Tag Archives: networking

10,000 hours dedicated to your job search may be too much, but the time you put in will make a difference

Leave a reply

If you think Bill Gates and the Beatles were successful because of their innate talent alone, Malcolm Gladwell offers another reason for their success, which he outlines in his book Outliers. Outliers are people who separate themselves from the “ordinary” because of their success, which is due in part because of the 10,000-hour rule. This rule asserts that the time one spends on a certain activity can often predict his/her success.

Gates, for instance, was given the opportunity to practice on personal computers at a private secondary school he attended when personal computers arrived on the scene. This was before he attended, and dropped out of, Harvard and later developed Microsoft.

The Beatles were given the opportunity to play eight hours a day in Hamburg, Germany, when they started out. Gates and the Beatles were driven and talented individuals, of course, but having logged over 10,000 hours to perfect their art made a huge difference, according to Gladwell.

What Gladwell’s 10,000-hour theory has to do with the job search is similar to the amount of time you must put into your search. In other words, your success is proportional to the hours you dedicate to it. However, you can’t dive into your job search without having a plan of attack. Your plan has to demonstrate vision with results. Here are the five most important elements of your job search:

  1. Determining your work values and assessing your skills.
  2. Revising your résumé to fit today’s résumé.
  3. Networking with a purpose.
  4. Polishing your interview techniques, both traditional and behavioral.
  5. Maintaining that positive attitude.

I hope your job search doesn’t require 10,000 hours, or 1.2 years. Forty hours a week for six months (or 960 hours) is probably more than some of you would like to spend on your search. One of the points Gladwell makes in this “must-read” book is that success doesn’t come from only raw talent; it comes from practice and hard work. Read the Outliers. There are many other stories about how people became successful, including timing and their ethnicity.

Recruiters and staffing agencies say your soft skills are important too

4 Replies

Based on two recent blogs I read on LinkedIn Today (a great feature), recruiters and staffing agencies are not only concerned about job candidates’ hard skills; they’re also concerned about their soft skills. And this makes sense. Who would want to hire a dud who brings the operation down with his attitude? Jon Prete, “Who would you hire: Charlie or Ashton? It’s all about attitude!” and Jeff Haden, “The 5 Biggest Hiring Mistakes,” both emphasize the importance of hiring someone who will be a good fit.

This said, how should you prepare for the job search with this in mind? Here are five areas of your job search to focus on.

1)       Be the round peg for the round hole: “The outstanding salesman with the incredible track record of generating business and terrorizing admin and support staff won’t immediately play well in your sandbox just because you hired him,” writes Haden.

Let’s face it; if you’re difficult to work for, you have one strike against you already. Look at yourself long and hard and determine what areas in your personality you might improve. Also determine in which work environments you feel most comfortable. If you’re a demanding person with little tolerance, you might consider an atmosphere with other demanding people…where you can’t terrorize other people.

2)      Show it on paper: Many jobseekers say writing about their soft skills on their résumé and in their cover letter is irrelevant. This is bunk, especially with your cover letter. I don’t suggest that you use clichés like, “hard worker,” “team player,” “dynamic.” I suggest you illustrate these traits through your accomplishments. Show rather than tell.

A Manufacturing Manager who has a team-work approach and leadership skills might write: Consistently met production deadlines through collaboration with colleagues in various departments and providing effective leadership to (formerly) unmotivated subordinates. Result: Products were shipped to customers with a 97% return rate.

3)      Talk about your soft skills while you’re networking: “I hate bragging at networking events,” I’m constantly told. “Nobody wants to hear about my personal qualities.” Yes they do. If someone is going to recommend you to a solid contact, wouldn’t you like to be assured that she will tell him that you loved what you were doing; you were a positive influence on you co-workers? Demonstrate your enthusiasm while you’re networking, whether at events or on the sidelines of your daughter’s soccer game. Instead of saying, “I’m innovative”; say, “I came up with ideas that were often implemented and led to significant cost savings.”

4)      Of course demonstrating your soft skills at the interview is important: This goes without saying. Interviewers today are using behavioral questions to find the people with the right attitude. “If crafted properly,” states Prete, “behavioral questions can provide a glimpse into a candidate’s decision-making process as well as their values. [Leadership Development Advisor, Beth Armknecht Miller] believes that a great majority of employees fail in a company because their soft skills and values don’t match those of their manager and company.”

Unlike the résumé where you have limited space, the interview provides you the platform to tell your stories using the STAR (situation, task, action, result) formula. You may be asked about your ability to effectively discipline subordinates. “Tell me about a time when you were effective in disciplining an employee. How did this help the employee perform better?” Have a story ready.

5)      Seal the deal: The interview is not concluded until you’ve sent a follow-up letter, I tell my workshop attendees. This is another opportunity to emphasize your strong personality skills, making you a better fit for the position than other applicants. Many jobseekers fail to send a thank you note, and some don’t get the job for that reason.

A former customer recently wrote me, “The HR person really liked my hand-written thank-you note; said it was rare.” The message here is that you can stand out as a courteous, professional, and follow-through type of candidate simply by sending a thank-you note.

Jobseekers generally think that recruiters and staffing agencies care only about the technical skills. (After all, recruiters can’t present a zebra with orange stripes to their client when a zebra with black stripes is called for.) But two recruiters are telling you that employers want a great personality fit, as well. Take their advice and sell yourself as an all-around employee from the very beginning.

Is Your LinkedIn Photo Acceptable?

6 Replies

I know there’s some debate around having a photo on your LinkedIn profile. The naysayers think it will contribute to age discrimination, and those in favor say it makes you more noticeable. I happen to agree with the latter; and those who heard my opinion on this when I first started leading LinkedIn workshops are probably thinking I’m a hypocrite—one person actually called me on it. Everyone, other than politicians, can change their opinions, right?

Basically there are five types of photos: the beautiful people, the ambiguous photo, the downright nasty, the silly photo, and the ugly grey box (no photo).

The Beautiful People. Are they really beautiful, or was their photo taken 15 years ago for the company tri-fold? That’s one question I have. I’m sure that there are some great looking people out there who are accurately representing themselves. But there was one time when I met a gentleman who looked nothing like his photo. I think he was trying to avoid age discrimination. To me, that’s devious and hurts you more than it helps.

At a recent networking event, I spoke to one woman about her photo, which was taken from too far a distance. I commented that she simply show her face and shoulders in her photo. I noticed the last time I looked at her LinkedIn photo she had followed my advice, and, boy, does her photo look great!

The Ambiguous Photo. I’ve decided my photo is ambiguous. Why, because I can’t tell what my photo says about me. It’s sort of blurry, the backgrounds not right, and my garb makes me look like I’m dressed at the moment—no tie. My goal was to appear professional. I should have worn a tie. Prior to this photo, I had a black and white one—an idea I stole from one of my colleagues—because my cheeks are too red and make me look like a tomato. Hers was black and white because she had pink hair at the time.

The Downright Nasty Photo. One photo comes to mind of a woman who looks like she would kill you as soon as look at you. You can see the anger in her face…and her anger comes out in her answers to questions on LinkedIn. Her photo is a true reflection of her personality. I would bet anything that she hates life. This is a difficult photo to discuss because the description is negative and I don’t like to criticize people who don’t know better.

I’m also not too fond of the serious, why-isn’t-he-smiling photo? Isn’t the idea to show your amiable self in your photo? Your photo is part of your branding statement, so it should demonstrate to employers and potential customers the inner beauty in you…or that you’re at least a likeable fella.

The Silly Photo. I’ve seen LinkedIn photos of caricatures, people sitting by their motorcycle, soccer balls, people standing on the beach, burning masks, and other silly representations of people. To this I say they’re not taking LinkedIn seriously or don’t want to spend the effort to have a quality photo taken of them, either professionally or by someone who has a decent camera.

The Ugly Grey Box. I think this is LinkedIn’s way of encouraging people to include a photo on their LinkedIn profile, and I think it’s a positive thing. When I see that ugly grey box, I have two reactions. One, I don’t immediately recognize the person, so I feel no real connection with them. Two, I think they’re hiding something which, incidentally, is how recruiters and employers feel. It’s immediate cause for suspicion. The fact is that the workforce is aging and most people working are mature workers. Although age discrimination exists, employers can’t afford to pass up talented older workers for younger, less experienced ones. Take a chance, all you grey heads, and post your photo on your profile.

What’s the Big Deal? People who are looking for a job need to take everything about their LinkedIn profile seriously, including their photo. In fact, even those who are gainfully employed have to present themselves in a favorable light. We are constantly networking. People who are out of work, employed, and own a business are on display. Networking is about connecting with others, right? Your photo is one way to do this.

An Account of how One Man Found a Job: What Worked and what Didn’t.

Leave a reply

The last time I saw Jim at our career center was in January of this year. We adjourned to my office where we looked over his résumé and LinkedIn profile. He had concerns about switching industries but knew he wanted to do the same work, Continuous Improvement Management.  

I’m ecstatic to say that Jim recently got a job in the industry he was pursuing. He announced his landing to me four months after we last met. When he thanked me for his help and encouragement, I asked him for a small favor—I wanted to know how he got his job. What follows is more than I expected as a response. Jim secured his job the Good Ole’ Fashion way, through hard work and diligent networking. Here’s his story:

Using LinkedIn worked.

Although LinkedIn is a great online networking tool, Jim used it primarily for research. He researched people of interest during his job search, including those he interviewed with and cold called. LinkedIn allowed him to research companies, using the Companies feature, and keep easy track of his targeted companies. He wisely joined a number of LinkedIn groups to identify companies that were hiring, learning about the latest technology, and some issues the companies had.

As well, Jim kept track of people who were viewing his profile, hoping to identify hiring managers at some companies for which he hoped to work. Lastly, he began to understand the importance of branding oneself using LinkedIn and will continue his branding endeavors.

Blasting out résumés didn’t work!

His initial goal was to send out 10 résumés per week, and he came close averaging 6.3. He felt this was a waste of time and did it only to meet unemployment requirements. Using this method to look for work yielded him one phone interview. There were some benefits, though; he learned what requirements employers had and targeted his résumés to each job for which he applied. He also learned to identify the companies that are involved in Lean Six Sigma and are growing rapidly.

Informational meetings worked.

Jim became a big fan of informational meetings, as they were great for learning about needs of the industry and/or specific companies, obtaining leads to companies that may have “hidden opportunities,” and developing a group of folks that he would often go back to for gathering vital information—particularly learning of solutions or strategies used to solve particular types of industry problems (e.g. increase the perception that he could help because he was familiar with industry techniques).

In addition, he used informational meetings to:  

  • Volunteer information that he uncovered about the industry in general.
  • Connect folks to someone who might be able to help them with an issue brought up in conversations. Pay it forward.
  • Provide expertise to solve a problem, mentor someone, or crunch numbers and put them in a user-friendly format.
  • Develop a sharing network for the future.

Researching companies websites worked.

Jim focused on investigating 10 companies per week. He would research two large companies (over 100 employees) per week and eight small ones. In reality, he investigated big ones only if he received a lead or submitted a résumé for a job board opening. He usually knocked off six small companies per week and feels that this will be his primary approach next time.

Making calls, albeit frustrating, worked.

Jim cold-called companies or went to their doors, acting like a reporter and/or sales person sometimes. This was very hard being rejected 80-90% of the time but paid the best dividends when successful. Here’s why:

  • He often got very good leads with other small companies (60+% success vs. 10% with large companies). The owners of these companies had large networks and often could provide contacts and information about numerous companies.
  • He was offered a number of short-term contract jobs which he politely refused.  In three instances, he volunteered his time to help with specific opportunities.  All those for whom he volunteered were willing to give him a reference and one actually knew his new boss. He believes this played a big part in being hired.
  • Four folks asked him to stay in touch, and he’s pretty confident that a fulltime or consulting opportunity will arise in the future.

Volunteering really worked! 

Jim used a not-for-profit Lean Six Sigma training and facilitation organization a lot while at his previous job and did a lot of things to support them, such as hosting tours and training sessions, running a booth at their shows, providing case studies, writing referrals, etc.  He writes that, “MY BIGGEST LESSON: YOU ARE INTERVIEWING EVERY MOMENT OF THE DAY.”

The not-for-profit organization got him twice as many real interviews via their network and their team pushing his name than everything else combined. They also allowed him to take $2,100 worth of six sigma classes while he was out of work and defer payment until he could afford it.

Networking ultimately worked!

Jim volunteered to coach and work one day a week for two different companies that had employees attending the six sigma classes. He worked days, nights, and weekends as necessary to support them while job hunting.

The Lean Six Sigma class instructor knew he was looking for a job and saw how hard he worked to support classmates and the two specific companies. The instructor was working one day per week at [the company for which Jim now works]. During one of his weekly trips, he proposed that the CEO hire a Continuous Improvement Manager full time and that the CEO plan long-term to promote this position to VP of Operations as the business grows.

After selling the CEO on the idea, he gave him Jim’s résumé and stated that Jim was the person that should be hired. Breakfast with CEO, Interviews with core team, and unsolicited calls from small business owners mentioned earlier all led to him obtaining a job.

 Jim is one of the brightest individuals to walk through the career center’s doors. He diligently attended workshops and worked with career advisors. But the thing that stands out for me about Jim is his positive attitude and never-say-die attitude. This type of thinking is perhaps the secret to success in the labyrinth of the job search.

I Need Your Advice

Leave a reply

A colleague and I mentioned awhile ago that it would be a cool idea if I started a blog for my organization, a blog about job search tips. I have one problem with this idea. Or maybe two. My first problem is that I can’t talk about my family who include my outrageously funny and insightful son; my middle child, a quiet yet personable daughter; and my eldest daughter, a smart and engaging character. I also can’t mention my beautiful and intelligent wife who keeps me on my toes and tells me to look for things, even though she knows where they are (see my blog, It’s an Employer Thing).

Why is this important to me, you may ask. Simply put, my family is everything to me, and I like to write. So combining these two values, it makes for some entertainment and, hopefully, some learning value to people who read my blog.

So instead, I’ll probably write about something mundane like 5 tips to creating a successful résumé. Now who says there are only 5 tips? There could be 7, or 10, or 50. This all depends on who you ask. Not for nothing, but I have been following a discussion on LinkedIn where one person says every résumé should be targeted, while others say targeting a résumé to each and every job will only cause confusion. The jobseeker instead, it’s argued, should write one résumé—or two at the most—and tweak it to fit the values and key words the employers require. So, how can there be 5 outstanding tips on how to write a successful résumé when two people can’t agree on the positioning of a résumé?

I might also write tips on how to create an effective LinkedIn profile. Already I see a problem with this. I hold dear the value of the Summary section on LinkedIn, believing that it should be written in first person with the personal pronoun “I.” But there’s also something to be said about writing the profile in third person, if…the person is accomplished, as in an author or actor or comedian. The other thing about a LinkedIn profile is that no one can come to an agreement as to what the most important component of the profile is.

  1. Is it the Snap Shot which includes one’s name and title? Think key words and stunning photo.
  2. Is it the Summary? You know my feelings on this.
  3. Is it the (Work) History?
  4. Is it the Specialties section, which is really part of the Summary?
  5. Is it the Honors and Awards section, or the Recommendations, Blog, Website, Reading List…?

I’d write about Career Networking, of course. On this topic I’ve come to the conclusion that networking is a lot easier than people say it is. You’re told to get out to networking events and shake hands with folks, look them in the eyes, collect business cards, deliver your personal commercial, be sure not to spill your drink, etc. I see it differently. I think networking is a natural progression that is done best in informal settings. In fact, the majority of job opportunities are gained through acquaintances. I think people are far too uptight about networking than they should be.

Salary negotiation would be another topic on which I’d write. I honestly believe that all the advice in the world gets thrown out the window when push comes to shove. We’re supposed to avoid the issue as best we can by first deflecting the discussion altogether, then asking the employer what her salary range is, then telling the employer what our range is, and finally stating an exact figure. Most people I’ve spoken to have gone directly to stage 4. Another thing about networking is that the goal for the jobseeker is not to “beat up” the employer, as one would a car salesman; rather it’s to come to a “win-win situation” where the deal is only sealed if both parties are happy. This, to me is the major theme.

I couldn’t forget interview techniques. Now how do I break this down? Do I talk first about traditional interviews, followed by behavioral interviews? The two are very different but are usually combined. I run a workshop called the Complete Interview Process, which combines the two types of interviews for this very reason. What great folly it would be to draw an analogy between interviewing and interrogating one of my kids, only to end by saying, “Hey, it’s really not that bad, Mr. jobseeker.”

I suppose my second problem with writing a blog for my organization is that I’m way too literal in my views. In MBTI speak, I’m what’s called a Sensor—yes, I know, there are only Introverts and Extraverts—which means I see things as black and white. So, if there are a number of outstanding tips for writing a résumé, there has to be a specific number. Five, 10, 15, 20, 23, 33, 44, 55….There are different opinions on every aspect of the job search, I realize this; but I like things nice and neat. LinkedIn, Career Networking, Salary Negotiation: they’re all very complex, messy topics that can’t be covered in one sitting. As far as I can see, no one agrees 100% on any of this, and in my world, this concerns me.

I know that as I look at my bobblehead collection Dwight Schrute is the man, not Michael Scott, Jim, Pam, Creed, or Andy. You may disagree. I guess I’ll just have to bite the bullet and tell it how I feel the career search should be conducted. But it would be really cool if I could draw comparisons between The Office and Things Career Related.