No B. S. Job Search Advice Radio

Recognizing the Signals And What to Do | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Ep 595 Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter encourages you to pay attention to the warning clouds and prepare for your search. He uses a metaphor to explain how to do it.

[spp-transcript]

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves life coaching, as well as executive job search coaching and business life coaching. He is the host of “Job Search Radio” and “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” both available through iTunes and Stitcher.

Are you interested in 1:1 coaching from me?  Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us and put the word, “Coaching” in the subject line.

Do you have a question you would like me to answer? Pay $25 via PayPal to TheBigGameHunter@gmail.com  

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com offers great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.  

Connect with me on LinkedIn. Like me on Facebook.

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Don’t Waste Peoples’ Time | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Ep 593 Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter encourages you to not waste peoples’ time when you submit your resume.

[spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

How to SEO Your LinkedIn Profile | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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EP 592 Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains how to SEO your LinkedIn profile.

How to SEO your LinkedIn profile

[spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Finding the Firm That is Hiring | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Ep 591 Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains how to find out the name of the company that is hiring for that job when the Recruiter drops the ball.

 

[spp-transcript]

I want to help solve the puzzle that some of you have about finding a hiring firm.  There is a situation that happened to someone I knew.  It was in my coaching program and this happened to him several years ago.  He saw a listing from a recruiter, contacted the person the person did not get back to him for 3 or 4 days, even though they said they were getting them the next morning.  He called. No response.  He did it twice more, without response.  He really felt he fit the job and asked me for advice.

I said, “Here is what you do.  Sometimes, recruiters are a bit lazy so they will copy and paste job descriptions and turn them into ads.  Why don’t you do a Google search, taking some lines out of the job description and see if you can find the position.”  Sometimes, the recruiter will change a few of the words so try to start off with a broad sentence, like the 2nd or 3rd sentence, not necessarily the 1st.  You try to look at the requirements of the job and take 2 or 3 bullet points, especially if there is lengthy text. There. That entered into Google and see if it turns up something for you.

You can try the same thing with indeed but start with Google as your 1st choice.

What happened for this person is that they were able to find the position and apply for the job and the firm did not hire him!  The recruiters judgment was correct.  He wasn’t really a fit.  However, if you really believe you are and you want to do this, this is the simplest way to get in touch with the firm. See if you can find the third-party recruiter who is sufficiently lazy that all they did was copy and paste the job description and then you can find.

There’s always the advantage of working through the third-party recruiter.  And I want to be clear about this.  If you can work through the recruiter, you are advantaged. The firm is advantaged… There are lots of advantages for you, including the fact that they are handling all the scheduling for you, they are going to be the ones hocking or pushing the client to see you, they’re going to be negotiating and know the rough edges because I have a relationship with the client and speak to those rough edges and overcome the issues. There are lots of advantages of working with a recruiter.

However, if for some reason they dropped the ball or they make a judgment that you disagree with, this is the way to find that about the job so the you can apply directly

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Pre-Interview Research | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses several ways to do pre-interview research so that you are well prepared for your interview.

[spp-transcript]

 

 

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Remember Karma When You Job Hunt | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses the importance of being respectful and courteous with people that you meet while job hunting.

[spp-transcript]

I want to talk with you today about karma. Karma in your job switch and conducting yourself in a proper manner. 

The trait of this is an email I received last night from someone. Let me set this up by saying someone contacted me because they knew I was recruiting for position looking for a certain type of background.  They interview with my client 2 or 3 times.  At the last one, he speaks with the overall head of technology and a peer.  The position is a manager’s role.  He comes of the interview higher than a kite and is very excited and enthusiastic. He is really interested.  Then, last night at 10 PM, he sends an email saying, “I am withdrawing.”  No explanation.

Okay. Help me understand this.  It is not like you are not entitled to change your mind about something.  It is not that you cannot be disinterested in a job.  It’s how you carry yourself in doing.  Politely withdrawing from the situation and saying thank you is good up to a point, but we are deserving of an explanation.  After all, the client, myself, have all been putting a lot of effort and care into trying to help you.  To simply withdraw without explanation is discourteous.

Again, there is a “karma thing.”  I know we have all heard the expression, what goes around comes around.  Whether you believe it, as I do, that can happen. Many many years in the future, perhaps lifetimes in the future, or in some of the professional situation doesn’t matter.

You always want to carry yourself in a way that allows another person to say, “I may not like the decision, but I respect the person where they are coming from.“

Again, treat recruiters, whether they are corporate or third-party with respect.  Treat them as though they are a member, your family, and, Lord knows, I know that every recruiter is deserving of that. But that doesn’t mean that you have to carry yourself that way.  You can still be professional.  You can deal with people in a kind manner without being rude as this individual was.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

The Hunt for a Stable Job | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses the mistake you are making if you are looking for a stable job.

[spp-transcript]

I want to start off by sharing the story with you. I have been a professional recruiter for more than 40 years. I remember being fairly junior, like my 2nd or 3rd year in search and saying things to candidates like this, “Hi! I have this great company that wants to meet with you,” I would then describe the environment that the person would work in. I was only doing IT work at that time. But that’s not the point of the story.

I would describe the technical environment. How smart the hiring managers were. A whole bunch of things that I had been taught.

I would continue by saying, “it’s with a bank. If banks start to lay off it is time for all of us to leave the country.”

Well, banks have laid off, I haven’t left the country. Maybe you have. By the way, the name of that bank was Manufacturers Hanover Trust which, as a name, has long since disappeared from the banking circles in the United States. They were acquired by another name that is long since disappeared, Chemical Bank.

In the hunt for stability I want to point out, there is no such thing as stability it with corporations anymore. Things always change. After all, the stories about the Fortune 500 at the time of the Great Depression, including the company that manufactured buggy whips and RCA and other firms with antique technologies and businesses are legendary.

There is no stability. What you can do is keep your head up instead of your head down. Look at trends in your field. See how you can capitalize on being current or ahead of the curve so that in this way, you are attracted to other firms.

The reality is if you are at your firm for the next 10 years that is now an unlikely occurrence. You are statistically an aberration.

Why is that? Frankly, to an employer, you are disposable.

I wish it were different, but their behavior tells me that.

The people who make the promises to you, are often long gone by the time the promises need to be kept. The promotional opportunities and the salary increases – – trivial. You move from droll level I to drone level II all the way up to drone IV. Who cares!

What is important is your personal marketability. If you are able to stay with the technology of your time, if you are willing to stay with the trends of the time and not fall prey to the laziness or the financial inertia of your employer who tries to persuade you that doing this work that no one cares about in the market in general is so wonderful… There will come a day where you will learn. To the contrary.

All I’m going to tell you is stop looking for stability within your organization or from the next company. The only stability that you can create as millions of people learned during the last recession is with your skills, knowledge and network.

Get that again.

Your skills, knowledge and network.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Becoming an Expert with LinkedIn Publishing | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter encourages you to use LinkedIn and its publishing/blogging platform.

[spp-transcript]

Let’s talk about LinkedIn’s publishing platform as a vehicle for you to have people reach out to you.

In case you don’t know what it is, if you look at your homepage and that the box we could put a message to your followers, if you see a paperclip there

or a button that says, “Write an Article,” if you click that, there is an opportunity there to write and post longform articles or upload videos to LinkedIn that allow people to get to know your thinking. The idea behind this is reputation building.

Obviously, you can build your network because people see these articles and get an impression of you and want to connect with you.

The 2nd reason to do this is you want to have people reaching out to you and believe that you are an expert. Writing or creating videos about your area of expertise that allows people to get a handle on you as an expert goes a long way toward building a reputation.

Finally, it is a way to show off your expertise and create conversation with others, all of which go a long way toward establishing you as an expert in the audience’s mind, so that recruiters, both corporate and third-party, want to reach out to you as an expert.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Facing the End of the Honeymoon | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses that time after you join a company where you wake up and realize that the honeymoon is over.

[spp-transcript]

I want to talk with you today about the end of the honeymoon.  Those of us who are or have been married understand that there is a glow period after you get married.  Everything about this person is perfect. They are wonderful.  It isn’t like you fall out of love. But things change.  So it is with your new job.

You join an organization and everything is going to be perfect.  Everything is going to be wonderful.  Nothing could ever go wrong.  There are things that you have been promised that are absolutely terrific.  You have a bright future.  Then one day things start to change.

A decision is made that you don’t agree with.  A coworker says something that seems a little snippy.  Whatever it is, things start to change as the relationship with you, your work, your manager, your organization starts to shift as well.

It doesn’t mean the job is bad.  It doesn’t mean that you should immediately go out and change jobs.  By any stretch of the imagination. That is the wrong approach to take.  It is just that the relationship is changed.  The environment is becoming more apparent to you.  Maybe it will become time to change. But, initially, all it is is a change.

It’s like in a marriage, things ripen. Sometimes they break.  Sometimes they ripen beautifully. Sometimes they sell.  Marriages end in divorce.  Jobs in the divorce.

Your goal is to try to make it work.  Your goal is to see whether it is just a change or something pivotal.

I don’t presume to know what those pivotal things should be for you.  I’d could list a few. But I don’t want to sour your thinking in any way.  You’ll know what it is time to go because you have the case that brought you to this firm. One day you woke up, realize this wasn’t the right place for you and decided it was time to move on.

If you or someone who’s been one organization for a long period of time. There is a pattern that I want to bring to your attention as well.. For those of you who have been with the firm for a long time. The next job tends to be of much shorter duration.  Often, under a year.  That’s because you have unrealistic expectations of what the firm will do for you.  What this firm will do for you will be different than what your previous firm did for you.

That’s not their fault.  That’s you and having unrealistic expectations.  Be patient.  Be patient with them and be patient with yourself.

Rome was not built in a day. Positive change and synthesis and marriages are not built in a day.

Again, one day you’ll wake up in your new job and will feel the same as it did when you 1st started there.  You will feel concerned about that.  Yet, most of the time, there was nothing to be concerned about.  It is just that the relationship has changed.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

3 Things to Never Put on Your Résumé | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses three things job hunters should never put on their resume yet commonly do.

[spp-transcript]

I want to talk with you today about 3 things to never put on your resume.

1. Objective. “I want to work for a progressive organization where I can rise through the ranks and reach my…” Cut it out! No one reads objectives.. If anything, they are only used to disqualify you for being stupid. Get rid of the object.

2. References are available upon request. It is filler. Everyone knows it is filler. You are trying to balance out the appearance of your resume and had nothing else to say. Get rid of it. We know the references are available upon request. You don’t have to tell us that.

3. This is a biggie especially for you senior people. Get rid of the stuff from 20 years ago. As a matter of fact, in most cases you get rid of the stuff from 15 years ago. It is extraordinarily unusual. If you are ever going to be hired based upon things that you did 15 or 20 years ago.

If you are, in most cases, you want to keep it a secret. After all, you will be taking a huge step backward professionally. Instead, focus in and give the most space to the current work. The further that you go back in time, the less information that you want to provide. Frankly, the older it is, the less valuable it is to the employer.

From their perspective, how much do you think they believe you really remember from 15 or 20 years ago? Next to nothing, of course. Why submit your resume for jobs that require experience that you had from the Stone Ages?

Firms aren’t going to care for it. They are not going to believe it. Get it off your resume altogether!

Maybe you have a sentence or 2, but you are not going to try to really find work based upon stuff (let me use an example of an IT person) work that you did as a programmer back in The Stone Ages… You don’t remember how he did it. You could reconstructed and they don’t have the technology from 20 years ago. Get rid of it.

So, no objectives, no “references are available upon request,” and certainly nothing from 15 to 20 years ago.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes