Job Search Success Secrets
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Whether you’re actively searching for a new job or just thinking about doing it in the near future, this training session will show you how to get noticed in today’s competitive marketplace.
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Job Search Success Secrets
- 1. EAT YOUR CAREER “Helping you create a nourishing professional life” HOSTED BY Chrissy Scivicque Career Coach & Corporate Trainer Job Search Success Secrets
- 2. Meet Your Host Chrissy Scivicque
- 3. My Qualifications Certified Career Coach Professional Resume Writer Corporate Trainer Career Expert for U.S. News & World Report E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life
- 4. Defining “Success” PLAN + PROCESS + POWER RESULTS E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life
- 5. Secrets? Really? Keywords Group Interview Panel Interview Phone Screening LinkedIn ONLINE APPLICATION Networking Salary Negotiation Recruiters Resumes Cover Letters Behavioral Interviewing Job Boards Personal Branding Hiring Managers Positioning FollowUp Strategy Red Flags
- 6. Common Mistakes Rushing into a job search No specific target Using company time to search Using a single tactic for job search Not tracking progress Failing to follow up Letting emotions drive decisions E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life
- 7. The Vicious Cycle E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life
- 8. The Vicious Cycle E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life THE SOLUTION Be Proactive
- 9. The Transition Process Goal Setting Market Research Resume & Cover Letter Revision Interview Prep Job Search Strategy Execution Negotiation Decision-Making E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life
- 10. The Transition Process GOAL SETTING Define (Specifically) What You Want Think Holistically Set a Reasonable Timeframe
- 11. The Transition Process MARKET RESEARCH Target Specific Companies Fill Your Gaps
- 12. The Transition Process RESUME & COVER LETTER REVISION Educate Yourself Create Multiple Targeted Versions Get an Outside POV Consider a Professional Portfolio
- 13. The Transition Process INTERVIEW PREP Articulate Accomplishment Stories What Do YOU Want Them to Know? Practice, Practice, Practice Educate Yourself
- 14. The Transition Process JOB SEARCH STRATEGY Keep a Spreadsheet Use Multiple Methods Leverage People
- 15. Job Search Methods Networking Activities LinkedIn Online Applications Volunteering Temp Agencies Private Employment Agencies Recruiters & Headhunters Local Employment Services College Career Centers / Alumni Services Professional Associations Use a minimum of 4
- 16. The Transition Process EXECUTION Be Consistent Follow Up Promptly Adjust As Needed
- 17. The Transition Process NEGOTIATION Always Do It Know Your Range Focus on Value
- 18. The Transition Process DECISION-MAKING Know Your Priorities Manage Stress and Emotions
- 19. Get the Help You Need 1 Done-For-You Resume & Cover Letter Service E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life I didn’t recognize myself! I kept saying to my husband, ‘Are you sure this is me?’ But yep, it is me. Man, have I undersold myself. P. C A M I L L I , W O D B U R N , M A
- 20. Get the Help You Need 2 Resume & Cover Letter Critique Service E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life I’ve never felt proud of my work history before. But Chrissy turned my experience into something that made me say, ‘Wow.’ I’m already getting interviews and it’s been less than 2 weeks. Seriously!! M . S P E N C E R , C A S T L E R O C K , C O
- 21. Get the Help You Need 3 Job Seeker Digital Product Bundle E AT Y O U R C A R E E R Helping you create a nourishing professional life
- 22. Get the Help You Need Join the FREE Career Resource Librar y www.EatYourCareer.com E-Workbooks and worksheets Quizzes Coaching Calls (Audio MP3s) Monthly coaching calls Monthly training webinars Discounts
Editor's Notes
- Hello and welcome! This webinar is presented by Chrissy Scivicque, Career Coach & Corporate Trainer and the founder of Eat Your Career.com, helping you create a nourishing professional life. Today we are talking about Job Search Success Secrets and I’m so pleased to have you here with us. This session is being offered live exclusively for members of the FREE Career Resource Library. Thank you all for being here and thank you for being valued members. Just a quick note: Slides from today’s session will be available in the member library along with a recorded version of this presentation.
- For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Chrissy Scivicque (Pronounced CIVIC) GO TO VIDEO (I will be bouncing back and forth between slides and video but I’ll always give you a warning so my face doesn’t just pop up out of nowhere and scare you.) DO POLL
- Why am I qualified to teach you about job search? Certified Career Coach I work with job seekers, career climbers and career changers As a coach, part of what I do is resume revision and I provide strategic guidance for job search as well as using things like LinkedIn I’m a corporate trainer (I actually teach a monthly course on LinkedIn for a consulting firm here in Denver) and I also develop custom training and development programs for organizations (including Capital One, Northrop Grumman, TIAA-CREF, Skadden Law, Turner Broadcasting, GA Power, and many more) I am currently a career expert for US News & World Report as well, so you might see my name pop up there as well as dozens of other online and print publications. And that’s really just a small taste of the things I do in this world of professional development and career advancement. Now, let’s talk about today’s session.
- The title of this session is “Job Search Success Secrets” If you’ve read my book, The Proactive Professional, you know that I cite a story in there about an old radio commercial I used to hear all the time that started off with a booming voice that said, “This commercial is only for people who want to be successful in life!” And I thought it was brilliant because everyone wants to be successful, right? I mean, who would say, “Oh, not for me! Guess I’ll turn switch the station!” But it’s also pretty meaningless. Success, in and of itself, is not a worthy or meaningful goal because it means nothing if you don’t define it first. So when I say we’re talking about job search success, I’m talking about three different things: Having a plan, using a process and leveraging your power. If you have these three things, you’ll achieve results. And to define that a little further: I mean you’ll get what you want in the time frame you want it (and ideally, you won’t lose your sanity, your health or your significant other in the process!) I’ve seen too many people be driven absolutely crazy by job searching and I want to prevent that for you! So this is what we’re talking about when I say ”success”. But the title of our session also talks about “secrets”. So I know a lot of people hear that and they think…
- Seriously Chrissy. Are there really any secrets when it comes to this stuff? So you tell me…Are there secrets in job search? Do you think about these things and sometimes wonder if there’s some secret society out there that you’re not a part of? Some group of people who know all about this stuff and you’re just stuggling to figure out the basics? Well, there is a secret society, and it’s the group I’m a part of: Career Coaches! This is what we do!! I literally soak in this information all day every day. And I’ll tell you what: job seach is one area in my field that is constantly changing. New technology and new trends are always emerging, and it’s my job to stay on top of all that. It’s not your job. So I’m going to share with you as many of my secrets as I can in the next hour. And I want to start by telling about the mistakes I see people make. These are the things that can kill your chances and really harm your professional reputation and create a lot of unnecessary stress in the process.
- Rushing into a job search: You’re unhappy at work, you have a bad day and you blanket your resume around town for ANYTHING. Because ANY job is better than THIS job. You don’t have a specific target job or target company—Again, you’re just ready to get out of your current job. This is the kind of thinking that can easily lead to poor decisions—and we’ll talk a little more about that later. Using company time to search: if you’re currently employed, don’t use your employers time to do job search activities. It’s unethical and it could even get you fired. It is MUCH more difficult to find a new job when you’ve been fired from your last job. It’s an obstacle to overcome—it’s not impossible, but you don’t want to deal with it. And it’s also much easier to find a new job when you have a job. There’s been a lot of discussion in the past about discrimination against the long-term unemployed. People who are out of work for more than 6 months are now being discriminated against by employers for a variety of reasons—one of which is that your skills become rusty if you’re not using them. And this kind of discrimination is not illegal. So do everything you can to stay in good standing with your current employer. You want to leave on good terms with a nice reference under your belt. Using a single tactic: Let me tell you, I see this all the time. The one tactic people use for their job search is…Online applications. They sit behind their computer all day and all night and send out hundreds of applications through Monster, Indeed, Career builder, you name it. And guess what? They don’t see a good rate of response. It’s not impossible to get a job that way, but when you use one tactic, you decrease your chances tremendously and you prolong your job search. In this economy, every posting through a website gets hundreds of responses, if not thousands. So if that’s ALL you’re doing, you’re a needle in a haystack. You have to mix it up and use a variety of strategies—which we’ll talk about that more as we move forward. Not tracking: So, even if you ARE using a variety of strategies, if you don’t track your progress, you won’t know what’s working and what’s not. So it’s easy to end up wasting time and energy on tactics that don’t serve you. Failing to Follow Up: One contact with a prospective employer is not enough to make an impression. Sales people know that it takes multiple contacts to make a sale. And when you’re looking for a job, you’re selling yourself. Statistics show that 2% of sales are made on the first contact. Not great odds. 3% of sales are made on the second contact…still not great. 5% of sales are made on the third, 10% on the fourth…getting better. But 80% of sales are made on the 5th to 12th contact. So that means you’ve got to connect and reconnect and reconnect with your professional contacts (the people who can introduce you to opportunities), the prospective employers, hiring manager, and recruiters. In order to really stand out, you have to follow up over and over again. Again, more on that later… And finally, the last mistake, Letting emotion drive decisions: The job search process is an emotional one….fear, anxiety, stress—all of these things come up throughout the process. But you have to learn to deal with them. Don’t let them run the show. When people let their emotions have control, they are much more likely to make irrational decisions. And that can lead to a really vicious cycle…
- This is something I see happen over and over again for many people. They’re unhappy at work so they start a job search. The stress and anxiety of searching and being unhappy in their current situation leads them to make rash decisions. Those rash decision, being not well thought out, end up being poor decisions—that lead to regret and dissatisfaction. They end up, once again, unhappy with their job. And what happens then? They jump into another job search. And it happens all over again. People who are “job hoppers” who bounce from one job to the next, know this cycle very very well. [ANIMATION] The solution is to be proactive—not reactive. You all know I’m a huge fan of proactivity, that’s why I wrote the Proactive Professional! Instead of reacting to your situation and your emotions, create a proactive plan to prevent this kind of problem. Always be prepared for a job search. Don’t wait until you’re so unhappy you can’t take it another day. Don’t wait until you’re laid off. Get things in order NOW so if and when the time comes you can take a rational, systematic approach to your job search and avoid making emotional decisions that lead to bad outcomes. So my goal is to help you AVOID all of these mistakes we’ve talked about.
- Let’s talk about what the transition process entails and how to be proactive about your next job search whenever that may come. I mentioned before that you need three things to be successful: You need a plan, You need to a utilize a process, and You need to recognize and leverage your power. Within each of these areas, there are some key factors which we’ll talk about in this training. When we talk about a plan, that involves goal setting and doing market research. When we talk about a process, that involves resume and cover letter revision, interview preparation, and having a strategy for your job search. And when we talk about leveraging your power, that involves executing your plan to the best of your ability, negotiating compensation, and decision-making. So I’m going to talk about each stage in detail but first…
- I want to encourage you to ask your questions too. You can do so using the chat feature on the webinar platform. If you’re watching this session as a recorded video, you can always ask your questions in the monthly free coaching call too. [Go to Live Video and check to see that people are using chat]
- Let’s talk about the first stage in the transition process and that is “planning” This involves goal setting. So what does that mean? First, Define Specifically What You Want: If you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, you can’t expect to find it. Too often, people just go in with a vague idea of what they want, or they know really clearly what they don’t want…and that’s useful, but it’s not as useful as really creating a specific target for yourself. And some people have skills that are easily transferrable so they feel like they can do a lot of different things. That’s great, but if you’re too general in how you’re approaching things, you’re going to look like a jack of all trades and master of none which isn’t compelling for prospective employers. When you don’t know what you want, you can also end up being pulled in a million different directions and you apply for things that aren’t a right match and you waste time. You also are much more likely to end up in a role that doesn’t actually suit your long-term career goals. If you don’t know what you want, you need to invest some time and energy and maybe even some financial resources into figuring it out. And I’m talking specifics here: the title of the role, the location of the job you want, the salary range you deem acceptable, the environment of the worksite, the type of people you want to work with, the size of the company, the industry, and so on. Think Holistically about your life and what you want in ALL areas—You want your career to support your life goals. That’s the whole idea. You need to make sure that whatever position you take next is going to help you achieve your bigger life vision. I talk about this concept a lot (it’s the whole idea behiind Eat Your Career) and it’s so important. Don’t look at your career in a vacuum. Think about your life and how your next step will help get you where you want to go. And finally, set a reasonable time frame: I want you to be realistic about how long this process will take. Remember, we don’t want to rush it and we don’t want to fall into that reactive vicious cycle. So give yourself space to find the right fit. The general rule of thumb is that it takes one month of job search for every $10,000 in compensation you expect to earn. So if your in the $50,000 a year salary range, expect about 5 months for job search. It might happen fast, but that just helps you keep a realistic perspective as you go through this process.
- The second part of the planning process is to do your market research. The targeted approach is much more effective so that means knowing what you want (goal setting) and knowing what the market wants and what’s available. So market research involves learning about the specific companies where you might like to work and where your services might be best utilized. I love using LinkedIn for this process. You can do a search for companies in your area, you can define the size of company you’re interested in, the industry and much more. Plus, with LinkedIn, you can see who is in your network at those companies, which can give you a great advantage in the process. You also want to look at the basic requirements and qualifications that companies are looking for in the roles you’re seeking. You need to do some self-evaluation and see if you have any gaps that need to be filled before you launch full force into a job search. This is a competitive economy and you want to be in the best possible position, which means you need to have experience with the things companies are saying they want. When I talk about “filling the gaps” it means getting additional education or taking on responsibilities in your current role. The more you can proactively fill your gaps, the more marketable you will be.
- The next phase is to utilize processes. By this, I mean that you are doing the right things to position yourself for job search success. There are some standard tools that are always used in job search and you need to ensure YOURS are up to par. The first tool you will need is an updated or revised resume and cover letter. These are the most important documents in your career and your job search, and there are some specific rules that job seekers are expected to follow with regards to them. Educate yourself on what these rules are. There’s a lot of great information available online—I’ve written a lot about various aspects of this. But there are a lot of nuances to it. It’s not just about grabbing a template and dropping in your job descriptions. It’s a process that takes some serious effort and time. We don’t have time to go into the details of what’s involved, but I’ll tell you right now: If your resume isn’t almost 100% accomplishment focused, you’re doing yourself a disservice. It needs to have specific actions you took, results you achieved and metrics associated with those results. That is what makes a resume stand out. Anything else is much more likely to get lost in the shuffle. The other important thing to understand is keywords. I talk a lot about keywords in my Resume and Cover Letter toolkit, which is an e-guide, and this is a topic that there is a lot of mystery around. Basically, what you need to know is that most online applications go through an applicant tracking software that loads them into a database. The system is screening the information and looking for important terms that are relevant to the position. Some systems will automatically reject you if your resume doesn’t have the specific words they want to see. Also, keywords are used to help filter down the pool of candidates. So a recruiter will go in and search for resumes that have a specific term and they’ll only look at those resumes. So you have to make sure that you’re using the right language. That may vary from position to position, so you have to look at the job description and match it to your resume and make sure you’re talking about the things they’re telling you are important and that you’re using the same language. Create Multiple Targeted Versions: this is a question I get asked a lot. People want to know if they need more than one resume. The answer for most people is yes. You can start with one base resume and you need to adapt it to speak to the specific qualifications that are most important to the role you’re applying for. I recommend that you create a master document with a variety of different bullet point accomplishment statements. Then, as you apply for jobs, you can pull the most relevant ones for each role. Get an Outside Point of View: Ask your trusted advisors to look at your resume and share their thoughts. Remember though that there are a lot of bad resumes out there! You don’t want to get bad advice from someone who hasn’t been a hiring manager or hasn’t been through a recent job search. So use your discretion regarding who you ask and what you listen to. I’ve had clients who have gotten some really wacky feedback from well-meaning friends and family…and if you don’t know better, you could end up making some poor decisions. You want an outside POV that is educated and can point out areas for improvement and catch things you might have missed. Consider a professional portfolio: A portfolio is a great tool to use in addition to your resume and cover letter. It’s basically a physical record that demonstrates your accomplishments. It can be used in an enormous variety of fields--> a lot of people think of portfolios as applying only to graphic artists or writers. But I’ve worked with Administrative Professionals, and Project Managers, and Marketers to create really strong portfolios. I myself used one to land a job as an Executive Assistant over 10 years ago. The recruiter told me it played a big role in my getting an offer because it showed an added level of professionalism and investment in my career.
- Interview preparation is another important part of this process. You need to be ready to really leverage an interview if and when you get the opportunity. NEVER walk into an interview without preparing ahead of time. So how do you do that? First, get comfortable articulating accomplishment stories. This is what recruiters and hiring managers want to hear. About 80% of organizations use behavioral interviewing. This is the style where they ask questions framed like, “tell me about a time when…” They’re looking for you to tell them a story about your past succeesses. It’s built on the idea that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. And you want to be able to clearly and consisely speak about these things. Always know what you want the interviewer to know about you. They usually guide the conversation, but you have to insert the RIGHT information. If you know you want them to understand that you’re a highly creative individual who is skilled at problem solving, you need to work in stories that demonstrate that--even if they don’t specifically ask about it. That’s why having those stories prepared ahead of time really helps. You can just pull them from your back pocket and weave them in. Practice, practice, practice: there is no substitute for practicing. If you don’t, it’s easy to go off on tangents, or get pulled in the wrong direction, or even to accidentally say something that kills your chances. There are many trick questions that interviewers will ask specifically to see if they can get something out of you that disqualifies you. One of my favorites is when they ask something like: Tell me about something you didn’t like about your past manager. That’s a sticky question! They want to hear if you harbor old resentments or if you had interpersonal conflicts. If you’re not prepared and comfortable addressing these kinds of questions in a positive way, you could really shoot yourself in the foot! And again, educate yourself. I have resources and tools that walk you through answering trick questions and addressing difficult topics in a way that is comfortable, and honest, and still allows you to shine and show the best of what you have to offer.
- Job Search Strategy: If you don’t approach a job search strategically, you end up wasting time and energy. You have to go in with a real step-by-step action plan. A few of the key components are: Keep a spreadsheet: This is just a tool to help you track your job search activities. Always track any connections you’ve made, applications you’ve submitted or other things you’ve done. This will help you stay on top of things and know when to follow up and you’ll also see patterns about what is working well and what’s not. You also want to keep notes about the positions you’re looking at because you might get a phone call three weeks from now about an application you submitted, and you want to be able to go back and look at the job description so you can remember what the important points are. (Keep in mind that URLs can disappear so I recommend that you copy and paste the description into a word document as well) Use multiple methods: We talked before about the fact that you don’t want to just use one tactic. I’ll share a list of methods on the next slide and remember, you will have access to these slides after the session. Leverage people: Use your connections. The number one source of hire, year after year, is always referral. When you have a warm introduction to a company, your chances of getting an interview are 14 times greater. The people in your network are your best job search resource, so networking should be a primary method. Ask your contacts for introductions, ask them to flag your resume, ask them to put in a good word for you. People are willing to help, but you have to do the legwork.
- Here are just some of the methods you can use…The recommendation is that you want to use a minimum of 4 methods at any given time if you’re serious about your job search.
- Finally, let’s talk about recognizing and leveraging your power in your job search. It’s very important that you recognize that YOU have a lot of control in this process. Too many people feel like job search is a black hole and that they are truly at the whims of other people. But you have power if you’re willing to use it. It’s really all about execution taking action to make things happen. Be consistent in your job search activities. It’s easy to get feeling down when you’re not having any luck. But job search is a numbers game—the more people you connect with, the more resumes you submit, the more interviews you go on, the better your chances are. You have to keep moving forward even when you’re feeling disappointed. Prompt Follow Up is essential. Don’t wait to respond to interview requests or contacts who are willing to help you. And don’t be afraid to check in with people if you don’t hear back in a reasonable amount of time. I call it being “pleasantly persistent.” Your job is to keep yourself top-of-mind. That means you’re engaging with people frequently and professionally. And adjust your strategies as needed. If you’re tracking your progress and you see that something isn’t really working, stop doing it. Shift gears. Focus your energy on the areas where you’re seeing results.
- If you execute your plan aggressively, you will ultimately land a job offer maybe even a few! So now comes the next step in leveraging your power and that is compensation negotiation. Always always always negotiate your salary on the front end. It can be tempting, especially if you’ve been job searching for a while, to just accept an offer as it’s given. But you’re really squandering an opportunity if you do that. It’s expected that you’ll negotiate and most companies build that expectation into their initial offer. Don’t accept a job at a lower rate with the idea that you can go in and prove yourself and then get a raise. It might happen, but your leverage at that point is gone. It sounds counterintuitive, but you have more leverage before you’re hired because that’s when the company is competing for you. Once you’re hired, they have you. You’re in. They know that, in order for you to leave, you have to launch a new job search and that takes a lot of energy and time and most people don’t want to do it. When you’re outside of the company, they want to bring you in. They have more room to negotiate and they’re more willing to do it. Know your range: You need to have a clearly established range of pay that you’re willing to accept. Know the lowest amount and know what you really want. That might change depending on the role. You might be willing to take a lower rate for a job that has more growth opportunity, or one that allows you to work from home. But you need those numbers in your head before you start the conversation. Whenever you’re discussing pay, always focus on the value of the work you’re doing and how it positively impacts the organization. Never talk about your financial needs. You don’t want to make this conversation about your lifestyle or your family or anything else. It’s about the value of the work you do. You have to provide a justification for your higher salary and it should always be connected to what you’re delivering for the company.
- Finally, the last step is decision-making. You need to be prepared to make some decisions that might be scary. Most of us spend more of our waking hours at work than we do anything else. So it’s a big decision. Know your priorities: What is most important to you? For some people, it’s the schedule—they want flexibility in hours, they want to work from home, or they want to work close to home, or they don’t want a lot of travel. For other people, it’s the pay. For others, it’s the work they’re doing—they want meaningful work, or challenging work, or work that is training them for their next career move. You have to know your priorities and you have to be clear on what you’re willing to sacrifice in exchange for what you want. Are you willing to travel more if you have flexibility when you’re at home? Are you willing to commute a longer distance if you get a higher pay? There are tradeoffs to everything. Only you can determine which sacrifices are acceptable and which aren’t. And of course, manage stress and emotions. These are the things that will cause bad decisions. And they’re inherent in the job search process. You have to be able to set aside the emotions and stress that come up and look at the decision rationally. You can’t let fear or anxiety push you into doing something that you’ll regret later on. So these are the steps in the transition process. I want to share with you three additional ways you can get the help you need and then we’ll open up for questions.
- First, I offer resume creation services where I take your information and create a brand new, keyword rich, beautifully formatted, targeted and accomplishment focused resume and cover letter for you. Right now, during the month of January, members of the Career Resource Library get 20% off this service, which makes it an incredible deal. AND Remember: Service purchases are good for up to one year. So you can purchase now and get the discount and wait and use your services anytime within the next year. Here’s what one of my former clients said about a resume I created for her.
- Now, if you’ve already done some work on your resume and you’re really just looking to see what you might be able to do to improve it and get better results, but you’re pretty confident in your own abilities to identify measurables and write really strong resume language, you can take advantage of another 20% discount on my Critique services. I’ll go through your materials and provide customized, specific guidance for improving your documents. We’ll go through the information together and you’ll be on your way to making changes yourself. This is really helpful for people who have put a LOT of work into their materials already but know there are improvements that could be made, they just need that refined professional perspective from an outside person who knows what they’re doing. Again Remember: Service purchases are good for up to one year. So you can purchase now and get the discount and wait and use your services anytime within the next year. Here’s what another client said about the work I did for her:
- And finally, if you’re more of a Do It Yourself kind of person you can access all of my latest and greatest material and information on these topics in my e-guides Remember: All digital products have lifetime free updates so you’ll always have access to the latest version. As I said before, the trends are always evolving. Next year, things may be different and I do regular updates so you’re never working with outdated materials.
- All of these things are available to you from the discounts page in the library Now do Q&A