Category Archives: Finding jobs

Re-use re-engineering into a job opening

Posted on November 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

Re-use re-engineering is taking something that works and figuring out 10 ways to use it that it’s creators never imagined.

Us recruiters do a lot of reverse lookups.  We have paid for training in how to get information from the wrong source.  We x-ray websites.  Yes, that is what it is called.  We use social media sites to find companies.  We use resumes to find job openings.

How to use re-us re-engineer ResumeRabbit

You may get more good from ResumeRabbit by not paying them a cent.

Here’s how:

They like to brag about the 85 websites they can send your resume to for you. They list them.  They send your resume to the sites that are the most popular with hiring companies.  Almost all those sites will show you lists of jobs and employers for free.  Go take a look at them.

What else can I do?

And in case you haven’t heard, my favorite website for finding jobs is www.indeed.com .   They are an aggregator.  They go out to company and job board websites and scour them for jobs. They don’t have to list the exact job you are looking for to help you find a job.  All they need to do is help you identify companies that probably have folks doing that job.  Then you can send a resume.

Go take a look at every website you are on today.  See if there is a way to get unintended information.  Like the list of job boards ResumeRabbit posts to.  I bet you can find a job opening in a way you never tried before.

And, do you see those four logos below this line?  Each of those sites can be used to find companies that need someone with your skills.

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Posted in Finding jobs

Cockroach resumes, paper resumes, and carpet bombing

Posted on November 13, 2014 | Leave a comment

An 18 inch cockroach is the best resume I’ve seen. A friend of mine was applying for a job as a programmer of railroad simulators. He knew that many programmers could do the technical part.  He also knew that the artistic part was just as important. Drawing is difficult, but sculpture is even tougher.  He sent a giant cockroach sculpted in great detail as his resume. He got a call back, the interview and the job.

A good resume gets you an interview. Electronic, paper, CD, metal, cloth, or clay.  If it gets you an interview, it is a success.

Sometimes I hate success.  Every time I get a paper resume I like, I have to ask for an electronic one.  I hate it.  Those few paper resumes are successes.  They get a call from me.  I hate those successes. The candidates love them because they work.

Should you send out paper resumes?  That depends.  Some places automatically trash paper resumes. At those companies paper is a waste.  How about a multimedia CD?  I get the resume off and then throw them away.  I don’t like those either.  But that isn’t the criteria.  Does it get you an interview?  If it does, it is a great resume.  And notice I said I get the resume off the CD’s. That means I had to browse them.

I suggest you send paper or CD resumes out in small quantities only.  Target your recipient. Follow up closely in case they require a different format.

Some people strongly disagree.  They will ask you to pay them a few thousand dollars to send out a huge postal or email blast of resumes for you.  I just heard sending out thousands of resumes called “carpet bombing.”  Some services carpet bomb recruiters.  Others carpet bomb companies. I receive carpet bomb resumes every day.  I’ve never made a placement from one, but I will admit I at least glance at them whether they are paper, faxed, or by email.

I do think ResumeRabbit is a good way to get your resume on a lot of internet job boards, if you really want broad exposure and know the downside. There is no other carpet bombing/resume blasting service in paper, electronic or fax media that I recommend.  Before I would spend money on that, I’d spend it on getting another certification to help my job search.  But I’m not you.  Just be careful with your money.

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Something To Do Today

Go through the list of companies you sent a resume to.  Are there some that really should have contacted you but didn’t?  Can you do anything to your resume to get a call back from them?

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Next:     Certifications – gold and lead

Later:              Recruiter motivation

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Posted in Finding jobs, Job Boards, Recruiters, Resumes, Time management

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Networking, referrals, recruiters, and job boards

Posted on October 14, 2014 | Leave a comment

Even a fox can get a job guarding a henhouse if he has good enough references.

Internet job boards fill 25% of jobs, recruiters fill 16%, and referrals fill 27% of jobs according to one survey.     So where do you want to concentrate your job hunting time?

But there are so many jobs on Indeed, Monster, Dice, and Career Builder, shouldn’t I try to get those jobs?

Absolutely!  But that doesn’t mean you should automatically send a resume through those services.

22% of jobs are found on a company’s own website.  Gotta like that.  Still, don’t even apply at the company’s own website until after you have tried to take advantage of this country’s main job finding system: Networking into referrals.

Print out the jobs you want that you find on the internet.  Make a list of the companies.  Next to each company, make a list of people you know who work there.  Include people who know someone who works there.  Add a list of recruiters who can get your resume past HR (Human Resources) and directly to the hiring manager.  Get into www.linkedin.com and see if you can find someone working at that company.  (Link to bryan@dilts.us to expand your network.) Add the people at companies you are targeting to a list.

Your objective is to find someone who can drop your information on the hiring manager’s desk.  Look at your whole list before you make a move.  Who has the best chance of helping you?  Who is the best connected?  Is it a professional networker or a recruiter?  Is it your friend’s wife?  Get your resume in there and follow up.  If you don’t get a call within a week, try again through another person.

27% of jobs are being filled by networking, 25% by job boards, 16% are being filled by recruiters.  Shouldn’t networking AND job boards AND recruiters be your main job search tools?

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Something To Do Today

Get into www.linkedin.com

List where everyone you know works, their spouses too.  Keep adding to the list whenever you find out where someone works.  Keep track of coworkers who leave.  Start making a list of where everyone who knows you works. It may be worth more than gold to you now or in the future.

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Later              Personality tests

Resume blasting

Certifications –  gold and lead

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Posted in Finding jobs, Job Boards, Networking, Perseverance, Recruiters, References

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Gutsy job search networking

Posted on August 7, 2014 | Leave a comment

The most spectacular networking I have ever seen was done by an out of work international executive.  It took incredible guts and an unswerving belief in his mission.

He was a multilingual Canadian who had hired and fired a lot of people in his career.  He did something very simple, he started a job hunting club.  He also did something very difficult, he made it an elite club.

In order to get into this club you had to pass a rigorous test.  You had to be fluent in 2 languages besides English.  He would personally test your ability to converse in any of 5 languages besides English.  If you were fluent in other languages, he’d find someone else to test you.  You were also required to have been a CEO, CFO or other Chief Officer of a major company.  Pay range a minimum of $150,000 per year.  And he had to like you.

If you were admitted you had to pay $10,000 to join.  The club was not allowed to have more than 10 unemployed members at a time.  The ones who had found a job were milked to find leads for the currently unemployed group.  They had special speakers, retreats and job hunting meetings.  They occasionally invited a headhunter/recruiter to come and talk to their club.  The opportunity to speak was quickly taken up because of the caliber of executives in the club.

Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.  (Edison)

This only worked because of the vision, energy and hard work of the founder.  It was a part-time job all by itself.  This is the absolute hardest way to network. It is also incredibly effective.

What does this have to do with you?  Think about it.  Do you have the guts to start a club for unemployed people in your field?  Can you keep the quality of candidates high?  Can you help everyone in the club to network?  Can you turn the club into a permanent elite group of people in your field?  Will they all stay in contact AFTER they find jobs?

There are a lot of variations to this idea.  Do you have the nerve to do something like this?  It will be a great adventure if you do.

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Something To Do Today

Start a job network.  Talk to others who are looking.  Create an email list to communicate with the others in your group.  Keep in touch at least weekly.

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Posted in Finding jobs, Networking

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Blog job networking

Posted on July 30, 2014 | Leave a comment

There are 6 billion people.  If you passionately care about something, someone else will too.  Find them and you have a network.

This is either a metaphor or a call to action.  You can either use the idea of blogs to create a non-computer network, or you can start your own blog.

Personal networks are all about passing around useful information.  Weblogs can help you share information and build a personal network.  For a weblog to work you have to make a commitment to find or compile information to share.  Same thing with a personal network.

One way a blog (weblog) is rated is by the number of times it is cited by other blogs.  It is cited in other blogs because it is interesting. What can you find out on the internet that other people want to know?  Is there something personal about you that would interest other people?  Do you know something other people really want to know?

What do you know that is interesting?  What is new or hot?  What can give someone else a jump on their competition?

If you know something useful, tell everyone who can use it. Do it daily, weekly, or monthly. That’s how to make your personal network worthwhile.  That’s also what makes a blog worthwhile.

Sharing useful news is the highest form or networking.  What can you find that will be useful to all the managers who could hire you?  Send it to them even if they don’t have a job for you.  Networking is about helping, not taking.

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Something To Do Today

My blogs are www.howtoreallygetagreatjob.com/blog/

How can you put things you know into the hands of people who want to know it?  Who can you help?  That’s networking.

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Later: Getting linked in.  Very easy networking.

The international manager roundtable method of getting a job.

Double your chances after an interview

How to close an interview

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Posted in Finding jobs, Networking

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Where the jobs are and where the money is

Posted on July 28, 2014 | Leave a comment

It is true for every job and skill, as well as for IT.

Only about a third of the IT jobs are in the tech industry.  The best paying industries are not necessarily the ones that are hiring the most IT guys. The industries hiring the most IT guys may not want the latest and hottest skillsets.

This article shows where IT jobs are, and where the 5-year growth in jobs is projected to be for IT computer jobs.

The highest industries for growth will not be looking for the latest internet skills.  Automotive and manufacturing will be looking for people working in established technologies.  That is where this article says the new jobs will be.

 

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Posted in Economy, Finding jobs

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Networking with scissors and screen prints – for jobs

Posted on July 25, 2014 | Leave a comment

Networking with scissors and screen prints – for jobs

Your best introduction can be made with scissors or a screen print.

Decide which people you want to network with.  Let’s say program managers.  Look in websites, newspapers, trade publications, and business magazines for any mention of any program manager who might hire you, or know people who could hire you.

When an article mentions your target by name, cut out the article.  Put the article in an envelope and send it to the person.  If you want to really impress them, have it laminated too.  Include a very short handwritten note congratulating them. Add your business card to the envelope.

A week later give them a call.  Don’t mention the article you sent.  They’ll remember it.

If you are looking for a job, ask them who they know who is hiring for the position you are looking for.  If you need their help for something else, ask them who they know who can help you.  And you can always just say, “Hello, congratulations on the promotion.”

You will be surprised at how heartily you are helped.  You paid attention to them when you didn’t have to.  Now they will want to pay attention to you.

Networking with scissors will get you places you never thought possible.

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Something To Do Today

Figure out where you can find articles that mention the kind of people you want to network with.  Start reading for names.   Clip the articles and send them out.  Then follow up.

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Later: 100% exposed job networking.

Linked in

The international manager roundtable method of getting a job.

Double your chances after an interview

How to close an interview

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Posted in Finding jobs, Networking

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Job hunt tips for older (no, for all) professionals

Posted on July 16, 2014 | Leave a comment

Your age can be a problem.  It can also be an asset when job hunting.  Whether you are in accounting, computers, or engineering, age discrimination exists.  You can also use your age to your advantage.

Do you remember Ronald Reagan saying that he wouldn’t use his opponents youth and inexperience as a political tool?  (here is the clip)

In this posting there are some things mentioned that can be big positives for older workers.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Finding jobs, Resumes

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9 ways to get hired in a highly technical job

Posted on June 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

Getting noticed and hired in a new job as a Tax Partner, Audit Manager, Hadoop DBA, Android Programmer, or SEC Compliance Manager can be tricky.  You may hear how hot your field is, but you just can’t seem to get noticed.

Here are 9 things that may help.  Make sure and go past the first page. The first idea applies, but is not critical at all.

Here is the article.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Finding jobs, Focus, Resumes

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Fixing your career and job search: As intense as possible is more

Posted on June 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

The harder I work on me, the better my life gets.  But I can only improve a little each day.  So I focus intensely on one or two things that I want to be better at. That makes my career much better with the least effort for the reward.  It also improves your job search.

Light is very intense in a laser.  Laser pointers are under 1/200th of a watt.  Focus that pointer laser’s beam to the size of a period and you can burn paper.

Intensity at one small spot is the secret of lasers.  Intensity at one spot can also be the secret to advancement in your career.

Some examples:

  1. Some programmers study 20 different programming languages.  As a recruiter, it is almost impossible for me to find a job for someone who has only worked a month or two in 20 different programming languages. It is easy for me to find a job for someone who has studied and worked in one programming language for two years.
  2. In accounting it is easier for us to find a top paying job for an internal audit specialist CPA, than a job for an uncertified general accountant.  Finding a high paying job for a legal secretary is easier than finding a high paying job for a regular secretary.

You cannot get better at everything at once.  An hour a day carefully spent studying a single skill that is in high demand will turn you into an expert in a few months. An hour a day studying new subjects each day won’t help your career nearly as fast..  Now is the time to start narrowing your field and increasing your intensity.

I had learnt to seek intensity – more of life, a concentrated sense of life.  (Berberova)

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Something To Do Today

What is the hottest skill in your profession?  What is the most important bit of that skill?  Study it an hour a day for a month. You will be an expert.

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Next week:  When I ask what time it is, how can someone look at their watch and give me the wrong answer?

Later:  Put your feet up on his desk.

Sunshine collecting

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Posted in Finding jobs, Focus, Resumes, talent, Time management, Training

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