David E. Perry's Blog, page 18

A Personal Branding Lesson from Arnold Schwarzenegger: Would the Terminator get Terminated

Used wisely, email is a great tool. It's instant and costs next to nothing compared to the mail AND your targets secretary won't intercept and delete it!

Guess AGAIN! 

The challenge is getting your message delivered - and opened. The proliferation of SPAM of all kinds has forced most employers and certainly all head-hunters to install sophisticated software that automatically deletes unapproved email.

So how can you increase the likelihood that yours will be one of the very few unsolicited emails that gets opened? The answer is both simple and difficult: write a great subject line.

To do this, you must be clear, compelling and specific.  Here's a drab, uninspiring subject line like the hundreds I get every single day:

***********************************************************

Sales VP Resume attached for your review

Yawn!!!!!
If  Arnold Schwarzenegger used that line - his aplication would get terminated!

It entirely lacks sizzle, a sense of urgency, and specifics.  What a waste of ether. I wouldn't open it. 

Let's bring it to life:

David, how many VPSales can generate $150 M new revenues in just three years?

It's long, but it takes you somewhere interesting. It has a fighting chance of enticing a click-through.

In the previous example, the jobseeker has no direct personal or business connection with the potential employer. But if there is such a connection, make it clear in the subject line, in an intriguing way:

David, Bob Hannah says you and I should talk

So your subject line in your email does its job and the email gets opened.

Now your first paragraph closes in for the kill. It can't be like this:

As a senior sales and company executive, I have developed, mentored, and managed high performance sales teams, installed sales metrics and created sales plans and strategies in highly competitive markets. My experience includes both national and international duties.

Feel like you've read this before? I have, thousands of times. It's as generic as an airport lounge. I get thousands like this every week. I never ever read them!

To have an impact, the opening paragraph needs to have personality, attitude, and substance. Something like:

Hello David Perry,

Sales VPs—they're a dime a dozen. Right? Yes—with a few exceptions. Like me.

From June 2002 until March 2005, I drove revenues at XYZ Corporation from $80 million (and flat) to $130 million (and still rising). Before that, the sales team I led at XCO had the highest numbers across the global organization—18 quarters in a row.  Now I'm ready to repeat that kind of success for another company—like yours. Are you ready to talk to me? If so, give me a call right now at 123-4567. Let's talk.

See the differences Guerrilla? Now it's your turn. Drop and give me 20 then write a couple of your own and ask yourself – would anyone besides your mother open and read it?  Don't be terminated.

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.

Don't try this at home: When creative job hunting tactics lead to jail.

There's a huge obvious benefit to engaging in creative out-of-the-box activities which will bring you to the attention of hiring managers.

There's also a real danger of crossing the line and doing something in poor taste or something that puts you or the potential employer at risk.

Here's an example pulled from the pages of the Montreal Gazette in Montreal, Canada on October 15th , 2004:

"The job hunter hoped his resume would land him an interview. What he got was the attention of the bomb squad. The man was arrested after he included his CV in a ticking package left in a Montrealmarketing firm's washroom last month. It was his way of drawing attention to the application, as he was among 400 contenders vying for six paid internships.

The 24-year-old didn't get the job but he did get charged with public mischief. He had handed the receptionist an Arabic newspaper with a note alerting her to the ticking parcel in the men's washroom, police said.

At a time of heightened concerns over terrorism, the package raised the specter of a bombing.  Montreal police evacuated the company's building. Later, police discovered the package was harmless. It contained a metronome - a device used by musicians to help maintain rhythm and tempo - along with the candidate's CV. "

Needless to say he DID NOT get the job.

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.

Be Interview-Ready: Company Research 101 for Jobseekers

A question was posted on LinkedIn recently asking hiring managers what their pet peeves were when it comes to interviewing job candidates. Over and over again, respondents indicated that their pet peeve is candidates who come to the interview and don't know anything about the company.

via www.resumeconfidential.ca

Terrific article today from Karen Siwak of Resume Confidential fame.

How to be pleasantly persistent: "No" just means "Not now".

I just returned from vacation in the Dominican Republic - great place.

One of the most  interesting aspects for me as a "social scientist" was watching the interaction between the sunbathers and the folks selling cigarettes, sunglasses and hair-braiding on the beech.

What can I tell you I don't get oout enough... 

Every morning the same team of 5-6 people would go up and down the hotel's 1000 yards of beach front asking people if they wanted to buy something. Newbies [those with alabaster white skin] would just wave them away automatically as they approached them – assured they couldn't possibly want whatever they where selling. Sound like many employers when you approach them about a job or a ask for a networking event?

Unlike job-hunters who take the first "no thank you" and fade quickly into the scenery these professional understand that "no" means "not now". 

They said "thank you" with a smile and moved on to the next person.  BUT they would revisit the same people and inquire during the day if they had changed their mind.  In fact, they where pleasantly persistent over a 3-5 day period and nearly always successful. Often, people actually expressed gratitude, because on that day what they where selling was exactly what the sunbather needed.

What's the lesson?

Most employers have a knee-jerk reaction to job-hunters, especially with some of the lame approaches they take to get in front of them. Job hunter - DO NOT take it personally.  The employer isn't rejecting you.  They are rejecting your offer.  It's not about you, it's about your offer - your product  [the product just happens to be you].

For job hunters the product happens to be you.

Just like the beach vendors though, success can be yours when you take a deep breath – re-package your wares [skills and experience] and re-pitch.

As a professional headhunter I never know what kind of mood I'm going to catch someone in on the say I approach them, so when they say no – which is 99% of the time – I don't strike them off my list forever, I repackage the candidate and represent them a day later. I always wish I was more articulate so this wouldn't happen – but I'm not – so I've settled on being pleasantly persistent.

Pick up some pointers today.

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.

Job Search Propaganda: The Networking Myth

A letter from a job hunter after I presented at ExecuNet.

"Dperry"- Thanks for a stimulating and frank discussion of guerilla job tactics and for not recycling the same old tired mantras on the Execunet webcast.  I would like to see what your lost chapter is all about.

Also, although you demonstrated that direct contact was the way to go, the reason a lot of people aren't doing it more is that there is so little agreement about the best way to accomplish it.  Your story about tracking the exec down in his bathroom was cute and made for a good journalistic newsbite,  but I don't know how practical and systematic that is for most of the non-sales executives on the broadcast, especially when there is some uncertainty about how how good a match or how great a need there may actually be at one particular employer.  (I'm also the one who asked about "research" and the lack of specifics it yields.)

As a "for instance" of the propaganda we get, see the quote below for a hardened opinion by one of the opinion makers in the executive job search business, John Lucht (Rites of Passage at $100,000...).  I'm sure you and Jay would not be anywhere in the ball park on this line of thought.  Does the book lay out some sound approaches?

UNLESS YOUR NAME AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS WILL ALREADY BE KNOWN TO THE DECISION MAKER, THEN YOUR MOST COURTEOUS AND EFFECTIVE APPROACH WILL BE AN IMPRESSIVE ON-PAPER SUBMISSION.

If you're unknown to both the gatekeeper and the decision maker when you phone, you'd have to be the world's glibbest con artist to imagine that you can talk your way through to an exceedingly busy and prominent person. So don't even try. You'll only make yourself look ridiculous and spoil the majestic entrance you could otherwise make on the wings of a powerful referral. If, in the long run, you have no better introduction than a superb on-paper mailing, don't doom it to failure by being remembered as the dope on the phone who tried to barge in with no credentials earlier. THE BOTTOM LINE Gatekeepers will do their job, whether you like it or not. So, cooperate ... or move along to another gate. THE TAKE AWAY Sometimes, you can't bypass a good person doing a good job.

###                                                                                                                      

 

Dear Job Hunter

Yes GM4JH lays out many tactics and strategies to lead you to your ultimate goal – an interview and an offer. The book is heavy on the do-this and not-that advice. The tactical "dirt under your fingernails" stuff.

I am quite sensitive to the needs of the non-sales executives. Of the 999+ ways to find a job perhaps 3 require the type of outgoing personality normally found in a sales or marketing type. We knew full well that the readers of GM4JH would be 95% comprised of people who are NOT S&M people.

The book is slanted toward creating interest in yourself as a candidate by showcasing what you have already done for others – thereby implying "I can so the same for you" – through creative packaging of your experience.

As to John's assertion: UNLESS YOUR NAME AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS WILL ALREADY BE KNOWN TO THE DECISION MAKER, THEN YOUR MOST COURTEOUS AND EFFECTIVE APPROACH WILL BE AN IMPRESSIVE ON-PAPER SUBMISSION.

I can't agree and here's why. The purpose of Guerrilla Marketing is so your name "will" be known –even if you can't ride on "the wings of a powerful referral" – and your experience desired by employers for the rest of your life.

A career is a process with many transactions [jobs] with you as the CEO of Me Inc. Deciding who you work with is your business – literally. You're not "powerless" which is the impression this quote leaves me with. As the holder of the asset [knowledge+ skills+ aptitude], you have ALL the power. Your job is to articulate your value in a manner they understand – that's the challenge. If the Gatekeeper – gets it – and most do, s/he will let you through whether your approaching them by phone, fax, email or paper. It a gate keeper's job to pan for gold for their boss and to keep the "claim jumpers" at bay. What impression does your approach leave?

In this instance the author is talking about networking which is the major underpinning of the book – in the context of 1988 when it was first published - and it's a good book on networking, but networks are passive not active. The challenge becomes what do you do when you don't have a powerful referral? When you're not known outside your circle of acquaintances? When your circle drive Chevy's and not Jags?

The challenge with networking in general is that traditional networking ultimately relies on having a fundamental belief in the kindness of strangers.

At its core, it preaches that job-hunters must have faith that they'll find a job through a friend of a friend of a friend. This is largely a myth.

Although I've heard that this strategy yielded great results in the past, it's not enough today. With the constantly changing marketplace, there is more competition for fewer leads. Traditional networking is much like casting your fate to the wind. It is too passive to rely on. Moreover, there are three flaws in traditional networking in my opinion:

1. You need to have a network at hand when you find yourself out of work (by the way—being out of work is not the best time to start building one).

2. It requires you to be at least a little outgoing because you need to talk to strangers.

3. There's no way to guarantee the jobs people refer will be ones you'll excel at, much less be interested in.

On the networking front, Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters shows you – in great detail – how headhunters and executive search professionals use networking to discover opportunities where it would appear that none currently exist.

Beyond networking, GM4JH shows you how to command attention. How to leverage the halo effect of your previous employer[s] brand; how to build buzz; how to become the designated expert - even how to work with the gate keeper to make them beg to hire you!

David Perry
Coauthor
Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.

Write a prospecting letter: # 5 of 47 Ways to Find a Job

Harness the power of direct mail. The first thing you need to do for a prospecting letter is compile your list. Find 5-10 companies you want to work for based on your research. Compose a letter to your network of contacts asking them if they know of anyone who works at any of the companies on your enclosed list.

When a contact does know someone at one of the companies ask him or her to forward your resume to them and let you know how to follow up on the referral. Enclose an eXtreme makeover resume or a functional one with 3-5 bulleted accomplishments that would be of interest to hiring managers at the companies you target.

Send the letter to all your direct contacts first: lawyer, accountant, friends, colleagues, former employers.
Send the list to your closest neighbors next and then people that you don't necessarily know but you've always meant to stop by and introduce yourself to.
 Attach a hand written note to your list and sign your name
If you hit a dead-end find out who supplies the company with computer products, stationery or any other service and approach them the same way.
 Don't be surprised if someone calls one or two of your target companies and tells them you are doing research on them… that's not a bad thing to have happen.

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.

Countering the Offer :: Vivalta Inc – Denver-San Francisco-Finance-Accounting Recruiters-Recruiting Firm

"Employment negotiations are relationship driven and can last a lifetime."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++-Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0

Sweet success. It's Friday and you just received that long awaited job offer you've been waiting for. You give it a weekend of painstaking contemplation, and decide that although it is a solid offer, the salary just isn't in line with what the market says you are worth. Come Monday, you are ready to call and counter. But just how do you go about this without the hiring manager telling you to "go pound sand," so to speak? Here we outline the best strategies for countering, along with the possible pitfalls:

via vivaltainc.com

Good advice from Vivalta on negotiating.

"Do Yourself a Favor, Dump that Guerrilla Resume"

You Guerrilla doubters out there are going to appreciate this article because it is added proof that a Guerrilla Resume simply is not everyone's favorite flavor; and that our methods are especially disliked by many so-called, process oriented job experts out there.     

One of our current  students (Mark G.) who is enrolled in the 10 week Guerrilla Job Seekers Boot Camp shared an interesting in the trenches story during last Friday' job seekers conference call.    

Per one of his weekly assignments, Mark applied to a particular department, and to a specific person within a company that piqued his interest.  He used his Guerrilla cover letter and one page Guerrilla Resume in the "precise manner" that he learned in our boot camp. (The former is where I believe the overwhelming majority of "maybe want-to-be" Guerrilla job seekers fail. That is because they don't follow our EXACT Guerrilla instructions and/or the job seeker puts together what they "think" is a Guerrilla cover letter and resume when in reality, it simply isn't.)  

To continue Mark's story, the hiring authority routed Mark's resume to Human Resources (HR) and "directed" them (HR) to call Mark in for an interview.  Therefore, HR had no choice but to call Mark because HR does not have the authority to tell the boss –"no !"  

Here is where the story gets interesting…  

Upon arrival for the interview and following company protocol, Mark first sat with the HR Manager before meeting with members of the actual hiring team. According to Mark, after the HR person looks over his resume, that individual sits back and says, "You truly do yourself a disservice using a one page resume such as this."  

Mark asks, "How so ?"  The HR professional responded by saying, "Well this is really nothing more than a dressed up functional resume that lacks sufficient detail. It's not the way things are done." 

Mark responded by saying, "The cover letter and the 1 page resume method I used was only intended for the sole purpose of an employer to sit-up, pay attention and want to talk with me."   

The HR person then said, "But this resume leaves out particulars that we would like know before an interview takes place."  Mark then said, "Well, my one page resume and the information I provided got me in the door for an interview, didn't it ?"  

Purportedly the silence in the HR persons office was deafening regarding the matter and Mark was sent on his way to interview with the real decision makers !   

Did I say, "Do yourself a favor, dump that Guerrilla resume ? "  Sorry, I didn't really mean that, but it got your attention didn't it ?

Mark J. Haluska, Senior Certified Guerrilla Job Search Coach for North America

www.psychoape.com  

 

"Sell me this pen"

A friend of mine just came back from a stupid interview. 

By stupid I mean the interviewer was a man of very little brain and blew his chance to hire Dave.   My oh so experienced friend with 20 years experience closing "C" level executives on multi-million dollar deals was confounded by a young pup who had just ascended to his first VP Sales and Marketing role and was rather very proud of himself.

The first question he asked Dave wasn't even a question.  He pulled a pen from his pocket and said, "sell me this pen".  Now Dave's a master salesman so he knew how to handle the question, but what would you do? 

I can tell you what I did!

I had to do this with a perspective client early on in my career who was testing my sales abilities; I asked the question, "Do you need a pen?"  He said, "Yes". Great, how much money do you have in your wallet, I asked? Motioning to pass me the money he gave me the $150. I folded it and put it in my pocket - then I told him that wasn't near enough – but it was a reasonable down payment.   let's talk about how we can make my services more affordable by breaking up yiur payments....

With age comes wisdom [and just a touch of impatience for stupid parlor tricks]. 

Here's what I did the last time a client wanted to test out my persuassive skills with that stupid interview question.

I asked the interviewer, "do you need a pen?"  He said, "no".  I said great, so what do you need?  "Nothing", he said.  To which I said "terrific I'll be on my way because you're neither a suspect nor a prospect". 

Here's the point.  And do take notes.  

Sales people [that's you when you're looking for a job] don't need to perform parlor tricks for interviewers. You also don't need to waste your time with people who have no intention of hiring you  - unless of course you want to practice your closing routines.

Remember that the next time an interviewer asks you a stupid question.

In the recruiting business we refer to these as throwaways – sales calls we use to sharpen our technique. We know ahead of time they're not going to hire us or we'd never work for them – BUT practice makes perfect.  Who can you practice on this week?

1-How to be found by recruiters and hiring managers

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.

WAR STORY -- Win a Free Pizza

After being laid off, George Brown knew exactly which company he wanted to work for next, but every time he called, Human Resources told him the company wasn't hiring. So George sprang into action, and another guerrilla job-hunter was born.

George printed business cards that were round, slightly larger than normal, and very colorful. On the front was a picture of a pizza with a circle-shaped message: "Win a Free Pizza." The flip side of the card gave his name, e-mail address, and telephone number along with the promise of a pizza for the first person to get him an interview with a manager in the company. 

Dressed for an interview, George stationed himself at the entrance of the company and handed out cards to everybody who would take one. He kept this up for a couple of days and became a topic of conversation at the company. One manager figured that anyone who would go to so much effort deserved an interview.

One extra-large pizza later, George guerrilla-marketed his way to the job of his dreams at very little expense, and the company is more profitable because of it.

Compliments of Shari Miller, Principle of The Elmhurst Group, www.elmhurstgroup.com.

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.