The process started at the end of May and I came on board at the start of November. That"s about the standard six-month sales cycle for high-value products.
Finally, I accepted the advice and a.s.sistance of an executive recruiter friend of mine, who offered an idea. He made an executive search database open to me where I could look for contacts in the industry this company was in. I found several good contacts. As a small "market research firm" (not a lie at all!), I asked them an interesting question about the use of this company"s technology and got some responses. I provided this to the firm as an additional and useful contact.
I found out the difference that att.i.tude makes. It is not about being arrogant; it is about being able to see the other person better because you are confident enough to forget yourself.
The Key to Chelsea"s Success
The key to securing the interview was networking into each company and then following through with a compet.i.tive a.n.a.lysis. As a guerrilla, Chelsea focused on the needs that employers weren"t aware they had.
SUMMARY
When I decided I wanted to be a headhunter, I didn"t understand that not having direct sales experience was a detriment. At 25 years old and a whole 3 years" work experience, I thought I was "hot stuff." Interview after interview, the search firms in town couldn"t see what I saw in myself and why I wouldn"t take no for an answer. In my mind, I was simply failing to articulate my value correctly. In the end, the owner of the first firm actually turned me down 12 times over 3 months. I just kept thinking of reasons to get back together and reiterate why he should hire me. Thirteen was my lucky number.
Chelsea, Allan, and Tom profited from leveraging a suite of tactics and weapons to precisely target employers and climb above the "background noise" of a supposedly lifeless market.
Which tactics will you use? Experiment-be bold-let your real personality and pa.s.sion shine through, and remember "no" just means, "Not today."
GUERRILLA INTELLIGENCE.
In Case of Emergency, Break Gla.s.s Harry Joiner
I was unemployed and broke during the last recession. I had been laid off from my job at a software company, and with a wife, 4 kids, and a pricey mortgage-things were pretty stressful. Panic attacks were a daily occurrence. Whatever you"re going through right now, I can relate.
Looking for a job when you"re unemployed is tough. I"m not sure where I heard this statistic, but you should be prepared to spend 1 month looking for a job for every $20,000 of base salary. So, a $100K job could take 6 months to land.
During that 6 months, hiring managers always seem to migrate from one set of concerns about the candidate to another. The migration looks something like this: Month 1 to 3: The hiring manager wonders to himself "If you"re so good at what you do, why did your company fire you?" The hiring manager wonders to himself "If you"re so good at what you do, why did your company fire you?"
Month 3 to 5: "If you"re so good at what you do, why are you still looking for a job?" "If you"re so good at what you do, why are you still looking for a job?"
Month 6 and longer: "What"s wrong with you?" "What"s wrong with you?"
During my own job search, I reached month 4 and realized that I was going to hit month 7 or 8 without any problem. So I printed up some business cards, slapped up a web site, and started telling everyone that I was a "business development consultant."
One small problem: hiring managers began to see me as an unleadable entrepreneur who would be too much of a maverick to bring on to their sales teams. All hiring managers want someone who will plug-and-play right into their organization-someone who can lead and be led. One hiring manager told me that he would interview interview me only after I had taken down my web site. Right. me only after I had taken down my web site. Right.
As I was driving home that day I thought to myself: "What exactly exactly would I do if I had to find a decent job in this economy in six weeks or less?" would I do if I had to find a decent job in this economy in six weeks or less?"
I have never addressed this question in my blog, nor have I ever seen anyone else tackle it. It"s one thing to read a job search book that"s filled with theories about finding a job when you"re unemployed and desperate. It"s another to actually do it.
What you are about to read a.s.sumes that you will continue to run a conventional job search, complete with cold calls to recruiters, job board resume submissions, and chicken finger networking events. And the reality is that if you make +$100K per year, the following method might not work. You"ll need to take a more traditional approach. But if you can settle for a lower paying job, then here"s what I like to call the "Any port in a storm" "Any port in a storm" blitzkrieg job search method: blitzkrieg job search method: Step 1 Collect yourself. Not too long ago, my 12-year old son, an aspiring Eagle Scout, brought home a copy of the U.S. Army Survival Manual. U.S. Army Survival Manual. I swear, this book reads like a job search guide-at least as far as the mental conditioning aspects are concerned. The Guide mentions 10 personal qualities required to survive in a life-threatening environment. They include: I swear, this book reads like a job search guide-at least as far as the mental conditioning aspects are concerned. The Guide mentions 10 personal qualities required to survive in a life-threatening environment. They include:1. Being able to make up your mind.2. Being able to improvise.3. Being able to live with yourself.4. Being able to adapt to the situation-to make a good thing out of a bad thing.5. Remaining cool, calm, and collected.6. Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.7. Having patience.8. Being able to "figure out" other people-to understand and predict what other people will do.9. Understanding where your special fears and worries come from, and10. Knowing what to do to control them.
Don"t those tips apply to a desperate job seeker?
I have seen my own career crash and burn this century, and I know from experience that not only will you survive it-but, if you are cool headed, you can also emerge from it with a higher-paying, more fulfilling job than you had before. Just relax. Your anxiety is like your skin color: there is nothing you can do to change it.
You can manage your anxiety with prescription medications, but basically you are going to have to deal with it yourself. Freaking out won"t help you survive. In fact, it will only make things worse-and then you"ll still still have a problem. Anxiety adds no value. I know what I"m talking about. Simply inhale. Hold it. And exhale. Now lock and load. have a problem. Anxiety adds no value. I know what I"m talking about. Simply inhale. Hold it. And exhale. Now lock and load.
Step 2 Make sure sure your former employer will give you great references. Preferably, they should do this in writing on an undated letter on their letterhead. This letter will be added to the envelope you prepare for Step 6, so don"t let your former employer slide on this. Good references are a MUST. your former employer will give you great references. Preferably, they should do this in writing on an undated letter on their letterhead. This letter will be added to the envelope you prepare for Step 6, so don"t let your former employer slide on this. Good references are a MUST.
Step 3 Call a bunch of nonprofits and ask them if you could work for them in a white collar capacity for free free 1 or 2 days a week while you look for a new full-time job. After you see Step 6, you"ll know what you are going to be doing with the other 3 days a week. 1 or 2 days a week while you look for a new full-time job. After you see Step 6, you"ll know what you are going to be doing with the other 3 days a week.
Call 50 nonprofits if you have to. You"d be amazed at how tough it is to get a job working for free, but you must persevere. Job One is being able to look a human resource (HR) manager square in the eye when he or she asks you, "So, what have you been doing in your free time?" because n.o.body wants to hire a victim.
Tell the HR manager that you are working at such-and-such a charity, "because you have always believed in the cause, and now-thank heaven-you have a couple of days a week to give back to society." Now you have gone from being a victim to being a positive, outcome-oriented survivor who can make lemonade out of lemons. PLUS-and this is a big plus-you can put the nonprofit on your resume and use them as a reference. It"s a beautiful thing.
To find nonprofit organizations, check out www.Guidestar.com, a database of more than 1.7 million nonprofits.
Step 4 Order some nice stationery from an excellent stationer. Make sure it"s nice because you want it to reflect well on you. There is no point in being unprofessional. Time is of the essence, so first impressions will count for a lot. I use a thermographed "house linen" weight paper from ReavesEngraving.com, but you can use any stationer that has a similar quality product. Get the matching envelopes and business cards. $500 should cover it. It"s a small investment to make in your career.
Step 5 Rewrite your resume and prepare a nice sales letter. There"s a cottage industry around resume writing, so I won"t get into it here except to say that you need to have a hard-hitting "metrics rich" bullet-pointed resume. The law of specificity applies. Odd numbers work best. Your resume must highlight verifiable, concrete accomplishments such as:* Increased sales in XYZ category by $47,215 in Q2 2006.* Decreased distribution costs by $17.61/pound by renegotiating truck leases.* Reorganized shipping and receiving workflows for a savings of $12.41/case.
You get the idea. This goes back to the comment about being able to plug-and-play in any company.
About the cover letter: the best cover letters are actually written in the "Problem/Agitate/Solve" format. Google that to see what I"m talking about. The master of sales letter writing is Gary Halbert. Google him, too. Without being long-winded here, you want to write a letter to the head of the company function in which you"d like to work, like Dear Sales Manager, Dear CFO, Dear Sales Manager, Dear CFO, or whomever. or whomever.
Then start off with an honest opening sentence like "I stopped by briefly today to apply for a job. I have no idea if you are hiring, but even if you aren"t-I think I could be of value to you."
Then simply provide a bullet-pointed laundry list of ways that you could help on a full-time, part-time, project, or interim basis. Give some affordable no-strings attached staffing options. Again, position your needs honestly in a way that he or she can identify with-and profit from.
Why such over-the-top honesty? Because hiring managers are busy and they are not expecting such an honest approach. It will catch them off guard because it"s true. It"s completely without pretense. Hiring managers love that.
Step 6 Cold walk buildings. You are looking for full-time, part-time, temp, interim, project, and seasonal work to get you through your job search. You can work from their office or from home. You have a computer with Internet access.
A local Atlanta phone company, Cbeyond Communications, has come out of nowhere in the past few years to carve a nice niche in the hotly compet.i.tive small business market. Its sales reps are known for going into high-rise buildings and popping in on office managers to solicit new business. Of course, unannounced solicitations are strictly forbidden in most high-rises, but that hasn"t stopped Cbeyond"s sales reps, who rarely get busted by security.
How Do They Do It?
By starting at the tenth floor, then going to the first floor, then working the ninth floor, then the second, then the eighth, then the third, and so on-finally stopping in the middle.
Why the Strange Pattern?
Because when tenants call security saying that there"s a solicitor on the tenth floor, security goes to the ninth floor to wait for them. But by the time Cbeyond gets to the ninth floor (after having spent 30 minutes on the first), security has left the scene. And on it goes, a goose chase that ends with Cbeyond having canva.s.sed the entire building.
If I were in insurance, legal services, or accounting, I"d swipe this tactic.
THE ONLY GOAL IN DOING THIS IS TO MEET ENOUGH PEOPLE TO GET CALLED IN FOR A REAL INTERVIEW.
n.o.body is going to get hired on the spot with this plan. However, if you do do meet the sales manager on the first visit, simply say: meet the sales manager on the first visit, simply say: Look, I know you are busy, but I"m looking for a new job in this geographic area. The envelope contains a cover letter and my resume. I have no idea if you are hiring or not. My only objective in stopping by was to position myself as a possible resource for your company. Obviously, I have enough guts and tenacity to knock on doors-but I"m decent enough not to be pushy. Kindly review my resume and let me know if you"d like to meet for a regular interview. That will give both of us some time to do our homework on each other. Otherwise, perhaps you can pa.s.s my resume along to a local friend who is hiring. Okay??
Now clearly, it takes nerves of steel to pull this off-but people did this type of thing during the depression. And business-to-business salespeople do this every day.
Remember that desperate times call for desperate measures, and if you just lost your job and you are not niched to a particular industry and you are almost out of cash and have kids to feed, then what I have written is a fairly good game plan for getting out an collecting noes-the most time honored way to get to yeses there is.
Harry Joiner is a well-known marketing recruiter based in Atlanta, Georgia. His blog, MarketingHeadhunter.com, is one of the world"s most widely read blogs on careers in marketing, and his forthcoming book The Over 50 Job Search The Over 50 Job Search is expected to be published in 2010. You can see the book"s weblog at is expected to be published in 2010. You can see the book"s weblog at www.Over50JobSearch.com
Chapter 12.
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Winning the Face-to-Face Interview
The first one gets the oyster, the second gets the sh.e.l.l.
-ANDREW CARNEGIE
As compet.i.tion for customers, market share, and profitability intensifies, understanding what makes an organization effective and which levers to pull to improve financial performance are critical. High-performing companies consistently hire doers-go-getters-at all levels in the company. Innovation, creativity, perseverance, and leadership are the key levers for success.
As a guerrilla job hunter, your strategy has been to appeal to an employer"s core need to make money, save money, and increase efficiencies. Combining those needs with elements from the New Value Table (see Figure 2.1) produced a winning resume that secured interviews. Now you must deliver on your marketing.
BUILD YOUR STRATEGY AROUND THE EMPLOYER"S EXPECTATIONS
You will meet 4 general groups of decision makers during interviews. Each group requires a different strategy. Each has a different agenda that you must focus on.
The groups are: 1. Senior executives2. Hiring managers3. Human resource managers4. Corporate recruiters
Senior Executives
* Even if you are not seeking a senior executive role, executives look for similar things from all candidates, so understanding their perspective will help you position your accomplishments accordingly. By the way, that is the first thing they look for-accomplishments.* Executives want to see a lot of recent accomplishments and understand the specifics. They need to know how your accomplishments can translate into success for them if they hire you-even before they interview you.
Executives also look for: * Outstanding leadership qualities: Outstanding leadership qualities: A demonstrated ability to create and communicate a vision and then build a team to carry it out A demonstrated ability to create and communicate a vision and then build a team to carry it out* Honesty and integrity: Honesty and integrity: A well-principled person whom people trust and who can build shared values throughout the organization A well-principled person whom people trust and who can build shared values throughout the organization* Intellectual capacity: Intellectual capacity: The ability to make quick, solid decisions in tough compet.i.tive environments The ability to make quick, solid decisions in tough compet.i.tive environments* Intensity: Intensity: The capacity to create a deep level of trust among their staff and create an energy-charged, enthusiastic environment The capacity to create a deep level of trust among their staff and create an energy-charged, enthusiastic environment* Pa.s.sion: Pa.s.sion: An unrelenting drive to leave a positive mark on the organization that is not driven by money or power An unrelenting drive to leave a positive mark on the organization that is not driven by money or power* Work ethic: Work ethic: A warriorlike resiliency that allows you to persevere, no matter how difficult the task A warriorlike resiliency that allows you to persevere, no matter how difficult the task