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Why Build Contacts for Your Job Search Before You Need Them?

February 18, 2019 By Marta Goertzen

News bulletin: You are not the center of the universe!

It is easy to forget this important tidbit in the hustle and bustle of a busy work life. We run from meeting to important assignment assuming life will always be that way. No need to attend that professional association meeting. No time for lunch with old friends.

Until something shocks you out of your hectic life. Until you need something. Once you have been laid off or want to change jobs you realize how much you need other people.

Odds are people you dropped while you were so busy or those who do not know you yet won’t return your phone calls. They are too busy doing what you were doing before you were laid off, or before you needed them.

We hear this complaint a lot. “Why doesn’t she return my calls?” “Doesn’t he know how rude that is?” They won’t return your calls if they don’t know you.

Everyone knows someone who has been laid off or in some way finds themselves in a job search. After realizing they should have networked before they needed contacts, these folks become quite responsive to job seekers who call them. They know how it feels when no one will answer your call.

Yesterday I went to an association meeting and encountered a woman who looked vaguely familiar. However I couldn’t place her. She slipped out of the room early before I could speak to her but before she left she came to my table and quietly whispered in my ear that she appreciated how nice I was when she was in her job search. She wanted me to know that my small kindness, something I only vaguely recalled, meant a lot to her. It made me smile that I helped her.

I am not an expert in networking, although perhaps I am compared to some people, but small kindnesses even in a very busy workday, go a long way to helping other people and eventually come back to you. This is the true meaning of networking.

So take the time to meet people before your job is impacted. This way you can ease into the job search mode by networking seamlessly with people you already know. And after you find you next position, please return phone calls from those who need to network. Those desperate phone calls remind you that you should always network before you need to.

Here are 5 tips for building networking contacts before you need them to help you find a new job:

1. Be active in business associations.

When you go to meetings, plan to meet at least 3 people you did not know before. Get their business cards. Invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn. Inquire about their experiences. Share yours. Be friendly. Next time you go to that association meeting, I bet they remember you!

2. Return phone calls from people trying to network with you.

Those folks will get a job eventually and they will remember your kindness. They will be more likely to help you when it is your turn in the barrel.

3. Be active on LinkedIn.

Extend invitations. Accept invitations. But don’t stop there. Use LinkedIn as more than a repository for your connections. Participate in discussions. Ask questions. Comment. Share ideas. This is networking for shy people!

4. Be friendly on airplanes and in public.

Collect business cards wherever you go and connect with those folks later on LinkedIn. Jot a note on the business card to remind you where you met. Put the contact information in your contact file. Then start a conversation so you build relationships with these new contacts.

5. Ask people outside work for advice on business projects.

You get a different business perspective and network at the same time when you talk to other folks professional to professional.

Networking is easy if you do a little at a time. As Mama used to say, it is easier to be friendly. It hardly hurts at all!

Check out The Interview Doctor’s 7 Tips for Career Success for the Shy Person. Whether you are a shy person or not these tips will help you in your networking.

5 Reasons to be Networking to help your Job Search and Career Growth

February 4, 2019 By Marta Goertzen

Networking, one of the most dreaded job search activities, but it does work!

This was overheard at a networking meet, “I don’t care what they say. I don’t see the point of networking. All we are doing is manipulating people who can’t help us anyway.”

I’ve heard that comment before, especially the part about networking being a form of manipulation.

What is a person supposed to do? Why build a network? Why contact people? For the most part, they will NOT have a job for you to consider. They may NOT be interested in talking with you. After all, people are SO busy these days.

I especially hear, “Why take the time to go meet, when you could be filling out an on-line application, or responding to a job posting with a resume and cover letter!”

I bet you know what I am going to say.

Accessing a network of contacts, acquaintances and friends is THE best way to find a new role.

BEST, meaning most reliable, most money, and most interesting opportunities compared to any other form of job search technique.

Consider these reasons below for networking and why planning time to network is critical as you search for a new job.

5 Reasons you should be Networking when looking for a New Job

Reason #1: Statistical:

That’s how most good jobs are filled. More jobs are filled by ‘who you know’ than by qualifications or compelling resumes or working with a recruiter. The numbers are staggering: 60% – 75% of jobs are filled through Networking. I can never find that citation when I need it but trust me, it is true. And since that statistic is true, we should be spending at least 60% to 75% of our job search time on networking!

Social Media complements networking today. It is so much easier to connect and reconnect with acquaintances from ‘past lives’ because of LinkedIn, Facebook, and yes, even Twitter. These sites allow us to NETWORK with folks we know (or knew before) regarding job opportunities.

Reason #2: Meeting-Oriented:

Networking requires face-to-face contact, and that’s how people get hired. When you network with someone, you must set meetings. Avoid lengthy phone conversations. Set the appointment, and get off. People get hired when some hiring manager decides they like you, and trust you, and believe you will help them solve problems. It is VERY rare that kind of decision is made by reviewing a resume, or by simply talking on the phone.

Talk about something interesting to the other person, something about their background or about a problem you know or guess is important to that person. They will want to get coffee with you if they think there is something in it for them.

Set a goal to have coffee at least 2 or 3 times a week with someone in your field. If you commit to consistent network interviews, you will be interviewing for jobs without even knowing it. You need to get in front of a LOT of people.

Reason #3: Opens Doors:

Talk with people that you know at first. Then expand your range to people that those folks suggest. This process of accessing a network two and three degrees removed from that network of immediate contacts will open doors you had not idea were out there. This is the voice of experience talking. That’s how it works. You have to work it hard to get to that ‘third degree,’ and for it to open the door you will enthusiastically say “YES, that’s my next gig!”

Reason #4: Teaches You to Fish:

How many jobs do you expect to have in your career. With an average tenure of three years in a 40 year work life, it makes sense that we will change jobs ten to twelve times in our careers. Will you ever change jobs again? Probably. Why not learn the skill that will give you the best chance at a really interesting job in three years or five years or ten?

Reason #5: Recharges You:

Yes, networking serves to regularly re-energize you. Networking IS the recharging power behind your search, even for quiet people. Talking professional to professional is very gratifying.

Do you have a phone? How often do you charge it? I plug mine in at night and sometimes even during the day. Job search requires a lot of energy. It is a full-time gig in itself. Without regular positive energy boosts, it’s fairly common to get mired in negativity. Networking, when done efficiently and well consistently keeps you going, and causes you to stay focused and positive, both important to successful job changes.

Check out The Interview Doctor’s 7 Tips for Career Success for the Shy Person. Networking is a MUST-DO activity in any job search. No matter how hard you find it.

Good Karma: The Fast Track to Career Adventure

January 15, 2019 By Marta Goertzen

I thought I would start the year off by making a little time to unravel the cryptic phrasing in my LinkedIn profile summary:

My flexible career at The Interview Doctor allows me to pick up my roots to explore my other loves: boating, travel and writing. Sometimes you can find me on our boat Good Karma, working or writing while watching the scenery change around me. Since change is the only constant, I embrace whatever life sends my way with positive energy & enthusiasm. You should too!

I live on a boat! Yes, you read that correctly. Since 2012 I’ve spent most of the time living on our boat, Good Karma, sailing around the eastern United States. For much of that time we did not have a land based home or possessions except the boat and our cars.

Crazy? No, but it sure is an adventure!

I have been reluctant to share what that means until now. I feared people would think I am strange or that I was on a permanent vacation.

Not so. I am a hardworking, successful entrepreneur who happens to live on a boat! When you talk to me I might be on the ocean, in our apartment in Akron, cruising the Great Lakes, or even in the Bahamas.

Being laid off more than most, for years I had a tenuous allegiance to Corporate America. But it was hard to imagine another way. The corporate slog which fed my family so well finally became too painful in 2004.

So I quit. Actually a new boss helped me take the big step out of corporate America into consulting when he made it worthwhile for me to leave by terminating me. I am forever grateful to Gene Seashore for providing the incentive to step out into a new adventure.

That is the “why” behind my current living experience.

Most folks are curious about the mechanics of how it works. Making this lifestyle successful requires a balance, some specific tools and a lot of determination.

My husband, Kermit (yes, that is his real name!), is the captain. Having a supportive partner is the key to making this work. He manages the boat operations including maintaining the boat and doing most of the driving. I am responsible for cooking, cleaning and most of the navigation. I also drive most afternoons to give Kermit a break.

In return, Kermit makes space for me to work. I probably spend six to 10 hours a day, seven days a week on The Interview Doctor, either writing or working with clients on the phone. Over the years I’ve worked hard to position my business to serve almost all my clients to the telephone so I could work remote. Now I have clients all over the country.

The right tools make a big difference. With a good telephone, an Internet hotspot, a good headset and computer I am in business! I plan, organize and market just like any other small business. I just conduct most of my business virtually.

Kermit and I have been boating our entire marriage. Our kids were raised on boats. Various boats have been called “Good Karma”. We moved on to the first Good Karma with our 100 pound black Labrador retriever, Rusty, in 2012. This live-aboard boat was a 1996 Cruiser 3650 Aft Cabin power boat, a 36 feet long with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen.

We liked the experience so much that in 2014 we sold our possessions, rented out our home and moved up to a 2004 Cruiser 4450 Aft cabin power boat with our cat, Jack. This was the most beautiful boat in the entire world. Without a home base, we lived on the boat in Florida in the winter and took the boat back to Ohio in the summer. That trip got kind of tiresome so we sold that boat in 2017.

In 2018 we bought two boats for the price of one. A 1983 53 foot Hatteras Motor Yacht that will become our Good Karma South “condo” in Florida and a 1994 36 foot Four Winns Express that will be Good Karma North in Sandusky OH for the summer. We rented a small home in Akron as our home base. As I write this, we are on the Mississippi headed down the rivers towards Florida!

We are not rich. We saved money all our working lives so we would not be a slave to Corporate America. We structured our entire lifestyle to reduce our expenses to accommodate our adventure. Our living expenses today are not different from the expense of living in a house. They just go towards some different things that allow us to live in our boat-home, not a land-locked home.

I love the quiet beauty of this lifestyle. I love having the scenery change. I love solving the daily challenges inherent in boating with my husband. I love the wonderful, often quirky boating people we meet from all over the world. At the same time, I also love my clients and building a successful business.

I am coming out into the open with my adventurous lifestyle because I think there is a tie between coaching folks who are building careers and my career and lifestyle choices. Life is short and precious. I refuse to accept anything less than a full, rewarding life for myself or my clients. I want to share my genuine approach to my own life in the hope that others will find the courage to take a risk to live their passion.

I know that many people find my boating lifestyle confusing. Heck, our kids think we are crazy. But I know our kids appreciate that we live an honest, adventurous life fulfilling our dreams!

The journey is the adventure! However you translate that adventure in your life, it is my mission and the mission of The Interview Doctor to help you find as much fulfillment as I do in your career and life!

I invite you to read my boating blog, Good Karma Adventures, to learn more about what it is like to live and work on a boat. I would love to hear about your challenge in converting your business so your work to live instead of living to work.

If you struggle with the answer to the always asked Job Interview question, “Tell Me About Yourself”, then you should download our free guide, the Tell Me About yourself Worksheet to answering that question. It is based on these 5 words to describe yourself so start with this guide to having an answer that flows off your tongue every time!

Stop fumbling with your words and get clear and confident on your answer with the “Tell Me About Yourself” worksheet.

Job Interviews take a spooky turn with Artificial Intelligence (AI)

December 18, 2018 By Marta Goertzen

Are you already Intimidated by the Hiring Process?

Do interviews give you hives? Well, strap on your big kid pants because the hiring process is about to get much worse.

I think everyone (candidates and hiring managers) will acknowledge that the hiring process is broken. It yields inconsistent results. Hiring managers live in fear that their new hires will be duds, wasting time and money. Candidates just want a job. They want to be acknowledged as human beings.

Yet today’s hiring process does not give anyone what they want or need.

Business leaders have been applying cutting edge technology like Band-Aids, as if that were a substitute for fixing a broken system. Candidates wind their way through high tech applicant tracking systems, interview packets with pre-set questions, and automated interview screening, trying to discern the path that lands in a job offer. The results have not changed because (in my opinion) the process remains broken.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get more complicated or that the deck could not get more stacked against candidates, companies are introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the mix.

In a fabulous recent Wall Street Journal video article, Artificial Intelligence: The Robots are Now Hiring – Moving Upstream, Hilke Schellmann and Jason Bellini explore the newest trend: video interviews analyzed by an AI algorithm.

In one version of this technology, the robot asks a question built around a real scenario. The candidate’s responses are assessed by AI that measures the voice, word choice and “micro expressions” using facial analysis software.

In another version, the AI compares that personality assessment you took against a view of your social media accounts to identify your underlying personality traits. This is legal by the way. Your social media posts are all public domain so anyone has access for any purpose. That alone should send you scurrying to clean up your Instagram account.

The developers say that the AI compares interview results against the results of the highest performing current employees. Candidates with the highest results move on to the next level. Everyone else is out. They get the traditional, “Thanks but no thanks” letter if they are lucky.

Although this is new technology and not widely utilized yet, there is a lot we do not know.

We do not know which organizations are using this technology. We do not know which video interviews are analyzed by AI. We do not know what is in the algorithm or the standard to which we are being held. We do not know why we are not selected to move on or which aspect of the video interview or AI caused us to not be selected. We do not know the finesse or skill level of the hiring managers who will be reading these results.

Are you scared yet? I am.

I didn’t want to drop this information without leaving a few tips on how to prepare. I am sure I will come up with more as this technology develops but for now, here are a few tips:

Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Since we don’t know the standards then it is hard to adjust your presentation to make yourself more appealing. You have nothing to lose by being yourself because it appears there is not a way to manage the system. Yet.
Have a brand. Why not lay out who you are with a consistent brand that appears open, honest and everywhere throughout your social media presence, your job search materials and your interview preparation?
Build relationships so you can avoid relying on video interviews / AI to pass gatekeepers. A personal recommendation still outperforms the application process. People will continue to hire candidates with good reputations who are recommended by someone they trust. You have to meet the people who can help you open doors around AI.
Practice, out loud. Know the competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors) needed to do a great job in your field. Then practice every possible configuration of question (FAQs and behavioral) that might come your way until your responses come out smooth. That way if you get a video interview, your responses will look natural and you will sound more like a successful match for the job you want.
Be prepared. Give video interviews extra preparation since we don’t know which interviews are evaluated by AI. Consider the technical aspects of course: lighting, camera preparation, the background visible behind you, your clothes. Then try to relax. Get some exercise or meditate before the video interview so you appear unperturbed and comfortable with yourself. Since we don’t know what exactly they are evaluating, perhaps being relaxed will help you present the best version of yourself.

Finding a job and managing your career gets tougher each day. AI is just another hurdle we can overcome through persistence, networking and preparation.

Have you experienced an interview with a robot? Do these tips resonate with you? What did you do to prepare? Share your experiences so we can all learn!

Check out The Interview Doctor’s 30 Most Frequently Asked Job Interview Questions to get a jump start on AI interviews.

Persistence and Patience: The Secret Key to a Successful Job Search

December 11, 2018 By Marta Goertzen

This article shares a real-life job search success story with permission from one of our interview Doctor clients.

Nancy came to me for job search coaching after being laid off as a Procurement Director from W.W. Grainger, a huge MRO distribution company. She had a diverse background in procurement, marketing, supply chain and business development in several companies giving her flexibility in her next career step.

She was pleased with her job search materials including her resume. Nancy’s LinkedIn profile was already in good shape. She wanted help with the job search process itself. She was coming off of 2 years with Grainger after spending almost ten years with her previous employer. She networks actively including speaking at conferences.

Nancy was most concerned that she make the right choice in this next assignment. We jumped right into it! Together, we created a job search marketing plan that looked like this:

Start with the end in mind. What do you want? Nancy decided she wanted a stable company where she could combine her expertise to help an organization grow.

Create a Job Search Plan to get you there. Nancy identified the answers to these questions:

What companies are in a position to hire someone like her? What are the industries that make sense, the size she preferred with the culture she preferred? We created a list of those companies.
What tools did she need to support her goal? Nancy had a great resume and LinkedIn profile. There were a few things we could improve in LinkedIn – there always are, she needed business cards supporting her personal brand and maybe some marketing pieces like handouts, examples of her work or point of view that she might use to illustrate a point.
Who to talk to, who do you know, who knows people you know? Nancy had a broad network that she leveraged to find opportunities. Every time I talked to her she rattled off a list of influential people introducing her to other people that ended up in opportunities.
How do you position yourself to appeal to those companies? Nancy attended conferences where she could meet more people. She viewed the cost of attending conferences as an investment in her future. She spoke at conferences to illustrate her point of view then shook hands and exchanged business cards, following up when she returned home.

Work the plan hard. Job search is a numbers game. The more active you are, the more opportunities you can unearth. Nancy spent a fraction of her time on job ads, devoting the majority of her energy to networking with people she knew like former colleagues and bosses as well as the swelling network of people she met at conferences and through others.

This effort bore fruit quickly. In March, a month into our work together, Nancy networked into what sounded like a great opportunity! Just as the company was giving her a verbal offer, the president resigned. A new President put a stop to all offers. He wanted to start over to see if any internal candidates might fit the bill. Nancy was in limbo.

Nancy kept at it. In May, she got an offer from an office supply organization in Boston. They wanted her bad, presenting her with a very lucrative offer with good money and full relocation. Something about the opportunity made Nancy pause. She was concerned that the company had gone from public to private ownership and was rebuilding. Nancy checked with her network. The word on the street was that the company was a mess.

In the excitement of getting a job offer, sometimes you have to step back to reassess.

Nancy reviewed her job search marketing plan. She originally wanted her next employer to be a growing company with a positive culture. Maybe this was not the right opportunity!

Nancy did what many people are not brave enough to do … she turned down the job!

Nancy was juggling four other opportunities, all very different with different focuses. The original job she almost got three months ago was still out there too.

From May through September, Nancy continued to press on those other opportunities. One opportunity at a consulting firm was particularly appealing. After multiple interviews, Nancy received a job offer in September with the consulting firm. She would take on business development, combining her interest and expertise in business development, supply chain, logistics, and marketing to set the stage for growth. This was the ONE!

From the minute she encountered this company, Nancy had a good feeling that she could find a home there. One month after she started this new job, I had a conversation with Nancy about her job search process and the choice she made.

Nancy is super happy! The company is as great as she hoped. They treat everyone like family. Everyone wants to meet you. They pride themselves on always looking for the best in each other. She feels appreciated for the first time in ages!

Nancy’s advice: The key to job search success is persistence and patience.

Persistence to keep networking in the face of adversity. Investment in conferences. Putting her ideas out in public by speaking at conferences and sharing written thoughts on business issues in her industry. Work the network. Build relationships.

Patience to wait for the right opportunity and the courage to turn down the wrong opportunity. Don’t settle for the first job that comes in. That is hard advice if you are out of work.

Nancy said she appreciated having a coach to talk to and bounce ideas off. Working with a coach gave her the confidence to practice what I preached so she could get the job she wanted!!

How are you demonstrating persistence and patience in your career or job search? What are you doing to propel your career forward or find that next role that makes you happy? Check out the many Interview Doctor tools and resources we offer you to get started.

If you want to get professional support with your job search to work through all the steps as Nancy and I did, maybe it is time to invest in coaching time with The Interview Doctor so you can get that burst of support. Click here to learn more about the job search coaching services.