The 3 Parts of a Successful Job Search – How Many are You Using? Part 2

There are 3 parts of a successful job search and if you have been struggling in the search, you may not be using all 3 parts.

Part 1 - Reactive

Most job seekers are very familiar with the reactive job search which is replying to ads when they appear. Although this is a part of the job search, too many job seekers are limiting their approach to replying to ads and have not found it to be very fruitful.

Even for those who are using this approach, they may be missing out on some of the strategies available to them to be more successful.

http://rightchangesjobsearchcoach.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-3-parts-of-successful-job-search.html

Part 2 – Passive

The Passive approach to the job search is similar to the way I like to fish: put bait on your hook, throw the line into the water, and lay back to see what bites.

In job search terms, the Passive approach includes posting your resume on job boards, having a LinkedIn profile, and working with external recruiters (aka search firms or headhunters); you take an action and then wait for someone to “bite”.

The Passive approach, like the other two approaches, should not be used exclusively as a job search process.

Even for those who are using the Passive approach, they may be missing out on some of the strategies available to them to be more successful.

1) Reposting Your Resume

When you post your resume on a job board, the system records what date it was posted. Recruiters, when they go onto the job boards looking for candidates, are looking for candidates who have posted their resume recently. They do not want to waste their time reviewing resumes of people who posted their resume on the job board previously but have since found a job.

To keep your resume “fresh” so it is included when recruiters search the job boards, update your resume frequently (example every three weeks) so the posted date is more current. The update you make does not have to be substantial and always proof the changes you make.

2) Leveraging Industry Specific Job Boards

Many companies have realized they find skilled candidates when they use industry specific job boards instead of the giant boards like CareerBuilder and Monster. To find industry specific job boards, search the internet using the name of your industry and the words “job boards”. For example, searching “technology job boards” will bring up Dice.com and others.

3) LinkedIn

First I will say: YES – you have to have a LinkedIn profile. I don’t consider anyone a serious job seeker unless they have a profile on LinkedIn; it is like being a business these days without having a web site. This is not a social networking site like Facebook and is not a stream of consciousness like Twitter. LinkedIn is a professional networking site and should be used as such. Non-job seekers should also have a profile on LinkedIn.

If you have been on LinkedIn you know that they change the site quite frequently. For that reason I will never write an article just about LinkedIn because the article will be out of date by the time I hit Save. I will though give a few tips that many people miss.

a. Have a professional headshot. The picture is to help jog the memory of people you have met so they can confirm they have the right person before connecting with you.

b. Do not include the words “seeking”, “unemployed”, or the like. Your job title is what you do for a living. I use the analogy of a musician, just because he is between gigs does not mean he is not still a musician.

c. Behind your job title include what you are known for. Example: “Senior IT Manager; Success at Increasing Productivity and Improving Quality”. Having a Personal Brand is important in this competitive market; it communicates how you are unique from others who have the same job title.


d. Customize your URL so it has an IN and not PUB address. Under your picture there is a URL or web address that begins www.linkedin.com/. Look at the next part. If it is PUB then you still have the address assigned to you when you created your profile. Behind the portion which contains your name you will have what I call alphabet soup, a series of letters and or numbers. Having a PUB address indicates you don’t know how to use LinkedIn.

You can click the word Edit behind the URL and customize it. If you have a name like mine (very common) then you will have to be clever with coming up with a name that is not already taken yet is still professional.

e. Include your accomplishments (or examples of what you did for the company) under each job in the experience section.

f. Do NOT include your birthday or marital status; this is not Facebook.


4) Working with Recruiters

Recruiters, or headhunters as they are sometimes called, can be very helpful in a job search. It is essential to remember however that their job is not to find you a job. They are hired instead by the company to find the right candidate for a certain position. Recruiters normally cannot return all of the unsolicited calls from job seekers and still get their work done. Here are a few strategies you can implement to increase your success with recruiters.

a. Find recruiters who work with your particular industry. There are a number of ways you can research that information. Type in the name of your industry and the word “recruiter” in a search engine. Go to industry events and ask around for recommendations. And contact hiring managers at your target companies and ask who is on the “preferred vendor list” of recruiters.

b. Develop a professional relationship with your recruiter. You want to be top of mind when a new position comes across their desk.


The Passive job search is only a small part of the complete job search. Using all three parts will greatly increase your chance of job search success – finding a job you WANT!


Part 3 of the job search will be published next week. You can join the hundred of others who “Follow” Judi’s blob at RightChangesJobSearchCoach.blogspot.com with a simple click so you receive these articles and others the moment they are published.

The next article after this series will be “The one question a job seeker should ALWAYS ask after an interview (and many don’t)”. I welcome your suggestions for job search topics that have not already been addressed on this blog. You can submit those ideas using the comments feature for this article.

Judi Adams is the Affordable and Successful Job Search Coach, author of an Amazon hottest new release “Found a Job Yet? And Other Questions NOT to Ask!”, and keynote speaker. Judi is also the creator of the YouTube video series “The Five Deadly Sins of the Job Search” that can be found on YouTube.com using FoundaJobYet in the search field. Her blog RightChangesJobSearchCoach.blogspot.com has been read world-wide since 2009. Judi’s clients have had phenomenal success finding jobs they want by following the steps she outlines for them. For more information on RightChanges’ 2013 special for the initial hour of coaching, the new “advantage program for students”, and RightChanges other services, go to www.RightChanges.biz.

The 3 Parts of a Successful Job Search – How Many are You Using?

There are 3 parts of a successful job search and if you have been struggling in the search, you may not be using all 3 parts.

Part 1 - Reactive

Most job seekers are very familiar with the reactive job search which is replying to ads when they appear. Although this is a part of the job search, too many job seekers are limiting their approach to replying to ads and have not found it to be very fruitful. Let’s look at why it is not more fruitful:

1) Only 15% of all of the available jobs are posted online. 85% of all available jobs are part of what is called the “hidden job market”

2) According to job seekers who have found a job, this approach was only successful for 30% or less of job seekers

3) Only 10% of resumes make it passed the computer scan and therefore 90% resumes do not even make it to the hiring authority

4) Of the 10% of the resumes that make it to the hiring authority, not all of them are even viewed. For example let’s say there are 1000 resumes submitted for any job. 10% of 1000 is a hundred. Hiring managers do not review all 100 resumes to find the best. The hiring manager glances at a number of resumes (say the first 10), selects the best, and continues this process until they have a sufficient pool of candidates. So even if your resume gets passed keyword software, your resume may not even be seen.

5) A handful of final candidates have already been selected prior to the position being posted. The job is posted to meet EEOC obligations.

Even for those who are using this approach, they may be missing out on some of the strategies available to them to be more successful.

1) Job alerts
Many if not most job boards have a tool called a job alert or job agent. You can set specific keywords and job titles and each time a new job is posted matching your requirements, it will e-mail you a notice with a link to that job allowing you to reply to the posting before the position is taken down from the sites.

2) Using industry specific job boards
Many job seekers are familiar with the major job boards (CareerBuilder, Monster, etc.) and even some aggregators like Indeed.com. Aggregators “crawl” other job boards and bring together (aggregate) the listings into one site.

There are sites that are specific for each industry and may be used more frequently by companies to find candidates in that particular industry. Example Dice.com is a technology specific job board.

You should find and use the job boards specific to your industry in addition to the major job boards.

3) Having a keyword rich resume

The way to get your resume passed the keyword software is to be sure your resume highlights the skills companies are looking for.

Some job coaches recommend you tailor your resume for each application. Judi Adams of RightChanges disagrees. “The resume rings hollow” when it is tailored for the specific job description, according to a recruiter at a recent RightChanges workshop, because it is mimicking back what the job description said. In addition to the problem of the resume ringing hollow, too many job seekers make errors and typos when they recreate the resume each time and that will get your resume excluded.

Instead RightChanges suggests you take 5 job descriptions for the type of job you want as a sample set, even if the job is not in your geographic area, and tailor your resume so it fits the standard for that role and highlights the skills most requested.

4) Having a cover letter that visually highlights why you are a good candidate

Since you are not tailoring the resume for every job you are applying for anymore, you do want to include a position specific cover letter. This cover letter, when done as described, will help get your resume passed the computerized keyword search. In addition, when your resume gets in front of a person, you have done the work for them to illustrate why you are a fit for the position and everyone they send the resume to will benefit from you doing the work for them as well.

When a hiring authority comments on how good the format of your cover letter is, you know you have done something right. Plus it is so easy to write and contains less “I” and “Me” statements and more about how you can help the company.

Here is a link to the previously published article about this powerful cover letter.
http://rightchangesjobsearchcoach.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

5) Networking into the company after applying
Candidates have a 50 TIMES greater chance of getting the job with an employee contact. Fifty times! Why? The reason candidates have a greater chance of getting the job with an employee contact is because you now are more than a flat piece of paper (referring to the resume) and you have an internal advocate that can get your resume sorted to the top of the pile so it is seen.

After you apply for a job with a company, go into LinkedIn and see who you know (or someone you knows knows) at the company who can serve as an advocate for you.

Part 2 of the job search will be published next week and Part 3 the week after. You can join the hundred of others who “Follow” Judi’s blob at RightChangesJobSearchCoach.blogspot.com with a simple click so you receive these articles and others the moment they are published.

Judi Adams is the Affordable and Successful Job Search Coach, author of an Amazon hottest new release “Found a Job Yet? And Other Questions NOT to Ask!”, and keynote speaker. Judi is also the creator of the YouTube video series “The Five Deadly Sins of the Job Search” that can be found on YouTube.com using FoundaJobYet in the search field. Her blog RightChangesJobSearchCoach.blogspot.com has been read world-wide since 2009. Judi’s clients have had phenomenal success finding jobs they want by following the steps she outlines for them. For more information on RightChanges 2013 special for the initial hour of coaching, the new “advantage program for students”, and RightChanges other services go to www.RightChanges.biz.

What You Need to Know About Negotiating Before the Interview

There are things every job candidate should know about negotiating BEFORE the first interview. It could cost you money and more if you do not follow these simple steps.

Why Negotiate?

Many of you wonder if you should even bother to negotiate in this job market. Many feel that if the offer is fair, you should just take it.

Let me ask you: Would you pay sticker price for a car? Of course you wouldn’t. You know that is the starting point and it goes down from there. Would you automatically pay the asking price for a house? Of course not! You know when buying a car or a house, the game of negotiating is expected. Then why would you leave money on the table when you are being offered a job? The response for many is that they do not know how to negotiate when it comes to salary. By reading this article, you will know the basics of negotiating in a job search.

Truths About Negotiating

There are some truths about negotiating that will be helpful to know.

1) The offer made is usually not the most the manager can offer.

As a former hiring manager, I know it is true that we managers do not put our best offer on the table the first time. We usually have a range we can work within for a position. The offer is based upon experience but even then we usually leave ourselves a little room to negotiate.

The range we have is usually not even the most we can offer. If we find the perfect candidate, we can go to our upper management and make a case to make an offer that is above the initial range.
So if you are not negotiating, you could be leaving money on the table.

2) The point of hire is the best time to negotiate.

The company has gone through a resource and time consuming process with a significant number of candidates and decided you bring the best combination of skills, experience, and fit for the company. They have decided on you. This is the best time to negotiate – before you are an employee. Once you are an employee they have you. Before they hire you, you have leverage in the negotiation process; they want you and do not want to let you go only to have to ramp up the interview process again.

3) Future increases are based upon your starting salary.

In today’s economy, the annual salary or cost of living increase is lower. But regardless of what it is, your base salary is used in the calculation of your increase and then the following year that new resulting number is used, which was as you remember based upon your initial starting salary.

4) More than just salary is up for negotiations

Of course we know salary is negotiated but there are a number of other benefits and options that can be negotiated.

5) Women negotiate less often than men.

Although it is not the only factor in the discrepancy between the salary of men and women, one of the factors is that women do not negotiate as often as men do. Too many women are leaving money on the table.

What to do to Prepare

Before you go on an interview, you need to know what salary you can expect for the job based upon your experience and geographic area. You also need to know what other benefits are important to you. You should have two levels in your head:
1) the minimum you will accept or you will walk away and
2) the level you expect.

Geography is important. For instance you can expect to get paid more working in New York or San Francisco than in Birmingham because of the cost of living.

To identify typical salary ranges for a job by geographic area, there are sites such as Salary.com and GlassDoor.com. These sites offer base salary, bonus information, and full package (salary plus bonus plus benefits). Indeed.com and other sites have salary information as well and some even give sample salary ranges for particular companies.

When to Negotiate

The right price is discussed at the right time. Some hiring authorities will try to get you to say during the phone interview what salary you are looking for or are currently earning, before they have even determined whether you are a worthwhile candidate. This is NOT the right time to discuss salary and that is why job seekers need to know about how to negotiate (and deflect salary discussions) before they start to interview.

Your best negotiating position is when they have decided you are the right candidate. When you are scheduled for a phone interview, the company is still trying to figure out “who are you?” You have little to no negotiating power.

After the phone interview or first interview they are thinking “we like you”. You have more negotiating power but it still not the right time.

After the first interview, when they call you in for a second interview, they are thinking “we love you” and you have more negotiating power but it is still not the most leverage you have. In fishing they say “the fish is not yet on the hook”.

When you have finished the second interview and they have identified you as the top candidate they are saying “we have to have you ” and that is the point at which you have the most negotiating power.

But as I said before, the company representative (Human Resource representative, internal company recruiter, or hiring manager) try to get you to reveal your salary requirements on the initial contact. So how can you keep from speaking too soon about salary? I refer to the techniques as the super power bands.

Before the Time Is Right


You could lose money if you speak about salary too soon so we need ways to deflect and deter salary questions until the time is right.

Picture a super hero with wide bands on the wrists that can deflect even laser beams. I want you to arm yourself with these power bands. When asked about what salary you are looking for or asked what you currently earn and expect, I want you to use these techniques.

Power Band 1: “I need to know more about the job before I could answer that. “

This is a very honest answer. You DO need to know more about the job to determine what salary you should get.

If I offered you $80,000 for the job of secretary, some of you would jump at it. Great, you are now Secretary of Defense of the United States. The job title, in this case secretary, does not give enough information about the work you’ll be doing to determine the salary you should be earning. By the way, the Secretary of Defense gets almost $200K.

Power Band 2: “I’m sure you will make me a fair offer based upon the work I’ll be doing and the experience I bring”.

Since everyone will be doing the same work, end with the phrase “the experience I bring” as shown above. Since it is the last thing you said, it will echo in their heads.

Power Band 3: “Salary is important to me. What is also important is the work I’ll be doing and I’d like to know more about…” and then ask a question about the job.

Do not say “salary is not important” or they may let you prove it. This technique redirects their attention away from salary and back to talking about the job.

Power Band 4: “Wow, you seem very concerned about the salary. What is the position budgeted for?”

This power band should not be used unless they keep pushing to find out your salary requirements and only after using the other techniques. This statement should be made with a quiet and calm tone of surprise and mild concern. If the real reason they keep bringing up salary is that they are concerned you may be more than they can afford, then they should be willing to share the salary range.

If the salary range they share is within your acceptable range (or more), then you can simply reply “we are in the same ball park”.

If, however, the range they share is significantly lower than you expect for the work you will be doing and the experience you bring, then you can say “oh, now I see why you were so concerned. That is low for my level of experience and skills. A brief pause at this time, allowing for a moment of silence, may result in them saying they can possibly do better. If not, you may offer to recommend candidates that have a lot less experience. There is no need to waste their time or yours if the salary is not even a negotiable level.

When the Time Is Right


When you are the final candidate and the company makes you an offer, say “hmm” with what I term a Mona Lisa smile (neither a smile nor a frown) and pause. Let silence fill the room.

Do you know what is happening in that silence? The other person is mentally sharpening their pencil and thinking “he didn’t jump at that amount. Well I do have that extra amount I can offer and I’m sure I can go back to my boss and get a little more if I need to.” Already, without saying a word, your salary is going up.

Then express interest in the job, agree you believe it is a good fit and mention that since this is an important decision you’d like time to think it over. If you are married, you can add that you would like to talk it over with your spouse. You will not lose the opportunity because you asked for a reasonable amount of time to think about it. I suggest giving a specific date and time by which you will get back to them so they know you are not playing them.

Closing the Deal


When you get back to them, reiterate that you are interested in the position and the company and agree it is a fit both ways. Repeat what you heard them offer (to be sure you heard them correctly) and then ask if they can do any better on the salary. They will either come back with a higher counter offer or they will say they cannot.
Regardless of what they said, say that you see and then negotiate for anything else that is important to you. Do NOT accept the position before negotiating for everything that you want; once you accept the job you are now an employee and do not have the leverage you did.

If the company cannot offer more in salary at this time, propose that they give you a salary review in 3-6 months. During that time you will be proving yourself to them. Have them agree that if you meet or exceed specific expectations that they will make up the different in the salary at that time.

Another way to offset a salary that is lower than desired is what is called a signing bonus. A signing bonus is nothing more than an amount of money given up front to the new employee. This amount, however, is not factored into the salary, bonuses, or future increases.

A very important step is to get everything that you agreed upon in writing. Regardless of what they have agreed to verbally, it is only “real” if it is in writing.

True Stories

I had a client who was in the final interview when she was asked what she was thinking of salary wise. She had researched it using the online tools and told him so. She was just about to share what salary range she had discovered when she heard my voice in her head saying “hold your cards close” so she instead said “but tell me what you were thinking”. He offered $30K MORE than the range she was about to quote. The lesson is not to be the first person to speak the amount; it could cost you money.

The hiring manager had already mentioned that they have a standard policy of two weeks of vacation for the first few years of service. She shared how she currently uses her three weeks of vacation to visit her ailing parent up north. She said to no one in particular (as if to the room itself) “I wonder how we can work this out” and the hiring manager said he knew of a way and proposed it. The lesson here is to have them be a part of the solution.

Another client was reluctant to negotiate but I had covered this material with him and asked why he would leave money on the table. The company e-mailed him the offer and he contacted them back after “thinking about it” and he asked if they could do better. He was in my office when he received a text asking him to call them, they had a revised offer. What is the expression: nothing ventured, nothing gained?

Additional Resources

Of course there are numerous valuable resources on the topic of negotiations. It is a life skill and one that needs to be honed. Do not stop with what I shared here; this should only be the beginning of the process of your learning to negotiate.

By Judi Adams

Judi Adams is the Affordable and Successful Job Search Coach, author of an Amazon hottest new release “Found a Job Yet? And Other Questions NOT to Ask!”, and keynote speaker. Judi is also the creator of the YouTube video series The Five Deadly Sins of the Job Search that can be found on YouTube.com using FoundaJobYet in the search field. Her blog RightChangesJobSearchCoach.blogspot.com has been read world-wide since 2009. Judi’s clients have had phenomenal success finding jobs they want by following the steps she outlines for them. For more information on her new “advantage program for students” and RightChanges other services, go to www.RightChanges.biz.