Your Skills and Experience Don’t Matter In An Interview

I know most candidates don’t believe this, but there is a lot of truth to this.  There actually is something much more important in an interview than your skills and experience. The sad part is that most candidates rarely focus on this aspect of the interview.

Do you know the three most important words in any job search?

I have asked this question to probably thousands of candidates. Less than 1% can get even one right.

If you thought: qualifications, experience, skills, or industry knowledge, you are completely wrong. Those may be important, but they are not the most important.

The three words that will more often than not get you the job over someone else are, presentation, presentation, presentation. Yes, getting an offer is mostly about making a good, make that a great, presentation. A good presentation was adequate when unemployment was at 4%, but not now with unemployment at almost 10%. Now it needs to be great.

In our book on how to conduct an effective  job search, “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” we have a whole section dedicated to this topic alone. That is how important a great  presentation is. Many qualified people don’t get the job. Usually the one that does get the offer is the one that made the best presentation.

Since the recruiter or the hiring manager has already reviewed your resume before asking you in for an interview, and in many cases they have also conducted a phone screening interview, they already know you are qualified. Therefore, when a candidate is invited in for an interview, the recruiter or hiring manager has already determined that the candidate has the qualifications for the position or they wouldn’t invite them in for an interview. This means that just about all of the candidates are equal when the face-to-face interview begins. It is the presentation at this point that carries them the rest of the way.

Think about it on a scale of one to ten. Let’s presume that in order to get invited back for the next round, a candidate has to get to a score of at least 8. Since all of the candidates are starting at zero while standing in the lobby waiting for that first face-to-face interview, the candidate that makes the best first impression can jump up 4 points on the scale and the interview hasn’t even started. Now during the interview they only need 4 more points to get asked back. Contrast that with those that don’t make a strong presentation and they have to do double the work of  the first candidate in order to get asked back. If one makes a negative first impression and drops to -2,  then the mountain they have to climb is just too great and they will never be asked back.

There are a lot of moving parts to making a great presentation. Most are obvious, but some will take time to master and others will require getting expert help. The importance can’t be overstated.  Here is a test to determine whether or not you are making a great presentation, if you are getting interviews and not getting the job, my experience of 30 years tells me  that your presentation is lacking. Since you are getting interviews your qualifications and resume are working. That means that something is going wrong in the interviewing process. 90% of the time it is your presentation.

Here are some suggestions to help out:

1. Be open to the fact that this might be your issue. Don’t just assume that it isn’t. If things aren’t working, then change something. If  you are closed minded on this then you will continue to struggle and be frustrated.
2. Get some very candid help. Identify someone that you trust to be open and honest with you, maybe a recruiter, and ask them about  your presentation. I met a great candidate lately with outstanding experience. He has been getting numerous interviews, but kept coming in second. I can assure you it is his presentation. In our interview he never asked for any feedback. He never asked how the interview went or  if there was anything he can improve.  If asked I’m glad to assist.
3. Invest in an image coach. This is a small investment compared to not getting a job. Take the candidate I referred to above, an investment of probably less than $500 would have meant tens of thousands of dollars to this person by landing a job. An image coach will really polish your presentation. They work on just about every aspect of a great presentation. This sounds so silly, but it even includes how you walk, sit in a chair, shake hands, make eye contact, how to use body language, facial expressions, hand movements, and so much more. All of this sounds so trivial, but collectively it plays a major role.
4. Script out your answers. Script is just a fancy word for write out your answers to the basic questions you know you are going to be asked. This is one of the most important things that I require when I’m doing job search coaching with an executive. Writing these out helps you to prepare so you aren’t winging it in the interview. It also allows you to practice, so now you demonstrate confidence. Finally, it prepares you so that you are succinct and focused when answering questions.
5. Practice in front of a mirror or video yourself. If you have never done this, it is an eye opener. You will see how you sit in the chair, hand motions, how your voice projects, mannerisms you don’t even know you are making, many of which may be down right annoying. This is a powerful exercise that very few candidates ever do.

Presentation, presentation, presentation are the most important words in any job search.

Take full advantage of the many free resources we offer on our website. For example, we have an extensive audio library for you to download free files, our chapter on winning the phone interview has been downloaded by over 3,000 people, and our sample cover letter that makes you stand out has been downloaded by over 2,500 people. These are just a few of the numerous free resources we offer to help you reduce your time in search.

Also don’t forget to join our Job Search Networking group on LinkedIn. This is a very active group with lots of excellent discussions and resources. CLICK HERE to join.

Please take full advantage of all the free resources we have to offer. It is our hope to help you reduce your time searching for a new job.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

Is Your Job Search Stalled?

In a recent survey, over 50% of executive and managerial candidates currently conducting a job search have been out of work for over a year. Why is your job search taking so long? In this radio program, Brad and Barry talk about the most important elements of an effective job search. Are you ready to assess what is working and what is NOT working in your job search? Your success in finding a new job is NOT about 1 or 2 big wins, it’s all the little details of effective execution.

To download this radio show CLICK HERE.

Why Are You Still Unemployed a Year Later?

You’re still unemployed because your job search is ineffective.

I don’t accept the excuse “it’s a bad economy and that’s why you’re still out of work.”

It’s not appealing when you play the victim and adopt a LOSER mentality.

Common Frustrations of Conducting a Job Search

Yes of course – the bad economy does make job search more difficult.

Yes of course – there are fewer jobs available than when it’s a thriving job market.

Yes of course – employers are taking longer to make a decision and slowing down the hiring process

Yes of course – most recruiters have nothing to work on – so your phone is not ringing.

Yes of course – in a down job market – most employers are box-checking waiting for the perfect candidate who fits every item on their job description: “You’ve only got 7 years of  food service distribution experience into Mexican Restaurants with greater than 50 rooftops in the NW region of the country – Gee whiz, we need someone with 8 years of experience selling to chains with more than 65 rooftops.” Many employers are nitpicking the details of your background – not focusing on whether you can achieve their desired results.

I know all these problems. I’ve seen candidates face them in 5-6 recessions over the last 25 years and not one of the issues related to job search frustrations is different today than it was in 1985.

However, the process of conducting a job search has changed dramatically and the vast majority of candidates DO NOT GET IT or are IN DENIAL over how to conduct an effective job search.

Allow me to share a few recent examples to drive this point home:

First Proof YOUR JOB SEARCH IS INEFFECTIVE

A few weeks ago, my partner, Brad Remillard, ran a survey on LinkedIn regarding length of time currently unemployed executives and managers have been unemployed. In an unscientific survey/poll of executive and managerial candidates, Brad discovered that over 75 percent of those currently unemployed had been unemployed for approximately one year.

Frightening. Unimaginable. Shocking. Frustrating. Incomprehensible.

I just cannot understand how anyone – unless they have a bottomless pit of money – or their spouse is the significant bread-winner – can survive for a year without working.

I hate to be the harbinger of bad news – but prepare yourself for a job market that’s close to crashing again – as if it couldn’t get any worse. We could be 18-24 months away from a job market recovery.

I digress – let’s come back to WHY YOUR JOB SEARCH IS INEFFECTIVE:

Second Proof YOUR JOB SEARCH IS INEFFECTIVE

I just finished an interview with a candidate for one of my National Account Sales Manager Searches. Before I started interviewing the candidate (let’s pretend his name is Bob to protect the innocent), I asked him some questions about his job search (an informal survey I am conducting with EVERY candidate whom I interview).

Little bit of background first: Bob has an outstanding proven track record of success for a position in area that I am recruiting for. I would suggest that there are probably at least 20-25 of these searches going on at any time. Some are being done directly by the company through traditional advertising, some are being conducted by recruiters (such as yours truly), and some are in the “hidden job market”– no recruiters and no advertising – just good old classic networking and referrals.

Every response that Bob gave me to my questions about what he was doing on his job search to find a new job was very similar to the candidates I’ve spoken to since the start of this year. Let’s peg that overall number at roughly 500 candidates based on 20-25 candidates a week.

I’ve got a dozen examples of why Bob’s job search is ineffective. It’s not one thing that’s leading to job search failure – it’s the fact that he’s not doing all 12 things effectively.

Here’s my small, itty-bitty, and trite example that is reflective of his overall job search failure:

I asked him what has he done on LinkedIn to create a compelling profile. He thought he had done a good job. I viewed his profile and it was far from compelling. In fact, I’d give it “D”. Obviously, he has not invested the time to create a compelling linkedin profile for job search.

I then asked him how many times does it show that his background has appeared in search results (about half of what the number should be weekly – he’s getting in 12-15 search results – should be 20-25).

I asked him how many times his profile had been viewed (again half the recommended volume – he’s at 5-7 and it should be 10-15). Obviously, he’s not optimized his LinkedIn Profile to appear in searches by recruiters, HR professionals, and hiring managers.

I asked him if he’s active in groups, Questions/Answers, status updates – his response was basically inactive. Obviously, he’s not using the multitude of FREE tools that LinkedIn provides for job seekers to enhance job search networking and referrals.

This is one small element of an overall effective job search – but indicative of all the other things he should be doing and is NOT doing. It’s unfortunate that he’s been out of work for almost a year – his job search should have been over in 4-6 months if he had conducted an effective job search.

Would You Like To Be Part of Our Research Study?

We are going to undertake a research study using the Key Elements of our Job Search Assessment Tool which follows the format of our Job Search Methodology. (You can download the Job Search Assessment Tool for FREE by clicking here).

One group will be those unsuspecting candidates that I interview and ask questions about their job search – we’ll correlate their length of unemployment with their job search effectiveness.

The second group – for which we need volunteers – are those executive level candidates (VP title and annual compensation of at least $150K) who would like to go through an intensive FREE course and coaching program of using our Job Search Success Methodology. We’ll track the time it takes you to find a new job using our approach.

FREE Job Search Course and Coaching Program

This FREE course and coaching program will be an abbreviated version of our formal executive job search coaching program.

My hypothesis is that those who are willing to invest the time and energy in our job search methodology will see a 50% reduction in the time it takes to find a new job.

If the average length of time to find a job in your given profession, industry, or geography is one year – you should be able to reduce that to 6 months or less using our methodology.

DON’T RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU’RE NOT SERIOUS ABOUT FINDING A GREAT JOB QUICKLY

This is an intensive, rigorous, focused approach to job search. You’ll probably spend 60-80 hours a week on the process. You’ll be held accountable for completing assignments and tasks or you’ll be dropped from the course if you cannot keep up with the pace OR you’re not motivated to find a great job quickly.

Not everyone will be accepted into this free course and coaching program. We will only take the first 25 applicants that can pass a rigorous screening interview with high standards for excellence, commitment, stick-to-it mentality, initiative, and focus.

If you’re interested in being part of this select group, write a comment to this blog post and I’ll follow-up with you.

Barry

If you would like to be considered for this FREE course and coaching program, there are a couple of homework assignments first (I’m already donning my professorial hat):

Download the Job Search Assessment by clicking here

Download the FREE Chapter on phone interviewing in our Career Success Methodology by clicking here.

Download some of the FREE Audio Programs in our extensive library by clicking here.

Then decide if you want to raise your hand and be considered for this exclusive and elite FREE coaching program.

Job Search Firestorm of Controversy

As many of our loyal readers know – I’m not shy about vocalizing (can you do that on a blog?) my thoughts related to job search.

In fact, I’m probably one of the more (along with my partner Brad Remillard) controversial figures in job search blogging. Brad and I give “straight talk” (better known as ‘”tough love” by the girls on my high school basketball team) about why most job seekers conduct ineffective job hunts and why it takes so darn long to find a job.

We’re also two of the most prolific publishers of FREE and inexpensive job search content on the Internet. If you can’t find the answer to your job search question in our extensive library and archives, then it probably doesn’t exist.

We can make this bold statement since we’ve got the credentials to back it up through real experience of over 250,000 candidate interviews, over 1,000 search assignments, training over 5,000 recruiters, and 30,000 hiring executives and managers over the last 30 years.

Now to the real purpose of this blog post – why have I just generated a firestorm of controversy surrounding one of our most recent blog posts?

I put forth the idea in my last blog post that most candidates are NOT effectively using all the FREE job search tools that LinkedIn provides – and as a result – their job search is ineffective and taking far too long.

It’s not the only reason your job search is ineffective (there are hundreds of reasons), but it is a significant reason.

Oh my! You’d think I had just refuted a major law of universal physics.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many candidates weigh in with their opinions.

We can divide the opinions by those writing comments into two main camps:

Group 1: You’re right – I’m ineffective and need to get my act together to learn how to more use LinkedIn to improve my job search

Group 2: I already know everything there is to know in how to use LinkedIn and it’s useless. Being on LinkedIn has not helped my job search and I cannot see any value spending more time on LinkedIn.

To the first group, I applaud you for trying to learn everything you can that might help you in your job search. There are literally hundreds – perhaps even thousands of things you can be doing in your job search to make it more effective.

In coaching high school basketball, we have a saying “It’s the little things that make a difference”. Success doesn’t come from huge or amazing changes, it comes from all the little things someone does that their peers are not willing to do, such as diving on the floor for loose balls, boxing out, saving a ball from going out of bounds, sprinting back on defense (interesting parallel to job search).

Al Pacino, in his role as the Coach in “Any Given Sunday” talks about the success that comes from doing the little things in his locker room talk about “inches’. Again, interesting parallel – metaphor – for job search. The Coach talks about the “inches” (read: opportunities) that are all around us – yet most never reach for the extra inch. The inference is that unless you reach for the extra inch – success becomes elusive.

To the second group, I would say shame on you for thinking you’ve cornered the market on how to leverage LinkedIn. There is such a wealth of knowledge to be gained from reading books on LinkedIn, testing different ideas, experimenting with the tools, checking out how others do it, reading the blogs dedicated to LinkedIn, or taking one of the myriad of courses/classes/webinars on leveraging LinkedIn.

Can someone answer this question:

Why do most candidates not take advantage of the wealth of information, tools, resources, and techniques to improve their job search?

Is the reason most candidates don’t know what information, tools, resources, and techniques are available?

Or maybe the reason is that most candidates just don’t want to grab those extra “inches” that are everywhere around us.

Here are two examples from our own library/archive and resources:

How many of our readers have downloaded our FREE LinkedIn Profile Self-Assessment Tool to improve their chances of being picked by a recruiter or HR manager?

How many of our readers signed up for the webinar my partner, Brad Remillard, just taught on how to use SEO techniques on your LinkedIn Profile to improve where you appear in a search of candidates by hiring managers, recruiters, and HR professionals?

Why do you think most candidates do not take advantage of the myriad of resources available to help improve their job search?

Barry

LinkedIn Profiles Are Worthless, If People Can’t Find You

I firmly believe that most LinkedIn profiles are worthless, even the really good ones. I even teach a webinar on building a compelling LinkedIn profile. This is not to say that profiles on LinkedIn are not important. They are definitely important. Most are just worthless not only because they leave out valuable information, but also because they are not optimized so you  show up during a LinkedIn search.

I know this because recently for a search I’m doing I spent hours using LinkedIn to search for potential candidates. Then I received a resume from a person and looked him up on LinkedIn. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t find him during my search process. He was on LinkedIn but his profile was poor and clearly not optimized for someone searching on LinkedIn.

• He lacked key words in  his profile.
• He didn’t have the right key words that people will search on.
• The information was not placed in the right locations on the profile.
• He had not done any research or even thought about optimizing his profile.
• His profile lacked or completely missed how LinkedIn prioritizes profiles results from a search.
• He wasn’t optimizing his connections and groups so as to leverage his profile for a person searching for his profile type.

As a result of these and other issues I missed him. This almost cost him a job lead, an interview and potentially a job.  He is still in the hiring process so don’t know whether or not he will get the job. Yet,  all this stuff is easy to fix.  It doesn’t require a lot of time, but it does require understanding how to optimize  your profile and how LinkedIn works when conducting a search for people.

Even a great profile that can’t be found is like having a great website that nobody visits. Not a lot of value.

Is  your profile optimized? If not think seriously about doing it. I would recommend doing two things.

1. First develop a great profile. Make it compelling, identify the key words, have it complete including your work history, groups, education, interests, specialties and contact information. This has to be done first so you can optimize it for a LinkedIn profile search. Plus when someone views your profile, you want them to call you.
2. Only after you complete and compelling profile is it time to optimize it. I say after because it is almost impossible to optimize your profile if it isn’t complete. Identify key words, include them in the right locations, test your profile by searching for yourself and ask others to search for you. What page do you show up on? Keep playing with it until you are at least on the first 5 pages. Change the words, move the locations, add more words, re-test and have others re-test. It may take a little time but it is worth it.

Taking a little extra time to optimize  your profile will pay off. I’m glad this person found me through his network, but I wonder how many other opportunities he might have missed because he wasn’t findable on LinkedIn. I believe this is one of the most overlooked aspects to LinkedIn. Candidates just assume they will put up a profile and people will come. Not true. You must bring them to you.

To help  you create a complete and compelling profile download our free 8 Point LinkedIn Profile Assessment. It will help  guide you with the first step. CLICK HERE to get  your free copy.

Check out our audio library. There are many recordings there about using LinkedIn and they are all free to download. CLICK HERE to review the audio files.

Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. Over 5400 members with active discussion, news and information to help you in your job search and your LinkedIn profile. CLICK HERE to join it is free on LinkedIn to join groups.

WARNING: Those and many other resources on our website are 100% free. I’m conducting a webinar on Thursday, July 21, on ADVANCED LINKEDIN – MAKING YOURSELF FINDABLE. This webinar will show you exactly how step-by-step to get your profile on page one when people are searching for you.This is not theoretical it will show exactly how to do it.  If you are interested in getting your profile on page one then CLICK HERE to learn more.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

Consulting Can Be Harmful To Your Job Search

Candidates often take on consulting jobs while in an active job search. Granted, many need the income and if that is the reason for taking the consulting job I completely understand. However, this may be one reason you are in a job search longer than necessary. This may also be one reason for the roller coaster ride many candidates experience while in a job search.

It isn’t that taking the consulting gig is a bad thing to do. It is the terms of the gig that make it harmful to your real desire, which is to land a new position.

I have seen this happen so many times in my career as a recruiter. Candidates are in a perpetual job search. What happens is that candidates get an opportunity for some short term income with a consulting assignment, and because they really don’t know how consulting works, they jump in as if it is a full-time permanent position. Real consultants would never do this. Most consultants can’t do this because good consultants have more than one client so they can’t devote all of their time to any one client for an extended period of time. Candidates, turned temporary consultant, don’t grasp this.

I find that most candidates really don’t view a consulting gig as a consulting gig. They view it as a job. So in reality, they pull themselves off the job market for whatever period of time the consulting lasts. They put their job search on hold. When the consulting assignment ends they restart their job search again. This on/off job search is very harmful for a number of reasons.

1. People begin to view you as a consultant and don’t refer you when a permanent position comes up.
2. The timing for a job opening has to coincide with when you aren’t consulting, otherwise you will never find it.
3. Networking stops so recruiters and those you would keep in touch with either forget about you, refer someone else they are currently networking with, or assume you must be off the market because you aren’t around anymore. Basically out of sight, out of mind.

So what should you do? You need and want the money from consulting. You want the best of both worlds. Well, this is one time in life when you can have the best of both worlds. I would have said, you can’t have your cake and eat it too, but I never understood that. Since you can’t eat cake you don’t have, what else are  you supposed to do with the cake once you have it?

The most important thing you can do if you want to take on consulting roles is behave as a consultant. This means you control your schedule.You have to let the potential client know you are a consultant and have other clients, so you need some flexibility. It doesn’t have to involve a lot of time off, but there will be days when you will be later than others. These are the days you network, schedule meetings with people, attend those networking meetings, let people know you are still looking for permanent work, and make sure you don’t pull yourself off the market. This has to be discussed right up front just like all consulting roles. You can agree on X number of hours per week, but you have to look out for yourself. Agree to the total number per week, not necessarily the time. You must leave some flexibility for continuing your job search. If you don’t, then your job search is on hold.

For those that say, what if the company won’t agree? Then they don’t see you as a consultant. They see you as an unemployed person looking for money. It is your job to position yourself as a consultant in the company’s mind. After all, what if you truly were a consultant with multiple clients, then what would you do? You would negotiate a mutually beneficial relationship.

Don’t let consulting stand in your way of your real objective. If you want a full-time permanent position, then don’t take yourself off the job market. Instead, work with the company as a consultant to ensure the job gets done to the client’s satisfaction and that you too are satisfied.

Help make yourself findable with a great LinkedIn profile. You can use our free LinkedIn profile assessment scorecard to help you. To download your free scorecard CLICK HERE.

Also, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There  is a wealth of resources there for you. You can even tap into others that are successfully consulting in order to find out how they do it. CLICK HERE to join the group.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

Have You Fed Your Recruiter Today?

Recruiters need nourishment too.

Like the little fake babies they give to middle-school/junior high students to carry around, feed, clean, and nurture for a few days – if you don’t take care of it – bad things happen.

Your recruiter relationship is exactly the same!

Brad recently wrote an excellent blog post about why you don’t get your calls returned from recruiters – here is another key reason (huge hot button for me):

Recruiters need nourishment too.

What have you done to nurture, feed, support, and provide love to your recruiter relationship?

If you’re not going to go out of your way to build and sustain a relationship with a recruiter, why should they invest the time and energy with you?

If I get a CFO search, the first group I look at to see if there is a qualified candidate is my inner circle of deep relationships. I’ll only turn to referrals, cold calls, and other networking strategies if my immediate network doesn’t contain the ideal candidate.

Are you an ideal candidate in any recruiter’s network?

Let’s assume for a moment you’ve been referred to a recruiter that you’ve been trying to build a relationship with for years. Finally, the recruiter takes your your call based on the referral and the relationship starts. Let’s also pretend that at this exact moment, the recruiter does not have an assignment that matches up with your background.

What do you do to ensure your background and capabilities stay in the forefront of the recruiter’s brain? How do you get your name to pop up every single time an appropriate search crosses the recruiter’s desk?

Classic networking techniques is the correct answer.

What do master networkers do to build relationships?

• Send articles of interest to the recruiter
• Make appropriate referrals on possible assignments or with potential candidates on other searches
• Send information about yourself to the recruiter – your latest blog posting, a copy of a particularly insightful article you wrote for a trade journal
• Offer to grab a cup of coffee together
• Refer other candidates and hiring managers to the recruiter

I could count on one hand the number of times a candidate has used any of the above tactics with me.

Relationships are not based on sending a piece of paper to a recruiter. If you want your calls returned, it’s time to start developing a deep and meaningful relationship.

I am convinced that one of the major reasons so many executives have been out of work for so long is that they refuse to accept the importance of relationship building in networking. Mass mailing resumes and responding to hundreds of job advertisements is a worthless and useless waste of time.

Is it any wonder why the people in your network are not referring you to great opportunities?

Is it any wonder why you don’t have an abundance of job referrals and leads?

Is it any wonder why most recruiters will not return your call?

Why are you not engaged in relationship building activities? What’s your fear?

I cannot understand why most executive candidates stink at relationship building activities in networking. Hundreds of books have been written on this subject. Numerous blogs are published on the subject. There is an overwhelming number of webinars available in how do build relationships in networking.

Help me to understand the dilemma. Why are most executives who have been out of work for a long time period unwilling to engage in relationship building with recruiters?

Barry

photo credit flickr

P.S.: Are you part of our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group? If not, your missing one of the most dynamic job search discussion groups on LinkedIn. Get your job search questions answered now from other job seekers, hr professionals, and recruiters.

Effective Networking Step 3 – Stop Meeting People

So many candidates misunderstand effective networking. They really don’t even understand networking. Many think networking is all about meeting people. The more you meet, the better the network. This is one of those misguided themes that lead many people to frustration.

Effective networking isn’t about meeting people. It is about meeting the right people. I have written on this before.

One hundred of the right people in your database is worth  more than 1,200 people who can’t help you.

A common misunderstanding that I hear all of the time from candidates is, “Networking is about helping others.” I do agree with this and believe it is important. However, this isn’t the main reason for networking. The fact is, you are networking to help you. This is why most people (95%) stop networking once they land a new position.

Here are a few tips to help you effectively network with the right people:

1. Do some research on the types of people you want to meet and why you want to meet them. This could be by function, industry, service providers, or associations. This list should be comprehensive. Don’t waste time meeting people unless they meet this criteria or are no more than 1 degree removed from this list.
2. Research how to meet the people on this list. Identify who they come in contact with, ask people who they might know on the list, attend meetings consistent with these people’s background or industry. Focus like a laser beam on meeting these people.
3. Network with a purpose. You should always ask yourself, “Why do I want to spend time with this person?” What’s in it for you? If nothing, either don’t waste the time or at least do it around your schedule and location.
4. Do your research before meeting a person. Look at their contacts on LinkedIn, identify who they are connected with that are on the list from #1, bring your list of people that you want them to introduce you to, prepare what questions you have for them, be prepared to open your contacts to them and make a referral to help them, and understand why  you want to spend time with them.
5. Have a plan to keep in touch with them to develop a relationship. In the meeting, probe to identify their interests so you can engage them later around these interests.
6. Ask them to bring their contacts with them to the meeting and you should also bring yours. This way you can help each other on the spot. The effectiveness of additional referrals drops significantly after the meeting. This is why you are meeting, so take full advantage of it.
7. Stay focused on your list. Don’t stray from it. These are the people you have identified as the people that can best help you find a job. Instead of wasting time with those that can’t help you, spend the time focusing on how to connect with those that can. This is far more valuable.

The best way to effectively network is to meet the right people. This sounds so obvious, however, I have discovered like many things most candidates “know this” but don’t actually practice it. If they did, then I and many others wouldn’t be writing on it so often.

I find over and over again those candidates that stay focused on meeting the right people not only find a job faster, but also enjoy networking more than those that just meet people. I believe this is because they see results.

Expand your online network by joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group of 5,300 members and growing. There are many articles and resources in this group to help  you. CLICK HERE to join.

You can also download free cover letter and thank you letter examples. These have both been proven to be very effective. CLICK HERE and then scroll down to the What’s New Section at the bottom.

I welcome your comments and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Building An Effective Network Step 2 – Online Social Media & LinkedIn Profile

Step one of effective networking focused on the offline networking process. It discussed why so many candidates receive such little value from networking that most just give up. I understand why this happens and hopefully the 4 steps started to change how most candidates approach networking.

Online networking is becoming more and more an effective way to connect. I personally don’t believe it is even close to as effective as offline networking, but one has to make sure that this base is covered. Just like the offline networking that we described in Step 1, it too must be covered effectively. Just doing it for the sake of doing it will not be any more effective in your search than meeting a bunch of people and going to a lot of networking meetings just for the sake of doing it.

There are very few things one can do poorly and expect anything other than poor results. Yet, this is what many of the candidates I encounter expect given their networking process.

Online networking takes effort. It is much more than just filling in the blanks on your LinkedIn profile and then hoping a recruiter or hiring authority will see it and think, “WOW, what a great person, I need to contact them now.”  I recently conducted a small poll asking approximately 500 people how they would rate their LinkedIn profile. To my surprise, most were completely honest and rated it poor to below average. A few rated it good and one or two rated it excellent. Of those that rated it good and excellent, four made the mistake of asking if I agreed and wanted my opinion. Don’t ask me for my opinion if you don’t want a complete answer. When I finished writing my assessment of their profile, all agreed that their profile needed work and was incomplete and therefore ineffective.

Here are some things to consider when building an online network and how to fully utilize it:

1. Limit your expectations. LinkedIn and other social media sites are not a silver bullet for finding a job. They are definitely an important component, but don’t over rely on them. Offline networking is still at the top of the list when searching for a position.
2. I cannot stress enough that you need to make sure that you not only have a complete profile on LinkedIn or Google, but also make sure it is compelling. This is your home page. Make sure it demonstrates that you are the expert in your field. Do an analysis of your competitors just like companies do. Review other profiles in your functional area. See what they have to offer. How does their profile compare to yours? If you looked at both profiles, which person would you contact first? Be objective.  CLICK HERE to get a FREE checklist to building a compelling profile.
3. A profile is meaningless if you still aren’t findable. What steps are you taking to make yourself findable? (Part 3 in this series). How sure are you that if my team of recruiters was searching for you that they would find you? This is what counts.
4. Once they do find you, how difficult is it to connect with you? This is a major issue. Most candidates don’t understand the process LinkedIn uses to connect people. If we aren’t connected at the first level and you don’t have your contact information displayed on your profile, LinkedIn makes it difficult to connect with you. In addition, the way their system works it can take days to make contact.
5. Have you Googled your name and reviewed what shows up? Most have done this. Do the results link the person Googling you back to your LinkedIn profile? This can be a problem if you have a common name. Bob Smith, Jane Jones, Mark Roberts may have hundreds of names show up. It can take a long time to find you.

Online networking is a good thing,  however, it is often over relied upon by candidates. Too many candidates believe that if they build it, people will just find them. This is just not true. I wish it were, as that would sure make my job easier. You have to work your profile. You have to get it out into the marketplace.

The good news is few candidates do this. If you do, you will be the one that gets the call.

You can get our Create a Powerful LinkedIn Profile To Find a Job webinar package. This includes all of the slides and the audio recording. The audio is an hour and a half and there are more than 30 slides that will walk you through step-by-step and show you exactly how to build a compelling profile. CLICK HERE to read more.

Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. 5,300 members are there for you to connect with. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Effective Networking Requires Planning – Step #1

The key word in the title is “effective.” Anyone can network ineffectively. The sad part is that most people I meet do ineffective networking. What is sadder is that they get frustrated or burned out and often give up.

The common belief  I hear from candidates about networking is generally all about meeting as many people as possible. Networking is not about meeting people. It is about meeting the right people.  Granted, most candidates are out meeting a lot of people. If meeting a lot of people is their goal, then most are achieving it. However, for most, the reason for networking is to receive job leads or referrals that will lead to job leads. Many candidates, if not most candidates, aren’t achieving this goal at the level they would like to.

I believe this is strictly a result of lack of planning. The 6 P’s are something to remember, “Prior proper planning prevents poor performance.”

Planning takes time and research which is something few are willing to do when entering the market. I’m not saying many don’t think extensively about all the options, but thinking isn’t planning.

True planning means more than thinking. It involves action. It involves writing. Research isn’t thinking, it involves work, testing, and change if the research doesn’t prove effective.

Networking planning means preparing the tools you need to effectively promote yourself. Some very basic tools you need are:

1. Networking cards, not business cards. Too many people go to Vistaprint online and get the free cards. Like most things that are free in life, you get what you pay for. These are fine when you go to an interview, but worthless for networking.
2. Develop a networking bio. Don’t use your resume.
3. Most don’t have any networking plan written out. I have tested this in the last month prior to writing this. I have asked all of the 43 people I have met over the last month to bring a copy of their networking plan to our meeting. Six had something to bring and three of those looked like they made it up for our meeting. At least that is a start.
4. Few had identified a thorough list of people, companies, organizations and trusted advisers they want to meet. You need a specific list by name.

Just doing these four things will greatly improve the effectiveness of one’s job search. I know this for a fact, because the three people I’m counseling on their job search have done these things and have seen dramatic changes in their referrals.

Try implementing these four steps for starters. Then we will move on to Step 2 – effective social media networking. By the end of this series, I hope to help you become highly effective at networking.

For more information on effective networking, check out our many free resources.  CLICK HERE to review and download the free resource that is best for you.

Join our Job Search Networking Group on LinkedIn. This is one of the best free resources for some of the best articles on the topic of job search. CLICK HERE to join.

Start by assessing how effective your job search is by downloading our free 8-Point Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. This will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses in your job search. CLICK HERE to assess how effective your job search is.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad