Personal Marketing Plan

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The OTHER Job Market?

This Thursday we will be focusing on Embracing The OTHER Job Market (see more info in an earlier post, below) with some emphasis to the closing part of this overview session, negotiating the actual offer…

So, what IS this OTHER job market?

The notion of an “unpublished or hidden” job market is far from new.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  The definition, strategies and tactics of this other market go well beyond those of the “unpublished or hidden” job market that gave birth to a whole industry, Corporate sponsored career consultation—outplacement.

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 OTHER Job Market
 Characterized by available/needed work being fulfilled by job seekers, contractors, internal candidates, third-party consultants, retirees, part-timers, temporary workers, etc. 
 Work expectations are subjective, defined by mutual agreement, fulfillment of need or contract… reflected through the identification of qualified candidates. 
 Process directed by hiring authorities seeking best available talent at marketplace salary expectations.                                                 
 Qualified and available candidates are sourced and recruited, often through process of endorsement or internal referral.
 Screening accomplished by word of mouth and endorsement, often supplementing the organization’s formal process of recruitment.
 Often selection process has occurred before active recruitment has been fully engaged. 

 Actual selection often a rubber stamp formality to satisfy regulatory requirements.    >>More
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THIS WEEK’s Event: Thursday, January 26th @ 9AM at The Egg and I Restaurant (NW Quadrant of Arapaho and Montfort) in Addison

January 26th we will focus on negotiation models that can help you optimize your offers-AND- overview the entire process in our Core Topic: “Embracing The OTHER Job Market.” 

Map to The Egg and I

Our Location

  Come prepared to work on the land mines that you’ve been stepping on during your current job search… We will cover preparing for job search, developing and executing your Personal Marketing Plan, and turning leads into interviews.

This is a good session for job seekers who feel they have not performed well in their search efforts… or those involved in lengthy searches where they have received inadequate offers. 

 

Who should attend this week?

  1. Those who are just starting or re-energizing their active job search;
  2. Those seeking a systematic, focused, more predictable way to conduct an effective job search effort;
  3. “Regulars” who need a ‘booster shot.’… and bring a guest;
  4. New Comers and tire kickers… this is a great session with which to supplement your job search effectiveness!
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THIS WEEK’s Event: Thursday, January 12th @ 9AM at The Egg and I Restaurant (NW Quadrant of Arapaho and Montfort) in Addison

January 12th we will focus on using LinkedIn and other social media in developing your network, covering the material from “LinkedIn Part 2-Developing Your Network.”

Map to The Egg and I

Our Location

  Come prepared to work on YOUR LinkedIn account–bring your laptop… 1) what does your digital fingerprint look like and… 2) Does it work for you in developing your network?

Let’s explore some of the useful functionality built into LinkedIn: Groups, Box.net, Slideshare, and more.

Who should attend?

  1. Those who might ask… HOW do I get more benefit from LinkedIn?
  2. Those seeking a systematic, focused, more predictable way to conduct an active job search;
  3. “Regulars” who need a ‘booster shot.’… and bring a guest;
  4. New Comers and tire kickers… this is a great session to supplement your job search effectiveness with!
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WEBINAR Registration for Thursday, December 8th at 9 AM… TOPIC: RE-Energizing a “tired” Search

OK, unemployment gets old quickly… hard to stay motivated… hard to stay positive… hard to stay actively PRODUCTIVE…

So NOW WHAT???? Your Career Compass

Analyze your recent activities… actual contact count,   interviews, research time, practice time, etc.

Learn and build from your successes… When did you most recently feel good about RESULTS–what would you repeat?
 
Consider new approaches or develop new skills… Have you overcome call reluctance yet?  Can you deliver your verbal collaterals conversationally?  Do you need to update your use of technology or other professional skills?
 
This week’s REGISTRATION LINK…
 
https://events.meetingbridge.com/Register/?06123277761 
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ASSESSMENT is at the epicenter of your jobsearch efforts…

…and PART of what you must assess is your desired “next step!”

OFFER CRITERIA

Write out the factors that are important to you in a job…actually write out your list. During your career transition, you learn the value of setting your offer criteria.

1. Creates an objective target for your efforts ahead;
2. Gives you a meaningful set of questions to ask during research and networking;
3. Provides an objective way to analyze and react to offers as they occur.

To manage your career wisely has you extending the same concept. Keep your “offer criteria” in that dynamic state of change that allows you to adapt to market conditions.

If your current goal is to find a new position, then you should prepare your search as a “business model”, manage it accordingly, be flexible, and be ready for the unexpected. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Have a “business-as-usual” attitude…Manage your search as you would your business or job and you will earn success faster.

2. Have reasonable expectations…List your abilities, marketability, compensation, work environment and relocation, then validate these expectations with peers, other job hunters, and/or recruiters. This can be accomplished during your initial PERSONAL CONTACT NETWORKING. “Getting the word out” is a much more productive first step in developing your network.

3. Determine your career objective…Know what your next right work is. This will help focus your actual search. With clarity in your positioning goals, you can write a great resume to convey your story.

4. “WORDCRAFT” your resume…Create a forward looking “story” of what YOU CAN DO. Target your accomplishments, such as increased sales and profits, reductions in costs, etc. Focus on achievements that support your qualifications for your job goal.

5. Have a Personal Market Plan…including identification of key professional resources online. Look for specific titles, target industries and companies. This focus will expand your possibilities, not limit them.

Remember, while rejection is part of the active job search process, you’ll want to avoid pre-mature rejection of your interest…CREATE VISIBILITY first. The merging of your target organization networking and the development of your personal contact network is an effective way to identify the appropriate job leads and secure necessary interviews.

6. Develop confidence in your ability to answer anticipated questions throughout the process…Prepare as you would for a business presentation; don’t try to wing it. If there are any “issues” in your career history, develop a positive spin before you are asked about it. Prepare for basic questions and tough issues in advance and study them.

7. Modify and improve your Personal Market Plan’s implementation model as needed…“Listen” to the marketplace, learning from it and adjusting your Personal Market Plan accordingly. As you move through your search, make adjustments as you would a business model. Ask for input from people you respect.

FOR MORE Info: download the entire handout from Resource Page

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Embracing The OTHER Job Market

In every marketplace, there are buyers and sellers.  In the traditional job market, the one that our Department of Labor measures for us, job seekers are the sellers and their potential employers are the buyers.  The commodity is productive work and the competition is fierce.

The time worn “round peg in the round hole” theory of a good FIT is dysfunctional, at best.

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.

If an individual is under-employed, seeking a change, or actually unemployed, they must be visible to potential employers who are seeking their services.  Creating this visibility is strategic, personal market planning and execution—in can be marketability without rejection! 

A good FIT with a job can become a great Career FIT for the individual, a more planful, strategic viewpoint. 

Personal Marketing is a contact sport.

For MORE INFO on this topic… GO TO the RESOURCES area of this website!

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NEXT EVENT: Thursday, November 3rd, 9-10:30 AM at The Egg and I Restaurant (NW quadrant of Arapaho and Montfort, 1 blk east of Tollway) TOPIC: Embracing The OTHER Job Market

This is the INTRODUCTORY SESSION in a weekly series of FREE career transition workshop events. Yes, networking happens at these events, but our purpose is to learn innovative “HOW TO” approaches into The OTHER Job Market. Both strategic and tactical issues and models are incorporated… this week?…

Embracing The OTHER Job Market

We will overview the entire job search/ career transition process, addressing the OTHER marketplace at every step… As always, consistent and focused efforts are keys to your success. Some selected topics to address:

-BEING PREPARED to conduct an effective job search
– Developing your network… an evolutionary process.
-An interview request is NEVER a cold call
-ASKING questions effectively
-Answering questions effectively
-Creating and closing all communication ‘loops’

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

– Professionals who seek “job security” for the rest of their career
– Professionals formerly reluctant to engage “all-IN” networking
-Job seekers who gain interviews, but can’t Close The Deal

As always, GUESTS of our DFWCareerpilot regulars, and…

First time visitors… this session is a great place to start!

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MONEY-SPEAK… What IS Your Next Position WORTH?

Let’s separate two definitive forms of negotiation.  First, and most frequent, that which occurs during networking and interviewing, PRIOR TO any offer of employment.  Your mission is to treat the issue of money as just another bit of information.  However, in this case, remember,

“He who mentions money first, often loses in salary negotiation.” 

Second, negotiation often occurs as a result of an offer of employment. Your mission, of course, is to maximize the actual offer.  At the very least you will want to maintain and enhance current value of your employment.  Base salary is simply a part of the “position WORTH” package.

These two forms of negotiation call for very different skills.   Staying with our context of effective PRE-OFFER Negotiation tactics, let’s utilize the basic guidelines for answering questions effectively, this time relative to the discussion of money…

  1. ANSWER THE QUESTION… The implication, here, is that you have heard and fully understand the nature of the question.  If this is true, simply answer the question in a straight forward, brief manner… and then stop talking!  Often the challenges come in knowing when to stop talking.
  2. LISTEN FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO INTEGRATE AND CONFIRM YOUR STRENGTHS… Your purpose is to drive home your communication strategy–that set of key words and strengths that define your “message.”  So, when a question is asked that relative to a job related strength, answer the question and confirm the strength by stating a behavioral example. 
  3. AT LEAST ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF A QUESTION Before blocking, turning around, or in any other way changing the subject… Salary negotiation, illegal questions and other non-standard questions often call for extraordinary responses.  Stay focused, get results… but never manipulate or deceive with your answer.  Q: How much did you make in base salary last year?  A: Last year?  My former position was worth $ X, but the responsibilities we have discussed seem to be worth a base salary much closer to $ X+… don’t you agree?

What is a position WORTH?

While most any working condition of employment and relocation is often negotiable, it is to your advantage to negotiate utilizing the total monetary value of an employed position.

  1. Base Salary… That structured part of total value that is paid to you on a regular and frequent basis.  This is usually the most visible, and emotional, component of the value package, your position worth.
  2. Structured additions to salary, or other actual monies… also paid on a regular and frequent basis.  For example, sales commission or project completion bonuses.  Once paid, it is your to keep.  These first two items are regulated to factor in to 401K Plans, and often drive pension formulae…

     And now “the rules” shift…

  1. Unstructured additions to salary, or any discretionary monies… these payments can be huge or insignificant (a holiday turkey), taxable or not, and come in a wide range of creative descriptions.  They are typically not used in retirement or pension equations– but can be.  Discretionary is the keyword, here.
  2. Benefits… For budget purposes, standard benefits are usually calculated at a fixed percentage of structured salary monies.  Health care, sick pay, short term disability, etc can represent 20-50% or more of structured monies within a position’s worth.
  3. Perks… Payments made on behalf of an employee, before or after taxes.  These are usually non-standard things relative to certain positions, like company cars, country club memberships, special equipment allowances, expense money, etc.
  4. First Year Vacation… While most companies pay vacation money on a very standard timetable, it is paid out of existing budget–usually your structured salary monies.  This makes vacation monies essentially a negotiation giveaway for those who ask.  Using the fairly standard two weeks, that’s roughly 4% of position worth.
  5. Start Date… Yes, start date.  For employed professionals making a career transition, even start date may influence their total value package.  Once again, the drivers are structured monies paid to the employee.

For more information on negotiation strategies, GO TO Resources and read the handout on Money-Speak

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NEXT EVENT: Thursday, October 27th, 9-10:30 AM at The Egg and I Restaurant (NW quadrant of Arapaho and Montfort, 1 blk east of Tollway)

This is the next in a weekly series of FREE career transition workshop events. Yes, networking happens at these events, but our purpose is to learn innovative “HOW TO” approaches into The OTHER Job Market. Both strategic and tactical issues and models are incorporated… this week?

NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES: Pre and Post OFFER!

We will explore an overall strategy that will enable you to perform well in all interviews, AND delve into an easy to remember interview strategy that organizes and focuses your interview time and effectiveness. As always, consistent and focused efforts are keys to your success. Some selected topics to address:

  • Developing your network… an evolutionary process.
  • Responding to premature discussion of money
  • ASKING questions effectively
  • Answering questions effectively… Creating and closing all communication ‘loops’
  • Negotiating an actual offer

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

– Professionals who seek “job security” for the rest of their career
– Professionals formerly reluctant to engage “all-IN” networking
-Job seekers who gain interviews, but can’t Close The Deal or optimize their offers!

As always, GUESTS of our DFWCareerpilot regulars, and…

First time visitors… this session is a great place to start!