My Odyssey Blog

High Anxiety

I talked to three clients this week who were suffering from severe anxiety and fear because of an upcoming interview and the need to spend a couple of days making cold calls. I realized that they were not unique. Anxiety probably causes more people to fail interviews than any emotion.

You have a big interview tomorrow and you are scared to death.

Why? What are you afraid of? What could possibly go wrong in the interview? What is the worst outcome you can expect? Answer: You don’t get the job. You will not lose your life, go deaf, blind, lose a limb or a loved one. You simply won’t get the job. That is a big disappointment but not the end

What does anxiety do to you? Anxiety feeds on itself. The more you worry the more your anxiety grows. The more your anxiety grows the more it affects your performance and attitude. Your mind gets fuzzy, your confidence suffers, you begin to lose your ability to be spontaneous weakens, you can’t think on your feet and react quickly. I know from personal experience that many patients who are being treated for severe pain are many times given an anti anxiety medication along with pain meds. because anxiety makes the pain worse; so for God’s sake relax and stop worrying about things you can’t change This would be the perfect time to memorize the “Serenity” prayer : God grant me the serenity to accept the

The things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference

What can you do about it? Anxiety and fear come from a lack of confidence. Build up your confidence and anxiety goes away after-all if you believe in your interview skills and are convinced that you are the best candidate for the job what in the world is there to be anxious about? How do I fix this you ask?

The number one action to beat the anxiety and fear is BE PREPARED. I think every employer ever interviewed when asked what impresses him the most about a candidate and the candidate he ultimately hires is “he was prepared”. He knew my company and my business. He talked with me as if he was an employee. He knew our problems and he came prepared to talk about solutions. If you ever wondered how a candidate less qualified than you got the job this is your answer. Do your homework. The internet provides everything you need to walk into an interview like the knight in shining armor. If you do not do it it is your own fault. This is the secret to high confidence and low anxiety. It is that simple. It takes time and work but if you do not do it you only have yourself to blame. Interviews can really be fun if you prepare yourself.

 

 

 

 

Stop wasting time reading about all the trick or difficult interview questions: The secret to the perfect interview

I am amazed at the number of so called experts that post something every day in all the Linkedin job groups and many blogs about how to answer strange and difficult interview questions. The truth is maybe 1% of all hiring managers ever ask most of these questions and they are usually poorly trained interviewers who do not know what to ask and get these crazy questions out of an obscure book on interviewing. Some of the questions might be ask by a shrink or an occasional HR staffer but hardly ever by a hiring manager. When was the last time anybody reading this was ask something like “If you could be any animal in the jungle what would you be”? or “What color are you?” Even questions that seem reasonable like “Tell me about the last time you turned around a failing employee” are very rare.

If you want to have a great interview every time simply remember that hiring managers only really want to talk about one thing; their needs and how you satisfy those needs. Everything else is just fluff and filler. You have two primary objectives in any interview. Uncover/identify needs and prove you have the experience and skills to satisfy them. That’s it. If you uncover all his needs and deal with each one to his satisfaction you will have a great interview, so spend your time preparing  to do that don’t waste a lot of time preparing for all the strange questions that he may never ask. All that is left is do you like each other( the cultural fit) and all you can do about that is relax and be yourself. You can’t fake a personality fit. You are who and what you are. Even if you can “fake it till you make it” in the interview the real you will come out on the job and you will be shown the door, so why try?

Memorize some basic questions that will identify needs. Here are a few to get you started.

• What will the successful candidate achieve in the first six months?
• What are your goals for the position?
• How will you evaluate success? What criteria will you use?
• What did the last person in the job struggle with? What did he do well?
•  What problems exist in the department that you need fixed?

Now every time he answers with a specific need follow this simple formula.

1)      Mirror it back to make sure you have it

2)      Tell him that you have experience doing whatever the need is

3)      Tell him exactly how you did it

4)      Tell him specifically what the results were, by the numbers if possible

5)      Ask a closing question such as.. Is that the way you want it done? Or, Will that work here?

 Obviously when I prepare somebody for an interview I cover many other topics and situations but this is the core of a successful interview and where you should put most of your effort.

NOTE: Remember this is for the interview with the hiring manager who is the ultimate decision maker, not the HR interview.

 

 

So you think you have it rough - My First Miracle

In May of 1986 My Company moved me from New Jersey to start a new division in Ohio. Two months later they decided to pull the plug and close Ohio. I started interviewing and found agreat job. I accepted the offer on July 26^th 1986. To celebrate I went to my favorite pub and had a few very strong Vodka & Grapefruits “Greyhounds”. About 4:00 I started for home only 1.5 miles away. It was a simple short drive through the “S” turns on Case rd. by Don Scott Air Field but something went horribly wrong.

 The city had re-paved the road that day. They left a 4-6 inch edge on the berm. Fooling with my radio going way to fast (After all I was driving a powerful sports car) my right front wheel slipped over the edge. Because of the drinks my reactions were slow and confused. Instead of the car easing back on the road it continued to the right and out of control. First it rolled then the front end dug into the ground and the car flipped end over end, through the airport fence and into the airport. I have no Idea how many times the car rolled and flipped but since they found me 75 ft from the car and every piece of sheet metal was destroyed I assume it was a rather violent crash.

 My first memory was of being arrested by a State Trooper in the ER for DUI. My next memory is being forced into a sitting position by a very ignorant X-Ray tech., Feeling my spine pop and my legs go numb. (She was fired promptly after almost killing me).

My next memory is feeling the doctor put screws into both sides of my head and hang weights from the screws.

 My parents and I were told that I had a badly broken neck. It was so bad that my spinal cord was actually outside the spinal column and was surrounded by broken bones from crushed and dislocated vertebrate.

I should not have made it to the hospital, I might not make it through the night and if I did I would probably never walk.

 I spent several days in that position waiting to “stabilize” in preparation for some very major spinal reconstructive surgery.The plan was to remove the shattered 5^th cervical vertebrate, take bone from my hip and fuse #4 to #6. The next step would be to wire #3 back together and reposition #4 which was dislocated

 

 The Operation

 

  I should point out that at this stage of my life I was not a very spiritual or religious person. I had left my Catholic heritage behind me and did not replace it with anything. I never Gave God thanks. If I prayed it was only to ask for stuff. I never cracked the cover of the Bible I was 35 years old with very little faith. I was certainly not deserving of any special favors or miracles from God.

 After three days the morning of the big event finally arrived. I had been informed of all the possible outcomes and they were not positive. I knew that when I closed my eyes in the O.R. I might never open them again; if I did I knew that I might find myself paralyzed.

I was scared to death, very depressed and had very little hope. While my parents tried not to let me see it they were suffering the same feelings. It was the darkest moment of our lives.

 At that moment, just before they took me away a Priest walked into my room. I had not requested him. He just showed up. I was so down I really was not in the mood for him but what could it hurt. My family left us alone and he began to pray with me. I confessed my sins(A pretty long list).I received final absolution / Last rights, Holy Communion, a final blessing; he held my hand and left me in Gods care.

When he left my family returned and they were shocked and amazed. They told me that I was a completely different person.I looked different, I was smiling, and my mood was up and positive. I had no fear of death, the outcome of the surgery, pain or what the rest of my life would be like.

All of the sudden I had faith. I knew without doubt that I could do nothing about what was about to happen. I could not in any way control my circumstances so why worry about it. I was in God’s hands and accepted His will no matter what that might be. I learned that day that the only things we need to worry about are those we control.

 It took a team of the best Neuro and orthopedic surgeons to put me back together during a very long and complicated surgery. There is no doubt that there was another presence in that room guiding their hands because absolutely nobody thought I would come out of the procedure unscathed.

Obviously I remember nothing about the surgery. The first thing I remember is waking up in intensive care. My parents and surgeons were there and the doctors immediately checked for feeling in my feet and legs. I could feel what they were doing. I moved my toes, then my feet and finally my legs. Everyone was surprised. Nobody expected this. Almost everybody with injuries like mine and many with far less severe neck injuries dies or ends up a Para or quadriplegic. Nobody walks away to a normal life. My family. My doctors and I knew this was miraculous.

 I was not done yet. I still had to go through the application of a Halo brace which meant having four screws placed in my head while wide awake. The brace was attached to an upper body cast which I would be stuck in for three months (summertime heat !?). There would be a lot more pain and work but two weeks after surgery I walked out of the hospital under my own power.

I finally started my new job four months late. In the first year I broke every record in the company’s 25 year history. I didn’t just break them; I destroyed them in stunning fashion. If I could come back from so much trauma and achieve what I did anybody reading this can do the same. Stop complaining to yourself about how hard things are. If you do not believe in yourself and your abilities who else will? Make up your mind to get the job you want or overachieve at the one you have and “just do it”. The word “can’t” needs to be erased from your mind. If you put in the work and take the time to learn you can do anything you want and do it well. If you are unemployed I promise that if you learn to do it correctly you will be in the job you want two months from today. Hire a coach or research everything on your own. All you need to know to conduct the perfect job search exist someplace on the web. Go find it and get it done.

 

Tell me about yourself. Lots of people giving bad advice

I have noticed recently in many Linkedin groups that lots of people claiming to be experts on the job interview are giving out poor advice on how to handle this interview situation.

Most interviewers are not well trained or skilled at interviewing. They are just as uncomfortable as the candidate. They will start with the most common and dreaded interview question that is easy for them but very awkward for you. It goes like this. “Tell me a little about yourself”. Or “Tell me about your experience as an …….” If you launch into an answer as most people do, you will ramble, give way too much information that lacks focus and you will not provide what the interviewer is looking for. This happens because the interviewer gave you no direction, focus or guidance as to what he is looking for and you didn’t take the time to ask.

Lee Hecht Harrison a leading outplacement firm simply says to give your elevator speech in response. Another “expert” on Linkedin posted this impotent advice last week. “Start by giving the highlights of your education, review your work history focusing on your accomplishments and end with a statement describing what you are looking for”. On the surface this might seem like moderately sensible advice but actually it is bad advice.

Everybody struggles with the “Tell me about yourself” opening to an interview when in your mind you should be shouting THANK YOU. In the best case the interviewer has just given you a gift. He has handed you an opportunity to set your interview strategy, take control of the interview,  learn what is uniquely important to the interviewer and learn how to direct the rest of the interview towards a successful conclusion. If you handle this correctly that is. If you handle it wrong you lose the opportunity and waste everybody’s time. Launching into a presentation is handling it wrong for the reasons given earlier.

 

An interview is a sales call with the interviewer being your prospect and you being both the sales person and product you’re selling. Any skilled salesperson will tell you that on a sales call you never ask a question unless you already know the answer and you never answer a question unless you already know that your answer is what your prospect wants/needs to hear from you. So if I’m telling you not to launch into a presentation providing what could be useless information what do you do?

 

You have to find out what the interviewer really wants to hear, what is important to him and what will set you above your competition. Try this response with a smile and a little humor.” I have so much good information to share about myself and my career that I could start talking and not stop for a couple of hours. Since you have more important things to do today than listen to my life’s story, specifically what would you like me to address?” and/or “What skills and abilities are you most interested in hearing about?”and/or “What experiences are most important?”

The answers to these questions will tell you exactly what features you need  to sell.  You tell the interviewer what he wants to hear about and nothing else. Not only has he told you how to respond to “tell me about yourself” but you now know what skills, abilities and experiences will get you the job if sold effectively during the rest of the interview.

 Most “experts” only teach tactics. In today’s market you must also master strategy to get an offer. You just learned some great strategy.

Happy hunting

Summer slowdown

Starting a little over a month ago I started seeing a disturbing trend. Many people’s Job search activities have been slowing down; fewer meetings, calls, applications & resumes sent, fewer hours put into the work etc... You need to ask yourself if this sounds like you and if so what is causing it.

I think this is happening for a couple of reasons. Summer is vacation time; time for slowing down, family activities, the summer “to do” list and travel. Even people who are unemployed treat the summer this way. The other thing that I think is slowing down intensity is the talk about a pending recovery or a recovery people imagine has already started. Many people assume that if there is a jobs recovery going on there are more jobs available so they do not need to work as hard to find and land them. When people think like this the difficult activities like networking and target penetration slow or stop and they go back to just searching for jobs posted on line and talking to recruiters.

Regardless of the reason a summer slowdown is a big mistake and will add many weeks or months to the length of a job search. When you think about taking some time off or simply slowing down ask yourself what your competition is doing. A job hunter’s number one objective during his search is to be constantly ding things that set him above the competition. Everything he does should babe focused on making himself look better than other available candidates.

What this means is that while others are slowing down you need to speed up. Work harder, faster and smarter than everybody else. Make more calls, talk to more decision makers, set more appointments, dig deep into your targets etc… When your competition slows down it creates new opportunities for you. Take advantage of them. Slowing down because everybody else does is not very smart.

 

The famous hidden job market, what is it? How to find it

For years everybody has heard of the hidden job market. In the beginning it was basically a myth spread by third party recruiters to draw in candidates. The myth said that you had to sign up with recruiters because they controlled this great wealth of hidden, exclusive jobs and you would never find them without their help. This was not true then and it certainly isn’t entirely true today. With very rare exceptions the only recruiters who control access to jobs are retained recruiters working on primarily VP & C level jobs. Ninety five percent of recruiters are contingency and do not exclusively control access. Most employers who give a job to a recruiter give it to more than one and also look on their own through job boards and their own website. TIP... You are always better off to apply directly to the employer as you do not come with a big fee attached.

There are now career/job search coaches and coaching firms who are trying to use the claim that they have access to the hidden marked to justify charging $3,000 to $10,000 for their services. They claim that they have and/or control jobs from their exclusive networks and you will never find out about what could be the perfect job for you unless you pay their outrageous fees. Unless these coaches double as retained recruiters this claim is also false. If this is the primary motivation for hiring the coach save your money.

Now that we have debunked a myth and learned what the hidden job market isn’t what is the real hidden market and how do we access it? There are three categories of jobs in the hidden market. The first group of jobs are simply unadvertised or advertised in a very limited fashion that makes them very hard to find. Companies are starting to move away from the big job boards like Monster and CareerBuilder because do to the high unemployment they get buried in resumes/applications and most of the responders are not qualified. Posting on these boards can result in a time consuming nightmare; an absolute blizzard of paper and emails. In an attempt to avoid these employers first seek the help of their current employees offering lucrative bonuses for referrals that result in a hire. Next they post/advertise in highly specialized, targeted publications and small, off the beaten path, specialty job boards that are hard to find for the average job hunter. These boards target a limited group of niche employees. They believe that if you are qualified you know about the boards. This limited advertisement might include the company website.

The next group of jobs are legitimate openings that are not posted or advertised anywhere because the employer is just not ready to fill them. They may be on the drawing board for months down the road so there is no active effort to fill them. They will however fill them should they stumble on a perfectly qualified candidate.

The last group are not actual jobs. They are problems waiting for a solution. The employer/company has a real problem with a segment of the business and is not finding anybody in the company who can solve it. If an outsider comes to them with a legitimate solution the problem now becomes a job for the person with the solution.

There you have it. That is the hidden job market. How do you find the jobs in this market? The answer is networking, networking and more networking. You must find people who work for or have worked for companies you would like to work for. You find out from them about existing jobs, problems the company is having and through these relationships and many other sources identify key decision makers. The type of networking you need to do is hard and the average job hunter won’t do it because it is out of their comfort zone. If you do it you join the ranks of the employed. How to do it, when to do it, what to say and how to develop relationships through networking is a big complicated topic for another time and article. Or hire a good coach and let him teach you. Sorry, I had to get at least one little pitch in.

Happy hunting

Should you accept a lower level job? The hardest question you may have to answer; It is a lower level job or less money but I need a job. Accept it or turn it down?

Over the last several months many people have written to me asking several difficult questions revolving around the same topic. 1) Should I accept a position with less responsibility than I want just to get to work? 2) Should I accept a much lower salary? 3) Should I accept a position outside of the field I really want because I need a job?

I have not written about this topic because it is a decision that could make or break a career. If my advice was wrong or misinterpreted it could severely damage a career if acted on inappropriately. So many people continue to ask that I decided to write what I know to be the  truth based on a lifetime of career coaching and employment consulting. I would have to trust that after evaluating all their options my readers would  ultimately make the decision that was best for them.

My answer to all three questions is NO. If you decide to act in the affirmative it is probably out of desperation. You have been unemployed for an extended period of time. You need money and you do not want a longer period of unemployment on your resume. Your intent will no doubt be to accept the wrong job and then continue looking for the right one and jump ship when it comes along.

If you accept the wrong job out of desperation with the full intent of continuing to look for the right one you will no doubt regret the decision and possibly/probably do irreparable harm to your career. In other words you may end up committing career suicide for a short term gain/solution. My advice is to not give up on your long-term objectives by taking the easy way out of a short term dilemma. If the only reason for taking a job that you do not really want is to pay rent and put food on the table, take a short term temporary job that is not related to your career and continue  your full-time search for the right career position. Lots of seasonal jobs will be available soon if you apply now. You will be being honest with yourself and potential employers. You will not damage your resume or track record because future employers will recognize that you did not make a career move instead you took a temp job to support your family and be productive. They will understand it and respect your actions.

Let’s look at what will probably happen if you take a wrong career level job out of desperation.

1) You will be making a commitment to a new employer that you do not intend to live up to. It would be dishonest and I believe that in some way we always pay a price for dishonesty.

 2) You will change as soon as you find what you really want and your resume will carry a black mark forever. It is one thing to leave a temporary job not related to your career. It is completely different to quit a career level position.

3) Since you will be unhappy you will not do good work or be happy doing it so you will create a bad reference and burn a bridge.

4) You will have trouble convincing a future employer that you will not quit him just as fast for greener pastures.

5)  You will not have time for a full time job search so it will take much longer to find the job you want.

If you are doing everything right and conducting a smart full-time job search you will find what you want. Sure the job market sucks and there are far fewer jobs than a year ago but they are out there and people are getting hired but only those who conduct a smart search. I am a coach so I'm sure I am biased but I do not think anybody can conduct a perfect search with great results without professional help. Hire a coach who you really check out. I don't care if it is me but hire somebody. My blog is full of great advice on job hunting. Read it and all the other free stuff you can find on linkedin. Study hard, work hard and don't give up. I promise that a year from now you will be very happy that you stuck to your guns.

The does not address a question I also get that is close to this subject. "Is it wise to accept a lower level job in responsibility and money if I want the job? My answer to this is a resounding Yes. In this market you really only need to ask yourself two questions. "Will I be happy?" and can I provide security for myself and my family?" If your answer to these is yes there is no reason not to accept the job.

Who am I ?

My goal as a job search specialist and highly experienced coach is to help anybody who needs it and to provide this critical service at a price that everybody can afford. My service fee is lower than any other coach on linkedin. I do not wish to capitalize on others misfortunes. My clients who have investigated other coaches tell me I provide every service offered by $3000 coaches(see recommendations). During my career I have probably coached a thousand candidates on the intricacies of the job search. I have seen everything that can go right or wrong in the process and am an expert at successfully navigating the job search. I use everything I have learned during my 30 year career in my coaching and teaching.

I have been in the recruiting and coaching business for close to thirty years. During my career I have successfully completed hundreds of senior level searches in the fields of Information Technology a wide range of healthcare specialties and senior executives in a variety of industries. I have also managed large staffing projects of up to 200 positions. I have built two highly successful recruiting organizations that were able to favorably impact many companies on a national level.

Why panic? An analysis of the current job market and how to survive it

The employer’s opportunity

Many employers will see the current economic downturn as a golden opportunity to upgrade their workforce. For many the need for creative and flexible staffing regarding the skills and experience of candidates has been swept away in a few months. In the recent past if an employer had six “required” qualifications they might hire somebody with four or five and train for what was missing. Today they will hold out for all six because so many great candidates are available. It is no longer a problem finding the perfect candidate. In other words the competition for every position is fiercer then anytime in the last few decades. This is one of the primary reasons why in years past you may have received five responses for twenty resumes sent and today you are getting one, two or possibly none. If your resume does not meet the requirements as advertised it is ignored. When your resume is evaluated (scanned) your ability to do the job is no longer relevant. You have the qualifications or you don’t. Employer’s number one complaint about the major job boards is the volume of responses from candidates who do not meet all the requirements. If you follow the rules given in the posting about how to reply do not waste your time if you are not a match to what the employer puts in the posting.

If you are currently employed it has never been more important to be an ideal employee. Your employer is receiving resumes every day from candidates with backgrounds equal to or superior to yours and they are hungry and less expensive. You will not be retained as an employee just because you are a nice person who has been there for a long time. They will keep you only because you are so valuable that they cannot afford to lose you. You must approach every day as if your job depends on the work you do that day. Be the first in and the last out. Volunteer for extra work. Take on new projects with enthusiasm and gratitude. Work on self improvement every day. Read and take courses to improve your skills. Do more than the job requires. Today just doing the job as it is written is viewed as simply average. Do not do all this quietly. Publicize your work. When you finish a project early or under budget do not just slip your work in your boss’s inbox. Hand it to him in public, ask his opinion and ask for more work. Do not ever complain to anybody about anything even those you think are friends. If you can’t say something positive keep your mouth shut. There are plenty of books available on how to be a great employee. Read them; follow the advice and leave them out on your desk. If you are not willing to follow all this advice remember that your replacement is knocking on your boss’s door.

Job market recovery

You are probably starting to hear people talking about recovery. They say we have probably hit bottom. We may still hit 10% unemployment but then as markets and business improves the jobs will start coming back. Unfortunately “they” could not be more wrong. It is true that the number of jobs lost will go down however an improvement in the new jobs created number is still quite a ways off.

I hate to be a negative naysayer and rain on the parade of everybody who is predicting that as the rest of the economy recovers so will the jobs however a large portion of both blue and white collar jobs lost over the last two years will not come back anytime soon. It is economics 101.

When companies are forced to accomplish the same or more with diminished resources they become more efficient and do not return to the old way of getting things done. Let’s say that last year I had a task to produce X revenue with three people but then the people at the top told me that I had to reduce expenses by reducing staff by thirty percent. We all know that when a staff reduction of 30% is ordered the people giving the order do not also tell me that it is ok if revenue goes down by an equal amount. They would tell me to maintain production and possibly improve it. If I have to do the same with fewer people I find ways to make/help the reduced workforce work smarter, better, harder. I may do it through longer hours, training, better tools, incentive compensation etc... Once the improvements are in place and working. Management knows that the work that used to take three people was now being done with two. I will not be able to bring back the third. This has happened throughout history. A portion of the jobs lost during a down economy are not replaced during a recovery. Even if eventually the numbers come back the jobs will be different.

If you are unemployed this means that if ten people were let go there will only be jobs for seven (Hypothetical numbers) and fewer are available now. If you want one of the available jobs you should be in panic mode. By that I mean that you must be conducting an intense, fast paced, perfect job search. Your job search should be a 40 hour job. You can’t miss a single posting and when you respond you must do it in ways that separate you from the hundreds of other responses. Your correspondence, letters and resume must be perfect. You can’t afford a single typo. You need to plan time everyday for networking and talk to 10 – 15 decision makers every week. Maintain a target company list of 20+ and talk to current and former employees of these companies every day looking for leads, advice and finding problems that you can solve.  Since I am a job search coach I am biased but I believe that unless you are 100% confident in your abilities to conduct a perfect job search you should be working with a professional; especially if you have been looking for 3+ months.

I did not write this to discourage people but everybody needs to clearly understand what they are up against. I run into far too many people who are sitting at home sending out a few resumes a day and waiting for something to happen or who are looking for a job the same way they did the last time they changed. These people face a long and frustrating period of unemployment. If you apply yourself 100% and make use of all the resources readily available to those who take the time to look you should be working in two months. If not….

Get out there and go get it.

 

"What have you been doing with yourself while unemployed?"

With so many people being unemployed for an extended period (4+ months) employers are paying very close attention to specifically what have you been doing that is productive. Unfortunately they are not looking for... job search related activities, "recharging my batteries", "learning how to get healthy", "Learning to discover myself", "learned to cook" etc....etc...This can all be important and probably contributes to our growth as healthy human beings but unfortunately our future employer has not had the opportunity to learn to take such a holistic view. Our next employer is viewing downtime productivity under a different light.

What employers are now seeking out comes in two categories; what we are doing to constructively provide for society preferably in a leadership role and what we are doing to improve our ability to contribute to our next employer by advancing our career related skills and abilities. 

 The societal component comes from any leadership activities in your favorite charity or community organization. Financial contribution and joining are fine but leading takes more time and contributes more. It also transfers to your next employer through improved skills in this area. It demonstrates leadership, organizational skills, creativity, communication skills, values and work ethic.

The self improvement component comes through taking courses in your career field, internships and pursuing certifications. You can combine both by teaching courses at the local community business or technical college either compensated or pro-bono.

Protracted periods of unemployment have traditionally always been hard to explain and are viewed very negatively. Activities reviewed in this discussion can move a period of unemployment from the negative to the positive side of the decision making balance sheet.

I have provided a great deal of information to help you successfully navigate the job search process on my blog and site. I also try to provide helpful answers whenever possible. Good luck and much success to all.

Unemployed 3+ months? This is important. Plus what my clients say

If you have been on the market for three or more months and have not been generating enough  actiivity you really should not continue without professional guidence. If you have been looking that long clearly you are trying to find a job the way you have in the past and it is not working. Your problem is not that nobody is hiring. I am sure you agree that you need to dramatically change your approach, methods and strategy or the next three months will simply be a repeat of the last three and it will be the same for the next three.That is the only possibility. The old saying "If you keep doing what you have been doing you willl keep getting the same results" certainly applies to your job search. 

You have come to the conclusion that you must make dramatic changes or resign yourself to living off unemployment. Ask yourself what changes will you make? How will you master them? How and when will you put them into practice? How will you know if they are working? If you can't easily answer these questions you know you need professional help. You need a respected, seasoned, highly experienced job search specialist working side by side with you. So how do you do it.

Start by doing homework. The best source is clearly Linkedin. Read what coaches write. Read their advice on their blogs or sites. Look for recommendations. Pick up the phone and call coaches. Ask about their backgrounds and experience. You are looking for a job search specialist not a traditional career consultant and you want one with plenty of experience; not a failed recruiter or HR staffer who decided to try coaching. Ask if you can contact clients. Do not let yourself be SOLD.You will know what you want when you see it. Beware of being closed. If you get the one who says "I would like  to have our president explain our pricing plan, run for the hills it will be very expensive. Lastly do not be talked into a fee that you cannot handle. The last thing you need it to put out lots of money with none comming in. You know that if you want to jump start your search you need help so go out and find it.

Of  course I would like you to check me out. Start by reading what my clients are saying and then read  all the helpful, free advice in this blog.

MY CLIENTS

“I found Mark Warren via LinkedIn as I was struggling to get organized in my position search, and hired him to assist me in my efforts. Mark's expertise and insight was invaluable, as he helped me look at the job search in entirely fresh ways, coached me to keep on track and not let down the intensity of my efforts, and cut through the unnecessary time wasters that plague so many job seekers today. By using Mark's approaches, I was able to generate fresh opportunities to stand apart from my competition, and present my abilities in ways that circumvented the sometimes frustrating maze of job boards, recruiters, and HR elimination efforts. I am absolutely convinced that if I had not adopted new ways of approaching the market based on Mark's coaching and guidance, I would not have had the opportunity to accept a great position in a great company that lines up well with my skills, and done it so quickly. Mark told me at the outset what was necessary to stand apart, and bypass the normal employment channels, successfully present myself in interviews and many other tricks of the trade that ultimately helped me shorten my search by months. I would highly recommend Mark to anyone who needs a boost in their personal selling efforts as they market their own skills to potential employers.” October 1, 2009 Doug Toftner

“Just by reading his postings on LinkedIn and the excellent information on his blog, Mr. Warren has helped me land my "dream job" without ever having met him. His articles on interview preparation and the "dreaded salary question" were instrumental in helping me land a new career with a company that is not only a leader in their industry, but is also my first choice for an employer. I would not have been as successful without Mark's excellent advice." Richard Giachetti

“After investigating several “coaches”, I decided to work with Mark as my business / career coach (his services and availability are greater than those offered by coaches charging as much as $2,500). I greatly appreciate Mark’s straightforward job search approach, especially during our weekly one-on-one sessions. He is not a resume re-write or personality analysis guy, but rather a well informed mentor who knows how to guide you through the job search process. My job search activity has dramatically increased in the past few weeks, and I know we will have a successful outcome.” Barry Scott
“I hired Mark for some career counseling based on his Linkedin information - and, wow, am I pleased! Mark took a great deal of time to understand my situation, needs and desires. He crafted suggestions and helped me rewrite what I thought was already a great resume. Now I am getting much more response. Mark coached me on what to do each day and how to stay positive. Mark's many years of experience and empathy make him a true professional that I am only too glad to recommend.” Guy Churchouse

“After trying to "jump start" my career search on my own with little success, I came across Mark's blog and began reading. Besides having a fascinating and inspiring story to tell, it's clear that Mark has a true passion for what he does. Getting people to understand that the "old way of doing things" just won't cut it anymore is not easy. I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the "new world order" of the strategic job search. It takes a while "to get it", but once you get it, it's like seeing the world through new eyes. Mark has been an excellent coach, and an understanding ear when one gets down from an extended search. With his coaching and assistance from "beginning to end" of the job search process, I have no doubt I will be successful. Kudos to Mark for providing such a great service for an amazingly reasonable price.” September 3, 2009, Larry Rosen CISSP

These people will tell you that I offer everything  provided by other leading job search coaches but on average I only charge 20% of what they bill. I put everything I have learned in 30 years of search and staffing to work for you because I want to help and do not wish to profit by taking advantage of the hardship imposed by the horrible market we are in.

Take your time browsing through the many helpful articles I have written for this blog. Many of your job search questions will be answered here but for those that are not please get in touch. In the words of Richard Giachetti above "I can only imagine what the results would be with Mark's one on one coaching.

What is a candidate summary? Should I use one?

When an employer hires a retained search firm and a few high level contingency firms they expect a lot more candidate information than simply a resume and cover letter. One thing they always get is a candidate summary. The summary is a customized and detailed evaluation of the candidates fit and overall qualifications  for the position they are being submitted for. It is  an excellent selection and interview tool. It clearly addresses each of the employers needs and using specific and proven details explains (not sells) how the candidate meets or exceeds each one. For the most part the recruiter does not state personal opinions but sites documentable facts. The summary might end with an opinion statement but editorial comments are not intermixed with the facts. As candidates we are not going to send the opinion piece but can and should submit the factual portion of the summary. It can give you a big edge over the competition and employers are surprised to receive it from a candidate.

The candidate summary can be a separate attachment titled "Candidate Summary" or it can be part of a cover letter. Lay out the page like a spread sheet with two columns. The left column is titled "Your Requirements" and the right column is titled "My Qualifications". Divide the columns into "cells” one for each requirement and each qualification. Under "requirements" write the requirement as it has been written by the employer in his job posting fill in the box to the right with your qualification. Be clear and factual using numbers and very specific examples. Repeat this process for every requirement.

The summary can also be sent as part of your follow up letter after an interview. Use the requirements and employer needs that were mentioned during the interview. When sent after a phone interview it might hellp you get the in person interview.

This is a little extra work but it makes a big impression and the employer will find it very helpful. He will probably thank you for providing the information in this format. Happy hunting.

How do you handle the dreaded salary question from an employer?

In an interview you will be asked two questions about compensation. If you do not handle them correctly it will be the end of the interview process or cost you a lot of money.

The first question is about earnings history. “What are you earning or what did you earn in your most recent job”?The second question is about your required compensation. “What do you need “? “What are you looking for”?

I have seen lots of bad advice on LinkedIn and other sites about these questions. I will not review the bad advice but will cover the correct answers to both questions. The first question about earnings history must be answered honestly and accurately. Since it can easily be verified there is no point in trying to dodge the question so tell the truth. There are no circumstances that justify anything else.

The harder question that everybody frets over is what are you looking for? I have heard many suggestions for this one but based on my extensive experience preparing many hundreds of people for interviews and debriefing as many employers there is only one correct answer. One thing you never want to do is give a fixed number. Any number high or low will hurt you. Let’s look at what giving a number will do.

 If the number is to high your interview process will end. The opportunity may have been so great that you might have considered it for less but in the beginning of the process it is too early to tell and the number you give assures you will never find out. Giving a number cost you the job. What if you decide to play it safe and give a low number?  Suppose you say you would like 60K. If the employer was prepared to go to 65K you just lost 5K because like everybody else he wants to save money and if he thinks he can get you for 60K that is exactly what he will offer. Giving a low number cost you money and giving a high number cost you the job.

So if you can’t give a number what do you do? You give the following answer; my reason for being here is to evaluate the opportunity just as you are evaluating my fit for your organization. If the opportunity is everything I want and I satisfy all your needs I’m sure the money will not be an issue. In most cases that will be the end of it. Some interviewers may push you by saying something like, I know you are primarily interested in the opportunity but really, what are your salary expectations? In this case turn the question around on the interviewer with something like, You know my background, skills and experience as well as your needs and pay range; what compensation do you feel would be appropriate? They will not give you an answer because like you they know and have been trained that the first person who gives a number in a negotiation (that is what this is) loses. So far you are playing the game very well and winning but in rare cases you might get pushed even further. If the interviewer simply will not let it alone (maybe 10% of the time) give a range as a last resort. Do not do this earlier or unless you have no choice. Make the range 5% below your lowest acceptable and 15% above and always qualify this answer with “depending on the quality of the opportunity”.

You have actually given them nothing but you left them thinking they got an answer (win-win) and you have left yourself with plenty of wiggle room. That is exactly how this phase of the salary negotiations should end.

These guidelines apply any time you are asked the question including the application and if a posting ask you to include the information in your cover letter or on your resume. Just because they ask the question does not mean you are required to answer. If a paper or electronic application ask for a salary commitment write TBD or OPEN. If the electronic application will not process or submit without a numerical value use all zeros. Contrary to urban myth no candidate has ever been rejected because they would not give a firm commitment. Every employer knows that it is their responsibility to come up with a number and make a fair offer. They are simply attempting to get you to make their job easier and cut down the risk of embarrassment by getting a turn down.

This is some of the soundest advice I have given in 30 years of preparing candidates at all levels for interviews. It has NEVER backfired.  Please trust and follow it to the letter. I would be happy to answer your questions on the subject.

The real work of job hunting in this new employment market, Networking, Networking and more networking.

Anyone who has entered the job market in the last 6 -10 months knows that the market and the job hunting process is vastly different then the last time they experienced it and unfortunately recruiters that many people have depended on in the past for advice are no more educated in the new methods and process of the job hunt than they are. It is not really the recruiters fault since in this new job market they are no longer one of the most important factors in the successful job search and they are not accustomed to teaching people to find a job without them. It is certainly not in their economic interest to do so. Since nobody understood the changes in the processes everybody entering the overcrowded candidate pool started looking using the same methods they have for years consequently almost overnight the average length of a job search grew from two months to 6+.

The old method was relatively simple and required no real skill. You wrote an average resume, posted it online, and contacted a couple recruiters and a few days a week you responded to job board and company website postings. If you had a decent track record, education and current skills you were working in less than two months. Eighteen months ago 80% of jobs were filled through these traditional methods and 20% were filled through networking. Today and for the foreseeable future the numbers are reversed. This year and next only 25% of job hunters will find work through recruiters, online resources and traditional applications. Seventy-five percent of jobs will be acquired through networking. Unfortunately most job hunters possibly including you are spending 75% or more of their time in efforts that yield the poorest results. If this is you than you must immediately refocus your efforts towards intense networking.

Networking is hard and takes a lot of time and work. With the exception of highly experienced sales people who are trained in and comfortable with cold calls and starting conversations with complete strangers nobody likes it. Unless you want to still be on the marked in another six months sending out hundreds of resumes and not even getting responses you need to learn to network. So how do you do it? Read a lot. Bookstores and the internet are full of easy to find resources. Use LinkedIn for all it is worth. It is the best professional networking tool available. Plenty of networking tips and instruction is available on the site. The LinkedIn group “Linked Strategies” has information and frequent webinars on the effective use of LinkedIn for the job seeker. I am biased but I really believe the most effective thing to do is hire a coach who knows networking, will teach you and help you manage the effort. Contrary to myth you do not need to spend thousands on a good coach. This is very important and I want to help so please feel free to send me questions and I will try to help. I can’t coach for free but if you have read my blog and many discussions  you know I will try to help.

Get the most from Linkedin; Show yourself and provide value. Don't miss the Linkedin boat. Here are the best secrets.

LinkedIn is without a doubt the best recruiting and job search tool any of us have ever seen however if used improperly it is not worth the effort. The two secrets to getting the most out of it are be visible and give value. You need to maintain high visibility at all times to those that might be interested in you as a candidate. Build your network fast but be smart. Connect with those in your area of expertise. Pass on those who only connect for the sake of bragging about how many connections they have and those that have nothing in common with you or do not influence those who do.
Join lots of groups and actively participate. You can join up to 50. Start commenting on as many discussions as you can. When you feel you can add value to the group start discussions. The discussions should feature your expertise and legitimately give value to other members. Give away your knowledge. For example if you are a project manager with a history of completing projects on time and under budget share how you do it. Teach others to do it.
Go to LinkedIn’s question and answer section. And start answering any questions you can. You can choose the categories of questions you know the most about. You can go to this link to learn about this part of LinkedIn.
http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=answers_info&goback=%2Each_HRH*4SFF%2Eabq_1_1247841468142_n_o_HRH*4SFF

If you follow these ideas you will become known as an expert in your specialty and connection invitations will flow in. accept the ones that are mutually beneficial.

The Perfect Follow-up Letter

Post Interview Follow-up

The Perfect Follow-up Letter

Mark  Warren

Follow-up after the interview starts with a carefully written follow-up letter as soon as you can get to your computer. If you do not send a well thought out letter using perfect English, spelling and punctuation do not count on a second interview. Remember that anything you put in writing can’t be taken back and there may be people involved in the decision making process who will not meet you but will see your correspondence. The follow-up letter could be one of the most important steps in the process. It could be your last chance to sell yourself, relate your skills and experience to the specific needs of the position, correct any misunderstandings and make a commitment as to your interest and enthusiasm. An email is perfectly acceptable and may be preferred due to timeliness.  A hand written note is not recommended. It is not viewed as professional and can hurt more than help.

Basic sample

Dear -----------

Thank you for the time we spent together this morning and for giving me the opportunity to interview for the Sales Manager position. The meeting was very informative and your enthusiasm for ABC Co., its history, success and plans for the future was infectious. It was obvious that you were not simply giving me the standard interview company line but instead you genuinely believe in and are committed to the organization, its vision and values. Believe it or not that has not been my typical interview experience.

During our conversation you mentioned that your biggest concern was finding someone who could be successful with very little guidance and support since you are located at corporate a thousand miles away and you have a limited travel budget. In my last position I worked for a hands off manager who visited the territory once in two years. We were able to overachieve our goal by 40% and successfully added twelve new national accounts.

You mentioned that you needed someone who was not only an overachiever as a sales person but was equally skilled in the service and delivery components. As a sales person with Ace Inc. I managed the entire sales process from prospecting to the final sale. I then managed the clients order process, inventory management and product in-service. Under my guidance we achieved 100% on time delivery and customer satisfaction.

Based on the needs and objectives you laid out I am convinced that I have the skills, abilities and experience that will insure success in this position. It also appears that the opportunity with ABC Co. is an ideal match with my career goals. I anxiously look forward to meeting the other members of your team. If it works for your team my schedule is wide open next Wednesday through Friday. I look forward to exploring the opportunity and my possible contributions to the company’s success in much more depth.

Sincerely

The follow up letter has three goals:

1)      A well worded thank you

2)      Directly match the needs of the interviewer to your specific abilities and experience.

3)      An enthusiastic expression of interest and the desire to move on to the next step.

Keep it to one page and address only these three goals. It is not to be an extension of your resume and unfortunately will not make up for a bad interview

 

Common myths about recruiters busted – Pros and Cons

These myths are spread by recruiters trying to convince you to use them versus applying on your own and some coaches convincing you to use them instead of recruiters. I support using both so I have nothing to gain by this discussion. I am a professional coach and have been a successful recruiter for thirty years so I know the subject. I am not taking a position one way or another; just stating facts.

1)      You need to use recruiters because they have the “hidden” jobs that you cannot find on your own.

FALSE, The only recruiters who can claim this are retained recruiters but they make up only about 5%. When a contingency recruiter gets opening usually several recruiters get it and while these recruiters are working on it the employer is also recruiting on his own and probably has it posted so he can avoid the big recruiting fee.

2)      Recruiters work for you. They try to go out and find you a job.

FALSE, Recruiters do not work for the candidate. They will try everything to convince you that they are there for you but the employer pays their fee. If when you register with a recruiter he does not have an employer looking for you the recruiter will not go out and work to find you a job. They will move on to the next candidate who matches the needs of their employer. From time to time there are exceptions. If a candidate’s skills are rare and in extreme demand a smart recruiter will quickly call a few clients to see if they want to interview him. This is the exception to the rule.

3)      Right of referral

Don’t use a recruiter because once a recruiter sends your resume to a company he owns you exclusively as far as that company is concerned. You can’t go in on your own and the company cannot hire you without paying a big fee so they may pass on you in favor of a candidate without a fee attached. No other recruiter can work with you and that company.

ABSOLUTELY FALSE, In almost every state the courts have ruled that a recruiter earns right of referral when he secures an interview. If a company agrees to interview you through a recruiter that recruiter owns the referral. Sending an unsolicited resume or just being first does not give a recruiter ownership.

 

The indisputable number one secret of success in any field. It is free to all, easy and requires no special training.

Andrew Carnegie said that we should never be concerned with how much money we make. Instead we should focus our efforts on providing the best possible service and doing the most we can for those around us. If we give the best we can to as many as possible the wealth will take care of itself.
In a popular 2000 movie a twelve year old comes up with a project for Kevin Spacey’s six grade social studies that he called “paying forward”. Through his efforts people unknown to him would be helped.

 The Bible lays out the Golden Rule. “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back." (Luke 6:36-38 RSV) "So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the Law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12 RSV)
This is as much a law of nature as gravity. You drop an object and it falls to earth. Give and it will come back far more then you gave.

 I don’t understand this anymore than I understand the physics of gravity; nobody does but it is an irrefutable truth. Whatever your job is focus on giving above and beyond your basic job description. Your customers, internal or external should smile when you call or your name is mentioned. If you are unemployed find someone who is in worse shape than you and do something to brighten his day. Don’t just walk or drive past the homeless beggar. Give him ten bucks, a handshake and a word of encouragement. Success, opportunity and eventually wealth will come from sources and directions you never suspected or anticipated.

Who needs a coach. Certainly not you; you know how to do it. Correct?

If you are going through a forced career change you need a coach if you are not a staffing and job search specialist.
* Are you a master interviewer?
* Do you always get second interviews for jobs you are qualified for?
* Can you prepare a perfect resume without help?
* Can you easily line up the interviews you want?
* Do you have plenty of opportunities in progress.
* Are you an expert negotiator?
* Have you mastered relationships with recruiters who are actually helping you?

If you answered "NO" to any two questions you, like most job hunters need your own specialist to guide you through the process and help you perfect each step. You do not do your own legal, accounting or medical so why not use a specialist for the most important event in your life?

How to handle the dreaded strength and weakness question

“What would you say are your greatest strengths?” “What weaknesses do you have?”

This is without a doubt the most vexing question ever posed in an interview. More qualified candidates are rejected because of how they handle this than any other.

The first thing to do is expose a myth. This myth has caused many candidates to mishandle the question and be rejected. People started teaching this many years ago. It was good advice for a couple of years until all employers had been exposed to it and figured out the game. Unfortunately it is still prevalent. I know this because in the surveys I conducted over the last week in discussions on about a dozen LinkedIn group sites I ask the question; “How do you respond to the strength and weakness question?” About a third of the comments said they handled it according to the strategy of this myth.

The strategy of this myth is called “the innocent weakness”. It says that when ask this question offer up weakness that could also be seen as strengths or are not true weaknesses. It sounds like…”Sometimes I can be too demanding and set expectations for my team that are too high. I have been told that at times I ask too much”. My favorite one is…” I’m a workaholic I need to learn to relax and slow down a little”.

On the surface this may seem like a good idea until you realize the interviewer knows exactly what you are doing. He knows you are not being honest and feels like he has been taken advantage of.

I am not telling you to never do this. At sometime there might be a place for it. The number one rule throughout this discussion is “honesty” and you might legitimately feel that one of these “innocent weaknesses” is really a weakness for you. Just be careful how you use it. Your answer must include “normal” weaknesses. If you are asked to give three you can use one of these.

Why is the question even asked?

Believe it or not the interviewer does not really care about the weakness. He knows nobody is going to volunteer anything that says they will have problems on the job.  A candidate for a line management position is not going to say that he have poor leadership skills. What the interviewer is looking for is your honesty, your thought process, how well you know yourself and how you deal with a weakness no matter what it is.

The worst possible answer is I can’t really think of any weaknesses. We all have them. If God was walking around today he might be able to give this answer. Since you know you have some, if you are interviewing you had better get prepared. It is a very hard question because we know we have weaknesses but we are very uncomfortable talking about them. It is hard enough admitting weaknesses to our selves let alone talking about something so personal to a complete stranger yet our comfort level and self assuredness is what is being evaluated.

It is a good exercise to write down anything you want to discuss comfortably in an interview. When we write and then read what we have written out loud the information is imprinted on our memory and is easier to recall. Write down the following…

1)      The weakness

2)      Why you feel it is a weakness?

3)      How it has affected your work?

4)      What do you do/ are you doing to deal with it and overcome it?

 

Remember the weakness is not the issue. The interviewer is looking for answers 2, 3 & 4. This is the formula to use when answering the dreaded question.

(1) “Sometimes I have tended to procrastinate when dealing with the most difficult task. I got the easiest things done first and (2 & 3) therefore would run out of time and energy before finishing the most important task. (HINT…This is stated in the past tense)

(4) “I know I share this weakness with a great many people but I figured out a solution that works for me. I plan my work and then rigidly stick to the plan. Before I leave at the end of the day I write down the next day’s priorities and objectives. I start to write down my action plan to achieve the objectives including a list of task spreading the most difficult task throughout the day. The first thing in the morning I polish up my plan. All I have to do is stick to the plan focusing on one task at a time.

This formula works for any weakness you can come up with. You are honest and have actually turned a legitimate weakness into an impressive strength.

A  LinkedIn member sent me a great tip. He starts his answer with…”I don’t consider these weaknesses but rather developmental needs. They are characteristics that I would like to improve.” After that he never uses the word “weakness” and the interviewer stops thinking about weaknesses.

There you go; the mystery is solved. If you use these tools this question should never again cause a problem.

A word about the other side of the coin

The strength and weakness question is a golden opportunity to sell yourself. If you don’t sell yourself nobody else will. When ask about strengths don’t be modest. Prepare for this the same way you did for weaknesses. If you have learned anything about the position sell strengths that relate to the interviewer’s needs. ALWAYS be completely honest. If you embellish your strengths it will be exposed during the rest of the interview and during references. When I check references I always ask for an opinion about the candidates strengths. I ask specifically about the ones given by the candidate.

A great opportunity: A special offer from a coach who will not take advantage of your misfortune: As you know from this blog and my many discussions on LinkedIn I sincerely care and will do everything I can to help you achieve your goal.

 

I have coached senior executives, middle management and staff level by the thousands. During my thirty years in Executive Search and staffing I have witnessed just about every positive and negative event that can occur during the job search and hiring process in virtually every specialty.

I  offer free access to all the advice on my blog and respond to your email questions and group discussions and for those people who need and are asking for far more I  offer a career consulting and coaching service to include everything listed below. The cost for everything is a flat fee of only $600.00. There are no additional charges. Most "coaches" charge up to $300.00 PER HOUR or flat fees up to $5000.00 for this service. I have seen large coaching firms charge $6,000 to $10,000  Obviously I am not doing this to get rich. I simply need to support my efforts while providing help to those who really need it and can't afford coaches who take advantage of their misfortune. I have been coaching professionals through the job change/hiring process for thirty years. I will give you everything I know and help you master every part of the process.

1)      I will coach you on marketing yourself including the development of a highly effective networking strategy.

2)      I will teach you how to find and work with good recruiters.

3)      I will work with you in the development or improvement of your resume and I will help you craft cover letters, interview follow up letters and emails.

4)      I will personally train you to be the best interviewer the employer meets. You will walk into the interview confident that you can handle anything the employer throws at you. This will give you a huge advantage over your competition.

5)      I will work with you throughout the hiring process including preparing you for each interview and final compensation negotiation.

6)      I will stay by your side until you tell me you no longer need me.

Drop me an email and lets talk about your situation. Check me out in the "about" section of my blog and read my references on Linkedin.

Thank you

Mark

email  mwarren003@columbus.rr.com

 

Credit problems and employment

Someone recently asked me the following question. The financial and job market and circumstances beyond my control, have devastated my credit history. My career has been outstanding until this point yet some companies make hiring decisions based on a candidates credit history. The credit record of millions of people have been damaged recently. Is there anything I can do about this when applying for a job?

This was my answer:

Been there done that. A lost job and a serious injury drove me to bankruptcy so I know from where you speak. Some companies still mandate a good credit history and won't hire if you don't have it but there is hope. In this market many employers are becoming more understanding if you are honest about it and can demonstrate that it was beyond your control. If you know a credit check is part of the process bring it up in advance and talk about it honestly. Discuss your situation and then talk about your skills, experience and knowledge. Talk about what you have learned from financial problems and why that combined with the rest of the package makes you a great employee. Just keep in mind that the employer's original motivation for basing hiring decisions on good credit was that in normal times bad credit especially if it was a long standing problem indicated a lack of responsibility and poor decision making skills. Times have changed. Tip.. If you and your background are stellar in every other respect and a company holds unavoidable financial problems against you, is it the kind of company you want to work for?

Choosing and working with a recruiter who will actually help you

It is important to have a good working relationship with a few recruiters. It is a fact that some recruiters know of and control access to some positions you will never find without them. This is not as true as it used to be and  primarily relates to retained firms however you cannot afford to miss even one opportunity in a market that has so few. You must turn over every rock and recruiters are one of the rocks. They can be a big help as you go through the hiring process including preparing you for interviews and negotiating a good compensation package. They can keep you informed about changes in the market and tell you about openings you can go after on your own. You should find several recruiters to work with. The problem with this is that I just described a minority of recruiters. A small percentage of recruiters have the skills, experience, knowledge and commitment to helping you that is critical to a successful outcome. Before trying to seek out this small percentage you need to understand a little bit about the recruiting business and what motivates a recruiter.

First understand that despite what recruiters tell you, you are not their client. Their representation of you is secondary to representing the person paying their bill, the client company. The recruiter’s priority is filling the assignment, not representing and placing you. Very few recruiters will actually market you to clients and those that do are usually rookies looking for clients and using you for bait and they won’t do that unless you are truly a top one per center who they think their clients will jump on. Don’t get me wrong I am not speaking ill of recruiters or their business after all I have been in the business for thirty years. This is just the way the business works.

Now that you understand the value of a good recruiter and know a little bit about the business it is time to choose one. How do you know who to call? You need to do your research and homework to choose the best one. So, where do you start?

1)      Talk to your peers. Ask them if they have worked with a recruiter who they trust and respect. Was the recruiter really helpful and did he treat them with respect and professionalism? If your peer needed a recruiter again would this one be his first choice.

2)      Talk to Human Resource managers and Directors of Recruiting at companies that hire people in your field. Who is the best most experienced recruiter they know of? Hint…When you have the HR person on the phone briefly tell them what you do and ask if they have a need for someone with your experience.

3)      Survey Monster, CareerBuilder and other job boards to see which recruiters consistently have the best openings.

So now you know who to contact how do you make the first contact and establish a working relationship that works for you. If you were referred to a specific individual this is an easy call. When you get the individual on the phone introduce yourself mention the referral source and immediately ask for a meeting if you are in the same geography or if not ask to schedule time for an interview by phone. In both cases he will ask you to send a resume so he can be familiar with your background. This is standard procedure. Recruiters can’t commit time to every person who calls in unless they think they can do something for or with them as a candidate. Despite this you should try to get more out of the call. Tell the recruiter a little bit about your background and ask him how many openings he is working in that might be a fit. Learn something about him. Before you get off the phone ask him when you can expect a call after he reviews your resume. Ask him if you could get it on your calendars so you are sure you will be available.

If you are calling a recruiting firm based on postings you have seen or based on their reputation you need to make sure you are talking to the correct person. Let’s look at the structure of most recruiting firms. Many firms separate recruiting “desk” in to two functions. One person does the business development/client management side of the business. Another person handles the actual recruiting and candidate management side. In many of these firms the “recruiter” position is staffed by rookies. People in this role are learning the business with the goal of moving up to business development. This is not always the case. I have worked with “recruiters” who have been in that role very successfully for years.

You need to determine who you are talking to. If I was looking for a recruiter I would want a very knowledgeable highly experienced professional working with me. This next move is too important to be trusted to someone learning the business. The business developer has the most knowledge of the client company and the position. Many times you won’t have a choice. Candidates work with the “recruiter “without exception. If this is the case make sure the person you are working with knows what he is doing. Interview him. How long has he been in the business? How many people has he placed? Ask him detailed questions about the client and the job. If you are not comfortable do not be afraid to walk away. A good idea is to ask for the owner or branch manager when you first call in. Tell him what you are looking for the type of recruiter you want to work with.

Basic dos and don’ts

NEVER allow a recruiter to send your resume out or expose your name without your permission and knowledge of who he is sending it to.

Before you go on an interview ask for/require an extensive interview preparation. Read my articles on my blog about preparing for an interview. You deserve nothing less.

Make your compensation requirements clearly known; not your wish list number but your must have number. If your recruiter can’t commit that the company can meet your needs don’t be talked into the interview.

Many recruiting firms compensate and or evaluate recruiters based on the number of “sendouts”; candidates referred to clients for interviews. They might be more interested in quantity vs. quality. Don’t be sold on going on an interview unless you really want the opportunity.

Tip… A quality recruiter will give you a lengthy, extensive interview before referring you to a client. The interview will be more thorough then the employer’s. The recruiter that spends 15 minutes on the phone with you then tells you your background is great and he will refer your background to the client is a recruiter to walk away from.

I could write much about this subject but I have given you a good foundation. I would be happy to continue based on your questions. If you need further help write me or include your questions as comments.

Part two- How do I find a job in this market? What do I do different? Shoot yourself or smile

You lost your job. Your 401K was reduced by the market before you got the pink slip. Unemployment compensation sucks. Credit card companies are calling for their money and you spent half the day talking to the bank and pleading for a month’s forgiveness on the loan for that new BMW. You are competing on the job market with younger cheaper candidates. Recruiters are no longer bugging you with exciting sounding jobs and they don’t take your calls.

Do you own a gun? When you wake up tomorrow make a decision; put a bullet in your head or a smile on your face and stop mourning.

The skills, knowledge and abilities that earned you a good living a couple of months ago are all still there and now you get to gain new ones. The loving wife and kids you had before the pink slip are still there and you are spending more time with them. If not married, the luck you had with the opposite sex is still with you unless they only liked you for your job and in that case, think how lucky you are to have found that out now. You still have your friends and now the opportunity to make more. You are just as valuable, as talented and as bright as you were before. It is the market that is screwed up; not you.

If this sounds like a typical, old fashioned positive mental attitude pitch, that’s because it is. The importance of a positive attitude to your health, wealth and happiness is more important as it ever was. At this time your attitude may be the most important factor potential employers judge you by. You are competing against far more candidates than ever before and there more candidates available with qualifications and skills equal to yours. Employers know this so they are looking above and beyond the qualifications they search for just a year ago. What they are looking for cannot be learned on the job or in school. Employers are hiring attitude. A strong positive attitude is the single most important characteristic you need to demonstrate when meeting people or interviewing.

As long as he can do the job a person who shows this attitude will get hired before people who might be  slightly more qualified every time. Think about that. If you are more qualified than me but my attitude is far superior, I show more passion, commitment and belief in myself, I will get the job and you get the rejection email.

So what do you do?

Greet everybody with a bright smile and a firm, solid handshake. When you talk about what you do and how you do it show your belief in the value you bring. Talk about your job with enthusiasm and passion. You love what you do and you would not do anything else. If you want the job or the next interview make it obvious. Don’t show need. Demonstrate desire. When somebody asks you “how are things?” say “GREAT”. From time to time you are going to get rejected. So what? Go find  something else.

Sell yourself like you believe it. Nobody else will do it for you.

Now put the smile on and go out committed to kicking the but of the competition.

How do I find a job in this economy/job market? (part one)

I started my blog, my post on many groups and my new group “Career Movers” because I had all this great, helpful  (in all modesty) information in my head that had been gathered over 30 years in the employment/staffing/search business and it was only helping the few people I had direct contact with on a daily basis. I have to get it all out of my head in a format that will help lots of people. Right now job and career issues are on everybody’s mind. My readers have asked a bunch of great questions and I do my best to answer them. One that has come up a lot is actually several questions on the same topic…

“In this job market/economy how do I market myself?… How do I find a job?.... What has changed and what do I do differently?

In a job market like we are in now the only thing we do differently than in a good market is MUCH more of the same. Looking for a job is now a full time profession. If you normally work forty hours then you should put forty hours into finding the next job if you are unemployed. If you are employed but know the hatchet may be coming then put every spare minute into the hunt. If you do not go after this as if your entire future depended on it then others will consistently beat you. You will always be second best or at the end of the line.

Now that I have put a scare into you let’s look at... How do I do it? The big winners in this game are the ones that find the jobs before everybody else does; before they hit the job boards.

1)      Network, Network, Network. You must be talking too people every day, all the time. We are very fortunate to have LinkedIn. It provides the best professional networking opportunity available. Do searches for people with your skills and experience. Write them or look up their number and call them. People like to be asked for help. It makes them feel good. Your call is not to apply for a job but to learn about their company. Ask about the rumor mill. Have they heard about growth or restructuring in departments where you could add value. Ask who is the primary decision maker in your niche? If you get a name ask if you can use the name of your contact.  At this point Human resources especially an internal recruiter. They perform a valuable function but their priority is open, active positions and you want to get to the person who is the hiring manager with the actual need. Write or call him. Do not be intimidated by titles.

If there is a company you want to work for search for employees and do the same thing. Send a powerful resume and cover letter (see “The perfect Resume” on my blog). State in your letter that you will follow up by phone on a specific date and time, and then do it.

Pick up the phone and call executives in your niche. Tell them you are not calling to apply for a job but to ask for help and advice from an expert in your field. Ask him to meet for coffee. This is a none threatening call and you will get a better reception then if you called to talk about a job.

You never know what may happen during the conversation.Find and go to as many networking functions as you can find; user groups, chamber meetings, business after hours etc…

2)     Contact as many recruiters as you can find but use caution. You do not need to waste time with recruiters who can’t help. Lots of recruiters have recruit/interview quotas and they will take your time for an interview even  if they are not confidant that they can help. You only want to meet recruiters who have lots of experience placing people in your field. When you talk to a recruiter ask direct questions. “How long have you been in the business?” “Have you placed people in my field? When? How many”? “Do you presently have openings that fit my back ground?” Look up the recruiter on LinkedIn and see if he has recommendations Look for recruiters with solid reputations. Check with friends to see who they have worked with. Call companies you would like to work for. Ask for the Human Resources manager or the manager of recruiting. Ask what recruiters they respect and count on.

 

This is the end of part one. Part two will be based on questions on this topic submitted by comments/readers. GOOD LUCK and keep your chin up.

TIP.. Always try to find something you can do for people you talk to. Ask for something, give something back. If you are talking to people with similar backgrounds to yours ask them if they would like you to keep your eyes open for opportunities that may not be a fit for you but might match their experience. It is not important if you have something of value to them. It is the offer that counts.

 

 

New LinkedIN group, Career Movers

The group goal is to be the only one that brings together recruiters, candidates and hiring managers to all help each other. http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1945629&trk=hb_side_g

Help with topics

If you like what I write and find my advice helpful please submit questions or topics you would like me too address. Thanks.. Note: All content is protected by US Copy Write.

Looking for a few good clients

After searching unsuccessfully for a firm that always lived up to their web site, delivered what they promised and operated according to the highest ethical standards and values I decided that the only solution was to start my own. If you are an employer in need of a recruiter who will be a partner not a vendor and you like what you read here and the "about" section send me an email. I promise you will not regret the contact. If I do not live up to your expectations you can post your comments here on my blog and I will not edit them.

Part II... "Managers, how do you conduct the most effective, professional interview that will make a good impression on the candidate and not leave you confused?

In part one I suggested that you throw out the interview questions you got out of the “New” book on interviewing you just bought from E-Bay and also the list of questions HR gave you in the company’s most recent training. I told you this because most of those questions have been around for the last twenty five years but most importantly, they are not yours and you probably never asked how the question would help you achieve your  goal in the interview. There are certainly exceptions especially if you have been doing this for many years. In that case keep using them.

Now that you have eliminated most of the questions you were given and that have become comfortable where do you go from here?

If you have not already done so, write down the goals and objectives for the position you are interviewing for. If you do not have a crystal clear understanding of the position you will not know what to ask. You also may lose the candidate because at the conclusion of the interview he/she did not understand the job. Once you have done this you can structure questions around the job. Make the questions simple, direct and do not ask compound questions. For example...

You have an implementation that absolutely must be completed by July 1^st. The person in charge of the project left suddenly to take another job. Without a skilled replacement your department will not achieve its goal and your job may be in jeopardy.

You must ask questions, the answers to which will tell you that a candidate can get it done. Questions…”Tell me about your last project that needed to be completed on a very tight timeline.” “What obstacles did you encounter?” “How did you overcome them?” The candidate who can do the job will have clear, concise answers. He answers with confidence and backs up his answer with specific examples that do not require forethought. The wrong candidate will dance around the answer. He will stall and act like he is deep in thought. He will say “I can do that” or “I can do that” but he will not clearly support his answers with specific examples.

When you write out your questions also write down the answers you are looking for. Do not be concerned about how many questions you have or about needing to fill a certain amount of time. Your only concern is the content of the answers. In one interview you may get the information you need with two questions and the next may take five.

Remember from part one that the most important question you ask will probably be your first. It sets the mood and tone for the rest of the interview. It establishes your relationship with the candidate and you will probably structure much of the interview around the answer and how it is presented. We have talked about what I think is the absolute worst question that unfortunately many interviewers start with.

 

Now lets look at what I think is the best. If the candidate is going to be a good one answering this question is low stress. It will tell you a great deal about the candidate and should start a comfortable conversation for both of you. It goes something like this. “Bob I could start with my usual speech about how great my company is and tell you everything about the position but it would be easier if I understood what you already knew. What do you know about ABC company and how much have you learned about the position you are interviewing for?”

I think many of the advantages of this question are obvious but maybe we would all learn a lot from each other if everybody commented on what they will learn from the answer.

Part three will cover handling topics that could be adversarial like the money question and “Why did you quit, why were you let go or are you looking. We will also look at wrapping up, closing the candidate or rejecting the applicant.

Managers, how do you conduct the most effective, professional interview that will not leave you confused? PART ONE

Setting the stage:

The days of stiff intimidating interviews designed to show that you are the boss who is going to control the interview are over. Make sure the candidate addresses you by your first name and forget about your title. As soon as the candidate calls you “Mr. Warren” lighten the mood with something like “mister Warren is my father. My name is Mark”. There is no reason to have your admin bring the candidate to your office and make formal introductions.  Unless logistics make it difficult, meet the candidate yourself in the lobby and walk him back yourself striking up some small talk along the way.

Make an effort to see that the candidate is comfortable. Once you see that he knows how to dress professionally tell him to relax and remove his jacket; you do the same.

Try not to sit behind a desk; two comfortable chairs with an end table or a small conference table work best. If you have something to drink offer something to the candidate. Do not jump right into interviewing the candidate. Relieve some of the initial pressure for both of you by spending a few minutes telling him about you and your company. Remember, the first 5-10 minutes should be spent de-stressing. If you talk to the candidate as if you are meeting a welcome new member of your team or even meeting a friend it will be far more productive then if you approach it as if you are grilling a candidate who is lucky just to be in the same room with you and who could barely be fit into your schedule.  

The first question you ask the candidate will set the tone for the rest of the interview so try to make it clear and focused. Most managers who are not trained interviewers or who are uncomfortable tend to start with a vague general question because it is easy. It usually starts with something bland and out of focus like, “tell me a little bit about yourself.” In the history of interviewing that is the worst opening question. You do not really know what you are looking for; you just hope something of value pops up. The candidate has no idea what you expect or really want to know. The same holds for “tell me about your experience. It is my hope that everybody reading this eliminates these questions from all future interviews. Ask a question that creates focus for both of you such as, “tell me about your most recent experience in full life cycle JAVA development.” Or “tell me about your responsibilities in your most recent supervisory position.” You could be far more specific and focused but I think you get the idea.

In today’s interview there is little room for that prepared list of questions you pulled out the “Dummies guide to interviewing.” The same is true for that list of general questions distributed by HR last year that are supposed to work for everybody. Each question should be important to you and provide information to clearly help you make a firm decision. Obviously there are exceptions to this. Foe example your firm may have asked you to uncover and evaluate past behaviors through a specialized “behavioral” interview. For the most part that interview should be conducted by someone with specialized training.

The interview tactics & tips I am discussing are for the line manager with who rest the biggest part of the decision.  Digest this and part two will be up soon.