09/15/2018 by Your Careerpilot

There’s An “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.

It doesn’t matter if you are an operations manager, an internal HR professional, senior finance executive, or a key player on the IT team—ANY experienced and valued professional job seeker—ALL want to become a valued partner in the business of their next employer.

Everyone wants a voice in strategic decisions and to be included in ‘the conversation.’ To truly be included, you need to be invited. And you will only be invited if you are seen as absolutely essential to the TEAM. Remember, team player and team leader CAN BE interchangeable terms.

Next Week’s Session: Thursday, September 20th… Embracing The OTHER Job Market: Our introductory and overview session… a great place for new-comers to start!

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 actually UN-employed…. Or UNDER-employed, seeking a change, 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!

Personal Marketing is a contact sport.

The Evolution of a JOB…

NEED IDENTIFIED	Replacement jobs often redefined. No definition to a new need.	No competition
WORK ANTICIPATED	Discussion leads to decisions on JOB definition	Often job parameters are set based on market feedback
JOB REQUISITION WRITTEN AND APPROVED	Job Requirements must be defined… expectations creep into the recruitment process	Internal candidates often get priority in employment process
JOB is “open”	Job Requirements are often refined based on market feedback	Internal AND external candidates compete for the same jobs
JOB is published	Job requirements and qualifications define the screening process	MAX competition!!

Standing-out in the “sea of unwashed faces”

Create an expectation of who you are and what you can do for your next employer by clearly positioning and targeting your collateral materials, both written and verbal. When stating your career objective, clearly state your appropriate work and make an offer of your services.

07/29/2018 by Your Careerpilot

PLAN Before You’ll Need a Plan

While involved in ‘the challenging waters’ of career transition, the same chaotic, jobless, trying times are very productive times. Don’t waste them by floundering with lack of focus and direction, falling into the dark, depressive attitude of distractions and, worst of all, inaction…

When we are employed, we tend to function under the guidance of our employer’s business plan, or, more specifically, our job description. Our ‘routine’ is defined by:

Personal accountability to a labyrinth of responsibilities, some structured— some not structured at all—but all contributing to productive work activities…

We create productivity and efficiency with our sense of time management…

And as ‘top talent’ professionals, we often take initiative, make process improvements, and contribute to the Company’s growth.

This Week’s Session, Thursday, August 2nd, 8:45 AM, at The Egg and I Restaurant in Addison… Developing Your Personal Marketing Plan

So, why not recreate all that with OUR OWN PLAN, a Personal Marketing Plan, to move toward job satisfaction, commitment, and appropriate compensation, for the rest of our careers… including any current, short term job search? But, before looking at what such a Personal Marketing Plan would look like, let’s review the PREPARATION Portion of the 12-step Process Model (on the left).

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!

And, employed or not, Modify and improve your Personal Market Plan’s implementation model as needed… As you move through your career transition or ‘job search campaign,’ make adjustments as you would a business model.

BRANDING Yourself In The OTHER Job Market

Your “market-tested” RESUME TEMPLATE can now serve as the basis of your correspondence templates. Become familiar with the AUTO TEXT and MAIL MERGE applications within MS Word to create efficiency in the editing of your templates to meet the needs of specific opportunities that you are marketing yourself to.

Now it is REALLY beginning to feel like YOU are market-ready… but, THE Careerpilot encourages you to be totally prepared before you do. Let’s not forget to be prepared for the digital face of the job market…

LinkedIn Task#1: INITIATING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

The Careerpilot’s high TECH-HIGH TOUCH philosophy comes into play with the explosive growth of using social networks to recruit top talent and for job seekers to build relationships, meet new contacts, and market themselves. While the Internet provides many choices, diving into the virtual meet-and-greet can represent a real challenge.

Which one is worthy of your start-up investment: learning curve time and actual ROI of your efforts… Where to begin? The Careerpilot encourages a choice that reasonably assures one’s confidentiality, has a multitude of useful applications, and can serve as your focal point of networking decisions… LinkedIn.

INITIAL RESEARCH: To Create Focus

Make a concerted effort to research trends and target organizations of geographies, industries, and functions that interest you. Access market research reports, the Internet, your own network… start with the resources with which you are already comfortable. Develop your research awareness and abilities.

Begin to assemble your INITIAL Target Organization List. Start your list of companies and industries that are attractive to you. Your targets are companies that utilize the functionality and RESULTS that you can bring to the table. A great start is to consider industrial trends in the marketplace that point to an organization’s need for your services.

INITIAL CONTACTS List

Make a list of coworkers, bosses, customers, suppliers, associates, external consultants, etc. Make a list of family, extended family, friends, relatives of friends, neighbors, people you know from special interest groups like bowling or bridge, church contacts, former classmates or alumni, and professionals like your doctor, dentist, or hair stylist.

07/10/2018 by Your Careerpilot

Surviving and Thriving in “The Sea of Unwashed Faces”

In the traditional marketplace, potential employers seem to have the upper hand… but like the ol’ half full glass of water, remember that from the employer’s view available top talent seems like a sea of unwashed faces, too.

So what is it that the job seeker can control to make THEIR face stand out…network to and interview with the true decision maker… BE the chosen one?

THIS Week’s Session: Thursday, July 12th at The Egg and I…

Embracing The OTHER Job Market

Standing-out in the “sea of unwashed faces” becomes the simple matter of adjusting ones sales when in the challenging waters of career transition.

Here are some tips on becoming a valued partner…

Walk the talk. Nothing speaks louder than results…. From the recruitment perspective, the best indicator of one’s potential for success is one’s prior experience and results gained. A partner helps others within the organization achieve their goals. And results require actions, not just words. The better the results you get, the more likely you are to be invited on to ‘the team.’

Deep knowledge. You must have a true understanding of every aspect of the business, how all the moving parts work together, the obstacles ahead, and intimate knowledge of the competition in the marketplace. In other words, you’ve done your homework and understand your potential employer’s need. And you must be able to articulate your understanding to anyone involved in the decision-making process in a manner that demonstrates that you truly get it.

Two of the many ways of accomplishing this image are to…

Keep a file of relevant articles to share with key decision-makers, take advantage of the approaches that email and social media have to offer… create and maintain top-of-mind awareness.
Further, create a set of ‘white papers’ that express, from your knowledge and experience, your perspective on relevant issues to your Profession or industry of choice.

Listen well. Everyone loves to feel that they have been heard and understood. One attribute of leadership is being known as a good listener. And if you can reiterate and articulate what has been said, you will be valued as a partner in the decision-making process.

Remember, as a job seeker, NETWORKING is your way to share knowledge, ‘branding’ yourself as a valued resource. It is also your best source of confirming the subjective information you seek to supplement your research of factual information about a potential employer.

Big picture thinking. Having a strategic vision requires you to see all areas of the business, internal and external. This is a valuable trait well beyond the C-suite. If you only have a deep understanding of one area, you are more likely to be tactical in your decisions, rather than strategic.

You must be able to foresee problems from the stakeholders’ perspective in order to offer the most highly valued and comprehensive solutions.

Tying all of this together, the best way to be treated like a valued partner is to act like one. The more you demonstrate your value, the more you will become recognized as the new go-to person in the organization.

07/07/2018 by Your Careerpilot

What IS This OTHER Job Market?

NEXT Session, Thursday, July 12th at The Egg & I: Embracing The OTHER Job Market, our introductory and overview look at The 12-Step process

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.	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 selection still subject to formal process and subjective choice.	Actual selection often a rubber stamp formality to satisfy regulation requirements.

On the other hand, 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!

Personal Marketing is a contact sport.

06/25/2018 by Your Careerpilot

Banging On The Screen Door

chalk1 The term “third party recruiter” goes by many names, including contingency agencies, executive search firms, retained search firms, employment agencies, headhunters, recruiters, and temp agencies. These all fall under the umbrella of the “staffing industry.”

Contingency Agencies are paid by the company after the agency’s candidate is hired…their sourcing process is a paperwork mill.

Retained Search Firms custom locates candidates for a company and are paid upfront or on a progress basis (retained basis). Their sourcing process is often more focused and conducted on a more personal level.

Employment Agencies are contracted by companies to find candidates for temporary or permanent positions. Often their sourcing and screening activity is conducted in parallel to Corporate recruiting efforts.

Temporary (Temp) Agencies find candidates to fill temporary jobs and “temp to perm” positions. This includes the Lease2Perm TECHNICAL firms.

This week’s session, Thursday, June 28th at The Egg and I: An exploration of the third-party world of recruitment

bob-maher-4587-edit In embracing The OTHER Job Market, a successful professional seeking their next appropriate employment will learn the technique of using the services of a third party recruiter. Our goal is to understand their world, from THEIR viewpoint, in order to optimize the effectiveness of our efforts looking for work.

HOMEWORK for this week’s session…

The American Staffing Association (ASA)

TEXAS specific statistics… Third-party recruitment statistics in Texas

As promised here is more of my list of things you should take into consideration when working with staffing agencies.

Working with a staffing agency does not guarantee placement in a job. It’s one of many techniques to use in your job search.
Staffing agencies do the initial screening, saving the employer time and money… they are an extension of the employer’s recruiting and screening process.
Don’t abdicate the tasks of the job search to a recruiter who is busy working with lots of job seekers.
Reducing or stopping your networking efforts once you start using a staffing agency is a huge mistake.
Approximately 79 percent of staffing employees work full-time according to the American Staffing Association (ASA).
Recruiters have contacts in the business community which only extends your networking outreach.
Employers that experience an unexpected increase in business may favor hiring temps before hiring permanent workers.
Companies are using staffing agencies to “test drive” the performance of a temp before offering a permanent position.
The ASA notes that 12 million Americans will work at some point during the course of the year in as a temp or contract employee.
Temping is not a step down. It’s money, connections, a resume gap stopper and an opportunity to get your foot in the door.
Signing up with a staffing agency is usually quick and easy, much of which can be done online.
While actual titles may vary, there are basically three functions within any one staffing firm: those that identify and bring in the actual job orders, those that identify and initially screen potential applicants, and those that administer the firm’s process.
Network with your LinkedIn connections to learn more about the right staffing firms to use; use more than one agency. “Reach out” to at least two firms each week within your Personal Marketing Plan.
Check the phone book or Internet for a list of staffing agencies; also use the Internet to find additional information…CAUTION: There is no directory of the ‘good ones.’ THAT is a matter of your personal relationship with them.
Schedule an appointment with a staffing agency representative. Dress to impress, show your smile and give a firm handshake.
Make sure your resume has been professionally critiqued before you submit it to a staffing agency.

* more to follow *

06/24/2018 by Your Careerpilot

The OTHER Job Market Has a Screen Door, Too!

Just as in traditional job search, there are four avenues in to more efficient and productive job search: Classified advertising, third-party recruitment services, employer job postings (this trio can be addressed by using the Internet ‘job boards’), and personal contact networking.

One of the many keys to unlocking the screen door of The OTHER Job Market is to sieze control of the process and take actions like that of an equal partner in the recruitment process.

This week’s session, Thursday, June 28th at The Egg and I: An exploration of the third-party world of recruitment

In embracing The OTHER Job Market, a successful professional seeking their next appropriate employment will learn the technique of using the services of a third party recruiter. The term “third party recruiter” goes by many names including contingency agencies, executive search firms, retained search firms, employment agencies, headhunters, recruiters, and temp agencies. These all fall under the umbrella of the “staffing industry.”

Contingency Agencies are paid by the company after the agency’s candidate is hired…their sourcing process is a paperwork mill.

Temporary (Temp) Agencies find candidates to fill temporary jobs and “temp to perm” positions. This includes the Lease2Perm TECHNICAL firms.

The number of temporary employees is growing and this trend is expected to continue.

TMI (Too Much Information)… The American Staffing Association (ASA)

TEXAS specific statistics… Third-party recruitment statistics in Texas

Temping can help you learn new skills and experience, build your network, open up options you had not previously considered and bridge employment gaps. The goal is to get inside a company. Here is my list of things you should take into consideration when working with staffing agencies.

Some agencies have skills training to prepare employees for their assignments; others expect you to hit the ground running.
Temp jobs can often be the answer when your cash reserves are running low.
Temping can give you experience in careers you might not have otherwise thought of trying – without a long-term commitment.
Having the flexibility from temping can work well for your job search and personal priorities.
Signing up with a staffing agency is usually quick and easy, much of which can be done online.
Approximately 79 percent of staffing employees work full-time according to the American Staffing Association (ASA).
The ASA notes that 12 million Americans will work at some point during the course of the year in as a temp or contract employee.
Temping is not a step down. It’s money, connections, a resume gap stopper and an opportunity to get your foot in the door.

*MORE to follow*

06/17/2018 by Your Careerpilot

Interview SKILL: Becoming a ‘Valued Partner’

Whether you are an operations manager, an internal HR professional, senior finance executive, or a key player on the IT team—ANY experienced and valued professional job seeker—ALL and EVERYONE should want to become a ‘valued partner’ in the strategic and operational planning–as well as the execution–of their next employer. To become fully engaged, Everyone wants a voice in strategic decisions and to be included in ‘the conversation.’

THIS WEEK’s Session, Thursday, June 21st: Closing The Deal II, exploring and practicing interview tactics, including POST-OFFER Negotiation

To truly be included, you need to be invited. And you will only be invited if you are seen as absolutely essential to the TEAM. Remember, team player and team leader CAN BE interchangeable terms.

Here are some tips on becoming a valued partner…

Deep knowledge... You must have a true understanding of ‘the bigger picture…’ how does your department fit into meeting organizational goals and objectives? In other words, you’ve done your homework and understand your potential employer’s need. And you must be able to articulate your understanding to anyone involved in the decision-making process in a manner that demonstrates that you truly get it.

Two of the many ways of accomplishing this image are to…

Keep a file of relevant articles to share with key decision-makers, take advantage of the approaches that email and social media have to offer… create and maintain top-of-mind awareness.
Further, create a set of ‘white papers’ that express, from your knowledge and experience, your perspective on relevant issues to your Profession or industry of choice.

Listen well… Everyone loves to feel that they have been heard and understood. One attribute of leadership is being known as a good listener. And if you can reiterate and articulate what has been said, you will be valued as a partner in the decision-making process. Remember, the human brain takes IN information more efficiently than it can put out valued communication.

Communicate Like The LEADER You ARE

Big picture thinking… Having a strategic vision requires you to see all areas of the business, internal and external. This is a valuable trait well beyond the C-suite.

If you only have a deep understanding of one area, you are more likely to be tactical in your decisions, rather than strategic. You must be able to foresee problems from the stakeholders’ perspective in order to offer the most highly valued and comprehensive solutions. Tying all of this together, the best way to be treated like a valued partner is to act like one.

The more you demonstrate your value, the more you will become recognized as the go-to person in the organization and you will be included and have a voice in the big strategic decisions.

06/02/2018 by Your Careerpilot

OVERCOMING “Call Reluctance”

Targeted Organization Networking (networking your way IN to an organization of choice) is the first step to getting desired interviews and landing an offer, CLOSING THE DEAL. Still, many jobseekers experience Call Reluctance, an emotional hesitation to prospect and self-promote. In our culture, it is not the hardest-working, the best-prepared or the smartest who lands the best next opportunity. Rather, it is the person who is most willing to prospect and self-promote.

NEXT WEEK’s Session: Thursday, June 7th… Turning Opportunity Into INTERVIEWS

Call Reluctance is nothing to be embarrassed about; living with it needlessly is. Call Reluctance is a mental response to a perceived threat. The act of prospecting is not what causes job seeking/ cold call anxiety; it is their “thoughts” about prospecting that do.

One might suggest to just change your thoughts from fearful ones to positive ones. However, positive thinking on its own is insufficient without its crucial counterpart: positive emotions.

Take a deep breath and think about your most recent business success. Your thought just sent happy hormones through your blood stream. Now, think about picking up the phone to call someone who has been on your list, but with whom you have not yet initiated contact. What fear or anxiety is attached to the thought of picking up the phone?

Guess what? Your hypothalamus just secreted hormones that match that fear and anxiety. We can train the brain to secrete happier hormones (endorphins) so we feel better. And the better we feel, the more positive we become.

Endorphins actually calm the brain. Beliefs are merely thoughts we think again and again. Our beliefs become our expectations, and our expectations become our experience. This has been scientifically proven by behavioral scientists studying cellular biology. By overcoming Call Reluctance, you literally change your body’s chemistry so that fear and anxiety are no longer your go-to emotions.

Below are three exercises to help you set the “feeling” tone for your prospecting success:

At the end of your workday, before you leave the office, sit down with your journal, iPhone or a piece of paper. Write down three things that went well during your day, and why they went well. Repeat this every day! You’ll begin to notice how much better you start feeling immediately.
Monitor the “stories” you tell yourself (i.e., your inner dialogue). An example might be, “Making phone calls doesn’t work in the age of social media.” Until you become aware of your negative stories and learn how to change those stories, no training, coaching, or self-help books will enable you to achieve your goals. Identifying your stories is at the core of identifying Call Reluctance issues.
The opposite of fear is love. Love and gratitude go hand-in-hand. Back to the hypothalamus: when you focus on what you are grateful for, your hypothalamus pumps out happy hormones. When you feel better, you are more solution-oriented—and you’re no longer the victim of any habitual negative thoughts. Psychologists recommend making a list of five things for which you are grateful every morning to set you up for a more successful day.

05/27/2018 by Your Careerpilot

YOUR Digital Footprint

The Careerpilot’s high TECH-HIGH TOUCH philosophy comes into play with the explosive growth of business professionals using social networks to build relationships, meet new contacts, and market themselves. While the Internet provides many choices, diving into the virtual meet-and-greet can represent a real challenge. Which one is worthy of your start-up investment: learning curve time and actual ROI of your efforts… Where to begin?

Bob is back and will be facilitating This Week‘s Session, Thursday, May 31st… A LinkedIn Primer: Task #2 and #3, a discussion of how to extend the reach of your contact network…extending your digital footprint

The Careerpilot encourages a choice that reasonably assures one’s confidentiality, has a multitude of useful applications, and can serve as your focal point of networking decisions.

A terrific launching site for such an effort is LinkedIn. Developed specifically for business, the site doesn’t run the risk of blurring your professional life with your private one; and, it serves virtually every industry and profession.

Joining a network like LinkedIn is simple, but turning it into a powerful networking tool takes a bit of savvy. Here’s how to build a network, leveraging your available time… and put it all to work — without HIGH TECH, social-networking anxiety.

TASK #2 Build Your Network

Goal: Stay focused. Only connect with others who share your professional interests or are related to those interests in a complementary way… and can help you meet your goals. After you’ve created your profile, it’s time to begin to connect to others.

LinkedIn will allow you to search for people you know to see if they’re already members. But once you connect to someone, you can also look at the profiles of anyone they know, and in turn anyone those people know. Because of these three degrees of separation, your network can grow rapidly.

Before you begin connecting, decide who you want to connect to. LinkedIn suggests in its FAQ, “Only invite those you know and trust.”

The 411 on “How Not to Be Connected”

If someone contacts you and you don’t want to form a connection with them, you don’t need to flatly reject them and worry about the attendant awkwardness. When looking at the invitation to connect, simply hit “Archive.” The other person does not receive a message saying their invitation has been rejected, and you don’t have to worry about unwanted invitations clogging up your inbox.

Likewise, if you find that an existing contact is blasting you with too much information or making overly aggressive requests for introductions and recommendations, LinkedIn will let you remove that person easily — and without the contact knowing they’re out of your network.

If only it were that easy in real life.

What’s Next?

Check in on “Network Updates.” Found on your LinkedIn homepage, Network Updates are kind of like your Facebook news feed. Check these periodically for a quick snapshot of what your connections are up to and sharing. And, it’s a 2-way street: Your updates, including white papers you may choose to “publish,” go out to your network.
Be identifiable. Find out who’s checking out your profile by allowing others to see who you are if you view theirs. When you click the information under “Who’s Viewed My Profile” on your profile page, you’ll be able to view users who have looked at your profile, stats on your profile’s number of views, and its appearances in search recently. To change this, go into your settings and click “See what others see when you’ve viewed their profile.”
Export connections. Transfer your LinkedIn connections to another contact management system? LinkedIn enables you to easily export your connections. Just click on “Contacts,” “My Connections,” and then scroll down and click “Export Connections.” You have the option of either exporting as a .CSV or .VCF file.
Leverage the power of LinkedIn Groups. Did you know that if you’re a member of the same group as another user, you can bypass the need to be a first degree connection in order to message them? In addition, group members are also able to view the profiles of other members of the same group without being connected. Join more groups to enable more messaging and profile viewership capabilities.
Link your Twitter acct to LinkedIn. Share your LinkedIn status updates on Twitter, and vice versa. Learn how to connect your Twitter account in your “settings” area.

05/10/2018 by Your Careerpilot

Accountable to WHO??

A good accountability partner can make a major difference in one’s job search. I have seen many job seekers flounder because they launch their search efforts before they are totally prepared for the unique adventure ahead. The power of partnering comes in to play when two well prepared job seekers come together to hold each other accountable for the activities and time management involved in productive search efforts.

You can call this coincidence if you want, I did for a while until I saw it happening over and over, and the people using the accountability partner were giving them the credit for their success. Or you could call it peer pressure … but whatever you call the ‘fuel.’ The resultant energy cannot be denied… it works.

Don’t miss TODAY’s Session at The Egg and I Restaurant in Addison, Thursday, May 10…

Developing YOUR Personal Marketing Plan

Too many times, we fall victim to distractions from the job search. The trap of sleeping late, watching TV, and playing on the Web can ensnare us. With no one but ourselves to hold us accountable for our job-search goals and plans, time can just slip away. It’s so easy to lose balance between personal needs and wants and our job search.

The other end of the spectrum is becoming a “job search-aholic.” For many of us, our identity is tied up tightly in our career, while others need a job right away just to make ends meet. No matter how great the need or desire for a new position, conducting a job search 24/7 non-stop can actually be a detriment to a successful campaign.

Once burnout sets in and enthusiasm begins to wane, how can you be at your best when you interview or even network? The buddy system is an ideal way to protect against burnout while keeping on track!

MYCAREERpilot

Helping you to navigate the challenging waters of career transition…

networking