MANAGING YOUR CAREER SEARCH

by Tom Jackson

The worklife revolution... and you

You can make a difference in the quality of your worklife. It's as simple as

that. As you expand your understanding of how the job market works, you will

uncover a wide range of work possibilities and be more alert in how to

interest these employers in your capabilities.

It is by understanding the rules of the job game, and igniting your own work

consciousness, that you take a leading role in the worklife revolution

harmony - regardless of the employment rate.

Following is a list of some basic rules and strategies for effective job

hunting.

THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET

There is a vast underground marketplace in which over 75 percent of the job

openings rise and fall through the dynamics of word of mouth, personal

referral, and good luck. They never show up in the daily classifieds. Some

rules for tapping into this career information bank:

(1) Don't pursue only advertised positions - be willing to uncover the name,

title, and whole address of anyone in any organization related to your job

target field and call that person for information.

(2) Make a list of twenty persons - relatives, family, friends, past

employers, professors, authorities in the field, to whom you could send a

personal letter with a few copies of your resume, with the close conviction

(followed by a phone call) that they could probably forward it to others

within your field of interests.

(3) Undertake active research - in directories, trade journals, magazines,

and books related to your field, once you have clear job targets. Get the

names and addresses of at least twenty potential employers for each job

target and send them a special customized cover letter with your resume.

Individual contact by name is the most effective way into the interviews -

without the competition usually provoked when the job gets advertised. The

local telephone book yellow pages are a very good source of names of

potential employers. Check under two or three related categories. You can

get classified directories from other communities in the United States and

Canada by a request to your telephone company business office.

Other research sources to use in uncovering the names and addresses of

potential employer contacts should include:

(1) Business and product directories - to find out the best directories for

you, consult your library or the Guide to American Directories (B. Kline &

Company, P.O. Box 8530, Coral Springs, Fl 33065).

(2) Trade and professional associations - for names and addresses of the

most relevant associations, consult National Trade and Professional

Associations of the United States and Canada (Columbia Books Inc.,

Washington, DC).

(3) Back issues of trade publications in your job target areas - a very

valuable source of general and specific information about products, industry

trends, and authorities in the field. A comprehensive guide to these

journals and other articles and books related to the field can be obtained at

the research section of your community or university library.

Organized approach: When you go through the directories and other sources of

employer information, have a pack of three-by-five index cards, and list each

employer, address, and phone number on a separate card.

GETTING THE INTERVIEW

The purpose of your resume and cover letter is to help you get interviews.

There are several proven strategies to assist you in accomplishing this:

(1) Call first - a personal telephone contact with the person with whom you

want to have the interview could accelerate the entire process. After you

have done your research and obtained the names and addresses and phone

numbers of at least twenty potential employers in your field, set aside a

period of time (preferably early morning) to place calls to the individuals

who can make the hiring decisions.

(2) Be sure to know the name and title of the person you want to reach

before initiating the call.Also have a rough idea of what you want to say

that will be of interest to him or her. (The answer to the question: Why

should I hire you?)

(3) Have your personal telemarketing campaign organized in advance so that

you can continue to call for at least two hours without having exhausted your

reference cards. Then take a couple of hours off to recharge your batteries.

(4) Primary objective to call: To set up an interview directly with the

appropriate person.

(5) Secondary objective to call: To establish personal contact that can be

followed up by your resume and cover letter.

(6) Resistance: You will have to slug your way through walls of resistance

in this phoning - your resistance (for fear of rejection) and theirs (for

fear that you are going to waste their time). The antidote: keep on calling.

A string of turndowns is an expected phenomenon in any productive job

campaign. As a matter of fact, the whole process looks like this: No No No

No No No No No Yes. The only way through is to create more Noes faster.

Gets you the Yeses that much sooner.

(7) Resume/phone calls: This is a second approach, in which you send out

your resume and cover letter first, indicating at the conclusion of your

letter that you will be calling to set up the interview. Keep good records

of when these letters go out and call the recipient five days from the date

you mailed it. This is designed to time your call for approximately the day

after the employer's representative received it. Make these follow-up calls

on schedule.

(8) Be prepared: Know who the employer is (place, size, employees,

branches, brief history). And what they do: products, services, markets,

competitors, projects, achievements. Know that the quality of your

preparation is a direct demonstration of how you would get the job done.

Simple but true. Get and read brochures, trade journals, and annual reports.

Ask people in the field, competitors, trade associations, and employers.

(9) Prompt yourself: On one side of a three-by-five index card write down

five things you want the employer to know about you. On the other side list

five questions you want to ask the employer during the interview. Put this

card in your pocket or purse, take it with you to the interview, and refer to

it.

(10) Get feedback: It's all right to ask the employer if you have the

skills she or he is looking for. The worst it will be is no. In which case

you get to find out why. Correction furthers the process.

(11) Dress like a winner: It's simple: Let your clothes (hair, weight,

makeup, complexion) support your purpose in life. Have your personal

presentation demonstrate where you are aiming, not where you are.

(12) Be "outrageous": Break your old image of yourself. Go after what you

want with high intention, determination, and willingness to operate in the

work world at an entirely new level.

(13) Role-play: Have a colleague or companion play employer and ask you the

following role-play questions:

1. What are your strongest abilities?
2. How do your skills relate to our needs?
3. What are you looking for in a job?
4. What would you like to know about us?
5. Why should we hire you?

(14) Critique yourself: And have your partner do the same.

MAKE MORE MONEY

Please realize that the name of the game is satisfaction, not money - work

success is having a job that works for you, that lets you be yourself in the

work you do. There is no inherent satisfaction in the money you make. Most

of us keep our salary hopes two jumps ahead of our earnings throughout our

careers regardless of how much we make.

But make more money anyway (if you want to). The more you make, the bigger

the jobs you get, and the more fun the game might be. Briefly, here's how:

Remember that the cardinal economic principle is this: Money

follows value. The way you make more money is to create more value and

to stay with value creation until the results are so good it is

impossible not to compensate you, out of the value you create.

Three specific salary negotiating techniques:

(1) Always let the employer name the salary first. Employers tend to cite

higher figures than candidates. Interesting - and true. Don't answer the

question "What's the minimum salary you would accept?" Tell the interviewer

you're not looking for the minimum and that you will be taking a number of

interviews, expect several offers, and will take the one that offers you the

best combination of challenge and compensation. Smile nicely as you say it.

(2) Whenever a range is named, verbalize the top of the range. Employer: The

range is $17,000 to $21,000 per year. You: $21,000 sounds in the right ball

park right now.

(3) Never accept an offer when it's given. Tell the person who makes it

that you appreciate the opportunity, know you can make a contribution, and

need to consider it for ten days or so. This shifts the game immediately

into your hands as the employer starts to wonder what else you have been

offered. Sometimes offers are increased 10 to 20 percent within a week.

And, again, be courageous. Know it is you who actually let the employer know

what you're worth. Be willing to turn down or be turned down if the salary

isn't right. Go for it!