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Q: |
You recommend that jobseekers perform exhaustive research, and you
propose "The Job Seeker's Workday." Do you feel that most jobseekers
are willing to put in the time and work it takes to get a good job?
If not, how can they be motivated to spend sufficient time job
hunting?
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| A: |
Most job seekers think they are working hard to get a job.
However, most job seekers mistake job-seeking activity, such as
sending out hundreds of resumes, as hard work.
Getting a job requires
much more than traditional resumes and networking. Getting a job
requires diligent research to find target companies, exhaustive
research on those companies, planning, careful customized letter
writing, creating a unique tailored resume for each company,
pre-interview preparation, interview practice, detailed follow-up and
more. It is not easy to find out everything about your target company
before you contact the company, but that is what should be done.
What makes job seeking even more difficult is the rejection. It is often
emotionally easier to simply send a resume, and get rejected, than it
is to do lots of research, write a thoughtful impact letter, and then
get rejected.
Job seekers can motivate themselves to do the hard work outlined in
Don't Send A Resume by continually reminding themselves that
they can make a contribution, and there absolutely is an organization
that needs their contribution. They must treat job seeking as they
would a real job: get up at 5:30 every morning and go to work to get a job. Just that work
ethic discipline alone boosts morale because it causes things to
happen.
|
| Q: |
What's the biggest mistake job-seekers make that your advice could
correct or prevent?
|
| A: |
There are three common mistakes that most job seekers make.
Mistake #1 is using one resume for every company when all companies
are different. Mistake #2 is to substitute networking for doing
company research. Networking is fine, but job seekers overly depend
on this strategy. Mistake #3 is starting with the human resource or
personnel department of a company. The human resource people are not
the hirers (unless one is looking for a job in personnel); they are
gatekeepers. The human resources people look for reasons to reject.
In the book, Don't Send A Resume, several short chapters help
job seekers navigate the job seeking process, avoiding the common
mistakes. Basically, every job seeker is unique and special, and
should market herself or himself in a special way.
|
| Q: |
What's the best-kept secret in job-hunting, in your opinion?
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| A: |
The best kept secret in job-hunting is that the people who hire do
so on essentially two criteria: (1) will this person make us more
money than it costs to recruit, hire, train, and outfit; and (2) do
we like the person. People buy anything for only two reasons: to
solve a problem or to feel good.
If the job seeker solves the hiring
organization's problem, and he or she is likable, the chances of
getting hired are high.
|
|
Q: |
Do you feel that jobseekers at all levels can employ your
suggestions to conduct exhaustive research into the problems of
companies they are targeting in their job search and then tell
prospective employers that they can solve those problems? Isn't it a
lot easier for those in the upper echelons of management or those
with sales experience to assert that they can solve big company
problems than it is for administrative assistants and others toward
the bottom of the corporate food chain? Wouldn't a secretarial or
clerical candidate come off as too big for his or her britches if he
or she started suggesting ways he or she could solve company problems?
|
| A: |
Every job in every organization, regardless of the "executive
level," from the factory floor to the boardroom, exists for one
purpose: to profitably get and keep customers for the organization.
Every job contributes to the company's success. In job seeking the
candidate must determine how the job helps the company. A company
that is hiring truck drivers wants someone who won't have accidents,
get speeding tickets, or make late deliveries. The truck driver
candidate needs to demonstrate that his or her safe and courteous
driving reduces costs (of repairs, for example) and increases sales
(by servicing customers).
A company hiring a receptionist wants
someone who makes a wonderful first impression on customers and
suppliers and whomever else calls. The receptionist candidate will do
well not to interview chewing gum or chewing tobacco. Great companies
respect good company-improving ideas from anyone in the organization. |
|
Q: |
One of our favorite concepts in your book is "the boomerang
letter." Could you explain the concept for our readers?
|
| A: |
The boomerang letter is a great way to answer a "help-wanted" ad.
Companies spend lots of money and time creating employment ads and
running them in the media. Most importantly, one or more persons in
the hiring company wrote or approved the ad copy. They have an
emotional investment in that ad.
The job candidate who responds to
the ad should send some of the words and notions back to the
advertiser. The copywriter will read the candidate's letter and
think, "this person really gets it, understands what we want."
Examples of actual ads and suggested boomerang letters appear in
Don't Send A Resume. People are flattered when their words are
reiterated. |
Jeffrey J. Fox is the founder of Fox & Co., Inc., a premier marketing
consulting company. He has held top positions at such companies as
Loctite, Pillsbury and Heublein, Inc., and has won numerous awards
from the business community, including
magazine's Outstanding Marketer Award and the National
Industrial Distributors Awards as the Nation's Best Industrial
Marketer. He has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School as
well as at Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School, the Conference Board, and
other organizations. He lives in Farmington, CT.
Search for Jobs
Jeffrey J. Fox is the founder of Fox & Co., Inc., a premier marketing
consulting company. He has held top positions at such companies as
Loctite, Pillsbury and Heublein, Inc., and has won numerous awards
from the business community, including Sales and Marketing
Management magazine's Outstanding Marketer Award and the National
Industrial Distributors Awards as the Nation's Best Industrial
Marketer. He has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School as
well as at Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School, the Conference Board, and
other organizations. He lives in Farmington, CT.
