Landing Success Factors - Part 1

Most of us who practice in the arena of today's job search agree that a new set of skills are needed if you are to land successfully.  Skills like designing your own brand and raising your visibility. A true story...

One of my clients, let's call him G, came in the other day and told me he had just received an offer of employment. He added that it was directly due to something I had recommended. Here's the rest of the story.

G and I had been talking about his desire to re-brand himself as part of his strategy. I suggested he consider writing a Pulse post for LinkedIn that demonstrated some aspect of his expertise.

At first, G wasn't so sure. After some heming and hawing, he did it. He wrote and published the post.

Soon thereafter a former colleague rang him up to compliment him on the post. That led to a conversation...and to the job offer.

The former colleague, it turns out, is an entrepreneur currently growing a tech start-up. And he needed exactly the skills that G was offering to the marketplace.

G credits the Pulse post with raising his visibility to his own network.

What actions are helping you to gain visibility?

Terrence Seamon assists people who are in job search and career transition. Follow him on twitter @tseamon

Go SMART into 2016

As we glide through the Holiday Season, here is a gift from me to all job hunters: five practices that will make you a SMART job hunter.

S = Sales: Why would an employer hire you? Because you are sold…on You! You told the best story. The story of Who You Are. And what you can bring to the employer’s organization. Your Story is your Brand. Telling your Story is the way you sell the prospect.

M = Market: How do you find potential employers? Like a Big Game Hunter tracks and snares his prey. With clear intent and unrelenting pursuit. You know what you want. You know your market. Because you know your Product. And the product is You. Remember: when you are in transition, you are in Sales & Marketing.

A = Acquisition: How do you rise above the rest of the job hunters out there? They want a job. But you are looking to acquire a company. Sure, you want a job too. But think about it for a few minutes from the point of view of the recruiter who is beating the bushes to find and attract some good candidates. You are doing the same thing from the other side of the equation. So get into acquisition mode.

R = Research: How do you wow the employer? By demonstrating how much you know about him or her. You did your research, using your network, LinkedIn, and other resources on the internet. You prepared a list of questions to ask. You know so much about the employer that you may actually stun the interviewer.

T = Tools: The well-equipped job hunter always carries his most trusty tools, especially business cards, a pen, a fully charged cell phone, and a box of “Thank You” note cards. But the Swiss Army Knife of all job search tools is one’s network, the people you know, the people you can count on, the people who are looking out for you.

Be smart, baby. Be smart.

Posted by Terrence Seamon, a veteran job hunter. For more ideas on job search, career change, and how to find the meaning and happiness you seek out of life, invite Terry to speak to your organization.

Follow the Recipe

Remember the Jimmy Webb song from the late 1960's called "MacArthur Park?" The enigmatic lyric says, "Someone left the cake out in the rain. I don't think that I can take it 'cause it took so long to bake it, and I'll never have that recipe again. Oh no!"

Some (especially Boomers who lived through the Flower Power times) love that song. Many (especially the generations that came after) hate it for it's soaring but baffling poetry.

So what was Webb trying to say? Though this may be an oversimplification, the cake is a relationship that went sour. And the recipe is the mysterious set of ingredients that produced the relationship in the first place.

What is the connection for Job Hunters? If you are looking for work, that elusive job is the cake you are after. And the recipe is the process you are following to find that cake, er I mean job.

What got this meditation started was a coffee meet-up the other morning at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick.

We were talking about how challenging it is these days to find work, even when you have all the necessary ingredients, such as a resume, a business card, a cover letter, a list of target companies, a network, a LinkedIn profile, etc.

Then my friend said something brilliant: "Having all the right ingredients is not enough. You have to know how to combine them correctly. It's like making a pie or a cake."

His point was, In order to make a delicious cake, you need a specific process to follow. The right steps in the right order. 

You need practice and feedback. 

You need an accountability structure to help support you.

And it probably wouldn't hurt to have a mentor as well. Someone who has had plenty of practice baking mouth-watering cakes.

Terrence Seamon helps his clients follow the recipe for success. Follow him on twitter @tseamon

The VUCA Skills Needed In Today's Job Search

At the US Army War College and other similar schools, they teach the principle that "no plan survives contact with the enemy." Why is that? Because the world of planners and the world of soldiers is vastly different.

Planners set goals, develop strategies, and lay out timetables. On the battlefield, soldiers deal with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. This is known as VUCA and it requires a different type of thinking and acting altogether. It means moving from plans to planning.

Instead of holding to something fixed, anyone in a VUCA environment has to stay highly attuned to what is happening around him. He has to adapt on the fly. He has to quickly recover and re-orient himself. He has to learn continuously and keep moving.

Does this sound to you like the world of today's job hunter? It does to me.

Using VUCA as a model, job hunters need to develop skills in four areas:

V = Visibility - How to get (and stay) visible to employers. Without this new skill, employers don't know you exist! Three ways to increase your visibility are: 1) Get on LinkedIn and be active there; 2) Get out of the house and go to networking events and be active at them; and 3) Get in front of potential employers by using your contacts to introduce you.

U = Upbeat - How to stay positive and pumped up even when it seems like you are making little or no progress. This may be one of the toughest new skills. Job search sucks! And job loss may have damaged your self-esteem. The best way to stay upbeat is to get with other people and help them in some way. Volunteer some of your time for a worthy cause.

C = Connected - How to use connections to move toward opportunity. Perhaps the second most difficult skill is overcoming the reluctance to ask others for help. Believe me when I say that Others Want to Help! They are waiting to help you. They will help you without expectation of anything in return in most cases.

A = Adaptability - How to keep changing and learning on the fly. The good news about this skill is that most of us do this one naturally because we are learning animals. We have been adapting throughout our lives. The danger during the job search is that we may fail to un-learn and abandon old self-limiting beliefs that, if unaddressed, will hold us back.

So to sum it up, the skills that made us effective when we were working are not the same skills we need to develop quickly to execute a successful job search.

Note: For more on VUCA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatility,_uncertainty,_complexity_and_amb...

Terrence H. Seamon is an organization development consultant who provides leadership and team development services to employers in New Jersey. His book Lead the Way explores the challenges of leadership. Additionally, Terry is a job search and career coach whose book To Your Success provides a motivational guide for anyone in transition. An alumnus of PSG, Terry co-founded and co-moderates the St. Matthias Employment Ministry in Somerset, NJ. He can be reached atthseamon@yahoo.com and via his website: http://about.me/terrenceseamon

Five Basics for Effective Job Interviews

Have you had a job interview lately?

Someone recently told me that he was not feeling great about a recent job interview. He said, "I just didn't feel comfortable or confident."

Job interviews are unnatural but you can go into them feeling good about yourself. Here are some ideas on doing better in interviews.

Number one, your mental preparation is key! Know why you are there: your purpose, your value, and why they should hire you.

Next, know the job opening: what do they need? Ask yourself, how you can fill the need?

Then, know the organization. Research it on the web. Find out what is happening there.

Be sure to develop your list of questions that you want to ask them. Questions about the job and the company.

Finally and vitally important, have stories of your accomplishments ready to roll. When the interviewer asks you "Tell me about a time when..." that's your cue for an accomplishment story.

Prepare your stories in the C - A - R format for Challenge, Action, and Result. For example:

"One time we had a rush request from a very important customer. So we formed a special team and worked hard to get the product assembled and delivered. The customer was so happy that we hustled to meet their demands that they became a regular client."

A well-formulated CAR Story will convey your skills and capabilities to the employer. It is one of the best ways to convince them that you are the answer to their prayers.

Terrence H. Seamon is an organization development consultant who provides leadership and team development services to employers in New Jersey. His book Lead the Way explores the challenges of leadership. Additionally, Terry is a job search and career coach whose book To Your Success provides a motivational guide for anyone in transition. An alumnus of PSG, Terry co-founded and co-moderates the St. Matthias Employment Ministry in Somerset, NJ. He can be reached atthseamon@yahoo.com and via his website: http://about.me/terrenceseamon

Job Search During the Holidays

The annual "Holiday season" here in the U.S. is underway!

A time of almost non-stop holiday commerce, including partying, shopping, eating, and drinking, it's the way that many Americans celebrate the closing of another year. We "ring out the old, and ring in the new."

Yet, these months can also be a rough time for many in our communities, a time of difficulty, stress, even sadness, depending upon what has transpired in your life. 

One group that often finds the Holidays to be a challenging time is the Unemployed. While others around them are shopping for presents and planning parties, job hunters may be weighted down by worry. Worry about money. Worry about the future.

Common questions that many job hunters wrestle with include, "How should I celebrate the holidays? Should I suspend my search at this time?"

While it is tempting to burrow into a hole and hibernate until after January 1, it's not a good idea. The holiday season is a festive time when many, even in business offices, lighten up and relax a bit. It's a time for office parties and even fun in the workplace.

It's actually a fine time to connect with others and share "tidings of great joy."

I'd like to suggest four ideas that job hunters can implement that will help during the festive period.  The four ideas spell out the word GIFT. Here they are.

Give - While children look forward to this time of year because they expect to get things, grown-ups know the joy of giving. And the greatest gift you can give is the gift of your self. Be the gift to others by giving your time, your attention, and your presence. 

There is a quote from Zig Ziglar that every job hunter must know: "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."

Experts in networking have always preached that the secret to doing it well is to be self-less. It's paradoxical. To approach what seems to be a selfish endeavor (Gotta get me a job!) by turning it completely around (How can I help you?) may be one of the most puzzling aspects of the job search for many people.

When you go to holiday events, be a Giver:

• Show interest in the other person - A typical job hunter practices their "elevator speech" so that, in a networking interaction, they are ready to talk about themselves. The Giving Approach says, Shine the spotlight on the other person. Show interest in them. Let them go first. Prompt them to tell you their elevator speech. Listen and ask about it. Ask about the progress they are making in their search.
• Ask the other person how you can help - Although you are looking for people who can help you, the Giving Approach says, Ask the other person what you can do to help them. You may be in a position to help them connect to someone in a company they are interested in. You may be a sounding board for the other person to work out their action plans. Or you may simply be a sympathetic listener.
• Follow up with the other person - The job search can get lonely. Much of the time you are not in the company of others. It can be a long stretch until the next group meeting sometimes. The Giving Approach says, Keep in touch with the other person. Call them up. Check in and ask how things are going.

The underlying power in the Giving Approach is that you are building relationships based upon generosity of spirit. Be the gift.

Invite - If you get invited to a party, don't turn it down. Instead, accept the invitation. If you don't get invited to a party, throw one yourself! Keep it modest if you have tightened your belt. All you need is a group of friends. Invite them to your place. If each person brings something to eat and drink, voila! you have a party!

Friends - Don't withdraw from people. Even though you may feel like it, resist that urge. Instead, push yourself out there and get into the mix with friends and family. You will feel much better.

Time - The martial arts movie star Bruce Lee once said "If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of." If there is one theme that runs through this holiday season it is Love Life. Spend your time accordingly.

One of the maxims in effective time management is to ask yourself "What is the best use of my time right now?" You answer it by considering all the possible things you could do with the available time, considering such variables as importance, urgency, short-term needs, longer term goals, and the needs of others. 

At this festive time of year, Time itself, your time, may be one of the most precious gifts you can give.

Essentials of Marketing for Today's Job Hunters

How many job hunters know anything at all about sales & marketing? Unless you came from that field, the answer probably is "Not so much."

There is a marketing guru here in the New York area whose funny tagline is "Your marketing sucks."

I'm sure he's right.

I had a cup of coffee with a friend, talking about today's job search and more specifically our respective marketing efforts. I am not a marketing guy. He is.

His comment was that success is 90% marketing.

When I asked him to break it down for me, here is what he offered:

- Marketing is getting noticed by the people who can hire you.
- Marketing is demonstrating to them that you are the answer to the problems they need solved.
- Marketing is making it very clear that you are the right person for the assignment.

When I asked if he could be more specific, he said he is writing a book and did not want to give away his formula. But he did say this:

- You have to shift your thinking.

Essentially, you must create your own marketplace by approaching employers that you have identified as your targets and offering specific solutions to their problems.

So how do you get started on this?

Another friend of mine said to me, "Terry, I am of the old school that says the best marketing is a damn good product or service."

He reminded me of a classic model that pinpoints the four steps in any marketing effort:

1) Identify a list of the potential customers with a high likelihood of need for your product or service.

2) Develop a relationship with someone in that company. (Using your network, as well as LinkedIn, can help here.)

3) Show them what you can do, even if it is done for free at first. Deliver with excellence.

4) Sell them on hiring you as the solution to their problems.

Four steps seems easy, right. It isn't. Especially if marketing is not your area of expertise. 

Some experts say that marketing to one client can take years of effort to win a sale.

If you are a job hunter in this economy, you don't have years. You need work now. So the question becomes, How can you take these concepts of marketing and accelerate the process?

So let's get more granular in this post about some strategies that job hunters can adapt and use to accelerate their job search.

In 1997, the management guru Tom Peters wrote a classic article for Fast Company about marketing entitled "The Brand Called You." In it, he wrote:

"No matter what you're doing today, there are four things you've got to measure yourself against. First, you've got to be a great teammate and a supportive colleague. Second, you've got to be an exceptional expert at something that has real value. Third, you've got to be a broad-gauged visionary -- a leader, a teacher, a farsighted "imagineer." Fourth, you've got to be a businessperson -- you've got to be obsessed with pragmatic outcomes."

Though these words still ring true today, let's update his article a bit. Each of the following four strategies is an essential element in your marketing plan.

Your Team - Who is on your team? What? You don't have a team? In today's economic climate, you cannot go it alone as a job hunter. You must form your own support team. A team (even a team of two) can give you input, as well as to hold your feet to the fire and impel you forward.

Your Expertise - Everyone is an expert at something. How about you? This is no time for modesty. Pinpoint your expertise and bring it forward. Do not put your light under a bushel basket. Look for ways to put your expertise on display so that you raise your visibility and get noticed.

Your Vision - What work do you want to do next? Where do you want to do it? Do you want to go back inside corporate and work for a boss? Or do you want to work for yourself? Don't sell yourself short or paint yourself into a narrow corner. Think big.

Your Solution - Employers are looking for problem solvers. Are you the solution? Tom Peters says that everyone has a brand. What is yours? Your brand is the promise of the value that you will deliver to the customer. Think of it as the application of your expertise to the problems the customer needs to solve.

Note: To read the Tom Peters' article, click this link: http://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you

Terrence H. Seamon is an organization development consultant and coach who provides leadership and team development services to employers in New Jersey. His book Lead the Way explores the challenges of leadership. Additionally, Terry is a job search and career coach whose book To Your Success provides a motivational guide for anyone in transition. His third book, Change for the Better, provides leaders with a guide to navigating through organizational change. Terry co-founded and co-moderates the St. Matthias Employment Ministry in Somerset, NJ. He can be reached at thseamon@yahoo.com and via his website:http://about.me/terrenceseamon