Start at the Top

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter encourages you to do what headhunters are trained to do — start at the top.

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This is one of those classic tips. It’s absolutely timeless. I’ll talk with you about how I’ve been trained as a recruiter to give you a sense of why I’m suggesting this.

I’ve been a recruiter for more than 40 years and, again, no disrespect to HR, I was always trained to circumvent HR– to try and go directly to hiring managers, to go the top of the organization and work my way down from there, to have the management of that organization, the management of that function, tell HR that they want to work with me, rather than have HR decide that they wanted to work with me.

Why was that important? Because HR is …the term as a gatekeeper, but it’s a really a misnomer. Human resources is designed to to shield hiring managers from decisions and to save them time. Some are exceptional, but they tend to be the exceptions. Most are average, they are overworked, overwhelmed and have too much on their plate and very rules driven. Discernment is not their strong suit; again, no disrespect to HR, but recognize that the typical day for HR professionals may involve interviewing X number of people, returning phone calls, trying to get a clearer picture of what a particular hiring manager’s doing, writing reports on the interviews that he or she did the previous day… on and on and on with a lot of drudgery.

It’s hard to maintain the sense of life and not become a bureaucrat. In contrast, the hiring manager has a vested interest in bringing on the best talent, not that HR doesn’t, but they are measured in different ways. They’re critiqued in different ways versus the hiring manager who was exceptional talent.

My encouragement to you is to do like what I was taught – – start at the top work and your way down. If you are a marketing professional, contact the CMO over the organization. If you are a salesperson, contact the head of sales of that organization. If you work in IT, contact the chief technology officer or the CIO of the organization.

Start at the top and work your way down. Make sure that you understand what it is that you’re asking for when you contact them and don’t just simply wander in your like a jerk, completely unprepared because all that you do is waste then is waste your time and theirs. A simple thing to say when contacting them is, ” I understand that your organization might benefit from. I’m an individual who’s been doing this for X number of years with so and so. I’d like to speak with you about what I’m capable of. Can we schedule time to do that? What would work best for you?” It’s that simple.

It was three, maybe four sentences in total. You want to rehearse this so it sounds natural and NOT rehearsed. Natural but not rehearsed.

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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

Stop Spamming Your Resume!!!

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter speaks bluntly about resume spam.

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I believe lots of resumes today I got to a point where I have stared at so many resumes that in no way shape or form fit what my clients are looking for.

Let me give you an example. I post a position for a global data center manager. The spec I posted was very clear about what I was looking for and what the expectations are. A person is going to run data centers. Even if you know nothing about that, you know that you are expected to have experience running a data center. #.

Why?

What did you see that in any way shape or form see the major qualified for that job?

Do you see the word, “qualifications,” in the job description? That is what the firm is looking for. That’s what the recruiter is looking for in order to identify someone that fits the job.

A CVS store manager. Give me a break. You are a spammer. You are no different than the Viagra people except your stuff isn’t blocked; yours actually gets through… But not anymore. I’m blocking you.

[/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

Giving Your Resume To Someone

Jeff Altman The Big Game Hunter explains why giving your resume to someone who works for a company you want to target may not be the best way to get an interview.

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Let’s talk today about approaching the furniture interested in working for. Conventional wisdom says to give your resume to someone who works there and have them bring it to the hiring manager as though this is the magic bullet that can get you the interview and advantage you are getting hired.

It can, but the thing that most people don’t do is find out how close this person is to the hiring manager. I give you an example. Someone contact me and says, “I know this terrific individual. They are phenomenal. They are swell. They are terrific.” The person approaches me as someone I barely had contact with if. As a matter of fact, the last time I heard from them was only asked to connect with me on LinkedIn. How much do I really trust this individual? The same might also be true with the people you’re giving your resume to.

The goal is and just to give it to someone who works for the firm, but to find someone within the firm who is well connected with the hiring manager.

Barring that, you are sending your resume to the black hole because the hiring manager has no reason to trust this individual anymore then I have to trust that person who says, “this person going to refer to you is terrific, colossal and swell,” and they had nothing to do with anything I do recruiting for plus I don’t know this person who was telling me how wonderful their friendliness.

There are times where it is better to work with a friend to send a cover letter that addresses that addresses some of the pain points a firm has in hiring someone for this job. It can also be better to use a third-party recruiter who has had a good relationship with his hiring manager to introduce you. Otherwise, you are giving your resume to a different version of the black hole.

[/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

Marketing Yourself Can Make a Difference

One of the core beliefs in the United States is that if you work hard and do a good job, you will get ahead. Putting aside the obvious error of this belief for those hindered by racism, sexism, religious bigotry, homophobia and age-ism, most people grow to learn that this core value does not always ring true.

Putting your nose to the grindstone and working hard is appreciated and valued to a degree, but I’ve found that the person who gets ahead, isn’t always the smartest or doesn’t work the hardest  …  although those are two terrific qualities to have. People get ahead by being alert to opportunity. Sometimes those are internal to an organization. More often than not, they are external.

 

“But I don’t have time or interest in always looking for a job. I’m busy doing my current job and then I go home and want to spend time with my family and just have some fun.”

 

Would you be interested if I told you that job offers could arrive at your door with only a little periodic effort on your part? What if I told you that getting these jobs would probably be easier and pay you more because the people contacting you will have heard of you and see you as an expert?

This can happen using a few simple techniques.

  1. Blog about your experience and successes. Get your experience on to the web where others can find it.
  1. Become a public speaker on a subject. Conferences are held all over the country that focus on different things – technology, accounting principles, web design, a million things. Join an organization that you are interested in, get involved and become a speaker.
  1. Write a book or record an audio on a subject. Sell it on your website, on Amazon or through traditional channels.

 

I have found many people this way and helped them land their next job with far less effort.

 

© The Big Game Hunter, Inc. Asheville, NC  2008, 2016

Making Yourself Visible

There are a few things job hunters can do to make themselves visible to employers.

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

Follow him at The Big Game Hunter, Inc. on LinkedIn for more articles, videos and podcasts than what are offered here and jobs he is recruiting for.

Visit www.TheBigGameHunter.us. There’s a lot more advice there.

Email me if your firm is trying to hire someone.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Pay what you want for my books about job search

Subscribe to TheBigGameHunterTV on YouTube  for advice about job hunting and hiring. Like videos, share and comment.

Trying to hire someone? Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us

Do you need more in-depth coaching? Join my Coaching program.

Want to ask me questions via phone, Skype or Facetime? Have your job search questions answered.

Marketing Yourself

 

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains how to market yourself in your Job search and in your career.

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a recruiter for more than 40 years.

Follow him at The Big Game Hunter, Inc. on LinkedIn for more articles, videos and podcasts than what are offered here and jobs he is recruiting for.

Visit www.TheBigGameHunter.us. There’s a lot more advice there.

Email me if your firm is trying to hire someone.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Pay what you want for my books about job search

Subscribe to TheBigGameHunterTV on YouTube for advice about job hunting and hiring. Like videos, share and comment.

Trying to hire someone? Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us

Do you need more in-depth coaching? Join my Coaching program.

Want to ask me a question via email, chat or phone ? Reach me via PrestoExperts or Clarity.fm

Get Publicity for Yourself

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses presenting yourself as an expert and the service that will help you do so.

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Do you really 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.

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

Marketing Yourself to Standout from The Herd

Marketing Yourself to Stand Out From The Herd (VIDEO)

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES.

NOTE: I no longer do recruiting so the reference to a podcast about jobs I am recruiting for is no longer valid.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter offers a simple piece of resume and interview advice that make you stand out.

 

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 leadership coaching.

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.

NOW WITH A 7 DAY FREE TRIAL

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

Are you interested in executive job search coaching, leadership coaching or life coaching from me?  Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us and put the word, “Coaching” in the subject line.