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1ST STEPS IN THE HUNT
- An online column for the online candidate
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Face to Face (From the Vault)
January 28, 2000
Jobs are won or lost at the gut level, during the Interview.
It's the face to face contact that really matters to recruiters, hiring managers, and Employers. Unfortunately, most Jobhunters put most of their effort into resumes, either online or print. It's easy to understand why - selling yourself is easier done from a distance. When you don't have to watch someone reject you, you can lull yourself into the false belief that, "I'm trying as hard as I can to find a Job - I'm sending out resumes!"
The reality is much different.
Job Boards are not the best use of the Internet in Jobhunting. They are useful in locating Jobs, but they can only do so much in your search. Use the Net as a source of information about:
Employers won't be 'wowed' by the mere fact that you found them on the web. What will impress them is your effort to gain knowledge about the Industry they are in, their relative place in that Industry, and the position itself. All this shows your desire and passion for the Job - something they can't train you to have. Everyone loves to be flattered and knowing a Company like the back of your hand gives an Employer that warm fuzzy feeling you want them to have during the Interview.
The Employer's gut level decision making process is less rational then you might think. Once you've made it into the 'accepatable candidate pool', getting the Job is a matter of striking the right chords with the Hiring Manager. And most of them will be looking you in the eye and asking, "Can you do the Job?", all the while wondering whether they can trust your answer - or you.
Half of your time Jobhunting should be devoted to researching (see the items above) and practicing your face to face Interview style. Not getting Interviewed is depressing, but even more depressing is getting rejected frequently at the Interview stage. This is where lack of research really shows.
Jobhunting Don'ts, Part 2 (From the Vault)
January 27, 2000
More practices to recognize and avoid to become a successful Jobhunter.
Jobhunting Don'ts (From the Vault)
January 26, 2000
Cheating Yourself 2 (From the Vault)
January 25, 2000
Yesterday we looked at two workers with similar skills and Jobs who were both looking for new Jobs. Mr. Coyote could best be described as a 'casual' Jobhunter, while Ms. Roadrunner might be an 'earnest' Jobhunter. Mr. Coyote spends two hrs/wk looking at classified ads, skimming for possible Jobs. Ms. Roadrunner allots ten hours a week to posting several versions of her resume online, building her network of Industry connections, and practicing her Interviewing techniques.
Ms. Roadrunner lands the Job she wants in two months, while Mr. Coyote accepts the only offer he gets after six months. At the end of another six months Mr. Coyote has earned an additional $1000 from his previous salary. His new supervisor is always on his case about the most trivial things, and the company is in financial trouble - paychecks have been late several times already.
On the other hand, Ms. Roadrunner has earned more than an extra $8000 in wages and benefits. She has developed a good rapport with her supervisor, and is in line for a promotion. Her work has allowed her to expand her network of Industry contacts, and she now has an in to several more companies and hiring managers in her field. If her current Employer isn't willing to give her a raise and a promotion, she has the contacts in place to find someone else who will.
Total hours spent on their Jobhunt? For Mr. Coyote, fifty hours translated into $1000, which is $20/hr. Not bad, but the position is untenable and may short-circuit his career for some time. Ms. Roadrunner put in 90 hours and ended up with over $8000, which is almost $100/hr. And her career is fueled to take off.
If you treat it seriously, then Jobhunting is a Great Job that could pay you $50 to $200+/hr. It's just that you don't collect the money immediately. And the long-term benefits, though harder to measure, are even more impressive. If you choose to let your next Job eventually trickle down to you through a laissez-faire Jobhunting effort, you are only cheating yourself.
Cheating Yourself (From the Vault)
January 24, 2000
Jobhunting is a Job. And how professionally you treat the process affects your pay dramatically.
For example, take two workers at Acme Explosives, Inc. Both earn $30K/yr and have similar abilities, Job titles, experience, and duties. Mr. Coyote is looking for another Job once a week for a couple hours, scanning the classifieds, updating his resume, and checking out Job postings occasionally. He sends out a resume or two a week, generating a form rejection letter (if he gets any response at all). He doesn't follow up his written inquiries with any phone calls, because he feels uncomfortable "bothering anyone".
Ms. Roadrunner takes an entirely different approach. She has several resumes online, each targeted toward a specific Job at companies she has done background research on. She spends ten hours a week maintaining, massaging, and building her network of industry connections. Part of her time is devoted to company research, targeting Jobs and hiring managers, and figuring out how to get the inside track to them. She phones and emails people she doesn't know, but with whom she has a common reference point or person.
Eventually, both find Jobs. Mr. Coyote takes six months and accepts a Job with a company he knows only by name, and gets a marginal raise to $32K/yr. He has no idea whether his new boss throws tantrums at work, or is a chronic blameshifter. Ms. Roadrunner accepts one of a series of offers from Employers she is confident she will be comfortable working for. She negotiates a salary at $36K/yr with a cushy benefits package worth an extra 4K/yr - and it only takes her two months to get the Job she wants.
Obviously, Ms. Roadrunner has worked harder for a better deal than Mr. Coyote. But just how much more has she really earned, and what are the longer-term implications of both of their actions? Read the answer tomorrow in 1st Steps in the Hunt.
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January 23, 2000
- Interviewing by...
- Gen X
- Ask Not, Get Not
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Materials written by John Sumser © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved.