The Day Before You Meet Someone to Network

You rely upon people to book a meeting on their calendar, since you are generally not sending a meeting invite. Therefore, the day (not evening) before, I’d recommend the following:

ONE - Send a confirmation e-mail
A) Confirm meeting time and place
B) Provide your cell number
C) Specifically mention that you have attached your resume and marketing plan

TWO - Prep any referrals/contacts that you can offer
A) People that you know that could help build this person’s business, enable their search, etc.
B) If you are tracking your contacts, take a glance through them to get ideas for good connections of value

It’s a simple step with big results – I can’t tell you how many people did not put a meeting on their calendar, but still stuck with their commitment to meet. Also, coming with referrals and contacts makes the meeting a true networking event.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking




http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Targeted Company List – Avoiding unnecessary referrals

A list of your targeted companies is a great tool in a networking meeting to help your contact think of referrals.

Organize your target list to avoid getting referrals you cannot use. If someone opens up their book, the last thing you want to tell them is that you already have a contact or if they send them after the meeting, you cannot use them (But still meet with them! You don’t want to be know as not following up on referrals).

So here’s a way to set expectations by organizing the list into 3 categories:

One: Need connections - in all departments

Two: Currently connected - but need contacts in targeted department

Three: Currently connected in department

For #2 and #3, I listed who I met. So if someone could offer me a higher connection (e.g. their SVP trumps my VP) or within my targeted department.

For help in building a targeted company list – please see the example: http://tinyurl.com/ybufogv

Good luck today!
Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

The Art of Settling for Less than Expected

I chair a monthly job transition group and at today's meeting we had a discussion about accepting a role that is less than or outside what you seek. Several folks have faced this situation and the general consensus was as follows.

If financial state requires it:
Go ahead, but remember it’s only a temporary situation, so don’t stop networking – you’ll have to likely keep it to early morning coffees and lunches.

If possible, try to get a role where you’ll do well – so you build some goodwill among your new colleagues and who knows what might happen within that firm.

If emotional state or home situation requires it:
Go ahead, but only if you can absolutely ace the job and exceed expectations.

Accepting a job so far below what you held previously held or outside your area of experience will likely find you not performing well and back on the street with a hole in your resume and no references from the position.

Good advice from fellow candidates who have faced this tough decision.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Let People Know How the Story Ends

People love to know how a story ends. So keep those who provided you with leads, networking contacts, etc. with an update on the outcome, thank them again and remind them of what you are seeking.

There are two common questions I talk to people about this idea:

What if the result was a clunker or a no-show? I always sent a follow-up note. If the meeting did not go well as we did not hit it off, I was honest and said as much – since it’s what they probably heard already.

What if the other person was a bit of a dud? I just kept the note to a simple thanks and reminder of the role sought. I figured no use tossing someone under the bus – you never know if you just caught them on a bad day (I once met someone on the day their divorce was finalized – I could not wait to close down that meeting!).

I know that sending these notes adds another layer of work. However, if you think of networking as a long-term relationship building (as we will all likely be in search again), then the hours invested now will pay dividends in both the current and future round of search.

The benefit in the current is another opportunity to connect with someone with a meaningful e-mail versus a general update e-mail.

The bonus to these notes is that there’s no immediate follow-up. I usually did loads of these while watching a football game, etc.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Improve your self confidence

Everyones confidence can take a bit of a battering when applying for jobs.

Unless you are one of the lucky ones thats able to walk straight into another new job you are going to face rejection at some point. How you handle that can really effect your own personal confidence. Imagine going to each interview feeling like the job was already yours.

Having no doubt in your mind that there is nobody else as good as you for this job. Sounds easy, well it does - but putting it in action can be tough after facing rejection. Here are some tips to get you back to that perfect 'zone' - where you feel at your absolute peek in social confidence.

Socialise
Try and get out as much as possible, meet new people and get into the habit of introducing yourself first. Networking events, training events are good examples - start by telling yourself before you go that you are going to introduce yourself to 3 new people, then 5, then 7, then 10. Just putting this into practice will make you feel more confident and even for the shy type this can be quite difficult or even impossible! - Take small steps and smaller targets if you need to, but coming out at the end of the event, you should feel more equiped to sell yourself at an interview.

Eat Well.
A healthy diet is vital to maintaining a premium level of self confidence - studies have shown that eating poorly shows a lack of self respect, which in turn can effect your own personal confidence. I know myself, after I have eaten a particually heathly meal I talk about it and feel better for it than if I had eaten something unhealthy. As you continue to eat healthy this will come across in your skin and own self - bringing out the best of you.

Excerise.
A healthy body breeds a healthy mind - keeping yourself physically active (2-3 times per week) can really make a difference to your overall well being. Don't over do things, start off gently (if you have'nt been to the gym in a while) and work up to a more intense work out. The feeling of a good workout afterwards makes you less tired over time and gives you a natural energy boost when you need it.


TwitJobs

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Preparation for a Networking Meeting

Think of every networking meeting as a sales meeting. You’ll never catch a good salesperson just ‘winging it’ – they plan every meeting.

They find out what they can about who they are meeting (this is where LinkedIn comes in handy). They plan the outcome and how to reach it. They respect that someone has granted them time and use it effectively as possible.

You are competing against budget requirements, project deadlines, and anything else that is filling your networking contact’s day… and oh yeah, loads of fellow candidates. Good advance planning will help cut through all of this and help you make the most of each meeting.
Before each networking meeting, plan the following items:

One: Purpose of meeting – what do you want the person to do for you (provide some contacts, connect you into a specific firm, etc.)

Two: Connections with this contact (your colleagues, same school, etc.)

Three: How do you want to position yourself to this contact (e.g. role in large company, start-up, etc.)

Four: Contacts you can provide

Five: Contacts this person can provide to you

I wrote down these items and brought them with me to the meeting – nothing too fancy, just a few items for each item.

To help you understand more about the company the person you are meeting does, see my blog post “The question that ends a meeting quickly”.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com

Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

The Recruiter will not meet with me - Really, you don't

Besides my transition, I have run a job transition group since April 2007 - I've met approximately 120 recruiters. Here's a tip a regularly share - to benefit both the recruiter and the candidate.

Recruiters get work by networking and calling on clients. A call to a client is an “At Bat”.

A meeting with a candidate when the recruiter is not working on a specific role is not an “At Bat”.

You want them out finding jobs, not chatting with you. Get your resume into them.

Offer to meet or to have a call to get acquainted and see if they can help you network. Many may meet you.

Trust me; if you match up with what their client is seeking, you will spend a fair amount of quality time with the recruiter.

Until then, let them go to work.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards

http://www.candidateschair.com/
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Contemplating one’s own navel

As my search stretched on it was hard not to take the rejections to network or missed job opportunities on a personal level.

While logically I knew that people are busy or I was not the best fit for role applied to, I found myself more focused on the minor details of my search and replaying the missed opportunities – and spending a considerable amount of time doing so.

You can see where this is going down a path of wasting valuable time. This is bad enough; however, the real issue for your search is closing you off from others.

I don’t mean staying at home, as I continued to network, but my focus was so entirely on myself that my networking meetings had little value. You concentrate too hard on what to say next so you don’t screw up – so when the other person is talking, you are not really listening. I don’t even want to imagine how I came across to the person who agreed to network with me. (Perhaps, I could claim temporary insanity as a plea).

To get out of this rut, I did two things.

First, I invoked the “one-time” rule: I would write down those items that went well and not so well for a meeting, interview, etc. The act of writing helped finalize an event and over time these notes were pretty valuable to help prepare for meeting that were similar (questions I should have asked, incorrect assumptions etc.)

Second, I really worked the ‘80% rule’ - 80% of your networking is focused on the other person. It took only one meeting to see how much more I got out of the meeting. (If you would like help in practicing the 80% rule – please visit “Candidates Tools” on www.candidateschair.com or click here to go straight on to the tool http://tinyurl.com/mtlcwb)

Remember, it’s easy to focus on one’s navel given the personal nature of search – so don’t feel bad if you catch yourself doing so from time to time. Just try not to stay there too long.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Investing in Your Search Look - Funny story of my mistake

Your look is part of your story – your appearance makes an impression.

The first thing I did when I lost my job was plan my finances. As part of it, I allocated money to update my wardrobe to ensure I would present a professional look.

Then I made a boneheaded ‘finance guy’ (which I am) mistake – I saw ‘free’ business cards. So I walked into a meetings looking sharp and one of the key ‘leave behind’ items was cheap. The point came home when someone pulled out the same ‘free’ card that he had just received. It was not from a fellow job seeker, but the person who walked his dog. Enough said.

So invest in your entire look, first impressions are still important.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards

www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

The Question that Ends a Meeting Quickly

“So tell me what your company does?”

When I get this one, I start thinking about what else I need to do today. Why? Despite having LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, Company websites, etc., it tells me that this person across the table has not even taken 5 minutes to do a simple search.

See the tool “10 Questions to Understand a Company” (visit www.candidateschair.com) – whether your contact is a CEO, CFO, lawyer or banker – you can use these questions to understand what they do.

If you are meeting a service provider (lawyer, banker, etc.) most of them have extensive websites with explanation of services, biographies, etc.

Use your time for discussion to understand their background and clarify issues about the business. The more you move beyond chit-chat, the more you connect and find out ways to make yourself memorable.

Remember that this person will be likely networking/meeting with a dozen more people – so being memorable is important.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

New Linkedin Setup and Rules

New SubGroups & Group Rules - Linkedin

Hi -

We've been working on what the best ways are to make our Linkedin group work for everyone, we're proud to launch our new set up on Linkedin - this is how things are going to change...

New Sub Groups -


*TwitJobs Job Centre*

Search TwitJobs Latest Job Postings
Anyone can post jobs for FREE!
Open networking for anyone within the group, and discussions and articles helping people back to work.
A valuable resource for hiring managers to post jobs and get great results.
More coming soon for candidates and jobseekers around the UK...

You can join the TwitJobs Job Centre new subgroup and start posting your jobs for free here - http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2110090&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr


*TwitJobs Employer Zone*

Open discussions, articles and networking for employers, agencies and hiring managers across the UK.
Excellent resources and debate available from some great people in various industries.
Discussions range from HR issues, contracting, freelancing and legal insight.
Exclusive tweet ups and special online and offline updates on TwitJobs

You can join the TwitJobs Employer Zone new subgroup and start getting involved here http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2287270&trk=hb_side_g

*TwitJobs UK Main Group*

Our TwitJobs UK group continues to attract some of the most forward thinking people in digital, media, fashion, retail, engineering and many other industries.

The Future for recruitment is social media techniques and methods, our main group will continue to educate and inform, as well as learn with others the powerful message that social media brings to recruitment in the UK.

We intend to continue to innovate and do more in the Second half of 2009 to bring even more services and information to our members across all the social networks we currently cover.

Through specialist events, online sessions, our blog (which has a almost 50 articles already, helping jobseekers and giving real advice for the future) and keeping in touch with almost 50,000 people through Twitter and 8 other social networks simultaneously, we continue to lead as the largest job site broadcasting across social networks in the UK!

Again, thank you for your support - and we hope that you are able to join our new subgroups and get involved in the future too.

- If you have any questions or suggestions just drop me an email directly at Jason@TwitJobs.co.uk anytime.

Many thanks,


Jason Barrett
Founder/CEO TwitJobs.co.uk

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Online Application Questions – Please Answer!

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life



Sometimes you might be asked to fill out an online application for a job, a course or an internship. These normally include the question why exactly you want the position you are applying for.

This is your first chance to stand out from the crowd and the employee’s chance to see if the applicants are truly interested.

We have the same system for our training courses. We ask the question why a person is interested in pursuing a career in new media marketing. And surprisingly, a lot of times we get one sentence answers that are all something to the extent of ‘Because I like it.’

Now that gives me a lot of information to work with and makes you really stand out in the most positive way. Not.

You should treat these questions like you would write a cover letter. Take some time and really think about why this job is important for you and why you are the right person for it. These are likely to be the first impression you get to make. Use it!



This blog post was brought to you by 77Academy. To find out more about our exclusive ten week new media marketing training and placement programme go to www.77Academy.com

The "Out-of-the Box" Candidate

Occasionally, a recruiter will say they are including an “Out-of-the-box” candidate – which is usually someone from outside the industry.

Why do recruiters put in someone like this – there’s lots of reasons (client request, recruiter knows the person being submitted very well, etc.)

After being submitted as one of the candidates, someone asked me “How often does the out-of-the-box candidate get hired?”. My response was simple, “More often than the candidate who never got in front of the client”.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards

www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Advice received – How to sort through it

Advice is one thing you are sure to receive plenty of during your search. All of it will sound good.
To save time on figuring out what to use, I apply the following rules of thumb.

For advice on how to organize or run your search:
Understand if the person providing the advice has ever been in job search. If not, then it’s less likely that you can use it, since it’s usually more theoretical than practical.

When it comes to recruiters, they can give you a job search from a recruiter’s perspective – but again if they have not been in search themselves, beyond working with recruiters their advice is more of exposure versus experience.

For advice on how to pitch Yourself:
A colleague of mine, Peter Van Nest, who had been in transition before, took me to task for not have a sharp message. He stopped our meeting after ten minutes and took me a step-by-step in getting it together. This advice was pure gold and the type you should openly seek – as everyone who meets you can give you feedback.

Again, while I don’t want to pick on recruiters, but remember that they are working for companies so their advice of making a candidate look good is also a method to receiving a fee. So just keep that in the back of your mind. (At my website, I have a great post from Marcia Ballinger on how to work with recruiters – just look under the “You and Recruiters” section).

The benefit of meeting so many people is getting different point of views – so hopefully this will help you sort through it.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com

Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking






http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Be Careful What You Post Online Or You’ll Get Twaxed!

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life



Prior to his nationally broadcasted speech to high school students, US President Obama offered the following “practical political advice” according to Bloomberg:

“I want everybody here to be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life.”

This is one piece of advice everyone should take seriously. There will be a time when you will be applying for a job and the web 2.0 savvy HR person assessing your application will do a bit of research on his most recent applicant.

That will be the time when you’ll wish that you hadn’t posted those pole dancing contest pictures you and your mates took after a tour through the local pubs. And you might also wish that you hadn’t mentioned in your status update that you showed up to work hung over the next day and almost threw up over your PC keyboard.

Currently, it is getting ever more dangerous to share too much online of what should rather not be talked about.

On recently launched services such as Twaxed and Oversharers you (and anyone else) might just find that tweet that will teach you not to drink and tweet!

Or imagine your prospective employer finding this:

"try working for an ad agency... We drink 24/7 during the job... Mad Men style."



This blog post was brought to you by 77Academy. To find out more about our exclusive ten week new media marketing training and placement programme go to www.77Academy.com

Keeping your expectations in check

One of my biggest challenges is trying not to think like a finance guy (which I am), as it can taint my view of a situation. If I start to think about all the financial issues I’ll need to address – it’s over and I’ve missed the bigger picture.

The same thing can happen in interviews or networking meetings if you set too many expectations in advance.

It’s natural to assume the type of questions to expect, possible networking contacts, work style (based on position), etc. These are great tool for planning, but not as a checklist for the meeting.
To help get the bigger picture about someone, start the meeting about them. Ask them about their background, views on the company’s growth plans, their business, etc. Their answers will most certainly open up new directions that you can take the meeting.

Early in my networking, I asked a lawyer about his background. His career had more anything but typical. He had left being a partner to join a start-up, moved around the country, wrote a book, etc. – nothing like my expectations. Nor were the referrals he could offer – because he had a much different relationship with people than their lawyer. I made ultimately 52 connections from his initial referrals (yes, I tracked my networking – I am a finance guy).

Use your expectations to help you plan. But allow for discovery in the meeting.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Time for a 2.0 CV?

There are 100's of resources out there to get help and advice on CV's -

We've already published a lot on getting a great CV and some of the things you can do to really improve not just the content but the overall layout and emphasis on the key factors to help you stand out.

Now - how about going a little further...

These alternatives certainly are not going to be for everyone. This is not a one size fits all opportunity for sure, but if you involved in social media / new media / design / programming etc these should be options you are considering.

1.) Put yourself out there online...more. Lets say you are a freelance writer, if your material is'nt being seen then nobody even has a chance to make a decision about contacting you for work (good or bad). Make sure your alias is available on the first few pages of google (you can also do this through google profile) and that you are available to see through all the other social mediums, audioboo, friendfeed, facebook, linkedin (and others) and inter-connect all your presences together.

2) Positivity. OK, so your content needs to reflect what you are talking about, and in which industry. What I really mean by this is having the kind of content that is'nt JUST having a go at your previous employer for being a narrow minded XYZ....sure drop that into a sentance if you must, but build a positive around it and talk about how you would do things differently and improve. Keeping a positive and non-slating blog still keeps the content varied and REAL.

3) Professional social networking. For instance, I personally have a private and professional facebook account. Not because i'm some kind of big star! but just I see that network as a place where the two need to be seperated. Facebook has always been about friends, people you know, family (and also old school friends that I really did'nt like whilst I was at school....so why are they my friends now??...anyway..).

This can get tricky. You are using facebook as a professional networking medium, and suddenly you get tagged by your friends in 'drunken-horrible-mess-saturday-stag-night' that you'd really like to forget, but for some reason your friends think its supercool to post everywhere.

By seperating these two areas you can have the best of both worlds. Facebook is one example but there are other social networks that have a very 'I already know these people' feel. Create another profile and meet new people and increase your professional network.

4) A Website. OK, so this is'nt the newest web 2.0 Phenomenon. What it is doing is adding more credibility to you and your 'brand'. Create a email address around that so you have 'dave@smith.com' - don't stop there. Keep this as your primary CV. You can upload a pdf of your CV, add downloadable documents and more information about your specialist areas that you cover, along with testimonials and resources to back up your statements.

Testimonials act just like references so are very important, keep them updated and fresh across the site.

Good luck.

Jason.

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Guerrilla Job Hunting: Tactics to stand out from the crowd

As each job opening gets more and more competitive in the current economy you may have to think of increasingly more creative ways to get yourself noticed. For most this means jazzing up the old CV, or using social media to network your way to a job. For a select few this means riding around on a bike advertising yourself, standing in front of your desired work place handing out resumes, hiring advertising space, or posting your CV with a post-it note attached signed by the CEO of you desired work place saying “Check this one out”. So you have seen a job on TwitJobs that takes your fancy. Now to the second step...how do you get the job. If you’re feeling courageous follow these guidelines to help you secure the job of your dreams....

• Be Brave
  This approach really means you have to do what 99% of the job seeking population are not doing; putting yourself out there. The aim is to get yourself noticed. Sending in a standard CV and cover letter will not. This means that you will have to be prepared to suffer some (minor) embarrassment, or at the least be prepared to annoy a few people.

• Invest
  If you really want a job invest in getting it. Most of us don’t even think about attaching a cost to applying to a job. If you want to impress the recruiter and you have some amazing plan then get ready to spend to make it work.

• Bribe
  By no means just offer a cash incentive to whoever will hire you, but get to understand the business and send them gifts. One example is of a job hunter who sent his dream employers breakfast for an entire month. Out of either sheer awe or sheer annoyance the company finally hired him.
  

• Have the brains to back up your actions
  Of course there is no point in job hunting guerrilla style if you don’t have the skills to back it up. In the end you still have a job to do, and if you have spent time and money to get the job and then it appears you are not nearly qualified enough you will definitely fall flat on your face.

• Don’t go too far
  Don’t take your guerrilla antics too far. Nudity is not recommended, neither is any form of stalking/harassment. This will likely get you a restraining order and will definitely hamper your chances of being employed.

• Be Persistent
  Keep going for it and don’t let up. After you have developed your guerrilla application strategy follow it through. If you said you will send stand outside their office with a 7ft resume billboard until you get the job do it.
  

Guerrilla Application Ideas

To get your guerrilla juices flowing here are a couple of ideas:

• Human Telegram
  Send a human telegram to hand your application to the CEO. You could use singing telegrams, or telegram impersonators or even a choir if you can manage it.

• Food and Drink
  Hampers with your CV placed on top, cakes with your name written on them, or bottles of champagne with the label replaced by your CV.

• Hire Advertising Space
  Find out how much advertising space in any public areas around the recruiters office costs. If you can manage it hire a billboard with your name, contact details and few important points from your CV.
  

• Freebies
  Offices love gimmicky freebies. Send a load of stress balls with your name, email and a “hire me” on, send a batch of usb keys with your CV and a video of yourself on.

• Stunts
  The most ambitious plans may involve more outrageous stunts such as hiring a hot air balloon with your details printed on the canvas, hiring an amazing sports car and offer rides to people in the company on their lunch break where you can hand them your CV and have a chat, hire an ice cream van (or any food vendor) and hand out free ice cream and your CV during lunch breaks.

• Work for Free
  Probably one of the most effective, and in my view, underused methods of guerrilla applying is to offer to work for free for a given amount of time. Tell them you can work straight away, prove your skills, and if they are happy with you maybe they can consider giving you a job.
  

This blog post was brought to you by 77Academy. To find out more about our exclusive ten week new media marketing training and placement programme go to www.77Academy.com
http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Summer into Fall – Search Activities

As summer winds down a few thoughts to squeeze out a bit more summer – or value from your summer search activities.

Follow up on all jobs applied to:
Just because you did not hear back does not mean the position is filled. Jobs can easily go unfilled in the summer due to a lack of urgency from summer holidays or slower business. While 95% of the applicants have moved on, be part of the crowd that follows up.

Reconnect with all your networking contacts – with a purpose:
Due to a traditionally slower hiring season in the summer, when you met with your contacts they were unlikely to be aware of open roles. So the fall is a great time to remind them of your status.

To make your message stand out make it a continuation of your networking. Who in your network would be valuable for them to meet? Practicing the ‘80% rule’ (see my post “#1 networking rule: Practicing the 80% rule”) will set you apart – trust me.
You can conclude with your status and contacts sought. I recommend putting in your marketing plan below your signature and reference it in your update paragraph.

Assess what you heard over the summer:
You will have heard a great deal over the summer on people’s impressions of your experience, pitch, what roles you should apply to, etc. Write down all the key points from your summer and then sit down with someone you trust to get their opinion on where you need to make changes.

Each of your upcoming networking and interviewing is a one-time opportunity – so use that feedback received to improve your results.

Good luck today!
Mark Richards

www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Should you ask for Informational Interviews?

A colleague on Linked recently posed a question to me on how to improve their response on request for informational interviews.

My answer was to just ask them for a networking meeting and do not use the term “informational interview”. My experience in trying both paths is that the term “informational interview” has two perceptions/barriers that lower your chances of getting someone to agree to meet with you:

People do not like to say “No”: There is always an expectation of a job with anything called an interview. No matter how hard to tell yourself or the interviewer, there’s always the hope that the interviewer will end the meeting by pulling a job opening out of their desk drawer.

As an interviewer, you know there is no role and will likely need to say “We’re not hiring”, “You are an amazing candidate, but…” or “No” to the candidate who asks if there are any available positions. So why agree to meet with someone so you can disappoint them? It’s easier to just ignore the request.

Interview requires preparation: If there is no job, but you are doing an interview – it means like you have to act like there is one and be ready. If you think this person is important to meet, so do others. So why make them do work to meet with you.

A request to network has no implications or expectations. You simply state you are interested in the industry and want to get their insight. Be prepared with questions on how their firm operates and you will walk away with loads of insight. If a role does pop up, you’ve got an inside edge on how to tailor your resume and get ready.

With luck, you may get other connections in the firm – which is great as the more people you can tell your story, the higher your chances of getting connected to positions that come open. Ask any good sales person, they are always working multiple contacts at each firm.

My advice is to ask for a cup of coffee, not an informational interview.

For tips on how to ask for a meeting, see my post on “Sharing the Secret Sauce”.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Using TwitJobs to Improve Your Resume

One of the beauties of TwitJobs is the volume of positions to review. Use the numerous postings of interest to help improve your resume. Here are a few items to look for to see how you present them in your resume:

What is the presentation order of expected duties: Usually the most important duties are first on the list. If you see several postings with similar order of duties, then your resume should present your experiences in the same order.

What duties cannot be learned on the job: These are ‘must have’ items and will likely be part of a keyword search of a resume as the company knows the candidate needs that experience. Be sure you present those skills where experience matters the most.

Commonly used phrases/terms: Make your resume easiest to read, by using terms that companies will recognize and have assigned a meaning internally. I know this may sound a bit like a parlor trick, but it’s simply using a firm’s own language.

Cultural expectations: Look for the words used to describe the environment – some of the terms may be throw-away (‘progressive’, ‘forward-looking’, etc.) – but others may reveal insight of the culture. If you are changing industries, these cultural elements may be important to highlight within your experience.

Again take advantage of the volume of the job postings to look for common information – then see how your resume reflects that information.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Getting the most out of recruitment fairs

We have all experienced visiting recruitment fairs and wondering around aimlessly for an hour and a half before leaving empty handed and still jobless. Without a plan and a list of objectives recruitment fairs can be overwhelming and unproductive and leave you feeling exhausted. By preparing beforehand you can make the most of visiting a fair and come away with more job hunting experience and maybe even a job:

- Research what companies are going to be there

Before you visit the fair browse through all the exhibiting companies. Make a note of what companies may interest you and research into current employment positions they are offering (i.e. check their company website for any availabilities and job requirements). Ensure you thoroughly understand their business and brain storm any questions you want to ask them when you meet them at the fair.

- Make an appointment before hand

It could pay dividends to think ahead and try and arrange an interview with the exhibiting company. Call up the business (try the human resource department first), explain your interest in working for them and then push to organise a meeting at the fair. Make sure that you have a set of planned questions to ask them during the meeting so you make the most of your individual time with them.

- Bring plenty of CVs

Always make sure that you have a pile of pristine CVs ready to give to prospective employers. It may also benefit you to print some business cards, and if you can bring a laptop so you can email the business then and there with all the relevant documents. By ensuring that they have both an electronic and paper copy of your CV ensures they are aware of your interest.

- Bring a notebook

Make sure that you have means to take notes about each company you approach. You can jot down contact details, reminders, or general thoughts you had about certain companies as well as anything new you have learnt that may help your job search in the future.

- Practice your interview skills

Use the fair to practice your interview skills. At recruitment fairs you have the chance to talk to an abundant of prospective employers about employment. This offers a great opportunity to gain interview experience. Don’t be afraid to approach recruiters and get talking to them. It will help to build confidence as well as knowledge and improve your chances of impressing future employers.

This blog post was brought to you by 77Academy. To find out more about our exclusive ten week new media marketing training and placement programme go to www.77Academy.com


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life

Networking Meetings – Tips that helped me be more effective

Welcome to September – we officially re-engage the networking season as people come off summer holidays. Here are a few tips I’ve picked up in making my meetings a more productive:

One: Start each meeting by stating the purpose for meeting - sets the table for the whole meeting

Two: Do a time check after you state the purpose - so you know how much time you have

Three: Save the idle chit-chat to the end, they have agreed to meet and help - use the time wisely

Four: Start with how you can help them - to show this is a true networking meeting

Five: Do your homework - try to have 2-3 contacts that may help them

Six: Keep your pitch short - treat it like a commercial. Get them interested to learn more

Seven: Use a Marketing plan - a great tool to help express the role you seek

Eight: You take all the notes - confirm the actions each of you agreed to - starting with your own

Nine: They pick up the Blackberry or close their notebook - the meeting is done. Says thanks and close it down.

Ten: Send the follow-up note within 48 hours. Put your name in the e-mail title – they will remember you.

Nothing too fancy here – but helped me get loads of connections (a couple hundred!).

Good luck today! (and this month!)

Mark Richards

www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking


http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life