Corrections or additions?
This article by Kathleen McGinn Spring was prepared for the November 6, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Turning the Job Hunt on Its Head
One of the reasons that a job hunt is so difficult
is that the applicant is putting himself on the line. Each resume
that receives no response at all and each interview that leads to
no second interview is just so personal, such a rejection. The job
hunter most often feels like a supplicant, and each time he is turned
away his ego suffers a little more.
In a new book, Niels Nielsen has turned the self-image of the
typical job hunter upside down. The job hunter is not a supplicant,
offering himself up to the indifferent gods who guard company gates.
No, he is an entrepreneur looking for one really good customer. He
is the CEO of a company, and he is that company’s product.
Nielsen knows a lot about the job hunting process. The principal in
Princeton Management Consultants, a human resources consulting firm,
he is also the founder of Jobseekers, a support, networking, and information
group for people looking for employment. Jobseekers, which charges
no admission, meets on Tuesdays at Trinity Church on Mercer Street
in Princeton. Call 609-924-2277.
Nielsen’s new book is Princeton Management Consultants Guide to Your
New Job. Published by John Wiley & Sons, it is available now on Amazon.com
and will be in bookstores on Friday, November 8.
More than half of the book consists of actual cover letters and resumes
— with names and contact information altered — prepared “for
and with clients over the past 20 years.” He has chosen cover
letters and resumes — key marketing tools for the job hunter —
for a number of job responsibilities and industry niches, including
marketing, finance, customer service, sales, and operations, and for
a variety of job levels — from CEO to administrative assistant.
The book offers advice not only on searching for a job, but also on
weighing the pros and cons of changing careers, starting a business,
and negotiating a favorable employment agreement.
No matter what the topic, this job seekers guide approaches it as
a business would. Chapter headings include Business Operations, Business
Plan, Product Plan, Marketing Plan, Advertising Plan, Pricing, and
Customer Management. This approach is refreshing, removing the vulnerable
— often-downsized — individual from center stage and replacing
him with a company, an enterprise in search of the perfect customer.
Here is an excerpt:
As a job seeker, you are now running a start-up business tosell your services. Granted, you are only looking for one customer— an employer — but in every other respect, you are in businessfor yourself.This means you have to set up operations exactly the same way youwould if you were going to be in business permanently, even thoughit is only a matter of time until you return to the world of employment.You may already be in this situation if you were telecommuting, employedby a virtual corporation, working out of your home because you werein sales or otherwise traveling extensively, or taking a lot of workhome from the office.Set Up Shop. Job getting is a full-time occupation. Youneed the facilities to pursue it effectively. Unless your former employeris paying for outplacement counseling services that include use ofa time-shared office or you have the resources to rent space commercially,you have to set up an office in your home.The most important thing if you have a home office is to be professional.Children, pets, or household noises distract you from devoting yourselfto your search. They reveal to anyone you contact by phone that youare not fully engaged in your job hunt. So do whatever it takes toset aside space that lets you function efficiently.Much of the equipment you need relates to computer and connectivitycapabilities. Do your research thoroughly before you buy anythingor sign up for any services. The wrong choices can be a serious impedimentto your work and a drain on your finances.Most likely you already have a computer at home but you need unimpededaccess to it during your working hours. If you have to, buy a computerfor yourself. They are so inexpensive that you ought to make thatinvestment. Purchase the very bottom of the line because you needonly minimum power and capacity to run the software and store thedata that relate to your search.You will need a filing cabinet to store all the files you will createin the course of your search. You may have copies of files from yourformer jobs that you had a legitimate right to take with you thatalso need to be stored.You may be able to create your stationery yourself on your word processor,but make sure its appearance helps you create the professional imagethat you need to convey to the recipient. Use high-quality 25 percentrag content bond paper, preferably in a businesslike color. Includeyour address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address on theletterhead. Otherwise, get letterhead and envelopes designed and printedat a print shop so that they look professional.Get a business card designed and printed that is consistent with yourstationery in style, font, and color. Computer designed and printedcards and stationery rarely look professional.Get Organized. The job hunting process is built aroundcreating a list of contacts, making contact with them, keeping trackof what you have done, and scheduling what you have to do. It alsoinvolves sending letters, resumes, and e-mails and keeping track ofcontacts and appointments.You can do this manually using an appointment calendar, a Rolodex,an index card box, a business card folder, an accordion file, a looseleafbook, and a file drawer with hanging files. These no-tech methodswork very well and there is a very low cost and a fast installationand learning curve.However, there are many powerful software packages that can automatethese processes. Be aware, though, that installation can be complicatedand there is a fairly steep learning curve for them.You will be using the World Wide Web extensively for your job hunt.Therefore, you need to get a high-quality, reliable Internet serviceprovider. Use a screen name that identifies you in a professionalway.You may decide to create a website. AOL and MSN provide do-it-yourselfcapability. If you want something more sophisticated, shop for availableWeb design and hosting services in your area.You need uninterrupted access to your telephone for voice, fax, andInternet. If this is not possible on your family line, consider addingone or more phone lines for the duration of your job search.Get a separate voice mailbox or answering machine for your home office.Carefully write a script for your outgoing message that is friendlyand businesslike. Personal or cute messages do not fit the businessimage you need to convey.Make a Financial Plan. It will cost you money to huntfor a job. You may have to dip into your savings or borrow money ifyour severance pay and unemployment benefits run out. So budget forthese costs rather than have them surprise you.Set up a budget to finance your job search. Don’t do things yourselfthat others can do better for you at lower pay rates than you caneventually earn. You need to save your time to do those things youalone can do to conduct the job search.Revise your personal budget to reflect the loss of income and thecosts of your job hunt. Do zero-based budgeting and take immediatesteps to cut unnecessary spending.Stay Motivated and Disciplined. One of the biggest challengesyou will face working in your home office will be self-discipline.There are innumerable distractions: refrigerator, family members,pets, errands, and chores. Conversely, lonesomeness can be a burdenthat can compound the depression you may be experiencing from losingyour job.When you went to work at your former employer’s location, your workhabits and routines were mostly set by other people. Now you haveto be totally self-directed. Experiment to find out what your bestrhythm is and establish the pattern that suits you. Then stick withit.Plan. Prepare a daily, weekly, and monthly to-do list.At the end of every work day, plan what you are going to do the nextday, preferably in the sequence and time that you will do each item.Use your pocket or desk calendar, your computer calendar, or PDA todo this. That way, you can start working on your job search immediatelyinstead of spending a good part of the morning deciding what to do.Many things will be repetitive: researching, phoning, and sendingout cover letters and resumes. Do them according to a set schedule.Others will be mandatory, such as going to networking or interviewingappointments. Allow for flexibility in your routine for those events.Build in Leisure. Looking for work is a full-time job.It is every bit as demanding as a paid job. Therefore, it also requiresleisure and recreation, otherwise you may burn out. To the extentyour budget allows it, keep doing the things that give you pleasure.Besides, your family deserves your attention too, especially becausethey are under the stress of you being out of work.On the other hand, avoid overdoing it. Many people who are out ofwork rejoice that they now have time to spend with their partner andchildren. However, the downside is that you may disrupt their routines.And you will presumably be reverting to much the same work patternwhen you resume working for an employer, which means that they againhave to adjust.Set Up a Board of Advisors. It can be difficult to adjustto being a solo operator, especially if you have been working in anorganization where you had a boss, colleagues, perhaps subordinates,and experts from other departments and from outside the company todraw on for direction and help. Therefore, create substitutes. Setup a “Board of Advisors.” Make alliances with people who canadvise and encourage you while you are out of work. Ask them to meeton a regular basis to review your plans and progress. Offer to reciprocateby telling them what you have discovered during your networking andresearch that will benefit them in their jobs and careers.Bottom Line: Stay Focused. I have a sign on my desk thatreads: HOW WILL THIS MAKE MONEY? I recommend it to you as a greatway to focus your job hunt and avoid wasting time.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
