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• Classic-Fiction

For years, I thought that there must be some magic words other recruiters were using to pull their deals together. I read dozens of books on sales techniques that all offered similar advice: if you enlarge your funnel, you will increase your results.

➤ Mistake 3: Relying on Others Too Much

Job hunting is a do-it-yourself activity. There is just no way around it. Unlike baseball, you can’t substitute a pinch hitter, yet many people rely exclusively on personnel agencies and executive search firms. This “let-the-other-guy-do-it” approach puts the burden of responsibility on others who, in most cases, neither know you nor care about your future.

The Solution

You need to develop your battle plan for approaching employers. You need to choose your target companies and coordinate your approach personally. You don’t get to send in troops. You’re it. You need to be on top of all the details of your job search, personally, every minute. Nothing less than your total commitment to your own success will do. Your campaign should include a cross section of weapons and tactics, including:

• Networking

• Targeted marketing

• Newspaper classifieds

• Job boards

• Newsgroups

• Third-party recruiters

➤ Mistake 4: Lack of Preparation

There is nothing worse than a candidate who comes to an interview unprepared. Job hunters who haven’t taken the time to research the company appear more interested in themselves than in the challenges of the job. I have seen many people disintegrate before my eyes when a client has asked a question as simple as, “So besides what David has provided to you, what do you know about our company?”

The Solution

Look at the hiring process from the other side of the desk—from the employer’s perspective. Employers want to know that you’ve gone out and looked at their industry and understand where they’re going. Research, research, research—and then match your experience to their needs. Ask yourself, “What do they need a new hire to provide for them?” Then practice answering typical questions like, “Why should we hire you?” with answers that show how your skills and experience will solve their problems.

➤ Summary

As a guerrilla job hunter, you now know what you need to avoid doing. The solutions involve common sense and are easy to implement, so don’t procrastinate.

■ THE MOST POWERFUL WAY TO CHANGE YOUR RESULTS

When you realize that the basic aim of every company is to stay in business, you can begin to position yourself as a solution to their need to create and serve the customers who keep them in business, instead of focusing on your need for a job. Most people understand this intellectually but fail to act on it because on the surface it seems too simple an explanation.

“Solution selling” is in vogue all across the United States for a very good reason—it works. In solution selling, you begin by understanding your customer’s business and therefore the need for your product to create a solution. You emphasize the benefits that the buyer needs. You know what the buyer needs because you have researched the company to discover its “pain points.”

When salespeople focus on solution selling, they increase the value of their products and services because their product is not viewed as just another list of features like those of every competitor. As a job hunter, you increase your value exponentially when you focus on the employer’s needs.

For example, 2 equally qualified accountants apply for a job in the accounting department of a growing company. Job hunter A researches the company and discovers the company plans to do an initial public offering. In his cover letter and resume, he emphasizes his experience with publicly traded companies. Job hunter B, who is equally qualified, sends in a standard cover letter and resume.

Job hunter A gets the call, and in the interview discusses the company’s needs against the backdrop of his experience. The results are predictable—job hunter A gets hired