Self-Expression vs. Your Hireability

I often caution my job-seeking clients to be hyper-aware of how they present themselves to prospective employers. This includes online identity management (be careful what and where you post), making a good first impression (dress appropriately for the interview), and having a great resume.

Unfortunately, as this food stylist found out, you can express yourself with tattoos... but it may cause you problems.

This tattoo, "Mofo" -- is short for Motherf---er ...

I was talking to a hiring manager a few weeks ago, and it reminded me of the delicate balance between self-expression and a job seeker's hireability. Particularly among Generation Y, self-expression is often done through tattoos and piercings (including tongues, noses, and lips). And while job seekers have the "right" to have tattoos and piercings, employers may not hire them.

This article explains some of the issues related to tattoos, in particular, but more from an employer's point of view. What job-seekers need to know, though, is that even if an employer can't overtly object to tattoos and piercings, the first impression made can be enough to keep you from getting the job.

So when you're interviewing for a job, consider covering up those tattoos and removing the piercings. Your hireability may depend on it. Once you get past the first impression -- and have the chance to win the prospective employer over with your skills, abilities, attitude, and personality, then you can show off your expression.

UNO Job Fair Set for Oct. 12

UNO will host a job fair on Oct. 12. More details here.

Fall 2010 Job Fair 
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 
Milo Bail Student Center Ballroom

The Fall 2010 Job Fair will take place on October 12. Students and alumni who are genuinely interested in pursuing employment opportunities in the immediate future are encouraged to attend. Professional attire is expected, and students and alumni should bring copies of their current resume.

Another Internship Leads to a Full-Time Job

My husband likes to watch Flipping Out on Bravo TV and I was reminded when watching this week's episode of the value of internships in the job search.

Trace Lehnhoff interned at Jeff Lewis Designs (JLD) and, upon graduation from interior design school, joined the firm full-time.

Internships can be a great way to get a foot in the door at an employer where you want to work ... and a great way to get experience for the resume as well!

OmahaJobs.com Job Fair - Oct. 19

Omahajobs.com is sponsoring a job fair on Tuesday, Oct. 19 from 1-5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Central, 72nd and Grover. The event is open to the public, and free parking is available.

Also, I notice a ton of pharmaceutical jobs advertised on their website:
http://www.jobtarget.com/c/search_results.cfm?vnet=0&site%5Fid=102&str=26

Networking and "The Power of Who"

In his book, "The Power of Who: You Already Know Everyone You Need to Know," author and headhunter Bob Beaudine writes, "Most people never get what they want for three simple reasons."

He goes on to explain the three:

1. They don't ask. No one can help if they don't know what you want. 
2. When they do ask, they ask the wrong people. For some reason, people are uncomfortable asking their "Who" for help. As a result, they'll ask most anyone except their friends, who are the only ones with a motive to help. 
3. When they do ask for help, they ask you vaguely. Even if I'm motivated to help a friend, I can't do it when I don't know what he or she wants.

I find this to be the case for many job seekers. For example, when my clients are networking, they often don't talk to the people who are best suited to help them succeed.

I had a client who worked in the transportation industry and was laid off. After weeks of telling him to make sure that he was talking to his network about his career goal and asking for specific help, he was getting stuck. So I reached out to my network. Within a day, I had an opening at a local company for him to follow up on. When I gave him the information, he said, "Oh. A guy I used to work with works there now." Well then, dude, why didn't you already know about this opening?

Because he didn't ask.

How NOT to Look for a Job

I posted the following status on my Facebook page today:


Yet another story about a job seeker who is going about their job search all wrong. "Werth said he spends several hours a day looking for jobs online and submitting résumés. He’s looking in Nebraska, in Kansas City, Denver, even Dallas. He applied for one job taking orders at a window company in South Dakota but never heard back. He said he puts out 10 to 15 résumés a week. Except for a couple of phone interviews, he rarely gets a response." 


I ended it with, "If you keep on doing what you've always done, you're going to keep on getting what you've always got."


The promise of online career boards like Monster.com and Careerbuilder and even local site Careerlink is that you can sit in front of your computer at home and get your dream job.


Well, if you're the kind of person who plays the lottery every week and thinks that's the way to fund your retirement, then you probably believe that you can find your next job online. 


The reality is, however, that finding a job -- and especially finding your dream job -- requires you to talk to actual human beings, not sit at home and simply apply for advertised openings.


The reason is because humans do the hiring for jobs, not computers. And when you're submitting your resume in competition with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of other people, it's hard to stand out. (A professional resume can help, but even then, you need to get it to the right person -- and that means getting it to the hiring manager, not the HR person -- or worse, sending it to an anonymous e-mail address, like careers@whatevercompany.com).


In 2000, a study by Forrester Research reported that only 4% of job hunters polled found jobs through the Internet. Similar research since then has confirmed those numbers -- only 5-10% of jobs are found online.


So why do job seekers continue to spend so much time online searching for and applying to online job postings, especially if it's not working?


A reply to my Facebook posting suggests that's the strategy being taught in high school and colleges ... which makes sense for Gen X and Gen Y jobseekers, but that doesn't explain the 50-year-olds who think that's the best way to search for a job. But enough about what's not working. What does?


So how SHOULD you look for a job?


The strategy is fairly straightforward:


1. Identify the type of job you want. (This is harder than it sounds -- I talk to dozens of job seekers each week who say they want, "Any job." It's actually harder to find "any job" than it is to find the "right" job. Use my Ideal Job worksheet to narrow it down. You must be clear about what job you want if you hope to find it.)


2. Figure out what kind of companies hire for the kind of job you want. Research them -- see if they are hiring for the kind of job you want. Look at their website. Google them. Remember the #1 rule of the job search: Companies hire people who can solve problems for them (make them money, save them money, save time, be more competitive, make work easier, attract new customers, etc.). Research the company to find out what kind of problems they have (because you might be the right person to solve them!).


3. Identify your strengths and skills and how you can help the company. It's not enough to do the job -- you have to show how you can do it exceptionally well. That means identifying key skills needed in the job and coming up with CAR (Challenge-Action-Result) or CCAR (Context-Challenge-Action-Result) examples. (My Canadian colleague Sharon Graham explains how to come up with CAR statements in this article.) Be sure to quantify the outcomes (in terms of %, $, and #). Talk about key projects -- especially your role. 


3. Once you know how you can be an asset to a particular employer, talk to people who might know about job opportunities at the company -- or, who might be in a position to help you get a job with the company, even if there isn't an advertised opening.
Talk to people who work at the company. You may know someone who works there, or you can find them through your personal network, or connect with them through online sites like Facebook or LinkedIn (the Internet does play a part in the job search, just not through giant career boards!). You don't have to know someone directly -- many job leads are found through weak ties, as this article points out. 


Another article cites Ormain Gathers, a senior recruiter, who cited the statistic of "35-40 percent of all new hires come from employee referrals."

Even if the company isn't actively advertising openings, there may still be an opportunity. Again, it's about identifying a need and filling it. Talk to people who can lead you to the people who make the hiring decisions.

Getting a job is about talking to people. People who can provide you with leads, contacts, and referrals. It's not about sitting in front of your computer and sending out dozens, hundreds, or thousands of resumes. Remember, you only need ONE job. It's better to spend a lot of time identifying the RIGHT job at the right company (and finding the RIGHT person to talk to about the job) than using the "Spray and Pray" method of job search.


I can't emphasize this enough. If you want to get a job, you've got to get out from behind your computer and talk to people. Here's some ideas on who you should talk to. Make sure everyone you know knows exactly what kind of job you want. But you also need to ask them for specific help -- for example, "I'm looking for a computer programming job with a bank. Do you know anyone who works at any bank in Lincoln? It doesn't have to be someone who works in the IT department -- just someone who works at the bank."


Talk to people. That's the key to getting your next job. But "if you keep on doing what you've always done, you're going to keep on getting what you've always got."


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If you found this article interesting, read this one about the Get Hired Now! system.

Why Network?

The reality is that most job seekers find their next job through networking. In fact, according to surveys by such groups as the Association of Outplacement Consulting Firms and the American Management Association, up to 60 percent of all jobs are filled as a result of an informal, interpersonal contact.

"When carried out in a structured, systematic way, networking is a supereffective method of getting job market exposure and gathering useful information," writes Douglas B. Richardson in his book, "National Business Employment Weekly: Networking."

The U.S. Department of Labor agrees, reporting that about two-thirds of all "conventional" jobs are filled through informal methods -- through gossip, word-of-mouth, relatives, friends, and acquaintances. But to be truly effective, there must be a "method" to the "madness" of networking -- you can't just call all of your friends once and expect your next job to magically appear. The key element of Richardson's definition is a "structured and systematic" approach to building and leveraging your network.

There are four categories of networking:
1. Personal relationships (your family, relatives, friends, neighbors, service providers, social club members, etc.)
2. Professional relationships (current and former co-workers, vendors, contractors, competitors)
3. Organizational and community affiliations (members of community groups or professional organizations you below to, chambers of commerce, licensing bodies)
4. "Opportunistic" contacts -- the person you happen to meet while standing in line at the grocery store, the guy who runs your favorite hot dog stand.

Your network is "any group of people you know or can get to know for the purposes of sharing information."