on the internet with impressive looking web sites. They'll also typically run large display ads in metropolitan newspapers in the employment section. These companies have been known to make claim to having an "in" with not just a few, but rather many HR departments at the largest most attractive companies. In their ads and on their web sites they will list dozens of blind ad jobs with salaries ranging from $ 50,000 to $ 750,000 or more. Although their marketing materials look and sound too good to be true, it's a fact, desperate people are known to do desperate things and often times become victims.
Here's just one example as to how these people have been known to successfully suck people in: You contacted them so they already assume you are unemployed and desperate so; after you have found their ad, you are directed to call them to set up an appointment to "visit their office" or you can email mail them with your particulars and they will call you for the same purpose.
In this instance, the key is to get you to go to their office. When you arrive on site, they will greet you, tell you how wonderful your background and experience is; then you'll fill out a stack of paperwork, you’ll meet with a couple of people, perhaps be assigned a so-called “specialist” and then they’ll verbally tell you that for X dollars they will "GET you a new job."
Being on their on their home turf you will endure a well scripted nuclear powered sales pitch detailing all ways they can "supposedly" GET you a new job. They'll also try to convince you that you need them more than they need you.
Based on my research on career consultant "scammers," the average fees are just over $ 5,000. I read one article about a man (an ex-employee of one of these consulting firms whose conscience got the best of him) who stated that when it came to job seeker fees, "the sky was the limit." What I gathered from that courageous confession is that attractive commission were tied to closing the deal and to pull as much money out of the hopeful job seeker as possible.
Catch up with me on Tuesday, December 29th when I'll post Part 2 and learn how you can avoid being A Job Seekers Caveat Emptor Loser.
Have a great Guerrilla Day !
For information on corporate sponsored outplacement services, career coaching, resume assistance, the Guerilla Job Seekers 10 week boot camp, or if you would prefer personal one-on-one Guerilla job search assistance, contact me at:
• Contributing Co-Author of the highly acclaimed "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0," 1,001 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released in June 2009
• Contributing Co-Author of the best selling book, “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters,” 400 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released in 2005
On the 7th day of Christmas - Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0 revealed to me -
“Seven
Social Networks”
The key to expanding your network and
finding job leads is, of course, to add more people to your network. Fortunately,
the Internet has made it easier than ever to meet more people – and you never
have to leave your keyboard!
I’d like to tell you about seven of the best
online networking sites. Each is based on the “six degrees of separation”
principle – you’re never more than six contacts away from any person you want
to meet, anywhere on earth, including Kevin Bacon.
Check out these sites if you want to
“e-network” your way to a new job …
MySpace and Facebook are several magnitudes larger than
the largest job boards and LinkedIn – combined.If MySpace were a country it would be the 5th largest in the
world by population.Facebook has
undergone similar growth and don’t think for a moment this hasn’t gone
unnoticed by recruiters who are always trying to find people who don’t want to be
found by conventional methods.In fact,
there are multiple courses on line which expressly teach recruiters how to find
whomever they need using MySpace and Facebook.So a little known secret... MySpace and Facebook have a lot of their
jobs fed to them by SimplyHired.comso
it you want to tap into Facebook and MySpace for jobs without setting up a
profile.. go to
SimplyHired.com Linkedin.com – From a headhunter’s standpoint, LinkedIn
has it all. It is the opportunity of a lifetime to establish a powerful network
of influential colleagues and friends – can you tell it’s one of my favorites?
Free to use, Linkedin.comfirst
requires you to set up a profile, then invite your friends to join your
network. After those people join, they can ask their friends and colleagues to join, etc., etc. For job hunters
this can produce a treasure trove of leads.
Classmates – This may be the grand daddy of online
networking sites. At Classmates.com, you can join a network of alumni who share
an affinity with you – they went to the same school (high school, college or
university), or were in the same military branch, industry or company. The
challenge, when finding potential contacts, is that you must search by state.
But, if you want to reconnect specifically with people you went to school with,
Classmatesis
the way to go.
ExecuNet – If you make $100,000 or more in salary, this
networking venue is for you. ExecuNet was founded 18 years ago as
the premier networking web site. They make it easy for senior-level
professionals to connect directly with business decision-makers, executive
recruiters, and peers. Not is this site chock full of helpful advice that’s not
found anywhere else, they also host well-known speakers and authors. Of course,
I’m biased because founder Dave
Opton wrote the foreword for my book, Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters.
Here are two more networking sites with
benefits too numerous to list. The first one you’re absolutely not supposed to
know about unless you’re a headhunter so I wouldn’t go and join...
6
Degrees from Dave – this Dave is Dave Mendoza the ubber connector A classic social
engineer Dave’s network spans the globe.
Dave’s a wealth of information and his site is too. Want to know how to maximize LinkedIn. Dave’s the guy to know. Want
to connect with the LinkedIn LIONs? Dave’s
your guy. And so it goes. Want to know what’s hot in recruiting...
Spoke -- Great for
connecting with sales people of all types and Fortune 1000 companies in
particular. Sales people, by the way, are great resources for job hunters –
they’re naturally outgoing and often willing to help. This site boasts more
than 30 million contacts and 900,000 companies.Double bonus! Here are two more sites to
help grow your network …The
Social Networking Web Log
is loaded with tips to help you reach inside target companies.
Quintessential Careers isn’t a social
network. OK, so sue me. But it should be on your networking read, especially if
you’re a college grad. There’s an encyclopedia’s worth of advice there.
Meet Mike from Bridgeville, Delaware. A devoted husband, father, has a mortgage, and unemployed. Although I would venture to guess that you’ve likely never met him, I’m reasonably sure that as a follower of this group you can identify with him.
Mike was laid off last February. Like millions of other job seekers he had over 20 years experience and is over 40 years old. He's also in a profession where employers prefer them to be "young." IOW, not Mike's age.
In Mike’s own words, “he spent month after month after month hitting brick walls when it came to realizing any success with his job search.”
Does any part of this scenario sound familiar to you ?
During this time, Mike did what almost everyone else does when it came to finding a new job. You may recognize this fandango; spending endless hours trying to “perfect” his resume and cover letter, scanning the job boards for potential opportunities, applying for positions, never hearing back about the status of his resume etc., etc. Time was quickly passing and his resources dwindling.
One day (about) 2 months ago, Mike by his own admission was at his wits end and came to the conclusion that if he were going to achieve his goal of landing a good job before the end of 2009, he was going to need a lot of extra horsepower. Mike then found the courage to bite the bullet and contact us at the Guerrilla Job Search Boot Camp to ask what we could do for him.
Mike signed-on for the one-on-one 10 week Guerrilla Job Search consulting.
Fast Forward (to Monday) November 30, 2009. Mike started his new six figure position with a well known Fortune 500 financial organization !
I’ll never forget the day he received the official offer. My phone rings and on the other end is a very excited Mike. The first words out of his mouth were, “Mark, there will be a great Christmas meal and plenty of presents under the tree this year ! “
Some interesting facts about Mike and his job search:
• By Mike’s own estimation he lost $ 180,700 or more in salary and benefits (value) since last February.
• Mike is now working in his dream job and in a telecommute position !
• Mike had already read Guerrilla Job Hunting 2.0 and said he loved it but felt he needed personal Guerrilla consulting to push his job search over the edge.
• Within (about) 5 weeks of working with us, Mike received one verbal offer that ultimately ended up being put on hold. Prior to this, he had none.
• By week 7 or so, Mike had 2 more firm offers in hand “in addition” to the offer he ultimately accepted for a total of 3 offers that were firm.
• By Mikes own estimation, he met only 50% of the actual job requirements for the position he now occupies !
• Mike was invited to more interviews working with us for just 2 months than he did the previous 7 months.
• Using Guerrilla consulting tactics, this position was created for Mike as it was never advertised.
Sound too good to be true ?
If you are intrigued by the success of Guerrilla Job Seeker consulting, simply email me and I will provide Mike’s number and you can ask him in the evening hours.
If you would prefer, my friend and colleague and fellow Guerrilla ---Kevin Donlin also interviewed Mike last week regarding his Guerrilla success as a job seeker. I will gladly email you a recording of that short discussion so you can hear it for yourself.
Don’t procrastinate, call us to get a job faster.....and have a Great Guerrilla Day !
Best Regards,
Mark J. Haluska Real Time NetWork & Guerrilla Job Search International 724-495-2733
Ok—so in reality I was a little creative and the meal is not actually on my dollar (only David Perry could afford that) but if you did not know about the free meal, and you take advantage of it, in a sense it is on me. :)
Pass this on to anyone you know who is a current or former Honorably discharged Vet !
For information on corporate sponsored outplacement services, career coaching, resume assistance, the Guerilla Job Seekers 10 week boot camp, or if you would prefer personal one-on-one Guerilla job search assistance, contact me at:
Mark J. Haluska Founder and Executive Director of Real Time NetWork www.rtnetwork.net
• Contributing Co-Author of "Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0," 1,001 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released in June 2009
• Contributing Co-Author of the best selling book, “Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters,” 400 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing your Dream Job. Released in 2005
