Month: October 2016

Diagnosing Your Job Search Problem – Job Search Radio

by

woman_with_doctorThings can go wrong in many places in your job search. Here I break down the problem points for you.

[spp-transcript]

You’re involved with a job search. It just isn’t working for you. How do you critique what’s going on in order to figure out what to “course correct?”

It’s very rare that a job search goes well enough that we could chart ut as following a perfectly straight line upward and that you wind up in a job instantly. Often the situation breaks down so let;s dissect it.

If you’re sending out resumes and not getting interviews,

you have a resume problem. The resume isn’t working for you. How you are submitting it isn’t working for you.

If you aren’t getting phone calls about resumes that you posted on job boards, the issue may be one of two things – – the career that you’ve chosen for yourself is a particularly marketable or, more likely, your resume is not keyword rich in the skills that recruiters are looking for; you may need to change the language on your resume

If you’re getting calls for phone interviews and are not being invited in, you have a problem with phone interviewing. You just don’t know how to do it well enough to entice people to want to continue the conversation. You need to improve upon that. There are many ways that you can do that; I have quite a few available through JobSearchCoachingHQ.com.

If you are having phone interviews, getting invited in for in-person interviews in not being asked back, you don’t interview well in person. That can be caused by a variety of things, too numerous to mention here, but that’s where the breakdown is occurring.

If you are getting invited back for final interviews in not getting past “The Boss of Bosses” for the organization, the person who the job ultimately reports, not the immediate manager but “The Overlord,” you are not making connections with people, certainly not at the high levels.

If you are getting job offers by getting lowballed, you haven’t done a good enough job on your interviews to make them believe that you can solve their problems. So, they basically are tossing a bone at you and seeing the field bite. You haven’t made them fall in love yet.

This is how a job search can get deconstructed. There are obvious tasks along the way and often people go through the process by going through the motions. They send out resumes and don’t prepare for phone calls, they haven’t made their resume keyword optimized to make it attractive on job boards, their flipping resumes across the transom like they are burgers at a fast food restaurant, how well is that working? Do you find them tasty? No, of course not and neither does the employer. You’re a spammer.

If you are interviewing and not practiced for it, it’s your fault because you haven’t done the homework necessary to impress people.

All in all, job hunting involves skills that you can learn and develop.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com provides those answers for people. Sign up on the site, it’s inexpensive, there’s a lot there that you can learn from.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell 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 is there to change 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

Final Interview Checklist

by

[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QyLEnHu6PA[/svp]
These are a few things you need to do and organize in order to be prepared for final interview.

 

[spp-transcript]

I have done many videos and podcasts about 2nd interviews but this one is about a final interview whether is the 3rd, the 5th, or the 19th interview. This is about your final interview.

So you know it is the final interview that you are coming in for… Here are several things I want you to check off in your mind  as being important for you to execute during the interview.

  1.  Don’t walk in thinking and acting like you have the job locked up. You don’t.  I can tell you from experience so many instances of people who thought they had the job and blew it in the last round.There are a million ways that people make the mistake, but I just want you to arrive NOT thinking that this is all locked up. Unintentionally, 1 of the famous people wind up doing when they think they have it is that they emotionally sit back as though they have their arms folded and appear disinterested. Knowing that you don’t have the job locked up, you always want to be selling yourself, looking out for situations where you can continue to promote who you are and what you can do for the firm.
  2. Be friendly. Look for opportunities to laugh. If someone makes a remark, it’s okay to chuckle about it an add on to it as long it is not as it is not racist, sexist, homophobic… You get the idea. You also want to be professional, too.  You don’t want to convey the message that all you do is laugh and joke Like a “good old boy.” You want them to be sure that you can be serious minded and professional.
  3. Prepare questions to ask. .  You may have heard slightly different things from people who have interviewed you so far that you can clarify here about the nature of the role and what the expectations are. You want to clarify these at the final interview. “I just want to clear up one thing in my mind. When I spoke to one person, they mentioned this. When I spoke to another, they said something slightly different. I just want to make sure I get your input about what this is.”
  4. Check out your proximity to power and authority and how important the work is. This 1 is for more senior professionals. The kind of work they can be easily eliminated during tough times is work that you don’t want to be associated with. You always want to be associated with work it’s going to be seen by leadership that runs the business.

[/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 is there to change 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 http://bit.ly/thebiggamehunter

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.”

The Music of Answering Questions – No BS Job Search Advice Radio

by

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains the music of answering interview questions and why it’s important to end on a down note.

 

[spp-transcript]

Let me talk with you today about one of those things that people do in interviews goes past the point of being annoying to being harmful to your candidacy.  Let me illustrate why.

I’m speaking with someone yesterday and asking them a question. Every time they answered the question for me, Instead of ending a sentence in a downtown,they would answer it with an up tone (Listen to the audio to understand what I mean). So I would ask them a question (up tone) and he would always answer in an up. If you listen to the audio.  You’ll hear me illustrated a few times.

The impact of this is that employers when they interview someone and they ended and up find it harder to be convinced by the person they are interviewing because you just sound more uncertain and unsure. This air of uncertainty that you create by ending your phrases and sentences with an up tone makes you sound like you are unsure.

So, always end with a down tone on the last word.  If you have the habit of ending with an up tone, it is something to work on.  After all, the impact of this can be very expensive for you in lost salary and in lost opportunities.  After all, you just don’t sound convincing as to what you believe when they ask you something.

Again, go for a down tone instead of an up.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you 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 Tips About Resumes – Job Search Radio

by

Whether you are a student or an old hand at job hunting, here are a few reminders you can use when writing your resume.

[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.”

Two Ways to Use Twitter in Your Job Search

by

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses two ways to use Twitter has part of your job search.

 

[spp-transcript]

I want to talk with you today about using Twitter as part of your job search. I’m not going to explain what Twitter is; if you don’t know anything about it, you’re going to have to research it elsewhere.

I want to suggest two things for you:

1. Follow recruiters, headhunters, employment agencies and hiring managers at firms that you target. If they say something that is interesting to you, try to engage them in conversation. Especially with hiring managers, it becomes a way to create a favorable impression with them.

2. Use Twitter search to follow conversations that relate to your particular area of expertise. Let’s say, you are a Java developer, #java becomes a way that you can find conversations to follow.#javajobs or #java-jobs might be a way that you can find Java positions that you might fit.

Twitter is vastly underutilized for job hunting. There is a lot less competition on sweeter to get the attention of hiring managers and recruiters if you are trying to reach out to them through Twitter.

If you want to reach out to me by the way, my handle is @TheBigGameHuntr.

Follow me on Twitter. Follow me around the web.

[/spp-transcript];

 

Do you 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 Fatal Is This Cover Letter Mistake? – Job Search Radio

by

A person continues by writing, “Last week I sent out 8 cover letters, and today I realized instead of “I am writing to apply”, I wrote “I am applying to write”. Eek! How embarrassing. Would this be make or break for you? I haven’t heard back from them yet, but it’s only been a week so I wasn’t worried”

[spp-transcript]

This is a question I read from someone; I think it’s a useful question because it speaks to the heart of mistakes people make with cover letters.

How fatal is this mistake?

Last week, I sent out 8 cover letters; today, I realized that instead of writing, “I am writing to apply,” I wrote, “I am applying to write.” How embarassing!

Would this be “make or break for you? I haven’t heard back from them but it has only been a week.

So the question is “how fatal is this mistake? As always, the answer is, “It depends.”

Depends on the nature of the job involved. Depends on whether anyone actually read your cover letter. For example, if you set it as an attachment, no one read it. It depends on the nature of the role; if you are applying for a writing job and you wrote that, it can be fatal. If you wrote for most positions, no one really cares.

They might gloss over it because people read resumes and cover letters in 6 seconds or less. In cover letters, it’s often less. If this was your “typical innocuous cover letter” sent as an attachment, no one read it. If this was a “typical innocuous letter” put into the body of an email, someone might have skimmed it quickly to see if there was something relevant in it (if it is like most cover letters, there is nothing relevant in it).

Frankly, I wouldn’t worry about it. What seems more damning is that it has been a week since you applied and no one has contacted you.You said, “only a week;” if you’re an experienced professional, that is usually the “kiss of death.” It would seem that your resume was the bigger problem, not your cover letter. If resumes don’t make the case for your candidacy, you’re not hearing from an employer. Employers only care about whether a resume “vaguely fits” what they are looking for.

So, I’m less concerned with the cover letter; I am more concerned that you haven’t gotten a response. The likelihood is you’re not going hear from them. Not having read your resume or seen the position description, I have no basis to judge why. They may have seen stronger people with tighter matches . . . many different reasons. Don’t worry about the mistake; it’s unlikely anyone noticed.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell 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 is there to change 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

What Are You Selling?

by

peddler1

My father and mother were born in Poland, met in Siberia and emigrated to the United States after World War II. My Dad was a bookkeeper for a firm that he eventually bought from the founder’s son who was in the process of running it into the ground.

I worked for him as a teenager doing filing and proofing columns. I was not made for such work. It bored me into having blisters in my brain (metaphorical blisters).

One day as we got into his car to drive home, he looked at me and said, “Jeffrey (he always called me “Jeffrey), you can work with your hands or with your head.” I interpreted this father-son moment as meaning, you know nothing about working with your hands. Start focusing on my head.

The term, “knowledge worker” describes a lot of what my father meant. Many of you, like me, sell our knowledge of how something is done, should be done or can be done to employers who pay is for that work. But what happens in an age where such knowledge is readily available and the cost of obtaining that knowledge is declining because of its ready availability?

Using the example of manufacturing, it seems like when certain knowledge or experience is “commoditized,” technology has made it easy for the work to be sent abroad. Even adding the cost of shipping to the manufacturing cost allows firms to earn more than if the job remains in a higher cost market. We have seen the same occurring in what were once called “white collar jobs,” but can be thought of as “knowledge work.”

For most of us who are selling knowledge and experience, what are you actually selling to an employer that they should buy?

Continued

Do you 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.” Connect with me on LinkedIn and message me if you want to buy a PDF.

Negotiating

by

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter talks about the many things you can try to negotiate in the way of a job offer.

 

[spp-transcript]

We’re going to talk about negotiating today and looking at some of “the fringes” in a negotiation.

Often, people make a strategic mistake by receiving the offer and saying, “Yippee! I’m going to take it! This is fabulous,” when many firms expect there will be a negotiation (This is US-centric advice. In many other countries, negotiation is expected and normal).

So in negotiating salary, you have to not only consider the gross salary but your net salary. For example, if you work in the New York area but live in New Jersey, you have to look at the tax consequences of working in New York City, as well as your cost of commutation now that you are heading into the city. You may gross more but net less. So make sure you are looking at your net numbers and not just your gross ones.

Then, on the benefits side, you want to compare the cost of medical coverage, dental, vision, life, disability insurance, what’s the benefit to your 401K plan –how much can you put in and how much will be put in.  I have one client who will match 80% of what you  invest plus 3% of your total compensation. In effect, they are putting in more than you do.  Most firms match 50%.  Whatever it is, you need to know what it is.

What’s their vacation policy, personal days, religious holidays, sick leave policy, how they deal with maternity or paternity leaves, profit sharing and/or stock options, relocation, tuition reimbursement? Will they provide you with a company car and the ability to deduct expenses? Childcare coverage? A subsidized cafeteria?  Health club membership? Corporate discounts?

Although some things can’t be negotiated, many can be.

For example, you may be working for an organization without tuition reimbursement and the next firm will. You may be used to your firm paying memberships in professional groups and to attend specific events and conferences.  See if your new firm will pay for them.

When it comes time to do a negotiation, don’t always go to HR. They are usually there to say, “No.” They are the rules followers. Hiring managers will often do a negotiation and even if they can’t officially do something for you, they . We tend to be slower then.”may say to you, “Don’t sweat it. Take the week off at around this time.” Things like that you can often negotiate one on one with your new manager.

So, remember, there are lots of different items you can negotiate. Don’t ju, sound enthusiastic about joiningst run to HR. Go to the hiring manager and see if there are things that he or she can do to improve the offer.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you 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

No BS Coaching Advice Ezine September 20 2016

by

The September 20, 2016 issue of No BS Coaching Advice Ezine

 

Do you 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.”

The Costly Mistake Job Hunters Make

by

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses a  costly Job search mistake too many job hunters make.

 

[spp-transcript]

This is one of those difficult conversations for most people to hear because they don’t understand how this affects their success when interviewing.

More and more firms do phone or Skype  interviews for initial conversations but eventually, in most situations, you will be invited in for a face to face interview. I saw an article in the Washington Post that wrote about the impact of being out of work on anxiety. When people are out of work looking for jobs or even just looking for jobs and ARE working, they become more anxious because they’re nervous about their interviews and nervous about getting a job and one of the things that happens is that people start to gain weight.

This is an awkward conversation to have but one of the affects of gaining weight is that your clothing doesn’t fit properly and that (this isn’t just for men; it’s for women, too) your shirts or blouses don’t fit properly , your suits don’t fit properly , things just don’t look as well on you.

This is hard advice for me to give because I struggle with my weight and yo yo my weight regularly but, the fact is, you have to watch your weight and, if you’ve noticed yourself putting on a pound or two, you have to do the things necessary to lose that weight before it becomes 5 or 6. After all, things just don’t look as well on you. The space between the buttons is going to start pulling. You won’t be able to button your jacket if you’re a man and present yourself as well. People will notice your trouser button pulling.

And if you don’t think people will notice, you are very very mistaken.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you 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