Guest Post: Newsflash...good workers get laid off too

I know a very bright HR professional in the Louisville market by the name of Bill Jessee.  Like many folks, Bill has been in the market since last year networking, cold calling, searching the web, working with recruiters, etc.  He's doing all of the right things.  And again like many folks, he is still going through the job search process.  However, there are times that I along with Bill get a little frustrated at those people/companies/recruiters who hold tight to the belief that unemployed means unemployable.  While I think there is some truth to that concept in a good market, the reality is that in today's market, even top performers get cut eventually.  I'm not saying that all of the unemployed are perfect employees but I can tell you as a job search coach I have worked with hundreds upon hundreds of people and I can count the duds on one hand.  That's saying something.  I'm not trying to change the world's opinion here...but along with my guest post by Bill, I'm just asking if we can all take a step back and realize that sometimes good employees get the boot just as easily as bad ones.  Employers..listen up to Bill.  And btw...if you need an HR professional with Union experience, he's your guy:

"Hey folks, sometimes in this big old world bad things happen to Good, excellent people.  Unemployment, among the other bad things out there, is one of them.  Through no fault of their own…it just happens.  It’s not a reflection of their abilities, dedication or skill, it’s not that they want to go home and watch TV and collect 400 dollars a week….when they were making exponentially much more than that.   Who in their right mind would come up with a conclusion like that?   They are not lazy, low class, bottom feeders that some old school managers think.  The only reason a lot of the old school are in their job, most of the time, is that they are old school and no one wants to tangle with age discrimination…otherwise they would be out the door as well.  Bottom line here.   With what judgment you use…someday, much sooner than you think that judgment will be used regarding you. I can guarantee it.  So, you may want to think twice before you develop conclusions about someone who is currently in transition, and before you make a sweeping generalization.  Don’t shoot yourself in the foot and write them off.  There are now thousands upon thousands of the most excellent, loyal, talented, gifted, dedicated people who are looking to land.  If you can’t help them then at the very least don’t hinder them with any moral superiority or misguided conclusions.  It’s what your Mom told you…If you can’t say something nice…keep your mouth shut.  Amen. "

Amen Bill.

Dear job seekers: Quit it with the lame cover letters!

I'm one of the lucky ones.  I have a career in which I get to wear a lot of hats.  As a Recruiter who is also a job search coach, I find myself getting a ton of cover letters with resumes.  Most of these are unsolicited.  Job seekers who either want me to take them on as a recruiter typically.  I've received several unsolicited resumes in the last few days that were so egregiously bad, I had to share.  This one takes the cake.  It's from someone I do not know or know of.  I can only assume that she got my email address from a new connection I made on LinkedIn.  When she sent it, she sent it to a group of us at once.  While she was considerate enough to include us all as BCC, it was quite obvious that this was a shotgun approach:

Dear Mr/Ms,

Please consider the attached resume for your kind consideration. 

I appreciate your time and I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,

As a recruiter, I have to be honest in saying that I think cover letters are worthless.  I rarely read the cover letter with interest unless it's particularly bad (as in this one) or if I absolutely cannot figure out why I'm getting the resume (as in this one).  However, as a job search coach, I do recommend to my seekers that they include a cover letter but let me be clear in saying that you are doing yourself a significant disservice if you are guilty of sending such a generic letter.  I mean come on...she couldn't even take the time to send it to me directly nor could she actually be bothered to make a guess on my gender and address it appropriately.  I mean no disrespect to this person.  Let's just assume that it's lack of knowledge on proper communication procedures in job search.  But for the rest of you, let's keep you from having that same lack of knowledge so you don't end up in the "not gonna call" pile.

Ok, so you get it-I'm fired up about the idea of such poor communication examples.  So, how do you fix your own approach?  Well, it's not rocket science.  A good cover letter doesn't have to be long, perfect or beautifully written.  It does need to be clear, concise, accurate and tailored to the specific role at the specific company.  Follow a simple template to make sure that you hit on all key points:

1) Clearly state the reason for your call/email/smoke signal in the first few sentences.  If there is a specific job you want to be considered for, reference it.  If you are sending a resume in the event they have a position that you don't know about, then reference that.

2) Give 3-5 (don't go crazy now) reasons why your experience is a good match for the role and/or company.  Bullet points are ok.  As humans we often have short attention spans so bear that in mind. 

3) Include a call to action.  "You are welcome to reach me at 976-1234.  However, I will also plan on following up with you on Tuesday 2/12 at 3:00 CST."  While some may argue that in this employment market employers are being flooded with overly aggressive job seekers, you do want to make it clear (appropriately so) that you are interested and serious.  Just like in dating, you want to make your intentions clear...and make sure that the employer knows that you are interested for a reason.

So, that's it.  When you are done, your letter will probably take up about half a page-maybe more, but if you go to two pages, it's too much. 

Bottom line is simple.  As humans, we all want to know that we are special.  Employers are no different.  A cover letter is your opening volley to ensure that an employer knows that you are a strategic player.  That may seem overly simplistic but the reality is that much of your competition is showing the employers that they target the love...if you don't, I fear that your search will go on far longer than you desire.  Good luck and happy hunting.

What is a "web presence" anyway?

In job search, I'm often amazed by how many people still labor under the delusion (and yes folks-sorry, it's a delusion these days) that to find a job all you have to do is post a resume on a traditional job board and the offers will come rollin in.  Alas, that just doesn't seem to be where the market has been taking us for the last few years as surveys like Jobvite's Social Recruiting Survey tell us.  The numbers may have varied a bit over the last few years, but bottom line is that for many employers they are shifting their talent acquisition focus from these large job boards to smaller, niche boards..and for some, away from job boards altogether.  So, what does that mean for Joe Jobseeker?  Well, it means that for those employers remaining on the boards, the competition to get their attention has just increased dramatically.

What's a smart job seeker to do? 

Diversify!

One way of doing this is with a robust web presence.  But what the heck is a web presence anyway?  Wikipedia has a nice little definition on their site.  Bottom line is that it's the footprint you leave behind online through social networking profiles, tweets, news posts, articles, blog posts, and sometimes even purchasing activity.  Curious what your web presence says?  Try getting onto a search engine like Bing and look for yourself.  You can also go a bit deeper to sites like Spokeo or Pipl to see what others may find about you if they do a deeper dig.  Regardless of where you look and how you look, you gotta look.  You need to both know what your existing web presence says about you as well as understanding the incredibly vital need to HAVE a web presence that exists outside of subscription sites.  What do I mean by subscription?  Well, if an employer has to pay to view your resume/profile/contact info, there is a chance you may not get contacted.  So explore a wide variety of platforms to share your professional info and appropriate contact data like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Skype, Quora, Google Profiles, etc to build your trail across the web.  Once you are on those sites, then be active.  You can't simply build it and they will come.  You need to tweet, post, update, whatever on the various sites.  How do I know?  I ran a little experiment for the months of October/November (that conveniently coincided with me being incredibly busy)...I posted far fewer updates, tweets, etc and as a result, I found my previously strong web presence diminish a bit.  In running a search for me, I no longer rank as the top result on my search page.  Obviously that would fall into the use it or lose it category, so make sure you use it! 

And don't get me wrong-I'm not saying that you should ignore traditional job boards.  Still include them in your mix for those employers who still use them.  However, bottom line is this: you want to be found in as many places as possible with a content/keyword-rich profile so that when an employer searches for you by skill set, geography and/or name...you are found before your competition is.  That's it!  Good luck and happy hunting

Freedom is never free

In case you haven't seen the millions of advertisements out there looking to sell you crap for cheap in honor of Veterans Day, then allow me to be the first...today is Veterans Day. 

Veterans Day has been around for a number of years but I don't know that we have always done a good job of honoring our Vets on today or any other day.  So as the very proud wife of a veteran, allow me to do my little tiny part today and ask you to find a Veteran (chances are you know one even if you don't realize it) and say thank you.  That's it for today.

Thank you and God bless our Veterans!

Is my recruiter a zero or a hero?

In facilitating my webinar around Working with Recruiters this morning, I had a question come in from a participant.  He wanted to know at what point would you figure if a recruiter was good or not.  Great question with no easy answer.  However, it made me think that there has to be a more scientific way of determining this answer than "beats the heck out of me!"  So, with that in mind, this would be what I would encourage you to consider when determining whether you have entered into a relationship with a good recruiter:

1) Memory game: When you call your recruiter, does she remember who you are?  I don't mean when you call her after a 34 year hiatus...I mean if you interview with her on Monday and talk to her again on Wednesday, do you have to completely reintroduce yourself?  If so...do you really have time to do this every day? 

2) Booty calls:  Ok, so maybe my description here is a little off-color but we all know those people who only call us when they want something.  Some recruiters are no different.  There is one that I am thinking of who has me in his files from way back.  I wrote him off fairly quickly but it's cracked me up to get his calls from time to time asking me to come interview for these oddball positions.  It's obvious that he wants to use me as a filler candidate and I always tell him no.  It's one thing to get this call every once in a while, but if this is the only contact you have from a recruiter, it's time to find someone else.  He's just not that into you.

3) The dog ate my phone: This one is simple. Does the recruiter call when she says she will?  If so, awesome.  If not, it will happen from time to time.  As long as it's not a pattern, I think you are good to keep on keepin on with that person.

4) Who's who and some info too:  Channelling my momness here, let me say if I've said it once, I've said it a million times: a good recruiter has his/her ear to the ground.  I'm not saying that they know everyone and everything in the market.  But chances are if they are established in the industry/function/geography and are as good as they promise, they know a lot more than you Mr. Average Jobseeker.  And if said established recruiter looks at you like you grew a second head when you ask them about the world's largest employer that moved into town a year ago, there's also a good chance that his ear doesn't reach the ground like it used to.

5) Two cents is worth a million:  Do you find yourself wishing you got more feedback from Ms Recruiter or is she giving you a detailed prep and debrief around every presentation/interview?  It's in a recruiter's best interest that you look gooood at an interview, so one that fails to prep you leaves me wondering why...and frankly-it should leave you feeling the same.

So, what's the bottom line here?  Even the very best recruiter may fail to get you a job in this economy.  Remember that recruiters find people for jobs, not the other way around, so be fair when grading your recruiter and make sure that you gave him or her enough to work on in marketing you to potential employers.  Create a relationship that grows over time and pay it forward with some leads, tips and other candidates and I promise, you will not be sorry.  And if you do it all right and you are still left with a dud, well baby...there are plenty of fish in the sea.  Good luck and happy hunting!

Relo on the go: Is there an app for that?

As a total foodie, one of the first things I want to know when I go into a new city is restaurant related.  I really don't care what chains are in town or who has the swankiest place.  Instead, I want to know what Bobby Joe and Billy Sue of 123 Main Street have been eating for 10 years aka local eats.  Well, until you know the locals it is a little hard to eat like a local.  Until you are officially a local yokel, be adventurous in your new home city and just start trying out restaurants.  Not sure what is out there?  Of course, you can use your research resources to help you pull restaurants...or you can use the apps available on your smart phone to help you figure out what is near you from restaurants, shopping, deals and events.  While there are too many out there (with too many features) for me to list my favorites, try checking out:

Whats Near Me

Zagat To Go

Groupon

MSN Onit

Good luck and happy hunting!

Sometimes life gets in the way

So, I realized that it's been 2 months since I last blogged.  While many bloggers experience peaks and valleys with their online musings, I must say that I have found my rants blogs to be a cathartic experience where hopefully I can drop a little knowledge that helps others. 

However, the purpose of today's blog is to just data dump.  The last 2-3 months have been insane for my family.  We started off in August with my husband accepting his dream job.  With that new job came an out of state relocation and everything involved in that.  When is it a bad time to sell a house?  In a recession, duh!  Then in September, we unexpectedly lost my MIL to a car accident.   And finally in October, with current house renovations under way, we finally secured a place to live in our new city and got up there the last weekend of the month.  All of this while trying to maintain a family life with a 3 year old, consulting roles that I absolutely adore, clients that need me and haven't always gotten my best these last few months, and also finding time to do the little things like shower and pay the mortgage.  So folks...sometimes life just gets in the way.  But as I always like to figure out what the big Coach in the sky wanted me to learn, here is what my 3 months of insanity have taught me:

1) Keep your support networking going.  Without the people that I counted on in my husband's absence, I don't know that I could have gotten as much done as I did.  Sometimes I had to pay these folks, sometimes they showed up just because they loved me, but there are times where it takes a village.

2) Keep up your routines, especially with kids.  Find time for both the fun and the necessary stuff.  And if it means that your kids have to watch an extra hour of tv while you job/house search, it's not the end of the world.

3) Keep the lines of communication open.  My poor husband was alone in his new city dealing with his grief and the demands of his new role.  The worst thing we did was limit our talks to 2 minutes a day at our daughter's bedtime.  Getting to connect and talk through concerns helped a bunch.

4) Keep a little kitty of cash for all of the unexpected issues/tips/pizza runs.  Life gets in the way and sometimes it costs a boatload too.  Be prepared with non-plastic money and it will help grease the necessary wheels of life.

5) Keep the faith.  While I am a proud Christian, I know that there are plenty of others who subscribe to a different faith/value system and that's ok.  So, whatever your faith may be-hold on to it and try to surround yourself with others who subscribe to the same values.  Fellowship helps.

And while it may not be worth it's own bullet, can I say that I would like to thank the inventor of zip top bags as I am convinced that I would not be anywhere without the ability to shove all of my crap into these genius inventions.  When planning for a relocation, plan to have a zillion of these on hand.  It will be money well spent!

So, why did I share all of this with you?  Because I think whether you are in job transition, location transition or a combo of the two, there is some stuff here that may help.  And if you have other ways that you have navigated your own transition, would love to hear about them.  Until then will go back to helping you make the leap from looking to landed.  Cheers!