How to Make Sure You’ll Fail to Achieve Your Goals

Don’t write down your goals – that’s pretty much it at a basic level.

NOT writing down your goals is almost a guarantee of failing to achieve them. This is true for your financial objectives, personal life, business career, projects, and perhaps most importantly right now, your job search.

I wonder how many managers/executives conducting a current job search do not have written goals (not tasks and activities) which are revised weekly and monthly.

Who carries these goals with them and looks at them frequently?

I recently read an article posted on a well known blogger’s website, John Chow, that referenced a rumored Harvard study which found that the 3% of the population which makes the effort to write down their goals makes over ten times as much as the other 97% combined.

Although the study was not true, many studies and research projects have been conducted that indicate written goals lead to higher levels of execution, accomplishment, success, and focused effort.

Many candidates struggle in their job search because they work “in their job search” NOT “on their job search”. Michael Gerber, in his famous book, The E-Myth, extended this same concept to the failure of entrepreneurs in building their businesses. Entrepreneurs tend to work in their business instead of on their business – and consequently fail as a result. They spend too much time absorbed by the activities and tasks of their business – NOT the vision, goals, and objectives of what they would like to accomplish.

So – how do you work on your job search and develop appropriate goals that lead you to finding a great job opportunity in half the time it would normally take your peer group? My partner, Brad, and I have developed a simple and easy step-by-step approach that has been proven to dramatically reduce the time it takes to complete a job search. We call this job search structured approach the Career Success Methodology. You read about the details of each of the steps, including building your Personal Success Profile, developing a targeted plan to identify new opportunities, and creating a Compelling Marketing Statement on our website.

We have an extensive e-commerce section with a catalog of products and services to support your implementation and execution of the Career Success Methodology, including a Resume Kit, a comprehensive Home Study Job Search Kit,and other tools to develop a powerful job search.

Best part of our website is the extensive FREE resources we’ve developed for those conducting a job search, including samples, templates, checklists, scorecards, and the audio library from our weekly Internet Radio Talk Show.

Finally, don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group – one of the fastest growing groups on LinkedIn for job seekers. Join the vibrant and active discussion around best practices in running an effective job search.

Barry Deutsch

Social Media Is Good and Bad For Your Job Search

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.

Apparently they were 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 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 scared 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 social media 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, email it to friends or to your network. We all need to help out. One tip can make a huge difference to someone.

Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group and stay connected with the other 3500+ members. CLICK HERE to join.

We offer free recordings of our radio talk show heard every Monday at 11 AM PST on www.latalkradio.com. To listen to past shows on social media, resumes, interviewing, finding the hidden job market and common job search mistakes CLICK HERE to review our library. All are FREE to download.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

11 New Year Resolutions For Your Job Search

It is time to look forward to 2010. Regardless of 2009 happenings and all its trials and tribulations, 2010 is upon us and now is the time to think about how best to approach the year with regards to your career or job search.

Here are some ideas that you might want to consider:

1. If you are actively searching for a job, make a serious evaluation of your 2009 search. What worked, what didn’t, what successes did you have, what are the strong points to your search and what areas need to be improved in 2010? To help you do this, you can download for free our 8 Point Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. This will highlight some of these areas.

2. Dust off the old resume and update it. All professionals should maintain an updated resume. Even if you are not searching this is just prudent. It is useful to ensure when you do need one that it is ready, as it reduces the stress of trying to remember what happened in the past, and helps to identify whether or not you are growing or doing the same thing you did last and the year before that.

3. From the resume, step back and take a look at your career and either update or create your career plan. Remember the 6 Ps – Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. This is true in business and in your career. You should be able to answer some basic questions:

A. What are your career goals for 2010? This doesn’t have to be advancement to the next level. It could be what additional experience, training or skills you would need to reach your goal.

B. If advancement is your goal, are you able to get the right experience in your current company? When you write your resume and find you have been doing the same things for the last 2 years you may need to reconsider. Did you add  to your marketability in 2009? This doesn’t mean in terms of dollars. In today’s market, getting a job without going backwards is a good thing. So are you more employable today than a year ago?

C. What experience, skills, or training, does your boss have that will help you be qualified for their position?

4. Write out a job description that meets your goals for 2010. Include the additional experience you need to move your career forward. For example, manage people, participate in system implementation, additional experience in running a trade show, experience in assisting with union negotiations, international sales experience, these are all examples of some experience to include in a job description.

5. Schedule a  1-2-1 with your boss. This should be a separate meeting from your annual review. Make it clear that this meeting is about you and  your career. Sit down and do some career planning with your supervisor. Discuss the issues in #3 above. Is your manager willing to help you get this experience? If so good, if not, then you have a decision to make. It is possible that your manager may be able to provide some additional experience you never thought about obtaining.

6. Identify at least two organizations you will actively participate in. If you already belong to a professional association then become an active member. Active means attending at least 80% of the meetings, serving on a committee, becoming a board member, etc. Do whatever it takes so that people in these groups get to know you and know you well. These associations are prime hunting grounds for recruiters looking for top talent.

7. Consider serving on a nonprofit board. This serves the community, makes you feel good, helps others, and it helps with getting more people to know you and your abilities. Great referral sources.

8. Consider working with a certified career coach. Highly skilled career coaches can really help. They help you clarify the issues above and assist you in making a plan that makes sense to you.

9. If you are in a job search get an accountability partner. We have two articles available to help you identify the characteristics of a good accountability partner and the duties, tasks and responsibilities of a good partner. (See these two articles).

10. Identify the resources you need in 2010 to advance your career. What books, classes, white papers, etc., do you need to make sure you stay on your career path? There are a wealth of resources and tools, many of which are free on the Internet, to help you with your career plan. (This is NOT The Position I Accepted was written specifically for this purpose).

11. Implement. Planning is great, but absolutely worthless without execution. Set up some 30, 60 and 90 day goals. Once they are achieved, then schedule out the next 30, 60 and 90 day goals. Trying to schedule a year out leads to, “I will do that next month as I still have plenty of time.” Before you know it, the year is over. Short term goals are easier to manage and achieve.

2010 is a great year to take control of your job search or career. There are so many resources to help you, that all you need to do is take control and do it.

For some free resources to help you consider:

• Joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are numerous discussions and articles to get you started in 2010.
• Download the Skills Assessment in the What’s New section at the bottom of our home page. It starts with identifying your skills and finding out which ones are transferable.
• Download the sample cover letter from the What’s New section at the bottom of our home page. This is a great tool that will align your resume with the company’s needs.

If this has been helpful to you, then please consider helping others by passing it along to them. Consider forwarding the link to your network, tweeting it on Twitter, adding the link to your Facebook, or updating your LinkedIn status. Let’s all try to help others in 2010.

I welcome your thoughts, comments and questions.

Brad Remillard

One Simple Trick To Finding A Job

So many candidates struggle with finding a position. I’m not going to insult you by telling you it is easy. It isn’t. In fact, for most it is hard work. Mainly because this may be new to you and with the exception of a few, this is not your area of expertise. It is always difficult to do something when  you are not an expert. In fact, it is frustrating because most professionals make it look so easy. Have you ever watched one of those home improvement shows do a complete kitchen remodel in just 22 minutes? They never have any problems, everything fits the first time, they never cut a board wrong, and it looks great in the end. Have you ever done a kitchen remodel and have it done that easily?

Their remodel happens so easily because they are an expert in it and we are not. So how does this relate to finding a job?

Companies in today’s market want the expert. They don’t want the jack of all trades, they want the king or queen.

Candidates have a very hard time accepting this. It is better to be great at one thing than good at many. Experts do 1 or 2 things 10,000 times, not 10,000 things once or twice.

What is your expertise? What unique passion, unique experiences, unique skill set, unique talent, unique accomplishments do you have that will, if not separate you from the 100’s of resumes received, at least get your resume to the pile of 5 to 10 to interview?

We live in a 140 character world. Millions tweet thoughts in 140 characters or less. Status updates on Linkedin are 140 characters or less. Can you describe your expertise in such a way that you stand out in 140 characters of less?

If not, then this is a great thing to work on over the holidays.

For example:

• A CFO with extensive experience in international finance within X industry and X sized companies
• Sales professional that enjoys the challenge of cold calls, increased first time customers by X% in first year directly by cold calling.
• HR executive that excels at union neg, reducing benefit costs by X% and 70% of hires from employee referrals up from 20% when I started.

These are just some examples that at least help you stand out, identify your unique strengths and accomplishments.

I have worked with hundreds of people helping them identify what makes them unique. It always starts out the same, “I’m probably not all that unique. I do my job and so do others.” That may be true, but every person doesn’t do the same thing, even in the same functional area.

Think about becoming great at 1 0r 2 things instead of good at many. Do this, and watch how your job search results change.

If this was helpful to you, then help others in your network by passing it along so they also benefit. Helping others will always help you in your job search. You can add this to your status on Linkedin, tweet it, add it to your Facebook page, or email it to your network. Let’s help everyone that is seeking a new job.

For more help on this, join our Linkedin Job Search Networking group. It is free and loaded with helpful discussions and articles. CLICK HERE to join.

Get our FREE 8 Point Job Search Self Assessment Scorecard to evaluate your job search. You can’t fix it if you don’t know what is broken. This will help you. CLICK HERE to get yours.

You can also get a FREE sample cover letter proven to get you noticed. Thousands have downloaded this, and it is FREE. CLICK HERE to get one.

I welcome  your comments, thoughts and questions.

Brad Remillard

Job Search 2010 Get Started On The Right Foot Part 2

In Part 1 I discussed the need for getting an accountability partner and what an accountability partner is. This article will be about what an accountability partner should do to help you.

A good accountability partner can make a major difference in one’s job search. I have seen people spend months looking, but once they engage an accountability partner their search takes off. You can call this coincidence if you want, I did for a while until I saw it happening over and over, and the people using the accountability partner were giving them the credit for their success.

So what should an accountability partner do? Here are some of my thoughts, and please add your thoughts and experiences in the comment section so others will benefit.

1) Accountability. Sounds obvious doesn’t it, but this is the main goal. A good accountability partner will hold your feet to the fire.  First and foremost, they will hold you accountable to do what you say you are going to do.

2) No Excuses. They will listen intently to your excuses and then hold you accountable to what you say. A good accountability partner knows the difference between excuses and real road blocks.

3) Empathy Not Sympathy. Accountability partners  understand the emotional  ups and downs. They understand  your feelings but don’t become emotionally involved or attached.  They can separate their feelings from yours, which allows them to stay objective.

4) Listen Well. They know when to let you blow off frustration and vent. They recognize this is part of the process. However, they don’t let that get you off your plan or off track. They will still bring you back and hold you accountable to what you say you need to do.

5) Help and Guidance. Most job searches get stalled at some point. An accountability partner has the experience and knowledge to help you redirect your search. They have the experience to recognize opportunities you, the candidate, may never have thought of or when you are just not doing something effectively.

6) Tough Love. A good accountability partner is not there to be your friend. Get a dog if that is what you want. They are there to give you tough love when needed. Sometimes even make you angry or embarrassed if you aren’t delivering what you said you promised to do. They call it as they see it. Would you really want anything less?

7) Willing to Meet Regularly. They will meet you at least weekly to discuss progress and lay out a plan for the following week and month. If your plan is weak, they will push you to improve it. They keep you on schedule and on track. They will take your calls and reply to your emails. Yes,  it is a lot of work and time.

These are some of the key functions of an accountability partner. It is not by any means a complete list. If you get these in an accountability partner  you will be off to a great start in 2010.

Please add other key functions that you think are important or have benefited from in the comment section. We welcome and encourage your thoughts, comments and input.

Join our Linkedin Job Search Networking Group. 3400 other people are benefiting from the discussions and articles. CLICK HERE to join, it is free.

Turbo charge your search in 2010 by evaluating its strengths and weaknesses with our FREE Job Search Plan Self-Assessment Scorecard. This will help you and your accountability partner get your search started out right. CLICK HERE to download your scorecard.

Need a great cover letter? A free sample cover letter that has proven to get you noticed is on our Web site for you to use with your resume. CLICK HERE to download yours.

If this was helpful, then please help others by forwarding it on to your network, posting on your Facebook page, Tweet with the link, post to your Linkedin groups or status update.  Let’s all do everything we can to help those looking for employment.

Brad Remillard

Job Hunters Searching For Help In Too Many Places

There are so many places to go today for help with your job search it is hard to know what is right, who is the best, what advice you should follow, and if you are doing things effectively. Everybody has a different opinion. Should you use Twitter, how much time to spend networking, do you need to change your resume, is your cover letter the best, what do to in an interview, etc.

What’s a candidate to do?

It really isn’t all that difficult to figure out. The answer is simple. It isn’t any different than other decisions you make, whether buying a home, buying a car, selecting a plumber or contractor, or what finance company to use.  You first decided what you needed (that was what YOU need), you then do your homework, seek out an expert in what you need, ask for referrals, if none are available you want to test drive the product or review their work, then  you decide.

Do the same in your job search. Filter out all the distractions. There are a lot of very good experts out there to help you. You just need to get the one that will work best with you and what you need in your search.

Some filtering ideas:

1) Identify exactly what you want or need help with. Don’t let some one else try to sell you on what they have to offer you. If your resume isn’t working, get an expert to help you with it, if you are getting interviews but not offers focus on that, if you are not familiar with using the Internet in your job search get help there, and if this is your first time looking in a long time you might need help with all aspects of your search.

2) Do your homework. Look around at what others are doing. Pick a book that has a reputable author. By reputable I don’t mean just because they wrote a book they are experts.  Review that authors background. Are they an expert in what you need? What makes them an expert? What accomplishments do they have similar to what you need? Ask for referrals. Read their book. Does it align with what you are seeing in the market and from other candidates?

3) Ask others for referrals. Who do they use to help them? If you don’t have a person to ask go on-line. In today’s world you can check out people and their credibility very easily. For example, if my partner Barry Deutsch or myself were referred to you or you simply wanted to check us out, all you have to do is Google our names. Look us up on Linkedin. There is adequate information out there on us and our firm for you to decide if we are credible and provide the services you need. It is the same for any expert in the job search business today. If that information isn’t available – run.

4) Can you test drive their services? Once you identify one or two people, due your due diligence. Can you test drive their products, can they provide examples of their services, can they produce a prototype for you, ask them for suggestions and decide if these make sense. Is the person responsive, have references, will they work with you as opposed to you working with them?

5) Then select the one or two experts you feel will best benefit you and work with them. Use them and abuse them. Forget about all the distractions out there. This is the best person for you and that is what works. If for some reason it doesn’t, then start the process again, just like you would with any other product or service. If you don’t like your banker, doctor, financial advisor, CPA, or the person doing your taxes, you move on and find someone else. Why should it be any different in a job search?

You should join our Linkedin Job Search Networking Group. It is free, has over 3300 members and an extensive amount of resources for you. CLICK HERE to join.

You can also get a FREE sample cover letter to help you. Over 2000 people have downloaded this. CLICK HERE to download yours.

Finally you can test drive our job search workbook to see if it is right for you. We will ship it to you for only $5. It is FREE for you to read and check out to see if it is right for you. We practice what we preach CLICK HERE to get yours. Readers have rated this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

The Hot Potato Method vs. the Swarming Method of Applying for a Job

We discussed the Hot Potato Method of responding to a job advertisement in my last blog post. Everyone recognizes it’s both dysfunctional and ineffective – so why does everyone keep doing it? The other day on our once-a-month candidate open forum – this exact issue came up. The participant indicated that they keep applying for jobs – but are getting no responses – Duh!

A much better approach is what I would like to term “The Swarming Method” of responding to a job advertisement.

Back to basketball metaphors. My HS team plays an upbeat, fast-paced pressure style of basketball. We press constantly. In one of our presses, we swarm the ball handler to the point where they are so overwhelmed they almost just hand us the ball on a silver platter. You want to accomplish the same outcome when applying for a job – your campaign is so intense and overwhelming to the company/hiring manager, they have no choice but to grant you the interview.

The Swarming Method of Applying for a Job combines an effective cover letter, a strong resume, social media leverage, and deep networking to produce the desired result – GIVE me an interview!

We could extend the same metaphor to football where the defensive line charges the quarterback and tries to “sack” him before he can run or throw a pass. The pressure applied to the opposing team is overwhelming. The same strategy needs to be applied to your responses to job advertisements.

From this point forward, I would like you to make me a promise: No more passive job responses, no more walking away and forgetting about your response to an advertisement has a campaign, a blitz, a press, an overwhelming amount of pressure brought forward in the goal of securing an interview.

I thrown out some ideas you could use in the press or blitz attack on a response to an advertisement. Let’s hear from our subscribers and readers:

What do you do that’s most effective in obtaining an interview?

What tactics have you not yet applied to your job responses?

How effective is your network, social media activity, and connectivity to hiring managers/executives, HR professionals, and recruiters? For example, have you downloaded our FREE LinkedIn Profile Assessment to discover if your Profile is effective in capturing the attention of hiring managers and executives, HR professionals, and recruiters?

When was the last time you tweaked your resume for a specific job and wrote a well-thought through custom cover letter?

Brad and I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas – we’re preparing a special report on the Swarming the Job Response Approach. Perhaps, we’ll feature your idea as a best practice suggestion.

Barry Deutsch

Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Discussion Job Search Discussion Group to learn more about the Swarming the Job Response Approach.

picture courtesy of kmc14kmc

Stop Your Job Search Until 2010 – Dumb Move

I get this all the time from candidates I’m working with in our job search coaching program. It usually starts with, “The holidays are  here and nobody is hiring during this period.” or “Why look now? I will wait until the new year. It is time for a break.”

As succinctly as my mild manner can put it, DUMB MOVE. Sorry to yell, but that is what this attitude is. So let’s call it dumb.

In almost 30 years in the search business I have weathered 4 recessions, including this one. In every recession, including this one, I have active searches underway. I have filled many searches and started many searches during the holiday season. You don’t want to be left behind. For example, I will be starting a VP of Sales search today. Do you think I will wait until the new year to start the search process? NO WAY. I will be actively sourcing, interviewing and presenting candidates to my client as quickly as I can find them.

If you put  your search on hold until 2010 I will probably not find you, not consider you, and by the time you reactivate your job search, I’ll already have candidates going through the hiring process. That means only one thing for you, you are probably going to end up in the backup group of candidates.

Let others put their job hunting activity on hold. You should continue yours, as aggressively as always.

5 reasons why you should:

1) If everyone else puts their search on hold, then there is less competition out there for you, making it easier for you to be discovered.

2) As stated earlier, the hiring process doesn’t stop during this period. It may slow, but it doesn’t stop. You only need one job opportunity. Don’t let that one opportunity pass you by.

3) Why stop the momentum you have built up? This by itself is a good reason not to stop your job search activity. Why on earth would anybody want to restart a job search? It is hard enough work to begin with, so let’s do it twice. Are you serious?

4) Use this time to establish momentum going into the new year. If you think hiring will wait until the new year, fine. Doesn’t it make sense then to proactively get a jump on this hiring activity? Why would you want to be reactive? Being reactive is rarely a good job search strategy.

5) This is a great time to re-evaluate your job search. Take a look back on 2009 and do some objective analysis of what worked and what didn’t work. Use this time to get help. Read some books, listen to CDs, engage an expert. Every process needs to be analyzed. The key is objectively. If you can’t do that, then get someone to help you. You can’t fix what you don’t know isn’t working. Download our tool, Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard, to  help with this analysis. It is FREE and a good place to start. CLICK HERE to download  yours.

This is the time to put your ego aside and listen, learn and adapt.

Don’t put your search on hold during this holiday season. Instead use this time wisely to out-smart the competition, get a leg up on the competition and be proactive.

Another tool to help you is our skills assessment worksheet. This is a good time to take an inventory of your transferable skills and put a plan together to get whatever skills you may be lacking. CLICK HERE to get your free skills assessment. Scroll to the bottom to the What’s New Section.

Finally, join our Job Search Networking Group on Linkedin. Over 3300 members have joined. This is an active group with a wealth of resources, discussions and articles to make sure your job search stays on track. It is FREE to join. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts, feedback and comments.

Brad Remillard

Does Your Career Flounder and Flop Around Like a Fish out of Water?

When was the last time you thought about your career? NOT your job – your long-term career. Is your career a series of flopping around from job to job, floundering like a fish out of water – or is there a coherent, obvious, planned approach to moving your career forward?

In 5 – 10 –15 years – what do you want from your job at that point, what do you want to be earning, what do you want to be learning, what impact can you make, what will you be known for, what lasting impression will you leave upon your organization?

Is your career strategy fall into the category of “I hope my next job is better than my last job?”

Brad and I have had the great pleasure of having interviewed well over 100,000 in the last 25 years. We’ve had the opportunity to see kids come of school at 21/22 years old and who are now CEOs, company presidents, key executives. We’ve observed why some people have great careers and others fail miserably. One of the traits of top performers is that they plan their career steps and job moves carefully. They don’t jump for the sake of jumping. They don’t flop and flounder.

Here’s an exercise I would like to recommend for anyone interested in a successful career:

Take a blank sheet of paper. Make a matrix. Across the top write NOW – 5 years – 10 years – 15 years. Down the left hand side write:

Impact desired

Projects I’ll be working on (scope/size/budget/people)

Scope of responsibilities

Realistic compensation desired

Personal growth and new learning

Once you’ve completed this exercise, I would like to recommend you create a “plan of action” of how you are going to position yourself to get that next opportunity along your career path. What are the projects, steps, accomplishments, new skills you must learn and master to ensure you will be considered for the next step in your career.

Careers are not made by jumping from job to job every time a recruiter calls or you are a little ticked off at your boss and you jump onto CareerBuilder.com to see if the grass is greener somewhere else. Careers are built through a focused approach to continually asking yourself if the new job is moving you toward the next step of your career.

Brad and I explore this approach to career management with numerous other exercises in our series of products centered around our book “This is NOT the Position I Accepted”. These products include a home study job search kit, a resume kit, and other templates, audio, and useful products to enhance your career and job search. In addition, there is a wealth of FREE content on our web site for those seeking to build a strong career through effective job search.

Don’t get caught in a job that sets your career on a backwards path. Be aware, focused, cognizant of how each job in your career moves you step-by-step in your overall career plan. Don’t be that fish out water floundering and flopping around.

Barry Deutsch

Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Discussion Group and join the discussion on effective career management.

The Hot Potato Method of Applying to a Job Opening

I touched on this idea the other day in a blog article when I mentioned the idea that you should have a plan for how to attack or blitz a job opening. Let’s explore this idea a little further.

Most candidates treat responding to job advertisements like they are a hot potato – touch and get rid of it. Some of the girls on my HS basketball team play basketball in this same manner. OMG – somebody threw me the ball – I better get rid of it quickly. I’ll treat the basketball like it’s a hot potato.

Why does this happen – even after I suggest ever so politely to the young ladies on my basketball team that we are NOT playing hot potato basketball. It happens due to a lack of knowledge in what to do with the basketball, fear of screwing up, fear of being embarrassed, just plain “freaking-out” over the pressure of having to do something.

Why do so many candidates play hot potato with their responses to job openings? They respond frequently with a standard resume and a standard cover letter and that is the extent of their effort in applying for a job – let’s call this method “Hot Potato Job Responding”. The overall process of responding to a job opening takes perhaps 3 seconds – much like tossing the proverbial hot potato.

You’ll never get a job using the Hot Potato method unless random luck intervenes in the process. It’s passive! You sit by the phone praying it will ring. Your investment of 3 seconds yields nothing!

STOP playing “Hot Potato Job Responding!”

It’s depressing, dysfunctional, and reeks of desperation.

Start creating a campaign around every job response: custom cover letters, custom resumes that address the job requirements, targeting the hiring manager, connecting through social media, beating the bushes in your network for referrals and introductions. Imagine yourself as a linebacker rushing the quarter on a blitz. The same strategy should apply for every job opening.

Don’t be the one who waits helplessly like a victim for the phone to ring. Make the phone ring by shifting your approach to answering ads from “”Hot Potato Job Responding” to the football “blitzing” approach.

Brad and I explore the various methods of responding to ads in our Home Study Job Search Kit. We also have a wealth of FREE Content on our website in the form of templates, audio programs, and examples.

Are you doing everything you can to conduct an effective job search? Have you taken our self-assessment scorecard to determine if you are conducting a job search that will reduce the time in half it takes to find a great opportunity?

Barry Deutsch

Don’t forget to participate in our LinkedIn Job Search Group and join the discussion on how to get a call back for an interview after you respond to a job advertisement.