Tag Archives: be remembered

The first 2 steps to make sure you are not forgotten by a hiring manager

Posted on June 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

I have called a hiring manager 5 times in a day to find out if he wants to hire my candidate NOW.  If you do the same, you will never get that job.  That’s one advantage of working with a recruiter who knows how far he can push a client. For me it is aggressive, for you to do it is offensive.

Waiting by your phone and hoping someone will call you might work.  It works if no one forgot you.  It works if all the paperwork is in order.  It works if no emergencies or urgencies distract the hiring manager.  It works if there is NOT an aggressive recruiter like me who is pushing a different candidate. So what can you do?

You need to be somewhere between easy to forget and offensively overbearing.

Take these two steps first:

  1. Make a list of everyone you contact.
  2. Track when you last talked to them or sent an email.  That way you will know when it has been too long or not long enough since you reminded them that they need to give you a job.

Tomorrow I will write about how often to make contact.

Something to do today

Make that list of everyone you have a potential job with. Write down when and how you made the last contact with them.

————————–

How to wait and be noticed

Get the credentials of an expert -3 ways

Leave a comment

Posted in Followup, Recruiters

Tagged ,

A dozen ways to stand out, be remembered, and be hired

Posted on February 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

A moth trap can teach you how to stand out, be remembered, and be hired. The principles can be used in interviews, resumes, and networking.

The moth trap in our pantry is supposed to be much better than the average one.  It has the same sticky glue and pheromones, but instead of just a white sheet of cardboard, it has black stripes on it.  I don’t know if it really is better, but I paid a few dollars extra for it.  If it is better, great.  I made a great decision.  If it is only as good as the cheaper trap, I still made a good decision.  Either way the trap will catch the bugs before they lay eggs in our flour, cornmeal and popcorn.  I get protection either way, and maybe I get a little better protection with the more expensive traps.

Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.  (Mark Twain)

In every interview you have to have something that sets you apart. It is nice if it is a huge difference, but that is not absolutely necessary. One of the reasons a college degree or certification in your field is valuable is because it sets you apart.  People can remember how you are different and hopefully better.  Other things that can set you apart are:

  • Putting yourself through college
  • Courses you have taken
  • Projects you have lead
  • Having lots of kids…. or having no kids
  • Your volunteer work
  • Your passions and hobbies
  • Dressing sharper than is required
  • Shoes that shine like the sun…. or suede tennis shoes
  • Letters of recommendation
  • Someone you know who already works there
  • Long hair…. or a marine haircut
  • Something amazing and relevant you did in high school

Remember why I bought the expensive moth trap…. it MIGHT be better. Anything you can do to show you just might be better than Mr. Bland will help.

For the moth traps, it was just a black stripe on cardboard.  What is it that you can do, say, be, or show that makes you worth a few extra dollars?

Something to do today

Every time someone is hired at your current job, go find out what was different about that person.  When you are told, “They were more qualified,” ask, “Were there any small details that seemed to confirm that they were better?”  You may be surprised what little details separate first place from no place at all.

Leave a comment

Posted in Interviews, Resumes

Tagged , , , ,

Creative or just a gray person?

Posted on December 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

Some people are remembered because they are sharp, creative, and interesting. Many people are gray and easily forgotten

Call up our office after 6 pm.  Usually no one is there.  Listen to my voice mail message.  (800)239-7037.  Bryan Dilts.  I change the message every week or two.

You won’t be the first person to call just to hear it.  Some of them are great.  Some are merely okay.  I, personally, think each is funny, motivational or thought provoking.  Some other people think my messages are an abomination.  Each message is the real me.

My voice mail is unique.  Each person who leaves a message remembers me.

No committee would ever let me have those messages.  They would strangle the creativity.  I actually had a manager tell me not to be happy when I answer the phone at EDS.  That is the kind of thinking that turns you into a grey person that no one will remember.

A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled. (Sir Barnett Cocks)

In your job search you need to strike a balance.  You need to build confidence in the hiring managers.  You also need to stand out.  If you come up with a great idea, run it past some friends who can help you refine it.  Then test it.  The key is to refine and improve, not kill the idea.  In the end, take responsibility and do something a little different.  Your friends are not a committee with life or death responsibility. They are helpers.

Figure out what will make your resume better and unique.  Decide a few things you can answer to the standard questions that make you standout in 10 seconds of an interview.  Find the way to network that will set you apart and make you uniquely worthy of help.  Always go for a little better.

Use help to do something better and more unique.  Don’t let a committee kill your genius.  Be sharp and creative, not just a gray person everyone immediately forgets.

Something to do today

So, what is unique about you?  Is it your personality?  Your brainpower? Your 10 kids? (I have that many.) Education?  Sense of humor? Hard work? Soberness? Reliability?

Figure out a way to emphasize your strengths.  Be different.

————————–

Later:              Boomer brain drain

Not 12 seconds, it is 5.7 seconds

Leave a comment

Posted in Attitude, Finding jobs, Focus, Interviews

Tagged , , ,