How To Shoot Yourself In The Foot While Conducting A Job Search

I think the best way to shoot yourself in the foot while in a job search is not having a structured, formal, repeatable job search methodology or process. In the case of a job search HOPE and LUCK are not a process.

A methodology has a series of steps, that when followed, increase the probability of a desired outcome. This also implies that when a step is skipped the probability of the desired outcome is less. There is only one thing worse than skipping a step in a methodology, and that is not having one at all. Unfortunately, we find that most candidates don’t have a real methodology. Most tend to have a little of this and a little of that and candidates are easily distracted. The results tend to be no methodology.

Our job search workbook, “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” is a 5 step process for making you a sales person during your job search. After all, when you are in a job search you are in sales. There are 5 basic steps in the sales process that are a good outline for a job search.

1. What is the product or service? Before a sales person can sell a product they must know all about the product. This not only includes the facts about the product, but what makes this product better than the competition, what makes this product unique, how the buyer will benefit from the product, and often a SWOT analysis is performed. Since you are the product in a job search have you addressed all of these issues?
2. Once step one is completed it is time to identify the customers and put together a marketing plan. Not everyone may need or want your product. In fact, your product probably is not right for everyone. So you must identify the high potential customers. Those that have a high probability of not only buying your product, but also can afford your product. Why waste time meeting customers if they don’t fall into one of these categories? In a job search we call this, “networking with a purpose.”
3. Now that high potential customers have been defined and identified, every sales person needs marketing materials. Marketing documents, regardless of the form, strive to get to the customer’s underlying motivation. Often this requires multiple marketing materials and multiple formats. Regardless of formats, most marketing documents are about the customer, not the seller. Is your resume a marketing document? Is it about the buyer or all about you?
4. Sooner or later every sales person has to make a sales presentation to get the sale. Top salespeople have this down pat. They rehearse, they anticipate questions and practice the answers, they know what the buyer’s objections to the product are, and have thought through how to overcome them. Finally they have studied the competition and know exactly why their product will better meet the customer’s needs. Obviously, this is the interview for those in a job search. Would you be considered a top sales person?
5. Finally top salespeople know how to follow-up and close the sale. This is the most difficult part of any sale. It must be done tactfully, in a manner that engages the customer without bugging them and continues to overcome issues as the process continues. For candidates, this is all of the additional interviews that take place as you move through the hiring process.

These five steps are the basic steps in an search process. Just like the sales process, there is a lot more that goes into each step. Top salespeople spend an enormous time training, preparing and practicing each step. Top candidates do the same.

Join our Linkedin Job Search Networking Group for a lot more help with developing and enhancing your job search methodology. CLICK HERE to join the group.

Our job search workbook, “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” is based on the five steps outlined above and goes into great detail on each step. We will send you the book to review for just the cost of shipping $5. CLICK HERE to read more. Readers have rated this workbook 4.5 stars out of 5.

I encourage your comments and feedback.

Brad Remillard

How To Become Employed With 9.8% Unemployment

9.8% unemployment is the national average. For many states, it is even higher than 9.8%. I live in California and the number has hit double digits. This is true for many other states as well. Regardless of the rate, anyone actively in a job search knows these are difficult times. There is hope, and I believe opportunity, for many of those looking.

We have a very active job search coaching practice. The problem with many candidates we work with is, they come to us too late. They are usually out of work for an average of 4-6 months. They then expect us to be able to help them find work quickly. Sorry, we are good, but can’t work miracles, and nobody (not even us) can get you employed.

ONLY YOU CAN DO THAT.

But we can help you learn from your mistakes. The biggest problem we find with candidates is that they really don’t have a targeted, very focused approach to their search. Their fear of possibly missing an opportunity is so powerful that they often don’t see the forest for the trees. Our biggest challenge is to help get the candidates focused like a laser beam on a target and then drive to that target. In many cases this is a monumental task.

As the employment numbers get worse, successful candidates must become more and more focused. Companies today aren’t looking for a jack of all trades. They want the king or queen. If you aren’t targeted and highly focused, then it is difficult to land a position.

You have to have a bull’s-eye on the target so you have something to aim at. What is your bull’s-eye?

Here are some suggestions to help you get focused.

1. Take a step back and think if you were a specialist at something what would it be?
2. Write out a complete and very thorough job description. Most of the candidates we talk with can’t do this.
3. Make sure your Linkedin and other public profiles are focused on you as a specialist. Most profiles are generic, vague and cover every possible job function within the person’s discipline.
4. Identify a specific target list of companies, people, recruiters and service providers that can lead you to your target.
5. Identify those connectors that can put you in touch with those in number 4.
6. Identify three or four networking groups that align with your industry, functional expertise, career level, and become very active in those groups. Serve on or chair a committee, get on the board, take a leadership position and become well know in those groups.
7. Consider serving on non-profit boards. These boards will not only make you feel good, but they often have great contacts and you can demonstrate your leadership skills.
8. Build a network of 100 people that know you and your background so well that they can refer you with confidence. I use the 5 call rule. If a recruiter from 2,000 miles away is conducting a search in your geographical area  you will be referred within 5 calls.
9. Don’t ignore your unemployed peers. They are out looking for positions 8 hours a day. The employed aren’t spending any time doing this. Who do you think is more likely to come across a position that is right for you first?
10. Have the right networking tools to do the job. This includes a bio and networking business cards. Not a resume and business type business cards.
11. Finally, network with a purpose. Don’t try to meet everyone on the planet. You will only get burned out networking with little to show for it. Meet only those that can advance you toward your target. Be polite and  help others when necessary but pre-screen people before spending time with them.
12. Use Linkedin to find people and the connectors you need. This is why it is so critical to build your contacts beyond 500.

I don’t mean to imply that doing these things will guarantee you find a position right away. I do believe if you don’t do them you will be in-transition a lot longer than if you do. Having a general, shot gun approach will definitely extend your job search.

Be sure and join our Linkedin Job Search Networking group. This is important. CLICK HERE to join.

Evaluate your job search effectiveness with our Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. Find out what you are doing right and what you need to tweak in your job search. As always it is FREE. CLICK HERE.

Please let us know your comments and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Three Most Important Words In a Job Search Radio Show

These three simple words have the biggest impact on your job search. They can make the difference between getting a job or not. That is the power they have. If you don’t know what these are then this is a MUST listen to. We not only give you the words but discuss how to ensure you implement them. Make sure you are the one that wins the interview and then the job. We are serious about the power of these on your job search.

Download the audio at http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/index.php/candidates/free-resources/free-audio-programs

Download a sample cover letter the gets results at http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/index.php/cover-letters

Join our LinkedIN Job Search Networking Group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1781587&trk=hb_side_g

Not Another Networking Article – WHY?

Why Is Networking Valuable?

Statistics show that 60 to 70% of all executive positions are found through networking with others. The American Association of Senior Executives (AASE), reports that 54% of their members attributed getting their new position to networking at AASE meetings. That is a large percent considering each meeting on average has about 40 executives in attendance.

Why is it so high? Mainly because the AASE preaches the right way to network. Every executive is shown why networking, when done correctly, is not a business card exchange. Networking that pays off is about relationships, and most importantly, networking must be done with a specific purpose and goal. Otherwise, why do it?

You should never ever attend a networking group or meet anyone just for the purpose of networking. It is a complete waste of time. Not every networking group is the right group for everyone. Likewise, not every person is worth spending time with.

Just because a group has a large turn out doesn’t mean it is a good thing or a good place for you to make a connection. In fact, I would argue this could be a bad thing. For example, if 200 people attend a networking meeting and the one person that could really help you in your search is at this meeting, you have a 5% chance of meeting this person. They will be lost somewhere in the crowd. It is random luck if you meet them.

Instead target your networking groups or meetings. Attend only those networking meetings that add value to your search. For example, the functional area (marketing, accounting, sales) gets exposure in your geographical area, the people attending are your peers i.e. VPs with VPs. C level with C level, the number of people attending is manageable so you meet the right people, etc. There are a lot of groups out there that just don’t add value to your search, so don’t attend them. This is networking with a purpose.

Pre-qualify people prior to meeting them. You don’t need to meet everyone. All you will accomplish is building a big stack of business cards. As a recruiter, when someone refers a person to me for a search, I always pre-qualify the person. I will ask the person doing the referral about the person’s background, industries, experiences and if they don’t match what my client is looking for, I thank the person for the name but let them know the referral isn’t right for this position. This has saved me hundreds of hours phone interviewing unqualified people. You can do the same. Put together a few screening questions that will clarify if this person will help you move closer to your goal of either a job lead, meeting a person that you need to meet, has the introduction you need, or not.

Too often the person referring someone to you, although sincere, isn’t referring someone to help you. Why waste your time? Thank them and move on. This is networking with a purpose.

A few other things to remember when networking:

· Networking is NOT drinking coffee and exchanging business cards.

· Networking is connecting with others by getting to know them on a personal basis and helping each other.

· Your personal participation in a networking group will show others the you can organize, lead and manage.

· When others learn more about you, they will forward opportunities, make introductions and may even recommend you for positions.

· GIVE BACK! Don’t forget those that helped you.

Most importantly, let people know where you are. Future career opportunities often come from someone who remembered you in the past.

Our comprehensive job search workbook has extensive chapters on networking, including a networking exercise to help you maximize your time. You can review this book for only the $5 cost of shipping. CLICK HERE to review the contents.

Join our Linkedin Job Search Networking Group. We post new articles and discussions almost daily to this group. CLICK HERE to join the group.

Please give us your comments and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Hope is NOT a Job Search Strategy

Liz Lynch, over at The Smart Networking Blog, just posted a blog article by this very same title. This is one of my favorite phrases I use all the time in our Job Search Webinars, Workshops, Seminars, and Private Coaching.

Why do most job seekers base their job search on hope and luck?

This is NOT a strategy. Trying to “will” the phone to ring is NOT effective. Liz talked about a candidate profiled on CNN who submitted their resume over 600 times to job ads on job boards and had a response rate of around 2.5%. It’s a waste of time and a useless technique.

Yet, many job seekers continue to base their entire job search strategy on hope and luck centered around answering ads on job boards.

My experience in 25 years as an Executive Recruiter is that most candidates fall into the trap of answering ads and praying the phone will ring because of 3 reasons:

1. This is what they know and what they did 5 years ago. They are trapped in a tribal paradigm of conducting an out-dated job search.
2. They are unwilling to learn how to conduct an effective job search. They refuse to read the blogs of Barry Deutsch and Brad Remillard, Liz Lynch, Jacob Share, Dan Schwabel, Miriam Salpeter and the hundreds of other outstanding experts in resume writing, personal branding, networking, and interviewing. They don’t take advantage of the FREE audio recordings, videos on YouTube, and products and services offered by these award winning experts. I just wrote a blog post on this topic basically raising the question of “Don’t Be the One! Why is Job Search Like Playing a High School Sport?” focusing on why candidates mistakenly feel they have to go it alone in their job search?”
3. Although the techniques of conducting an effective job search are simple, the effort is intense. It requires long hours, hard work, and a disciplined approach. Most importantly, you’ve got to have a great plan and then work your plan. You can’t treat your job search like a hobby. Many candidates are NOT willing to work hard at finding a great job.

Brad and I recently released a new Scorecard to assess the effectiveness of your job search. It’s our FREE Job Search Plan Self-Assessment Scorecard. We were stunned when candidates started filling it out and sharing their “Score” with us. Very few candidates we discovered meet a minimum threshold for having a plan that will lead to an effective job search.

I challenge you to take the Self-Assessment – Score Yourself – See where the holes and gaps are in your job search plan. If you can fix these holes and gaps, you’ll be able to reduce the time it takes to find a great job.

Barry

P.S. Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group, one of the fastest growing job search discussion groups on LinkedIn. Learn and discuss how you can conduct a more effective job search.

Advice on Personal Branding is NOT Useful

The current popular buzzword of job search personal branding has taken on an almost mythical status.  Almost every article and blog in the job search arena talks about personal branding. Yet, almost all the recommendations and suggestions are so generic that the advice on job search personal branding is NOT useful.

Good intentions – not enough concrete step-by-step tactics for your job search!

Where do you start – what process do you use?

Are there forms or templates which organize your creation of a personal brand?

What are the best practices in job search personal branding?

What works and what doesn’t work?

How do you leverage your time to create the most powerful personal brand possible?

Most of the so-called “experts” miss the most important STEP in Job Search Personal Branding:

What do you have to do before creating a personal brand? How do you specifically STEP-BY-STEP build a defining document that leads to the creation of your job search personal brand. Telling you to create a personal brand is what I term a BHAG (pronounced Bee-HAG), which stands for Big-Harry-Audacious-Goal. BHAG objectives and recommendations sound like:

Get more sales

Achieve market share

Improve Quality

Achieve the gross margin goals

Raise the number of inventory turns

Establish a personal brand for yourself

The secret behind creating a powerful job search personal brand:

Start at the execution level INSTEAD of the BHAG level. Don’t worry about having a personal brand until you’ve gone through the rigorous process of defining who you are and what you want.

What is this rigorous process you might ask?

We call it the Personal Success Profile and it is the Number ONE Step of our comprehensive job search system called the Career Success Methodology.

Thousands of job seekers who have read our new job search workbook, This is NOT the Position I Accepted (a step-by-step workbook to use the Career Success Methodology in your job search), have embraced the process of first creating a Personal Success Profile as the starting point in their job search. Every day, Brad and I receive email messages on how candidates conducting a job search have dramatically reduced the time it takes to find a new great job – and it all started with the creation of a Personal Success Profile.

Before you can develop a job search personal brand, you’ve got to go through the creation of a Personal Success Profile (PSP). This exercise in creating a PSP will help you to develop a strong personal brand, a networking plan, a targeted job search plan, and prepare for interviews. It becomes your guiding light that dictates every move you make in your job search, including how you create your personal brand.

Your Job Search Personal Success Profile defines your capability, competency, skills, knowledge, values – all the key elements a prospective employer might want to know about you. It captures the core elements of what differentiates you from your peers – part of which is your personal brand.

The PSP goes a step further in creating a definition of what’s important to you in a new job – from the type of boss for whom you might work to the type of culture in which you might flourish.  This Profile identifies what you’re willing to sacrifice in accepting a new job and what items are non-negotiable. The PSP provides the foundation for your entire job search.

Get a copy of our book, This is NOT the Position I Accepted, to learn how to create a Personal Success Profile, listen to our Audio Program on building a PSP, or use the comprehensive Job Search Home Study Kit to get a kick-start on moving your job search into high gear.

Brad and I have also discussed the need to start your job search by creating a Personal Success Profile in our weekly Radio Talk Show. You can listen and download our previous episodes to learn why creating a Personal Success Profile is the number one element of success in your job search.

If you’ve downloaded our FREE Job Search Plan Self-Assessment Scorecard as a tool to improve the effectiveness of your job search, you’ll notice that the first item on the matrix is whether you’ve developed a Personal Success Profile.

Barry

P.S. Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group to participate in learning how to reduce the time it takes to complete your job search, especially the discussions around developing a Personal Success Profile that leads to a powerful Job Search Personal Brand.

Job Search Mistakes – Part Two Radio Show

Are Your Job Search Mistakes preventing you from conducting an effective job search? Is your job search taking too long? Learn how to overcome the Top Ten Job Search Mistakes to reduce the time it takes to find a great job. In a previous radio show, we discussed the first 5 of the Top Ten Job Search Mistakes. In this radio program, we discuss the back half of the Top Ten Job Search Mistakes. Stop falling victim to an ineffective job search, a job hunt that takes too long, and a lack of job leads and referrals. Discover the Top Ten Job Search Mistakes and the steps to overcome each one.

Join us every week Monday 11 AM PDT on http://www.latalkradio.com

For more free resources to help with your job search go to http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com

Don’t Be the One! How is your job search like playing a high school sport?

You’re probably wondering what your job search effectiveness has to do with high school basketball. It’s the start of the basketball season in California – be ready for lots of my corny basketball metaphors.

We have a saying on our Girls HS Basketball Team that goes like this “DON’T BE THE ONE!” This mantra we use in coaching basketball can be extended into an effective job search.

In our basketball program it means: don’t be the one that makes everyone else run more lines, do more push-ups, stay for an hour longer, or any other consequence for not living up to the expectations of the coaches.

Each of our 30 girls hold each other accountable to a higher level of standards (they hate to run). No one slacks off, cheats on drills, or pretends they are working hard. The peer pressure is intense – no one wants to prolong practice or do unnecessary work.

Many readers of our blog have probably played a high school sport. You know how the peer pressure and accountability works. However, you’re not in high school anymore. You can’t rely on your teammates. Who is holding you accountable right now to a higher set of expectations in your job search and forcing you to accept some form of a consequence for not meeting them?

I’ve been at this game (job search) for a quarter of century – I know it’s tough to conduct a job search. It’s painful, humiliating, and it requires you to do things most people just plain don’t enjoy – like networking, attending events, and asking for help.

If you are at a senior manager to executive level and not using a job search coach to hold you accountable, you could be taking 2X-3X longer to complete your job search. A good job search coaching program will keep you focused, hold you accountable, and open your eyes to job search opportunities that you may never have considered.

Are you the one who is procrastinating, not sending out regular emails/letters to your contacts, building your network with the right people, and preparing properly for interviews? You don’t belong to a team – it’s just you – so there is no peer pressure to hold you accountable. Should you be using a job search coach to help you reduce your job search by 20% – 30% – 50% compared to the length of time it’s taking your peer group?

Who’s coaching you and holding you accountable? One of the services we provide is a job search coaching program intended to leverage every available resource to help you reduce the time it takes to find a new job. Whether you use our service, or you pick another – the key is to improve the effectiveness of your job search through a job search expert.

Although I am a little biased toward our own job search coaching program, there are a number of outstanding coaches out there – many of whom I’ve referenced in our blog. Don’t procrastinate another day – find a job search coach and start reducing the time it takes to find a great job.

I wouldn’t begin to install new plumbing, code my own website, fix my own car – you get the idea.

Why would you consider “going it alone” in your job search?

This “I can do it myself approach” is what leads most candidates into a depressing cycle of not being able to conduct an effective quick job search that lands a great opportunity. Instead, for most their job search is a prolonged, cathartic, painful, protracted battle of walking a thin line between procrastination and seeing their savings rapidly evaporate.

Imagine for a moment if you could reduce the time it takes to find a new job by 1 month, 2 months, or 6 months. How much of your savings could you avoid spending if you could reduce the time it takes to complete a successful job search?

We have developed a structured process for conducting a job search. The process is called the Career Success Methodology. Thousands of candidates have applied this process to dramatically reduce the time it takes to find a new job. We have a wide range of products to reduce the time it takes to complete a job search, services to reduce your job search, and best of all – a wealth of free audio programs, templates, and other tools.

Start down the path of taking time out of your job search by downloading our FREE Job Search Plan Self-Assessment to determine if you are conducting an effective job search.

Barry

P.S.: Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group

Your Job Search Effectiveness is Predetermined

Liz Lynch, one of the foremost experts on networking, is a guest blogger on The Personal Branding Blog. A few days ago, Liz posted a blog titled “Prep for the Future with Lessons From the Present”

Liz wrote about why some job seekers might be falling short in their job search — and by extension – their career. Many candidates fall into what we call the “Circle of Transition” which is a difficult cycle to break where one jumps from one job to the next without an active management of their career. Frequently, they find themselves at the mercy of arbitrary management, poor job choices, and the economy.

Her recommendations, especially around building your contacts throughout your career is advice all job seekers should take to heart. It’s the focus of one of my favorite authors, Harvey MacKay, who wrote a book called “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty” – a profound recommendation for job seekers – most of whom violate this basic idea.

The Job Search you are conducting right now is predetermined NOT by what you are doing right now, but what you’ve done over the last 2, 5, 10 years to prepare for this moment.

Imagine looking into the crystal ball and easily predicting how your job search and career will fare in the coming years. Liz suggests what you do now in your job, skill development, network creation, building industry relationships, is the primary element of success in your future job search. The economy will once again sour in 5, 10, or 15 years. Will you be ready or will you be a victim of the Circle of Transition.

Why do so few job seekers consider that job search and career management are efforts, tasks, and processes successful people engage in continuously (even when they have a good job) compared to those caught up in the circle of transition who only consider tasks related to job search and career management when they need a job.

Will you be the one out of work for 18 months again, or will you quickly land on your feet within months of being laid off with a great new opportunity?

Learn more about the dangers of falling victim to the dreaded “Circle of Transition”. Download our FREE Graphic Representation of the “Circle of Transition” or listen to our FREE Radio Show Broadcast.

Barry

P.S.: Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group and join in the conversation on how to avoid falling victim to the “Circle of Transition”

photo credit ben hayes

Top Ten Job Search Mistakes – Radio Show

Are you making one or more of the Top Ten Job Search Mistakes? Are you frustrated that you are not getting many job leads, referrals, interviews, and offers? In this episode of the weekly IMPACT Hiring Solutions Job Search Radio Show, Brad and Barry discuss how to overcome the Top Ten Job Search Mistakes. This list of the Top Ten Job Search Mistakes is based on 25 years of Executive Search Experience, over 1000 search assignments, and interviews with over 200,000 candidates. Don’t be the one making typical mistakes in your job search.

Brad and Barry also discuss the release of their new FREE Job Search Plan Self-Assessment Scorecard. Within the span of a few minutes, the time it takes to complete this Job Search Scorecard, you can understand the steps required to launch an effective job search, re-start a stalled job search, and find your next dream job. You can download the FREE Job Search Plan Self-Assessment Scorecard just CLICK HERE.

To listen to or download this radio show CLICK HERE