Seek the Experience and Knowledge of Others in Your Job Search
Back in college there were men I knew who would always shadow other men at parties. The first man would typically spend his entire evening drinking and talking to a woman he met at the party. At some point he would have had too much to drink and would start losing his focus. At that point, the shadow would appear, talk to the girl and, oftentimes, end up going home with her. Since the woman was usually also a little drunk at this point, she was not processing if she liked the shadow as much, and she was discounting the [Read more]
Production Assistants–and Assessing Your Employer’s Needs
Ninety percent of the people I have ever interviewed as a prospective employer never tried to determine the wants, requirements, and needs of our company. How can someone possibly obtain or do well in a job if he or she does not take the time to understand what the employer is looking for? It’s hard to believe, but few interviewees ever take the extra step. Instead, most people come into interviews concerned only about what they need. People are concerned about
- the hours they are going to be working,
- where they will be working,
- the benefits the company offers,
Being Against Something — and Your Job Search
When I was in college, I decided to start an anti-drug and alcohol-abuse organization. I affiliated with a giant group called BACCHUS (Better Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students), and one year I got funding in the amount of nearly $200,000 from the University of Chicago to bring Bill Bennett (the former “Drug Czar”) to speak to the students. In fact, I made such a presentation to the student counsel one year that they gave me over 35% of the student activities budget to bring in famous speakers and others, to help fight drugs and alcohol on campus. [Read more]
Do Your Job Search on Heavy Ground
For the past several years I have been interacting with people who are looking for jobs on a daily basis. I have also been working with recruiters, who find people jobs. After many years of working with various people, it often occurs to me that those who get the best jobs do their job search in an unconventional way: The best thing is to avoid doing what everyone else is doing when it comes to looking for a job. By far, the most effective strategy for getting a job is to look where other people are simply not looking. People who do things differently from everyone else often get the best jobs. I have seen this so many times it is difficult to believe. There are many unemployed people who believe a job search should be done in a certain way. Often, the people who learn to do things in a different way get the best results. In the Art of War, Sun Tzu defines eight types of ground on which combat can occur. In terms of your job search, two of the most interesting are Deadly Ground and Heavy Ground.
- An excellent and very effective way to win any war is to go undetected into enemy territory before attacking. You use the element of surprise to win the war. This is what Sun Tzu called “Heavy Ground.” Sun Tzu believes this is the best kind of battle. This is considered a battle of “art”.
- In Deadly Ground, two forces meet face to face to fight and there is no means of escape. The battle is one of brute force and there are generally going to be heavy casualties on both sides. Sun Tzu believes this is the worst kind of battle. A deadly ground battle is without “art” and allowing this to happen reflects poorly on the commander of the troops.
In a Heavy Ground battle, a weak force can paralyze a much stronger one. Most people are taught to march in “unison” and do things in the same [Read more]
The Most Valuable Work Is Work That Repeats Itself
When I was 18 years old, I once responded to an advertisement in the paper that stated a company looking for janitors was offering $15.00 an hour (which now would probably be the equivalent of at least $25.00 an hour). Back then, 20+ years ago, that was pretty good money for a janitor in Detroit. I could not believe my luck in seeing such an advertisement and I called up the number on the advertisement. The person on the other end of the line told me to “come right over!” The location of the janitor job was around an hour [Read more]
Résumé How To
Your résumé is an extremely important document. There are entire books written about how to craft them. I have written at least one myself. There are scores of résumé consultants, companies, and others that will work on your résumé for a fee. Hiring one of these services can be useful and can improve your résumé. Nevertheless, most résumés can improve dramatically by following the below advice. Some standard advice that you should follow includes: • Make sure there are no typos or grammatical mistakes. • Try to keep the résumé to one page. [Read more]
Nonprofit Jobs
At the outset, I want to make a couple of observations because I think that looking for a public interest job or a job with a nonprofit is among the most interesting types of searches you can do. On the one hand, it can be exceptionally difficult, but on the other, it can be incredibly rewarding. When certain tribes of American Indians used to go into battle, they would put on face paint, and that face paint would be a way for them to look like certain animals or other figures. It [Read more]
How to Choose Recruiters, Executive Search, and Recruitment Agencies (and How They Work)
When you go to most job sites, the majority of advertisements you will typically see, will be from recruiters. However, despite so many recruiter advertisements clogging job sites, recruiters are one of the most popular (and most misunderstood) ways of getting a job. It is rare to see articles that are negative about recruiters, or information that ”tells it like it is” when it comes to giving you advice on how to work with recruiters. The reason for this is largely due to the fact that the money recruiters pay to advertise on job sites and other [Read more]
To Get a Job You Need to Get the Employer’s Attention and Be a Safe Choice
When an employer has an open position, they are generally faced with two issues: (1) it is difficult for them to focus attention on all of the applications they are receiving, and (2) they are nervous about making a good decision among the various applicants that are applying. Your objective when applying for any job is (1) to be seen, and (2) to be a safe choice for the company. You Need to be Seen When Applying to Jobs. Several years ago, a very talented professional couple invited my wife and me to their home for dinner. We had a [Read more]
List of Job Search Sites and How to Find Job Sites
Here is a list of job search sites to help you with whatever type of job search you may be doing:
List of job search sites
In addition, I’ve also added what I feel are some good job search resources (including employers) from different industries to this list as well. However, because new job sites are launched just about every day it is important you know how to find these sites on your own without using this list of job sites I have put together for you. I want you to think back to thirty years ago, before the Internet [Read more]
