A Word of Advice for Hiring Employers

I am posting today because I am attempting to create a genuine cover letter.  A cover letter that doesn’t just paint a picture of someone with the required qualifications, but someone with heart and passion to grow the business.

Its obvious that our current economic situation has thrust a plethora of qualified applicants scurrying to find their next job.  The abundance is a good thing and bad thing for hiring employers. The good side is employers have a copious pool of qualified, or over-qualified, candidates to select from.  The bad side is determining if the candidate actually has a desire to do what is being asked.  Or, if they’re applying because it’s the only thing they know and secretly hate doing it?

Take me for example. I have experience with developing internal processes to accommodate FCC regulations. On paper I would like the ideal candidate. However, am I passionate about doing it for the rest of my life?  Maybe.  Maybe not. Do employers even look at passion as an asset?  How do they determine who has it from a paper resume?  Thus, my word of advice for hiring employers is to make absolutely sure your candidate has passion for what is being asked.

I have some words of advice for job seekers too.  Well, a question actually.  Are you applying because you want to, or because you have to?  Don’t let desperation to generate income stop you from doing what makes you happy.  Be selective in your hunt. Your persistence will pay off.

Good luck!

Aja

Job Search Accountability Team

One of the most useful things that happened for me in my first layoff was to be put into a job search accountability team by my outplacement services consultant.  This became my “group therapy,” because let’s face it, getting laid off can be very disheartening and really whacks your self-esteem a good one upside the head. 

A year later, when I got laid off the second time, I did not have local outplacement services to rely upon, and started up my own group from within the Lake County Prosperity Forum membership, as we’d been seeing more and more unemployed folks coming to our networking meetings.  Obviously I’m not facilitating these “Opportunity Connect” meetings anymore, but I’m glad to say they’re still ocurring, thanks to Carol Malecha.  

The basic structure of job search accountability teams is fairly straight-forward.  Here are the guidelines I drew up for Opportunity Connect – feel free to not re-invent the wheel and start your own group!

Goals:

• Support each other while we search for our next job

• Serve as a sounding board for each other

• Hold ourselves accountable for producing results that will get us closer to our next job

• Share leads, job search effectiveness tools, target company information, and connections

• Mentor each other, and new team members in job search & networking skills

• Establish meaningful networking connections with each other

Targeted Weekly Results:

• FIVE job applications submitted

• FOUR networking events attended

• THREE informational interviews conducted

• TWO personal development activities completed (e.g., training, excercise, volunteering)

• ONE face-to-face job interview

Format:

• Standing weekly meetings — same time & location, 2 hours in length

• Group size no larger than 8-10 people

• Round-table format — each person will have 5 minutes to review their weekly results, as well as their goals for the following week.

• Questions for the group will be put in the parking lot and addressed after all members have reviewed their results for the week

Ground Rules:

• NO WHINING – we are here to help each other keep focused on what we can control and to remain positive

• What happens in the group stays in the group

• Yes/No questions to the group are off limits

• Hiring Managers / Recruiters that are LCPF members are welcome to join the teams, but must participate in the full weekly meeting, should share connections and advice, and may solicit leads for open positions during the round-table discussion in lieu of giving a job search update.

• Each weekly meeting will be moderated on a rotating basis by someone within the group, to be agreed upon at the end of the previous week’s meeting.

• If you cannot attend a weekly meeting, you should email at least two other people in the group in advance to request that they provide your weekly update for you.

 Note:  Yes, the 5-4-3-2-1 goals are challenging — that’s the whole point.  Do what you can.  We turned it into a challenge — whomever would be the first to hit all goals in one week would be bought breakfast!  

The most important, and last piece of guidance on job search teams — HAVE FUN!  These are your peers – they understand what you are going through.

Hire Your New Boss

I stumbled across a fantastic site a couple weeks ago that has really resonated with me — Susan Hires A Boss.  Please take some time to read it.

I run across a lot of people that are Nervous Nelly’s about putting information about themselves “out there,” or at least not anything too unprofessional, yet here is a woman who has grabbed the bull by the horns. 

Susan has completely reversed the job interview process.  It’s no longer about whether she will fit the organzation, but whether her boss will fit her.  She has clearly thought through the types of bosses and organizations that do and do not allow her to soar with her strenths, and she lays all her cards on the table. 

As of her most recent post, she’s had 10 interviews and narrowed the field down to 3 candidates.

I absolutely adore her candidness, her creativity, and her pure unadulterated moxie! 

Reading through her site has made me look back on who I did work well with:

Two that I indirectly worked for — both women, both extremely inspiring,  down-to-earth and no bullshit taken or accepted.  Both great role models for me personally. 

Two that I worked for directly — both men, with large families, a very obvious sense of humor, very down-to-earth, and a lot of their children’s photos and artwork plastered all over their offices!  They both trusted my ability to learn as I go, get the job done, and didn’t micro-manage. 

So which bosses have you worked best with?

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask

For many people, myself included, asking for help is not something we’re necessarily good at doing.   One of the central themes of our American culture is “rugged individualism,” which is pounded into us from a very early age.  Be self-sufficient.  Take care of yourself, because no-one else will.  Toughen up.  Stick it out…

These messages carry over into our work-life.  It’s rare that you find a business school that teaches you to band together (luckily, mine was one of those rarities).  Then one day you find yourself laid-off, and you feel helpless.  What should  you do? 

First, you need to realize that you are not alone.  Although our society doesn’t prepare us well to see the vast network of support that surrounds us, people want to help you.  Sometimes these people are complete strangers. 

The key to accessing this network of support is to ask for help. 

Yes, it really is that simple.  Your having been laid off is nothing to be ashamed of.  Large macro-economic forces were at play here.  Your best way to battle these faceless foes is to ask for and let the people around you help, and recognize that there is no shame in asking for help.

Asking for help is very powerful.  You will be amazed what comes your way. 

Last year, early into lay-off #1, I “confessed” to my back-yard neighbor that we didn’t have the cash flow to replace our fence (she’s got a dog, and didn’t want her to run away).  She connected me with someone else in my neighborhood who was also unemployed.  The two of us became very fast friends and morning-walk buddies, which has been such a fantastic gift!

This year, when I suspected my job might be eliminated, even though I had just started as a full-time employee, I asked for advice about the situation at a monthly discussion group at The Present Moment, a nearby bookstore I absolutely love.  A complete stranger told me she does civil service recruiting at the Great Lakes Naval Base, and to talk with her afterwards.  She had me send her my resume the next day, which she shared in the Finance Department.  This led to an informational interview in late March.  Then a notification on an upcoming job posting.  Then an interview.  And now, 5 months since that discussion group, I’ve been offered a position and have a start date.

Asking is a powerful thing.  Use it.

Who’s In Your Network, Pt 3

In my earlier post, Who is in Your Network, I described the initial process you should go through to determine who are the people you can reach out to for help in your job search.  Today, I’m sharing how to grow your network…

 

How to expand your network:

 

There are several ways to expand your network in order to get your message out (yes, this really is all about selling yourself, afterall):

 

1. Ask people for referrals — “Do you know anyone at this company that I could talk with?  Would you mind giving me their contact information so I could call them and arrange an informational interview?”  Don’t forget to ask your neighbors — one of the people who was in outplacement services with me last year found out that his neighbor was a CEO of a local manufacturing firm, and they’d been living next to each other for almost 10 years!  Also, keep in mind that many companies now offer referral bonuses to their employees for bringing in candidates who get hired.  You might find people extremely willing to help if they want that extra bonus in their paycheck.
2. Find business or professional associations you can join:
   • Call your local Chamber of Commerce, the Library, and the nearest state Unemployment Office – they might know of groups you could join.  (Side note — the Unemployment Office is now called Employment Services in Illinois.)
   • Use LinkedIn to search for groups that might be a good fit for you.  I found one called Linked In Chicago that has nearly 15,000 members. 
   • Look to see if there are any networking events coming up in your neck of the woods at TechVenue or Meet Up. 
3. Join an “accountability” group, a.k.a. job search team.  This is typically a group of up to 10 people who are all unemployed and in job search mode.  You meet weekly to discuss your progress in your job search, outline your goals for the following week, share leads and target company information, share contacts, ask advice of the rest of the group, and be there to support each other.  This is typically a 2 hour meeting, conducted in a professional, round table manner.  Everyone even dresses professionally, because “the clothes make the man.” 
4. Volunteer for some social cause that really excites you.  You’ll meet a ton of other people from different walks of life that would probably be very willing to help you once they get to know you and hear your story.
5. If you cannot find a professional network association or accountability group to join, start one yourself!!!  I’ve done both, and I love it.  It’s part of what got me over my fear of networking.  I got in on the ground floor as a core team member, and so I’m building lasting connections / friendships, and it’s not so intimidating anymore to put myself “out there.”  That’s huge for a finance geek like me.  If I can do it, you can do it.

A final note about networking:

Just because you land a job does not mean you can just sit back and stop networking.  Keep in touch with your network.  “Feed” your network from time to time. Drop people an email or call from time to time to check in or share a bit of news or an article you think will be of interest to them.  Do something good for them to let them know you are still a helpful part of their network.  Some day they might need you, or you might need them again. 

A network is like a pant — you have to keep feeding and watering it to keep it thriving.  And keep performing random acts of kindess — living the ”Pay it Forward” principle will bring plenty of abundance your way.

Who is in Your Network – Pt 2

In my earlier post, Who is in Your Network, I described the initial process you should go through to determine who are the people you can reach out to for help in your job search.

Now that you’ve done this excercise, you’ll need to categorize this list of people to understand the ways each person can help you in your job search. They will typically fall into one of the three categories:

1. Able and willing to connect you to very useful people inside your target companies.
2. Might be able to get you to someone with connections inside your target companies.
3. Able to provide you with support and guidance during your job search.

Often, you will find that these three groups of people overlap, particularly as you start asking around for more help — you can and will be surprised to find that the people who are most “useful” (Category 1) might be those that you least expected to be a great help — e.g., your neighbor or your hair-stylist / barber.

I know the thought of categorizing and “rating” the “usefulness” of the people in your network may seem harsh, but you need to be very aware of where you are in your job search process so that you’ll be able to get help from the people who CAN help you the most / quickest.

When you are going through this categorization process, please do not forget, people want to help you! 

Here’s the other side of networking that you must remember:  You have to give to get.  I am a strong believer in the concept of Karma, and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  Here’s the kicker — you need to give first, and understand that the people you help will not necessarily be the ones that will help you land that next gig.  It’s all about the “Pay it Forward” principle.  You just have to help whenever you can, even if it’s something as easy as passing along a job lead to someone else you know is also seeking.  No gift is too small.  You need to keep in mind that just because you are unemployed does not mean you have nothing to give.

What are YOU Creating?

A few weeks ago, I spent most of the day scouring through job boards and company websites looking for jobs I could post for. I kept finding nothing, and with each successive job board, I felt this big black hole of negativity growing in the pit of my stomach. I know that most of the real opportunity is hidden from the boards, but I’m using the boards as an indicator of what’s going on in the job market.

After that horrible experience, I’ve changed tactics. I have my job alerts set up at Indeed and other search / company sites. They come to me. I scan them, and if I see nothing that is aligned with what I do best, I delete the alerts. I do not allow myself to give it a negative thought or let this process suck my energy / emotions into that black hole anymore. It is a conscious decision.

In the meantime, I am focusing my energies into building content for training LinkedIn, which I will be doing with two fellow networkers. I’m also spreading the word that I’ll do LinkedIn one-on-one training. (Thanks to my father, I’m not afraid to play with new software / applications to learn it, and thanks to his mother, I love to teach / help others). This has given me a new sense of energy, a sense of creating something powerful and meaningful that can serve as an alternate source of income until the traditional job comes along, or even as a side-line supplement after the traditional job happens.

Here’s the kicker — since starting down this other path of creating non-traditional income, I’ve noticed that the job board alerts have started to contain jobs that are getting closer to what I do / like to do best. By focusing my energy on what I can create, I’m allowing what I really want to come my way.

What are you creating?

Windpower 2009 Job Fair

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to take the train downtown with some of my fellow Lake County Prosperity Forum members to attend the Windpower 2009 free job fair, which was part of a 4 day Windpower industry expo. 

The job fair itself was held for 3 days, and the particular day we went, there was a 3+ hour seminar with a panel of speakers on the topic of “Transitioning your skills into the Wind Industry.”   The seminar gave a brief overview of the 20+ yr wind industry, current job opportunities, and testimonials on how people have effectively transitioned into the industry.   What came across loud and clear is that this is a GROWING industry, that people in this industry have a great passion for what they are doing, and that the companies themselves are very open to hiring people in from other sectors of the economy.

The Q&A session at the end of the panel speeches was particularly exciting.  One of the submitted questions asked the panel how they saw the impact of the current economic crisis on the Wind Industry.  The CEO of NRG Systems, Jan Blittersdorf, said point-blank, “This is just a blip.“  All the other panelists were nodding in agreement.  With the US getting only ~ 1 1/2 % of it’s energy from windpower currently, Jan said that she sees half of their growth over the next 20-ish years coming from the U.S. alone, and views the U.S. as an emerging market.  Brian Lammers from Horizon Wind Energy added that he expects that the US will be manufacturing 80% of the components necessary for wind power generation, mainly due to logistics and shipping costs, and due to the higher growth potential in the U.S. market.

OK, let’s have that sink in a bit — This is a BLIP.  The US is an EMERGING MARKET.  It will be cheaper to manufacture 80% of necessary components here in the US…  This is very powerful stuff.  20 years ago, these folks were on the fringe of the industry with pipe dreams about clean energy.  Now they are hiring like crazy and at a jump-off point for launching themselves into BIG BUSINESS. 

The job fair itself wasn’t as productive for me as I’d hoped, BUT I walked out of McCormick Place extremely optimistic and hopeful about what is being created.  That in and of itself was worth the all-day excursion.

Organize Your Search!

One of the most important things you need to do for yourself is to decide HOW you are going to keep track of your job search.  Some of the basic items you will need to keep organized:

• Network contacts, their contact information, how you know them, when you last had contact with them and what you spoke about
• Target companies, contact and physical location information, website, key contacts inside the company
• Recruiters, their contact information, which companies they work with
• Jobs you’ve applied for, including job description, when you submitted your application, when you’ve had interviews, with whom, and whether or not the job status is still open or closed.

You will need to determine what method works best for you — a notebook, manilla folders, a binder you carry with you, an excel spreadsheet on your computer, etc.  This was a big struggle for me personally when starting my job search in 1Q08.  There was just so much inter-related information that this Excel junkie knew that one spreadsheet wouldn’t cut it.  I tried using the Open Office version of MS Access to build a database (Bill Gates gets no money from the Richtforts), but the Wizard wouldn’t cooperate with me.

I ended up going back to the paper based method —  bought myself a brand spanking new 3 inch 3-ring binder, a bunch of binder inserts to hold business cards and clear plastic insert page protectors, to hold an 8.5 by 11″ sheet of paper to track basic info and ongoing contact logs for each network contact and each target company.  I also had the IL Department of Employment Services’ .pdf file to be used for keeping a log of each position I applied for.  It worked ok, but was all very bulky to carry around.

Approximately 5 months into my full-blown job search, one of my job search work-team members mentioned an online Contact Relationship Management system designed specifically for people conducting a job search (as opposed to Salesforce.com for sales organizations).  It is JibberJobber, and it is a great value buy — a free account gives you a lot of flexibility, and you can up- or down-grade between the free vs. paid levels as needed without losing any of your information (e.g., if you land and your search goes dormant for a while).  I recently upgraded to a 3-month gold level plan for a whopping $29.  

 

Some of the WOW factor for me with JibberJobber is that it was created by someone who had lost his own job — Jason Alba — he’s been there, done that!  You can store electronic copies of documents (i.e., resumes, cover letters, hand bills) and associate them with specific people or jobs, so you can track what you sent whom.  You can copy in the text of specific jobs you’ve applied for, so you don’t have to hunt around for website pages or kill trees printing out job descriptions.  You can load in your “elevator speech(es).”  You can add in a list of commonly asked interview questions and your answers to those questions. 

Best of all, for a geek like me, all your information is stored online if, heaven forbid, your computer crashes or the dog eats your networking binder…  There was a guy in my job search work team last year whose computer died horribly, and he lost hundreds of networking contact records as well as his status tracker for how far along he was on all the different jobs he was pursuing. 

I’m just sayin’…

 

 

Get a Job!

 

“Get a job!”

These 3 words put an instant grimace upon my face. I truly despise the these 3 bullish words when they come tromping in together. They’re thugs in disguise I tell you! They are even more aggravating when uttered from a family member.  The commercial of the old man waking up at the cracker a$$ of dawn mumbling the phrase, “Its time to make the donuts,” comes to mind when I think of these three words as well. Personally, I can no longer participate in getting a “job.”

Here are MY reasons:

• When you get a JOB it may have nothing to do with what you are truly passionate about. 
• When you get a JOB you instantly are at the mercy of someone else dictating your worth.
• When you get a JOB you instantly are at the mercy of someone else telling you what to do.
• When you get a JOB you instantly are at the mercy of someone else determining where and when you need to be.
• When you get a JOB you spend more time with strangers than your family.  Or even worse, you may be isolated from everyone. 
• When you get a JOB a false sense of security settles in and then your looking for your next job not able to concentrate on the one you have.

Barf! I don’t want a JOB! I want a fulfilling career where I can be independent, set my own hours that work around my family, get paid my own worth based on my activity, not have the constant threat of  being laid off/fired, work with people that want to be there (and that I like) and never have to revise a power point presentation for the 54th time which was due yesterday because no one looked at it. Let me be clear, at no point did I say I want to get paid for doing nothing.  I am not scared of work. I thrive on it!

I realize that my career goals are different from many. Few will join me in pursuit of something so grand. I may be a little over the top and want more than the average American. Others will find satisfaction from the mundane, restrictive list above.  If that’s you, great! I thank you for doing what you do because I can’t. 

The bottom line for me is this:

1. Settling is not optional for me anymore.  
2. Finding a career that matches the talents and the gifts God gave me is an absolute must!
3. Networking with others that want the same as I do, priceless.If you are someone looking for the same things as I am, we need to talk. Contact me @ Angelaknigge@gmail.com.  I want to hear your story! 

Real as ever,

Aja