career-related.com

copyright (c) 2008 by Kevin Donlin

How to Network Like a Pro

You can learn a lot about networking to find jobs by asking
recruiters how they do it to fill jobs.

That’s because recruiters, also known as headhunters, have to
network every day to locate and place candidates in positions
they’re hired by employers to fill. And recruiters don’t get
paid until they succeed.

So you’d better believe that successful headhunters know a
thing or two about networking.

Here are two things, to be exact, you can do to network like
a pro and get hired faster …

1) Google And Call Past Employees
Recruiting expert David Perry, author of “Guerrilla Marketing
For Job Hunters,” shares a unique way to research potential
employers using Google.

It’s this: Find and call people who used to work where you want
to work now.

“The fastest way to learn the real workings of an organization
is to Google past employees and call them up. This is exactly
what I do. Before I take an assignment from a company to place
an executive there, I want to know if I’m walking into a
hornet’s nest,” says Perry.

Here’s how to do it …

Google the name of your target employer and the word “resume.”
The search results you get back will include resumes of people
who used work there.
(You may want to add the word “experience” to “resume” in your
search; experiment using Google’s Advanced Search options.)

Once you find some resumes, pick up the phone and call. Say:
“Hi my name is _________. I’m researching XYZ Corp. and I think
you used to work there because I found your resume online. I’m
thinking of applying for a job there. May I ask you a few quick
questions to see if it’s worth my time and effort? I know this
is an unusual way to do a job search …”

Most people will be impressed by your initiative, flattered to
be asked for their opinion and willing to help you out.

“You want to learn about three main areas: the company and its
culture; the department you would be working in; and the name
of the manager you would be reporting to,” says Perry.

Finish your conversation with this all-important question: “If
I decide to talk with them, may I say that I spoke with you?”

“You ask this for two reasons,” advises Perry. “First, if they
left on good terms, you can drop that former employee’s name
when contacting the company to ask for a meeting. Second, that
person may phone his old boss and tell him or her to keep an
eye out for the smart person who just called — that would
be you.”

If you’re at all hesitant about this technique, try it on a
company you have no intention of applying to. Work out the
bugs first, then network your way right into your ideal employer.

2) Make Recommendations On LinkedIn
Tom Stewart, VP of Executive Search at Genesis10 in Minneapolis,
advises job seekers to use LinkedIn.com as a way to get found
by recruiters and employers.

“I tell people to think of LinkedIn as a sort of ‘Who’s Who’
for the Internet savvy professional. It’s a great way to expand
your visibility — and the more people who can find you, the
better,” says Stewart.

Key to using LinkedIn effectively is to give and ask for
endorsements, also known as recommendations.

“Writing recommendations for those in your network benefits
everyone. I have found candidates accidentally by clicking on
the endorsements they wrote for other people on LinkedIn. I
can count at least 6 passive candidates I placed in new jobs
this way,” says Stewart.

Start with your network of first-level connections at LinkedIn.
Pick one person you feel strongly about and endorse them. After
you write a recommendation, the system prompts the recipient to
endorse you, which leads to reciprocity.

Think of your LinkedIn recommendations as free advertisements
you can run on other people’s profiles. If they are successful
and highly visible in their industry, your recommendation —
with your name on it — will be highly visible, too. Which
increases the likelihood that a recruiter who sees your
endorsement will click on it, read your profile, and contact you.

Now, go out and make your own luck!

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html

Two Stories of Follow-up Success
copyright (c) 2008 by Kevin Donlin

Everybody talks about meeting new people and renewing old
contacts as a way to uncover job leads.

But after you speak to someone about your job search, then
what?

You follow up with them later, that’s what.

Follow-up is an often-neglected part of networking that can
pay off huge in your search for work — as much as $417 an
hour, as we’ll see.

To motivate you to follow up with your network contacts —
all of them — here are two recent success stories from my
readers. What can you learn from each?

1) Follow up with old contacts
Lynda H., from Apple Valley, Minn., interviewed with a
Fortune 500 company in Minneapolis last year. They offered
her a job, but rescinded when the departing employee, whose
position Lynda was to fill, decided not to quit after all.

What would you have done?

Here’s what Lynda did.

“I included people from past job searches in my current search,
including one company I interviewed with a year ago. Getting
back in touch with them was as simple as picking up the phone
and calling the executive I had talked to last year. It turned
out that he had assumed more responsibilities, and the position
they were hiring for now reported to him. Because I had
developed a rapport with him last year, it was easy to get my
resume to the top of the pile, schedule the interview and land
the job!”

Today, write down the names of every company you interviewed
with in your last job search. Then, make a plan to contact each
this week to tell them about your current search, and why you’re
a more valuable potential employee than the last time you spoke.

What if you haven’t looked for a job in five or 10 years? No
problem. Find someone in your industry who has. Ask them to
contact each company they interviewed with and tell them about a
really sharp person they should talk to — you.

Of course, you should buy lunch for each friend who networks
for you this way, but that’s just another chance to sit down
and do more networking!

2) Follow up with new contacts
By following up like clockwork by email and phone, Michael S.,
from Los Angeles, turned an employment lead into a new job. And
it took all of 23 minutes.

He writes: “I had lunch with the CEO. After emailing him my
resume and a polite note following lunch, he went silent for
a week.”

At this point, many folks would be too preoccupied with posting
resumes online or reading the classified ads to follow up on a
“cold” lead like this. But not Michael.

“Exactly one week later, I sent another polite email and placed
a call to the CEO one hour after sending that second follow-up
email. He took the call and said things were looking very good.
We talked for about three minutes,” said Michael.

“He then called this afternoon (four days later) to say it’s a
go and to explain the terms of the job. That was a 20-minute
call. Total time invested to win the job offer following the
initial meeting with the CEO was 23 minutes. I would call that a
strong return on investment.”

And I would agree. One lunch, two emails and three phone calls
to land a job is a terrific ROI for anyone. All you have to do
is stay organized and persistent — because the vast majority
of candidates competing with you are neither organized nor
persistent.

How much money is a new job worth to you? Let’s say $50,000 in
salary. And let’s say you spend 20 hours a week for 6 weeks
following up on networking contacts before you get hired. That’s
120 hours invested for a $50,000 payoff, which works out to
about $417 an hour.

So, if you think you “don’t have time” to follow up on
employment contacts for 20 hours a week, do you think you could
find time, now that you know every hour is worth $417?

Once you realize this, other uses of your time, like watching
television or adding MySpace friends, suddenly seem less
important, don’t they?

Now, go out and make your own luck!

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html

Three Ways to Get Found and Hired
copyright (c) 2008 by Kevin Donlin

Before you get hired for a new job, you have to get found by a
hiring manager.

That’s obvious.

But how do you get found? How can you get on the radar of top
employers and make them call you for an interview?

That’s not so obvious.

You could troll the Web and apply for posted jobs, but those
are just the tip of the iceberg. For every advertised opening
there may be five or more “hidden” ones.

To solve this problem, here are three simple ways to get noticed
— and get hired — by your next boss.

1) Temp is Not a Four-Letter Word
If you’ve never considered taking a temporary or contract
position, you should rethink that attitude, according to Jackie
Engmark, Executive Director of the Minnesota Recruiting &
Staffing Association (www.mnrsa.org).

The 75 firms in the MNRSA fill positions ranging from
entry-level to executive, with up to 70-75% of those jobs being
temp-to-hire positions, according to Engmark.

“Businesses look to staffing firms as a good source for
permanent employees. Regardless of whether they need the
talent on a temporary, contract, or permanent basis, businesses
tap staffing companies for that talent,” says Engmark.

Approximately 35% of people who take a temp job end up getting
hired full-time, according to Engmark. That’s a .350 batting
average — not bad.

And smart employers will create a full-time job for the right
temp worker.
“With the current talent shortage, if a company brings in
someone who catches on fast and has the right attitude, more
often than not they will find a place for you,” says Engmark.

She says the secret lies in having the right attitude and work
ethic — two traits that can’t be taught. “Employers can invest
in training you other skills. If you are outgoing, friendly and
work hard, jobs will find you.”

To find staffing and recruiting firms near you, Google the
following phrase: “YOUR STATE staffing firms.”

2) Get Connected
You may use LinkedIn.com, Facebook.com and MySpace.com. But are
you getting all that you can out of these social networking sites?

One way to get found faster by employers is to enhance your
profile. For a dramatic before-and-after example, take a look at
the Extreme Makeover that marketing guru Guy Kawasaki got for his
LinkedIn.com profile -
blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/linkedin_profil.html

Tip: The more high-quality connections you make on sites like
LinkedIn.com, the more likely you are to get found by employers.
On his blog, Kawasaki writes: “People with more than 20
connections are 34 times more likely to be approached with a
job opportunity than people with less than five.”

3) Keep Your Dirt to Yourself
According to NBC news, 77% of employers will search the Internet
to check your background, and 35% of employers have eliminated
a candidate for consideration after finding “digital dirt” about
them online.

That means you have to be extra careful about what you post in
your profile on LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and other sites.

“My advice is to post only information online that you would
feel comfortable sharing with your grandmother. If you wouldn’t
want her to see your photos or learn about your drunken
behavior, don’t post it anywhere online,” advises Steven
Rothberg, President and Founder of CollegeRecruiter.com.

One hiring professional, posting on a CollegeRecruiter blog,
wrote: “My team and I use sources such as facebook.com and
myspace.com on a regular basis to screen candidates. We have
on many occasions stopped the interview process with candidates
based on their online profiles. Think twice before you post
anything out there for us to see.”

So, to find your next job, you might want to take another look
at temping, get connected online, and get smart.

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html

Two Ways to Network Smarter
copyright (c) 2008 by Kevin Donlin

Networking — everyone will tell you it’s a great way to connect
with employers.

Yet, I get more questions and complaints from readers about
networking than almost any other employment topic.

Why is that?

Here’s an example. Russ, in Minneapolis, writes:

I am looking for a job. The problem is that I have not the
foggiest idea where to network. I am looking for a management
position, possibly in manufacturing, but I don’t know who to
talk to. Do you know of gatherings, clubs or user groups where
I could start?

Let’s see if we can help Russ — and you — network smarter,
and get hired faster …
First, Russ should tap the latent value of his existing network.

Think about this: If you’re, say, 40 years old with friends
dating back to college, you’ve built up 20 years of
“relationship equity” with those people over the years. What a
huge asset that is!

I suggest you send an email inquiry to everyone you know, like
this:

———

Hi! I hope this email finds you and your family well. Would
you do me a quick favor? I’m in the job market, looking for a
manufacturing management position, with a company like
Caterpillar, Honda or Toro. Who do you know that I should be
talking to at those companies, or one like them? If you could
send me their name and contact information, I would really
appreciate it!

———

Better still, pick up the phone and call the 20 most-connected
people you know and use the above message as your script.
Second, Russ should add new people to his network.

Start by visiting Hoovers.com, a treasure trove of corporate
data. Here, I searched for “manufacturing” under the
Industry/Keyword option and found 63 different industries.

I narrowed it to “Construction, Mining & Other Heavy Equipment
Manufacturing,” which returned 10 company names on the first
page, including Deere, Komatsu, and Caterpillar.

Clicking on the Caterpillar listing returned such data as what
they manufacture, news and financial links, a list of top
executives, and the heading, “Latest Caterpillar Jobs.”

Clicking that jobs link brought up a page of openings
nationwide, including one for a Warehouse Associate in St. Paul.
Now, Russ wants a management job, so this opening looks
unsuitable at first glance.

But here’s where Russ — and you — can get creative.

We know that Caterpillar is hiring for a location in St. Paul.
Why not connect with an employee there using a service like
LinkedIn.com? If you know someone on the “inside,” they can
tell you of any plans to hire management positions. Your
target employer may even create a new position just for you.
But you’ll never know unless you ask someone who works there.

At LinkedIn.com, I searched for “Caterpillar St. Paul” and found
3 people listed who work at Caterpillar in St. Paul. Bingo.

Here’s how to contact these folks by email, according to Jason
Alba, author of “I’m On LinkedIn. Now What?” Alba suggests you
send them something like this:

———

Dear Joe,

Sally Smith recommended that I get in touch with you. I’m a
manufacturing manager, an area in which Sally said you have
a lot of experience. She also said you are very well connected
and would know some of the best networking opportunities. Would
you have time this week or next for me to treat you to lunch?

There are 4 key elements in this email, according to Alba:

1) Drop a name (first and last). This has to be real. If Joe
contacts Sally, your story must add up, or you’re sunk.

2) Give your bio. Don’t ask for a job, but do tell who you are
and what your field is.

3) Find common ground. Describe how your job search coincides
with Joe’s interests, and state how Sally recommends Joe as an
expert to learn from.

4) Invite them to lunch. “I find the best relationship building
is face-to-face, over lunch. You’ll have more of their
attention this way than if you simply exchange emails,” says
Alba. Just remember: You invited, so you pay!

———

So there you have it. Two ways to network smarter: Tap your
existing network, and reach out to new people using Hoovers.com
and LinkedIn.com.

You can get hired either way. Why not try both and find your
next job even faster?

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html

The Holiday Job Hunting Season
copyright (c) 2007 by Kevin Donlin

The conventional job-search wisdom used to be that, if you
weren’t hired by late October, you were out of luck until
after the first of the year.

But times have changed.

Today, there are plenty of jobs to be had between Thanksgiving
and the middle of January, according to human resource expert
Susan M. Heathfield.
“During the holiday season, you enjoy reduced competition for
jobs and easier access to decision makers who are actually in
the office,” says Heathfield.

This is due, in part, to the global talent shortage, which has
made it harder for employers to attract top talent. “If good
candidates show up during the holiday season, we’re finding
that management will take the time to see them. In the past,
they might have told them to come back in January,” says
Michael Jalbert, President of executive search firm MRINetwork.

Jalbert gives three reasons not to slack off in your job search
during the holidays:

1) Departments are often under pressure to fill openings before
year’s end to secure their remaining budget and headcount
allocations.

2) While the number of advertised positions tends to decrease
during the holidays, those that do appear are often
high-priority jobs that must be filled quickly.

3) You will likely face less competition because many other
job seekers have taken a break from their search.

With this in mind, here are two ways to connect with your next
job during the holiday season …
1) Party with a Plan
There are more parties and social events during the holidays
than usual, which means more opportunities for you to make new
contacts and renew old ones.

Since you never know which conversation will produce your next
job lead, you should attend as many events as you can reasonably
fit into your calendar, according to Heathfield.

“You don’t want to be obnoxious about your job search and
aggravate friends and relatives. But, do prepare a brief
statement that tells people you are looking for a job and the
kind of job you seek,” suggests Heathfield.

Carry business cards, along with paper and a pen for taking
notes. After every networking conversation, jot down the key
points, then enter them into some kind of database at the end
of the evening, for follow-up later.
Whether it’s a box of 3×5 cards or a $500 PDA, use whatever
tools you need to manage your networking contacts.
2) Send a Card with a Difference
We all get greeting cards in December. For most of us, the charm
wears off after about the first 20 or so. That means, if you
hope to stand out by sending a holiday card to hiring managers
and other folks who are inundated with mail, you probably won’t.

So, why not send a Happy New Year’s card instead? After all,
when’s the last time you got one of those in the mail?

Send your new year’s cards on December 31, to arrive on or
about January 2.
Send them to hiring managers and well-connected friends. And use
real cards, like those sold at www.Hallmark.com, with real
stamps. Because emailing a greeting card is about as effective
as emailing a steak sandwich.
One final bit of encouragement for job seekers: some industry
sectors could see an up-tick in hiring in December, according to
Jalbert. “Construction companies in Southern California, for
example, are just starting to staff up to rebuild the $1.5
billion in homes that were destroyed in this summer’s fires,”
he says.

Jalbert also sees strong demand for such fields as chemical
and mechanical engineering, and information technology, as the
U.S. dollar continues to drop, causing jobs from Europe and
Canada to filter into the United States.

So if you’re looking for a new job, don’t take a holiday from
your search just because it’s December. Get out, get busy, get
connected, and get hired.
Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html

4 Ways to Get More Done in Your Job Search
copyright (c) 2007 by Kevin Donlin

It’s been said that time isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

That applies to your job hunt, especially. Because every day
spent in the wrong job (or in no job) can seem like an eternity
to you and your family.

As we get ready to begin a new year, here are four tips to help
you save time and get more done every day, so you can find your
next job faster …

#1: Plan Every Day
“A lifetime is composed of days, strung together into weeks,
months, and years,” wrote Earl Nightingale. “A successful life
is nothing more than a lot of successful days put together.
As such, every day counts.”

To make every day count in your job search — and in your life
– it’s best to plan ahead, so you’re doing the right things,
at the right time, in the right order.

Most folks don’t, unfortunately.

If you ask any 10 people to show you their daily to-do list,
only one or two could produce one. And it’s no coincidence that
only about 10-20% of people ever achieve real career success.

So, to join the top 20% in your field, whether you’re employed
now or not, the first thing to do is to plan every day in
advance. It need take only 10 minutes, but it could easily save
you one or two hours a day.

Start by jotting down the five career-related things you must
do tomorrow.
Be specific. Don’t write,
“Find job leads.” Write, “Find 3 job leads.”

Then …

#2: Prioritize Your Tasks
Once you determine the five things to do tomorrow, rank them in
order of importance to your job search. This should take no
more than a few minutes.

It doesn’t matter whether you use a Day Planner, a sheet of
paper or a PDA, just jot down and number the five things you
need to do tomorrow, in order of importance.

Tip: It’s a good idea to plan and prioritize your tasks the
night before, so you can “sleep on it.” About one hour before
bed, take a few minutes to review your plans for tomorrow, then
put the list away and do other things.
When you wake up the next morning, you may find, as I have many
times, that your subconscious mind has worked out the answer to
a problem while you were sleeping. Try it tonight!

#3: Work on Top Priorities First
First thing tomorrow morning, take out your to-do list and
look at item #1.
Start working on it and keep at it until you finish. Then
work on #2, and so on, until it’s time to stop for the day.

According to Earl Nightingale: “Don’t worry if you’ve only
finished one or two; the others can wait. If you can’t finish
them all by this method, you could not have finished them with
any other method. And without some system, you’d probably take
10 times as long to finish them and might not even have them
in the order of their importance.”

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The best ideas usually are.

(Here’s where I might lose readers. You may think, “This is
too simple. I’ve heard this before.” Have you? Fine. But …
are you doing this? Unless you have a better system, why not?)

#4: Plan for the Long Haul
It’s not enough to plan the days and weeks that make up your
job search. You should also plan for the months and years that
make up your career.

One way is to set up a system to collect and manage the
information that accumulates over the course of your working
life. “You want to plan not just for this job search, but for
the ones that will certainly happen in the future,” says Jason
Alba, creator of JibberJobber.com.

While it might be nice to remember the names of everyone in
your sixth grade class, it would be really, REALLY nice to
remember the names of everyone you networked with, say, two
years ago, when you last looked for a job.

Contact management software can help “connect the dots between
people you’ve met and things you’ve done,” says Alba, who
designed JibberJobber.com to solve the problem of lost
opportunities that plagues most job seekers at some point.

“I tried managing my job search in a single spreadsheet that
grew until it became unmanageable, and then I started missing
appointments and losing details,” says Alba.

If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, surely a
bottle of planning is worth a keg of time. (A mangled analogy,
yes, but you get the idea.)

To get the most out of the minutes, hours and days that make up
your job search, take a few minutes tonight to plan for tomorrow
and the long haul after that. You can then string together
enough good days, weeks and months to create a truly successful
career.

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html

copyright (c) 2007 by Kevin Donlin
Tell Employers What They Want to Hear

Finding a job can be a lot like running for public office …
without the lying, pandering or attack ads, that is.

To succeed in both arenas, you need to tell people what they
want to hear, then convince them you’re the one who can
deliver as promised.

When it comes to telling employers what they want to hear, you
can never go wrong if you emphasize “You-ability” in everything
you do.

I’ve written before about Elmer Wheeler and the concept of
“You-ability” he put forth in his 1937 book, “Tested Sentences
That Sell.”

Wheeler tested 105,000 word combinations on 19 million people
over 10 years, to find the phrases that worked best in retail
and door-to-door selling. (Know this: If it’s possible to sell
vacuum cleaners door-to-door during the Depression, it’s be
possible to sell an employer on hiring you today.)

One of Wheeler’s findings, on page 208, will help you find a
job faster.

It’s this: “Don’t think so much about what you want to say as
about what the prospect wants to hear — then the response you
get will more often be the one you are aiming for.”

The prospect in this case is the employer, of course. And
Wheeler’s advice is right on target. Because, if you think
first — before opening your mouth — about what an employer
wants to hear, the words you need to say will become obvious.

Let’s look at how this thinking will affect your resumes,
cover letters and job interviewing …

Resume example — instead of writing this sort of piffle:
Ability to set realistic goals with staff, supervise and
evaluate performance, build cohesion and maintain motivation
while managing projects.
… you should write this, which is what employers want to
hear, because it’s chock full of specific, convincing detail:
Proven project management skills. Experienced leading teams of
up to 27 employees, with perfect record of managing 88 projects
to on-time, on-budget completion since 2003.
Cover letter example — instead of writing rubbish like this:
Dear Sir or Madam,

In today’s market, employers are seeking the most qualified
candidate to bridge the gap between what is needed and what it
takes to get the job done. My resume reflects experience and
diversity, including customer service skills in diversified
industries that have permitted me …

… write something with meat on it, like this:
Dear Mr. Jones,

I’m applying for a job where my customer service skills will
increase profits for you. Since 1999, I’ve saved an average of
14% — up to $37,500 per year — for three companies, by
enhancing their customer service departments.

Please consider the following …
See the difference?

Now for the interview. When you say what the hiring manager
wants to hear, you almost always get a job offer. But how do
you know what to say? It’s simple. Ask!

You see, in every job interview — often near the end — the
hiring authority will say: “Do you have any questions?” This
is your opening! Ask: “What is the #1 thing you want the person
you hire to do in this job?”

This prompts employers to tell you exactly what they want to
hear. All you have to do is match your skills and experience
to their #1 desire!

Let me illustrate with two examples …

The hiring manager might say, “We want the person we hire to
hit the ground running and put at least 100 leads in our
pipeline within 30 days.”

Ideally, you answer: “I can do that. In fact, I’ve done it
twice in the last two years. It’s mentioned on my resume, but
let me tell you in detail how I can do this for you ….”

Or, the hiring manager might say: “We want someone adaptable
whom we can train quickly and who will work well with our team.”

You could answer: “I can do that. When I completed a six-month
internship at ABC Corp. in San Diego, I had to adapt to a new
city, master new accounting software and start assisting their
client service team in only three days. Here’s a letter of
recommendation from my supervisor about how well I did that ….”

Of course, for you to perform smoothly in the interview, you
must do two things beforehand. First, know yourself and your
skills. Second, practice matching your experience to the
requirements you think employers will have in mind. (If you’re
not sure what they want to hear, look hard at the job posting,
if you applied in answer to one. Hiring managers put a lot of
effort into writing job postings that highlight their top
desires in a candidate.)
When you do emphasize “You-ability” in your resumes, cover
letters and job interviews, you will almost certainly get
hired faster for the job you really want.

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html

copyright (c) 2007 by Kevin Donlin

To find your next job, you goal is to meet the right people and
convince them to hire you.

It’s just that simple.

Best part: There are more ways to meet hiring authorities today
than ever before.

For example, want ads used to be found only in newspapers. Now
they’re now online, too. And you can network your way into an
employer using free Web sites like Linkedin.com, a route to
employment that was inconceivable 15 years ago.

But not every job-search idea is new. Sometimes old methods
work just as well.

To illustrate, here are two ways to find a job: one is at
least 71 years old, and the other, about 71 months …
1) Something Old: Create a Mastermind Group
The idea of a “mastermind” is found in the book, “Think and
Grow Rich,” written by Napoleon Hill in 1937. It’s a
brainstorming and problem-solving technique used by Thomas
Edison, Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie and others, to create some
of history’s greatest inventions and biggest fortunes.

And it can help you find a new job, too.

Here’s how it works. A mastermind is a group of likeminded
people who meet, once or twice a month for an hour or two, to
discuss and solve each other’s problems.

You’ve heard the phrase, “Two heads are better than one.”
Well, a mastermind group involves three, four or five heads.
Each person has a few minutes to state their problem. In your
case, yours is your job search.
Then, the group offers suggestions in a free-for-all discussion.
Your brainpower gets multiplied many times this way — the
insights, ideas and answers you’ll receive may astonish you.

Note: This does not mean you should join other unemployed folks
in a local job club. Job clubs have their place, but they can
sometimes turn into sob sessions. Instead, your mastermind
should be made up of people who have jobs they enjoy. This way,
their positive attitudes about work will rub off and encourage
you.

Simply put, a mastermind, organized and led by you, will help
solve your job-search problems. To learn more, Google these two
words: Mastermind Hill.
2) Something New: Create a Blog
The word “blog” is short for “weblog,” defined as a frequent,
chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.
While blogs typically function as a kind of diary, they can
also get you hired.

In fact, blogs are being called “the new resumes” by some
employment experts. So it behooves you to learn more about
this method of getting your name before hiring managers.

To get the facts, I spoke to Chris Russell, an author, blogging
expert, and (naturally) creator of the blog,
Secretsofthejobhunt.com.

“Blogs are a way to get found by potential employers online.
Think of a blog as an extended version of your resume,” says
Russell, who points out that anyone can create a blog using
free Web-based tools, such as Blogger.com or Wordpress.com.

Blogging is especially useful if you’re looking for a job in
IT or any field in which you must prove your communication skills.

What should go in your blog? “You can approach this a couple of
ways. You could use it as an application for one job at one
company — write relevant things about the employer and then
send a link to the hiring manager. Or, you can blog in a more
general way, to position yourself as an expert in your field,”
says Russell.

When blogging, aim to differentiate yourself from others.
Let your personality and expertise shine through. But be smart.
Don’t write negatively about past employers or include stories
of how you got tear-gassed at last weekend’s keg party. “A blog
posting is forever because there are sites that archive them,”
says Russell.

Think of your blog as a new puppy, requiring plenty of care,
nurturing — and patience. “Post entries to your blog on a
regular basis and understand that it takes time to build an
audience,” advises Russell.

The best ways to promote your blog — and get found by
employers — include participating in and linking to other
blogs. Also, it pays to give out your blog address as you would
a business card. Put it on your resume, and email it to friends,
colleagues and others.

To learn more, and read blogging success stories that should
motivate you, visit Secretsofthejobhunt.com and Blogforjobs.com.

Now, go out and make your own luck!

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html

copyright (c) 2007 by Kevin Donlin
You read a lot these days about how depressed the average person
is about the labor market, or that the average person can take
up to 17 weeks to find a new job.

But where is it written that YOU have to be average? When did
Congress pass that law?

Good news: You don’t have to be average. Thankfully, this is
one area that the politicians haven’t decided to “help” us
with (yet).

Instead, you can get radically better results in your job
search — starting today — by doing two simple things
differently.

Here’s how .
1) Think Differently
Let’s face it: Most of the news you read, hear or see on
TV is bad.

And most of it has little to do with your life, if you think
about it. For example, what can you do with the “news” that a
car bomb has exploded in Iraq or that a house was gutted by
fire on the other side of town? Nothing. Not one thing.

You could let all that bad news get you down, like most people
do. Or you could tune it out. You could think differently.

Here’s why.

No matter what the news — good or bad — every company wants
to increase revenues and profits. And every company wants to
control costs and save money.

If you can get in front of the right employer and show him or
her that you can either make or save more money than you’re
asking for in salary, that employer will either hire you for
an existing job or create a job for you.

Read that last paragraph again. It holds the key to every
successful job search!

And, to repeat, it doesn’t matter what the economy is doing,
or how much the talking heads on TV are bemoaning layoffs,
outsourcing, off-shoring, or any other economic “news.”
All that counts is your ability to do exactly four things:

1. choose a specific job you want to do;

2. choose a company you want to work for;

3. meet with a hiring authority at your target company;

4. demonstrate exactly how much money you can make or save for
 them.

It all starts when you refuse to go along with the crowd and
let outside events influence your inner attitude. In fact, you
may just start to laugh at bad economic news, because it can
cause other people to stop looking for jobs, leaving less
competition for you.
2) Act Differently
Once you start thinking differently and more opportunistically,
it’s easy to start acting differently and more effectively.

Here’s how one California man did just one thing differently
in his job search — and how it made the phone ring with
interview offers for the first time in months .

First, some background.

I’ve written before that you can pique employers’ curiosity
by writing them a letter in which you offer to send them a
report to help improve their business.

It need be no more than 2-3 pages, describing the best, most
valuable things you’ve done on the job, and their specific
value. (Google my article, “Can You Write a Simple Report?
You Can Get Hired” to learn more.)

One reader, Michael Schwab from Los Angeles, California, not
only read that advice, he acted on it. And he struck pay dirt.

Michael was smart. He took the time to ask his network of
contacts about the target company and learned enough about
their products to tailor a letter that got attention.

He says: “I wrote a letter yesterday offering to send a report
and got an email from the recruiter an hour later — they want
to interview me. In my original email, I proposed two options:
(1) helping with their existing product areas, and
(2) helping build out a new area of practice involving
different software products.”

So, next time, instead of sending a resume, why not try
something different? Write a letter offering specific ways to
improve your target employer’s business. Because, while few
employers get up in the morning wanting to get a resume in the
mail, every employer wants to increase profits. All you have
to do is show them how.

When you offer solutions instead of a resume, you’re not
acting like a typical job seeker. You’re acting like a star
employee. And you’ll have little or no competition for your
next job when you do.

It all starts when you think and act a little bit differently.

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html
 

Another Job Search Success Story
copyright (c) 2007 by Kevin Donlin
Everybody loves a story with a happy ending, right?

Well, here’s one about an Ontario man who got the job he wanted
in exactly 31 days, with lessons that can help you do the same.

Rod Sider, from Waterloo, Ontario, sent me an email describing
the success he had after reading my ebook, “Guerrilla Resumes.”
We later spoke by phone and I asked Rod what the most important
change was that he made in his job search. His answer: “Focus.
I narrowed my search to one type of job, sales, in two
industries: home remodeling and new cars.”

Your Lesson: Start your job search by thinking clearly of what
you want.
Rod aimed at one specific position — sales — and two
industries. As a result, he was able to produce results quickly,
like sunlight focused through a magnifying glass.

In the words of Robert Collier: “The time you put in aimlessly
dreaming and wishing would accomplish marvels if it were
concentrated on one definite subject.”

Next, I asked Rod about his resume.

“Among the changes I made to my resume was to put in comments
from past clients,” said Rod. Including testimonials like this
helped prove the claims he made in his resume, because praise
about you is more believable when it comes from somebody else.

Your Lesson: Watch any TV infomercial and you’ll find that at
least 30-50% of the program is made up of testimonials from
happy customers. That’s no accident. Testimonials are incredibly
powerful. In your resume, including two or three testimonials –
brief quotes from clients or managers — can be just as powerful.

Now. How many employers did Rod contact, and how did he find
them?

“I faxed, emailed and mailed my resume to 19 companies that I
wanted to work for. I found 16 of them just by driving around
near my home and looking. I located more than 50 potential
employers this way. Then, I researched them on Google, narrowing
the list and finding contact information for executives I wanted
to meet. The interesting part was, only one of the 19 companies
I contacted was hiring, but I got a total of 5 job interviews.”

Your Lesson: When most folks look for work, they look for a job.
Why not look for an employer instead? That’s what Rod did. He
created his own job market by targeting companies within 20
minutes of his home. Rod didn’t wait for his ideal employers
to advertise an opening — he simply went after them.
You can, too.

What happened after he sent out his resumes and cover letters?

“For the first few days, there were no calls. I got a bit
discouraged. But, I called all 19 employers to see if they got
my resume and cover letter.
Then things started to snowball. I received a total of 12
responses, resulting in four in-person interviews and one phone
interview. On day 30, I was called back for a second interview
and offered a position 5 minutes from home. On day 31, I
accepted the job, selling new cars.”

Your Lesson: This one has two parts.

First, you must follow up. Rod called each of his 19 target
employers to make sure they got his resume. If a company is
worth identifying, researching, and applying to, it’s worth a
phone call to make sure your materials were read.

Second, if you persist, you will succeed. If you don’t, you
won’t. While Rod felt dejected after not hearing back from
employers, he never quit.
Instead, he got busy calling employers to follow up. One good
thing led to another, until he had the job he wanted within
31 days.

If you never give up, you’ll never fail. It’s just that simple.

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator
of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search
assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of “51 Ways to Find
a Job Fast — Guaranteed,” Kevin has been interviewed by USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.
His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is available
at http://www.career-related.com/instant-job-search.html