David E. Perry's Blog, page 8
May 12, 2012
Making a Resume for Today's Short Attention Spans | IdeaFeed | Big Think
Making a Resume for Today's Short Attention Spans
Orion Jones on April 24, 2012, 4:40 PM
What's the Latest Development?
It's time we start adapting our resumes to how overloaded bosses read them: quickly and mercilessly. To do that, you'll need to learn about what space, dumb algorithms and lingerie.
via bigthink.com
May 8, 2012
Never job hunt alone!
Job hunting need not be a lonely isolating ordeal. It can actually be a little fun [yup I'm serious here]. IMHO everyone should have a job-search buddy. The main objective of your "buddy" is to keep you motivated and honest with yourself.
Few people can work well in isolation, [cave men like me are an exception] but that's exactly what happens when you're looking for a job. You're typically sitting at home night and day doing research, making calls, and writing letters. Life can become very lonely very quickly. sometimes it's tough to stay motivated. I think it's important to have someone else to bounce ideas off who will make a "big deal" over your daily accomplishments, because you're not likely to do it for yourself.
- Your buddy can be looking for a job too but that's not a necessity.
- The number one rule: be honest with each other.
- When someone is slacking off, the buddy needs to ask why and try and help work through the blockage.
- Your buddy needs to hold you accountable, for both the quality and quantity of leads you are following.
- Your buddy's main jobs are to point out opportunities you may have missed, and to keep you motivated.
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.
May 7, 2012
Creative Work Environment - What do the really mean?
We don’t have a lot of money to give you but we sure have fun together on the weekend!
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.
May 1, 2012
The Ultimate Resume Guide
Your typical resume is a bland lifeless boring 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper which most hiring managers dread reading. Like a Black & White television it's capable of getting your story across but - as they say - it ain't very engaging. It's competing for their attention in a world of MTV and You Tube. Guerrilla Job Hunters use modern marketing principles like graphics and color to grab a reader's attention.
This guide takes you step-by-step through the process of building a resume that will make employers beg to interview you. It'll help rev up your current resume OR show you how to do a 1-page Guerrilla one.
As a bonus you'll get 25 One-page Guerrilla Resume make overs to "borrow" ideas from. Just click here: and refer to "You Inc." the zebra in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. We'll send you the latest version.
How to use research as a competitive advantage in job hunting
The most obvious change in job-hunting is the advent of the Internet. In the old days people would wait for the Sunday paper and check the classified section to see who was hiring or they’d simply ask their friends and neighbors if they knew of any job openings. Now, thanks to instant communications and round-the-clock access you can research companies and job-hunt anytime at more than 42,000 job boards and 500,000 corporate web sites. You can network with total strangers, thousands of miles from home, in your pajamas… not that where watching!
Here are 8 of the Top 50 research avenues covered in Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters:
ZoomInfo – ZoomInfo is the research tool I use the most. Can’t live with out it. Are you in it? You should be! And listing yourself or checking your profile is free. Register and Create a ZoomInfo Web Summary and Be Found and then Let Opportunities Find You. This is a craeer accelerator you can’t live without.
America’s Career InfoNet – The research tools for industry and occupations are second to none AND it’s free. There are several pages devoted to using it in Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters. Check it out for your self.
Just Sell - will email you a description of every company which has received new funding each week. The free report is divided by state or province and includes a description of the company and the purpose for the round of funding, and often includes the email addresses of the senior executives.
The Money Tree Survey - is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States. It’s collaboration between PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association. It’s excellent and it’s the only industry-endorsed research of its kind.
PE Week Wire is free and I have daily updates delivered to my email box bright and early each day. PE Week is the only industry publication that tracks and researches private equity deals for the entire venture capital market. The weekly newsletter and daily website give you in-depth news on industry trends, companies seeking investors, deals at all stages, participating firms, deal conditions, proceeds and pricing. It’s been a valuable resource for me.
Vault – their industry career guides are world famous. The thousands of career opportunities are a nice bonus.
Fucked Company – what can I say, some employers are coy and creative when it comes to representing themselves to high performance candidates. If you’re worried about being “blue skied” then check out a prospective employer here.
Google Alerts are email updates delivered to your email address once a day based on information you tell Google to watch for. For example the announcement of new executives or news stories on companies of interest to you. I use Google Alerts to find leads on companies who have hired new VPs of Sales because these executives might need my services to help staff their teams.
You'll be far more successful if you look at the hiring process from the other side of the desk—from the employer’s perspective. Put yourself in their shoes. They don’t want to hear about your personal career aspirations. They want to know that you’ve gone out and looked at their industry and you understand where they’re going. Research, research, research—and then match your experience to their needs.
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.
April 24, 2012
The Key to Networking
I was reminded the other day of a comment I made at a speech I delivered following the Tech-Wreck crash in 2000, "the key to networking is to find people you can network with." Fortunately, for those of us who are terminally shy the Internet has made it possible to network from our computer keyboard and avoid those awkward mixers most people associate with networking events. There are many of online networking sites now to facilitate networking. All of the sites are based on the “six degrees of separation” principle which recognizes the actor Kevin Bacon as the center of humanity. Each site has slight variations on how you build and grow your network. The following are the leading sites for job hunters who want to e-network their way to success.
Linkedin.com From a head-hunter’s standpoint, LinkedIn has it all. From a job-hunter’s standpoint LinkedIn represents an opportunity of a lifetime to establish a powerful network of influential colleagues and friends, Linkedin.com {www.linkedin.com} is my favorite. You can open a linked in account for free. It works by first requiring you to set up your on-line profile and then invite your friends to join your network. After people join they ask their friends and colleagues to join. For job-hunters this is a treasure trove of leads. For recruiters it's one of the 1st places we all start searches. Like ZoomInfo, if you can't be found on LinkedIn
you probably don't exist ... or at least you've got an up hill battle trying to be recognized.
Classmates - The grand daddy online community-based networking is Classmates. Using Classmates is closer to traditional networking because it’s based on your alumni. At Classmates you can join a network of people you went to school with [high school, college or university] as well as military, industry or company alumni. The challenge with using it to source contacts is that you need to search by state. On the other hand if you want to reach out to people you went to school with to reconnect then Classmates is the way to go.
Here are two other online networking sites which all have unique benefits too numerous to mention here. You should choose at least two on-line networking sites and be as aggressive [staying within the rules of the site] and as creative with it as you can.
Ryze – is a classic. Easy to use and robust. It’s for connecting online and in person because it likely has a real life networking component in your town. The best of both worlds really.
Spoke - great tool for connecting with the Fortune 1000 in particular and sales people of all types. Sales people by-the-way are great resources for job hunters – they’re natural helpful and often talkative. They boast over 30 million people and 900,000 companies.
Your network will grow as quickly as you can recruit members who can then recruit other members. Your ability to eNetwork your way to a new job grows exponentially as your network develops. For all the latest on social networking you should follow what else? - which just happens to be loaded with insider tips on reaching inside the companies you want.
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.
FAST COMPANY: 10 Ways To Craft Your Resume For Ultra-Short Attention Spans | Fast Company
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Nice to finally make it into FAST COMPANY - if only for the lingerie;-)
April 17, 2012
eXtreme Resume Makeovers
Stand Up and Stand Out I get a lot of flack for some of my ideas but between you and I --- frankly you know you're doing something right when people start copying you're work. My eXtreme 1-page resume make overs are a good example. I'll save you the boring details but suffice it to say the average resume is a boring collection of pulp fiction. Here's a typical resume Download john_walton_before.pdf and here's the same resume reduced to one page Download john_walton_after.pdf with the salient features up front. Which would you be more inclined to look at and read if you where an employer - especially if it was sent unsolicited and you had no clearly defined open position? The answer is the "After" one. And that's the ONLY right answer. If you're the type who likes to copy or extrapolate you'll find 25 more examples here but I warn you they're not free. Having said that - what's your time worth? if you make $50k per year it's $25 per hour. If your experience with unemployment fits the norm then every extra day you look for your next gig costs you $200. The average job search is 180 days [BTW it's not when you have a plan and understand how to communicate your Value] Well I don't know about you but I have a lot of things i could do with $25k --- that little sports car i've been wanting for example. At $25 per hour that's how much you save buying the booklet. Personally I'd rather have a template to copy from I mean... improve upon... any way.
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.
April 10, 2012
Why your traditional resume isn’t working for you
Non-Guerrillas do the following when they are looking for a job: -write a resume that details their responsibilities, -ask their friends and neighbors if they know of any job openings, -respond to newspaper ads, and -a few of the tech savvy ones will reply to job board postings. That’s it. That’s not enough anymore because that’s the bare minimum everyone else does too. Non-Guerrillas can count on the competition for the few advertised or known jobs to be fierce. Good luck to them. Your resume is a marketing tool. Does it include a statement about your background that’s so powerful that it transforms the reader’s initial scan into a lengthy read and then into a call to you? It has to. When you send off your resume, whether you’re replying to a specific opportunity or trying to uncover a hidden need, your resume needs to be read if you want to be considered. Many people are under the false perception that just because they’ve gone through all the trouble and agony of producing a resume, someone is actually going to read it and care. The fact of the matter is that you have somewhere between 6 - 10 seconds to impress a reader enough to get them to read the entire document. If they to they will likely take no more than 30 seconds. Since resume writing is not perceived as an enjoyable task, people will often try to produce one version they can use for every possible situation. They keep it nice and generic and stuff it with gobs and gobs of “responsible for[s]”. Unfortunately, these resumes are usually the ones that end up in employers’ wastebaskets. Writing an all-purpose resume is like writing an all-purpose marriage proposal: you’re going to have to kiss a lot of frogs … Your resume is your personal emissary. It should provide a positive first impression and an honest summary of your skills and attributes. It should always be typed or computer printed and meticulously prepared with no spelling or grammatical errors. It must convince the reader that you are reliable, responsible, and ready to successfully handle the responsibilities of the job. When your resume moves to the top of the pile, the reader will give it a brief look—perhaps for 10 to 15 seconds - for anything that piques their interest. Does your resume include a statement about your background that’s so powerful that it transforms their initial scan into a lengthy read? This is your one chance to make an impression. ARE YOU MAXIMIZING IT? Resumes, like every document, have a distinct purpose. Your success, as both a job seeker and resume writer depends on how effectively you tailor your message to each situation. If the job is worth going after, pursue it with a resume that has been carefully produced with a specific job in mind. Length is not an issue. Content is. People will read any length of resume IF the content is of interest to them, and that’s the secret. A resume can serve you in a variety of ways, but it’s primarily used in making the following types of contacts with prospective employers:
-respond to a job opening; -create unsolicited demand for your skills; -to cut and paste from to fill out an on–line application form; -supplement [not replace] a company’s standard job application; -before interviews to rehearse; -during interviews to draw the interviewer’s attention to a particular accomplishment; -after an interview to tailor a thank you letter; -as an aid for your references so they’ll remember what you did, especially if you were one of many on a large team; -during telephone interviews as a reminder because, after all, the interviewer has a copy; and -to prompt a recipient for the purposes of networking.
A Guerrilla’s resume screams, “here’s what’s in it for you”. A Guerrilla builds resumes that are relevant to a specific reader. They target them to a specific group if not an exact individual. Their resumes are always focused. They are never general. They are results-based never wishy-washy. They are accomplishment focused not responsibility laden. GUERRILLA RESUMES ARE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL, MULTI-PURPOSE DOCUMENTS. THEY’RE
-your introduction to a prospective employer; -the first impression recruiters will have of you; -the key to positioning your seniority; and -a bargaining chip for your salary negotiations.
In other words, it is a significant document in the advancement of your career. You should create SIX eye-popping, attention-grabbing resumes. Each of which has its own use.
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.
Why your traditional resume isn't working for you
Non-Guerrillas do the following when they are looking for a job: -write a resume that details their responsibilities, -ask their friends and neighbors if they know of any job openings, -respond to newspaper ads, and -a few of the tech savvy ones will reply to job board postings. That's it. That's not enough anymore because that's the bare minimum everyone else does too. Non-Guerrillas can count on the competition for the few advertised or known jobs to be fierce. Good luck to them. Your resume is a marketing tool. Does it include a statement about your background that's so powerful that it transforms the reader's initial scan into a lengthy read and then into a call to you? It has to. When you send off your resume, whether you're replying to a specific opportunity or trying to uncover a hidden need, your resume needs to be read if you want to be considered. Many people are under the false perception that just because they've gone through all the trouble and agony of producing a resume, someone is actually going to read it and care. The fact of the matter is that you have somewhere between 6 - 10 seconds to impress a reader enough to get them to read the entire document. If they to they will likely take no more than 30 seconds. Since resume writing is not perceived as an enjoyable task, people will often try to produce one version they can use for every possible situation. They keep it nice and generic and stuff it with gobs and gobs of "responsible for[s]". Unfortunately, these resumes are usually the ones that end up in employers' wastebaskets. Writing an all-purpose resume is like writing an all-purpose marriage proposal: you're going to have to kiss a lot of frogs … Your resume is your personal emissary. It should provide a positive first impression and an honest summary of your skills and attributes. It should always be typed or computer printed and meticulously prepared with no spelling or grammatical errors. It must convince the reader that you are reliable, responsible, and ready to successfully handle the responsibilities of the job. When your resume moves to the top of the pile, the reader will give it a brief look—perhaps for 10 to 15 seconds - for anything that piques their interest. Does your resume include a statement about your background that's so powerful that it transforms their initial scan into a lengthy read? This is your one chance to make an impression. ARE YOU MAXIMIZING IT? Resumes, like every document, have a distinct purpose. Your success, as both a job seeker and resume writer depends on how effectively you tailor your message to each situation. If the job is worth going after, pursue it with a resume that has been carefully produced with a specific job in mind. Length is not an issue. Content is. People will read any length of resume IF the content is of interest to them, and that's the secret. A resume can serve you in a variety of ways, but it's primarily used in making the following types of contacts with prospective employers:
-respond to a job opening; -create unsolicited demand for your skills; -to cut and paste from to fill out an on–line application form; -supplement [not replace] a company's standard job application; -before interviews to rehearse; -during interviews to draw the interviewer's attention to a particular accomplishment; -after an interview to tailor a thank you letter; -as an aid for your references so they'll remember what you did, especially if you were one of many on a large team; -during telephone interviews as a reminder because, after all, the interviewer has a copy; and -to prompt a recipient for the purposes of networking.
A Guerrilla's resume screams, "here's what's in it for you". A Guerrilla builds resumes that are relevant to a specific reader. They target them to a specific group if not an exact individual. Their resumes are always focused. They are never general. They are results-based never wishy-washy. They are accomplishment focused not responsibility laden. GUERRILLA RESUMES ARE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL, MULTI-PURPOSE DOCUMENTS. THEY'RE
-your introduction to a prospective employer; -the first impression recruiters will have of you; -the key to positioning your seniority; and -a bargaining chip for your salary negotiations.
In other words, it is a significant document in the advancement of your career. You should create SIX eye-popping, attention-grabbing resumes. Each of which has its own use.
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.
April 9, 2012
A trojanhorse strategy for job hunters.
Everyone's face lights up when they see one of those little envelopes that are peculiar to "thank you" note cards - those tiny little 4 x 4 white envelopes with barely enough room to write a name and address on the front and a return address on the back.
Fold your resume and cover letter together carefully until they fit inside and then mail.
Don't use labels, address each one by hand
Use this technique around any holiday - Christmas, New Year's, Fourth of July, etc.
Use a small size tasteful stamp.
If you feel you can afford it, use a stamp with your picture on it. In Canada you can put any picture you wish on a stamp. Details of their Picture Postage program can be found here: http://www.canadapost.ca
To really get noticed, use a stamp with their logo on it and send them the rest.
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.
