So, check it out and let me know what you think….

Click here to read Peggy’s blog on Preparing for the Interview

Whether your plans include watching the match or something else all together, I hope you have a great weekend.

Now, here’s what happened this week at Career Attraction:

My “Stand Out” Job Search Training starts on Monday. If you haven’t seen what it’s all about, watch this short video (about 10 minutes). I built it around exactly what you told me you wanted. I’ll be walking you through how to build stronger networks that drive opportunities to you, more efficient social media systems that work for you and, of course, how to Stand Out from the crowd easily, naturally and authentically. Watch the short video here…

Stand Out by Ditching the Elevator Speech – As you know, I am not a fan of the “elevator speech.” I agree with the concept of getting your message across quickly, succinctly and powerfully. Where this concept loses me (as well as most people receiving it) is that it isn’t value packed for the listener. This is particularly important in your job search, since there are a lot of “speeches” being pitched to hiring managers and you must stand out here. In my opinion, taking a more solution based approach will do just that. Read more here…

Q&A: How do I grow and cultivate a real network? – Kevin, in one of your webinars, you mentioned two types of networks: real and “acquaintance” (or something like that). I would like to know how to cultivate a real network. I don’t really think that I am relationship challenged. It is just the nature of my personality to be calm, cool and collected, and in the background. People don’t really gravitate to me. So anyway, I have 53 LinkedIn connections that span most of my life. But they are mostly acquaintances and they aren’t really people that engage in an equal give and take with me.  This isn’t a personal question. I’m more interested in the professional side. How to I create those professional relationships that can stand the test of time? Read my response here…

INTERVIEW: Networking from Scratch – I’ve been sharing this interview a lot lately with my coaching clients. It’s a conversation I had with a senior professional who found himself in a new city, with no network and unemployed. Michael had to build a trusted network from scratch – and quickly. In this interview, he explains exactly how he developed a strong network in short order that landed him an outstanding job…all without ever asking for a job! His advice – priceless. Get the interview here…


Next week in Career Attraction University:

- “Stand Out” Job Search Training start Monday

- Monthly Q&A Webinar – Thursday, July 15 at 12:00pmEST (Invitations will be emailed on Monday for Career Attraction University members). Remember to send your questions in by noon on Wednesday, July 14 to university@careerattraction.com)

- New “how to” Social Media Videos will be posted next week too!

Not a member of Career Attraction University? For less than one dollar a day you can access all this information and more. Sign-up here and get started today!

2008 – 2010 – Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

In past articles, I have talked about the importance of developing Your Solution. This is what you do best – maybe even better than anyone else. If you think about that skill set like a product, there are things it (you) does and doesn’t do. It only makes sense then to target hiring managers who are experiencing the pain and problems that Your Solution addresses.

So, instead of firing off a generic pitch with what you do, take a more pinpoint approach. Begin by asking 2-3 questions that identify if that hiring manager is experiencing problems that you can fix. The answers will either allow you to highlight your accomplishments and what you can do for their company or help you determine that it isn’t the right job for you. The former is just as important as the latter.

This also does something else very important. It gets the potential employer talking about themselves. With this, you can more naturally make Your Solution all about them (which, incidentally, leads to uncovering “hidden” job opportunities). As well, it positions you to be able to share relatable stories with quantifiable results that show what is in it for them when they hire you.

Your Solution + Their Pain = Smart Hire

Taking this approach will narrow down your job search so you are focusing on real, qualified opportunities versus just trying to get any job. It allows you to start hunting with a rifle, not a shotgun. Ultimately, it will help pair you with a job that is not only a good fit, but where you can experience your greatest success.

Want more tips on how to stand out in the job market and attract more opportunities? Watch this video I made with Donna Reed (plus, there are a ton of free resources you can put to work today in your job search!)

2010 © Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

What adds insult to injury is that which passes for feedback…the “advice” you are given as you discover you didn’t get the job. And this, my friend, is what I want to tackle today. Because, I see how much effort, energy and emotion is often put towards the words and ideas passed off as “helpful information” once your ride on the interview train has ended. And, frankly, it’s often wasted energy that is detracting you from moving down the path to your goal: finding the right job.

Don’t Assume You Are Being Told the Truth – You know I use the dating analogy a lot when talking about the hiring process. Remember what it was like to split up with someone? “It’s not you, it’s me.” The reality is that many times saying the truth can be as uncomfortable as hearing it…and many will avoid that at all costs. As well, in our uber-legal, highly litigious society, there is a reluctance to share the truth for fear of liability.

They May Not Know – You know those gut feelings you get about people – good or bad? Do you really need to know why you feel that way? No – you’ve learned over the years to trust your instincts. The hiring process is no different. You may be a perfect fit for a role but another candidate moves forward in the process (even gets the job) because the hiring manager just felt more comfortable with them. In the search business, when asking clients to describe the common thread shared by everyone on their team, most would respond with something along the lines of, “I can’t tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it.” What do you do with that?

A Choice for Someone Else isn’t Always a Choice Against You – Following on the heels on them not knowing, this is really important to remember. When someone else is selected, it doesn’t mean a conscious choice was made against you. The natural place for any of us to go after being rejected is to what we could have done differently. This is all you can control, but it could have nothing to do with why you didn’t get hired.

Is all this unscientific, arbitrary and largely beyond your control – absolutely. The hiring process is a sum of its parts: people. And we are a quirky bunch. Put us all together and try to get consensus amongst a diverse group of people…it’s a wonder any decisions get made at all. Trying to apply rationale and logic to something as speculative and nuance driven as the hiring process can, simply put, drive you insane. On top of that, you are emotionally in the thick of things. Being objective isn’t only an unreasonable expectation for you to have for yourself, but it’s largely impossible.

Instead of reflecting on and dissecting what you are told (if anything) after an interview, I want you to do two things. First, capitalize on the opportunity presented (read this past blog I wrote on the topic). Second, reflect on whether you were the truest representation of you in the interview. If you were, and didn’t get the job, then it wasn’t the right fit for you. As much as you have your eyes on the prize (AKA: the job) during an interview, sometimes not winning is a blessing in disguise. The downside to getting hired for something you aren’t can be even more devastating in the long run than it is frustrating to be in the job search.

Comments, thoughts or advice you want to share? Leave it below as a comment!

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2008 – 2010 Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

Kevin,

I had been a top consultative sales producer for many years. Then, about 9-10 years ago, I encountered family and economic issues, e.g., layoffs, two-year non-compete, family health issues for which I took off work, etc., that prevented me from continuing in my successful sales career at that time. I then took “underemployment” just to make ends meet after the tech bubble burst, and the rest of the story occurred economically.

Now, trying to re-launch my sales career, hiring authorities see my resume with several short-tenured jobs in the past few years and immediately point that out as a rejection. This has come from recruiters and hiring managers themselves.

How might I structure my resume to get past this and on to an interview? This is a major obstacle, despite cover letters and top resume bullets showing what I can do for the company. I want to be honest, but not short-sell myself in the resume. Might I group these under “Sales and Consulting” (and list under my own sales consulting company, which I do actually have) even though they were actual jobs?

Anonymous (name withheld to protect the…well…because she asked me to )

Anonymous,

OK…It’s not you, it’s the system (and I say this confidently, Anonymous, because we have spoken). It’s precisely why I focus on creating a new system that works for you and get’s you standing out versus an old one that, clearly, doesn’t work for you. And, if there is one thing all job seekers are looking to do, it’s How to Stand Out (I did a recent poll of my subscribers on it)!

It’s not your Resume, but what you’re expecting your Resume to do – First, it’s not the format. Chronological resumes highlight movement. Functional resumes leave the reader wondering what you’re trying to hide. All that notwithstanding, by having a resume (or cover letter for that matter) take “point” for you in trying to get someone’s attention, you immediately throw yourself into the cattle call with everyone else. At the end of the day, no one is going to hire you because of your resume and it’s the weakest asset you have to leverage in getting on a hiring manager’s radar.

Get out of the Crowd – On the heels of that last point, ask yourself this: why try and stand apart in a crowded database of 1,000’s of resumes? Doesn’t it make more sense to put yourself in a less crowded space where you can shine? I really dig into this in my most recent video – check it out (and I give you some tools to start doing just that!).

Recruiters should be last on your list – Why? They don’t hire you. They are gatekeepers whose initial role is to thin the herd. In your situation, where you are trying to demonstrate (on paper or otherwise) the value you can bring by relating past accomplishment, that simply doesn’t fit in with the world of Boolean string searches and keyword matching. Your value needs to resonate with the person who can hire you. And, again, there are better ways to deliver that message than via paper.

Consult – If you are lacking recent, relevant experience – this is the way to go. And, it can be paid or un-paid. Hiring managers are less concerned with what you were paid that what you have accomplished – it’s a predictive indicator of what you’ll do for them. Deeds, not words. If that’s not enough, it will get you back in your element, get you in a more positive mindset and – when all is said and done – thinking about yourself as a Top Consultative Sales Professional – not a job seeker.

I’ll leave you with this: I had a Bootcamp client who’d been out of the workforce for over 7 years. In a coaching call, she shared with me that she had a really difficult time getting past gatekeepers, let alone getting the attention of hiring manager, with that gap on her resume. But, when she met people one-on-one, they got to know her…the value she could bring. When they saw her resume, the gap became a relative non-issue. Her question to me: How do I get my resume to do that? My response: Why would you want it to?

Don’t kill yourself trying to get a system to work for you that was never designed to serve you to begin with. Leverage what you’ve got, because you’ve got a lot!

Kevin

Got a job search or career advice question you want answered? Email it with “Weekly Q&A Blog” in the Subject Line to info@careerattraction.com  I can’t promise it will be picked, but you won’t know until you send it in!

Like what you read? Get blogs, videos and tools you can use delivered right to your inbox as I post them. No spam or junk – just content you can put to use and get results with!

The First Date – Without fail, when I prepare a client for an interview they always start talking about what they are missing or rehashing why they were fired/downsized/let go. Just like talking about your ex on a first date, this is a really bad place to start. Even if it’s just in your head, you run the risk of self-sabotage by steering the conversation in that direction. Kind of like driving towards lights on the highway.

Focus on what you have in common and establishing a reason for a second date. Just like you wouldn’t expect to rush to the altar after your first date, the initial interview is about getting to know one another. Moreover, giving the interviewer reasons to want to bring you back to learn more about you…not flag the waiter down for the check and sprint for the door. Remember, you want to be defining yourself as an expert with the ability to solve problems – not as a job seeker. Job seeking is a condition of your employment, not the value you bring and a new addition to a company. Moreover, it’s not why you are going to get hired or a reason for them to max out the compensation scale in your favor…just like being single isn’t the reason you get a second date.

Get Engaged, Get Interested – Ever had dinner with someone who couldn’t stop talking about themselves? It kind of reminds me of telemarketers. Remember those guys? You’d pick up the phone in the evening and someone on the other end would verbally vomit on you. It didn’t matter what you needed, they had a product to sell and a script to push through. It wasn’t a conversation. Honestly, it wasn’t really even a sales pitch. It was more like forced feeding. Until, of course, you simply hung up on them…which is something you don’t want to have happen to you in the interview.

So, don’t have an untargeted presentation of who you are and what you do. Ask a few questions so you can determine if they need what you have (for those Bootcamp Clients reading – it’s all about “Your Solution.”). This way you will add value and have a more meaningful conversation – which translates to better compensation. It will also let you both know whether or not it truly is a good fit. Sometimes getting to “no” is more important than “yes.”

“I Won’t be ignored Dan!” – Bar none, my favorite quote from Fatal Attraction. No matter what character Glenn Close plays, I always envision Alex in the corner flipping that light switch on and off. Don’t let this be the image you leave people with when the process either doesn’t move at fast as you’d like or the company moves in another direction. When it comes to calling or emailing someone, there is a fine line between pleasant persistence and outright stalking someone.

I’ve written about turning rejection into opportunity and the importance of handling those situations well. I’ve experienced something similar with women I have dated, but things didn’t work out – sometimes their choice, sometimes mine. But, in either case, I’ve subsequently been set up by many of them with friends because they consider me a “good guy.”

My point here isn’t to self-inflate my ego. Rather, just like in dating, you spend a good amount of time and effort in building up a connection – possibly a relationship – with another person. To throw all that away because you aren’t chosen for a job is a really bad choice. Just like we rely on our friends’ suggestions and opinions when making decision, so works the hiring process. And, in this highly competitive market, having former interviewers out there spreading the good word about you is only going to make finding the right job that much easier.

Comments, thoughts or great dating/interview analogies…please share them below!

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2008 – 2010 Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

]]> http://www.careerattraction.com/dating/feed/ 14 http://www.careerattraction.com/uncovering-the-hidden-job-market/ http://www.careerattraction.com/uncovering-the-hidden-job-market/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:43:48 +0000 admin http://www.careerattraction.com/?p=5132 You’ve heard it before. 80-85% of the hiring done is off the conventional radar (no recruiters, no job boards, etc..) in the “hidden” job market. In this interview, I talk to Ed Warner who uncovered his new job through a combination of harnessing social media, networking and simply being himself. Ed pulls back the curtain and shares how he found his unadvertised position in the “hidden” job market.

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http://www.careerattraction.com/dont-crack-the-champagne-just-yet-tips-to-make-sure-your-references-close-the-deal-for-you/ http://www.careerattraction.com/dont-crack-the-champagne-just-yet-tips-to-make-sure-your-references-close-the-deal-for-you/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 20:35:25 +0000 admin http://www.careerattraction.com/?p=4739 Two years ago, if a client told me that the company they were interviewing with was getting ready to check references, I would have thought, “Great! It sounds like an offer is not far behind.” But now, with unemployment at almost 10%, the job search landscape is far different and more competitive than ever. As a result, many companies are checking the references of multiple candidates in order to help make their final decision. So, getting it right with your references is extremely important. Here are a few tips:

• Be Proactive: Don’t assume the reference and reference checker will connect. Find out who will be calling your reference and let your reference know. I would suggest taking the steps to help schedule it. Not only will this help make certain it happens, but your reference will be in a better state of mind and more prepared for the call. You want them focused on selling you, not multitasking by driving, checking emails, etc..
• Prepare Your Reference: Schedule a call with your reference to review your background and the position you are interviewing for. Send them a copy of your resume. You want them understanding why this is a great job for you. They need to both think and speak in terms of why your past accomplishments are an indicator of what you are going to do for your future employer. It is all about being specific, quantifying and qualifying why you are the best hire – period.
• You are Only Good at What You Check: Follow up with your reference afterwards to find to how the call went. Were there any stumbling points? Any red flags they think you might need to address or be aware of? This way you know if there are any points you need to go back and re-address or affirm with your future employer.

There reference check is so much more than verifying employment. By taking these steps, you will not only properly prepare your reference, but you might discover you need to replace one of the people on your list. Remember, knowing they are checking references doesn’t mean you have the job, but it does mean you are a finalist. This is the last leg of your journey, so it’s time to pull out all the stops. Make sure your references tip the scales in your favor!

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Want to use this article in your ezine, blog or website? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:

It’s not about resumes, job boards, recruiters or even networking. As Your Career Attraction Mentor, Kevin Kermes will show you how to stop chasing after jobs and start attracting opportunities. He believes you are at your best when you can be yourself. Sounds like a better approach, doesn’t it? You can get more free advice like this by visiting him at www.careerattraction.com

© 2008 – 2010 – Kevin Kermes Inc

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http://www.careerattraction.com/questions-about-my-recent-announcement/ http://www.careerattraction.com/questions-about-my-recent-announcement/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:37:34 +0000 admin http://www.careerattraction.com/?p=4638 On Tuesday, I announced that I would be closing the doors on my Job Search 2.0 Bootcamp System forever next week.  I received a number of questions with similar themes.  I hope you don’t mind, but instead of putting together individual responses I decided to make a short recording tackling the questions that came in.  This way, everyone can benefit.

Click here to listen to my answers to your questions.

If you have a question about the program that wasn’t answered in the recording, feel free to leave a comment below and I will make sure to respond ASAP!

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