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By rashley, February 1, 2010 6:25 pm

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By rashley, October 29, 2009 7:37 pm

Krishna P. was set to interview with a major company starting a new group/product line.  As he prepared he had no idea where to focus, what part of his experience would be appropriate to mention and even if the job as group manager was a replacement or new job.

To say he was at a disadvantage for his first interviews is an understatement.  How could he have prevented this confusion? If he wanted to rise above all the competition, he needed to have precise answers to all the interview questions.  He could only do that if he could anticipate their needs.

He could have asked questions of the internal recruiter who first contacted him.  Why didn’t he?  For some odd reason candidates don’t understand they are expected to ask questions about the job so they can prepare for the interviews.

The employer is highly motivated to hire the right person for the job. It isn’t a shell game.  They want you to have all the information you can have to make your attempts at the job spot-on.  It would have been ok to ask the recruiter why she felt he was a good candidate for the job.

It is ok to ask about the organization, reporting structure and growth plans.  It is even more ok to ask if this is a new position and if not, why?  If the person moved up in the company, great.  If they left, it’s ok to ask what they might have done differently to be more effective.

You can also ask the recruiter what the hiring manager considers to be the top three priorities for the job.  The answer may be different from the job description.  If people skills are stressed you know what examples to use.  If technical expertise is their main concern, you know to tilt your answers that direction.

Ask questions and help the employer hire you.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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By rashley, September 12, 2009 9:11 am

There is more than enough advice about how to be a good executive and lots of critique on bad ones. But there is scarce little advice on how to transition from manager to executive. It’s a big leap and not necessarily a natural one.   Most career advice focuses on how to do the job, not how to get the promotion.

To learn more…

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By rashley, July 1, 2009 4:04 pm

This is the second installment of Seattle job search resources for executives.  Go to Job Search Debugged for the first installment.

If you know of other resources, please share them with me so I can post them.

Listings of current openings in Seattle:  http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/jobs/

seattle24x7.com Is the newest site to catch my eye thanks to Dan Lotito (Dan, Please contact me if you can. No way to get you throught LinkedIn.)  Mostly non executive spots, but comprehensive listing of some management and individual contributor jobs. I am impressed.

Tech jobs in Seattle: http:// WWW.eggsprout.com

TechFlash Summer BBQ & Ping Pong Tourney is July 23rd:
http://bit.ly/fhULk

Conference for small business:  http://www.smallandspecial.com/

Interested in the Mobile space?  http://seattle.tie.org/TGS/EM/viewevent/viewEventPT?id_event=3468&from_where=chapter_homepage

Fancy yourself as an entrpreneur?  Than this is a must read publication:  http://seattle.tie.org/homepage

For a calendar of events for TIE (Entrpreneurs)  http://seattle.tie.org/chapterHome/events/viewListEventPagePT

Info on biotec funding:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008388848_accelerator14.html

In case you missed the last installment of Seattle resources for technology leaders and executives:  http://www.jobsearchdebugged.com/blog/?p=328

Are you interested in early stage or startup companies?  If you haven’t already set your RSS feed from John Cook’s PSBJ Venture column, Tech Flash, now is the time.  http://www.techflash.com/venture.

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By rashley, May 18, 2009 3:42 pm

And how to avoid them.

You know it is true and your frustration is apparent.  If you say it out loud, you make it true.

• Job Market is very bad.
• There aren’t a lot of jobs out there at my level.
• I have been looking for quite some time with little results.
• It’s hard to get interviews.  I am relieved to have this one.

No one wants to hire a loser.  If you make comments like these, that’s exactly how you sound.  The folks interviewing you may be friendly, but they are not your friends.  Do not confide your frustration.  When they ask about how your job search is going, and they may, say instead:

• I am delighted and surprised to see how willing people are to help.
• I am meeting many new people and find networking invigorating.
• There are openings, all those products still need to get created, marketed and sold.
• I like that companies are being very careful in who they hire.  It makes good business sense.

People hire positive, high-energy executives.  Come across carrying a cup half  full.  Discuss challenges and solutions, not problems.  And most assuredly, ask for the job.

More Deal Killers.

Author: Job Search Debugged [Rebuild your job search with field tested techniques that work]
Author: Networking Debugged [Networking is hard. Here's a guide to make it easier and give the results you need.]
Author: LinkedIn for Job Search [Free and simple to use to upgrade your online presence]
My clients get hired.

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By rashley, May 13, 2009 2:28 pm

Executives, are you using the same job search techniques you did when you were a manager or individual contributor?

Six figure income executives visit a different job search landscape from that of individual contributors and managers.

Over eighty percent of executive jobs are filled through some form of networking.  Thus, the tsunami of advice to job seekers to use social networking sites, job boards and resume submission-based recruiters is simply wrong.  Don’t get caught in a wave of desperation and give away your executive edge.

Here are just some of the errors I encounter weekly:

Executives send their resume to anyone with an email address. I am a job search coach yet half of the people who contact me to learn what I do send me an unsolicited resume.  I am not a recruiter, do not place people and have no direct access to employers.  I asked one sales executive why he sent his resume and his answer was, “You never know.”  Not a great strategy for an executive job search.

LinkedIn profile is the resume. Why would anyone call to ask for your resume if they have already read it?  There is no texture or color, just a resume.  The profile is an opportunity to create buzz; it is a marketing opportunity, not a biography.

Executives succumb to recruiters who cast gill nets for resumes on public forums.  How can you distinguish yourself with a mass resume acquisition process?  Recruiters who place executives have connections to those executives.  They expect to be introduced by way of their network; they do not use job boards or cattle calls to locate the “A” players their clients require.

Not knowing how to get an introduction, many executives resort to unsolicited email or even Federal Express to convey their resume.  As hiring authorities, when was the last time you responded to a spam-like email with a resume?  Bet you didn’t even open the attachment.   It is not unusual that subsequent emails will be blocked as spam.

And that resume you mailed, FedEx or not, will land on an admin’s desk and be forwarded to HR, not the manager.  Who knows what happens from there.

Cold calling the hiring authority sounds better than it is. Assuming you can even get through, making a pitch to an executive is typically seen as an aggressive intrusion.  Again, remember how you feel when someone pitches to you during your busy work day.  It is unlikely you will be invited to send your resume or interview, plus, the person you called is annoyed with you and will remember your name.  If you find another avenue to present your credentials, they are now seen as damaged goods.

When did you learn how to conduct a job search? Looking for a job is something most executives rarely do.  Most “A” players never have because they were always recruited.  They rarely had to ask for introductions, leads or find a recruiter.

So how do you become as expert at job search as you are at doing your job?  The successful look for advice from experts, ask for help and listen to any critique they can garner.  But there is so much bad advice out there, how do you know what will work for you?

Vet the advice the same way you would vet any vendor; check references.  Ask if you are the target audience.

Examine their credentials.

• Do they have experience hiring people like you or working directly with hiring authorities (Not HR)?
• Have they been an executive?
• Do they have a track record and time in service?
• Is that resume writer experienced with hiring people who do what you do?
• What do hiring authorities say about resumes from that service?

Be especially careful with advice you find on public forums. Most of it is directed towards people less senior in their career.  There are more of them and that is the sweet spot for most advice and employment service providers.  Much advice is offered by people who consider their advice, ‘giving back’ not realizing they don’t have the experience or world view to know if their advice is appropriate for others and in this job market.  It is akin to the CTO taking the advice of the product manager on how to architect an IT revitalization.

Take care to protect your brand. If you are a qualified senior executive, be selective in your job search techniques; you are judged by the company you keep and your process.  Vet the advice and vet the people who represent you.  Be as selective and careful in your job search as you are when you run your organization.

My solution: You wouldn’t be reading this blog if you weren’t looking for job search advice.  You checked my bio or have read my blogs and LinkedIn comments so you know you can trust my insights.  Now it’s time for you to take aggressive action on your job search to get the interviews you want and the offers you need.  Deconstruct your job search process and rebuild it from the ground up.  Purchase Job Search Debugged to walk you through an effective executive-level job search. Learn from hiring authorities and an industry insider who tells you where the rocks are and how to avoid them.  The book is specific to executives and has received rave reviews from my clients as well as general readers.

Join my LinkedIn group, Employment advice for executives.  Use the search box under find a group and enroll.  Executives only, no recruiters or other service providers.  Just advice, discussions and job lead sharing.  Ask questions, tell folks what resources work for you and gather with peers for support.

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By rashley, May 3, 2009 5:50 pm

Executives, Would you like to be caught for that big six figure job?

Let’s say you want to catch a sturgeon. Each day, you pay someone dearly to motor a boat to deep waters where there are sharks, deep sea anglers and dragon fish; lots of activity, many fish, but not one sturgeon in the bunch.   You are worn out and demoralized from trying.  You use your best equipment and you know you know how to fish; but still, no sturgeon.

If you want to catch a sturgeon, you have to fish in cold water lakes and rivers. Submitting your resume to job boards, corporate websites and all those LinkedIn recruiting sites is a bit like fishing for sturgeon in deep ocean water.

This is not another fish tale; you want to land a job? Go where the employers are looking for candidates.  You have to know how to be found because they are certainly looking.  There are jobs out there in spite of what the media and your unemployed friends tell you.  All those products need to be created, marketed, supported and sold regardless of our weakened economy.

Don’t believe for one moment that you chum the waters with resumes to countless job boards, resume sites and corporate websites.  All that accomplishes is you bloody the waters to become prey for sharks.  Those public resume aggregators receive thousands of resumes from job seekers; you have no opportunity to stand out from the crowd, to be seen.  And many are scams, identity thieves, and just plain bogus.  That’s why you rarely hear back and if you do, you rarely make it to the first interview.

Referred and recruited candidates trump random submissions every time. It is your job to do everything you can to get found, to be wanted.  Know the resources sophisticated employers/recruiters use and increase the possibility you will be lured into an interview.

One very smart internal recruiter caught the biggest fish possible for her employer.  Her success demonstrates the typical methods hiring authorities use.  She ignored all the website-submitted resumes gathering dust on her virtual desk; in fact, she never looked at them.

Her company had an EVP spot and needed an excruciatingly specific track record and skill set.  She knew the best use of her time was to talk to only those people with that skill set.  She located the top five companies who had the metric she needed then located the names of the execs responsible for that success.

She used a variety of resources to vet her suspects.  She first examined the corporate website for a bio and product information. Next, she used LinkedIn just to get an idea of former employers, quality of references and an overview of how these suspects saw themselves as represented by their summary.  She then looked at blogs and any number of other internet contributions from each of her suspects.  She needed someone who was beyond reproach technically, but who had a leadership style that demonstrated collaboration.  The tone and type of contributions (brand identity) she discovered narrowed her search to only two candidates whom she called to introduce herself.  She used a Boolean string to find direct contact information which interestingly, was also on the blogs she read.

Executives and technology leaders are in a different class from most candidates.  Do not be confused by all those recruiters who cast gill nets for new connections and make an appearance on every public forum trolling for submissions.  You are a rare breed and the recruiters who can place you are not to be found in their ranks.   If you are a big fish, avoid these recruiters.

Many jobs will be filled by the hiring authorities themselves through their network and online efforts which are not largely different from the resources recruiters use.

Quality employers and recruiters look for successful executives and technology leaders to recruit.  They have a network of long-term connections; they are not hit and run artists who collect (and ignore) resumes.  And these recruiters make anywhere from 20-30% of all executive level placements.  These are the recruiters by whom you want to be caught.  You have to swim in waters where they fish.

Blogs: Many experienced recruiters prefer to set alerts and search blogs for quality candidates. They use Boolean strings to isolate exactly the skills and requirements they need. They look for comments made on specific topics and they look for blogs on point to their client’s needs.

Clearly, if so many recruiters, both internal and external and hiring authorities in general, are looking for quality candidates on blogs, you need to be found there.

1. Answer questions using your full signature and LinkedIn profile address.
2. Write a blog of your own and keep it professional and on topic for your brand identity.
3. Create strategic alliances with other bloggers topic-adjacent and share links to each others sites.
4. Answer questions, start discussions and link to your site as a news article on LinkedIn and use your blog as part of your signature.

Social networking sites: Clean up and maintain your LinkedIn profile.  It is the first place people look once they have your name.  And some crafty employers use LinkedIn search tools to find people with certain former employers, titles and skill sets.

Twitter, Facebook and  others are, in my view, best used as a job search resource by job seekers young in their career.  You will read a lot about how they are used for job search, but your job search is different.  There are fewer jobs for executives and technology leaders than individual contributors and those employers tend to use more sophisticated options.

That having been said, do maintain your profiles and use the sites to promote your personal brand.  It’s like chicken soup, it couldn’t hurt.

Conferences and trade shows: Most companies set aside time and resources during conferences to cast a line to hook great candidates.  On more than one occasion when I was a recruiter, I was invited by clients to attend conferences with them to look for and qualify suspects my client could interview for key positions.  Today, even more resources are spent at conferences to locate industry-specific experts.  Be one.

1. Attend all conferences, trade shows and seminars where your target employer may be.
2. Volunteer to promote or organize the event
3. Offer a strategic employer your services to assist with booth duty
4. Attend your brand-specific topics and ask provocative questions
5. Come to each session early and linger to meet people
6. Stay in the radar of conference organizers as a prospective speaker or moderator
7. Write a brand-specific white paper to present or have available to attendees

Community: Many hiring authorities look to the community, both business and other for prospective employees.  They want to connect with people with shared values and interests.

1. Volunteer in organizations for which you are passionate
2. Attend business community events and engage.  Working to create and lead programs is a better advertisement for your brand than simply attending.
3. Participate in every and all alumni group for which you qualify
4. Become a mentor.  Get better visibility by helping others who succeed.

Your network: Job search by multiplication is accomplished through your network.  Employers ask the people they know and trust for referrals.  Big fish swim with other big fish.  Be that referral.  It is not enough to let your connections know you are looking for a new job.  You increase the chance they can actually help if they know what help looks like.

1. Hone your elevator pitch so everyone knows what you will be hired to do
2. Ask only for what your connection can deliver easily
3. Remember to return the favor
4. Stay connected but don’t badger; pay attention to their needs not just yours
5. Connect with and maintain relationships with a few good recruiters
6. Contentiously maintain your personal brand

And most important, maintain the big-fish attitude. If you are unemployed while looking for that next great job keep your spirits up; unemployment didn’t change your credentials or the value of your experience.  Just like that 100 lb sturgeon, focus on what you are going toward, not what you are going away from.

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By thejobcoach, April 29, 2009 3:12 pm

DIGITAL JOB SEARCH AND PERSONAL BRANDING

Installment five

Books, seminars and all manner of digital offerings are available to illuminate the nuances of creating and maintaining a personal brand.  Personal branding for your job search is not an arcane art. If you are a six figure income executive or technology leader, you already have a brand.  You may not know what it is, but it is there.

Jeremy Siegel offers a well researched piece on personal branding and social networking sites.  His article is an excellent overview and leads right into this post which tells you how to embrace your personal brand specifically for your immediate needs of your job search.

Step one: There are tools that reveal how the world sees you digitally.  I like setting alerts on search engines since a simple Google search reveals only a partial picture of your digital existence.

Step two: Uncover even more of what prospective employers see, select a few of the tools mentioned on this excellent list from JobMob.

Once you know your digital brand you can maintain or correct it based on what you want employers to know about you and to increase the probability you will be found when they use sophisticated search tools to locate your special expertise.  Don’t think employers use digital tools to find you?  Take a look at the Boolean Strings groups on LinkedIn, use a search engine ‘Boolean strings, recruiters’ and read what the Boolean Strings black belt has to say.  And this is just one resource they use.  Some recruiters have been quoted saying they prefer to use blog entries to locate the experts they need as candidates.

Step three: LinkedIn is a significant branding opportunity.  Use it correctly and you become a candidate, use it poorly and you are overlooked or discarded as a candidate.  For an extensive guide to using LinkedIn for Job Search, download my free white paper.

Most people use LinkedIn to vet any new connection.  Job seekers use it for myriad purposes.  And employers and recruiters use it extensively to determine if they want to take next-steps with a prospective candidate.  Here are a few things you can do today.

1. Use the profile section as a marketing tool, not a recap of your resume.  Learn the priority of prospective employers and highlight your expertise in that area.
2. Solicit every reference you can garner.  Prospective employers read them, especially if they are short, sweet and on point to their requirements.
3. Insert your public email address so anyone can contact you easily.  Public because the spam catchers are invaluable.
4. Ask and answer questions germane to your brand.

Step four: Measure every social networking site where you have a profile against the brand you want to portray.  Is it consistent with the image you want employers to see?  Sure, these are person sites, but make no mistake, employers see them.

Step five: Join and participate in groups associated with your brand.  LinkedIn provides resources for groups where you will be in contact with peers.  Go beyond LinkedIn.  Join your college alumni groups as well as alumni groups of former employers.

Step six: Blog.  Don’t have one of your own?  Then use key-word searches based on your brand and contribute to related blogs.  Use your LinkedIn profile in your signature.

Step seven: Know your elevator pitch.  Use it at all business networking gatherings and cover letters.  Let your elevator pitch broadcast your brand.

Take care of these basic chores and return here for other advice on personal branding for job search.  My personal soap box includes the advice to watch your writing; make certain you are seen as someone who pays attention to detail, is literate and communicates well.  Without this, no amount of branding will gain traction.

Click here to learn why your brand is critical to your job search Installment One

Click here for installment two on Digital Job Search and Branding.

For discussion of how to discover how the world sees you: installment three.

Click here for installment four to discover your current identity.

Click here to start your branding efforts for your job search installment five

If you are ready for a job search tune-up purchase Job Search Debugged.

For step-by-step guidance to improve your networking results read Networking Debugged.

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By admin, April 2, 2009 12:44 pm

One estimate of  job openings filled by recruiters is over 35%.  The percentage is higher for executive-level positions in the $100,000+ salary range.  Clearly, cultivating a professional relationship with a recruiter or two is an excellent career development strategy.  But how do you avoid exposure to the wrong ones?  I believe knowledge is power.  The more you know about how and why recruiters set traps for you, the easier you can avoid getting caught.

A crafty recruiter or a representative from a ‘resume mill’ can entice you to send your resume because they are trained to handle any objection you can produce.  Unless you verify an actual search for a real company, don’t send your resume.

1. Vet the recruiter immediately. Ask for the recruiter’s company name and contact information.  If the recruiter is vague or unresponsive to your direct questions, they are bogus and up to no good.  Request the hiring company name and the job description.  If they can’t supply all this information, there is no reason to go forward.  If they can, offer to get back to them after you have a chance to think about the opportunity.  Use that time to ascertain the validity of the recruiting company, the company with the open req and the job.  If you still have doubts, call the company in question and ask if they work with that recruiter.  If the recruiter cannot supply the information or objects to giving you time, run away.
2. Protect your contact information.  Resume mills are or sell your resume to resume aggregators.  These resumes are then used to cull contact information which is subsequently sold to the highest bidders.  Don’t include your home address and use a public email such as gmail.  If you submit a resume, it is lost in space and you will never hear from the recruiter again no matter how terrific the match to that imaginary job.
3. Job boards are not your friend.  The recruiter submits your resume to job boards. Resumes are stripped of your name and contact information and the recruiter’s contact information is substituted.  If someone is interested in your credentials, they have to go through the recruiter and split fees.
4. Cover the earth.  Resumes are sent to prospective employers at random and nationwide with the recruiter’s contact information, not yours.  Most companies do not follow-up on unsolicited resumes submitted by unknown recruiters.  They flag the resume and file it.  When a genuine presentation of your credentials occurs by you or your recruiter of choice, your resume is cast aside because of the previous connection.
5. The Trojan horse. Recruiters contact a company with an open req and pretend to represent you.  If the employer takes the bait, the recruiter can say they have the search.  While this sounds like an opportunity to get exposure with someone else doing the heavy lifting, it is just the opposite.  Candidates from recruiters known to the company get higher consideration.  The recruiter doesn’t know you so he can’t represent you (or the company) with any usable knowledge.  And worse, if the company rejects the recruiter, they flag your resume so neither you nor another reputable recruiter can breach that company’s defenses for consideration.
6. Is your resume part of their quota? Some recruiting companies have a resume quota for their recruiters.  This encourages new recruiters to get resumes with any story possible.  This is where the complaint “The recruiter didn’t even understand what I do,” comes from.  Your resume is submitted to their data base with no real understanding of the job you want or the special circumstances.  You can contact these recruiters till the cows come home and never get a response or follow up.  In fact, the likelihood that recruiter is still employed by the recruiting company after a year is very low. These recruiting companies can advertise and boast of a database with over xxx# current resumes.
7. The oldest trick.  A recruiter trick as old as the hills is to court an unsuspecting candidate with the ‘perfect’ job then ask the names and contact information of their boss or direct reports; the real target of their search.  While this is clearly a short-term solution, many recruiters cannot see past the next placement.  You will never hear back but your connections will.

New recruiter scams and bad-actors arise weekly.  It is up to you to protect yourself from bad recruiters.  The best way to avoid the disappointment and harm done by these disreputable folks is to vet them before you ever send a resume or give any information…regardless of their pitch.  No opportunity is so critical that receiving your resume can’t wait a day or two while you research the recruiter.

If a recruiter asks for a fee, they are not a recruiter.  By definition, no recruiter should ever charge the candidate; if they have a search, the company pays.  If they charge, that makes them an employment agency, not a recruiter. Again, run away.

Don’t let your desire to find a plethora of resources cloud your vision about recruiters. If you chose the wrong one(s) they can do serious damage to your self confidence and your search.  There are many excellent recruiters hired by companies to source qualified candidates. Learn to tell the difference and you will avoid all the angst and anger the recruiting’s bad apples spread.

This just in:  GadBall reports on scams where job seekers lose money and their identity.

Rita Ashley, Job Search Coach
Author: Job Search Debugged
www.jobsearchdebugged.com
ritathejobcoach@gmail.com
My clients get hired; not a guarantee, it’s a track record.

For more insights on recruiters, purchase Job Search Debugged. 

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By admin, March 23, 2009 6:08 am

IS IT A JOB SEARCH OR A CAREER DECISION?

Impatient to land a new job, many six figure candidates neglect to evaluate the long-term affects accepting the wrong job can have on their career.

“I just want a job,” is heard from coast to coast.  It takes an amazing amount of self-control and long spousal conversations not to jump at an opportunity just to pay the bills.  It is often a short-term solution.  Long-term damage to your career can affect future earnings and job satisfaction.

With the intense competition of a tight job market, preserving one’s resume is paramount.  The first thing hiring authorities and gatekeepers look for on your resume is your tenure.  If you have bounced from one employer to another every two years or less, they look for other candidates with more staying power.  That said, you can see why finding a job where you will stay, excel and become known for your expertise is critical.

There is more harm done to your career when you leave an employer after, say nine months, simply because the fit was wrong or the resources for your success were missing. No amount of explaining changes the fact that you made a bad decision.

To avoid contaminating your work history thus, create a go/no-go list to rule in that which you need to be successful and rule out that which will impede your career.  Then use it.  Say no to any opportunity that doesn’t include your ‘go’ list variables.

What else can you do?  Vet the company.  Use the same criteria investors use:  If you wouldn’t invest $150,000 of your own money in the company, don’t take the job.  Why?  Because that is exactly what you do when you accept a job.  You are investing your compensation amount that the company will be able to pay you and offer continued employment.  For specific metrics used by investors read, Job Search Debugged.

Short tenure is especially harmful to VP level candidates.  As officers of the company, they are especially vulnerable to being overlooked if they can not demonstrate long-term fiduciary responsibility and strategic planning and execution; things not apparent with a short stay.  Short stints at two or more companies will take you out of the running for most VP level jobs in solid companies; a real blow to your career.

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