Author Archives: bryandilts

Feel The Fear, And Do It Anyway

Posted on February 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.  Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. (Shaw)

The job interview was at 2:00 pm.  The candidate, Bill, called at 1:45 pm.  He was in their parking lot.  Showtime.  That great candidate was going to shine.

At 3:15 pm the VP of HR called to apologize.  Bill just came in for the interview.  This well qualified candidate sat in the lobby for 1 ½ hours. The receptionist didn’t do her job right. It wasn’t Bill’s fault, but he could have done something about it.  He could have asked the receptionist to double check that the right person knew he was there.  He could have asked to speak to the administrative assistant of the person he was there to see.  It wasn’t Bill’s fault, but he wasn’t powerless.

People don’t want to be rude to you.  People you work for don’t want to waste your time.  The receptionist doesn’t want to stand in the way of your goals and ambitions.  It is not human nature to wish the worst on strangers.  Most often they are in your way through ignorance, incompetence or fear. 

The best solution is to swallow your own fear of making waves.  Sure, you are afraid.  They probably are too.  It is time to step up to the person in your way and work with them to clear the roadblocks.  Your boss or coworker, the receptionist or police officer all want to help.  Give them a chance.  Patiently work with them to get what you need.

I am always asked, “Why didn’t I get the job?”  I answer with what I’ve been told, and that is helpful.  A great question to follow up with is, “Can the person who rejected me, help me in my next job application?”  You may get a great boost from calling the person who rejected you and asking for specific help.  You can ask them if they see a way to improve your resume or interview.  Enlist them to help you with your NEXT interview.

It’s scary to ask for more help from a receptionist who just told you to wait.  It’s hard to call back someone who told you they do not want to hire you and ask for help.  If you feel the fear, work your way through it, and do it anyway then you’ll get what you want and need a lot more quickly. 

 Read the book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. It can help you take control of your situation.  It gives you tools to stop letting the world get in your way and step on your dreams. The cheapest place to get it is still your library.

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Posted in Attitude, Interviews, Perseverance

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Down by 20 at halftime in your job search

Posted on February 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

At halftime the team is down by 20 points.  In the locker room the coach says: “Yes, we got beat in that game we just played. Now we are going to play a new game.  It’s time for payback.  A new game starts when you step out on that court. You’ve got to adjust the score in your mind.  It is 0 to 0 now.  It’s a new game. Let’s go out and give that other team the beating of their lifetime.  We owe it to them.”

Every job seeker has a bad interview occasionally.  Often you will have a great interview and NOT get the job.  Your resume may be perfect for a lot of jobs, but you get no call backs. 

Remember, every time you apply for a job, it is a new game.  The person seeing your resume doesn’t know or care that the last 74 people who saw it didn’t even acknowledge getting it.  The person calling you on the phone can’t tell that you’ve only had 3 callbacks and not one in-person interview. 

Get coaching to improve your resume, phone interview and in-person interview skills.  Find out what works.  If you need a certification so that your resume stands out, get it.  If you get phone interviews, but no in-person interviews, find out why.  Give some of those interviewers a call back and ask for their help.  Half of them will give it to you.

Go out and actively look for successful people to coach you.  Asking a person for help can be a form of networking.  The secret is to ask for help with one particular thing.  Ask for help making the first job listed on your resume more attractive. Pick a small part of the job application process and ask for help.  It let’s the person know you are trainable, eager and looking for a job.

There are cycles people go through when they are unemployed or looking for a new job.  The important thing is to accept that you will lose more often than you win.  If you approach each resume submission, phone interview and in-person interview as a fresh start, a new game, you’ll quickly become the winner.

Your attitude can be adjusted.  Engage your mind. Lift your spirits.  Listen to books, music and shows that get your spirit soaring while you drive or exercise.  Start fresh for every job application.

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Posted in Attitude, Interviews, Perseverance

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Learn, Unlearn, and Relearn

Posted on February 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.  (Toffler)

I love talk radio, but it doesn’t lift my spirits. It gets me perturbed.  Music on the radio doesn’t engage my mind as I drive.  I listen to books instead.  I love books that teach me and help me get a better attitude every minute.   

The best source of books to listen to may be your public library.  Our main library has hundreds of books and college courses available on audio tape and CD. And all my favorites are available for free through interlibrary loans.

The Amazon Kindle and other digital book pads will read to you and allow you to switch from sight reading to listening as you go through the book. 

MIT has the vast majority of its courses available for free online.  Yes, free.  In most cases the lectures, notes, and everything you need to learn is available online and free.  Currently I am taking a Calculus course from MIT for free.  I plan to take Linear Algebra next.

Audible.com is a great place to get books on MP3 inexpensively. I use my iPod.  You can use any MP3 player.  I like the quality, selection, and prices.  Getting a monthly subscription is the way to go.

The books on my listening list include: Man’s Search For Meaning (Frankl), Theodore Rex (Morris), Love is the Killer App (Sanders), Networking With Millionaires (Stanley), First Things First (Roger), The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey), The One Minute Millionaire (Hansen), The Millionaire Mind (Thomas), and The Millionaire Next Door (Thomas).  I didn’t realize I am so fixated on the word “millionaire”.  These books have great “can do” themes.

Some books I love, but can’t get at Audible yet are The Power of Positive Thinking (Peale), How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (Carnegie), and Think and Grow Rich (Hill). And don’t forget to check out your library and interlibrary loans.

Engage your mind. Lift your spirits.  Listen to books that get your spirit soaring while you drive or exercise.  You’ll love it.

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Posted in Time management, Training

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One fully preventable way to lose a potential job

Posted on February 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.  (Harris) 

Are you the guy who meets a girl and after an hour says, “Let’s cut to the chase.  I’m hot.  You’re hot.  Baby, if you won’t MARRY me tonight, you must not like me. Let’s just call the whole thing off.”

When the fit between a candidate and the job seems perfect, and there is a delay, I often hear:

“I’ve been waiting two weeks to hear back from them since my interview.  What is wrong?  They are so rude.  Don’t they realize I am losing any desire I had to work there. Why can’t they make a decision about me?  I wish they’d just call it off.  Look Bryan,  tell them no.  Withdraw my name from consideration.  I don’t want to work with wishy washy know nothings.  Take me out of the job pool.”

Did you notice the focus on “I”?  The whole tirade is about “my needs”.   Not a word in there about what the company needs.  Nothing about due diligence.  No concerns about the company being sure they can keep him on payroll.

Companies postpone decisions for a lot of valid reasons that they never tell candidates. Some winning candidates can’t take it.  They can do the job.  They’d love the job. They just can’t believe that the company doesn’t love them enough to make an immediate offer.  

A while back I took a guy out of the running for a $200,000/year job.  He was perfect for it.  He just couldn’t stand waiting.  The CEO was surprised because he was at the point of making the final decision.  Of course, another guy got the job.

What does it hurt to wait?  If the company puts you on the backburner to keep you warm, why not just stay warm?  If another great job comes up, take it.  But why get mad?  Is your ego so big that you can’t let a situation gel for a month?  Are you such a hottie that you can’t be ignored?  Get real.  The company you are applying to is not being run just to offer you a job. 

Prepare for success.  Be presentably persistent.  Then take all the time you need to win.  That’s how careers are built.

Have you ever withdrawn from a job or promotion pool because it took too long to get a decision?  Realistically look back.  What did you gain?

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Posted in Attitude, Finding jobs, Perseverance

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How fast can I find a new job?

Posted on January 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

The modern steam locomotive can cross the plains at the lightning speed of 15 mile per hour.  The only thing faster is a telegraph. (circa 1870)

How fast can you find a new job?  Let’s talk about the Beatles.  They were an overnight sensation…except for the years they spent playing clubs in Germany and England.  Years lost to the world.

I bet you know a guy who quit and had a new job a week later.  He wasn’t even looking when he quit.  He told you so.  So how long will it take you to get a new job? No one knows.

The best thing to do is keep your current job and start looking.  Use your network.  The first thing to ask them is not, “Find me a job,” but, “How’s the job market?”  Get the people you know to tell you how long it took for their acquaintances to find a job.  This will tell your network to keep their eyes open.

Be careful how widely you let it be known you are looking for a job.  If you are employed, use your network, recruiters and respond to ads.  If you are unemployed, you might use ResumeRabbit to send your resume to 50 internet sites.  You have to understand that you will be getting calls for a year or two if you put your resume on the internet.

Executives often look a month for every $10,000 in income they want.  If they are earning $120,000 then they may search for a year.  Technical experts are often either hired within days of their search beginning, or they take 12 months to find a job.  Why?  They may have critical skills, but there is no job until someone else quits or a project starts.

Your job search will be over much more quickly if you will commute a long distance or relocate.

Let’s get serious about money.  Are you overpaid?  Do you have golden handcuffs that will keep you from leaving?  Then you may never find another job without taking a pay cut.  If you are underpaid, you’ll get a new job quickly.  That’s just a fact.

How fast will you get a new job?  No one knows.  So it is probably best to start looking while you are still employed.

Again, here is the first step to finding out how fast you can find a job.

Don’t just ask your network to help you find a job.  Ask people how long it took for folks they know to find a job.  Search for stories of quick searches and also ask for horror stories.

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Posted in Economy, Finding jobs, Networking, Quitting or Fired

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$250,000 too proud

Posted on January 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.  (Harris)

Mike’s expertise selling into FEMA was critical.  Their product was more than an idea, but not a proven solution.  Mike was already calling on FEMA contacts even though he wasn’t officially on payroll.  The feds wanted their product.  This would be a big win for everyone.

Mike had been unemployed for 8 months and was running out of money.  This was juicy.  If Mike quit or was fired the day after he started, he’d still get $250,000.  The commissions would double that. Still, he was worried he wouldn’t get everything he deserved.  The contract wasn’t tight enough.  What about bonuses in year 4?  He brought in the best lawyer he could find.  The company balked at his demands, his lack of flexibility.

Then the lawyers and the dragging negotiations wounded Mike’s pride.  A venture capitalist said the wrong thing.  The CEO didn’t want to completely get rid of the non-compete agreement since there was a one year severance guarantee.

Mike quit the negotiations. The product was cancelled.  The company was closed.

What hurt the most was that it took Mike six more months to get a different job.  That job paid half as much with no commissions or bonuses.  He had to clean out his savings accounts and sell his cars to survive.  Mike told me, “My pride cost me $250,000.   That was the best offer I ever had. What was I thinking?”

This was an extreme case.  The problem was pride.  When you know you are essential to a project, you want to be treated with respect.  Sometimes that respect kindles the flame of overarching pride.

The job market is really heating up.  I am seeing more examples of this destructive pride.  A manager once told me his policy is, “If two people are absolutely critical to a project and they disagree violently and refuse to compromise or go down one of the two paths, FIRE THEM BOTH.”

Don’t forget, even if you are irreplaceable, the project can be cancelled.  There are always alternatives for an employer.

Don’t let destructive pride make you expendable.

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Posted in Attitude, Focus, Noncompetes, Quitting or Fired

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What to leave out of your resume

Posted on January 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

If you can’t beguile them with brilliance, baffle them with bulls**t. (unknown)

For years the joke has been:  “Yesterday I was a truck driver.  I passed a test today, so now I am an MCSE network technician.  What’s a network?”

If you started out as truck driver and worked your way up to become the COO of a company, that’s great.  Don’t mention the truck driver experience, unless you want to be a truck driver again.

Your resume has one purpose: to get you an interview!

Leave out delightful tales unrelated to the job you are applying for.  If you really need to show your job progression then start out writing about your most recent triumphs at the top. At the very bottom of the particular job section write: I started as a truck driver.

So, you’ve worked there 15 years and only been a computer security expert for 2 years?  I don’t care. Your resume is not a confession of crimes and psychological problems.  Put down what you did and let the interviewer find out more. Your resume is only to get you an interview.  It is not a warning to potential employers.

If you emphasize what you have accomplished, the person reading the resume will know how “heavy” you are in the job you are applying for.  List projects you completed, improvements you made, money you saved, and new clients you helped bring in.  If the list is impressive it won’t matter that you spent ¾’s of your time filing reports and ¼ of your time as a sales manager.

Leave out disqualifiers.  Emphasize how you have saved money, brought in new revenue streams, increased customer happiness, speeded up processes and helped the company succeed.  Your resume is supposed to get you an interview.  Leave out all the stuff that doesn’t apply to the job you want.

Something To Do Today

Writing exercise time.  Take your resume and first expand it to 4 or more pages by including all the responsibilities and accomplishments you have ever had.

Make a new copy.  Cut out every line that is only responsibilities.  This second copy should list only the projects completed, customers pleased, money saved and new clients you brought in.  There should NOT be any lines that say “supervised”, “responsible for”, or “supported.”

Make a new copy.  Cut it down to ½ page. Yes, ½ page.  List only the accomplishments that directly apply to a job you want.

Now cut that ½ page to ¼ page.  Use those incredibly brief but important accomplishments in your cover letter or email body.

This is an exercise.  Apply what you learned to the resume you send out for a job.

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Posted in Focus, Resumes

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How to find a job at a convention – use the cards

Posted on January 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

Everyone is in business for himself, for he is selling his services, labor or ideas.  Until one realizes that this is true he will not take conscious charge of his life and will always be looking outside himself for guidance. (Madwed)

Are you at a convention? If your boss is sending you to learn something, attend the seminars first.  If you have a booth, man the booth first.  And while you are doing your bosses work, collect all the business cards you can. Make a copy of every card for yourself.

Serious about your job search?  Sort the cards out into three piles by company:

  1. I’d love to work there.
  2. I’d consider working there.
  3. I’d never work there.

Contact everyone you have a card for.  Send them an email or give them a quick phone call.  Tell them you were pleased to meet with them.  Ask if you can help them.

Wait a week or two.  Now it is time to use the convention network you are creating to get a job.  Of all the people you contacted, which ones are most likely to know about jobs you want?  The people in pile “1” know about jobs in their company.  People in pile “3” are likely to be actively looking for jobs and know about jobs in good companies. People in pile  “2” are a combination of the other two.  So you should contact people in all three piles.

Why sort them into 3 piles?  Because you need to decide who to ask directly for a job.

Most of the people you meet cannot give you a job.  They can point you to a job, or pass your information along.  You don’t want to work with some of the people. Ask people to help you in the way that you and they feel most comfortable.  Call them up and say, “Jim, I’m keeping my eyes open for new opportunities. We talked a couple of weeks ago at the convention.  Who do you know who I should talk to about a job as a (job you want)?”

If they say they don’t know where you could go, then say, “Jim, I appreciate your thinking about this for me.  I’m going to send you an email.  Could you forward it to anyone you think might be closer to that job I’m looking for?  Thanks.  I appreciate your help.”

Now send him an email with a brief description of your skills. Don’t send a full resume.  Instead send a hard hitting 100 word message containing bullets of only your 3 greatest accomplishments.  Thank him for his help.  Ask him to get the email closer to someone who can help you find that job.

Want to get even more help?  Tally the jobs you are finding out about.  In 3 weeks send an email out to everyone you contacted and say, “I found out about 14 jobs thanks to the help you and a few friends gave me.  I haven’t made a decision yet on what I am going to do.  If any other jobs have come across your desk, I’d like to know about those too.  Thanks.”

This is networking at its best.  Of course you can use this in any job hunt.  Conventions are just very convenient for this kind of job search because you meet so many people so

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How to find a job at a convention – company trip

Posted on January 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

Between two products equal in price, function and quality, the better looking will out sell the other.  (Loewy) 

Two booths of software were side by side.  One was superior technically.  The other had a salesman who was a whiz.  People were crowding around the great salesman.  The technically superior product kept losing crowds to that other salesman.  Finally the president of the losing company decided to try and eliminate the problem.  He offered a substantial raise, relocation package and perks to the salesman who was beating him. I talked to that salesman later.  It was a great moment in his career.

As a programmer, brick layer or CEO the best way to look for a job at a convention is to be the best salesman for your company. That means helping everyone you can.  Get their cards.  Get a card for you and one for your company. During your free time go to as many booths as you can and get cards from other people. 

If you are serious about getting a new job, you will find an “inside contact” at every company whose booth you visit.  You don’t have to talk “jobs” with them at the convention.  What makes this even sweeter is that many of those people will come to your booth and initiate the contact.

After the convention volunteer to help the sales force out.  Contact all the people you met while at your booth.  Give them the company line your salespeople want them to hear.  Keep notes about every contact you make. 

Still serious about your job search?  Sort the cards out into three piles:

  1. I’d love to work there.  
  2. I’d consider working there.  
  3. I’d never work there.

Don’t throw any of them out.  Tomorrow when I talk about what to do with each pile, you’ll see why you even want to contact people at places you would never work.  

Something To Do Today

If you are serious about finding a new job, conventions are great.  They are also a LOT of work.  Decide how much time you are really interested in spending on that job search.

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How to find a job at a convention – you pay

Posted on January 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

The trouble with corporate America is that too many people with too much power live in a box (their home), then travel the same road every day to another box (their office). –(Popcorn)

I know of one consultant who flies to meet his clients for lunch anywhere in North America.  He lives in the small Colorado town of Telluride. He has chosen to live in paradise and pay the price of frequent travel.

In your job search, instead of flying across the country to meet one person, you can meet with 100 potential employers. You will only pay for one plane ticket and 2 nights in a hotel.  So bite the bullet.  Pay up. Go to a convention related to your field of work.

But how do you effectively work, or network, at a convention?  Five steps:

  1. Get a list of all the exhibitors and speakers. Don’t be picky at this stage. Research and call every company that is close to the field you want to work in.  Don’t ask for the HR department, ask for a manager, marketing or sales.  Talk to them about who will be coming to the convention.  Call the best contacts who will be coming. Tell them you’ll see them at the convention.
  2. Go to the convention and make your first pass in the morning of the first day.  Quickly go to every booth on your list and collect materials and business cards.  Just explain that you will be back, but need to work quickly this morning.
  3. Go back to every booth on your list and talk in depth with the people you want to contact.  Work a priority system.  Who is most likely to hire you? Ask them questions you have about their company and their field.  Make sure you have the business card of everyone you talk to.   Give them your card.  You are building a network.  You might discuss employment, but this is not the time to apply for a job.
  4. Everyone who made it to the convention has influence where they work.  They have been talking to new people, finding things out about the industry.  Enlist them in your job search. When you get home, contact everyone you met OR WANTED TO MEET.  Call them.  Chat briefly.  Then ask if they heard of any openings for someone like you.  Ask who else you should contact.  What if they are a techie and you are a salesman?  Call them anyway.  They’re a CEO and you are an engineer?  Call them.  A conversation about the convention leads naturally to what is happening in your field and job openings. 
  5. Send an email to everyone you talk to.  Thank them for their time and ask them to forward the email to anyone who might get you closer to the job you are looking for.

If you work a convention aggressively you will find dozens of openings that are NOT advertised.  You’ll even find out about jobs at companies not at the show.  Why?  Because the people manning the booths are the best and the brightest.  They are heavily recruited by other companies.  They know which companies are looking for talent. Aren’t those the people you want in your job search network?

Something To Do Today

You need a list of conventions.  Most people forget to include the association conventions they can attend that are less than 200 miles away.  Go back over your list of conventions and add a list of local and regional association conventions you can attend.

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