Is Your LinkedIn Profile Hurting Your Job Search?

Job Search Mistakes, Networking, On-line Social Networking

At a recent Vistage meeting of about 20 CEOs we were discussing using social media as a way to find people.  One of the CEOs indicated it is also a great way to eliminate people.

I wasn’t overly surprised to learn that many hadn’t thought about social media for hiring, but I was surprised to learn that many don’t use it as a screening tool. Obviously, after hearing the story from the one CEO, most will reconsider.

The CEO stated that they had been in the process of interviewing a candidate for a sales position, and like most hiring processes, it takes a couple of weeks to get through all of the interviews. Over this couple of weeks the company started tracking this person’s tweets on Twitter and looked up the candidate’s profile picture.

OOPS a major faux pas.

Apparently as it was relayed in the meeting, this person’s picture was – let’s just say not professional, and the tweets were completely inappropriate as viewed by the company. The language was foul, the topics discussed rather vulgar, and for a professional sales person raised a lot of red flags.

The company was afraid of a sexual harassment lawsuit and how this candidate would communicate with employees and customers. Not to mention what customers would think if they saw this person’s profile picture and followed them on Twitter.

Social media is a double-edged sword. I follow Twitter on a regular basis, and I am surprised at how many people looking for a job use inappropriate language, brag about being lazy, tweet about how glad they are about not working, or demonstrate a lack of willingness to be employed. They come across as wanting a job but not willing to work. This is not what a future employer is seeking.

Take care to ensure that you manage your LinkedIn profile properly and professionally during your job search. Others are watching and listening to you.

If this was helpful to you, it will probably be helpful to others. Please consider passing it on so they too can benefit. You might add it to your Facebook page, update it on your LinkedIn status, or email it to friends or to your network. We all need to help out. One tip can make a huge difference to someone.

GET A FREE LINKEDIN PROFILE ASSESSMENT. On March 26th we are offering a webinar on, “How To Find Your Next Job Using LinkedIn.” We will tell you the number one reason  so many recruiters view your profile and never call you. THIS IS NOT A JOKE OR HYPE. It is a fact that most candidates never think of. CLICK HERE to learn more about how to get your FREE profile assessment and the webinar.

Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group and stay connected with the other 4600+ members. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

Answering Those Box Checking Interviewing Questions – Audio Recording

Face-to-Face Inteviewing, Interviewing

Don’t Be A Box-checking Victim

STOP allowing yourself to be box-checked in the interview by recruiters, HR, and hiring managers. You CANNOT SUCCEED in the interview if you are being box-checked against a traditional job description listing precise years of experience, exact industry experience, product knowledge, specific channels, and detailed skills. No one could pass these interviews with flying colors. Successful interviewing requires you to move the interview from a typical interrogation into a conversation about the needs and obstacles in the job. Brad and Barry provide specific examples, tactics, and recommendations in this radio program on how to move every interview from a box-checking interrogation into a conversation about the work that needs to be done.

To listen or download this recording from our audio library CLICK HERE.

You can also join our LinkedIN Job Search Networking Group. CLICK HERE to join

How Would You Rate Your LinkedIn Profile?

Job Search Mistakes, Networking, On-line Social Networking, Recruiters

I recently asked this question on LinkedIn, “How would you rate your LinkedIn profile?” The choices were, poor, fair, good or very good. I wasn’t referring to completeness based on the LinkedIn scale. I wanted to know how you would rate your profile based on how good or compelling it is.

Would a recruiter, HR professional, or hiring authority be so impressed that they can’t wait to contact you? That is the goal of a LinkedIn profile. Why else would you have one if you are in a job search?

So that is my question to you, “How do you rate your LinkedIn profile?” We would really like to know.

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Now the really important question, “How would you rate your resume?” Let us know that too. Just simply send us a comment. You can do that at the bottom of this article.

Did you rate them both the same? Most rate their resume good to very good and their LinkedIn profile poor to fair. WHY?

Both of these are marketing documents. That is all a resume is. It is put together to market you. In our best selling job search workbook,“This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” we don’t like to use the word “resume.”  Rather, we prefer to call it your Personal Compelling Marketing Brochure.

Your LinkedIn profile is your online marketing brochure. It must sell you. Your profile can be even more compelling than a resume because of all of the added features LinkedIn allows you to add to your profile. Most are not possible on a resume.

So here is the next set of questions, “How many hours have you dedicated to developing your resume?” My experience is that most candidates spend hours not only developing their resume, but revamping it, changing it, redoing it, updating it, and so on. For many, this is a never ending process.

OK, so then, “How many hours have you dedicated to developing your LinkedIn profile?” We would really like you to be completely honest and answer these questions. Just add your responses to them in the comment box at the bottom.

Still  not convinced about why you need a great and compelling profile on LinkedIn?  Here are some additional reasons that might convince you.

• For my last three placements, all of the candidates came directly from LinkedIn.

• Two clients recently told me they hired mid-level sales people directly from LinkedIn.

• Before posting an open position on a job board, most recruiters go to LinkedIn first.

• I’m currently working on two searches and I found all of the candidates using LinkedIn.

• LinkedIn now has over 45 million users.

• More and more internal recruiters and HR professionals start their searches on LinkedIn.

• Companies can save thousands of dollars searching LinkedIn versus searching resumes on a job board.

Given all of this, would you reply to a job posting with a fair resume? Would you expect a call back from a hiring authority or recruiter if your resume was “fair?”

If your LinkedIn profile isn’t better than your resume, you are leaving a very valuable tool in your tool box. When I’m coaching job seekers, one of the first items we work on is their LinkedIn profile. It is not uncommon that within two weeks of completing the profile makeover for these candidates, that they start receiving inquiries.

So let us hear from you regarding how you responded to these questions. We are really interested.

Don’t know how to build a great profile?

Get a FREE LinkedIn Profile Assessment. To help you build a great LinkedIn job search strategy, we are having a webinar on March 26. This webinar will ensure you not only have a great profile, but in addition, teach  you how to find contacts, how recruiters use LinkedIn, and how to ensure that if someone comes to your profile that you are positioned as the expert.  CLICK HERE to learn more.

Also, Barry and I have had extensive discussions regarding LinkedIn on our weekly radio show that airs every Monday at 11 AM PST at www.latalkradio.com on channel 2. We add all of these recordings to our audio library. These recordings are free for you to listen to or download. CLICK HERE to review our audio library.

Finally, consider joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are more than 4,4oo members, and a wealth of articles and discussions to help you in your job search. CLICK HERE to join.

Brad Remillard

Don’t Be Like Groucho Marx – Job Search Tactic #2

Networking, Personal Branding

Groucho Marx once said “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member.”

Groucho must not have been conducting a job search when he made that comment.

Joining Groups (like clubs) on LinkedIn is an excellent way to engage with people who hold a similar interest, make new contacts, network, and discover hidden job opportunities.

Your groups display on your LinkedIn Profile. When I click your profile, I can see which groups we have in common. As a recruiter, I usually focus on searches within groups first due to the ease of contacting other group members.

Here are some of the parameters on joining groups on LinkedIn:

LinkedIn allows you to join 50 groups

You can post roughly 7500 news feed items per 24 hour period. These can be multiple feeds within the same 24 hour period into the same group. I have not yet done a test to ascertain the precise number.

You can post unlimited discussions (I have not come across a limit yet within a 24 hours period. Again, I’ve not tried to test the system by posting more than 50 in a 24 hour period.

You can send messages to other group members without using your valuable inmails nor do you have to know the email address. I’m not sure if there is a limit on the number of messages you can send directly to group members. I have yet to hit it if there is a limit.

What groups should I join you might ask?

• Your alumni group
• Geographically based network groups for individuals in your city
• Association or trade groups that focus on your industry, such as Construction or Telecommunications
• Functional specialty groups, such as those for VPs of Marketing or CFOs
• Charitable groups that focus on causes you support
• Job Search Groups, such as the IMPACT Hiring Job Search Discussion Group

Now that I’ve joined a few groups, what should I do next?

Even though in a previous post I suggested you not be a lurker, I give you permission to do short-term lurking. Gain a sense of the culture of the group. Review the other messages in the group first.

• Are group members discussing job search related issues?
• Are group members supportive of each other?
• What type of news feeds are being posted into the group?
• Are there job leads being posted by group members under the jobs tab?
• How passionate are group members in responding to questions or discussion points?

You’ve lurked long enough – it’s time to jump in and become a valuable and active member of the group.

What kind of benefits might I expect from the time investment of doing all these activities within all my groups:

• You’ll be enhancing your PERSONAL BRAND by establishing your involvement, focus, and expertise in the various groups.
• Others will be attracted to you and want to connect with you on LinkedIn directly
• As Hiring Managers and Executives frequent these groups, you’ll become noticed by the individuals who may someday hire you
• You’ll be starting to dramatically expand your connections and the massive net it takes to capture hidden job market leads and referrals.

Barry Deutsch

P.S. Don’t forget about the Webinar my partner, Brad Remillard is teaching on March 26th, titled “How to Find Your Next Job on LinkedIn”. See the promotion for the Webinar in our right-hand sidebar.

Stop Being a LinkedIn Lurker: Job Search Tactic #3

Job Search Mistakes, Networking, Personal Branding

Sounds like something you could be arrested for – maybe even a felony conviction.

Seriously, if you want to take your job search to another level, you’ve got to engage in communicating and interacting on the primary social media forum for professionals, managers, and executives.

Studies show that 90% or more of all users of social media (including LinkedIn) are lurkers.

What the heck is a LinkedIn Lurker?

A lurker is someone who reads the news feeds in groups, reads the questions in groups, reads the questions and answers in the Q&A section, and observes the status updates of those to whom they share a 1st degree connection.

Are you a LinkedIn Lurker?

YOU CANNOT CONDUCT AN EFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH BY LURKING?

Lurking is like hiding behind your mother’s skirt when you were 3 years old. Why do we do this as intelligent, sophisticated, cosmopolitan, confident adults? I wrote another article a few months ago on this same subject titled “STOP Being A Job Search Voyeur – Let Your Voice Be Heard“

I don’t get it.

I don’t even buy the introversion excuse since you’re not having to meet these people on-line or build a deep relationship. There is no rejection phobia here either.

Engaging in the conversation on social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter is just about the most friendly, safest environment to give your job search a little booster shot in the arm.

Here’s a few simple things you could start doing right now:

• How many of you are posting questions in our LinkedIn Discussion Forum and how many of you are helping others in the Group by answering/commenting on the discussions they started?
• Are you looking at the wealth of news feeds in our LinkedIn Discussion Group and commenting on those valuable links?
• When was the last time you commented on a connection’s status update?

We’ll tackle further engagement on LinkedIn in future tactics.

By the way, My Partner, Brad Remillard, will be leading a webinar on March 26th on how to leverage ALL the different elements of LinkedIn to conduct an effective job search.

Click on the link in our sidebar to learn about this very popular webinar.

If there was one place you could invest your time and get the biggest bang for the buck, it would on LinkedIn. Sadly, most job seekers are not leveraging even 10% of the tools, personal branding, engagement opportunities, and other inexpensive techniques to help themselves be found.

Brad and I did a couple of Programs on LinkedIn in our Weekly Radio Show. You can download these from our FREE Job Search Audio Library.

You know it’s much easier to be found than to find the right job.

What’s holding you back right now from signing up for a one-hour webinar (from one of the top experts in this country on using LinkedIn) in which you’ll learn at least a dozen core tactics that you’ll use every day in your job search?

Barry Deutsch

If you’re NOT a member of our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group, JOIN US NOW to start your engagement process and move beyond lurking.

How To Get Recruiters To Reply To Your Resume

Job Search Mistakes, Recruiters, Resume

I know this is one of the major complaints by candidates. I hear it all the time, “I send them my resume and they don’t reply. Most won’t even return my phone call.”  As difficult as it is to say, for the most part these candidates are correct. That doesn’t mean it is right, it just means you are correct.

Similar to most at the manager level and above, when you are working, you are generally overwhelmed with things to do. So you have to prioritize. Some things are high priority and some things go on the low priority list. The low priority items may never get done, or may get done in the next few months. Generally, this depends on what other higher priority items trickle in.

Recruiters are really no different. We have to prioritize our day. Some things are high priority and other things are low priority. If  you want to engage recruiters, your job when working with or contacting them should be to move up the priority list. Knowing how I, and many other recruiters prioritize, might help you do this.

Here is how I set priorities regarding the basic duties as a retained recruiter.  Contingent recruiters might vary slightly, but when I was a contingent recruiter it wasn’t a whole lot different.

High priority:

1. Clients always come first. So some might ask, “Who is your client?” The company paying my fee is the client, not the candidate. Therefore, the company has first priority on my time. That means I will return their phone calls before a candidate’s, I will meet with them prior to a candidate, reply to their emails first,  and screen resumes they send me first.
2. Candidates on an active search. These are candidates that I’m actively working with on an existing retained search. They could be at any stage within that search which includes, recruiting ones I have identified, interviewing them, returning their calls or emails, reviewing their resume, meeting them, scheduling interviews, following up after an interview, compensation discussions, reference checking, or basically anything I need to do to move the candidate and the search to the next phase.
3. Marketing. The next priority for me is marketing. This is meeting with clients and potential clients, attending networking meetings, and making sure I’m out in the market so that when a search comes up I’m the one that gets the call. When that call comes, refer to number 1 above.

Important but not a high priority. These I try to get to by the end of each day. Sometimes they spill over to the next day, but I usually try to complete these within 24 hours.

1. Returning emails not related to a search from people I know or have worked with in the past. These are generally people updating me on their search, prior clients with a question, a request unrelated to an active search, general emails, and clearing SPAM. Sometimes I don’t get to these until the afternoon. I scan down the “sent from” and subject lines, and when I see someone I know I will read the email and then reply appropriately.
2. Reply to emails and return calls that are a referral. If someone is referring a person to me, I will always reply. I respect the fact that they have taken the time to do this. I feel I owe the reply out of respect to the referring source.
3. Return voice mail calls. Basically the same as above. I listen to them and clients get an immediate call. Anything to do with an active search gets a call. Others I evaluate and make a decision on what to do with them. Refer to low priority below for many, not all, of these calls.

Low Priority:

1. Return emails from those I don’t know. This is one of those low priorities that tick many candidates off. The good news is that you have a much higher chance of getting a return email than a phone call. I often try to catch up on these on the weekend or at night. Because of the large volume of these, I’m often two weeks behind.
   1. If you are just sending me an unsolicited resume, I may or may not reply to you. Generally not. I may take a look at the resume to see if it fits an active search. Probably less than 50% of the time I reply. This is why I preach, tweet, and blog,  DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A RESUME SERVICE THAT WILL SEND YOUR RESUME TO 1,200 RECRUITERS. Save your money as most recruiters don’t even look at them. I doubt more than 5% of retained recruiters do.
   2. If the email is just to introduce yourself to me with no referral,  I will probably just delete it. What else can I say? Like me or hate me, that is what will happen. (If it makes you feel better, then “yes” I spend hours late at night reading the hundreds of unsolicited resumes I receive on a weekly basis).

Lowest priority. So low that I have to be bored and/or very lonely to take action. I’m desperate to just talk to someone and my wife and kids are all busy. I have probably already called every person in my contact list, any tech support that I can possibly think of, and if it’s the only way to get out of having to watch Driving Miss Daisy or The English Patient, I will claim I have to return these phone calls.

1. These are the  voice mails that simply say, “Hi Brad, this is (fill in the blank) please call me at (fill in the number. I probably don’t even recognize the area code).” or “Hi Brad, this is (fill in the blank) I just want to introduce myself to you. Please call me at (fill in the blank).”  I will apologize now to all of those I have offended. Sorry, if I didn’t return your call.  It is just that I don’t have the time, and I rarely can help you.  I know each call is going to take 5–10 minutes, and in the end, I can’t do anything for you. I used to make a list of these calls. When time permitted, I would work my way down the list but over time the list just got too big. For every 3 calls I returned, I added 5 or 6. I stopped adding to the list when it exceeded 100 calls to return. Sorry, but this many calls to return just isn’t possible. Heck, it is hard enough to reply to that many emails.

It isn’t personal, and please don’t take it personally, when recruiters don’t get back to you. Most recruiters are not trying to be rude, but as I said in the first paragraph, we only have so many hours, just like everyone else, and we have to manage our time too.

My guess is that most managers, when working, don’t have time to return calls from all of the sales people that call. My guess is that you also don’t return unsolicited calls you receive at home.

My hope with this article is two-fold:

1. The most important of all is to save you money by discouraging you from using a resume blasting service. They are easy to find and often may even call you. When they do call you, do me and yourself a favor, DON’T RETURN THEIR PHONE CALL.
2. Give you a path to getting to recruiters. Knowing the path of least resistance should help you. If you can’t get in the highest priority group, you may be able to move into the important but not high priority group. All this takes is some time and getting a referral. Most candidates are capable of getting a referral given all the networking tools available.

You can download for free many tools and resources from our Web site. For example, you can download a sample thank you letter. CLICK HERE to download.

If your search is stalled, you can download an 8-Point Job Search Assessment Scorecard. Use this to identify the areas in your job search that may be causing you to be stalled. CLICK HERE to download.

Finally, if you are a member of LinkedIn, you should join our Job Search Networking Group. Over 4,400 people have. It provides an extensive amount of resources and articles for you to take advantage of. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your comments and thoughts.

Brad

How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile: Job Search Tactic #1

Job Search Mistakes, On-line Social Networking

Brad and I have talked endlessly about how much easier your job search is to found than to find a job. I recently wrote a post on this exact subject.

We did a radio broadcast on how to improve your LinkedIn Profile. We posted our LinkedIn Self-Assessment Scorecard on our site a few months ago -  a download that has become one our all-time most popular downloads. You can get the download and quickly understand how to improve your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search.

Not only is building an outstanding LinkedIn Profile a job search best practice, but it is also an integral part of personal branding (another key element of an effective job search).

More importantly, every recruiter, HR pro, and hiring manager will google your name and look up on LinkedIn BEFORE they decide to grant you an interview.

Google Profiles will be the focus of our next blog article, Job Search Tactic Number 2.

• Does your LinkedIn Profile capture a viewer’s attention?
• What elements of your Profile are they drawn to?
• Would I as recruiter feel that I just had to call you after viewing your profile?
• Does your profile scream “you’re not going to find a better person” at me?
• What are the steps in creating an effective job search LinkedIn Profile?

Below we’ll list the key elements of creating an effective profile. We could probably spend an entire blog post series on each element of your LinkedIn Profile.

Here are the LinkedIn Profile Best Practices (in no particular order)”:

1. Use a compelling headline
2. Complete all the details of your entire career
3. List all your accomplishments in detail with as much quantification as possible
4. Get a lot of recommendations
5. Recommend others
6. Include Slideshare Powerpoint presentations of your accomplishments
7. List the books you’re ready/comment on other book lists
8. Incorporate Your Twitter Feed and Link
9. Include a link to your blog
10. Include a link to your on-line resume
11. Pull your blog’s feed onto your profile using Wordpress
12. Include links for audio/video files of you talking about your accomplishments and achievements.
13. Join Groups that are professionally/geographically appropriate
14. Update your status frequently – as in daily
15. Dramatically build your network with appropriate contacts
16. Make it easy to connect with you – phone #s and email

These are the elements of your LinkedIn Profile that will differentiate you from your peers. Read a couple of our other blog posts on this subject of leveraging your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search, including an article titled “Become a Beacon in Your Job Search” and “Are You Difficult to Connect With on LinkedIn in Your Job Search?“

Barry Deutsch

Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group to learn more about leveraging your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search.

101 Job Search Tactics to Find a Job NOW!

Job Search Mistakes, Job Search Preparation

I’m boiling mad!

I’m offended.

Brad and I put in an effort that exceeds most experts in the job search space. Do we deserve grief and abuse for it?

A recent commenter on my last blog posting inferred that Brad and I publish “fluff” and DO NOT provide specific tactics, techniques, tips, tools, and methods to improve your job search. He inferred that we spout theory, but don’t offer practical advice.

This commenter had the audacity to suggest that Brad and I were in a game of playing bait and switch – which infers I sell you one thing (which I don’t have and then try to convince you to buy a more expensive item).

Brad and I make an extraordinary effort to offer FREE audio, tools, templates, samples, examples, illustrations, and other material that might cost you hundreds of dollars – we give it away. Yes – we do ask that you register on our site to receive these FREE items. Yes – we do send you on-going emails to share with you other products, services, new FREE items, and updates to our offerings.

Here’s some examples of FREE job search tools, information, learning that we offer:

Job Search Preparation Self-Assessment

LinkedIn Profile for Job Search Scorecard

Audio Program on the most common Job Search Mistakes

Sample Cover Letter

LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group

Best Practices and Job Resources from across the Internet

We’re trying to make a living from our expertise – this is our business – it’s not our hobby. We offer our products and services to those individuals who have expressed an interest in our content and find it valuable. At no time have we EVER sent spam, or made inappropriate recommendations.

Maybe the commenter was just mad at me because I “called him out” or folks like him on conducting an INEFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH. Perhaps, he took the message too personal.

However, to respond to these comments, I’m going to start publishing 101 blog articles on job search tactics – might take me a while to do this. These job search tactics and activities will be specific, precise, executable, realistic, action-oriented, time-based, outcome driven, metric capable, measurable, and achievable.

Then, I’m going to put them all in a self-assessment for you to check off how well you’re doing against each one.

It’s not one particular tactic is absolutely critical – it’s the combination of doing all 101 job tactics or activities concurrently that adds up to something quite powerful.

So, like Bobby Flay on the Food Network, I’m throwing down a challenge to our entire job search community:

Offer your job search tactics up in a comment and I’ll let you know if it falls in the 101 or you’ve come up with something even I didn’t consider (as hard as that might be to accept) and I’ll feature your idea in an upcoming blog post.

Secondly, take the challenge of doing every one of the 101 job search tactics and then let us know if one or more contributed to you finding your next great opportunity.

DO YOU ACCEPT THIS JOB SEARCH CHALLENGE?

Brad and I look forward to hearing from about your best job search tactic and how the execution of 101 job search tactics is helping your job hunt.

Barry Deutsch

If you can’t wait for the entire 101 blog article series, quickly jump over to our FREE Resources Library, our other Blog on Job Search Best Practices and Resources, or our LinkedIn Discussion Group. Just those few sources should keep you plenty busy until we finish the 101 articles on job search tactics and activities.

Is Your Job Search Stuck in High School Time Warp?

Job Search Mistakes, Job Search Preparation

Is Your Job Search an Extension of High School?

One of my favorite bloggers, writers, speakers – Seth Godin, published a blog titled “On Self-determination”. After reading the article, I realized, there was a frightening metaphor for most job seekers. I wrote a previous article about this syndrome on our blog titled “Hope and Luck are NOT Job Search Strategies”

I’ll share the example Seth used in his blog article that literally rocked me back on my heels:

Anyway, they asked for my advice in finding marketing jobs. When I shared my views (go to a small company, work for the CEO, get a job where you actually get to make mistakes and do something) one woman professed to agree with me, but then explained, “But those companies don’t interview on campus.”

Those companies don’t interview on campus. Hmmm. She has just spent $100,000 in cash and another $150,000 in opportunity cost to get an MBA, but…

A little later in his blog post, Seth made the comment:

Do you work with people who are still in high school? Job seekers only willing to interview with the folks who come on campus?

This approach of being a “victim” stems from high school where we let events and others dictate what we do, when we do it, how we do it.

I call it the “High School Time Warp Syndrome”.

If we screw up, we could always blame it on others – my coach, my parents, the administration, my teachers, my classmates. As Seth indicates, for many individuals, this “victim” approach – or what he terms a lack of “self-determination” becomes a guiding principle throughout your life.

Brad and I did one of our Radio Programs on how this syndrome of “playing the victim” or “lacking self-determination” in your job search plays itself out every day. The Radio Show was titled “Job Search Mistakes – Part 2”. You can download it from our FREE Job Search Audio Library.

YOU HAVE COMPLETE self-determination in your job search. STOP pretending your still in high school and others are dictating your actions. You have complete freedom to control, change, improve, evolve, learn, grow, and develop an effective job search.

Most candidates Brad and I meet conduct a job search at about the bottom 5% level. Why? Because they pretend they are back in high school where they never grew past a lack of self-determination or being the victim of circumstances. This is exhibited in the excuses, explanations, and rationalizations of why their job search is not working:

• I don’t do well meeting other people
• I don’t know what to do
• That seems like too much work
• I’m too busy answering job applications on job boards
• I’m waiting for the phone to ring
• I’m not really into networking
• My resume speaks for itself
• Why should I invest time to prepare for an interview, doesn’t my background speak for itself?
• The recruiter didn’t call me back – all recruiters are idiots
• The hiring manager didn’t call me back – all hiring managers are idiots
• I sent my resume in – but no one followed up with me

Stop complaining, kvetching, whining, crying, fussing, and acting like you’re back in high school. Like Seth Godin suggests, become Self-Determinant!  Take your job search effectiveness from the bottom 5% into the top 5% and finish your job search. Apply yourself. Reach past your comfort zone in your job search and do something different tomorrow.

Have you even bothered yet to download our Job Search Effectiveness Self-Assessment to determine if you’re in the top 5% or the bottom 5%? Brad and I have talked about this popular self-assessment over and over on our blog. Thousands of job seekers have taken it and dramatically improved their job hunting plans and success.

I spoke with a Senior Sales Executive yesterday in a phone interview and asked him why he had been out of work for a year. His story (and he stuck to it) was that the economy was tough (victim disorder – lack of self-determination – high school time warp dysfunction).

I can’t present a candidate to my client that has been out of work for a year.  They would slap me so hard my head would spin around.

Don’t let this happen to you. Start down the path of Self-Determination in your job search TODAY!

Learn everything you can about job search best practices. Follow the top bloggers on job search – get an new idea every day. (We’re writing another blog featuring the very best bloggers from across the Internet sharing FREE Job Search Resources and Best Practices – subscribe to all their feeds).

Your effort, intensity, focus, learning, trying different tactics all help move beyond the “lack of self-determination” and victimization that categorizes most job searches. It’s NOT one big thing that will make the difference in your job search – it’s the hundreds of little things you do that are different from what you’ve done before.

STOP being caught up in the HIGH SCHOOL TIME WARP DYSFUNCTION!

Barry Deutsch

Join our rapidly growing LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group to engage in great discussions around job search best practices and how to conduct a more effective job search.

Are You Competing at an Olympic Level in Your Job Search?

Job Search Mistakes, Job Search Preparation

Many job search bloggers (and almost everyone else in the blogosphere) have been  making Olympic metaphors for the past two weeks.

So why can’t I try my metaphor? Here goes:

Is your job search like Olympic Competition?

I touched on this subject on our FREE Job Search Resources Blog, where today we named Miriam Salpeter of Keppie Careers as a Job Search Best Practice Blogger. We’re on a search to profile the the very best job search best practice bloggers from across the Internet in our FREE Job Search Resources Blog. Miriam is our first recommendation.

Here in this blog – our Career and Job Search Blog – we focus on sharing the wealth of knowledge Brad and I have accumulated on the frontlines of recruiting top talent over the last 25 years together.

Imagine over 1000 searches, 200,000 interviews, millions of resumes reviewed. Looking back over the past quarter of a century is almost mind-boggling when you consider the vast amount of job search data we’ve collected – mistakes made by candidates, mistakes made by hiring managers, best practices, new technologies, and changing the tribal method of job search one candidate at a time.

Miriam just published a Job Search/Olympics comparison on her blog (which we’ve been impressed by for a long time and have now put up on a pedestal) and it triggered some additional thoughts.

So, back to our original subject – How is your job search like being a top tier athlete at the Olympics?

Top tier athletes prepare long in advance for the actual competition (interview). Your job search is similar – most candidates DO NOT prepare adequately!

Top tier athletes research and study every element of their sport down to the finest detail. Your job search is similar – most candidates DO NOT conduct effective research prior to an interview! Most candidates don’t spend the time on their job to become the best at what they did. Most candidates DO NOT even attempt to master conducting an effective job search – they’re doing it the same way the masses have done it for the last decade and they wonder why mediocre results occur.

Top tier candidates train, learn, have coaches to push them, set high goals, and keep moving to a higher and higher performance level prior to the main event (Olympics – Job Interview). Your job search is similar – Most candidates did not do this prior to needing to look for a job and find themselves unable to compete with candidates who’ve done this for the past 4 years. In addition, most job search candidates don’t take the time to learn about conducting a job search, don’t hire a professional job search coach, and don’t set adequate goals to achieve their desired outcomes.

The actual competition at an Olympic event is anti-climatic. It’s not the ability to perform in that situation. It’s the execution of years or a lifetime of practicing, learning, preparing. Job search is a lot like high level athletic competition. It’s not what you do in that final interview, it’s all the hard work that preceded that final step.

What’s your plan – either in your job right now – or in your job search right now – to become the very best at what you do? What’s your learning, development, reading, training, preparation plan that will enable you to “win” that next great opportunity?

Here’s a start: Have you downloaded our FREE Job Search Preparation Self-Assessment to determine where the gap is in your job search and how you can quickly turn it around to begin conducting an effective job search?

We talked about some of the reasons why most job searches are taking longer – and the key issue was NOT the economy – it was the fact that most job seekers don’t invest the time in job search planning and preparation. Take a look at this previous article we wrote about how you keep landing back at Square One in your job search.

Barry Deutsch

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