Guerrilla Marking for Job Hunters 2.0 - Jay Conrad Levinson [100]
If you’re wondering what to ask, try these openers:
• Are there any groups or organizations I should join?
• Are there any books or publications I should read?
• Is there anyone else I should be talking to?
And my 2 personal favorites:
1. What would you do if you were me?
2. Whom would you be talking to?
Dig for information about industry trends or trends in your functional area or specialty. Listen for plans for new products or services. Seek out emerging markets, hidden jobs, and companies that are hiring. Focus on anything change-related. Change equates to opportunity.
Whenever you network, it is your responsibility to set the stage and ask how much time they have. State your purpose clearly and directly. Share your excitement and enthusiasm. Ask for advice and ideas. In general, listen more than you talk. This meeting is a courtesy call that must reflect well on the referee or they won’t continue to help.
A WAR STORY
Ross Macpherson
One of our clients worked for a large financial institution and desperately wanted to move up in the company, but kept hitting barriers in HR (not enough experience, not the right education, etc.). When we were working on her resume and job search campaign, she mentioned that the person she really needed to get in front of was a divisional president. Since she couldn’t work “within the system” at her firm to show him how great she was, we devised a long-range plan to work around it.
The president in question sat on the board of a local nonprofit, a cause that both he and my client were passionate about. This was her way in. She volunteered her services with the organization and quickly developed a name for herself as a dynamic and innovative thinker who could really make things happen. Within a short time, she found an opportunity to meet her president at a fund-raising gala and introduced herself as the person who worked on the “X” campaign. She also mentioned that she happened to work for the same company (what a coincidence).
After making the initial contact, over the next year she did more great things for the nonprofit, had more opportunities to shine, and quickly found herself on his radar. At one of their next meetings, she mentioned where she’d really like to see herself in their company, threw in a few of her ideas, and asked his advice. Knowing now how good she was, he recommended a few people and even offered to contact them on her behalf. With a strong testimonial from the company’s president, it wasn’t long before she landed a high-profile strategic role more suited to her abilities (she also stayed on with the nonprofit where she continued to do great work and has been asked to fill a major leadership position on a full-time basis). It was a unique case where shining outside the company helped her move up inside it.
Ross Macpherson, president, Career Quest (www.yourcareerquest.com).
Chapter 9
Fearless Warm Calling
A Fresh Alternative
It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.
—VINCE LOMBARDI
Although you may be a top-notch engineer, mortgage broker, or whatever, when it comes to getting interviews, I have observed that many sharp people—to use a metaphor—couldn’t close a paper bag much less an employer. Hang tight, I’m going to show you how to “warm call” an employer and land an interview.
■ FIRST CONTACT
The majority of job-hunting books I’ve read and courses I’ve reviewed stress cold calling (or dialing-for-dollars, as it’s often called) as one of the best ways to land an interview. “It’s a numbers game” they say, “just have faith, make the calls, and you’ll be successful—eventually.” Now there is a certain amount of truth in it. Cold calling is a numbers game but it is also demoralizing, frustrating, and the fastest most unsatisfying way to burn through your list of prospects.
Think about this dialing-for-dollars approach for a minute.