31
Dec

A Day In the Life of A Successful Job Seeker

When I asked for input on what to write about in this blog I received the following request from Doug:

“I would be interested in hearing about effective uses of time when you are looking for work. How much time should be spent on internet search engines, linkedin, attending network marketing meetings, having one-on-one network meetings, time spend with an accountability partner, exercising, prayer/meditation, time spent not working on the job search (I feel guilty doing this), volunteering, or other valuable uses of time. Alternately, what are poor uses of time. As I go through this process, I have been advised to do everything and say a yes to everything.”

This is a GREAT question Doug, I’m glad you asked it. Let me take a shot at answering it. . .

Going through the job search process is challenging. Because it’s so new to most of us, choosing how to spend out time each day/week/month can be confusing. On top of the confusion there are several pressing issues, such as:

our husband/wife wondering when we will find a job and asking us daily what we did to accomplish that goal.
our own feelings of self worth (or lack thereof) — let’s be honest, in our culture one of the first questions asked when we meet a new person is, “What do you do?” If we “don’t” then how do we answer that question?
advice from everyone and their brother as to how we should navigate this time – “go to everything you can” “put this on your resume” “don’t put that on your resume” “always wear a tie when you leave the house” “don’t dress to formal or people will know you are unemployed” and so on.
a feeling that sometimes we just want to curl up in bed and avoid the whole thing.
a desire to make the most of this time with family and friends — “After all, I have a lot more free time now that I don’t have work getting in the way. So why do I feel guilty when I’m out enjoying myself with the kids?”

As someone who has helped hundreds of people successfully navigate unemployment and career transition this past year, let me share with you some of what I see to be most effective uses of your time in this process.

Don’t bother spending more than about 30 hours per week in the job search. There are physical, social and psychological effects of being on a job search that make it unproductive for us when we go past 30 hours per week. I know you are supposed to consider your job search to be a “full time job”, so for our purposes let’s consider 30 hours to be “full time.”
Spend some at least 20 minutes EVERY DAY doing some form of physical exercise. Go for a walk. Go go the gym. Play with your kids on the jungle gym. Exercise is good for clearing out the brain and increasing energy.
Don’t spend more than 37 minutes per day on the computer. Likewise, DON’T go online during daylight hours. Think about it, if 80% of jobs are found through some form of networking, then you should spend at least 80% of your time networking. The internet will be there when you get home, after everyone is in bed. Heck, you are probably going to be awake at 3:00 this morning anyway. If you spend the whole day online, what will you have to do when you wake up in the middle of the night?
Have a networking strategy and stick to your plan. This is tricky, because your plan should evolve as you progress in your job search. I would recommend that early on in your search you attend lots of events where other job seekers hang out. These are great places to meet new people, develop and practice your elevator pitch, and get some support. However, within 6-8 weeks you want to begin moving AWAY from those kinds of events to places where potential employers and people close to potential employers hang out. The former of these events will usually be free. The latter may cost you something. That’s why you want to work out the bugs in your verbal and printed “brand image” in the early stages of your job search. And yes, Doug, this means you will say no to some things. You want to be strategic!
An accountability partner is a great idea! Plan to check in once a week for at least an hour. Take notes and hold each other accountable for goals set at the previous meeting. Choose wisely. To be successful at this you need to choose someone who will kick your butt — not be your friend.

Some of the activities that have proven to be the worst use of time for job seekers include:

Spending time on the Internet job boards – less than 6% of all available jobs are posted on these boards. If you were digging for gold, wouldn’t you want to spend your time in a place where other people have found gold rather than someplace where the prospects for finding gold are shallow? Well guess what. . . you ARE digging for gold! The best place to find it is through your network of friends and colleagues.
Writing/revising your resume (or your LinkedIn profile. Or your Visual CV. . . ). Yeah, I know, you NEED a resume. It needs to be polished and professional. However, your resume is a dynamic, living document. It will need to be revised continuously throughout your career. Work on it a little at a time and track your improvement. Besides, YOU are your best resume, so get out there and show people what you have to offer!
Simultaneously, paying someone to write your resume for you is a huge waste of both time and money – unless you are a high level executive commanding a 7 figure salary. If you feel the need to pay someone, pay them to coach you how to write a quality resume. You are going to go through the job search process again in the future, so this is a skill that is worth learning as best you can! Besides, the tools you use to write a resume will be extremely helpful in interviews, and it’s pretty tough to get a professional resume writer to go with you to an interview!

This is just a beginning list of how to structure your job search efforts. The key is to have a strategic plan with specific goals that you can track and measure each day/week. We have more resources on this topic inside the Careers 2.0 membership site. The Basic Membership is free, so sign up and take a look!

Thanks for asking Doug!

How about the rest of you? What would YOU like to read about in this blog?

Top 10 Networking Tips For Job Seekers

Posted by Scott none (0) Comment

In the spirit of Late Night with David Letterman, here is my Top 10 List for Job Seekers.

10) Get out of the house. Hey, you can’t effectively conduct a job search from your home office. Get away from the computer and go talk to somebody. Now! (Do that often enough and you won’t need to read the rest of this top 10 list.)

9) Remember, networking is NOT about YOU! Click here to read more about the importance of focusing on the other person in your networking activities.

Shine your shoes. Even if you are just running to the 7-11 for a Slurpee, you want to dress like a professional. You never know who you are going to meet when you are out.

7) Have a great elevator pitch. (If you aren’t sure what that is or how to get one, check out “Jim Nudelman’s 4 Step Process for Writing an Elevator Pitch.”

6) Have plenty of Business Cards / Contact Cards on hand.

5) Be memorable, and I mean this in a good way! One guy always wears a red sweater to these events. Then, when he contacts someone later he says, “I’m the guy in the red sweater you met last week at the networking meeting.” He’s pretty hard to forget!

4) Check your teeth before you leave the house. You don’t want some yucky-green thing stuck between your teeth! Bad first impression! (see #8)

3) Spend at least 90% of your time at a networking event listening and asking questions. Remember #9, networking is NOT about YOU.

2) Go where the action is. Lots of job seekers hang out in groups with other job seekers. While that’s a good place to start and practice your elevator pitch, sooner or later you need to show up someplace where people who would hire you hang out.

and the number 1 tip for job seekers is . . . .

1) Have fun! My good friend Cleon Cox III leads a job finder’s support group. His motto is, “Have fun, meet people, and learn something.” I agree!

How To Write a Professional Summary Statement for Your Resume

Posted by Sean Harry (0) Comment

You will only have about 8 seconds to get the attention of the person reading your resume. That’s nearly impossible, UNLESS you have a clear and concise Professional Summary Statement. Here are some tips for writing that concise Professional Summary:

You Professional Summary needs to be built around your own personal brand. What do people think about when they hear your name? What do you WANT them to think? Tom Peters has written the classic article on ‘Brand You’ — and you can find it at Fast Company (here).
Keep it short — 10-15 words is best. At MOST it should be only 2 sentences. You want the reader to know what you can do for them — without putting you in a box. Your goal for the Professional Summary is to get them to read the rest of the resume. Period.
Don’t put yourself in a box — don’t use a title unless you are applying for a specific job. Think about what you do for a company. What kind of ROI (Return on Investment) will their organization get from hiring you? If you say, “Accountant” they will put you in the “Accountant” box in their mind. If you say “Save a company money by organizing key financial data” they will actually want to read on.
Get them to read further and make EVERYTHING on the rest of the resume point to your Professional Summary. If you have done things in your past that don’t relate to your summary, you probably want to leave them off. The resume should be a FOCUSED document.
Remember that the point of the Resume is to get an interview. The Professional Summary should get them to read the resume, so that they will want to interview you.

With only 8 seconds to grab the attention of your potential employer, you better have a clear Professional Summary. A good Summary will help them see that you are a person they want to learn more about. . . and ultimately that’s what it takes to get the job!

Need more? If you want some samples of professional resume summary’s please shoot me an email – info@orcms.com

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Category : Career Advice | Resume Advice | Blog

28
Dec

How To Nail The Job Interview

Posted by Sean Harry (0) Comment

In the Careers 2.0 job search process we compare the job search to the work of the sales and marketing professional. This new and powerful model for job seekers may a bit unusual but it really works! In our model your resume is part of your marketing packet, and the interviews are where you proceed through the 5 steps of the sales process to make the sale. In this article we take an in-depth look at the interview from the perspective of a professional sales person. Granted, this approach will be uncomfortable for those of you who aren’t used to selling. You may not like this approach. You may not even choose to use this approach. However, I encourage you to take a serious look at it and see what you can learn from a pro about making this very important sale – YOURSELF.

There are many sales models out there, and professional sales people will argue over the effectiveness of their preferred choice. However, they all boil down to a few simple steps that, when followed, will help turn a prospect into a buyer. The five steps I see most often are:

Identify needs (or problems)
Qualify buyers
Present solutions
Handle objections
Close the sale

1) Identify Needs. The needs identification process begins before you write your resume. You want to have a clear understanding of what you have to offer and a specific knowledge of who needs it. In the Careers 2.0 process this is step I and II – Assessment and Research. You want to make this step as precise as possible. Every good sales person will tell you that knowing your target audience is key to making the sale. You don’t want to waste your time (or theirs) talking to people who don’t have need of your product or services. When you identify the needs or problems of your prospective employer you can prepare your interview questions and answers to demonstrate why you are the perfect candidate.

2) Qualify Buyers. If you are selling cars, it is vitally important to know if you are talking to someone who is a serious buyer or just a “tire kicker.” Likewise, in the job interview, you want to determine as quickly as possible if the person with whom you are meeting has the ability to make the hiring decision or if they are just trying to make a list to send up the food chain. There are different tactics for each of these situations, and all of them equates to “making the sale.” However, the “sale” in each instance may be different. In the interview process, “making the sale” equates to getting a job offer when you are meeting with someone who has hiring authority. In all other cases “making the sale” means “getting the next interview.” (For a deeper explanation of different types of interviews see “The Art Of Interviewing To Land Your Perfect Job”)

3) Present Solutions. The most often and effective sales technique used by sales professionals combines asking questions with making a specific sales pitch. You want to make certain that the prospect is engaged with you and still wants or needs your services. To do that you will ask questions that help you identify/magnify the pain and simultaneously check to see if the prospect is still willing and able to buy. In an interview you will most likely not be the one to ask the bulk of the questions. However, a good job candidate will listen carefully, ask probing questions, and present her answers so as to address the specific problems that the interviewer has. This takes skill and practice! We aren’t used to listening actively in our culture. But it’s a skill you had better learn and practice if you want the job. You can be certain that your most qualified competition has taken the time to learn how to listen and ask deep, probing questions.

4) Handle Objections. This is where you have an opportunity to show your prospective employer why you are uniquely suited for the position. If you have done a good job of steps 1 – 3, you will know ahead of time what objections might come up. They typically fall into 2 categories: a) experience and b) personality.

Experience. Be aware that these objections may be left unspoken, so you will have to utilize your experience and intuition to know they exist. The best way to overcome the experience objection is to come back to the needs the employer has addressed and highlight your ability to help fill their needs. Use your quantified CARS statements to show specifically how you have dealt with this issue in your past.
For personality objections, you will want to help the interviewer envision you in the position. They want to know how well you will work with a team, how you will interact with leadership, and how well your personality fits with the corporate culture. The best way to let them know this is to ask direct questions about the company, culture, and co-workers. It’s important that you feel a good fit as well, otherwise you will be at this job search again rather soon.

5) Close the Sale. Sales professionals have a variety of “closing techniques” in their sales quiver. These techniques have funny names like “the which close,” “the trial close,” “the take away,” and even “the red dress close.” Honestly, in my opinion, most of these techniques give sales people a bad name (can you say, “used car salesman?”). I recommend that most job seekers refrain from the use of such techniques. There are, however, some softer closing techniques that will help you move forward in the interview process. I recommend the following 3 step approach. This is what I call “the job interview soft close.”

Clarify with the interviewer that you have adequately addressed all of their needs, concerns and objections. Some good questions to use here include: “have I adequately addressed all of your concerns?” and “How do you feel my experience and qualifications meet your needs for this position?”
Ask for the “sale.” Every sales trainer I know says that most sales are lost because the sales person did not ask for the sale. One way to do this (softly) is by asking, “What are the next steps in this process?” This indicates your willingness to move forward and will give the interviewer an opportunity to end the interview process if it’s not going anywhere. You could also ask, “After reviewing my qualifications, how well do you see me fitting into this position?”
Get a firm commitment for following up. If the interviewer tells you he will call you next week, say, “Which day? I’ve got several engagements next week and I want to be sure to block out some time for you.” If they give you a day, ask what time. Ask if it is ok to check back with them directly in 3 days to see where they are in the decision making process. Get a direct phone number to call. Set a firm date and time and don’t forget to make the call at exactly that time. Treat that follow up call in the same way you did the face-to-face interview – which means you need to dress in business clothes and call from a quiet location, etc.

For more help on nailing the job interview be sure to sign up for email updates. If you need more assistance with your job search consider checking out my book, “Career Crossroads” (affiliate link).

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27
Dec

101 Job Interview Questions

Posted by Sean Harry (5) Comment

Today’s post is a list of 101 interview questions that are typical of any job interview. I wanted to get this list out today, and plan on developing answers (or a methodology for developing answers) in the months to come. For now, you should familiarize yourself with these questions as they WILL be asked on your next interview.

101 Job Interview Questions

Why should I hire you?
What makes you the best candidate for this job?
Tell me about yourself.
Why did you leave your last job?
Why do you want to leave your current position?
How did you get along with your previous boss?
How did you get along with your previous co-workers?
What bugged you most about your last boss?
Why do you want to work for this company?
What do you think this position entails?
What are your career goals for the future?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
How will you compensate for that weakness in this position?
Do you have any personal blind spots that effect you at work/
If you were hiring for this position, what would you look for in a candidate?
What is your experience in this area?
What kind of experience do you have in this industry?
What makes you qualified to do this job?
What is your educational background as it relates to this position?
Where did you go to school?
What did you study?
How does that fit with the requirements of this job?
What are you previous job experiences as they relate to this position?
What do you expect from us?
What kind of salary are you looking for?
What kind of benefits do you expect?
How do you handle a heavy case load?
What do you do when you disagree with your boss?
How do you handle stress on the job?
Tell me about your organizational skills.
How well do you multi-task?
What is your goal for what you want to get out of this position?
How much do you know about this organization?
How do you keep yourself up on the latest activities in your field?
What makes you feel successful?
Do you consider yourself to be successful?
How much did you make at your last job?
Are you applying for other jobs?
1. Which ones?
What kind of a team player are you?
Do you know anyone else who works here?
Have you ever been fired?
Have you ever had to fire anyone?
If we hire you how long do you expect to work here?
What are your short-term goals?
What are your long-range goals and objectives?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What do you hope to be doing in ten years?
Do you have a geographic preference?
Are you able to travel abroad if the position requires it?
What irritates you most about co-workers
What has disappointed you about a job?
What is more important to you, the money or the work?
What motivates you to do your best work?
What is your willingness/ability to work overtime?
1. Nights?
2. Weekends?
What is your management style?
How do you handle rejection?
What was the best job you ever had?
1. Why?
What was the worst job you ever had?
1. Why?
What questions do you have for me?
What questions do you have about this company?
What questions do you have about this position?
Are you more energized by working with people or by collecting and interpreting data?
How well do you handle monotonous tasks?
How well do you handle creative tasks?

Illegal questions. (If these questions are asked in an interview the interviewer is violating federal employment law!)

How old are you?
What year were you born?
In what year did you graduate from college/high school?
Are you married or do you have a permanent partner?
With whom do you live?
How many children do you have?
Are you pregnant?
Do you expect to become have a family?
How many children do you have?
What are your childcare arrangements?
Where were you/your parents born?
What is your native language?
What is your country of citizenship?
Are you a US citizen?
Have you ever been arrested?
What clubs or social organizations do you belong to? Do you go to church?
ANY question relating to race, color or religion is illegal.

O.k. I know there are only 87 questions here. Why don’t you add your question in the comment section?

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Category : Career Advice | Job Interviews / Interviewing | Blog

26
Dec

How Effective Is Your Resume?

Posted by Sean Harry (2) Comment

As a job seeker, you have a resume and you send it to every possible job opening you can find. You make sure every recruiter in town has at least one copy on her desk. It’s posted in 6 places on Monster.com and 4 places on CareerBuilder.com. You hand it out like those guys hocking strip-show fliers on 5th Avenue in New York City. You even sent one to your best friend’s mother, simply because she seems to know everybody! But how effective is your resume, really?

Are you getting the results you want from it? Are you getting enough interviews? Do you even KNOW what “good results” would look like?

Have no fear, my friends, we are here to take the pain and confusion out of writing an effective resume. Here’s the inside scoop on getting the most out of your resume:

Define expected results. The first thing you need to do is determine what purpose your resume will play in your job search efforts. Do you want to use it to get a foot in the door? Do you want it to help you “close the sale?” Or, do you want your resume to simply be something that your prospective employer has in their hands to help them rest assured that they have made the right decision by hiring you? Any of these are legitimate uses for a resume, but you need to know how yo intend to use this important document in order to be able to craft it to effectively achieve your goals.
Begin with a clear Professional Summary. If you are lucky you will get 8 seconds worth of attention from the person reading your resume. You have got to grab their attention so they will read further. A banal, boring, or uninteresting summary will send them on to the next person. I see way too many resume’s that begin with some kind of “objective statement” to the effect, “desire a challenging career that utilizes my strengths.” BFD. I bet the hiring manager who reads this will get 500 or more with the same objective. What in that statement will make you stand out from the others? More importantly, what do you have to offer a potential employer? Your resume is a marketing tool similar to a newspaper ad. If you want to grab the attention of the reader you’ve got to have a compelling headline. Otherwise, they will move on to the next one without giving you a second thought.
Give proof. Once you have their attention you need to back up your statement with credible, verifiable results to prove that you are capable of doing what you say you can do. Use CAR Statements in the body of your resume to demonstrate your capabilities. Don’t just state responsibilities. Give specific examples of how your actions have helped previous employers make or save money. For example, every Office Manager could put on their resume that they “order, organize and monitor office supply cabinet.” Big deal. Nothing in that statement would be enough to get you an interview. Just think of what might happen if, instead, you put down something like: “saved previous employer $12,000 per year by developing a process to effectively order and manage office supplies.” I can tell you what happened, because one of my clients put that on her resume and got several interviews because of it. Show “proof” and you will stand out from the competition.
Develop an effective follow up strategy. You probably have figured out that using a shotgun approach in your job search is not very effective. It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but a narrowly focused, laser-beam strategy will produce much better results. If you don’t have a strategy for your job search you may want to check out the Careers 2.0 ARMS process. It has helped hundreds of other job seekers find their perfect job in half the time, and Basic Membership is free!

If you aren’t seeing the results you want from your current resume, perhaps it’s time to try something different. These 4 tips have been time tested and will definitely produce results, I guarantee it!

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25
Dec

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Posted by Sean Harry (0) Comment

Merry Christmas one and all.

No matter what your spiritual inclinations (Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, Atheist. . . ) or none, take the day to re-connect with family and friends. Let them know how valuable their presence is in your life.

Your job is just a job – a way of financing the important things in your life. You are NOT your job. Please take time today to focus on the rest of your life and what’s really important: peace, love, relationship, and spiritual well-being.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 25. Tomorrow’s post: “How Effective Is Your Resume?”

Category : Vocation | Blog

24
Dec

Interviewing Tips – a Video Montage

Posted by Sean Harry (2) Comment

Your job search is a tough process. Perhaps it’s time for a little comedy relief. These videos all poke fun at the job interview. Best of all, they will show you what NOT to do!

Have you ever felt like THIS in a job interview?

This one is my favorite. Definitely outside-of-the-box thinking.

This guys pretty much does EVERYTHING wrong! Don’t do ANY of these things and your interview should go well.

Happy Hunting folks!

Job Interviews / Interviewing Related Posts

Category : Career Advice | Job Interviews / Interviewing | Job Search Tips | Blog

23
Dec

The Art of Interviewing to Land Your Perfect Job

Posted by Sean Harry (1) Comment

“If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.” Sun-Tsu, The Art of War

24 centuries ago Sun-tzu taught his generals that winning involves two things: knowledge of one’s self and knowledge of one’s opponent. This advice is still true today — especially for job seekers going on an interview. (I know the interviewer is not your “opponent” per se, but you must admit that sometimes it feels that way!) Understanding who you are interviewing with and what their objectives are for a particular interview will give you a leg up on your real competition . . . other candidates for the job.

In today’s post I outline the 5 basic types of job interviews in which you, as a job seeker, will participate. It’s important to know what your interviewer (i.e. your “opponent”) wants to get out of the interview, so you can move on to the next step where the position and salary are finally negotiated.

1) Phone Screening

Formal interview to see if you match “the description”
Often by phone
Usually conducted by internal recruiters or HR