Corrections or additions?
This article by Bart Jackson was prepared for the April 10, 2002
edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Like Job Hunters, Like Entrepreneurs
In the beginning came forth the Resume as Confession.
With strict and fearful honesty we listed each previous job and the
uncomfortable excuse for leaving. Then came the Resume Sales Brochure,
where job seekers colorfully parachuted into pomp with inflated claims
about their fabulous abilities. Now, at last, comes the voice of
sanity
telling career changers to get real.
That innovative voice telling folks to pass on the hype and
concentrate
on the strategy belongs to veteran career mentor Niels Nielsen,
founder of Princeton Management Consultants (PMC.)
Whether you are between jobs and are anxiously poised to start a job
hunt or just surveying new job possibilities, Nielsen insists that
launching a job hunt is akin to launching a new business — and
must be attacked that precisely. Those seeking to understand and
benefit
from the Nielson Plan may hear it at Princeton’s Trinity Church, where
he leads Jobseekers, a free group for job hunters every Tuesday at
7:30 p.m. (www.trinityprinceton.org.) Classes include guest speakers,
who will train you in essential job hunting skills, for example,
making
cold calls on prospective clients (employers).
The career changer who wants to see the Nielsen Plan in a single chunk
may visit his website (www.PMCNielsen.com), call for direct counseling
at 609-924-2411, or read in his upcoming book. Nielsen’s Job Seekers
Guide, originally commissioned by Tony Lee, editor of Dow Jones
careers
website, CareersJournals.com, will soon to be available from Wiley
& Sons Publishers.
“Just too darn often you hear people saying, `I’m out of work
— gotta write a resume,’” observes Nielsen. “You never
hear an entrepreneur say, `I’m going to launch a new business —
better buy some ads first thing’.” Nielsen’s entrepreneurial
analogy
does indeed hold merit. Too frequently, we love writing up and sending
resumes because it involves action. We want to move frenziedly to
show the world (and ourselves) that while we may be out of work, we
are not slackers. The problem with this urgent leap into action is
that it precludes thought.
Start-up businesses are forced to think and plan before they act.
Prior to forking over one cent of capital, funders insist that the
startup firm set up a shop, prepare a financial and time plan,
inventory
goods and service capabilities, outline market and pricing strategies,
and more. All this justifiably precedes any spiffy new sales brochure.
The Nielsen Plan simply advocates this firm a foundation for the job
seeker. Designed to set aside panic, the plan has been honed over
decades of both personal and professional experience. Nielsen comes
by his career betterment experience honestly. His father, educated
in Denmark in language and literature, emigrated to Montreal and began
with a shovel at the bottom of a ditch. Through his boyhood, Nielsen
watched his dad shift ever upwards in this career path and educate
his two children.
Nielsen himself, following his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
economics from McGill University, landed and held 19 different jobs.
In l979 he founded Princeton Management Consultants, which has helped
a varied host of clients on both sides of the hiring desk, including
Mohonk Mountain House, Colgate, the 92nd Street YMCA, and Joe Doss,
the Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey.
Nielsen precisely and with calm logic suggests that career changers
move in an ordered series of steps which, like the stepping stones
of the Buddha, lead one onto the other.
Set up shop . After you have slugged down a few at thelocal bar, and come home and explained to your husband why all bossesand employers are idiots, it is time to order your life and yourenvironment.Set aside one room as your job launching office. Prepare a financialplan (it takes money to find work) and then go purchase supplies.Ironically, this may prove exactly the right time to invest in thatextra phone line, fax, and voice mail, as well as the basic stationeryitems.Prepare your business strategy. Don’t just silently mullit over; write down cogently a vision of where you plan to be 10 yearsdown the road, and some initial, practical steps along the way. Hint:this is indeed your life. Don’t let market needs and otherconsiderationshobble you from the outset. Your occupational strategy should blendwishing with reality. This step is ever-evolving, and will be helpedconsiderably by the next.Catalog your stock and trade. Nielsen advises job seekersto look back through their past and develop a large list of specific,measurable accomplishments. “Too often businesses and counselorsdigress into psychology, testing for future aptitudes,” saysNielsen.”Instead, you should use your experience and present the skillsyou’ve already shown.”This analysis may lead to a remodeling of your career path. Seeingyour strengths and abilities before you on paper may lead you to adifferent field. For example, a purchasing agent may come up withthe solid proven skill of saving his company three times his salary.But in the process he may discover it has been his negotiating skillthat brought him there. This insight opens up whole new fields abound.Develop a marketing strategy. Many aspects of selfmarketingexist, but Nielsen offers one high tech suggestion. “Employersare now, at last, ready to use the personal website as a hiringtool,”he says. This does not mean that putting up a personal site will netyou a host of calls and offers. Your site, unmarked by Google orYahoo,will remain invisible to employers. But if you can put forth aprofessionalsite showing graphically the items you have made or services rendered,it will certainly enhance your personal package.Finally, after all the above steps, you are ready to hit thebricks and advertise. Networking, writing, distributing a resume,and negotiating compensation each demands the same strategic planning.Yet, in the end, insists Nielsen, you should not have to downsizeyour salary or your hopes.All through this litany of the nicely laid out job hunt schedule,comes the frantic cry of the unemployed, who need groceries now.Truly,business plans, compensation strategies, and cataloging stockabilitiesare all trivial subjects to the man with an empty belly. However,remember, panic has shortened your time perceptions. You probablyhave a few days before they cart your first born away. As thatrenownedgraphite factory owner, W.H.D. Thoreau, noted, “In truth, mostmen end up hitting what they aim at.” So instead of yanking ashot off in haste, it might prove better to aim slowly, squeeze thetrigger, and bring yourself down a nice, fat income for doing workyou can’t wait to get at each morning.— Bart JacksonPrinceton Management Consultants Inc., 99 MooreStreet, Princeton 08540-3305. Niels H. Nielsen, president.609-924-2411.Www.pmcnielsen.comPrevious StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
