September 2009 Archives

I am going to take some heat for writing this post since I live in the greater Washington D.C. area.  But here goes...

Long-term job seekers can be inspired by the Detroit Lions.  The Lions went 0-16 last year.  OH AND SIXTEEN!  No team has ever done that in NFL history.  They have actually lost 19 straight games overall, the second-longest streak in NFL history.

That's 92 weeks, 644 days and 19 losses of futility.

Until today.

The Lions beat the Redskins 19-14 in Detroit.

I know a lot of folks who have been looking for a job for a while now.  Maybe 6 months, or 9 months, or longer... 

All I can tell you is keep plugging away.  Keep doing great research on companies.  Land five informational interviews a week.  Rock your cover letters.  Prepare for informational interviews and interviews better than anyone else.  Do this week after week.

The Lions proved that all streaks (good and bad) come to an end.  You have a lot more control than you think.  If you work harder than anyone else, you'll have a pretty good shot at many of the companies you're interested in.

(And just to cover myself, this wasn't an anti-Redskins post... it was a pro-Lions post :)

Many people I interview will tell me "I really want to work here."  But you know, anyone can say that.  Talk is cheap.  What impresses me are the people who demonstrate and *show* me that they "really want to work here."

How do they do this?  It's easy.  They treat every communication as an opportunity to market themselves.

Their cover letters are extremely tailored and thoughtful.  Their thank you notes are timely and substantive.  Their follow-up emails are not needy and clingy, but confident and reference relevant industry news or a useful blog post.

In other words, they play all the right notes... at the right time.

It is an ultra-competitive job market out there.  But remember, there is competition in numbers, not in quality.  If you work harder than everyone else, you'll put yourself in position to be successful in most of your interviews. 

Believe it or not, it's really easy to stand out...

Photo Courtesy HarperStudio

Until recently, I never knew much about 50 Cent.  Sure, I have enjoyed his music over the years, but I just thought he was another rapper who made a lot of money and lived beyond his means. 

However, my interest was piqued a few months ago, when I heard 50 Cent was teaming up with best-selling author Robert Greene to write a book: The 50th Law.

I read Greene's landmark book, The 48 Laws of Power, last year and instantly began to apply some of the "laws" to my own life.  So I have been counting down the days until the release of The 50th Law.

Not surprisingly, I found several nuggets from 50th that would be useful to readers of this blog.  I have provided a few excerpts below and my spin on how they relate to the job search:

You must choose a career or a craft that excites you in some deep way.
I once read advice from Patriots' Coach Bill Belichick that recent grads should pursue their passions after graduation, because things will change a few years down the road.  I agree, focus on what you love now because it will make your job search - and job- something you will enjoy.

There are two kinds of hustlers in this world - those who stay on the outside, and those who move to the inside.  The outside types never bother to learn anything about their customers.
Anyone who has heard me speak about the job search will tell you that I always compare it to "sales."  And to be a good salesman, you need to spend a lot of time with your customers to find out what they want to buy.  As a job seeker, you are selling a product (you) and you need to take the time to meet with companies (buyers) on an informational basis so you can learn what they want to buy and re-position yourself.

All human activities involve a process of mastery.  You must learn the various steps and procedures involved, proceeding to higher and higher levels of proficiency... as you become better at this task or craft, it becomes increasingly pleasurable.  You see your improvement; you see connections and possibilities you hadn't noticed before.
Networking is an acquired skill.  It has taken me a decade to get to the point where I have no fear (50 Cent would be proud).  I can email or call any company in the country right now and ask for an informational meeting.  But I wasn't this bold overnight.  I was always a shy kid, but overcame my fear of networking and reaching out to people BY DOING IT! 

To become a successful hustler you had to accustom yourself to the slow, grinding pace of the job.
In some respects, technology is really having a negative impact on job seekers.  We live in a fast-paced world where everything is instant and convenient: texting, instant messaging, twitter, facebook status updates, the CNN crawl...  You don't have to call anyone anymore.  You don't have to read newspapers anymore.  Heck, you don't even need to grab a beer with your friends anymore.

Sure, say I'm old school.  But I believe in fusing the old with the new.  The job search is hard work and slow.  Like 3-6 months long slow.  Technology can help you identify companies faster, maintain communication/find information on them (blogs, twitter, Google News, etc.) but you still are going to need to put in the time.  Email after email.  Informational interview after informational interview.

When you prove to yourself that you can get things on your own, then you experience a sense of liberation.
I know exactly what 50 Cent means when he says this.  I love my current "day job" but it wouldn't have come to fruition if I was impatient and jumped at the first opportunity that came my way.  During my last job search in 2006, I interviewed at several companies and declined a few offers because I knew I was driving the process and would eventually find the perfect fit.  THAT is liberation.  Saying no when most people say yes.  Not settling for something because you know you can find exactly what you want.

Here's 50 Cent and Robert Greene on the Today Show recently:

A good friend of mine is a senior marketing guy and is exploring some opportunities with prominent luxury brands.  Following is a cover letter he sent to a company last week.  They called him immediately for an interview.  I've received his permission to post the letter (anonymous, of course!).  This is a great example of leveraging a cover letter as a piece of marketing collateral and tailoring it for a specific audience!

Dear Ms. Jones-

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today about the Senior Manager, Social Media position at XYZ.  Our conversation, coupled with a quick scan of XYZ's online presence, has solidified my strong interest in learning more about this role.

There was an interesting blog post today by Jeremiah Owyang, "Five Ways Luxury Brands Can Overcome the Conundrum of Social Marketing."  As Mr. Owyang notes, luxury brands have yet to harness the power of social media and tailor it to their niche consumers.

Social media is more than tweeting your new product line, or creating a Facebook Fan Page.  It is about leveraging these networks to help tie your niche consumers closer to your brand.

After a very quick scan of your online presence I noticed the following:

A)  Blogs:  Bloggers share their thoughts on certain collections and seasonal items and mostly serve as brand evangelists as most feedback is positive.  Many people seek these bloggers opinions before making a purchase.  This is a good opportunity to capitalize on organic, word of mouth, marketing.

B)  Facebook: With over 417K facebook fans, XYZ certainly has a passionate consumer base.  Over the past two months, XYZ has made 10 wall posts related to new collections or party pictures.  There was an average of 151 comments per post and fans interacted more with product previews than event recaps.  This reinforces the notion that product is king and consumers crave more information about the merchandise.

C)  Twitter: There were a couple dozen tweets over the past couple days with the Twitter hashtag #XYZ.  Most of these were "deals" on products through outlets like Macy's and Amazon.  After browsing through http://wefollow.com/twitter/ I identified an opportunity for XYZ to be one of the first prominent luxury brands on Twitter.

D)  YouTube: There were more than 1,000 videos marked with the tag "XYZ product."  These featured personal collections, information on how to spot fake products, etc.

I am confident that given my years of experience in media and marketing - combined with a strategic understanding of the fashion/accessories categories, - I would be an asset to XYZ and help to develop and execute a social media strategy aligned with your current offline and online efforts (for a 360-degree, completely integrated campaign).

I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you to learn more about your goals, challenges and ideas about traditional, online and social media marketing.

Best regards,

My friend

 

Hey Brian, would you mind taking a look at my resume?

As a career coach and recruiter, I get that question a lot.  Funny thing is, it's just a piece of paper with words.  It is NOT the holy grail.  I can't tell you five magic words to add to your resume to get a job.

We've been brought up in a society that places too much emphasis on resumes, job fairs and online job boards. 

The system really doesn't work anymore.  But we're all trapped in it, because no one has taught you a better way.

A resume is only good if you tailor it for a specific opening at a particular company.  If you have a "one size fits all" resume, I bet you're not going to have a lot of success.

So what can you do?

Listen Before You Sell!

What does that mean?  It means that you take the time to thoroughly research an organization, schedule an informational interview with someone at your target company and ask several good questions to get them to tell you about their career path, gaps on their team, challenges, areas of pain, opportunities for new staff, clients, client projects etc.

Once you have all of that information, you can successfully tailor a cover letter or resume for that company.  You need to Listen Before You Sell!

(I must give credit where credit is due.  You all know I am a huge fan of Seth Godin.  He had a great post on his blog recently which mentioned several "must read" books including  Listen First - Sell Later.  I haven't read it yet... but I probably will ;)

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer aired an interesting piece last night about unemployment and the state of the job market.

At the beginning of the piece, a woman noted "job searching is a job, but you don't get paid."  I have often said this.

There are some interesting nuggets in the video.  You can watch it here.

But my main question is, why does mainstream media keep covering job fairs?  Nearly every corporate recruiter I have talked to over the past 6-7 years has told me that they don't like job fairs.  The reason?  Time, costs, travel, and once back at the office, recruiters have to sift through a few hundred resumes just to find a handful that would meet their needs.  In other words, the model doesn't work anymore.

So mainstream media, I understand you get good visuals at job fairs.  You get happy job seekers... unhappy job seekers... long lines... good soundbites... but you are promoting  a dead strategy.

Instead, find some job seekers who are thinking "outside the box" and share those job search secrets with your audience.  At least FORTUNE Magazine understands.  They wrote a great piece a few months ago. 

Have any of you ever found a job through a job fair?  I want to hear all of the "yes's" and "no's" in the comments section below.