Today's a wet day. We have a tropical storm "Lee" hovering over us and dumping all kinds of rain. Tad bit wet without a doubt. I have much to do this weekend and one is to continue my focus on my unemployed experiences hoping that maybe one thing stated might be the one thing that helps someone reach their successes.
Last I spoke about thinking like a salesperson and a marketing director. I can not over emphasize that thought. Think about it. Even if you obtained the job today and received that professional response "We want you", what will you do when you have the job? What does your position entail? Truthfully, you will be in a sales job and considered an internal customer by people who require your services and an internal salesperson by those you will require service from. Typically speaking if you work in IT people are going to want your services in making sure their systems are top notch, so they will be contacting you or your department. On the opposite spectrum you are salesperson who has to get your ideas across to other departments, other managers, your boss. So what do you do? Do you take the attitude "forgetaboutit"?
No you have your job to do in order for your company(you) to profit from your deals(selling your ideas and fixes)
Think of a production worker on the floor assembling product who has a boss who tells him what to do. The boss is merely the client telling you the salesperson here is my problem (I need to get this product assembled) and there you are saying, "I'm the person for the job, utilizing my solutions(assembling the product) will help get you toward the bottom-line results"(results that stem into getting the assembled product to the next phase)being the shipping department. You drive a hard bargain that you can do the job in a given amount of time. This is key to delivering on your promises as a salesperson. If you miss the deadline, your client(your boss), may scratch his head and wonder if he made the right choice in giving you the business. But you have to ensure you have your ducks in a row. You have to foresee the problems before you have them and have the ability to have the answers to make the deal work (your resume is the business plan, the ducks in a row that you've implied will get you the business, assembling the product). The customer(your boss) does not want to hear "but I had this problem". Nope you asked for the business and stated you had a solution. It's up to you to deliver. Once you have met the so called answer to the problem the client had, your client will probably give you more business because he now knows you have delivered on the promise and put forth the solution, making you the right vendor to achieve what he was looking for. The better you do, the more you get. It's a trickle down effect. See everything you're doing is for the most part dealing with sales or a sale.
So this is where I state and continue to emphasize your job search is no more than you being a salesperson trying to sell your product(YOU) to a client(a company, hiring manger, HR person). You can not lie or throw stuff out there that your product cannot do. Get into a position of saying what you can do but if you throw something out there you cannot deliver on, your client will catch on and kick you out the door. Know your product like the back of your hand. Know what your past experiences have been, how you dealt with them and how you remedied them when needed.
Now you need to focus all this knowledge of your past experiences into what can you do for the client today. What can I offer this client that no one else can offer. One thing you can bet on is if you know your product inside and out, your competition will not know theirs nearly as well. Secondly they don't know what your experience levels and what you are bringing to the table. That's an advantage to you. Talk it up when you're asked what can you do for me.
Well now you've learned all about your product and realize that you'll need to become a salesperson to do your job effectively and that's winning over the hiring authorities. Don't stop there, you're not finished.
I had a CEO who always coined the term, "we are all in sales", meaning everyone you come in contact with is a potential client(employer). One thing I've learned is you need to learn how to talk to people away from the interview process. Ever been in a situation where you standing next to someone and they ask you, "what do you do"? Try rattling that off when least expected. That's almost like saying, "tell me about yourself". We hate talking about ourselves right? But, you can ease the blow if you learn a quick as it's called, "elevator pitch". No more than about 30 seconds to give a quick synopsis of what what you do. Here's mine;
"I’ve worked in the oil service industry for over 10 years while working with Baker Hughes in numerous positions with progressive responsibilities, electromechanical for MWD, Production Supervisor, Production Manager, Technical Analyst, Quality Engineer. My passion in life is management and business. I love everything about managing, whether General Management or Operations. It combines your thought process with technical, analytical, and theory. It’s high energy, successes, and drives ambition with the hard knocks. And in today’s economic standstill it’s more than ever important to have people that have high energy and willing to go the extra mile to accomplish what every organization expects to see, bottom-line results. I’ve been in General and Operations Management for over a decade and find I’m always learning something new making everyday successful. And I love it".
You're welcomed to utilize mine as a template for you to come up with one for yourself. Learn it, practice it, memorize it and use it. We walk, talk, mingle and associate with all kinds of people everyday. This elevator pitch is no different than standing in front of a retail representative who you have asked to tell you something about the product you want to purchase. No I can't say I was successful in landing anything using it myself, but it is another tool to add to your search. I have used it and it does if anything starts a conversation. Who knows if you happen to be standing next to a hiring manager one day riding an elevator(no pun intended) and you're asked and it strikes up a conversation and they ask you to drop by or give them a call. Again, it cost you nothing but a little time to create and implement into your arsenal of tools!
I heard a good example of determination in a discussion a while back. A man who was determined to get a job with a television station. He took his broom and went stand in front of the station one day and began sweeping the sidewalk in front of the door. He continued doing this everyday until one day the VP walked up as he was going in and asked him, "Sir, I've noticed everyday you are out here sweeping in front of the door. You're not an employee so why are you doing this"? The gentleman looked up and said, "Well, Mr.VP, I figured one day, you would walk by and ask me that very question. I then figured that when you did it would be my chance to talk to you and tell you how much I want to work for your company"! As the story went, the VP hired him on the spot.
So you see as determined as this gentleman was in obtaining employment he came up with a plan, worked it until he got noticed. A great marketing scheme if you ask me. I definitely have added that to my arsenal of tools. Creativity is the next thing to working the job beat. How creative are you? Do you do the same thing as every other John or Jane Doe? Do you simply send out resumes hoping to get noticed and falling into that pit of never hearing from anyone? As I said earlier from a very respected contact of mine that stated, "If somethings not working, change it, if you can't change it, change yourself"! Heck pick up a book, research the internet, look at other advertisements on television, on billboards, in magazines. Look at how they market and advertise their products. Pick something that you can work with and start brainstorming ideas how you can work something like that into your search.
There's lot's of ideas that's been tried over time. A billboard with your resume summary and your photograph. OK that might be a bit expensive, but you get the idea don't you? A full page newspaper advertisement, a sign on the back of your vehicle, magnetic signs on the side of the vehicle. I was told once when I was thinking about doing the signs on my vehicle by a headhunter, who stated "don't do that, companies might think you're desperate". Well my thoughts on that is, people are desperate. In today's economy with 20% unemployment and over 13 million people that are unemployed, if you're sitting in an interview whether you are unemployed or not, times are desperate. When you fight a war do you go with empty guns to make your enemy believe you're not worried, they better be? That's some awesome confidence if you do, but that's not gonna keep them from shooting at you. Business cards, flyers, a packet of handout information. Yep, easy to hand out at a church function, a networking event. How about those little tear sheets with your phone number on it with a flyer posted at your market store. I notice many people reading those boards all the time looking for something. Here's a chance to create a standout, grab your attention flyer. You never know who could call you. Mr. VP standing at the door reading the board while his wife is at the check out counter. You just never know.
I have come to believe as we have always been told job searching is a job in itself. A full time job for many. Believing that I started and still truly believe if it is a full time job, I need to treat it like my job. Market the product, sell the product, know the product and talk the product up. Who knows you may become a household name like McDonald's, or Cheerios one day, just out of pure determination.
Hang in there my friends, we're not done yet!
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