Hire Ground

Time to get moving on getting a job.

As I noted, my package included transition help from a company called DBM. I received 30 days of assistance with them. I wish I had negotiated to receive it until employed again.

There are many companies in this line of work, so I’m sure that what each brings to the table varies considerably. I’d like to hear of other’s experiences with other companies.

This particular service had a lot of self-paced on-line help as well as communal activities in the form of webinars, everything from writing your resume to interviewing to switching careers to starting a business to retiring. You are on the phone as you look at the slides, so questions are asked and answered immediately. They are scheduled to last 60 minutes but most run 90-120 minutes. The instructor stays on-line until all questions are answered. Enrollment in a given session is limited to 20-22 people with six to twelve webinars per day.

I don’t know if this is an average company, an outstanding one or what. What is the collective experience of the audience?

Tip 6. During the exit interview, ask for more transition training if what is offered is only 30 days. The transition company offered to you may not be any good, but then again you don’t have to use them.  If they are good, you’ll wish you had more time with them.

So now it’s time to write your resume.

Tip 7. Don’t rush into getting your resume out there.

Before whipping out a resume, you should spend time asking yourself if you want to continue on the path you were on, choose a new path or jump off the path to a new career. I decided to stick with the path I was on. I get a lot of satisfaction from what I do and felt like I was really becoming much better at it. I decided I wanted to continue on the path to see how good I can become.

Next you should create an inventory of skills. I did this by writing down a list of successes and failures in the past 5-10 years and how I achieved them (or got out of them). By doing this, you can more easily identify the skills you have developed.

A good source of info for this is past annual reviews.

Only after you complete this personal inventory, do you write your resume.

Tip 8. Don’t put in specific dates if you are the least concerned that your age may prevent you from getting the chance to make it beyond the first step of resume sorting.

When they see you for the first time, they’ll figure out how old you are. But you have the chance to impress them with how energetic and dynamic and youthful you are.

I messed up and I posted my resume on Monster, Jobster, Dice, Linkedin, etc. immediately. I included a lot of dates plus when I graduated from college. I do feel that this prevented me being considered in several situations and has stretched out my job search considerably.

Getting your foot in the door

So you emailed your resume all over the internet and are waiting with baited breath for someone to come knocking down your front door to beg you to join their march into the future.

And nothing happens. Over and over nothing happens. What to do? You need to get in front of these people so that they can see that you could be the savior of their company.

I’ve seen some interesting statistics that 60% of all jobs are found through networking. This is not just high tech, but all career fields. Recruiters account for about 20%. Sending your resume in cold to an on-line or print help wanted ad only account for about 5%.

Yep, it’s who you know. As fair minded ‘Mericans, we hate the thought that it’s a buddy system. But the reality is that there is nothing nefarious about it. A hiring manager can’t afford to make a mistake and waste time by hiring the wrong person who isn’t suited for the job. Anything that can be done to reduce the likelihood of this happening will be used by a manager.

If you’re queasy about it, think of it as a personal reference before the fact.

Also, there are a lot of jobs out there that are not advertised yet (or ever). Word of mouth is a powerful tool in a job search. And it’s not just professional networking. Social networking can yield good leads as well.

So Ex-engineer’s suggestion of opening up your rolodex is an excellent one. I found two of my friends accounted for the majority of the spreading of my resume. Plus they wrote great cover letters/recommendations.

Tip 9. When calling someone for the first time in three years, don’t immediately ask if they have a job for you.

Re-establish contact and just let them know you are in transition. If you click right away with the old magic, ask if they would please review your resume and give you their feedback on it. That way you got a copy in their hands without asking for a job.

Now that’s nefarious.

Tomorrow, the State of Kalifornia.