Taking back control in your job search –and then super-charging it, is not as difficult as you may think. It simply involves putting in a little thought and strategy time, focusing on: what you want as your next career challenge; what you bring to the table in skills as assets; and how to position and sell this ‘new message’ that adds clarity to your value.
1. Develop Your Career Brand Message
You are a product too, like it or not. And that product must be tailored, and marketed, if it is to reach its potential.
How do you want ‘you’ as a product want to be perceived?
– Do a ‘deep interview’ of yourself & dig for all those details and nuggets of gold that you might have let slip away long ago, not necessarily having previously seen their value within a larger narrative.
– Make a list of the core elements that drive you, both in career and in life.
– After seeing your core elements, uncovering your lost details, and contemplating how you’d like ‘you’ as a product to be perceived, develop a core message about you.
You can start by literally writing it out with sentence structure, but eventually this will be simplified (away from sentence structure) at the top of your resume or in the summary of your LinkedIn.
Simple collections of certain words together can help instantly shape how you are perceived.
2. Develop Your Target-Company Strategy
It’s a romance, similar to dating (sorry!), so if your desire for them & their company is genuine (not just a genuine desire for a job) it works, just like dating. If you are only looking for a ‘job’, and not ‘that job, with that company’ specifically… it rarely goes as well. Target companies and organizations that you have genuine interest in working for, and work outward from there.
3. Reach out to the Decision-maker
90-seconds. In that short amount of discussion time with the real decision-maker, if you are right for this role, they’ll understand your value. It’s not about talking yourself into a role you are not right for, but about not getting ruled out in a pre-screening process with individuals that don’t really understand your background.
– Use LinkedIn & ‘reverse-search’ the company; rebuild the org chart looking through the titles; and narrow to the right 3-5 people that somehow might be involved in the conversation to bring an individual like you on board.
– Share a few elements about your value, after you’ve told them first why you have to work for them (but, of course, never mention some open job or posting.. just be the right person at the right place at the right time). Offer to share more (think in terms of a carrot) and book a meeting (that’s an interview, no matter what’s it’s called!)
4. Dazzle Them in a Meeting (that’s an Interview!)
– It’s your job to walk in the door & to ‘teach them how to select you’ as the ‘very best’ individual for the role.
– Build an agenda to accomplish your goal. What would you need to hear to jump out of your chair?
5. Fill Your Dance Card!
Don’t settle too early, as you deserve to have some choice.
Getting multiple offers at the same time is (also) not as difficult as it sounds, but it does take determination to ‘fill your dance card’.
Just booked an Interview? Fantastic… now book 3 more instantly!
Reach out to the decision-makers at 3 closest competitors and alert them to ‘owing them this call’ since you are going into see their competitor on Tuesday, but would really love to bring your talents to their team (truly irresistible, if you think about this for a moment).
Job Search is a SALES PROCESS.
Like it or not, so let’s ‘start' those engines!
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Need more help? I know a great Career Coach!
I'm very good with teaching individuals how to streamline their interview process so they get better and better each time.
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John Crant
Author, Career Coach & Speaker on Job Search and Career Management
Featured Speaker for
The New York Public Library's JOB SEARCH CENTRAL
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In the Media: As Seen As Featured in
amNY, Time Out New York, The Wall Street Journal (and its FINS.com), CRAIN'S New York Business, Forbes, CNN, BBC, FOX News (on Social Media Marketing), AriseTV, New York Post, The Huffington Post, Essence magazine, CareerBuilder and The Ladders
On the Radio: As Guest: WHCR 90.3 FM "The Voice of Harlem"
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As an industry manager, executive recruiter, recruiting & sales trainer, event speaker, and as VP of a nationwide system of recruitment offices, I have seen most every aspect of the hiring process and this varied insight is what provides the clarity you will find in this book.
#selfrecruiter #resume #interviews #interviewing #linkedin #careerbranding #jobsearch #bootcamp #careercoach #careercoaching #resumewriter #linkedinguru #careerbrand #johncrant
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