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On This Page – In This Column:
» Finding a Job is a Job!
» Don't Sell Yourself, Do Sell Your Services!
» Foot in the Door on the Phone
» Two Key Points for Strong Cover Letters and Interviews
» Informational Interviews: A Great Tool Few Job Candidates Use
» Business, Professional and Personal Negotiation
» The Myth of the One Page Resume
Finding a Job is a Job!
Years ago, a job search fit into one of four categories for most people. Either you knew some one, or got recruited out of college or graduate school, or a trade union or a trade school; or you mailed a whole bunch of résumés; or you knew some one who introduced to some one or hired you themselves; or you came up in the family business. A fifth category would be for those who started something on their own.
All of these categories still exist today, but job change, and career change, and the influences of technology and shifts in the global economy and global job market, add other variables. A lot of people have pinned their hopes on job boards online to close the gap between the good old fashioned ways and modern technological solutions. Unfortunately, job boards have become so overloaded with résumé submissions that according to some statistical reviews of Human Resources departments, only about 15% of hires these days are related to online postings.
We still recommend using job boards, just not sticking to monster and hotjobs only, as part of your overall strategy, both to post applications, and to see who's hiring, and what they're offering by way of job descriptions (sometimes this is a wish list so don't get discouraged if you don't seem as perfect as what they're requesting) and compensation.
The groundbreaking book in reminding people 20 plus years ago and now, that most jobs open up before they're actually posted, whether in newspaper classifieds or online job boards, has been What Color is Your Parachute? and other excellent books such as Wendy Enelow's 101 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career (which you can also find here). Some readers have been inspired by Parachute and followed Dick Bowles' suggestions step by step, and it would be great if we could show a study here on the various success rates related to the various extents of use of that text as a handbook and a guide.
What we can say is this: the juicy opportunities are often hidden from the general public view, which has always been true, and, more than ever the employee has both the challenge and the freedom to create your own employment path and not wait for the phone to ring from Opportunity Central. And, while it's good to pay attention to overall trends in your field, don't forget to balance that with moving forward with your own creative efforts on behalf of your income and career. It's just as important as always to know, learn and rediscover: - Who you are as a career professional, a business person, an employee, and how that relates to your education, training and experience, and just as importantly for many people, your sense of personal or even philosophical satisfaction.
- How your having contributed in different ways in different jobs tells a story that has continuity to the present moment.
- That employers need to know what you can provide for them, so learn to put your best foot forward with measurable achievements to give them that information (and quickly learn the difference between that and immodest bragging).
- Sometimes you can even create a position that didn't really exist before.
- There are ways to get past or around the grinding bureaucracy of the hiring system, so that you can greatly increase your chances of meeting with the individuals you can help, rather than, or more than, the people hired to screen people out just because there may be more applications than they can humanly process.
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Don't Sell Yourself, Do Sell Your Services!
You're not a commodity, a toy, a thing, an object, or a robot. However, you do have something to offer, which is a set of skills, your ability to make good decisions in a moment or a month as needed, etc. Of course what you have to offer may include your personality, especially if you're in sales or public relations or marketing communications, and there's the inevitable reference you'll be expected to make to the ways in which you're a 'team player' – where would be without sports analogies? There is an analogy to selling a product (you) but the focus should more so be on selling your services (how what you've provided elsewhere and before, plus understanding or discovery of the needs of the individual and organization and department or division, plus current fresh ideas – can translate into what it is you offer now).
Presenting yourself on the phone can give you tremendous leverage. You can contact a lot of companies, organizations, individuals in a relatively short period of time, yet you increase your chances of establishing some kind of direct communication. (Please enjoy the links in this paragraph, which are mostly from a mentor from my dotcom days, who's part artist, part engineer, part entrepreneur, part coach, part family man, part philosopher, and of course, many more parts.) There are similarities here to cold calling in sales. Cold calling is the art of letting people who don't know you get to know what you can offer them, and turning cold contacts into warm leads, and warm leads into customers and working relationships.
A new approach to the entire sales cycle is reverse selling, which is similar to Relationship Selling which is about integrity, making real connections, matching temperaments and agendas and pace, not focusing just on the outcome, telling the truth, in other words doing everything you can to help yourself and some one else discover if you really have a good fit to work together, to collaborate, to truly be members together of a team, and not just give lip service to that as a buzzword.
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Foot in the Door on the Phone:
Getting Past 'Gatekeepers' or 'Sentries'!
If you're focused entirely on reaching the Human Resources manager or director or executive, or in-house recruiter, you may be in for a few rude surprises, and you may walk away from an opportunity that's just around the corner. Imagine some one who is surrounded by dragons and moats, has sealed off all the bridges across those moats, and still has résumés and requests for attention coming in over the castle walls like flaming arrows or buckets of hot oil. It isn't necessary quite this bad for HR leaders, and some handle their challenges more gracefully or creatively than others, and some are getting less confusing signals from their bosses than others about what the organization needs, but quite often even with the best of intentions it's difficult for these fine people to respond effectively to every applicant with great potential.
Additionally, the ultimate decision does not usually rest with the hiring staff alone. Think of the hiring team as a third party who knows the organization from the inside looking out, but often being given changing priorities from week to week or even day to day. Now think of the person you'd actually be reporting to from day to day. Which one is more likely to know more immediately, more intuitively, more instinctively what the needs of the job are, and who's the best match? Trick question! Both, and that's the point, both the person or persons you'd report to and the in-house hiring expert staff, are important in making the hiring decision. So why focus only on the hiring staff?
Let's say you're an executive - director - manager who's accustomed to working with, and for, other executives - directors - managers, and talking with them about strategies and decisions. Clearly you'd like to be talking with another executive - director - manager about a job opening now. An administrative assistant in HR, or an assistant in that individual's office, may be great to see every day once you're on the job, but is more likely than not to graciously deflect you from your goal of speaking to the person who will best understand your mission: to make a contribution at the executive - director - managerial level.
Long-time recruiter John Lucht, in his book, Rites of Passage, lists steps for "Bending the Barbed Wire to Get Beyond the Directories" which are paraphrased here:- Call again, especially at odd times like the lunch hour when you might reach some one who's filling in and isn't caught up in the everyday organizational protocols.
- Call the switchboard, and ask for the individual's department or some one a little lower who might then be able to connect you or tell you what that person's direct line number or extension is.
- Call other departments, and ask to be connected over to the individual in the department you intended to reach.
- Call subsidiaries that have related products or suppliers and ask for help there.
- Call Customer Service and ask to talk to the people there who handle major accounts.
- Call line managers.
- Call after hours; you might reach some one staying late finishing a project who will help you, or even a late night receptionist or night watchperson who will try to help you get through to the correct number.
Note: If you do have the conversation with the 'target' individual and then that person shows interest and refers you to hiring staff – do not make contacting the hiring manager your next step in follow-through. Always go back to the target individual to confirm that the referral has been made, and to ask for exact and specific steps for what comes next. It's ok to remind the target individual that the hiring person is juggling many applications. Try to encourage this individual to really help make it clear why your call to the hiring manager is a call that individual wants the hiring manager to accept and treat with care – and to give you the chance to make sure that this has truly happened – before you contact the hiring manager yourself. If you just tell the hiring manager that you were told to call, you may not be believed, until you're sure that a conversation has taken place to prepare the hiring manager to anticipate hearing from you.
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The Two Key Points That Make Any
Cover Letter Or Interview
Especially Strong and Promising
Let's say you'd like to join a club or a team, any kind of club or team, and you'd like to make an impression that you're some one good for them to have as a member. How will you do this?
Will you just talk about yourself? Or wait for them to say something to you, and hope they take an interest in you?
What if you show an interest in the group you'd like to join? And how would you do that in a way that convinces them, that in effect, you're already a member?
Imagine being in that club or team or group. What would get your attention?
What if you were to let them know that you know what's really great about the club or team or group? Activities, achievements, awards, that this collection of individuals pulled together with shared bond and mutual efforts? Or, goals, desires, programs, projects, that they are in the process of attempting to move forward? And … why this sort of thing is of particular interest to yourself?
What if you also let them know that you know that you're likely to be exactly the kind of person who would add to what they're all about?
There are two key elements that will be of interest to them considering you as a key member of an organization, whether it's a corporate entity or a small business or a nonprofit organization:- What you know about them that inclines you to give of yourself to them besides just for a paycheck? What turns you on about their mission, their goals, their desired outcomes that motivates you to sign on and help them get there?
- What accomplishments from your prior experience are predictive of what you can do for them now?
The more you can answer these questions through networking, research through organizational websites, press releases, corporate backgrounders, current news clippings, comments by other people who know about the organization, information gathered from reference librarians and from books and websites that list information about organizations of the kind that interest you, the more likely you can put together your two-minute elevator pitch, your 30-second sound-bite, your outstanding cover letter, your zinger of an interview, in a way that will help them see the possibility that hey, youze guyz are a match!
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Informational Interviews:
A Great Tool Few Job Candidates Use
The purpose of an informational interview is to discover (a) if you might be a fit for a particular field or a niche in that field, (b) if you're presently qualified, and (c) if you're potentially a fit but need to do more to be more qualified, such as take classes, have other prior work experience, or even make a change in your wardrobe.
The person being 'interviewed' is some one who is currently occupying a role you can see yourself performing and contributing in yourself at some point of time. This is some one who can tell you what their job is like for them from day to day, and how they got to this point in their career.
In this kind of interview, it's almost more like you're a journalist or a tv interviewer and the person you're contacting is a star in their area of expertise. That kind of interview.
An informational interview is not a job interview. Do not seek a job, ask for a job, and hint for a job during an informational interview. However, if you are advised to do so, very kindly clarify that the purpose of your contacting the person you're 'interviewing' was not to seek employment per se, but that if this is their recommendation, you will act on it discreetly and accordingly.
The best time to be conducting informational interviews is while you're presently working, or at least have some time and money to spare before you absolutely need to work again, however, if you're between that rock and a hard place, it can still be very useful and very appropriate to find out as much as you can about a particular job type or career direction now.
The idea of informational interviews has been around for at least a couple of decades, but amazingly few job candidates actually seek them out. So it's very likely that the person you're going to be asking questions has not done this much before, or possibly not at all. Whether they give informational interviews every day, once a year or once in a lifetime, be sure to show your gratitude. Also don't be surprised if, once the conversation gets going, even if you started out asking for only 10 or 20 minutes, they'll keep giving you useful tips for 40 minutes or more. Sometimes you'll even get an invitation to visit the site of the office or plant where they work.
If you're sincerely entering into an informational interview to learn, the person who helps you will also benefit because (a) it feels good to help some one else, and (b) it can help that individual to take a little time to reflect on where they've been and where they're going in their own career path.
Have five or ten questions ready to ask. You can ask about:- Work environment
- Labor-management-team relations
- Skills, including but not limited to technical-technological-computer skills
- Educational background
- Ongoing training – which may include state-required continuing education credits
- Advancement potential if that interests you
- Opportunities you might have to provide training to others
- Travel or relocation
- Income and compensation (this one is best spoken of in relative terms, or by way of verifying information you've gathered from third party sources, so as not to intrude into personal information of the person you're asking)
- Professional associations
- Economic impacts and job prospects in the field
- Good sources of information about a particular field or type of job in the field
- How companies or organizations compare and contrast
- Whether their experiences surprised them in comparison to what they expected when they got started.
When the conversation is over, ask for two or three names with contact information as referrals for your next informational interviews. NOTE: Also make sure to ask if it's ok to use the name of this person to contact the other individuals. This is important because, (a) this person gave you of their time and opened up information to you that may be personal and professional in nature, and (b) this is the kind of contact you want to treat like gold for both present and future – who knows, you may even end up working with this individual some time in the future. And of course, once the first person you contact gives you referrals with permission to use their name to open new doors, the process gets easier and easier.
Last but not least, as much as possible, do follow up on their suggestions and recommendations, even if they seem a bit strange at first. The more 'teachable' you are, no matter how much you've accomplished to this point in time, the more likely you'll find your way into something new that may work for you. Of course, you're still the one who makes the choices and decisions, and a series of informational interviews can really open your eyes as to what really can be involved in a given career or job, whether it's in a field that's entirely new to you, or an advancement or lateral shift from what you've already done.
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Business, Professional and Personal Negotiation
For a fascinating update of current wisdom on negotiating overall, including employment-related negotiation, see the August 2003 issue of Inc. Magazine, starting with page 75, Take It or Leave It: The Only Guide to Negotiating You Will Ever Need.
Women and Negotiating: Increasingly women head up major corporations and non-profit organizations, such as Carly Fiorina, the chairman and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard who successfully led a controversial merger of H-P with Compaq. Nevertheless, studies have shown that men are more likely to assume that a salary or anything else is negotiable, and many women are learning that they can and maybe even should enter into a negotiation more often than they realize or more often than they allow themselves. Two books to help women in particular, that are also just fine books on negotiation for the guys as well, are Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide, and A Woman's Guide to Successful Negotiating.
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The Myth of the One Page Resume
As a mentor coach in career coaching once said to me, 'the one-page resume is a pernicious cultural myth.'
So I started polling my clients on this. What they told me was, 'well, that's what we were taught in college.' Apparently a clear distinction wasn't made that once you have some life experience and you're no longer a college senior or fresh out of school, that a longer resume might not only be ok, might not only be desirable, it might be imperative.
I was taught resume writing by Donald Asher, some one that other resume writers have been inspired by and have learned from for years. When I worked for him at his San Francisco agency in 1994-95, we often wrote resumes that were three pages in length.
What's also true is that since then, online job boards and email have geometrically increased the number of resumes being submitted. So out of professional courtesy, and to not be rejected due to length, the two page resume is typically ideal for experienced professionals.
But wait there's more. Most people think in terms of what to leave out so that the resume will be concise and to the point. This is partly due to the pernicious myth mentioned above, partly due to the need for clarity, and partly due to the simple fact that most people struggle with finding ways to write that are both complete and concise.
And there's more still. Donald Asher and others helped institute the professional summary or profile at the top of the resume. This takes more space than an 'objective' and besides at this point the 'objective' opening is silly: 'Seeking an opportunity in a fast paced organization that matches my skills and education.' That says nothing to set the candidate apart. A profile that summarizes achievements, indicates career goals and direction, and outlines qualifications highlights or skill set, is extremely helpful - and it takes up less than a full page, i.e. it can be read even more quickly than a one page resume. Then if the reader is interested in knowing more, it's not a bother to read a page and a half more of employment history, educational background, professional associations, etc.
And, if the resume is formatted so that there is sufficient white space and sections are easy to identify and read, the resume has a much better chance of making a professional resume and selling the strong points of the candidate's capabilities.
Ideally, the candidate will have also, through work experience, mentoring, professional development and also coaching, be prepared to make clear statements of purpose, qualifications and intent, that will show up in the resume and that will also be useful in the interview process.
It's worth noting that writing one's own resume is time consuming and difficult even for professional resume writers themselves. It's a very cost effective investment to hire a professional resume writer to help with all of the above.
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On This Page – In This Column:
» What 'Networking Is – And Isn't!'
» Here's the Scoop on How It's Done!
» Two-Minute 'Elevator Pitch' and 30-Second 'Sound-Bite'
» A Value-Added Presentation May Create A Position
» Salary-Compensation Negotiation
What 'Networking Is – And Isn't!'
Career coaching and career research and information expert Donald Asher, wrote the following in Asher's Bible of Executive Resumes about the best kind of networking and how and when to build your career-related network, and after this passage we'll get into what to do if you find yourself needing a network yesterday for what's going on in your work life today:
"… maintain a large network of friends and contacts. Every career book on the market cites the need for this, and this time the cliche is 100 percent true. The point I want to make is that the fast-track careerists I've worked with maintain a large network. They keep their networks going all the time, not just when they need them. They trade stories and information and favors and courtesies with people in other departments, branches, divisions, and companies. They know people up and down the organizational chart, from the biggest bigwigs to the secretaries and supervisors. They generate exposure for themselves in industry organizations and in contacts with vendors, customers, and media, and they leverage that exposure by making business friends wherever they go.… Networking does not mean exploiting ... people with the power to further your ends. Networking … means maintaining a large number of business friends, in town and out of town, in your organization and in other organizations.… This kind of connectedness can save you from career emergencies.… My brother … was attracted to [his] company's promise not to lay off employees [but was layed off after 17 years]. My brother had friends everywhere. He got on the phone and find another position easily.… His contacts were people he valued before he needed them, not because he needed them.".
But what if you know a handful of people, or you have a network and professional support system, but your network isn't being 'productive' of leads or opportunities or offers, the bank account is starting to diminish, and your professional life is crawling in the slow lane or even bumping towards the exit ramp? Here is a brief step-by-step approach to change that and turn it around for the good as quickly as possible:
- Think about the qualities of jobs, organizations, co-workers, work environments, supervisors or bosses, customers or clientele, that you've enjoyed or benefited from the most so far. Find 10 to 25 or even more companies you find intriguing or interesting that you might like to work for, through reading, web surfing, talking to other people, which may have opportunities for you similar to the positions that you liked. Study these companies on the web, review their talk to reference librarians, contact their human resources department to learn of their investment profile, profit and loss, financial and expansion goals, diversity practices, hiring procedures, frequency of hiring, etc. Come up with a core group of five to seven to 10 companies and begin to target those specifically. Keep your eyes and ears open and keep refreshing this list. Keep up with these companies' goals, challenges, growth and change in the business press.
- Identify 10 individuals in the community that intrigue you or might in some way model the professional life you'd like to have for yourself next. Contact them for informational interviews. With each informational interview try to obtain at least one really good idea and at least three additional people to informationally interview.
- Identify individuals who write about your industry, type of job, field of interest, etc. and research to find out what associations they belong to, speak at, consult for, and attend at least introductory meetings of those organizations. Ideally arrange to meet these individuals in particular; they're leader in their organizations and their field, and they're interested in and willing to teach and refer other people to help build their industry and field – and that includes you.
- Have your résumé and cover letter prepared or improved professionally to help you think about what your skills and achievements and career directions truly are. Write informal proposals that state your own professional mission statement, and how you can apply your contributions to improving the bottom line and/or meeting their goals. This may start out very general at first, but you'll be surprised how you'll get sharper and more precise in understanding and articulating what it is you have to offer to any team or organization, and how proactive you'll find yourself becoming in letting key people know about you.
- Let family and friends know what it is you're hoping to do next and ask if they have any ideas, even if just for practice. Go on job interviews, as often as you can, even to jobs you don't really want all that much, for practice. Hire a job interview coach to help you practice. Learn what job interviewing really is and isn't, and how to be as confident as possible talking about your professional objectives with any one. Start conversations with people you meet more indirectly, also, for example, ask your bank manager what she or he really likes about his or her job. Listen to how people talk about their own professional lives, and practice talking also about your own. Be willing to build a new network now, and include people in that network who maybe can't be of help to you immediately, but either you may help them or they may help you at some point in time, even if just with useful information.
- Practice introducing yourself in front of the mirror. Go to meetings and activities, and encourage yourself to speak up just a little past your comfort zone, just a little more than you have in the past. But again, not just to hear yourself speak or to be more assertive, both of which are of value. Rather, to utilize self-expression as a means of hearing yourself declare what it is that matters to you most. Some one, yourself will included, will likely be listening.
- Volunteer for, or join a board of directors of a non-profit, or take a night or evening job, even if just for a change of pace, or to acquire new skills, or experience or cash flow to keep you going while you figure out what's next.
- Give genuine compliments, attaway's, attagirl's and attaboy's to people that intrigue you and that truly value or admire. Find out more about how they achieved what they achieved. Let them also find out something about you, your accomplishments, your challenges, and your goals.
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Here's the Scoop on How It's Done!
The following outline introduces or reviews key points in getting hired. We suggest that you use it as a check list. As this site evolves, there will be more cross linking from these key points to elaborations on other parts of the site. And it always helps to talk to a career coach, who can help you on a personal basis, as you make your way through the maze of options and mysteries that make up this thing we call 'job search':
- Putting in between 20 and 30 hours a week on your job search – any more than that you might burn out, job search is harder than actually working, any less you might lose your pace, but take a short vacation first if you need to do so. Take especially good care of yourself during this time, eat healthy, get out and about, and sleep well at night!
- Allowing yourself some psychological leeway to adjust to change, and for likely going through these kinds of cycles: feeling very motivated, then not motivated, then motivated again, to move forward.
- Very important: take time to review, and appreciate: your accomplishments to date. Here's one way to help you do that: don't compare yourself to how some one else might have done your job … imagine all that would not have happened if you hadn't come to work each day! This will help you recall and list all of your accomplishments. As you grow your list, quantify them in before and after terms as much as possible, in other words, in dollars or percentages, of time or money gained or saved, or other indications of efficiency, management or progress towards organizational goals and management, team and workflow objectives.
- Evaluate and review what matters to you most at this time: money, fame, fortune, prestige, stability, retirement plan and health care and other benefits, time with family, making a quantum leap in education or career, etc., and allow this to change and fluctuate a little right now if it does.
- Do think about how you'd like each day to be at work, and how much it matters to you whether you work in a nice office or outdoors or both, people contact in balance with tasks and projects, routine vs. surprise or innovation, what kinds of people you'd like to have as co-workers, how much you're willing to travel and 'Hidden Job Market' which consists of finding the jobs that have not yet been posted in classifieds or on job boards – plus – where you'd actually like to work! Do not just look for who may be hiring right now, look for companies or organizations where you'd like to invest your energy and your time! You can learn a lot from reading articles related to your chosen field, or new field, talking to reference librarians, checking websites, etc.
- Relating your inner dreams to outer circumstances – allowing yourself to have inner dreams about what you want to be doing, where you want to be doing it, and with whom you want to be doing it! – And then, or also: taking a fair and accurate picture of the current economy, and your current cash flow vs. savings, and considering whether you need to change your role, get more education, or just take it easy for awhile.
- Establishing or reestablishing your sense of purpose, your personal and professional mission statement, without straining at it, and without overdefining or underdefining all that it is you do.
- Your two-minute 'elevator pitch' for phone contacts and self-introductions.
- Your 30-second 'sound-bite' for even briefer self-introductions, such as in introductions to informational interviews.
- Networking, including but not limited to: talking to people who already know you, meeting people who work where you'd like to work, and getting involved with professional associations (and in particular meeting people there who write articles, have been in the profession for a long time, can spot trends, and know people you'll want to meet) and going to job fairs (which sometimes will get you introduced to excellent contacts and at the very least will allow you to get acquainted with companies and practice your own two-minute elevator pitch or 30-second sound-bite), plus: informational interviews, and: specific value-added proposals you may make to organizations where you understand that you could solve problems, save money, and in other ways make a difference!
- Getting around or past or through the gatekeeper bureaucracy.
- Having a support system in place, such as friends, family, a career coach or career counselor, and/or an organization that holds classes and groups and seminars on careers, that encourages you as you make your way step by step.
- Review and practice how to answer questions and also research a company during an actual job interview.
- Learn the in's and out's of salary negotiation, and remember to consider the whole package (opportunities for learning, advancement and professional development; time on the job vs. time off; car allowances; parking privileges; health care such as major medical, doctor visits, dental care, eye care, child care; retirement plans; stock vs. options; work environment; commute; flex time; etc.) – and not just the pay itself.
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Your Two-Minute 'Elevator Pitch'!
Your 30-Second 'Sound-Bite'!
Benefits First, Features Second
Or: What First, Then How, Then Who
Imagine that you're a busy executive, a department manager with seven projects going on at once, a hiring manager with hundreds or thousands of applicants. What do you want to hear from some one who wants to work for you? "I'm a sincere, passionate, hard working individual with X number of years of experience doing various things that might help you?" Or: "I helped save 30% on staffing overhead for a department just like yours and contributed $20,000 a month in new revenues through a combination of networking with my long list of contacts and various cost cutting measures." In one approach you're asking some one very busy to help you. In the other approach you're offering to help them, which obviously will help you also if they take you up on your offer.
After some one has heard the benefits, i.e. what it is you give – then they're more likely to be interested in how you go about giving it and then – what it is about you that allows you to do what you do. You may be a friendly, enthusiastic, dedicated team player, but so are several other people. But not every one who fits that description has also saved 30% here and 20% there and added $XX,000 to the bottom line – in the kind of environment that is directly, or indirectly, like the work environment at WonderCo, Inc. where you're now hoping to submit a formal application. And if your contributions may not be quite that quantifiable in dollars or percentages, still think of how you can offer a before and after picture. How were things better at the end of the day because of your involvement? How did your efforts make life easier for your boss or co-workers or customers or colleagues? What have other people said about you in conversation with you? What have your evaluations noted about your performance?
This is not to say that who you are is not important. Who you are, what makes you unique in your interests and qualities, is of utmost importance. The key here is to find the key. First you unlock the door. Then you go into the room and get to know every one and every one gets to know you. The pass code is: I did this! For some one like you! And I can do it for you! The rest is the part that takes more time, the getting acquainted with each other's quirks and styles and personalities and needs and whims and desires and which tasks you like and which you don't and how much you are routine-oriented or project-oriented or enterprising or creative, etc., etc. But to get acquainted … let them know what you've done for some one like them and that you're available now to do the same for them. Then you've got their attention. Then you've maybe made their load a little lighter. Then there's an opening to talk in more detail.
Maybe you have a couple of minutes to chat, like meeting new people at a professional association meeting. Or maybe you have just seconds to make a first impression, like cold calling a prospective employer's leadership or top management. So it helps to be able to present this same information in two forms: Brief, and Briefer. So career people talk about the 'two-minute' or '30-second' pitch. It can be one minute 42 seconds for one and 37 seconds for the other. What's important is that it's second nature to you. What's important is that you try it out on current or former colleagues, your mirror, your own thought process. Practice, practice, practice. Practice making it polished, then practice making it natural again. If it's honest, it will be genuine, even once you have practiced it. The point in practicing is simply to make sure you've gotten the key points presented in a good sequence. Don't worry if your pitch to Person A is a little different from your pitch to Person B. Hear yourself talk! And you'll get better and better at delivering the most fitting message to each individual. Listen to yourself! You'll learn something. And one other thing: Practice, practice, practice. Oh, we said that.
One legend has it that Aristotle Onassis, who later became a shipping magnate linked romantically with the world's greatest opera singer and then the ex-wife of an American president, started out as a young man in his family's cigar rolling business, and that he flew all the way to somewhere in Latin America and waited for a tobacco plantation executive to appear, then rode with him on an elevator and gave him a brief sales pitch about why his family's business should work together with this large concern. He succeeded and began leveraging a small enterprise into a major enterprise of his own. An 'elevator pitch' is a presentation you make in the time it takes to get from one floor to another in an office building. The other person can ignore you, but they can't leave until it's their floor. So there's a likelihood they'll hear you out. You may even do this on an elevator. Just no stalking, please! It's all done with discretion and dignity, of course. But you can also use the elevator pitch in a sales call (see 'Foot in the Door' section on this page).
How do you know when you've practiced too much or too little? Well, for one thing, it helps to have a coach who can role play this with you, some one who's, here we go – practiced at this sort of thing themselves. What's also true is, you've got your pitch down when it rings true like a bell! When you can go to a party and say, this is what I do, and some one else understands. When you give your pitch to some one who's worked with you and they either say, wow, I didn't realize you'd done all that! or, wow, that's you, yes, that's what you did and that's how you did it, and you said it all so concisely! When you yourself know that, even though the wording and phrasing may vary a little, you've got your fortune cookie message wrapped up and ready. That's when you're done. And guess what happens then? You'll get even better at it.
Don't work yourself too hard: It's like learning to play a musical instrument: practicing an hour or two a day, consistently, is better than knocking yourself out for twelve hours in one day and then having to rest up and forget it all the rest of the week. But then, do you know who's really good to practice with, when you're maybe not entirely ready but you feel two-thirds or three-fourths or four-fifths ready? Call some one who might hire you, but not your top pick. Some one who could be a pretty good match for you in employment, but maybe not ideal. And who knows, they may like what they hear, plus, they may have more to offer you than you anticipated. Trust your instincts. Sometimes you can just sit by the phone with a number in front of you and almost just watch yourself pick up the phone and actually dial a number. Soon, if not already, this too will become second nature to you. Call 415-206-1490 if you have any questions.
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A Value-Added Presentation May
Create a New Position for You
This sort of thing can happen: You find a company you like, you learn about their needs, and you realize you can take care of those needs given half the chance! Sound like a dream? Well it can be. It can also mean more responsibility than ever, but also more fun and glory: You may end up creating a position for yourself in an organization that wasn't even there before. Talk about getting ahead of the crowd before a position gets advertised! It's like being the first actor ever in a starring role in a Broadway play – you get to be the one to define the role!
Once you really get your networking going, and really start researching organizations by following the business section of your newspaper, trade publications, organizational newsletters, websites, etc., you're bound to start understanding one or two or three organizations in particular and begin being able to anticipate what they'll need organizationally to (a) solve problems ranging from overextended commitments to debt to employee relations issues to facilities and equipment problems that need to be resolved, and/or (b) reach goals such as opening new markets, streamlining operations, introducing new products, strengthening customer relations, building new accounts, opening new locations, redesigning existing facilities or sites, or maximizing revenues.
Something that will require at least a one-year commitment, or even better, several years as your attainment of each set of objectives frees you to go to another set of objectives and show achievements in those areas as well.
Recruiters can sometimes help you get time with a decision-maker for this kind of an interview. Letters or phone calls to decision makers can also open doors; be prepared to have a very brief introductory presentation that clearly states your purpose and the kind of outcome you propose to bring about for the organization / division / department.
Your approach to this situation is perhaps more project-oriented than just taking on a title or a job description. In this kind of setting, you secure half an hour of a decision maker's time to present your understanding of the organization's needs, do a reality check on how well you perceive them, and then offer your services as either a consultant or, better yet a full-time employee, manager or executive.
Yet the style of your interviewing in this case, while a little more assertive and proactive, is very similar to that of any other job interview. To find out more, or practice role playing this kind of scenario, call 415-206-1490.
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Salary, Pay, Compensation:
Your Just Reward
What's even better than an ongoing sense of accomplishment, having a great work environment, some one who is very understanding and appreciative that you report to, fabulous co-workers, overall job satisfaction? All of the above, and getting paid!
What's even better than an ongoing sense of accomplishment, having a great work environment, some one who is very understanding and appreciative that you report to, fabulous co-workers, overall job satisfaction? All of the above, and getting paid!
This is the salary calculator, aka the Salary Wizard® at salary.com, which also has good pointers for how to arrive at an agreement with an employer, either a prospective employer or your current employer, on what a job is worth in the job market and the organization's compensational capabilities.
Remember that the paycheck is just part of the overall potential package, and the following are worth considering, if at all available / negotiable, in terms of overall financial value and stress reduction: - Paycheck itself
- Major medical coverage
- Eye and dental care
- Extent coverage also takes care of partner, spouse or other family members
- Vacations, including possible paid time off
- Sick days
- Tuition and training allowances
- Travel allowances
- Car or commute or parking allowances or transportation provided
- Expense accounts to entertain clients and prospects
- Child care
- Parental leave
- If you're really fortunate, gyms, spas, pools, personal trainers, massage on site, nearby or paid for
- Casual dress days
- Flex time
- Telecommuting
Knowing the value of the contribution the job calls for is always a prerequesite to salary negotiation, and for professional positions pay is not typically discussed until a second interview. If it comes up in a first interview, treat it as a test (as it may be) of your ability to be gracious: "While the compensation is an important and attractive topic, I'm sure I can discuss this more intelligently once I know more about the position" is one example of a diplomatic response if the interviewer brings up pay in the first interview.
An elegant, concise, highly recommended book on the topic of salary negotiation that is very popular among professional résumé writers, career coaches and recruiters, is Jack Chapman's Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute – which refers to the minutes in which you negotiate.
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