Friday, April 27, 2007
Job Search Blunders That Sabotage Offers
A well-planned, strategic job history is not taught in school. I have yet to see a candidate with a Bachelor of Science in Job Search or a Master of Arts in Career Management. Ironically one can get an education in so many vocations that choosing a major is much like facing a menu with too many selections. Selecting a generic or even a job-specific major, many graduates leave campus without a clue about what job to pursue or where to even begin, and throughout their lifetimes, since the rules keep changing, no one but seasoned experts seem to possess the answers to state of the art job search.
What follows are some of today's most common blunders:
Limiting Options or Unrealistic Career Expectations- On all levels, workers are defined by the functions they perform, i.e., sales, accounting, profit center management, chief executive officer and the environments in which they are performed, i.e. advertising, manufacturing, public accounting, retail. Too often candidates are either arbitrary about what they are willing to envision as their next job or they believe they can take their experience into totally uncharted waters and expect the same six-figure income to which they had truly been entitled in familiar work assignments. The enlightened candidate falls somewhere in the middle. The best net results occur to he who "rides the wave" on past success, recognizing and demonstrating those transitional skills that will be of value in different environments or when performing new functions.
Dealing With Negative Baggage - As we finally reach an improved economy with an encouraging job market the likes of which we haven't seen for years, we would be well served to pay tribute to the casualties of hard times. Much like war veterans with battle scars, many are returning from extended unemployment and others, through demotions, loss of retirement and the constant threat of layoffs have been emotionally affected. Have no doubt that the best candidate will kill all hopes of a job offer if any bitterness or negativity about his rough road comes to the surface. We all traveled that same road and employers are starved for survivors sustained with spirit and turned off by perceived negativity.
Poor Display of Market Value and Lack of Direction - Successfully performing this exercise is at the heart of securing the job offer. Anything less than a stellar demonstration of direct net worth and specific motives for wanting to join a company results in no sale. But unsuccessful candidates continue to believe that mere qualifications and savvy responses to interviewer questions will surely seal the deal. Candidates need to remember that they are packaged products for purchase who, unlike traditionally merchandised inventory, have the opportunity to verbally sell themselves by the way they connect their achievements to their prospective employer's needs.
Overkill in Follow-Up - I tend to determine the best approach based on the temperament of hiring authorities and then I look back at each success and analyze what actually happened that resulted in a job offer. From case studies I find that chasing an employer too hard can make a candidate look desperate. Nothing succeeds better than a stellar, unforgettable first/second/final interview. My clients are taught to leave their fingerprints of potential value indelibly tattooed on the minds of their interviewers, to follow-up gently once and then to back-off. There is something almost provocative about "seducing" an employer initially only to leave him to continue the chase. The savvy candidate surpasses and then moves on to impress again.... initiating as many potential opportunities as possible.
What follows are some of today's most common blunders:
Limiting Options or Unrealistic Career Expectations- On all levels, workers are defined by the functions they perform, i.e., sales, accounting, profit center management, chief executive officer and the environments in which they are performed, i.e. advertising, manufacturing, public accounting, retail. Too often candidates are either arbitrary about what they are willing to envision as their next job or they believe they can take their experience into totally uncharted waters and expect the same six-figure income to which they had truly been entitled in familiar work assignments. The enlightened candidate falls somewhere in the middle. The best net results occur to he who "rides the wave" on past success, recognizing and demonstrating those transitional skills that will be of value in different environments or when performing new functions.
Dealing With Negative Baggage - As we finally reach an improved economy with an encouraging job market the likes of which we haven't seen for years, we would be well served to pay tribute to the casualties of hard times. Much like war veterans with battle scars, many are returning from extended unemployment and others, through demotions, loss of retirement and the constant threat of layoffs have been emotionally affected. Have no doubt that the best candidate will kill all hopes of a job offer if any bitterness or negativity about his rough road comes to the surface. We all traveled that same road and employers are starved for survivors sustained with spirit and turned off by perceived negativity.
Poor Display of Market Value and Lack of Direction - Successfully performing this exercise is at the heart of securing the job offer. Anything less than a stellar demonstration of direct net worth and specific motives for wanting to join a company results in no sale. But unsuccessful candidates continue to believe that mere qualifications and savvy responses to interviewer questions will surely seal the deal. Candidates need to remember that they are packaged products for purchase who, unlike traditionally merchandised inventory, have the opportunity to verbally sell themselves by the way they connect their achievements to their prospective employer's needs.
Overkill in Follow-Up - I tend to determine the best approach based on the temperament of hiring authorities and then I look back at each success and analyze what actually happened that resulted in a job offer. From case studies I find that chasing an employer too hard can make a candidate look desperate. Nothing succeeds better than a stellar, unforgettable first/second/final interview. My clients are taught to leave their fingerprints of potential value indelibly tattooed on the minds of their interviewers, to follow-up gently once and then to back-off. There is something almost provocative about "seducing" an employer initially only to leave him to continue the chase. The savvy candidate surpasses and then moves on to impress again.... initiating as many potential opportunities as possible.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Are You A Headless Candidate?
Now that I've got your attention and you've returned from the mirror relieved, don't lose the visual quite yet. Imagine yourself downtown on the busiest intersection in your city's business district. Certainly you will notice strong sense of business fashion and walk of authority on the streets. Now try to imagine all these folks headless, no injuries, just headless suits or business casual with briefcases, laptops, cell phones and palm pilots walking the streets as if nothing were amiss.
Lest you think I'm an obsessive Beetlejuice fan, there are two important points to be made from my observation. Especially in job search our heads are supposed to run the show, consider all options and make intelligent decisions. We can survive in life without other body parts but not without our heads! Hands don't really make wise decisions and neither do feet. Thus the saying, "use your head!" Secondly the head with its eyes, facial expressions and word power provides the most effective way to send your message. And those precious ears are situated right up there.
Wait a minute! This is ridiculous. Are there really any headless candidates? You bet! And they don't get hired and they don't know why. Here's what they have in common:
Headless Resume - What appears under your name address and phone number - a job history?Your education? If so, without a headline objective, you have a headless resume. Although you are probably afraid to commit to the type of position you seek because you anticipate it limiting your options, the employer has no clue who you are or why you showed up on his desk. Put an identifier up there, i.e., Senior-Level Manager at least introduces you.
Headless Cover Letter - Most truly are. They do no more than introduce, summarize and request. Here's a great tip. Compose your introduction (who you are) and after summarizing what you've got in education and experience in the next paragraph, split the middle of the page and do a side-by-side comparison of their specifications and your qualifications to prove your compatibility. It will draw the reader's eye and will provide point-by-point substantiation. You have to have a cover letter anyway. Why not score points with it?
Headless Search Strategy - What are you doing to get hired, anyway? I very seldom hear a client say, I'm going to send my resume to every plastics manufacturer in the country. I want to go into pharmaceutical sales so I'm going to get a directory and every sales manager is going to have my resume in his possession. The headless candidate's strategy contains statements like, "I'll get a headhunter to find me a job," or "I'll find something on a job site." No strategy, no methodology, no results - headless.
Print this article and post it on your mirror so that the next time you comb your hair you will remember to make sure that great smile is more than an optical illusion. Listen more carefully to your colleagues in the workplace and the next time you walk through the center of the business district you'll know that many of those on the street are headless. Believe me, I guarantee it!
Lest you think I'm an obsessive Beetlejuice fan, there are two important points to be made from my observation. Especially in job search our heads are supposed to run the show, consider all options and make intelligent decisions. We can survive in life without other body parts but not without our heads! Hands don't really make wise decisions and neither do feet. Thus the saying, "use your head!" Secondly the head with its eyes, facial expressions and word power provides the most effective way to send your message. And those precious ears are situated right up there.
Wait a minute! This is ridiculous. Are there really any headless candidates? You bet! And they don't get hired and they don't know why. Here's what they have in common:
Headless Resume - What appears under your name address and phone number - a job history?Your education? If so, without a headline objective, you have a headless resume. Although you are probably afraid to commit to the type of position you seek because you anticipate it limiting your options, the employer has no clue who you are or why you showed up on his desk. Put an identifier up there, i.e., Senior-Level Manager at least introduces you.
Headless Cover Letter - Most truly are. They do no more than introduce, summarize and request. Here's a great tip. Compose your introduction (who you are) and after summarizing what you've got in education and experience in the next paragraph, split the middle of the page and do a side-by-side comparison of their specifications and your qualifications to prove your compatibility. It will draw the reader's eye and will provide point-by-point substantiation. You have to have a cover letter anyway. Why not score points with it?
Headless Search Strategy - What are you doing to get hired, anyway? I very seldom hear a client say, I'm going to send my resume to every plastics manufacturer in the country. I want to go into pharmaceutical sales so I'm going to get a directory and every sales manager is going to have my resume in his possession. The headless candidate's strategy contains statements like, "I'll get a headhunter to find me a job," or "I'll find something on a job site." No strategy, no methodology, no results - headless.
Print this article and post it on your mirror so that the next time you comb your hair you will remember to make sure that great smile is more than an optical illusion. Listen more carefully to your colleagues in the workplace and the next time you walk through the center of the business district you'll know that many of those on the street are headless. Believe me, I guarantee it!
