Month: December 2015

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Time to catch up on being prepared to “Embrace The OTHER Job Market.”

There will be NO SCHEDULED SESSIONS for the rest of 2015.  While the ol’ Careerpilot re-energizes and updates this website, now is the time for jobseekers to enjoy the Holidaze and make sure they are prepared to fully Embrace The OTHER Job Market in the New Year ahead.

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Thursday, January 7th… FIRST Session of 2016… Embracing The OTHER Job Market… A terrific way to ramp up your efforts in the New Year as this is the session where we cover basic philosophies and run through the entire 12-Step Process.

The notion of an “unpublished or hidden” job market is far from new.  However, knowledge of “The OTHER” job market, and your ability to execute your Personal Market Plan in it, will create both focus and productivity in your career transition.  The definition, strategies and tactics of this other market go well beyond those of the “unpublished or hidden” job market that gave birth to a whole industry, “Career Consulting,” both retail –and- Corporate sponsored outplacement services–career decision making and job search assistance.

My ‘APPROACH’ hasn’t changed in 30 + years of both many years in Corporate recruiting -and, more recently- many years of providing career consulting and job search assistance in the digital age of social media and ATS…

Simply stated, the traditional ‘job market’ is dysfunctional in many ways, loaded with traps for the normal job seeker:

  • Applying on-line along with your competition, increasing the odds of rejection and causing a premature, YES-NO-MAYBE judgment…
  • The digital HR screen that judges you by keywords instead of value proposition… and, by the way, what ARE the ‘right’ keywords?

Rather, learn to “Embrace The OTHER Job Market,” the one driven by hiring authorities who seek the most qualified and affordable candidates (would you expect less?)… The ONE job market driven by the choice of pre-qualified candidates who have already established a relationship with appropriate professionals–with and surrounding the hiring authority!  A job seeker can ‘stand out’ because there is much less rejection (less competition) and controllable yes-no-maybe judgments.

You see, in every marketplace, there are buyers and sellers.  In the traditional job market, the one that our Department of Labor “analyzes,” job seekers are the sellers and their potential employers are the buyers.  The commodity is JOBS and the competition is fierce.

In the OTHER Job Market, buyers and sellers hold equal responsibility for the recruitment process.  When employers have a need for someone to fulfill a specific role, often the most desired candidates are employed individuals with the credentials they seek.  Thus the employer must sell their Company to potential employees in the marketplace in order to attract the best of the lot.  Once identified, they simply select their choice and buy their services.

In other words, the commodity is productive WORK being assigned to the most qualified individual who ‘fits’ the employers needs.  Often, this WORK has not been clearly defined yet and the employer has not approved an open job requisition.  The following might explain this conceptual, but very powerful nature of the OTHER Job Market… 

The JOB Market The OTHER Job Market
 

Characterized by “requisitioned” jobs being filled by chosen job seekers.

  

Characterized by available/needed work being fulfilled by job seekers, contractors, internal candidates, third-party consultants, retirees, part-timers, temporary workers, etc.

 
 

JOBS rigidly defined by requirements and qualifications… reflected by the screening process aimed at identifying key candidates.

  

Work expectations are subjective, defined by mutual agreement, fulfillment of need or contract… reflected through the identification of qualified candidates.

 
 

Process overseen by Human Resource professionals, regulated to consider minimally qualified candidates, hopefully within salary guidelines.

 

  

Process directed by hiring authorities seeking best available talent at marketplace salary expectations.

 

                                                  
 

JOB Seeking PUBLIC is screened for most desirable candidates… the elusive BEST FIT.

  

Qualified and available candidates are sourced and recruited, often through process of endorsement or internal referral.
 

Screening defined by KEYWORDS, often accomplished through computer/internet job banks and resume databases.

 

  

Screening accomplished by word of mouth and endorsement, often supplementing the organization’s formal process of recruitment.
 

Recruitment process subject to scrutiny of regulation and political correctness.

  

Often selection process has occurred before active recruitment has been fully engaged.  Actual hiring still audited by Corporate HR.

 
 

Actual selection still subject to formal process and subjective choice.

 

  

Actual selection often a rubber stamp formality to satisfy regulatory requirements.

 

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CLOSING THE DEAL: Winning Interview Tactics

The next time you meet with a potential employer, open the conversation with this simple phrase:

“In preparing for this meeting I took some time to…”

Then simply highlight the two or three critical things that you did to prepare and watch what happens to the atmosphere of the call. You will blow away the last interviewee (your competition) who opened their meeting in silence, waiting to be interrogated!

LAST Session of 2015… Thursday, December 17th… Closing The Deal II: Interview tactics, including POST-Offer negotiation.

The less you talk about yourself, the more you have to prepare to talk about them. And the more you talk about them, the more likely they will be interested in you. Not exactly the secret formula you were hoping for. But it is an obvious formula—so obvious that most job seekers ignore it.

Here are ten keys that you can use to create your own successful pre-interview habits:

  1. Learn about their business—their products/services, customers, industry trends, key initiatives, financial status, and competition… what are THEIR specific needs?
  2. Discover something about the person you are meeting with. Google them, talk to their colleagues, or call others in the industry who have insights. Use a targeted organization networking approach.
  3. Identify the benefits of your value to this potential employer. The benefits need to be clear, concise, credible and compelling!  It is important to remember, they are looking for the best FIT… so should the job seeker.
  4. Prepare ideas that hold value for your ‘next employer.’ Your language needs to reflect a focus on solutions…meeting their needs!
  5. Move from ‘meeting their requirements’ to ‘meeting and exceeding their expectations… let them experience your motivation and performance potential.
  6. Plan questions that establish your expertise and get them to think in new ways. The more thought provoking, conversation generating your questions are, the more your prospective employers will respect and remember you!
  7. Communicate your “value proposition” prior to the actual interview.  Ask them to review and provide you with feedback. Getting their buy-in before you walk in the door is critical, and it demonstrates your commitment to delivering value.
  8. Identify the resistance that you are most likely to encounter and prepare ideas, case studies, testimonials or expert opinions to help reduce their reluctance to move forward.
  9. Plan how you will close the interview appointment and decide what agreements you need to ask for…for example, follow-up timing.
  10. Remind yourself to be warm, friendly and courteous to everyone that you encounter. Your potential employer is constantly deciding how much they like you, how much they believe you, how much they trust you and how much confidence they have in you. It takes time—often a long time—to build your personal brand. And it takes only a few seconds for it to be destroyed.