Tuesday’s Tip: Sending a Thank You Letter

I am surprised by how few job seekers actually send a Thank You Letter to those that were involved in the Hiring Process. It seems like everyone you ask "claims" to send them, but in actuality, the Hiring Managers I talk to receive them less than 50% of the time. So if you are one of the few that do send them, take a look at these tips below to see if you can improve on them. If you don't send them, you are missing an opportunity to "break a tie" or sway the Hiring Manager in a different direction.

Top Ten Tips:

1) Acknowledge their time and consideration of you as a candidate

2) Address important qualifications that did not come up in the interview

3) You want to remain at the top of their mind. You don't want the "out of sight, out of mind" disease.

4) Demonstrate to them your follow-up skills

5) Show them that you understand the requirements of the job and can accomplish them better than anyone else

6) Show excitement and enthusiasm for the new role

7) Re-explain anything that you thought about later and wish you had answered differently. Say, "I further thought about your question regarding ____________, and after further analysis, I would also _______________."

8) Add the "remember me" touch. During the ice breaker portion, did you pick up on anything that is important to them? Did you notice the football signed by Walter Payton and discuss this during the interview? If so, add a statement in the Thank You Letter that shows you remembered what is important to them. It can be as simple as "Go Bears" at the end of the letter.

9) Attach an "accomplishments document" or a 30-60-90 day plan on how you would spend your first few months on the job to the E-mail that contains your Thank You Letter - note: the Thank You should be in the body of an E-mail, and should be sent in 12 hours or less from the interview. If you want to follow up with a hand written Thank You, that would also look impressive, but the decision on your candidacy might already have been made by the time the snail mail letter arrives. If you go this route, hand deliver it instead.

10) Want to really stand out? Consider sending a video Thank You via the website: http://mailvu.com

Thursday’s Thought: Any Guest Bloggers Out There?

Do have anything that you would like to get off your mind?

Do you have some technique that you have used in your job search that would be beneficial to share with fellow job seekers?

Do you have any advice for recruiters, hiring managers, HR departments, corporations, or job seekers?

I am looking for guest bloggers to write a blog entry that would benefit the readers of this blog. You can post your name or remain anonymous. If interested, please send me an E-mail to kevin@kevincrews.com with your blog entry.

Tuesday’s Tip: E-mail Trick

Do you post your resume on various job boards? Do you receive E-mails from recruiters and hiring managers and ever wonder where they saw my resume? If so, below is a trick to take the mystery out of it. It will provide you the information you need to understand and manage the job boards that are working (and not working) for you. You can then make the necessary adjustments after you have the data.

Let's say Jim Smith has an E-mail account of: jim.smith@gmail.com. Jim would customize his resume that he uploads to Monster with an E-mail address of jim.smith+monster@gmail.com. This "+monster" is treated just like a comment and has no factor on where the E-mail is to be sent. The E-mail will still go to jim.smith@gmail.com, however, when Jim opens his jim.smith@gmail.com E-mail, he will see that this one was "sent" to jim.smith+monster@gmail.com. This will tell him that the person sending him the correspondence received his E-mail from the Monster job board that had his resume on it. If he does the same with Careerbuilder, he will see another E-mail that was sent to jim.smith+careerbuilder@gmail.com.

Possible concern (or plus) for doing this trick: Some people might be puzzled as to why he added "+monster" to his E-mail address, or they might think, "Boy, this Jim Smith character sure is organized. He set up a separate E-mail address for Monster just to manage his job search. When in actuality, he did not make a new E-mail address, he just added a "non-functioning" parameter to his already established E-mail address.

Thursday’s Thought: Got An Interview? Turn It Into A Sales Presentation

At one of my former company's, when we brought candidates in for an interview, we took a different approach to determining if they were a superstar or super-dud. And since the act of traditional interviewing has only a 50% correlation in determining how well someone will do on the job, this method proved much more successful than the typical Q&A game most organizations (as well as job seekers) play in the corporate world today.

If they passed the normal pre-screening questions during the phone interview, we invited them to prepare for and make a presentation to a panel of interviewers selected as a team of decision makers from various departments in the company.

They were informed that they would be given 1 hour to present a PowerPoint "sales" presentation on their background, abilities, skills, competencies, education, projects, projected contributions if they were hired for this position, and anything else that they felt were critical for the team to know in order to make an informed decision on their candidacy.

This process proved to be very informative and it was evident after that hour long presentation that this candidate was, or was not, a viable candidate for the job.

Thus, I would suggest that you offer to do the same the next time you get an in-person interview. Just run it by the recruiter as an idea that you had, and see if you can persuade them to let you stand up in front of the room and have the "judgment" team sit in the audience and evaluate your presentation. I believe you will have a much better chance of convincing them to move forward with you and conversely, if this role is not a match for you, that will also became very apparent using this method. Bottom line: you will either be at the very top or very bottom of their list after this 1 hour presentation.

Tuesday’s Tip: Don’t Be Afraid to Negotiate

Happy New Year to all of you! I wish you the best this year! But it ain't going to be easy, so get ready to work hard at your job search. That hard work will soon lead to an offer, and I want you to negotiate for a better salary than the first one put on the table.

Many employers, recruiters and hiring managers expect their ideal candidate to negotiate their salary offer when the time comes. Thus, they do not make a first offer that is at the top of their available range. They expect some negotiations and will come back with a second offer that is really close to their comfort zone.

If you are nervous about them getting "mad at you" (this is ironic, since they usually expect you to negotiate on the job - especially if you are a manager and purchase products or services), and revoking the offer, consider these two options:

1) Ask them, "Is this a committed offer? Because if it is, there are some points I would like to negotiate, but I wouldn't want to jeopardize the offer on the table if it is not a firm offer." By doing this, you are asking for permission to negotiate, and from their answer, you will know if you are dancing on thin ice.

2) Have a safe "out" that you can always ask for (and receive) if the negotiation process is starting to turn ugly. If they say something like, "We gave you our best offer, what more do you want", and they say it in a tone like you are a crazy person, then politely say your "out" clause, "You mentioned that this position comes with a company car. If it is possible, I have always wanted a red car. Plus, my clients will see me coming from blocks away. Do you think this is possible?" Or use whatever else that you consider a "gimme" benefit.

Too many of the people I hire do not negotiate anything (or even attempt a negotiation), and most of the time, the hiring manager has given me some wiggle room (usually 3-5k that I could approve instantly if just asked) or possibly a sign-on bonus. Thus, in this economy, I would start with a 10% increase over their first offer and work down from there.

Thursday’s Thought: Time To Pull Out All of the Stops

I really feel that 2011 needs to be "The Year of Urgency". I have very strong feelings on the economy and the future of work. And even if I am wrong, I am right! Let me explain by listing 4 reasons why you need to work hard to land a position very soon.

1. About 75% of currently employed people are not happy in their current job or company and will look for new opportunities as soon as they feel "safe" in doing so. More competition for you.


2. Those that recently accepted positions may be happy in their current role and company, but remember they were offered a low-ball (or discounted) salary offer and they may leave to get back to where they were at in prior positions. More competition for you.


3. Those that accepted a temporary job with a company will get priority consideration over "outsiders". More competition for you.


4. The economy may even get worse than we have seen. I feel the government has put band-aids on the problems and they are starting to fall off and these temporary fixes have not solved the real problems. Corporations have rode the "all is getting better" balloon for a long time now, but will soon see that bubble burst more loudly than the dot com bust.

So, no matter what side you are on, you can see that if the economy is great, you will have an increase in competition from those that are working (but waiting) to leave their current situation. If you believe me and feel that the worst is still to come, then landing a job early in 2011 might be easier than in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th quarter.

It is now time to kick your job search into high gear. If you have been doing the same things over and over and are not getting results, it is time to try new avenues and modify your job search plan. It might even be time to look at those "alternatives" that you have been avoiding to consider.

Tuesday’s Tip: Mark Your Calendars – A New Kind of Networking Club Has Arrived

Announcing the newest professional networking group for the Chicagoland area, the CTS Networking Club. This semi-monthly event is held on the first and third Wednesday of every month at the Lisle Hilton and features more than just the typical fare found at most meetings. Come and experience job search training, reverse job fairs, question and answer periods with qualified industry professionals, peer-to-peer communication sessions, and roundtable networking (remember to bring your contacts list!)

If you are a job seeker, thinking about re-entering the job market, or just like to network with professionals, you need to attend this event!

Our inaugural club meeting is January 5, 2011 and will feature an interactive discussion on job searching in the online world as well as negotiating tips for candidates. If you are a charter lifetime member of the club, registration is free (but still required). If you are not a charter lifetime member, registration is just $20 until end of the day on January 2nd and then goes up to $25 after that.

To sign up for the first Wednesday club events, please click here.
To become a lifetime member (and a special charter membership is currently available), please click here.

Thursday’s Thought: Merry Christmas, But Don’t Tell Santa That

I have it on good authority that Santa Claus is coming to town. And he ain't happy! He has observed (from the North Pole) many bad companies doing many bad things this past year. Thus, there are no CEO's on his list this year. Santa compiled a list of his top 6 grievances with corporations:

1. He is tired of companies posting positions that they really have no intention of filling (just out fishing for the big whale).


2. He is upset that the interviewers at company's have lost all compassion. Why don't they provide feedback to the candidates that they interview?


3. Where has the common decency gone? When someone sends you an E-mail or leaves you a voicemail, it is written in law (at the North Pole) that you must return the message (within 1-2 business days).


4. What is it with these never ending questions for online applications? They need to know more information about a candidate than the IRS wants to know about you.


5. What happened to privacy? Nosey companies want to know your salary information before they even consider you for a position. That is private information that they get after they have been good little corporate boys and girls.


6. How in the world did so much discrimination sneak back into society? Job seekers are being discriminated from every angle. All you "discriminators" will receive a special prize in your stockings. Hint: It's reindeer poop.

Even though it has been a very rough year for a lot of us, I still want to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a "Life Changing" New Year!

P.S. I snapped a picture of Santa below... Don't show this to your children, we don't want them to know!

Tuesday’s Tip: Last Job Held In 2009? Don’t Let the Employer Know This

The New Year (2011) is just around the corner, and if you have been unemployed since December 2009 (or earlier), the following date range on your resume is not going to be a selling point to potential employers:
IBM - Training Manager - 2005 to 2009
This will look like you have been unemployed for 2 years (even though that may not be the case). You can make it look a little better by adding the months next to the years (but most recruiters will not do the math - they will make the easy calculation and toss your resume out). Thus, this date format will not be a selling point on your resume!
Since I believe that your resume is a creative marketing and sales document (and not a history document), I am going to suggest that you get very creative by using the following on your resume:
IBM - Training Manager
Since 2005
By listing it this way, the reader is not really aware if you are still with the company or not. I am not suggesting that you lie, but I am asking you do be a little deceptive. You know, like all the small print we see on the products we buy and the contracts we sign. Why be sneaky? Because the incompetent recruiter is going to ignore a potentially great candidate because they (or the Hiring Manager) has interpreted your lengthy sabbatical could only be for one reason; you must not be very good at your job and thus unemployable! And placing "Since 2005" on the second line does not necessarily suggest that this date is tied to your title at IBM. It could represent your bullet points that are listed below it.
I want you to have a chance at getting a call and after you have been given that chance to sell your skills to the company, then, you can reveal to them that you are not currently working and disclose more information about your background. Once they fall in love with your background and feel that you are an ideal candidate, they will NOW begin to "overlook" some of your "flaws", but if you never get invited to talk to anyone, you don't have a chance at all. At least this way, you are given an opportunity to shine.
Other options to consider would be to start your own consulting firm, mention your sabbatical, or reason for not currently being employed (ie. caring for an ill family member, etc.). If you don't somehow explain it, they are going to assume the worst!

Tuesday’s Tip: Mark Your Calendars

Starting on January 5th, 2011, there will be a new kind of networking club in town. Do you want to attend a club that has training about all aspects of your job search? Do you want to meet with live recruiters? Do you want Hiring Managers from your target companies present to network with and sell your skills to?

Recurring on the first and third Wednesday of each month, these exciting events are opportunities for everyone to network, learn, and have fun. Open to everyone regardless of employment status, our networking groups bring together people currently in transition, those thinking about changing jobs, those who are employed and even those who are doing the hiring.

Each event is slightly different but will follow a basic agenda:
1st Wednesday of the month format:
* The evening opens with a training session on any variety of topics from resume tips and tricks to negotiating salary to using social media in a job search.
* We then move into a comprehensive Q&A session to directly address any issues or problems you may be having in your job search.
* After a short break, we get right back into the thick of things with a group session aimed at peer-to-peer communication. A very powerful part of any evening!
* Finally, we'll wrap up each "First Wednesday" with a roundtable networking session. Remember to bring your rolodex!

3rd Wednesday of the month format:
* The evening opens with a training session on any variety of topics from resume tips and tricks to negotiating salary to using social media in a job search.
* We then do a detailed review of the latest tools and techniques for job searching. This can include new ways to use online resume and job boards, social media sites, new resume techniques, etc.
* After a short break, we get right back into the thick of things with a reverse job fair; that's right, we bring the recruiters to you! Be prepared by bringing your resume, rolodex, and elevator speech.
Throughout the year,look for guest speakers, reviews of new search tools and techniques, and more!
Please go to the calendar (January) on my website to register:
www.kevincrews.com
There are more surprises as well, but I can't give out all the secrets before Christmas! You have to wait!
I guarantee it will be worth your time and investment!