Where is Value Created in Networking?

Networking is like any sport in that it is the practice before and after a match that gives you the best performance.   The chart below offers a view of where you create value in networking.  At first glance, you may think just opposite, since if you can only win during the game, would not the meeting be the most important event to creating value?   

A typical networking meeting allows you to start or expand a relationship and launch a pipeline of possible job opportunities and the victory usually comes after the meeting.  The ability to get the relationship and pipeline going begins before you ever meet and the ability to grow the relationship comes after you meet.

The graph above is built from my 700+ networking meetings, in particular, its built on my realization of what made a networking meeting really pay off. 

Before: Selection is the most important step in networking.  Selection begins with understanding what you want (career development, job search, etc.) and identifying the type of networking contact who can help you achieve that task.  Your goal is to make sure that your pitch/ask is something that your contact can act upon.  Then it’s research about your contact and prep.

During: Establishing that you came to network is what set the tone that you came to build a relationship.  The key purpose of the research is to find ways you can offer help to your contact, it’s that offer of help is what sets the tone.  The other most important item to create value is a simple message that will remain, so a ‘less is more’ approach when it comes to how much you share about yourself.

After: Get ready for action, because this is where it all happens and is the payoff to the work before. If your objective is a new position, unless you’re lucky, most contacts generally do not have any roles they know of when you meet, but they will over time.   You goal after a meeting is to continue to stay in contact and offer connection, insight, etc. from your continued networking.

The chart below is how the payoff will occur after a meeting.

1. 1.       You and your initial contact will exchange connections as a result of your meeting
2. 2.       You meet their connections using the ‘relationship building’ approach (offer connections, etc.)
3. 3.       These connections will provide feedback to your initial contact, usually because of your ‘relationship building’ approach.  That feedback builds your reputation.
4. 4.       You continue to network to a broader number of people.
5. 5.       The people in Step 2 are known to your initial contact, but the people in Step 4 may be people of interest to them.  Taking a few minutes after a meeting to make that connection can build a relationship (make sure the introduction has mutual value to both parties).
6. 6.       Here’s the payoff.  Because you maintained and tried to build upon the relationship, your initial contact will remember you when opportunities come about and pass them to you.

This seems like work and it is, however, the cool part about making connections like this is that it becomes easier over time because you get to know the person.

These charts are also good indicator of where time is spent.  Value is created when a relationship can be maintained.  Therefore, consider how much time you have to invest into networking.  You want to allow time in both building and developing your network.   

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com - For candidates, by candidates - what really happens in job search


http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Good Question: Do Cold Letters Work?

I answer job search questions on Proformative.com, I like to share the good questions from their members.

Original Good Question:

Given the job market we are experiencing, do you recommend sending a letter to a business that does not have an advertised position posted? Are cold letters such as this viewed as irritating to the business leaders?

My response:

If you recommend sending a letter, should it be very brief merely asking about a job or should it accompany a resume to inform the business of your skills?

Is a Cold Letter Effective?

A cold letter is generally ineffective because there is not an immediate need to fill, therefore, no reason to look at talent.  Also, without a referral or introduction, it is difficult for someone to dedicate time from their day to review the letter (e-mail, etc.)

No Advertised Position - How to get in:

To get into companies with no advertised positions, I have used two steps with success

First, I have looked for 'events' that could trigger need for people with my skill set (new products, funding, acquisition, etc.).  I looked at events within the last six months - it's usually a series of small events, not a major one.  While that seems like a big window of time, a company may need an extended period to determine what it needs.

Second, I find a way to get a referral or connection to remove the 'cold' - just to give your letter a chance to be read.  Remember, regardless of how strong a referral, your letter may go unread. 

I think the book "Take the Cold out of Cold Calling" (www.takethecold.com) by Sam Ritcher is a great tool for finding connections.

Letter versus E-mail:

Use an e-mail; you are more likely to get it read.  Letters are good for follow-up.  I like to send notes like this on Sunday night, when people begin to scan e-mails on their smartphones in prep for the week, but their Inbox is not jammed.

What's in your e-mail:

As what to include in the e-mail it's all about addressing a need.  In addition to using your network to get a connection, also seek insight into what's happening in the firm and specifically for the person you want to meet.

Here's what I've included in my e-mail. 

1) Should be to a specific person (e.g. CFO)

2) Reference your referral by name (I include in the title of my e-mail)

3) Identify the need that person has from the event (e.g. integration of accounting post-acquisition).  When I say need, what do they think about are those tasks they personally need to accomplish to remain successful.

4) In short, mention only background that is relevant to the addressing the need (e.g. I've done 4 integration projects).

5) Ask if they would like to meet, at a minimum you can share insight from your background.   

Your objective is to have them take a meeting.  Give them a compelling reason why to meet - anything more simply gets in the way and diminishes your chances.

Include the URL to your LinkedIn profile instead of a resume and leave out asking for a job.  You want to avoid making someone feel like they will have to say "No" to you regarding a job (Who wants to take a meeting like that?)

There are no advertised jobs for a reason, they are not looking.  But just because they are not actively looking does not mean they do not have a need to solve.  What you want to do with your e-mail and meeting is highlight the need.

While these are generally longer-term plays, the interesting part is very few people use this method to get in - 

especially when it comes to stringing together several events where the cumulative effect could be significant.

Hope this helps.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com - sharing ideas from candidates for candidates to keep your psyche strong and search focused. 

http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Pitching Your Startup Experience to an Non-Startup Audience

Question: Does having a start-up or early-stage experience help or hinder your resume’s appeal?

The answer: Depends on the reader.

I know that’s a crummy answer, but it’s the truth.

If the reader has a background with firms that were with startup/early-stage, entrepreneurial, fast growing or rapidly changing business, they can see how the experience effects what you can offer a potential employer. If not, it’s more difficult.

Think of it like working outside your home country, it’s tough to truly appreciate until you cross the border.
Since you may move between established firms and start-ups, understanding how to position your experience to a non-Startup audience is important.

Having worked in and with start-up/early-stage firms for the past five years I can share some of the key upsides and downsides. There are loads of both, but these items that come up most frequently in either discussion with colleagues or what I’ve experienced firsthand.

UPSIDES:
These are the items to emphasize in a cover letter, pitch or within body of resume.

Fine tune your view of the customer: Without all the meetings, processes, etc. this is where you focus all of your attention on understanding the need, design a product to fulfill it, understand their motivation to buy, how to find them and convince them to put money in your wallet. There’s not a company on the planet that does not want to serve their customer better. This is the best thing going for a start-up, that ability to get to the absolute essentials of bringing revenue into the business.

Visibility to the entire business process: This is the second best thing going for a startup; you get to see the entire delivery process to a client – from product, pricing, operations through collection of cash. You learn both what’s truly essential to running the business and when to add functions to your company.

Expand and Understand Your Skills: Titles are given, but generally optional when it comes to getting the work done. Those skills you were good at become great; those skills you were okay at become better. My titles have been CFO, but my tasks have including designing web pages, developing a social media plan, creating sales tools, and operating manuals. I’d never say you’ll become an expert, but you certainly learn to use what you’ve got and how to deal with situations where you have little past experience. In a small firm, you are pretty open about your strengths (also it’s hard to hide) and when to ask for help – which makes you a more effective member of a team to accomplish a given task.

Speed of Decision-Making/Risk Taking: Due to a variety of constraints, you learn to move quickly with less information. More importantly, you learn to focus on the ‘right’ information. How you approach risk is also finely tuned, because you learn to balance the need to move quickly and the risk that a bad decision can sink the firm. You move to try new ideas quickly, but you move to shut down rotten ideas with equal speed.

Problems = Innovation: There’s always some problem or roadblock to overcome. Whether it’s too little capital, change in client behavior, your solution did not work exactly right, or new competitors, you learn to adapt your original vision of what you bring to market. Because of their frequency, you become enamored with what you can deliver, less on how it’s delivered. Innovation extends well beyond the initial idea into how to make the idea commercially viable.

DOWNSIDES:
A non-startup audience may often view the following items as less than favorable because of how they differ from their typically established company perspective. I describe the traits and how to offset it in your pitch, etc. When it comes to the downsides, my advice is to assassinate the assassin, by directly addressing the issues that may derail your chances.

You could not get job in big firm: There is a common belief that traditional firms were not interested in you, so you went to a start-up.

Offsetting argument: The reality is that given the risk of capital, the investors, board and management tend to be very choosey as to who gets hired. They have both capital and reputation on the line, and when it comes to raising capital for their next deal, protecting these is critical.

Failure or non-performance of start-up: It’s the nature of the beast and no one is immune. You are defining a new product, new market or both and with this come higher risk.

Offsetting argument: It’s this risk that enables the upsides noted above, however, without a roadmap, processes or history – you are likely to make mistakes. You can compare a start-up success rate to a number of projects, products in a large firm.

Nomadic lifestyle: People will see that you may have worked with a number of start-ups in a short period of time. There are three primary reasons why this might be true. First, it can take several tries to find the right deal and you may have to jump in to figure it out. Second, not every start-up needs your skill full-time after launch; your work can be a project to get the business launched. Third, the business does not succeed or grow, so it’s time to try a new one because they cannot afford you or there’s no upside.

Offsetting argument: Start-up investors lay bets on a large number of start-ups with the belief that 1 in 10 or 20 will have a significant return that more than offsets the deals that goes sideways. They go into deals knowing that many will not succeed; the tough part is that they don’t which one up front.

CAVEATS:
Before pitching someone, learn their background and their firms. For their firms, remember that big does not always equal stodgy, and may view itself as very entrepreneurial for their size.

The non-startup audience is not wrong in their view of skills, simply different than you. It’s your responsibility to help them appreciate the startup experience.

Your experience will vary in scope and depth. Before you head out to pitch yourself, take an inventory of your experiences – you’ll be surprised at what you’ve learned!

If your start-up hit it big, then skip the above and promote the end result, you’ve punched your ticket.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com/blog

http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Interview Performance: In Transition Candidate Versus The Employed Candidate

Have you ever wondered if being in-transition makes you less attractive in an interview?  The answer may be “Yes”, but not for the reasons you may think.

My colleague Marcia Ballinger from Keystone Search and I were having coffee and we got on the topic of interviewing.  She shared some amazing insight into how in-transition candidates effectively derail their chances during the interview.

Marcia has submitted many in-transition candidates for her clients’ consideration because they have the right skills and experiences that make them attractive to a client – regardless of their employment status.  Also, Marcia’s firm has sat in interviews as an observer for the past five years, so she has seen both types of candidates in action.

She noted distinct patterns of behavior from the in-transition candidates derailed their chances for the role because they made themselves an ‘outlier’ compared other candidates – but in the wrong direction.

Much like that old joke about when you and buddy are being chased by a bear, you don’t have to run faster than the bear, just your buddy.  When it comes to hiring, the candidate selected is not the best at everything, they are simply better than the other candidates. 

Here are the traits that Marcia has seen from in-transition candidates are going to get you caught by the bear.

• ·         They talk more and listen less. 
• ·         They are very quickly convinced that an opportunity is “perfect” for them, even when they don’t have all the facts.   Marcia said that she frequently has in-transition candidates proclaim that they are ‘perfect’ for a position, even before they have seen a job description.  (Writer comment: For an executive position, these can be literally ‘million dollar’ decisions given the potential impact of the executive on a business.  Who makes million dollar decisions with no information?) 
• 
  
• ·       They lean forward.
• ·         They don’t always wait for the speaker to finish answering the question.
• ·         They are glib, surface, and less “thoughtful.”
• ·         They talk faster, as though they are trying to “squeeze” more in.
• ·         They seek to persuade, not to understand.

Having interviewed during my own transition, I’ll admit to being guilty of these behaviors.  At the time I felt as though I was displaying my eagerness and interest, but now I see it was my anxious feelings shining through.  

How does someone with a job behave during an interview?  Here’s what Marcia has observed:

·         These people are picky.  They are choosey.

·         Instead of trying to convince, they are waiting to be convinced.

·         They are genuinely interested in learning more and investigating whether the opportunity could be a fit.  But, they do not come in convinced that it IS a fit.

·         There tends to be more mutuality in the discussions with employed candidates.  Employed candidates see themselves as ‘peers’, so the interview is more like two business people having a meeting.

·         For the hiring executive, it feels more like a regular meeting between a boss and a staff member, and less like an outsider, or a “salesperson.”

For you and me, these types of ‘insider’ insights are pure gold since its behavior from fellow candidates – both what’s working and what’s not.  However, Marcia made another point which I think is more relevant: The in-transition candidates’ behaviors arise from their circumstances and build over time; therefore, they need to work harder to suppress these behaviors.

The employed candidate comes into the interview with the ability to walk away, which gives them a position of strength.  They feel less overall risk and certainty no reason to push or persuade.  This is why the discussion is more relaxed and interactive.

Can an in-transition candidate give themselves the walk away power?  While perhaps not at the same level of the employed candidate, you can get close if you go into an interview with this mindset: I don’t want to be interviewing a year from now; therefore, I need to be sure this is a job where I can truly succeed and will be retained.

If this approach helps you avoid being back in-transition in the near term, it’s a powerful motivation to help you make sure this is the right position.  (If you are at the point, either financially or emotionally, that you to just get into a role please see: The Art of Settling for Less).

My thanks to Marcia for sharing this amazing insight that will help all of us get the most out of our interviews.

Good luck today!

Mark

http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Good Question: How to Avoid Networking Burnout

I blog on Proformative.com (on-line community for finance executives), this is one of the questions that I was recently asked.

Good question:

I have been in interview mode for about 8 months. How do I refresh from this process so that I don't start to sound like a "canned speech". I am networking and in interviews, phone and in person probably about 25 hours per week. Selling yourself starts to become tedious.

My answer:

Before I begin, if you are feeling burned out - take a break. Cancel your networking meetings. You only have one chance to impress and no matter how you try, if you feel burned out - it comes through to whomever you are meeting. Trust me, I've been on both sides of this equation. No one buys from a sales person who lacks confidence - and you are your number 1 sales person!

I found that burnout is a combination of three factors: low psyche (from not getting a role or being treated poorly in process), repetition of process (different people, same pitch) and too many similar meetings (all hat, no cattle).

1.       For the low psyche - two ideas:

·         Define 'success' as those actions that got you an interview or moved the hiring process ahead. If you only define success as getting a new role, then it's tough to feel like you accomplished anything. Keep a running list of accomplishments for each week - 2 or 3. It's these little accomplishments that will add up over time. (Also see my post on Redefining Success)

·        Pick a project that you can accomplish in short-time. Whether as volunteer, contractor or at home - I had a list of projects I could knock out. Gave me the rhythm of being at work, where I had the sense of moving things ahead.

I know both of these two may sound like parlor tricks, but the first is about what to expect from yourself and the second reminds you that bring value to a firm. I've given this advice several times and had good feedback - I've also used it for myself.

2.       Repetition:

What varied this for me was practicing the "80% Rule", where 80% of my networking was focused on the other person. This strategy is a long-term investment in building a relationship because you are focusing on what you can do for that person - but I can guarantee it never gets boring.

You will get your chance to pitch, but it's usually not the same - because most people return the favor and start to ask different questions and the networking becomes more collaborative. (See the resource "Networking Checklist" and blog post "Making Networking Effective - Your Timing is Everything".)

3.       Too many meetings:

One of my mistakes in search was too much networking. I was taking too many of the same meetings or not making the most of my meetings.

For taking too many of the 'same meetings', try the "Daily Point System". This tool will help you allocate your time to those meetings which make a difference.

For not make the most of my meetings, see the blog post "Roadmap to the Hiring Manager", this was my discovery of aligning my request for help with the networking contact's level of relationship with the hiring manager.  In short, asking for help that they can truly deliver.

This is just a starter and I hope this helps.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com - Networking and job search advice from candidates for candidates.  Please take a visit to get free tools and advice.

http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Making Networking Effective – Your Timing is Everything

Your timing of delivering your story makes all the difference of whether or not a meeting is successful or not.  A story or pitch is only effective once you’ve fully engaged the other person.

WHY THEY WANT TO BE THERE

“Interested, but need to be engaged” is what I call people who have agreed to network with you.  They agreed to network because of a mutual connection or desire to help, so they are interested.

You want them engaged from the start; therefore you must begin the meeting by showing them why they want to be there.  We all have self-interest and desire to be appreciated.  We also know when those two elements are fulfilled; we are far more likely to engage in whatever activity lies ahead of us.

While not scientific, the chart below will illustrate where to put your attention to get the most of a meeting.

Let’s slice up the meeting into four sections and

Initial Impression: It starts with simple professional courtesy, being on time, etc., but it continues with setting the stage by establishing why you wanted to meet, expected outcome and that you are looking to network with them.

Selling Phase: The initial impression you want to set is that there is a good meeting ahead, which gets their interest.  Now you want to stoke that interest, by beginning with them and using the 80% rule by offering help from your network via connections or information and understanding if there are other areas you can help.  During this time you do not focus on yourself at all.

Telling Phase: The connections and help you offer have opened the door for you to make a very simple pitch.  The pitch should be the 2-3 important messages that want your connection to remember after the meeting.   To make a message about a skill or experience memorable is to accompany it with an outcome or important lesson.  If someone would like to learn more about any of the 2-3 message, they will ask.

Remember to always watch your networking contact’s eyes and body language.  Take a tip from my experience, just because I thought a point was compelling it does not mean everyone does.  I’ve tried using a different way to explain my message.  At the first sign of a loss of interest, it’s time to move to the close.

Close: To send your contact with motivation to help, close the meeting with your follow-up actions.  Most people will respond with their own actions, if they do not, it’s not a cause for worry.  Once a meeting starts to finish most people begin to think about the rest of their day.

Changing your contact from ‘interested’ to ‘engaged’ will make the world of difference.

Hope this helps.

Mark

http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace - When Keeping Your Options Open Yields Lower Results

Your objective in networking is to build a relationship that mutually benefits each party.


The first step in building in defining how you can help one another, as once this is defined the networking can really get underway.

You’ll do research and listen during your first meeting to get ideas for where you can help one another. Now what?

You will be tempted (like all of us) to use the approach called “Anyplace, Anytime, Anywhere” where you keep the networking very general to keep all the options for helping one another open.

However, while it may appear counterintuitive, the more focused you become on a single area for each of you to begin, the greater the result. Because this gives you something to act upon and it is action that truly builds a relationship.

I’ll use a live example from my job search to show how ‘keeping all options open’ does not work. Here’s how I answered questions during a networking meeting.

Q: What size company are you targeting?

A: My experience could work at any size company.

Q: What industry are you interested in?

A: I have service industry experience, but I’m open to all industries.

Q: Public or Private firm…

You know where my meeting was going: Nowhere. I came across as either uncertain of my skills or interests. I gave my networking contact nothing to work on to make connections or help identify possible jobs (I have also sat through countless meetings where I received similar answers).

One of my favorite examples of where taking a very specific focus is very effective, the 37Signals team’s (www.37signals.com) approach for building software. They intentionally design less features and scope in order to deliver a specific need of high importance to their clients. Their philosophy is to establish a very clear relationship with the buyer as to what they should expect to receive. The smaller focus also enables them to deliver. (Writer note: I’m totally underselling the 37Signals story, recommend you visit their site or better yet read one of their books to get the full spirit of the firm and their accomplishments).

What is interesting is that once I narrowed my search focus (very narrow), I was finding myself interviewing more often based upon leads from my networking contacts. On the flipside, I also found myself delivering more networking referrals. Mutual benefit = Mission Accomplished.

The lesson here is to start small by picking a specific topic or 3-4 tangible actions where the two of you can help one another. You will get immediate results and a nice momentum to start this professional relationship.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards

www.candidateschair.com




http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Should you ask for Informational Interviews?

A colleague on Linked recently posed a question to me on how to improve their response on requests 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.net The Career Community

Keeping Your Psyche Strong during Job Search

The saying goes “Desperation does not work in dating or job search”. I can verify both of those when looking at my school years and my own job transition.


At one point in my search I had six solid job leads go completely dark within a week’s time. I remember going to a 7 a.m. networking meeting the following Monday. Big mistake – I wasted a good networking opportunity. When I got home, I cancelled all of my job search activities for the next two days, so I could get my psyche back in order and avoid a downward spiral (which we all know can be tough to pull out of). I also sent follow-up notes and apologized to my contacts, I told them exactly what happened and apologized for not being in top form.

I recognize this advice to cancelling meetings can come across as a bit extreme. But it is not, a strong psyche is more important than a strong resume. Ask yourself this question: How often have you made a major purchase or commitment from a less than enthusiastic salesperson? The answer is “Not very often, if at all”. As for the follow-up notes, not much I could do after the bomb went off, but was a sign of respect and managing my reputation.

In the end, a job search is like making a sale and you need to believe in the product (yourself) before anyone else will.

Both asking someone to introduce you to their network, much less a hiring decision, is asking someone to ‘buy’ your story. No matter how hard we try to put a ‘good face’, if your psyche is in the dumps, it comes across during your networking and interviews.

If a job search is selling, you have to believe yourself first before anyone else will.

Once I took the time off, here is what has worked for me many a time to boost my psyche. Make a list of small projects that you would like to accomplish. When you feel down, pull out the list and work like mad to finish the project. The sense of progress, accomplishment and putting your mind somewhere else for a stretch of time will work wonders. Trust me.

There are loads of other good ideas like volunteering, etc. – whatever they are, put them on the list and keep it handy. It’s not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’ you will use it.

Remember, if you run into someone who needs to take a break – do them a favor and tell them.

Good luck today.

Mark Richards

www.candidateschair.com



http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Using Twitter to Promote Yourself during a Job Search

Twitter is another great tool in the toolbox to promote your qualifications during a job search. The intent is to have potential employers and networking contacts read your tweets.


A couple of thoughts to help get you started

1. Keep it professional and positive

2. Focus on your profession only – especially where you can give advice from personal experience

3. If you have skills that cannot be easily trained, put those in your tweets, as employers will need to hire someone with them

4. Tweet on issues/experiences that will likely be raised in an interview/networking

5. Before starting to Tweet. Write your first 50 tweets. People will go to your profile and review your tweets – so best to have them organized versus random thoughts. So tweet with purpose (I’d wager no one has ever told you that before).

6. Retweet other good thoughts from people you follow – recognizing good content is as valuable as giving it

7. Manage who you follow and who follows you (e.g. Blocking anyone who has ‘Check out my hot profile’ is a good tip)

Put your Twitter ID on your business cards (along the URLs for personal blogs, LinkedIn profile, etc.) – so people know you’re tweeting.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards

www.candidateschair.com




http://TwitJobs.net The Career Community

Question: If I know who the hiring manager is, should I connect to them directly or their colleagues?

I answer questions on job search and networking for Proformative.com (on-line forum for finance professionals to share information), here is an excellent question.

======================
Response:

Assuming the interview process is not in the late stages, you will want to approach the hiring manager in two steps: Learn and Influence.


LEARN:

To differentiate yourself from other candidates, you want to promote the experiences/style that best fits what the company needs.

Meeting with company insiders will help you understand the business model, department and current issues. You will want to meet with people outside the department to give you a well-rounded view. If time allows, meeting with vendors (e.g. auditors) can also give you an objective view.

Even if you’ve worked for the company before, I would recommend refreshing your information to understand the most important issues (e.g. integrating new software, cash crunch, etc.)

INFLUENCE:

There are people who have a strong relationship with the hiring manger that can promote you to the hiring manager. In ascending order of influence: outside colleague, direct report, peer, and boss – their relationship with the hiring manager gives their recommendation more weight.

The reason these people will be compelled to promote/introduce you to the hiring manager is the effectiveness of your pitch (both content and delivery) – short, relevant and convincing is what makes you memorable.

The best experience does not always win; it’s usually the person who can best explain how they can use their experience on behalf of the company.

IF TIME IS SHORT: I would recommend getting to someone in the hiring manager’s department to get a sense of the most critical issues. Switching to phone versus face-to-face reduces the effectiveness of the ability to influence, but allows you to talk with more people in a short time.

IF THE COMPANY IS SMALL: Same process, except the lines between Learn and Influence are blurred – since people are likely to have a relationship with the hiring manager.

Here’s a post that may add some additional insight: http://candidateschair.com/roadmap-to-the-hiring-manager/

Hope this helps.

Mark
Creator, Candidateschair.com - Job Search and Networking from a Candidate's Perspective



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Is Your Pitch Motivating Action?

We will all deliver our pitch hundreds of times during a job search and networking. The question is whether it’s effective to get someone to commit to taking action on your behalf. After hearing hundreds and giving hundreds of pitches, here’s my take: The best pitch is one that is understood.


The most effective pitches I’ve understood are as follows:

• Short

• Uses simple language (or the language of experience)

• Emphasizes the ‘promise’ of what you can deliver to the hiring company

• No more than three key points, so I can remember in my head

Unless you are a clever copywriter, I’d pass on trying to craft a snappy tag line to describe yourself. I’ve only heard one or two that did not make me want to roll my eyes. All these lines were well-meaning attempts to make you memorable, but it’s usually just dead air.

Here’s what makes you’re the ‘message’ in your pitch truly memorable

• You have practiced and can deliver it in a confident voice

• Targeted the pitch to what the listener will “hear”

A pitch is the starting point to get the other person to commit to act on your behalf (provide contacts, move you along in the interview process, etc.) If your pitch piques their interest, then they will want to learn more about you. If it does not, then no need to pile on the details of your background, as it will be dead air as well. This is why you want to make sure you include the information that will interest the listener

You are seeking different actions from each contact to move you toward the hiring manager – either to “Connect” to an insider, “Learn” about the company or “Influence” the hiring manager. (Please see “Roadmap to the Hiring Manager”). To motivate them to learn more, may require a slightly different pitch that includes information that will be important to them.

Always ask yourself “What will they want to ‘hear’ to trigger them to take action?” For example, if I want my contact to introduce to a company, I may want to pitch my industry knowledge to help them feel more comfortable.

Here are a couple of ways to test your pitch effectiveness:

The Elevator Test: Does your ‘elevator pitch’ require a 150 story building to get through it? If so, time to shorten it.

The Independent Observer: After giving your pitch, ask the person to repeat the top 2-3 items they remember. If it does not match your 2-3, then shorten your pitch.

The Language Test: Write out your pitch. Circle any words that you don’t use in everyday conversation (e.g. evangelist, etc.) if you have more than one, then it’s too many. Try this “Buzzword Bingo” at LurkerTech.com - okay, you won’t use all these terms, but a good starting place for overused words.

Repeat Their Expectation: What would you expect from someone in your role (e.g. ability to work with clients, specific technical skill, etc.)? If you have held a similar role, then they would expect you possess those skills. Don’t burn time repeating. Focus on what you can DO with those skills.

Lastly, I will borrow a recommendation from Guy Kawasaki’s “Art of the Start” chapter called “The Art of Pitching”: Rewrite from scratch. His advice is sound, because we puts parts from different pitches and try to incorporate feedback, only to end up with what Guy often sees “a Jeep with a Chevrolet engine”.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com – Tools and Advice from a Candidate’s viewpoint to help get past job search roadblocks and keep your spirit strong. Please take a visit.




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Good News for Candidates - Hope Lives on a Small Diet

Your secret weapon in search is a strong psyche. It’s your resume or contact that gets you in the door; it’s the strong psyche that closes the sale and lands you the role.


The resumes from people in your profession will likely read very similar. Several candidates will be pulled out because they show the ‘promise’ of succeeding within the role. When you speak to the company, it’s your strong psyche that truly brings the differences between you and the other candidates to life.

A strong psyche gives you confidence, poise and the ability to look anyone in the eyes when you answer or ask a question. Sitting across the table as the interviewer or networking contact, a strong psyche is almost tangible, as though that person has a shield in front of themselves and no matter what you toss at them – nothing is going to make them stray.

The strong psyche is driven by the hope that you will see an office, cubicle, nametag, or paycheck with your name on it – or whatever the symbol you think of when being employed. It’s that vision that gives you the hope. Anyone has let their hope dip will tell you it’s like living in slow motion.

Here’s the good thing about hope, it can live on a small diet. Hope is driven by the small events of a day or week, not only major events.

This is good because most of us don’t experience many major events or opportunities that get us ‘discovered’ to be immediately hired. Sure it happens to people, but you cannot count on it – sort of like that winning lottery ticket (I could have sworn the Powerball was going to be ‘10’ this week!)

Keep track of the small positive events in your search, the act of keeping track of these actions helps build your hope as well by reminding you of what is going well.

For example, any action that moves you closer to the hiring manager, information you discover that helps match your resume to a company, holding a great networking meeting, getting useful or positive feedback on your experience, finding someone who will connect you to a highly-desired networking contact, shortening your pitch or resume without losing any potency, etc.

Here’s the other good thing about hope. Whatever hope you give to someone will increase yours by an equal share.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com – Tools and Advice from a Candidate’s viewpoint to help get past job search roadblocks and keep your spirit strong. Please take a visit.


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Roadmap to the Hiring Manager

We all want to get to in front of the hiring manager, both in reputation (or brand) and in person. Although getting there can be a long march, it’s even longer without a roadmap!


Here’s another one from the “Chronicle of My Job Search Mistakes”: By not thinking about their level of relationship to the hiring manager, I was not asking my contacts for the right help.

I was networking, but not interviewing, so there had to be something missing. When a networking contact failed to show up a meeting, I sketched out a roadmap to the hiring manager (thanks for the napkin Caribou Coffee!).

Based upon a contact’s level of relationship to the hiring manager, I determined to ask them for help in one of three areas: Connect, Learn or Influence.

Connect: People who have limited information about the company or hiring managers, but can make introductions to others who are inside the firm, understand the firm, or have a relationship with the hiring manager.

Learn: People who have a good working knowledge of the business, who could teach me about the culture, business model, view of the department where I want to work, and hiring practices. They can make connections to people with influence with the hiring manager.

Influence: People who are close to the hiring manager and can carry the message of how I can serve the company to the hiring manager.

Ranking of contacts:

I considered two factors. The first was knowledge of the company. The second was their strength of relationship to hiring manager.

A company insider who does not know the hiring manager, is great to learn from but has little direct influence. The same goes for service providers who work in the hiring manager area or former employees of the firm.

An outsider who is a good friend with the hiring manager will not have a strong working knowledge of the company, which limits their ability to match you against the current needs of the firm. This is why they behind the hiring manager’s peer, in terms of influence. My highest ranking goes to the person who manages the hiring manager.

Learn versus Influence:

Do you need both? Yes. Meet with “Learn” contacts first, so you can determine if the company/role is a proper fit and then get ideas on how to fine tune your pitch.

Where to start:

Ask for any type of connection, but the priority of contacting them would be learning before influencing.

Again, the roadmap to the hiring manager will be unique, but you will still connect, learn and influence – if you understand where each networking contact fits, you are more likely to get a better result.

Good luck today.

Mark



www.candidateschair.com – Tools and Advice from a Candidate’s viewpoint to help get past job search roadblocks and keep your spirit strong. Please take a visit.


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Arguments for Hiring Someone in Job Transition – Skills You Will Not Find on a Resume

If you were to change Newton’s third law of motion, which states “To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction”, to fit job transition it will sound like this: “To every job search experience there is always an equal learning you can use again.”


After meeting 250+ candidates and my own transitions, I have seen traits and skills that are learned in job search. A candidate may not put these skills on a resume, but they a huge benefit to the hiring company.

1 – Eager to Work: Businesses always want to find a ‘motivated’ employee. Knock. Knock. We’re here.

2 – Ability to Network: It’s more than learning networking techniques like LinkedIn, but the willingness to build to reach out to others and knowledge of how to work with others.

3 – Value of Network to Business: A network is not just for finding a job. It is a wickedly powerful tool to find and connect to clients, vendors, investors, candidates and advice, often with a national reach.

4– Communication Skill: Besides developing an effective pitch, it’s also delivering it in multiple forms: in person, e-mail, blogs, Twitter, resumes, etc. Most important, candidates know how to keep it short.

5– Broadened view of business/Awareness of trends: When else in your career will you just focus on meeting so many people, seeing so many businesses and learning about the market.

6 – Understanding of their skills: The virtually continuous feedback stream from networking and interviews, gives a sharp view of skills, including those which are stronger than a candidate may think.

7– Open to new ideas: Search forces a candidate to think differently about a career path, how to find answers, what skills to use and living in new financial world… and they successfully lived through it.

8 – Not afraid of risk: How often do we complain of people not willing to take a bit of risk? Candidates try new ideas almost daily with their most precious resource: themselves.

9 – Dig up the Answer: No roadmap on how it should get done. No problem. Candidates get creative to find connections, get inside companies, learn the language and get to know who will interview you.

10 – Ability to deal with adversity: Search is a war of attrition between what’s it like out there a Candidate’s psyche. Unlike work, everything is personal, which makes every defeat that much tougher.

11– Constraints inspire innovation: No corporate support, limited finances and less than welcoming marketplace. Candidates are not going to quit, so they make constraints a source of innovation.

12 – Local community contacts: Most networking is done locally and these are great for working in the community for non-profits and corporate awareness.

People currently employed can also see these items, but there is a greater frequency and heightened awareness when in search that cements these traits into a candidate. Of course, no two candidates will have the same level of these traits – but they will be there (and many others as well!).

Job search always gets a bad rap, so we all tend to hide our efforts in job search – then promote how it’s really has improved us and what we can bring to a company.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com – Tools and Advice from a Candidate’s viewpoint to help get past job search roadblocks and keep your spirit strong. Please take a visit.


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Job Search: Take Two

The following is a guest post from Dave Opton the founder of ExecuNet.com – he and his team have been providing amazing insight into career management and networking since 1988 – so he’s done a few laps around the track! Dave was gracious enough to agree to write a post for CandidatesChair.com. Many thanks Dave! - Mark Richards.


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Ever since I can remember, there has been a “factoid” making its way around the career management world about how long someone should plan their job search will take. What I can’t recall and never remember seeing is the source from which this “factoid” came. In any event if you are in a job search, you have probably heard it too. It goes something like: You should plan your search to take about 1 month for every $10,000 you seek in salary.


I haven’t the slightest idea nor have I ever seen statistics that indicate whether this rule of thumb is right, wrong or anything in between, and I have been roaming around the career management space since (dare I say it?) 1961.

That said, in talking with ExecuNet members, this is a subject that comes up with great frequency. Certainly not surprising, as most executives tend to be more type A’s than B’s and as such focus on objectives to be reached within a specific timeframe and get pretty impatient if and when it doesn’t look like that is happening. In addition, as leaders, they are used to being in control (more or less), and if things are not going the way they want them to and fast enough, they can make the needed changes.

In truth, I believe the foregoing is a major reason why we all find the search process so frustrating. There is only so much of it we really can control, and a great deal of it that we can’t. When you are “action oriented” and you feel you are in a situation when you can’t “make things happen,” to say it is frustrating doesn’t do it justice.

Also, how much time a job search is going to take is also one of those questions where I am not sure that an actuary could really give anyone a meaningful answer. There are so many variables involved, such as geography, age, function, industry segment, compensation needs, and the economy just to name a few.

Armed with the foregoing, hopefully you can understand why it is when someone asks me to guesstimate a timeline that I try to say this is one of those questions where “the answer is, there is no answer.” But of course, most people think that this is just a cop-out on my part and ask for a number anyway.

At that point I am likely to say something along the lines of, “Well,” and using my own personal experience as a starting point, “I can tell you that whatever length of time you think it will take, you are probably underestimating it significantly. It is kind of like when your spouse says they are going to do some redecorating and they estimate the cost at $X and as a seasoned pro you immediately make a mental note that it is much more likely to be at least $2X+.”

While we can all try to smile at our spouse’s budget estimates, translating that to a job search isn’t so funny. It is, however, very important in this sense: Part of trying to manage your way through a process as frustrating as a job search is to set realistic expectations. For without them, people tend to set goals that reality will make it very hard to attain, and when they are not attained, they feel it is somehow a sign that there is something seriously lacking in themselves when, of course, that is not the case at all. Easy to say but much harder to internalize.

I talk with members almost daily whose searches have been going for several months and in many cases more than a year, and aside from looking for ideas on handling the frustration, they also want some ideas on what they can do to try and re-energize the quest.

There is a lot that could be said on this subject and even more that’s been written, but for whatever it’s worth, here are a couple of thoughts for those who might be in this situation:

• Keep in mind that this is essentially a sales process, and as such, do what companies do if a product they have introduced to the market is not producing the results they expected – repackage it. As a candidate, that could mean a résumé makeover, tuning up your phone and/or in-person interviewing skills, making sure you are doing really thorough research in terms of target companies, and certainly working harder to expand your personal and professional networks.

• Make sure that because things have gone much longer than you wanted them to that you don’t fall into the trap of locking yourself in your home office and spending your days “clicking and praying.” It is counterproductive both strategically and emotionally.

• Get out, about and involved, both online and especially offline. Relationships can start online, but trust, which is the tipping point in personal referrals, comes much more often from face-to-face relationships built over time. If you are not already actively involved in at least one professional organization and one civic organization, do so. Keeping yourself intellectually “tuned in” is really important in terms of both attitude and energy, both of which are critical in terms of how others react to you.

• Since most people get jobs as the result of a linkage process (i.e. networking), everything you can do to give yourself the opportunity to create those links is very much worth the time and effort. If you are a member of ExecuNet, you have long heard us write and talk about effective networking being built on a foundation and attitude of “giving, not getting.” Approaching both people and/or events with the idea that you’re there as a resource to others does a lot to get your focus on the right stuff.

• If you are someone who has trouble doing some or all of this revamping yourself, you might consider getting an executive coach to help. It is certainly nothing to be ashamed of and from an accountability and structure perspective can be very helpful in getting things back on track. At ExecuNet, members frequently ask our help in finding such a resource, and we are happy to refer them.

And don’t ever forget what every salesperson will tell you: every “no” is simply one step closer to “yes.”



Dave Opton, Founder

ExecuNet

Blog: Six Figure Learnings

www.execunet.com

Twitter: @Oppy




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Rewrite Your Pitch with the Most Used Skill from Your Work

If there was a skill I admired watching, it was a colleague take a product idea and strip out the features, functions, etc. until they got down to what was most valuable to our customers. The items removed were good ideas; but they cluttered up a client’s path to what they really needed.


This is an example of the most used, though unrecognized, skill from your work: Understanding what’s relevant.

Think about it for a minute. How many times did you look at projects, new products, task lists, presentations, etc. and remove the items that got in the way of what needed to be done or were out of order? My guess is that it was a daily task and you were probably pretty good at it – because it’s the engine behind making things happen.

Now how can this skill help your pitch?

I’ve heard enough pitches (including my own); to know that they become muddled because we don’t want to leave anything out and then start to incorporate ideas from others. Each point is valid, but when all together, it’s less than a clear statement to the reader of what’s most important – no matter how many times we reorder, bold, change font or italicize. More data = Less information.

A good pitch is like your favorite website. It was easy to figure out what the site does, the features you want are logical to use, and it’s easy to navigate. Because the designers did not overwhelm you, you’re hooked. For your pitch: Provide the most relevant information in a simple form. Then you’ll hook them to want to learn more. Less data = More Enticing Information.

Okay, so how do get there?

To start, create four lists to summarize your last few roles. Just write down everything that comes to mind, don’t worry about editing it.

List One: Work situations you faced (big shifts in market, competitive change, new product launches, merger, international markets, etc.)

List Two: Outcomes achieved

List Three: Skills regularly used, new skills learned or improved

List Four: Lessons and Mistakes

Next, imagine you had to hire someone to replace you. Scan each list and then circle the three most important items from each one – what you would want to see on their resume. Just put your “what’s relevant” skill into action.

The end result is your pitch: What situations you can handle, the proof of your success, the best skills you bring and how you apply them.

One last thought, I like to start with the situations and accomplishments, because people don’t ask for “10 years of experience”, they ask for “Someone who can handle sales in 10 states”.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com – Tools and Advice from a Candidate’s viewpoint to help get past job search roadblocks and keep your spirit strong. Please take a visit.



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How many networking meetings should I have each week?

If you are in search, you have asked this question. The responses I received ranged between five to thirty meetings a week. My initial thought was “That’s quite range”, but I realized these answers represent two schools of thought for networking: “Specific Focus” versus “Gaining Exposure”.

Specific Focus: Meetings with a high probability of moving you toward a new job.

One: Meet with a potential hiring manager – may not be an opening, but a firm where you want to work

Two: Meet company insider to gain insight on a company to learn how to get into the company, tailor your application and key items to include on your resume

Three: Meet company insiders after applying for a role to build your ‘brand’ inside the company

Four: Meet with an advocate who can pitch you inside a company directly to the hiring manager

Time required: 5-6 hours a meeting – schedule, in depth preparation (research, developing questions, etc.), travel, meet and follow-up

Gaining Exposure: Meetings which build your presence or ‘brand’ within the market.

Because most people do not know of an immediate opening, these meetings accomplish the following:

One: Increase the number of people who know what role you seek and where you want to work

Two: Increase the size of your primary and secondary network – great for finding future connections or people that you can connect with others in your network

Three: Help make connections into targeted companies, specific people or certain types of people (e.g. marketing in software firms).

Time required: 3-4 hours a meeting – prepare, travel time, meet and follow-up. If you have meetings with very similar connections, it may be faster.

How many meetings a week?

You need to start by dividing your week into three parts: Business development, Maintaining contacts and New Contacts. In a 40 hour week, about 10 -15 hours are spent on business development (finding who to meet, reaching out to new contacts, follow-up on open invitations to meet) and maintaining contacts. (updates to network, making introductions, or other activities to continue to build the relationship).

With the remaining 25-30 hours, assuming you do not have any interviews in the week, the number of meetings depends upon the type.

How can you get 30 meetings in a week?

The number sound intriguing so how can you get it done? It’s really a combination of the following: A) They have to be all ‘Exposure’ meetings. B) Many are by phone call – to eliminate travel. C) Keep several meetings to ½ hour in length D) Reduce time spent on business development.

Using the phone and limiting time (especially when you can get more) will likely reduce your effectiveness. It makes it harder to establish an initial relationship, due to less time, level of attention, and ability to make an emotional connection.

The greatest number of meetings I had in a week was 25. All were face-to-face and I got a ton of new connections. However, by Friday, I was exhausted and probably less effective in making my pitch and I did not do any business development – which resulted in fewer meetings in the upcoming weeks. Early in your search, you will have more ‘exposure’ meetings, so you should expect to do more meetings.

The best number to focus on?

In my first search, I made the mistake to get fixated on a specific number of networking meetings. I should have been only fixated on the results: The number of positions discovering and opportunities to meet with people making hiring decisions (whether or not there is a current role). I know that this sounds like a no-brainer, but in the depths of networking, it’s easy to get focused on the means, not the end.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com – Tools and Advice from a Candidate’s viewpoint to help get past job search roadblocks and keep your spirit strong. Please take a visit.



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Networking Events - Is there a Buyer?

Your pitch needs a buyer.


Most of us could attend a ‘networking’ event daily that is filled with people that could become new contacts. The question becomes whether or not you can turn those contacts into meaningful action after the event.

My enlightenment regarding networking meetings came from a discussion with a colleague regarding options for our event marketing budget. He would accept or reject the idea based upon whether or not the people attending the event were in the mindset to buy the product we offered.

He used the example of a sporting event where a local bank sets up a table. For the bank there are loads of potential customers. But most people don’t stop. Why? They came to watch the match, not talk about their banking needs – so they are not thinking, or buying, banking services.

Correction: Your pitch needs a motivated buyer.

Let’s go back to networking meetings. Before you decide to go, understand the purpose of the event and why people are attending – this will help you determine if there will be ‘motivated buyers’ in the crowd. Leaving aside meetings targeted at those seeking new opportunities, here’s my ranking of the different types of networking events.

HIGH: Social events – These are the most casual and have the greatest amount of networking time, so people are openly mingling and moving about. If it’s associated with profession/industry group, get someone to escort you around to help break into the small groups in conversation.

MEDIUM: Profession/Industry Meetings – If the meeting is a lunch/dinner affair, there is networking time prior to the meal (while people check in). Attendees are there to visit with their friends and listen to the speaker. IF YOU GO: Same as social events, get a well-known member to escort you and make introductions – don’t leave their side, they are your credentials.

MEDIUM: Conferences – If it’s a conference that brings together different people to connect (say small companies with investors, companies with vendors), if you can help facilitate the type of connections being sought, then by all means attend.

LOW: Professional Development Sessions – There is limited time to network and the sessions present more than can fit in your head, so people are not in the mindset to effectively take in your pitch. You might get to know a few people at your table, so if the topic is of interest, you should attend. If not, spend your networking time elsewhere.

LOWEST: Breakfast events – These are usually the least productive. People show up right before they start, eat, listen to the speaker (while not checking their smartphone) and then bolt for the exit to get to the office.

Before you attend any event:

First, ask a few other candidates who have attended how effective these meetings were in getting them closer to the decision maker. Their answers may either confirm or be very different than my ranking above, so it’s easy and effective due diligence.

Second, figure out who you know will be in attendance and contact them in advance. The more people that know you’re coming in, the higher likelihood you should know even more people on the way out.

Remember your network has great value, make sure you know how to best use it for each event.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com – Tools and Advice from a Candidate’s viewpoint to help get past job search roadblocks and keep your spirit strong.  Please take a visit.

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Taking My Own Advice … Almost

Now that I’m back into search mode again, I am reading my own material.


I can recall the events and meetings with fellow candidate that served as the source for every post and tool. What stands out for each is either discovering a more practical method for search or how to improve our expectations.

Getting back into search has helped me remember why I gave the guideline to use ideas on the CandidatesChair as a starting place, even though they are all based on real-life experiences.

As much as candidates want to be seen as individuals, the same is true for networking contacts, hiring manager, recruiter, etc., everyone comes with their own set of circumstances.

Before you deliver a pitch, hit send, etc. – take a moment and ask three questions about the person you are addressing.

ONE: How many times will they receive a similar message/pitch?

TWO: What is important to me to know about this candidate?

THREE: How well do they know you?

Let’s use some live ammunition from my current search: My e-mail template for setting up a networking meeting (See “Tools You’ll Need”). I can use the template word for word and know it works pretty darn well – it can work better.

For questions one and two, it’s as simple as adding an extra sentence can cement the connection (e.g. same college, profession, company), establish credibility in area (e.g. specific experience addressing one of their needs), or increase their desire to network with you (e.g. people in your network of interest to them).

For the third question, I may use other means to deliver the message than e-mail, to help boost the level of connection or jog their memory. I’ll use LinkedIn, College Alumni message board, ExecuNet, or with a forwarded article of interest.

The lesson I have relearned is that the advice and tools give you a jump start in creating a message. Asking myself these three questions helps me make it more effective.

Good luck today.

Mark

www.candidateschair.com – Tools and Advice from a Candidate’s viewpoint to help get past job search roadblocks and keep your spirit strong. Please take a visit.


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