Job Search Tip #3

This may seem like a silly or dated analogy, but courting companies is a lot like courting girls at a school dance. The most popular companies - like the most popular girls - are going to get many requests for dances with many different boys. There are only so many slow songs in the night to dance to, and just like selecting candidates foa a job, the popular girl has to select from her suitors to find a dance partner. The more popular a girl is, the less likely that you'll be able to dance with her. Perhaps you think you're a real stud and you're a shoo-in for a dance with the most popular girl, but really, you don't know for sure what kind of boys she likes to dance with or how she will make her selection.

The job market happens a lot like this scenario. Popular companies that have presence in the media, or a 'name brand' get the most applications and smaller companies (analogous to the lesser known, lesser popular girls) receive quite few applications. Before even considering the selection criteria, a job seeker has a far poorer chance of landing with a popular company than with a lesser known company.

To better your odds of getting a good job, apply to some lesser known firms. Your odds of being offered an interview are likely far better. The job at the lesser known firm may very well be just as valuable to you as the one with the popular firm. Not everyone can work at Apple or Google or with Donald Trump. There are great experiences to be had at smaller or lesser known firms, and they're often far more receptive to attention from applicants.

Leaving an Impression #1

Oftentimes when you're applying to jobs, you're just one of a sea of candidates who will likely have quite similar credentials. The ability to distinguish yourself as a candidate can be the difference between getting the job and missing out. There are infinite creative ways to distinguish yourself through the application process and in interviews. One of my favourites - a secret that I will share - is to bring a 5-minute elevator pitch presentation to an interview on the topic of 'Why I am right for the job'.

This article presents another creative approach that somebody has used with great success.

www.thestar.com/living/article/809441--is-this-the-smartest-job-application-ever?bn=1

Remember that the even best creative efforts only leave an impression if they maintain the overall integrity of the application process. Make sure that you don't compromise your resume, interviews, or the security of your potential employers in the effort to get noticed.

7 Little Known Reason's You're Not Getting Hired

This is a fantastic article. I could not have said it better myself.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-LittleKnown-Reasons-Youre-usenews-863973864.html?x=0

Becoming comfortable with unemployment

A friend of mine recently questioned me about the risks of promoting myself as The Unemployment Guru. Why would I want to popularize the notion that I am experienced enough at being unemployed to become expert at it? Both he and I know well that a reputation for having been repeatedly unemployed could damage my chances of succeeding with my career, whether it be with my consulting practice or potentially with courting other companies for jobs in the future. Nobody wants to seek the expertise of someone who has had career struggles....or do they?

Think of unemployment just as a glut of free time during the day. If squandered, this time acts just to make the individual poorer and more confused. Practiced skills get rusty and the mind gets mushy. I wouldn't want to hire someone who spent their available time this way. Then again, having initiative is not tied to employment status, and so those individuals who would spend their unemployment days stagnating would likely do so at their jobs as well. We have all met workers who have no drive to do any more than is absolutely required of them, and these are the characters that should not be attractive candidates, independent of their employment status.

On the other hand, there is another set of candidates - the go-getters - who will be attractive candidates coming from either employment or unemployment. A motivated individual with a career goal will make great use of their unemployment days just as they would would when working. There are many reasonable circumstances in which a great talent would find themselves out of a job and looking, and it is incumbent on the hiring personnel at every organization to avoid negative biases towards unemployed candidates while looking for real indicators of intelligence and initiative.

Typical causes of unemployment

• Fired *
• Quit
• Laid Off
• End of contract
• First entry into workforce (post education)

*Of the five typical causes, only one type (being fired) directly implies poor performance on the candidate's part.

To make things easier for both job seekers and employers, I have created a list of unemployment behaviours that are indicators of successful candidates.

(1) Networking - The candidate regularly spends time networking with a variety of industry professionals or experts. These meetings will largely affect the candidate's understanding of industry knowledge and specific job functions.

(2) Reading - The candidate keeps current by reading books, magazines, articles, blogs etc. on relevant industry & functional topics. For example, an aspiring furniture salesperson subscribes to a furniture style magazine or a wannabe consultant follows a blog on consulting skills.

(3) Activity and affiliation - The candidate volunteers for charities, or keeps active with internships, community organizations, etc. High energy candidates - who are so valuable to organizations - are easily identified by their need to keep up a busy schedule, even in unemployment.

(4) Entrepreneurialism - The candidate shows interest in starting their own ventures. In many circumstances this behaviour can be indicative of creativity, planning skills, people skills, and more. This one can be difficult to judge, however, and so this behaviour is generally more valuable to entrepreneurial, creative, and risk-friendly organizations.

(5) Self Reflection - The candidate has carefully considered their skills, work personality, and career goals. Oftentimes getting to really know oneself in the work world takes the kind of perspective which can only be achieved by leaving one's job. If a candidate can clearly articulate their skills, career goals, and work styles they become more valuable and less risky to the organizations that hire them.

Let's return now to the original concern that my friend voiced about being labeled as 'unemployed' by the professional community. In my case, unemployment undoubtedly led me to my current successes. Without having faced unemployment, I would never have started my own business, whereby I managed to more than double my annual income from my earlier contract job. Furthermore, I would never have been able to drastically change my job funtion, or consciously build my skill set from basic analytical skills to more holistic business management skills. Finally, I would never have met half the professional contacts I now possess, or had the self-confidence and awareness to market myself as a valuable human resource.

Unemployment is a challenge, but it is by no means a blemish. To all those unemployed reading this blog, I say stay focused, work hard at cracking your dream career, and derive pride from it. To my concerned friend, I say: I've been unemployed, but look at me now!

Job Search Tip #2

The job search is largely a 'numbers game' whereby you have to apply to many jobs to get an interview and complete several interview processes (presumably) before you get an offer. It is possible that you may even get several offers before finding a suitable one. Either way, the job search stages take a pyramid form as I have illustrated below:



While I don't recommend that you analyze this diagram for exact scale, I do suggest that you focus on increasing your output on the bottom two levels to get better returns on the top two levels. In other words; search broadly for openings and apply to as many jobs as you can within the limits of your skills, experience, and career goals.

The issue lies with the amount of time you spend on each application. I can spend upwards of 90-120 minutes on some applications including researching on the company websites and/or filling in detailed proprietary application forms. It is difficult for me to make the time to maximize my number of applications, when I am also making time for work, spouse, family, networking, and of course, blogging.

So here's are some methods I have devised to compensate:

(1) Spend more time on an application to a job you really want and less time on a job application that you want less.

I am not saying that you should apply to jobs that you don't want, but some jobs are really exciting to you, and some are in your field, but are less attractive because of pay, company culture, location or for whatever reason. Spend less time on those applications, so you can complete them, rather than not doing them at all.

(2) Get 'Headhunters' on your side

Contact a few 'professional placement' firms and get yourself a telelphone chat or in-person meeting with a placement specialist. If they like you and your skills, they will do a lot of job search work for you. Generally, placement specialists will not want you to be juggling several of them at once, because they want you as an asset to themselves. Personally, I would only offer to be exclusive with a placement firm on the condition that they get me an interview.

(3) Have your contacts circulate your resume

Another way to get more exposure with less effort is to provide your resume to professional contacts and ask them to circulate it. Of course, I wouldn't ask for this straight up, but if you can solicit some help from someone in your professional network, they may also offer to circulate your resume. In layman's terms: If you have a family-friend or friend-of-friend in the industry you want to work in, ask them for advice on acquiring your next job role. If they like you, they will likely offer to show your resume to some people they know. It's a quick and easy way to get your resume seen by a wider audience.

For a more thorough review of networking, tips, strategies and more, please stay tuned.

Job Search Tip #1

This one is a no-brainer, really. Still, I took a while to realize it and apply it. Duplicate your successful applications!

It's very difficult to predict the precise way to package your experience and skills to a particular job in a particular field. Choosing the verbiage in the cover letter and resume can be a balancing act - don't come on too strong, but don;t be too modest. When you manage to get an interview with a particular application package, take one day to celebrate your success and let it seep in. The next day, go out and find all the comparable positions you can find and apply with the very same package (changing the name of the company, etc. in the letter of course).

Take this example - you get an interview with an application for a marketing role at GM. You shold also be applying to any similar openings at local offices of Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Mazda... you get the picture. Industries tend to share attitudes as well as hiring best practices, so if GM 'likes the cut of your gib' then likely too will the others. I'm not purporting that this method is guaranteeing extra interviews, but it's a more likely scenario now that your application package has already received a 'yes'.

Interviewing

I believe that interviewing is the most important skill to master in a job search. In fact, I would go as far as to say that people who interview well are more likely to be successful at many aspects of their careers than those who don't. To put it bluntly, interviews are hard to fake; anyone can exaggerate on their resume to get noticed, but interviews occur in real-time with no outside help. There is no substitute for being quick on your feet, well-prepared, and articulate in an interview. I have detailed three basic strategies for interviewing below:

(1) Know the job - Don't go into an interview without knowing enough about the role, the company, and even your potential bosses. Demonstrating that you fully understand the job and the company makes you more credible when you claim that you can do that job well. I would even recommend trying to figure out a little about your interviewers and your potential bosses. After all, you're trying to impress them in the interviews and that becomes easier when you get to know their experience and skills. You may even find that you have similar skills, background, or education which is always a boost for your case.

(2) Know your brand - Enter every interview opportunity armed with the knowledge of what you have to offer to that company. Prepare yourself by reviewing your skill set, and potentially even ranking those skills in terms of importance to the job. Review how many years of experience you have with each of your pertinent skills and consider how each skill helps your potential to succeed in the role. With enough preparation, you'll be comfortable in the hot seat; you'll be answering interview questions with the ability to tie your skills directly to the organization's needs.

(3) Take your time - It's easy to panic in an interview and hard to accept silence amidst the discussion. Nevertheless, it is perfectly reasonable to take a moment or two before answering a tough question. I oftentimes simply say "That's a good question..." and I may add "...I'm going to consider it for a moment before answering." Interviewers don't mind waiting for a solid answer, and this behaviour will prevent those run-on rants that you sometimes get stuck with, when you don't first plan out your answer in your head.