These Days, We are Always in a Job Search

By Peter Engler


The new reality of an executive career is that you should always be taking the necessary steps to advance your career. This dedication to doing the “career homework” applies to clients who are employed, but seeking better or alternative careers, as well as for clients who are out of work and seeking new employment.

As a Career Coach and Strategist, I work with executives at all stages of their careers. My clients are terrific when it comes to engaging themselves in the personal assessments I conduct to help them know themselves and their ideal career profile more deeply and intimately. And, they are equally adept and motivated to work on improving their resumes, creating interesting bios that tell their stories in a compelling fashion, and tightening up their 60-second elevator speeches. They get their Linked In profiles updated, join Linked In groups, begin to identify networking contacts and join useful job boards.

But, when I ask them what are they DOING about the challenging part of a career program which is taking ACTION by making new contacts, making calls and setting meetings to explore new horizons, they often have made very little progress.

So, as we approach summer, I ask What are you DOING about:

• Reaching out to people with whom you have worked for leads and new ideas?

• Pulling together some people you admire for bi-weekly breakfast networking and career growth support sessions?

• Identifying ten companies where you “deserve to work” within thirty miles of your home and contacting key executives (from LinkedIn or their website) for exploratory talks?

• Reaching out to target company board members who are very influential and open to being contacted, especially if you share something in common?

• In the same vein, re-contacting influential teachers with whom you got along and who might know of corporate or consulting opportunities in industries of interest to you?

• Contacting carefully-selected retained search partners whose backgrounds and search focus mirror yours?

• Suggesting to those key recruiters that they can contact you if they feel you can HELP them with any of their searches in your area of expertise (and tell them again what that is)?

• Keeping your family and friends who are concerned for you well-informed of your progress?

• Carefully tracking your activities with CRM software to ensure nothing drops through the cracks?

• Updating your references to ensure they are current and supportive of your candidacy should you identify an exciting new opportunity?

In short, doing your homework (better resume, powerful bio, target company list, etc.) is important, but success will be achieved through WHAT YOU ARE DOING each and every day to support your career objectives.

Your Important Target Company List

 In this era of uncertain employment longevity, you would imagine that every savvy business person, employed or seeking new employment, would have a list of companies where they want to do business or get a job clearly in mind.

We call this your Target Company List.

Well, recently, I was presenting my “Non-conventional Job Search Tips” class to a group of 45-plus (for the most part) job seekers at a community-sponsored career center in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Now, this is a employment market that fortunately for those who reside here, is a hotbed of job opportunities due to the explosive growth of social media and bio-tech companies as well as those industries which feed these voracious companies.

I asked how many folks, of the forty or so gathered in the room, had developed a list of target companies where they wanted to work, in fact, where they deserved to work.

Only two hands went up!  Everyone in the group had their resumes, bios, 60-second elevator speeches, websites, LinkedIn pages and other tools in good shape.  But, they were lacking their most important tool, a target company list. 

My job search coaching practice has three parts: self-assessment, action plan development and then the all important third step, action plan execution.  The key component of the job search execution phase is compiling a list of ten to twenty companies within thirty miles of your home (keep the commute sane) where you believe you should be working.  The companies should meet your job criteria (that’s another subject) and you should feel you are a match with their mission as stated on their websites (check the homepage, press releases, bios, etc to learn what the company is trying to accomplish).

Then, via Linked In and Lead.411 and other sites offering information about these companies, you create a list of executives, past and present, who you then reach out to via email and voice-mail.  Your approach is simple: this is why I am contacting you (“I like the new xyz program you are developing), why I may be of interest to you (I have worked on xyz for five years with great results at abc companies), and I WANT TO MEET YOU.  The worst that can happen is nothing.  The best is that they respond.

Using this simple method, a recent client emailed the CEO of a major insurance company regarding his interest in joining their training team.  He got a response in two days and has been in conversations (this is important- conversations, not interviews) with them.

This was a “cold out-reach”, but actually a very “hot out-reach”, because he was able to connect the company and himself in three brief paragraphs in an email sent to a decision-maker gleaned from Linked In.

This takes some hard work and thinking, but it is well worth the effort, I promise.

Having a Target List of companies with whom you want to do business or obtain employment/consulting and then reaching out in brief, targeted emails to key executives is the best business-building or job-seeking tactic I know of.

Try it.  Today.  And keep at it. Begin a proactive outreach program today to YOUR TARGET COMPANY LIST.

Good luck!

Brand Belief. How to Strengthen Your Branding.

Belief; the key to stronger personal Branding.  Create your “Brand Belief”©

I was speaking with an executive the other day regarding my career coaching practice and he asked me what I thought about developing “my Brand”.

Like many of you, I have grown skeptical of lots of many of the career coaching buzz and noise around hot topics like how to use Twitter to market yourself (you need loads and months of tweets), the value of a personal website (you have that on Linked In, right?), tweaking your resume for every job you pursue (HR “can smell” that can’t they?) and other current “hot” ideas.

I replied to him that understanding yourself in great detail through an intensive personal assessment process, translating that information into a strong and vibrant bio (your “story” which should be exciting and persuasive), 60-second elevator speech and other communications including your emails/voice-mails, and directing it to people who can actually help you at companies where you “deserve to work” makes good sense.

If you want to call that “branding”, great.  It certainly has worked for many famous products, so why not job-seekers?

However, what is missing from the “branding” idea is your beliefs; your energy, convictions, personality, motivations, desires, and all that makes you a special human being and professional.

I call this important duality of Branding-“Who you are”, and Belief- “Why you are you”, Brand Belief.

Your beliefs bring you alive to the reader, interviewer or person you have just met at a business mixer.  Sure, you have to give people a sense of what you are and do- your Brand.  But, it is the level of conviction and energy, your belief, that you apply to that branding message that is what people will remember and act on.

You may be a terrific marketing executive, but until someone sees the fire in your eyes when you explain how you drill down to find every fact to support your new product concept, your Brand will just be another brand.  Belief brings credibility to your Brand.

Credibility is what people buy, hire and remember.  Brand Belief is what I believe you need to write down, refine and communicate to others, not just your Brand.

Good luck!

Peter Engler

2013 New Year's Career Search Resolutions

Take some quiet time this month to consider where you are in your career and promise yourself to take specific action steps to re-confirm your current direction or begin to move into a totally new field of endeavor.

Consider these resolutions:

1)Most importantly, I will do some self-assessment work on my own or with a career coach to clearly define and understand who I am, why I am that way, and what I truly need in a job and a career.  I will re-create “my story” so that I can confidently answer that famous question, “tell me about yourself” with focus and energy. This step will help me clarify my search objectives and create an effective and vital search action plan that will result in the right new position or new career for me (I will "look for work, not just a job").

2) I will ensure that my resume is current, two pages in length, proof-read, with a two-three line powerful summary statement at the top of the first page. I will ensure that my bio is current, interesting to read and will cause someone to want to meet me.

3) I will ensure my 60-second "elevator speech" is brief and as interesting as my bio. I will practice delivering it until it is second-nature.

4) I will re-contact my references (three supervisors, three peers, three subordinates) to update them on my search status, remind them of my key strengths and thank them for being willing to act as a reference. I will avoid over-using my references and thank them when I “land” in my next chapter.

5) I will create or re-energize my support network and meet them and new contacts on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

6) I will create a CRM program (www.freecrm.com) and keep a careful record of all contacts that I have ever met that are pertinent to my search. I will follow-up on all opportunities with alacrity and energy.

7) I will draw a 40-mile circle around my home and identify all the companies in that circle where I “deserve to work” based a match between my profile and the company’s profile. I will learn all that I can via the internet and contacts about how their business could benefit from my expertise, skills and interests. I will contact the most likely executives, including board members, to establish relationships that might lead to consulting or employment.

9) I will consider obtaining presentation skills and interviewing training to sharpen my presence and confidence in interviews. I will prepare for the wide range of questions that I will be asked. I will be expert in how to interview effectively by phone and in person.

10) I will dedicate a specific amount of time each week, ideally the same days and times, to my search. I will treat my search as seriously as I do (did) my job.

11) If I am not working, I will find a part-time job that keeps me feeling active, pays something and is consistent in some way with my career objectives if possible.

12) I will keep my family, friends and support group current regarding my search and I will enlist their support and love to keep me energized and focused.

13) Once I land that next consulting or full-time employment, I will thank those who helped and I will keep doing all of the above to be well-prepared for the next “work interruption” or career shift.

Remember, jobs are fleeting; work is eternal.

How to Expand Your Job Search Network Now.

As you have learned in your job search, contacts and networking are perhaps the most effective tools to employ in finding and landing your next job.

Prior to 2001, jobs seemed to materialize in front of our eyes.  Recruiters called frequently with enticing opportunities.  Friends alerted you to openings at their companies.  Even your local grocery checkout clerk seemed to have great job leads.

Of course, that is now history.  Jobs, importantly, the job you “deserve” (as opposed to the job you “want’, but that is another blog subject), are elusive.  Your job search now has to become totally proactive.  You have to go after it.  And to do so, you have to turn to your existing contacts for leads as well as expanding your list of helpful contacts.

So, here are several ways to quickly expand your network of potential job leads and how to reach out to them:

1.   Create your “hit list” of companies within thirty miles (45 minute commute) of your home that you believe you can help based upon your interests, experience, talents, and the nature of the company’s business, the “match” between you and them. You should have about 15-20 of these companies about which you have learned everything including reading their website  “press” section to learn what they are currently doing (this section provides hints as to how you can insert yourself into current business initiatives), and reading the bios of senior executives (to get a sense of the culture and any “connections” you may have with them). 

2.  Dive deeply into LinkedIn.  Go online and read tutorials regarding how to use LinkedIn to identify and reach out to likely suspects at companies on your “hit list” who could hook you into an opportunity at their company.  Enter these names and contact info into an online database (freecrm.com is basic but useful) and begin to track all of your activities with each person. 

3.  For more potential contacts, look back in your career for people who “sold to you” in your prior positions.  These people tried to do business (and many probably did) with you and will remember you, and will very likely be willing to help you in your search.  Add them to your database.

4.  Reflect on all of your previous jobs and identify people via LinkedIn that you have forgotten who could help you.

5.  Check into professional group websites for the names of members who could help.  You may have to join the group to get access to this information, but joining appropriate groups is another way of staying abreast of developments in your industry.

6.   Review your local Business Times and other pertinent industry publications for the names of people with whom you should connect.  Include editors and authors of articles that may be willing to turn you on to opportunities in their universe.

7.  Go “all the way back” to your undergraduate (and graduate) schools and forage through appropriate parts of their websites.  Contact a few likely academicians who might love to connect you with their clients (as long as you do not represent a direct threat to those relationships).

8.  Contact recruiters you know.  In addition to ensuring they know you are in the market, ask them for the names of executives they know in your industry that you should contact.  This is in their self-interest as you will obviously inform the people you contacted that “Phil Smith suggested you as someone who I should know in my job search”.  Remember, these days, everyone is conscious of the job search challenge and are more than likely willing to help you if you approach them in a low-key fashion. Also, remember that you are someone of real value and expertise whom people will be pleased to meet.

9.  That “low-key fashion” is simply a three-part email (this is why I am writing, this is briefly who I am and how I am aligned with what your company is doing, and I would like to meet to learn more about how I might be able to contribute to your company’s success).   All they can do is say “no” or not respond.  If the latter, do not give up.

Do not send your resume.  Send your one-page bio with photo and contact info.  A resume says “help, I need a job”.  A bio says, “I am someone you may want to meet based on my terrific ‘story’”. If you do not have a bio, create one by referring to bios on websites you admire.  Have a few people who know you edit your bio.  Be sure it “transmits” properly to various windows and Mac computers.

10.  Call these folks one week later to follow-up.  Refer to your email (date and time) should you reach them live and briefly state what you wrote in the email.  Do not oversell yourself; keep it brief.  Endeavor to engage them to the point that you both agree to meet or speak at more length right then. 

If you do not reach them, leave a brief voicemail referring to your email, re-state its contents and say you would love to hear from them.  Also, state that you will call again (provide a specific day and time- before 9AM) and call them at that time.

11. Using your database tracking, call each person about every ten days and consider re-sending your email after about a month. Keep your outreach easy-going and focused.  Remember, you are an expert in your field and it is to their benefit to meet you.  They may be smart enough to also be building their network!

12.  Continue to add prospective resources to your database and have confidence that you will make several very useful contacts in this fashion that will lead to getting the “job you deserve for career happiness and success.”

13.  Once you land that new job, take an hour or two every month to communicate with key members of our new network.  Keep them abreast of your activities and offer your help should they require it at some point.

Also, be sure to thank people who played an active role in your search. 

Good luck!

To Get a Job, Get in Shape!

In my career coaching practice working with executives at all levels across the country, I address the entire person, not just their career or job objectives and concerns.

This includes getting lots of information and insights regarding their financial, spiritual, interpersonal relationships, family, education, hobbies and other important life issues.

Regarding a successful job search or career redirection, I think that the most important life issue to immediately address and solve is your health.  Most of my clients are forty-five plus.  It is quite surprising to learn how many of them have not taken good care of themselves.  They have tried to address all of the life issues above with varying degrees of success, but have neglected to have regular physicals and most importantly, get in shape.

Getting in great physical shape is critical to a successful job search or career re-direction.  Many people say to me that they are “too old” to get a new job or change their stripes.  My response is that your age equals sagacity.  You are now an expert, and should promote yourself on that basis.

What people really mean when they make the age comment, is that they LOOK too old; they are overweight and out of shape.  Hiring executives are not going to be keen on hiring someone who does not appear to value their health and appearance.  If you cannot take care of yourself, how will you be expected to take care of your business.

One of my clients took the mission of improving his health to heart.  In a matter of months, he lost forty pounds.  More importantly, he kept his weight at the new level through a committed program of regular exercise and healthy dieting.

He looks ten years younger than his fifty-four years and is happier with himself than he has been in years.  His wife is thrilled.  He is also a candidate for several excellent senior executive positions that fit his career planning goals.

Look in the mirror.  Do you look youthful, vigorous and healthy?  If not, make a decision to lose weight and improve your overall health.  Today.

Seek the Job You Deserve, Not the One You Want

Speaking with a forty year-old job-seeker recently, he said in frustration, “I just cannot find the job I want”.

Sound familiar?

We are often envious of certain jobs and professions that are much more appealing, lucrative, or exciting than the one we have or had.  The job we “want” is very often elusive and, frankly, impossible to land.

I suspect a key reason this is true is that “getting the job you want” is not the correct objective.  Identifying and successfully pursuing the “job you deserve” is the more appropriate, and in the end, the more successful approach.

Adopting the latter objective, getting the job you deserve, involves ignoring job boards, head-hunter calls (however rare they may be), friends’ suggestions and endless networking groupings.  These and other sources will confuse and complicate your job search because most provide opportunities that do not represent jobs that you deserve. They are simply not right for you.

Instead, getting that “right job” involves your decision to adopt a proactive job/career search based on a fundamental belief that there are great jobs within thirty or forty miles of your home that you deserve, not just want.  Jobs that are totally congruent with you and your goals and those of the prospective company.

A job you deserve is a job that is responsive not only to your title, salary, location and other traditional job interests, but leverages and focuses on your personal needs, talents, and yes, your idiosyncrasies.  You gain, they gain.  This requires that you really know yourself.  It requires that you understand your true interests (sales, creative, R&D, operations, etc) thoroughly and your needs (team or solo work, close or remote supervision, general or personalized incentives, fast or deliberate decision-making environments, a traditional or non-traditional work environment, etc) in depth.

This additional critical information provides you with insights into what jobs you deserve at companies where, for a range of solid reasons, you deserve to work.  These are the jobs and companies in which you are likely to succeed, rather than just jobs you want or seem cool.

There are many professional assessment and career action plans available through experienced career coaches.  To find the right one, interview local career coaches.  The right career coach will ensure he/she has conducted the right individual and professional assessments that tightly define the characteristics of the right job for you.  Use this checklist to evaluate positions and companies that appear right for you, ones that you deserve.  Then, contact them and link your needs to their needs.  That’s how business works and that is how your job/career search should work.