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| Plenty of Places to Look for a Job... Where to Look first! |
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There are all kinds of places to look, folks, but the very first place I'd like you to look is into a mirror.
I've given this job hunting success advice before, but it bears repeating: Buy a mirror and keep it by the phone. Look into it just before you make those networking and interviewing calls to sharpen up the most important tool in your arsenal - your smile.
Nobody ever said it's easy to get out there and really sell yourself. Uncertainty can creep into your head, and the person on the other end of the line can hear it in your voice. But if you're smiling, physiology says your attitude will follow. "Hey, if I'm smiling, I must be enjoying myself!"
So take a good, long look in that mirror, and give yourself a big, friendly grin. You'll feel better, and that means you'll sound better to your next employer.
And who knows? You may even find those calls feel like fun!
Keep smiling, Readers, all the way to that new job. |
| Are You A Hunter or a Farmer? |
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Are You a Hunter or a Farmer? There are two types of job seekers. In a market that relies on survival of the fittest, one is more likely to outlast the other. Which type are you?
In sales, talent is often labeled as coming in two varieties: hunters and farmers.
Hunters are known for:
pursuing new business
seeking out leads
being aggressive finding potential new customers
breaking new accounts
expanding existing footprints
thwarting defections
keeping clients loyal
generating additional revenues
producing new profits In short, they go after wins. On the other hand,
farmers usually:
maintain the status quo
are content to harvest existing customer business
are often in maintenance mode One role may be a better fit depending on the market conditions. However, today's highly competitive job market demands that candidates adopt the hunter approach.
Those who create positions for themselves are labeled "opportunists." The opposite are "applicants." There are too many other qualified individuals wooing employers for the standard "applicants" to win.
The farmers are often left waiting in the dust while their proactive, persistent hunter competitors land new jobs. Farmers don't do anything "wrong" or "bad," but neither do they do anything innovative. Farming only works if business is already in hand and the competition is asleep at the wheel. Yet this is not the case with the current market.
Positions are not abundant; it takes some hunting to scope out potential openings.
A buyer's market
Employers today do not have to pursue candidates; they are in the driver's seat. That means candidates have to jump start the sales process.
Today, all job seekers are in sales. They are marketing themselves to employers who have lots of choices. With stiff competition for openings, candidates cannot get a job just because they are talented. To get a foot in the door, job seekers need to assert themselves and appeal to employers' interests. Insist that a new job could be created just to meet a specific challenge.
These hunters don't wait for a recruiter to track them down; they pursue what they want. You won't see them submiting an application and waiting for an interview appointment. More likely, they'll connect with the hiring decision-maker and position themselves as the preferred solution.
Are you going to be a hunter/shopper/opportunist and land a new exciting career challenge as quickly as possible? Choose to network purposefully and connect with insiders who know about potential openings before they are advertised. Show employers that you are a hunter who will deliver for them.
A career coach is often very valuable in helping you develop your hunter strategy and then making sure you stay on target!
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| A Great Read Can Help Your Search |
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The Damn Good Resume Guide, Yana Parker. Ten Speed Press. A crash course in resume-writing written in a user-friendly style.
I Could Do Anything, If I Only Knew What It Was, Barbara Sher. Dell, 1995. Practical help with finding a career goal that serves your personal values.
What Color Is Your Parachute? 2005: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers, Richard Nelson Bolles & Mark Emery Bolles. Ten Speed Press; Rev & Updated edition. In PARACHUTE 2005, Bolles offers a completely new book for this uncertain job market, laying out a simple, step-by-step plan for finding meaningful work and mission despite our economy's jobless recovery.
Brand Yourself - How to Create an Identity for a Brilliant Career, David Andrusia & Rick Haskins. Ballentine Publishing, 2000. Helpful step-by-step process to develop your own unique brand to market to potential employers.
"Dummies" Series Books This popular series covers Job Searching Online, Job Hunting, Changing Careers, Cover Letters and Resumes.
Heather's Internet Career Resource Guide
A comprehensive collection of over 1300 websites specifically targeted to Professionals seeking Employment and Career Professionals who assist them, byCertified Career and Job Transition Coach, Heather Wieshlow. Includes major career sites, executive career sites, career search engines, personal search agents, niche career sites, and much, much more.
Power Networking - 59 Secrets for Personal and Professional Success, Donna Fishers & Sandy Vilas Bard Press, 2000. Practical guide for learning how to network. Knock 'Em Dead, Martin Yate. Adams Media, 2003. Comprehensive job-seeker's handbook with companion volumes available on resumes, cover letters, and interviews.
These are not the new & trendy, but rather the tired and true books for job seekers. If you have read books that you would like to share please send to Mjackson@JacksonLifeCoaching.com
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We Know It's Tough Out There! |
August 23, 2009 |
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Hello Everyone~
 Welcome to all our new readers this week, we hope you will enjoy our newsletter and let us know what we could address that would be helpful to you! Our 'pay it forward" week was almost too much to handle. We could only accept 30 requests for free resume reviews and free coaching sessions. If there is anyone who really would like to talk to a coach please e mail us at mjackson@JacksonLifeCoaching.com. Although not the intention of the free coaching, we do welcome 6 of you to our coaching practice and we look forward to working with you.
" I think my age has a lot to do with why I am not getting interviews," I must be too young and inexperienced", " I guess my resume just isn't written well enough", " I want to give up"," there is nothing open in my field", " I have been looking for over a year and I feel totally lost"! These are typical comments I hear from most of my coaching clients when we begin to work together, and today most of them are employed and aware that it was the lack of direction that prevented them from getting hired! " The more you do what you always do, the more you get what you always get". Have you developed a career marketing plan for yourself, or are you just spinning your wheels sending out endless copies of your resume? What sets you apart from the hundreds of others who apply for the same jobs you do? This week, sit back, think creatively about your search strategy, and build a plan and work it. You will be surprised what can happen that way!
The very Best,
Mikal Jackson
SKYPE: Mikal Jackson
YAHOO: Mikalj69
AIM: HRmikal1
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Cover Letters - " To be, or not to be"...... |
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If job seekers had a choice, they'd kill this relic of the job searching process. The origins of cover letters dates back to the prehistoric time before online job sites. Back then you submitted your resume blindly to companies (since you didn't know whether they were hiring), and the cover letter was designed to introduce you. Today, employers still find them valuable so job seekers have no choice but to submit them.
Here are a few contemporary pointers for your next cover letter:
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Remember clear, concise and coherent. Don't forget a cover letter will be seen as a writing sample. In today's world of texting, instant messaging and email, many people have skirted by without being able to command the written word. Many employers have told me that they view a well written cover letter as a sign that a candidate knows how to communicate in a professional manner. This means your cover letter must be perfect in format, grammar, and structure.
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Keep it short. Brevity is the new normal. It used to be that cover letters were four or five paragraphs. Now two or three paragraphs are the new norm. Don't forget that most cover letters are viewed in email form, and no one likes to read long email messages.
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Make sure it is email friendly. Email has become the preferred submission method. Some people are still sending printed cover letters on parchment paper, which frankly makes the candidate look dated. The only exception is for more traditional industries (e.g. law, medical).
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Get to the point. Be sure to tell the reader: Which job you're applying to? How you learned about the job? How you can contribute to the organization? How they can reach you?
Point #1 is very important. If the recruiter is working on five or six different openings, chances are that your resume will be mixed in with job applicants for other jobs within the recruiters inbox. The recruiter needs a few bread crumbs to understand where you belong. The font should be Arial or Times Roman, no background wallpaper, no "bolds", underlines, or italics.
Use formal salutations. Lately we've been seeing email cover letters that start with "Hi Kim," or just "Kim," and end with "Thanks," or "Best,". This is far too informal for my taste. Remember, this is a test of your formal business communication skills, so you need to show your stuff. "Dear Ms. Clark" and "Sincerely," are the salutations of choice.
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When You Have Left Jobs Early |
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QUESTION FROM A SUBSCRIBER:
I was recently told in an interview that I have shown no loyalty to any of my employers and that it would be difficult to sell me to potential employers. I left two jobs in less than eight months because they were not a good fit. Is there another way I can describe the two jobs in an interview?
- B.T.
Dear B.T.,
Let's first take a look at why employers are hesitant to hire someone who has left jobs early:
1. Wasted training time and money - if an employer has to train you for the job and you leave early, resources spent on training were wasted
2. Hiring costs - Often, an employer will have to pay a recruiter a placement fee that can be around 20% of your first year's salary. Most recruiters provide the employer with a 3-month guarantee. That is, if you leave before 3 months are up, the employer gets their placement fee back. However, if you leave after 8 months, most recruiters' guarantees have expired.
3. Opportunity Costs - Sort of as a follow on to #2, if you quit and the position is open again, the employer has to once again divert management attention to the recruiting issue. It will probably take time to start reaching candidates with recruitment advertising, etc. Position vacancies are costly both from the perspective of the work for the position not being done, and from the distraction caused to immediate managers of that function.
4. Loyalty/Values - The employer is likely going to be concerned that you lack loyalty and don't appreciate the burden it places on them to have to hire someone else. Yes, looking out for yourself is important. But it creates a credibility problem that you will need to overcome.
HOW TO ADDRESS A POTENTIAL EMPLOYER'S CONCERNS
Helping the Companies you Left Early
If you're going to leave a job early, even if you were unhappy with your boss or the work environment, give some thought to how you can leave without leaving the company high and dry. Maybe you know someone with a comparable skillset who could take the job. If you can do something to ease the company's burden of having to recruit a new person, this will leave them with a much better impression. It also gives you a better story to tell in interviews for new positions. Even if you didn't leave the company recently, it wouldn't hurt to visit with them again and find out if there is anything you can do to help.
Get References
If your resume isn't great or doesn't paint a very positive picture of your career background, look for other things which can bolster the impression you can create with potential employers. An ideal situation would be to get references from the employers you left early. This is where helping these former employers can help you -- they'll be more inclined to write a good reference for you if you help them out. It also helps if you had made a positive contribution at the former employer before you left. It would be great if you could get a reference in writing (i.e. a reference letter) which you could bring with you to interviews.
One way to ease the process of getting reference letters is to offer to write the letter for the reference, and to ask them to simply sign their name to it. Of course, they will only agree to do something like that if you have a positive relationship with them.
We would like you our readers to write and suggest other ways to address this important issue. We will post next week, send your responses to Mjackson@JacksonLifeCoaching.com
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