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Do job ads ever look like murder mysteries to you?  You know, there is way too much information and you can’t tell what is important.

It was murder.  The victim had bits of onion in her mouth.  The butler had prepared a sandwich with onions for her, yet claimed to have not seen her.  Is he guilty?  No, the onions are a red herring.  They are a diversion to keep you from seeing who the real criminal is.

Job ads all seem to be long lists of skills you absolutely have to have in order to get a job.  My experience is that job ads are more red herring than meat. When a company sends me a job ad and asks me to find a person for the job, I always have to talk with the person who wrote the ad.  I ask,

• “What are the absolute minimal qualifications for the job?”
• “Which of these skills in the ad are the hardest to find?”
• “What has kept you from hiring the people you have already talked to?”
• “Is there a hidden qualifier that was left out of the ad?”

As you look at a job ad, ask these questions.  You may even want to call up the HR (Human Resources) department and ask them the four questions.

If you know any of the answers, you can change your resume.  Put your most important qualifications first in a group of bullet points. Mention them in the very first sentence of your cover letter.  Make sure they come out in a phone call.

Most job ads are huge.  The minimal qualifications and the most important skills are usually hidden in the middle of a school of red herring.  Figure out what the most important need is, and point out in an unavoidable way that you qualify.

Something to do today

Have you ever called an HR department to find out the real qualifications for a job?  Try it today.  Use the 4 questions above.

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Later:              Resume red herring

Interview red herring

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Think about your job search. Just think.  And then take notes about your conclusions.

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For 2 weeks:       Zen and the art of getting a job

Tomorrow:           Ruthlessly exploit – 2

Later:                    Measure and maul

Making a silk purse

Why you aren’t paid what you are worth

A man dying of thirst

Perception

Character

Diamond in the rough

Cleat marks up your back

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Yesterday I was asked how I do a job search.  I have seen beautiful lies sent out about how search is done by other firms.  Let me give you the no B.S. version of how I do a job search.  There are 12 basic steps to finding people.

If you gave me an exclusive search, I would:

1. Get a good written description of what you want, what the most desired traits are, and what must be avoided.

2. Find out from you which companies are most likely to have the person you want already working there, figure out how I can search for more those types of companies, and talk with you about the list of 100+ companies we come up with.

3. Call all those companies and try to entice a good person to look at your opportunity. I would shamelessly network into other companies. I love calling in and asking for help to find the right person. I would be calling both the VP level person who could take the job, and his boss. CEO’s are often great sources of leads.

4. Make sure that no one knows who you are until you want them to know.

5. Advertise. Sometimes I get lucky that way.

6. Check out the job boards and do a deep search of the dead resumes from years ago, as well as the current ones.

7. Check the social networks.

8. Tell my partners what I am looking for. I share search assignments with 2 other independent recruiters in this area. We respect each other and have a history of success.

9. Within 3 days I would be sending you resumes of good potential matches.

10. After a week you would have talked to several good people and given me feedback. If things go well, you may say you have enough input.

11. After 2 weeks you will either like what you are seeing, or tell me you are bringing in someone else.

12. Even after you are interviewing and I stop, new people will show up from the networking I did. I’ll keep bringing you new candidates even after I have stopped the full search process, up until you hire someone.

It is really a simple process to explain. Execution is everything.

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The guy who is getting her is very lucky.  No brag, just fact.

Will you make your next employer feel as lucky as my daughter’s new husband feels?

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