Category: Charting Your Career for Success

A great way to get a job is through a friend.  This approach gives you an inside track on a job.  You start with a personal connection.

Another excellent source of finding jobs is through former supervisors and coworkers.  These people know your skills and your work history.  They can recommend you base on their knowledge of your work experience.

Should you contact recruiters?  Well, that depends on whether you can find a recruiter who has valuable contacts in your specialty.  Before you contact recruiters, check out their profile on LinkedIn.  Go to the recruiter’s website.  Most recruiters list their website on LinkedIn.  You can very likely find a recruiters profile and website through an Internet search.

Find the name and contact information on hiring managers.  Contact these people directly.  You will have better success through direct contact through direct contact than you will have through sending your resume through the company Internet resume bin.

Are job boards useful?  In some industries, job boards and job search engines are very helpful.  I have spoken with people conducting a job search who found job boards job search engines a waste of time.  However, in some industries, great companies rely heavily on job boards.

Keep your job search fresh through these simple but effective steps.

1. Constantly review your goals.

As you go through your job search, you will learn more about the opportunities you have set as goals for your career search.  You will learn which companies offer opportunity and which companies are a waste of time.  You will discover new opportunities that you will want to pursue.  Stay flexible and adjust your goals.

2. Adjust your marketing plan to fit your goals.

You will get feedback on your resume, emails, and follow-up process.  You will learn when and where to use telephone marketing.  You will learn better ways to get interviews with companies.  Follow up on resumes and interviews to keep the communications flowing between you and the hiring company.  Stay flexible and respond to the new things that you learn.

3. Schedule and track you activity on a calendar.

Always list appointments and the things you need to do on a calendar.  Review your calendar every day.  Move the things that you did not complete forward on your calendar.  Urgently act on the things you have put on your calendar.  These things are the steps that will help you reach your career goals.  Do note delete completed activities.  Mark them as completed.  This method will enable you to analyze what things that work and what things do not work.  Your analysis can help you make your strategies more effective.  Summarize results.  Add new activities as you go forward in your search.4. Dig deeply into opportunities.

Once you learn about a promising opportunity, dig deeply into what you need to do to get an interview.  Find out the name and contact information of the key managers in the company.  Network with those people or with people who can help you connect with those people.

5. Ask questions as you speak with people.

Your direct contacts are often your best source of information.  Ask them who is hiring.  Ask them for names of contacts.  Ask them for the contact information of the people and companies.  Ask them if they can get you an interview with a company.  If a person has effective relationships in a company, ask the person to give you recommendations and introductions.  Work your network to connect with anyone in a company who might you help you understand the company and what it is like to work for the company.

6. Practice life-work balance to keep your job search fresh.

A job search certainly takes weeks.  It may take months.  Schedule breaks, entertainment, family time, and exercise.  Taking care of yourself physically and mentally is as important part of your job search.  This type of in-depth management will help you become more effective in your career and your personal life.

Post-Interview Letter: Follow up the interview with a letter that will get you the job.

Often people pay little attention to sending a thank you note to the person who interview them.  If you are not sending thank you notes and not getting invited back for an interview, there may be a connection between the two.

It is courteous to send a follow-up note to anyone who has spent time helping you with your career or with your career change. I have seen instances in which hiring managers have decided to pass on an applicant who had not followed up with any type of post-interview correspondence.

Some people recommend sending a handwritten letter. I have not seen a handwritten note in a few years. The problem with using paper to send your note is that most hiring managers are set up to use electronic mail and filing.

I see people attaching a letter to an email. Sending a letter as an attachment is kind of like gift-wrapping a gift-wrapped box of fancy candies. The extra gift-wrap is somewhat redundant and a bit inconvenient, since the candy is already in a gift-wrapped box. So trying to create more attractive formatting by using an email attachment for a follow-up letter may just in fact just be inconveniencing the recipient: an email is mail.

Attachments do have their purpose, but I see them more commonly for resumes, contracts, and presentations. The email content serves as the cover letter for the attachments. You might want to consider sending examples of your work as attachments to your thank-you note.

Whatever method you choose for your post-interview correspondence, you want to make four points.

Express your appreciation for the time and interest the person has shown you.
Express your desire to get the job.
Summarize the skills that you have which will enable you to contribute right away.
Create a call to action:  for example, ask when you can reconnect.

SAMPLE FOLLOW-UP LETTER

Your information

Street address
City, state, zip
Phone number
Email address

Date

Contact’s information

Name, titles
Company name
Street address
City, state, zip
Phone number
Email address

Dear Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss

Subject: (optional)

It was fantastic to speak with you on Tuesday about the Name of the Position at Name of the Company.

I really want this job.

You did a great job explaining the responsibilities of Name of Position.  I have attached examples of work that I have done that show my experience in these areas of responsibility.

1. A presentation I gave to XYZ Company from raw data
2. A presentation that I created and have tailored for team members to present to their clients
3. A presentation featuring tables and graphs that show my graphic presentation skills and my ability to give attention to detail

For the past six years I have taken raw data based on product categories and consumer demographics, consumer conversions, repeat sales, new product-introductions, and even raw data from shipments and used the facts to create executive-level presentations for multiple teams in different departments.

As you and I discussed, I will call on Thursday.

Best regards,

Handwritten signature

Typed signature

5 Elements of a Career Change: Below are common tools and suggestions others have found helpful in making an effective career move.

Suggestions on writing a resume

Here is what you put into a resume and the order in which you put this information.  If you replace this
information with your information, you will have written a resume.

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Rule 1: Never refer to yourself in the third person in the body of the resume.
Rule 2: Use factual accomplishments and not subjective opinions of yourself.

• Example of a fact:  exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%
• Examples of opinion; goal-oriented, creative, tenacious, strategic, honest, loyal:  For a person to
  use adjectives about themselves puts human resource people to sleep

Objective:  This is optional and often redundant.  Your resume has the objective of
getting you interviews with an employer who sees a match in your location, your compensation, and your
experience and that employer’s needs.  It is conventional to state an objective here but you can probably
find a better use for the space.

Employment History (Most recent job first)

Company Name, Location, and Period of Employment (From to)
Most recent title:

• Use bullet format.
• List things you have accomplished.
• Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
• List things that showed you made a difference.
• Include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity,
  etc.
• Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
• List successes with specific industry words or functions.
• Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.
  g, Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market
  Insights, Innovation), etc.

Next List Previous Titles at this company and again bullets on successes:

• List your have accomplishments.
• Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
• List things that showed you made a difference.
• Things you have accomplished include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity, etc.
• Companies and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
• Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market
  Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

Education goes next after you have listed the first job you held after college or in your career:  Part-time or vacation jobs held while in school are sometimes not listed except as a bullet to the education experience.

Do not put references or salary information on your resume.

When you have completed your resume, please send Jay Wren a copy.

Suggestions on writing a cover letter

Your Name
Street Address
City, State Zip
Phone Number
Email Address

Date

Name of person receiving your letter
Company Name
Street Address
City, State Zip

Dear First Name:

(If you come recommended by someone, list that person’s name here).  Name of person referred me to you.  I am writing to apply for as position as a (fill in name of position) with your company.  My resume is attached.

In my resume, you will find a record of success in (list competencies)

When may I interview with you?

Best regards,
Your Name

Suggestions on interview preparation

Here is what you can do to have a better interview.

1) Prepare an agenda for the interview, things you want to cover.
2) Research the company.  Find articles on the company and use information from these articles in your interview presentation.
3) Research the job and be prepared to talk about how your skills fit the job.
4) Review your skills and the information in your resume.
5) Be upbeat and positive about the world, the way you might be on a Friday afternoon.
6) Take with you extra copies of your resume, a typed list of questions, and paper and pen for notes.
7) Bring examples of your work that show your skills and successes.
8) Be factual about the work you did and the work others did to make you a success.
9) In the interview, listen to the questions you are asked and be sure that you understand the question before answering.  If the question is too broad to enable you to give a good answer, ask the interviewing to help you understand better what he or she is trying to learn.
10) Be positive when you talk about your current company, your boss, and your job.  Emphasize that you are looking to make a change to get more of what the company interviewing you has to offer.
11) Write stories of your successes as preparation to discuss how you can contribute to a company’s business.

12) Interview Preparation Outline:

Candidates have found that the following outline is effective in getting the job.

In using this type of outline to prepare for an interview, a person will have anticipated and practiced how
to handle many of the questions and contingencies that may arise in a job interview.

1.        WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY
2.        WHAT I BRING TO A COMPANY IN YOUR INDUSTRY

III.        MY PLANS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR BUSINESS

1.        WAYS THAT I CAN ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS
2. WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY

•        The reputation of the company as customer-based marketers
•        The long history of success of the company
•        The glamour of sports entertainment
•        The opportunity to work in an environment that enables me to use the promotional and marketing
  tools I have developed for my career
•        The commitment to respecting and honoring their employees with programs
•        The opportunity to work in the field of my choice:

1. WHAT I BRING TO A THIS INDUSTRY

•        Creatively and enthusiastically use the knowledge I gained in college to make the organization
  more successful
•        Have a range of appropriate skills
•        Have developed marketing strategies to include customer service, pricing, and product selection

III. MY THOUGHTS ON SALES OR MARKETING PLANS

•        Does it present value to the customer?
•        Does it create the correct brand image?
•        Does it reach your target customer base?
•        Does it make a buyer out of your customer?
•        Does it create repeat customers?

1. WAYS THAT I CAN ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS

•        Identify target customer
•        Identify the image that my company wants to project
•        Create that image
•        Create promotion to reach target customers
•        Tell them why they want to spend their money
•        Create an impression to make them want to come again

Suggestions for a thank you letter:

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Date

Mr. /Ms. Interviewer
Name of company
Street address, City, State Zip

Dear Mr. /Ms. Interviewer:

Thank the person for meeting with you.

Express your impression of the company.

Express your interest in the job.

Best regards,

Your name

Tools and Tips Summary

1. Reference material
2.  Work your network by making a list of every possible contact you have ever made in business and
   contact these people for ideas and opportunities.
   3.  Ask for referrals of every person you contact.
   4.  Lay out your goals as specifically as you can, but be aware that the more flexible you are in terms of
   money, location, and opportunity the more opportunities you will have available to you.
   5. Contingency recruiter or retained recruiter?  In practice, how a recruiter is compensated is not nearly
   as important as what contacts he may have.  Typically, retained recruiters are conducting searches where the salary is above $750,000 and involve “C” level managers.
   6.  Be organized.  Make a list daily of your contacts, what you discussed what action you have taken and what action needs to be taken.
   7.  Read the want ads in the local newspaper, national publications, and especially trade journals. Become an expert on what is in the job market.
   8.  Before approaching a company directly, research it thoroughly.  How is it structured?  Bottler, distributor, direct, or broker sales?  Public or private?  Do you have a referral to get your foot in the door, etc.?  Who are the key managers for the job you are seeking? To whom do these people report?
   9.  Prepare for an interview the same way you would prepare for a major sales call, business review, or planning session where you are the key presenter.
   10.  Follow up on contacts you have made.

• LinkedIn
• Manta.com
• Trade Journals
• Cost of living and compensation information

There is more than One Way to Get a Job.

I read a great deal about getting a job through direct referrals.

However, some career coaches recommend that you limit yourself to a dozen companies where you really want to work and use a direct referral to get into those companies.  Companies still use several sources for finding job applicants.

• Recruiters
• Job boards
• Company websites
• Newspapers
• Trade journals
• Internet want ads including newspapers and Craigslist
• Social Media
• Press releases and other methods

There are many opportunities that you will never find through your network alone.

I do recommend that you pick companies that really interest you.  I also recommend that you try to network into those companies directly.  Companies use direct referrals.  As a contract recruiter, I have recruited for companies that also paid a referral fee to their employees for direct referrals.  Direct referrals come into the company with a solid reference from a person the company knows.  A company can evaluate the value of the referral based on the company’s knowledge of the person making the referral.

I do not recommend that you have exhaust your network resources before you to turn to other resources for a job.  If you really need a job, contact and build your network daily.  However, also use the other resources on a daily basis.

One way to search for jobs is to use Google or Bing.  These search engines will pick up opportunities that are on job boards, company sites, recruiters’ websites, or many other places on the Internet.  You will only need to spend a few minutes a day searching through job search engines to find opportunities.

I created the website Jay Wren Jobs.  The website has a job board.  In addition, I built a custom search engine that will help you find a job.

If you really need a job, use all your resources.  Make your job search as much of a full-time job as you can.  Good luck with your search.  Finding a job is not easy for everyone.  However, as you use more resources, you will find more opportunities.

One of the tools for organizing a job search is a status board.

Using a status board is a great way to track on-going projects.  Status boards come in all types of formats to fit the purpose.  When I was a Navy officer, there were at least four status boards on the bridge of the ship.  Each one was different and served different purposes.  Some were on Plexiglas®.  Some were printed.

I have used a basic status board throughout my career as a corporate recruiter.  For me, using a spreadsheet makes the process easy.  The mock-up below is a brief illustration of what a basic spreadsheet status board might look like.  In this case, the example is an illustration of using a status board to manage a job search.

As you can see, a status board is different from a calendar.  The purpose is to give you an overall view of what you are doing across all activities.

This tool becomes even more useful when people are working on teams.  Each team member has a copy.  When the team meets to discuss the activities for the day, the members add notes to update their status board.  Literally, all the team members are on the same page.  In my search firm, team members used a simple form similar to the one above to manage dozens of activities.

As team members go through the workday, they update their copy of the status board to prepare for the next day’s meeting.  With the sharing features of online documents, it is now possible for teams to work on the status board from different locations.  What you will see is another person changing the status board as that person works.

There are apps for status boards. Many of these digital status boards are more really organizers than status boards. For example, Google Now for Android and Morning for iPad give you updates on news, weather, sports, commute, traffic, shopping, events nearby, and reminders, and not effective for project management.