Periodically I'm approached by people asking if I might be able to help them in their career transition. So I created this page to help my friends and networking colleagues quickly gain access to some of the things I found useful during my most recent ventures in the job market. I can't say for sure that these things will work for you, but I can say that they've helped me and other people I've worked with. I hope that you are able to find a golden nugget here that serves you.
Quick Disclaimer: You'll find I'm recommending different people and sites on this page. I have no affiliation with any of these people, companies, or organizations. I receive no compensation from them in any form. I recommend them because they worked for me. Maybe they'll work for you too.
Before you dig in to the meat below, here's a supporting story that you may find interesting: http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/the-american-way-of-hiring-is-making-long-term-unemployment-worse/
I found myself on the job market quite by surprise in late October 2009, just before Halloween. It had nothing to do with me, my job position just happened to be included in that round of layoffs (there were multiple layoffs that year). Ironically, just 6 weeks before, my boss proactively shared with me that I shouldn't be concerned about my position; that I was a valuable and necessary member of the team. He appeared to feel badly about it when he gave me the bad news, and I'm sure he did. That weekend, on Halloween night, my wife and I joked about me writing a book someday titled "A Nightmare On Job Street". I wasn't ready yet.
My job search was a full court press. I worked my butt off. I got a coach. I made major changes to my resume' and kept making them as I got feedback from my network (my personal focus groups). I learned more about how to use (and not use) marketing tools like Linked In. I networked, and then networked some more. I responded to jobs posted on the job boards. I made connections with recruiters. I interviewed as often as I could. I enrolled in a summer program at Penn State. I kept a close eye on what was happening where in the nation. I controlled what I could control.
I also confirmed what I already knew from other areas of my life. (1) There are a some people / groups that want to create fear and uncertainty in order to get you to buy their stuff. (2) There are as many people saying yes to an approach as there are saying no to the same approach -- in the end, trust your own research and don't delegate it.
After 10 months on the market, I landed a new opportunity and engaged with gusto. Even that had a story. I interviewed with them earlier in the year, they decided to go with someone else, and 2 months later called me back -- not because I placed second in the previous race, but because the situation had changed and I was now the best fit. They said to me that I had "presence". I was delighted.
Just 6 months later, my position was eliminated due to a major change in the direction of the business. My new boss and his boss told me that my separation notice was particularly hard to deliver as I was adding so much value.
Fortunately, just 3 months before my termination, someone in my personal network had shared information about another potential opportunity. At the time I said "no thanks" out of a sense of loyalty; I'd just started working with a new organization, was just 3 months in. It wasn't right, I decided, to even consider the possibility of looking at a different opportunity. Now the situation had changed. I took immediate action to establish contact with the hiring manager and closed a deal with that organization within 3 months of separation #2. By the time I landed the second time, I'd been out of work for 13 out of 20 months.
So that's my story. I've been there and back again. As of the time of this writing, I'm approaching 36 months of continuous employment since my nightmare on job street. Without question, this experience has helped me get to a better place in my career and in my head. Had I stayed where I was, I believe that there was no way I would've had the opportunities I have today. The truth of the matter is that old things needed to die before new things could grow.
So, with no further ado, here are some of the thoughts, concepts, and actions that helped me through my crisis, and that have helped other people in my network who have found themselves in similar circumstances:
- What is your Value Proposition? Think of yourself as a product. What are your key features? Why would anyone want to buy you? Who specifically would want to buy you? To do what? What results are they hoping for?
- What kind of pain is your Ideal Prospect likely to be feeling? What opportunities are they interested in hearing about? How would you recognize that person if they were walking down the street (or sitting on the other side of the table / phone from you)?
- Try to complete the following sentence. I help ____ to do ____ so that ____. If you want an example of what that might look like, go to my Linked In profile. If you want to learn more about this, I recommend the lesson "15 second marketing" which you can purchase from Charlie Cook's Marketing For Success website (same name as me, not me).
- Let your resume focus on the RESULTS you have created in your career, instead of the tasks you were assigned to do. Want to make sure you're focused on RESULTS? Start by looking at each statement you've made on your resume. Ask yourself the following questions: Why is that point important? So What? Why should anyone care about that? And why does that matter? After asking "why" 3 to 5 times, you're bound to be much closer to the RESULT and/or the VALUE. Write about that. Include facts and details. Don't embellish. If this point is interesting to you, take a look at a post I made on my blog titled "Facts vs. Insights".
- Read about "Smart Calling" - the outstanding book on telesales by Art Sobczak. You'll find good information about managing yourself on the phone, as well as how to clarify the value you bring to others.
- Don't worry so much about the title of the position you're looking for or who it reports to. Instead focus on who you serve, and what results you provide for those people. Ask the other person, "what do they call that type of position in your organization?", and shut up + listen, listen, listen.
- Write your own resume. It's OK to get some help with formatting and even with content, but you should own it. True story: I once asked a person about a point in their resume. This person acted confused and then said he wasn't sure what [the resume writing service] meant when they put that in there...
- Beware those who offer to help you by reviewing your resume / profile / etc. for free, who then criticize your work and offer to fix it for you for a price. If you want to pay someone for services, fine. Start by knowing what you want, and then find reputable people / organizations to help provide it.
- Now that you're clear about the value you bring, identify the people in your network. Make a list and start contacting them. Your goal is to conduct a prospecting call with these people. To do that you must know about the possible problems or opportunities that you may be able to help with. Take a look at the story "Where Do I Start?" which I posted on my personal "free sample" blog.
- Each and every connection you make is an opportunity to give that person a *free* sample of what it will be like to work with you. Think about your resume. Your Linked In profile. Your business card. Your handshake and demeanor when you are face-to-face. The questions you ask. What do you want them to remember about you, so that they are willing to recommend you to someone in their personal network?
- Use Linked In. Conventional wisdom holds that past performance is a good predictor of future performance. That belief won't serve you right now. You need a tool that can help you and others see Future Possibilities. You need a Marketing tool. Linked In can be one of those tools, and it can even be a meta-tool; a tool that links to other tools. Did you know that you can include Free Samples on your Linked In profile? Insert or link to a blog. Include documents and presentations. Start reading books and providing reviews. Make sure you're posting things that people might care about. Give them a lick of your lollipop, just enough to make them want to come back for more.
- FYI, I used multiple job search tools during my last search. I got a coach. I sent out letters to recruiters. I contacted target companies. I responded to job postings on job sites. I went to networking events. I called people. I created a Linked In profile. I read a lot. I researched companies. I completed a lot of online profiles, so that companies with a strong HR filter would be willing to look at me (do a search on dysfunctional hiring practices and see what pops up). The first opportunity I closed came from Linked In - I responded to a job posted there. The second came through networking. Be careful not to invest too much time in one area of your job searching portfolio. Balance it. x% on job boards, x% on networking, x% on marketing yourself using tools like linked in, and so on.
- It takes time to get your network formed. It takes time for it to yield opportunities. If you've never networked before, get started now and don't expect instant results.
- Networking is not about you pushing your needs on the other person. It's about you asking the other person, how can I help? It feels great when the other person is focused on you and your needs. Before your session ends, reach out to that other person and ask them (sincerely), "How might I help you?" Free Sample, remember?
- For any issue that's talked about on the internet, you can find just as many people against a thing as there are for that thing. Be wary of blindly accepting advice from well-meaning people (including me). Not everyone needs a make-over. Study the situation and make an informed decision. Own your own decisions. Remember K-F-C. Know what you want. Find out, are you getting what you want? If not, then Change what you're doing until you get what you want. For example, look at your resume or linked in profile. What message do you want it to send to a prospective customer? Is that message helping your cause? Ask people for feedback, respond appropriately, and move on.
- Your network is your own personal Focus Group. It will have attitudes and perceptions about your product (you) and the marketing message you're using to sell you. Is your focus group responding well to the message? If not, it may have nothing to do with the product, but with the marketing message. What you think is important about that product (makes them want to buy / refer / hire you) may have nothing to do with reality. For a great lesson on this, learn about how P&G brought Febreze back to life. It's written about in the book, "The Power of Habit" which is available in print or as an audio book.
- Be less attached to your marketing message (how you describe your stuff), and care more about whether it's getting the result you want. Again, don't embellish. Be authentic, genuine, real, true, you. It's not lying or being fake. When you're visiting Italy, is it being fake to learn a few words in Italian, or is it respectful of the Other?
- Make an "X" on the left-hand side of a sheet of paper. Mark it "me, today". This is where you are in your capabilities, experience, competencies, talent, expertise. Make another "X" on the right-hand side of the page. This is where you want to be. Now draw an arrow from where you are, to where you want to be. That's the gap. How big is it? What's missing? What must you do to get from one side of the page to the other? What is your personal strategy that must then be executed with excellence to facilitate this transition? That is the work that is front of you now. You have options to consider, and these things are discussed out there on the internet, in job coach offices, in networking discussions. Will you take a job that's not exactly what you want as an investment to move you toward what you do want? Will you wait for the big fish to appear? Will you take a do-over and begin fresh in a new market? It's YOUR choice. Only you can make it. Only you (and those that depend on you) will enjoy the consequences, be they positive or negative.
- There are coaches out there who can help you increase your self-awareness. This is helpful if you're looking to re-invent yourself. There are a number of instruments out there, including the Myers-Briggs (MBTI) inventory or the DISC instrument. I'm a trained facilitator on the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) and it's companion tools, the Personal Strengths and Overdone Strengths inventories, which are based on Relationship Awareness Theory. If you're interested in learning more, give me a shout.
- Self-awareness is a good thing, but it's not enough. When the people in your personal network agree to meet with you, they're going to ask you how they can help you. What will you say? Who should they be helping you get connected with? What areas are you hoping to focus on? Remember that a recommendation is an issue of trust and reputation. If I recommend you to someone in my network, will that enhance my reputation, or harm it? Are you a person I can safely refer to the people who trust me?
- I invested a significant chunk of personal time into better understanding trust. What is it? How do you know if you have it? How does one go about BE-ing trustworthy? Is it possible to intentionally build trust? Is it possible to accelerate the process? Is it possible to teach it to someone else? I learned about the Trust Equation, and it's helped me focus on the "soft" elements that are the "hard" elements of trust. If this sounds interesting to you, I recommend you read the book, "The Trusted Advisor" by Maister, Galford, and Green. You should also check out Charles Green's "trust matters" blog.
- If you really want to dig deep on the issue of trust, look at Stephen R. Covey's materials on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
- This may be the most important item on this list. There is a Powerful Gem you should take advantage of. The QBQ. A QBQ is "the question behind the question". It's about personal accountability. Check it out.
- I remember feeling frustrated at more than one time in my search. Thank goodness I was able to surround myself with people who could help me keep my focus on the good things, and help me find my own bootstraps. Take action to make sure you don't become a SNIOP (Zig Ziglar reference) -- a person who is Susceptible to the Negative Influence of Other People. Pay close attention to what you read, who you talk to, the self-talk that's going on in your head. I found that I needed to change my focus from "I need a job so that I can be paid for what they ask me to do" to "I can do a lot of things now, so lets get started!" I remember the aha moment - "Why am I waiting for permission from someone else in order to do what I do?" After that moment, I began several projects, some of which earned income, and others that helped me land an employment opportunity that was right for me.
- You will always move faster than the people you're contacting. Be understanding. Your focus is to help them, not the other way around.
- Today I consider myself the CEO and CFO of Charlie Cook Incorporated. I must. I can't afford to allow my personal assets to dwindle due to business decisions made by the employers with whom I align myself and my talents. Yes, the people care, but the organization (that collection of people) will do what it must for its own benefit without regard to my personal situation. There is no social contract that guarantees my employment. Stability is an illusion. Always be prepared to seize opportunities - and this does not mean you should have no loyalty. Taking care of yourself does not mean you don't take care of others, including the organization you've decided to employee as your employer. And win-win does not mean you have to lose.
- With this thinking comes a new agenda, a new sense of response-ability, a call to be proactive in everything I do, everyone I meet. Everything I say and do is a *free* sample of what it will be like to work with me (thanks to Randy Pausch for bringing some things into specific relief). I must know what I do that adds value; I must be able to market myself; I don't need permission from anyone to do what must be done for my future, so what am I waiting for? I must take Personal Responsibility for the direction of my career, my self-development, my results, myself, and my assets.
- A fellow by the name of Charles Handy wrote about this back in the 1990's in a book titled, "The Empty Raincoat - new thinking for a new world". He states in his introduction, as he reflects on a previous book (The Age of Unreason) "...organizations will become both smaller and bigger at the same time; they will be flatter, more flexible and more dispersed; our working lives will, likewise, have to be flatter and more flexible. Life will be unreasonable in that it won't go on as it used to; we shall have to make things happen for us rather than wait for them to happen... We must each find our own way. The map, however, will be much the same for all of us, even if we choose to find different paths." In this book, Mr. Handy introduces the idea of the S-curve and Second Curve Thinking which I studied before the great downturn and was more helpful to me during my experience than I could have ever imagined. Read that quote again. Can anyone question that his vision has become a reality?
- Learn how to negotiate. I highly recommend G. Richard Shell's book titled Bargaining For Advantage - negotiating strategies for reasonable people.
- Here is a post by Randy Hain on Linked In about turning age into an asset (for those of us 45 and older who are in transition). See also his advice about networking.
-- Charlie --
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