Jeannette Kraar - Executive Career Coaching » Networking

If You’re Out of Work and Reality Bites…..Here’s How to Actually Get Hired – Now

Jeannette Kraar — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:23:21 +0000

A certain television station likes to pitch its programming with the slogan: “It’s not reality it’s actuality.” It’s an interesting statement, although a bit confusing – much like today’s job market.

The reality is if you read a variety of articles or talk to a group of “experts” you’ll actually get a broad range of opinions about the current state of the job market.

The National Association for Business Economics reported statistics indicating there has really only been a marginal increase in jobs due to the stimulus money. However, government reports have shown job losses have actually slowed throughout country for the past four quarters.

If we flip over to the recruiter community to look at the Recruiter Confidence Index, 53% of the industry is confident the job market is picking up. However, if you’re actually waiting for your phone to ring from a recruiter with a job offer, the reality is, you’ll be out of work for a very long time.

A 2009 ExecNet survey polling over 8,000 professionals provides an interesting perspective from the trenches.

Only 5% of companies polled are still cutting back or have hiring freezes. Many “cut back too far”, with 14% adding positions and 57% looking to “trade up.” These numbers are actually up significantly from this time last year.
Companies have taken their focus off of retention. The reality of this shift will be a different kind of bail-out with disgruntled employees “jumping ship” once the economy becomes more stable. The irony is that this turnover will place more of an emphasis back on retention making the job you land more stable.
There are expanding industries. Healthcare and Clean/Green Technologies lead the pack in opportunity with Energy, Pharma/Med/Biotech and Environmental-related industries rounding out the top five.

So what does this really mean for you? What do you have to do to get employed – now?

Here are a few tips that actually work so you can too:

Be positive and action oriented. Shake off the fear, dump the negative perceptions and get to work on your search. You’re still the same competent, skilled and experienced person you were when you had a job. So print up some business cards using your expertise as your title and start networking. You could be a handshake away from your next great success.
Get comfortable as an expert. There is something you do really, really well and probably enjoy doing more then anything else. Run with it. Mrs. Fields was an expert in cookies. She was never nominated for the Nobel Prize but she made a big batch of money.
Be relevant. No one cares what you’ve done for the past 20 years. Everyone cares about what you can deliver in today’s economy, industry and market. Tell them in simple, concise, personable language. Dump the jargon and be authentic,
Be solution-oriented. Forget about the laundry list of responsibilities you’ve had. Talk in terms of bottom-line results. Be the “aspirin for their headache”.
Be a master networker. There are no short cuts. This is still the best and fastest way to get employed. Create a profile on LinkedIn (www.linkedIn.com) and join some groups related to your expertise and interests. Interact with groups, associations and other industry experts you can become aligned with. Go to networking meetings each week and be actively engaged. Give and get business cards and follow up with the objective of building relationships. Offer assistance, provide value and make introductions. The more you give, the more you will receive. Remember, people help and hire others they know, like and trust and this takes time. So speed it up and whatever you’re currently doing – double your activity to reduce time in search.
Be focused, proactive and strategic. Set objectives for each week and break them out to daily activities. Create a target list of companies where you’d like to work and network your way in. ExecuNet reported that 58% of hires last year were for existing positions. That means 42% were newly created jobs (otherwise known as the hidden job market) and landed by people who acted on this strategy.
Be aligned with people and resources that can help you. Get a coach; create an advisory board of positive, connected peers; and build a strong diverse network and nurture long-term relationships.
Be smart. Do your homework and conduct research so you can make fact-based decisions about your career to ensure you’re actually working with reality not hype. Just yesterday I actually met five people over 50 who had landed great jobs….really.

Share with me examples of you putting this to work and getting results. The rest of us want to know.

Ya Know What They Say About Assuming…

Jeannette Kraar — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:28:35 +0000

People come to me looking for help with their careers and businesses and I tell them if we are going to partner, they have to adhere to my three “golden rules”. Thou shalt not prejudge, compromise or assume.

Now that sounds simple enough, right? But how many times each day do we do that?

Many people prejudged Grace Groner and assumed a few things about her, including the folks at Lake Forest College in Illinois.

Since it’s been big news this week, you may have heard how sweet Grace gave the school a donation that will enable their students to pursue internships and study abroad. Grace was a lovely, unassuming basic senior citizen so perhaps you can imagine the surprise when the College received her donation. It was seven million dollars.

No one would have ever guessed in their wildest dreams.

In a Chicago Tribune report “Secret millionaire donates fortune to Lake Forest College”, I learned that at age of 12, “Amazing Grace,” as they papers are calling her, and her twin sister were left orphans. They were taken in by a local leading family who paid for them to attend Lake Forest College. She graduated in 1931, never married and worked as a secretary at Abbot Laboratories for 43 years.

As a child of the Depression, her friends described her as “exceptionally restrained with her money.” She shopped for clothing at rummage sales, walked instead of buying a car and lived in a one-bedroom house near the college. She only moved into the tiny, scantly furnished house because a friend willed it to her. It has a smaller living room than most people’s closets.

You might think she was a miserly old hag, but that’s not the case. She had plenty of friends. After retiring she traveled widely and would occasionally give anonymous donations to needy locals. She remained connected to the college all her life, attended football games and donated $180,000 to create the scholarship fund.

When she passed away this January at age 100, God bless her, she gave them her fortune. She made it off a $180 purchase of Abbott stock. Since 1935 she’d been reinvested the dividends and after all the years, it added up.

If you’re in a job search, I’m sure you’ve heard to the point of nausea that networking is key. You probably know that most people get the best leads and introductions once they get beyond their small circle of immediate friends and family.

The problem is we all have a tendency to prejudge, assume and compromise.
There is a little voice in our heads that says:

That person can’t help me…..
They wouldn’t know anyone……
They’re too old, too busy, too important, too removed, out of my industry, out of my life, blah, blah, blah.

This is when I get sick. See, this is the stuff that trips you up and makes any challenge harder than it needs to be.

Grace built her life on a foundation of values. She could have moved up given the very affluent area where she resided, but it wasn’t something that mattered to her. Because she needed so little, she probably had so much. You think she had too many worries. I’m sure her most valued wealth was her relationships and the love she shared with those around her. Even the house where she lived was given to the college for use by the students receiving her scholarships.

As you work your search, I challenge you to build your network based on real values not perceptions and assumptions. Consider what’s important to you in terms of respect, trust, integrity, honesty and perhaps even legacy. How do you want to be thought of and remembered by others?

Then let’s knock the challenge up a notch…… I challenge you to go out and meet 10 new people this week. (Ten a day if you’re highly motivated)… And Don’t Compromise. Lock in your number and make it happen. (If you get stuck, send me a post and I’ll “unstuck you” or as my clients tell me, I’ll get your ass in gear again with a not so gentle nudge).

Make a phone call. Go have coffee. Attend a meeting. Talk to folks. Learn more about them. Find out how you may be able to help them. (Their need could be something completely unrelated to you – which is why a diverse network is quite handy). Share you marketing plan and ask for their feedback.

Am I making you cringe? Is the challenge too much? Well think about it anyway. There are very few times in our lives where you reach a crossroads like a job hunt. Besides the worry and anxiety, it opens up options for you. You are given choices and the decision you make can take you a lot closer to where we really want to be. Life is full of surprises….. Surprise yourself with a whole new level of productivity, contacts, information, direction and maybe even a new friend or two. You’ll end the week feeling like a million… or maybe even seven million.

Share your thoughts with me.

Former Co-Workers Are Your Best Allies

Jeannette Kraar — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:59:01 +0000

Toni Bowers’ wrote an article on her TechRepublic Career Management blog with the headline “Talking smack about former employers is not advisable.” She points to the farewell message sent by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dan Neil announcing his departure from the Los Angeles Times to go work for the Wall Street Journal. It’s the kind of note you can get away with if you’ve won a prize like that. It’ probably not the best approach for the rest of us. We just don’t have the clout.

Your first reaction when given the sorry news is to lash out, but please keep this in mind. Your former co-workers (remember their titles change really fast) suddenly become your networking contacts. And they are the most valuable ones you are likely to have. They:

know your work
understand your capabilities and
can serve as your most credible references.

If you’ve worked somewhere for several years and developed good ties with your co-workers, they’ll be sympathetic to you. They may even see in you as the person they could have been if the guns had been aimed a little closer in their direction. They may see you as the person that took the bullet that was meant for them.

You don’t want to taint your reputation by throwing a public tantrum in the office, sending anyone a torching tirade of an email and you certainly want to minimize any out loud derogatory remarks you make about that employer. (I’m sure you would never do these things, but fantasies like these are likely to flood your mind for a while.)

But what should you do? First of all, you should reach out your former cohorts. Depending upon how you were escorted out the door, you may not have had a chance to say the proper goodbyes. A phone call or email are appropriate. Don’t be surprised if some employees prefer to disassociated themselves from you, especially while at work. It’s like they want to avoid having what happened to you rub off on them. (Like that would happen.)

Now let’s walk through an encounter with a former employee. First of all, they still work with and for the jerks and company that no longer needs you. (They may not be jerks, but let’s make the assumption here.) They may feel some pride for the place. They still drive to work every morning the way you used to. Any conversation with them should lean toward the side of respecting the firm that still employs them. Your discussion with them should be forward looking.

If they open the door, maybe express your regrets to them, but be careful. Their loyalty is still to the company and anything you say might be shared with other former co-workers and damage their willingness to network on your behalf.

Moaning and groaning about the past makes no sense. If these people are now to become your advocates, you need to assure them you are still the right postive person for them to promote to their network of contacts.

You should ask former co-workers to review your resume. Even if you don’t think they would be the best people to do a review, by reading through your resume they refresh themselves on all you can do for your next employer. They can look at your situation objectively and possibly come up with job search tips and tactics that may not have occurred to you. Remember, they are in your same industry. They have similar professional interests. They know you.

I’ve had clients tell me that former co-workers approached him asking for help in their job hunt. They didn’t like how things were going for them at the firm and thought they could be a layoff target. That was a surprise. Former co-works may have opportunities they were following in anticipation of a possible layoff themselves. They may have job leads they were nurturing in case they were the ones that were hit with the layoff.

Again, inappropriate gut reactions are not the way to go. Clear headed thinking is. Don’t take steps you’ll regret later.

Please share with us interactions you had with former co-workers and how you handled them.

We’re All Temps, Right? So What Should We Do Now

Jeannette Kraar — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:00:44 +0000

I ran into an article at CubicleRules.com called “5 Strategies to Survive in a World of Permanent Temps” and one line in particular sprung out at me. It says,

“Yes, we’re all temps now — but we aren’t ready for the role”

The article discusses how even high level corporate positions are temporary. You can’t assume you’ll have a long term history at any firm.

Now I’m old enough to remember when we used to take job security for granted. You could count on companies like IBM to induct a lot of employees into their quarter century clubs. It happened every month. They gave out gold watch and refreshments as a sign of appreciation for their loyalty.

Boy, are those days behind us.

I’m not so much flabbergasted that the club days are over. I am concerned that many of us run our careers as if long term corporate employment were a given.

We don’t save.
We live on the assumption the next paycheck will follow the last one.
We sink large amounts of money into our company’s stock.
We don’t network professionally outside our companies.

Dudes and dudettes– wake up out there. That’s the perfect formula for disaster!

So given this reality, what’s one thing I recommend to my clients? What’s the one thing can make a difference over anything else.

Network!

This may sound overly simplistic and at the same time something unnatural, self-serving and very uncomfortable. If you’ve never done it — it should be. So let me share with you a VERY simple formula to kick start your networking.

Go through your email contact list (or Rolodex if you’re still tied to paper and pencil) and select two dozen professional contacts you swear, promise, cross your heart and hope to die that you will contact once every twelve weeks. There’s some very simple math here. You take two people and you assign them to your calendar for the next twelve Monday’s. Every Monday, write their names in your planner and make a point of calling them sometime during that week. If they don’t pick up, leave a message saying you’re just trying to reconnect and you’ll try back later. Leave a number so if they prefer to call you back, that can.

I recommend using the phone making it as personal as possible. If you don’t know what to say, keep it simple.

“I was looking though my contact list and bumped into your name.”

You really did.

Then have an authentic, non-scripted conversation. Be yourself. Be interested. Be helpful.

See, there is another simple rule — people will help, hire, bond with and support other people that they Know, Like and Trust. Build these characteristics into your relationships.

Once you get through the first twelve weeks, you can either:

start all over again with the same people,
drop a few people and replace them with new ones, or
pick a new double dozen to call.

By this time, you’ll have formed a habit and you’ll know what to do next. A few other things you may consider. When you run into interesting articles, make a point of forwarding them to some of your new contacts. If you run into a job hunter (and boy is it easy to run into those now a day), introduce them to your contacts to see if they can help. Take a very “pay it forward” approach focused on helping others.

As you branch out to people you don’t know but have recently met or been referred to, dump the “me.” The focus should be all about them…. I’d like to learn more about you and what you do…..then, become the “aspirin to their headache”…. In other words, provide solutions to their problems through your expertise, referrals you can provide, or resources you can suggest.

I’m sure over a short period of time, your newly reconnected friends will begin to consider you part of their inner circle of contact. Then those will become the people that will catch a lifeline you throw them when you and your current employer decide to part ways.

Collaborate and Partner Up to Achieve Your Goals

Jeannette Kraar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:23 +0000

Once upon a time there was a professional who didn’t have to do everything, know everything or have everything but this person lived happily ever after multiplying their contacts, resources, time, energy and income without increasing their workload. The really good news is, this is no tall tale and it could be your new reality. Just remember the magic word. It’s collaboration.

A collaboration could also be called a partnership or strategic alliance and participants are often referred to as colleagues, associates, partners, supporters, sidekicks and possibly an accomplice (meant only in the most upstanding of ways). But no matter what terminology you use, the concept remains the same. It is a group of two or more people who come together to cooperatively achieve a mutually desired objective. In the process, the benefits of an effective collaboration are much greater then the end result.

Collaboration allows you to

Learn from others: Each person brings and contributes their unique skills and knowledge. It is a great way to have diverse expertise within an environment that allows you to acquire new undeveloped abilities.
Model Success: You can benefit from the insights that come from “hind-sight” and proven performance while expanding your own experience base.
Increase opportunities: Pre-existing limitations are removed. When you collaborate with others, your opportunities increase as the “span of influence” broadens through your partnerships. By span of influence, I mean contacts, experience, resources and demonstrated results.
Share responsibilities: It doesn’t get much simpler then this. When you partner with other people, you don’t have to do everything yourself. Responsibilities can be divided based on strengthens so that tasks not only get done, but they are completed with greater proficiency.
Expand resources: Whether you need a resume writer or a copy writer; a color printer or a fax machine, Collaborators pool their resources to provide the wherewithal to support objectives.
Increase income – Sometimes you can increase your income simply by decreasing your costs, which would be a benefit of a collaborative effort where everyone contributes to overhead. But you can actually raise your perceived market value by your associations –the company you keep, the referrals you get, the testimonials offered and/or the introductions that are made on your behalf.
Create a brain-trust. A collaboration creates a mastermind group of sorts and illustrates the adage of how two people can each have one idea, but when shared their ideas double.
Fast-forward results. As the saying goes, “many hands make light work.” When you can divide duties, optimize experience and align responsibilities with expertise, the job gets done faster and better than doing it yourself.
Enjoy third-party endorsements. Effective collaborations mean you’ll only work with people you like and respect who bring value to a project. When relationships are built on these characteristics endorsements and promotions are genuine and free-flowing. In addition, once you understand the power of collaborations, you’ll be able to ask and get big-name endorsements for your work. (That’s how I got motivational speaker extraordinaire Les Brown to write the forward for my book)
Have more fun: Let’s face it working alone can be lonely and kind of a drag. Add a partner or two and gain greater pleasure, satisfaction and support that will make work feel more like “playing with purpose.”

Elliott Rodriguez Jeannette Kraar Interview Filled with Valuable Job Hunt Tips

Jeannette Kraar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:00:12 +0000

CBS 4’s Elliott Rodriguez’s segment covers a woman in job search mode and the struggles she’s facing. They walk you through her situation and how she’s attending these job expos in hopes of finding a lead that will get her to the job she needs.

At the 2 minute mark, it changes to a discussion between Elliott and me on the steps that are critical to any job search. You have to have to cover the basics. You need a resume showing you off in the best light. You have to have a job hunt approach and you have to get out there to meet people to connect to your future employer.

This is clip is a good one to review as you begin your job search so you cover all the bases. Let me know what you think.

Power Networking-Giving Forward with a Boomarangs Effect

Jeannette Kraar — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:54:33 +0000

We all hear about the power of networking, but we often forget the long-term value when we don’t see immediate results. Networking is much more then getting a job lead or identifying a new qualified prospect. Networking is about creating collaborative relationships that are supported through shared knowledge, resources, experience and referrals. This doesn’t happen over night. It takes time. It also requires a mindset focused on giving value, not getting help. I’d like to introduce you to two clients who truly understand this strategy and reaped huge benefits as a result.

Both Mike Simon and Mark Dean are going through my Accelerated Search program which requires participants to ramp up their networking efforts. They get to the point where they actually attract opportunities rather then search for them. They learn how to grow a pipeline that supports interaction with up to 20 people A DAY — Monday through Friday. Yikes — that’s 100 people a week. Are ya thinking you don’t know that many folks? Well, they didn’t either. Now they’ll know even more. They were just featured on the front page of a local paper. Free advertising! It came from networking and it came from giving without asking for anything in return.

Mike was just completing the transition process and I asked him if he’d speak at a local networking event to share his experiences with the group. This was a non-paid gig that snatched four hours out of his schedule. There were no up-front benefits to him for speaking except the good feelings that come from helping others.

Mike was happy to do it. His presentation inspired, motivated and educated the attendees. His presentation also captured the attention of a reporter who was in the room. She asked Mike if she could interview him and was once again happy to help.

That led to Mike being featured an article with impressive distribution. This “free publicity” plugged the fact that he was a highly competent Black Belt in Six Sigma and his services were available through his consulting company, Simon Consulting.

Wouldn’t you love it if someone wrote about you and told the world about your expertise?

That’s what happened to another client, Mark Dean. Marcia Heroux Pounds, a reported from the Sun Sentinel, called me to say she wanted to do a follow up article and asked for a client who was just starting the process who lived in Broward County.

BAM – Mark was tagged.

Mr. Dean hit the front pages this past Wednesday’s Sun Sentinel article. Now he’s a marketing wizard in search of his next great opportunity. What do think this will do for him? Mark will take this publicity and through some viral works of his own share it through social media tools like Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook. That will further catapult his visibility and accelerate his search. Don’t ya think?

My message her is , Mark didn’t do the interview to promote himself. He did it to help others. Go out and help someone else today just to be nice. No strings attached, no expectations. When you least expect it, I guarantee something wonderful will come your way in return.

What sort of no strings attached nice things have you done that have undirectly boomarang-ed back some unexpected benefits? Share them with us as comments so the rest of us can see these stories are more wide spread than you think.