Sunday, March 27, 2011

Networking: Following Up Just Enough

Last time I suggested being mindful of the words you use and how much you talk in a networking meeting or interview. This posting is about how to follow up with out feeling like a stalker. 
In February Steve Rosenblum spoke at the Career Stimulus Program’s monthly meeting at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. It was a very good talk, and it excelled in delivering a means for job seekers to follow up. Steve’s talk was entitled: “Organizing Your Job Search” and he drew out his 3X3 Networking process. Steve is an HR professional and he comfortably suggest working through the a company’s HR organization.
Its basic premise is to wait three business days after the initial contact or application and follow up with someone in the company, either the hiring manager or HR staff contact. If you are leaving a voice mail or talking to the person on the phone your message is the same. It has three parts:
  1. Acknowledge that they are busy and probably have a lot of responses to the open position.
  2. Ask if they received your application or resume; that this is the purpose of your call.
  3. Ask if there is anything that can be done to improve your chances for the opportunity.
If you have left a message and don’t hear back, Steve suggests that you wait three days from your last contact and call back. Then If you don’t hear back on the third day call again. Still if you haven’t heard back follow up one more time. If after three follow ups from your initial contact or application they haven’t connected with you, place them in a holding file because you never know when someone might contact you and you should never really give up until you get a definite “No, thank you.”

Mr. Rosenblum’s talk covered following up prior to an interview. How about after having an interview, how long should someone wait to follow up?

We teach that once you’ve had an interview, the following up process changes from three business days to a week to ten day waiting period. After an interview, either for a job opening or an informational interview, call the person the next day and thank them for their time and to reconfirm that you are interested in the opportunity if that is appropriate. (Informational or networking interviews probably don’t have a job opportunity right away, but may later.)  Then call back every week to ten days to let them know you’re still interested in the opportunity and are looking forward to moving ahead. You may keep calling until you get a definite yes or no without being considered a stalker.

In addition to a phone call after an interview go ahead and send a hand written note. You wouldn’t believe it but over 60% of people don’t follow up after an interview and even more don’t follow up after network meetings. I look at it this way... if you don’t follow up then your efforts in your job search to get the interview are wasted. Don’t waste your hard work. Network - Interview - Follow up - Land the job!

Next week we’ll talk about Xtranormal movies...

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Talking Just Enough to Meet Your Goal

Have you ever been on a long flight sitting next to a person who talks too much? I mean a real Chatty Cathy or a Talky Terry. (This always happens when you’ve brought some work to do that’s due ten minutes after your flight is scheduled to land.)  At first it’s nice talking to the person, after some time your neck starts to hurt from turning toward them. Later, your mind starts to wander and you start to wonder if there are any air marshals on the flight...

 People who talk too much can lose opportunities to make networking contacts. Networking always begins with a hello and a smile. And often in a first meeting there is an exchange of names and business cards or contact information. Hopefully there is a connection that is made and a seed of a relationship is planted. It’s important to realize that this is a lot to accomplish in a first meeting. Sadly folks often try to push too much into these first meetings and then they wonder why the other person doesn’t follow up afterwords.

This happens a lot in interviews, too. A candidate has an interview and talks too much, but doesn’t realize it. As a result they don’t land a job that “they are perfect for!” In my practice, I’ll conduct a mock interview with a client and they’ll talk my leg off with answers that stretch on for 5 or more minutes. Sometimes they answer the question succinctly, then as the interviewer starts to jot a note they start talking again; interrupting the interviewer‘s train of thought. In the end their wonderful response is lost in the minutia of their droning on and on.

Be mindful of people’s body language and facial cues when you are talking to them.  Are they getting your point... are they falling asleep, with drool dripping down their cheek? If we consider the average length of a television commercial we have some idea of the average person’s attention span. I teach my clients that they should shoot for responses of 30 seconds or so.  This allows dialogue and not only your monologue!

This means that you should know what you’re going to say and practice it over and over in order to know how the response will sound when it really counts, in the interview.  

If you’re on a long flight, chat pleasantly for a few minutes noting your neighbors body language. After that, take out your book or IPad or watch the in-flight movie. As your flight is preparing to land, tell the person you enjoyed talking to them and would really like to connect again; then offer to exchange business cards.

Next time we’ll talk about following up and moving along in the networking process.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Dealing With Negative and Excuses...

A long time ago I realized that there are two types of people in the world. People who enter the room and it lights up... then there are the folks that leave the room and it lights up. I won’t ask you which kind of person you are, but ask yourself. Sometimes I meet with people who tell me that they’ve had interviews for jobs they were perfectly qualified for, but they didn’t get the job. Often they are the second type of person I mentioned.


My friend and colleague
Nancy Wajler tells job seekers that three things influence the hiring decision. First, can you do the job? Second, are you motivated to do the job? Third, will you fit into the job? It’s true if you get the interview they already have an answer for the first point... Your resume shows that you can do the job; and they want to validate that in the interview. So, when you get an interview it really is about showing your motivation and your ability to fit in.

I don’t like working with negative people -- period! I don’t know anyone who says they do. As you interview you want to make a favorable impression. You need to be yourself and be prepared. You need to be as enthusiastic as a puppy dog when the door bell rings. You need to help the interviewer see you as the person who can do the job, work well in the team and help everyone be more successful.

If you’re the kind of person who makes it seem darker when you enter the room, you need to makes some changes or you’ll miss out on the opportunities to prove your worth and value in an interview. What changes? The most powerful change someone can make in this area is to stop making excuses. Take responsibility, apologize, and be quiet. Better yet, don’t be in the position where you’re tempted to make an excuse, identify the risks in your life and mitigate or resolve them... then you have no need to give an excuse.

Napoleon Hill
Another thing folks with a dark cloud around them need to do is stop being negative... pump in the positive. Listen to and Read positive, “self esteem building” materials. Zig Ziglar, Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone, Tony Robbins, Denis Waitley, Ken Blanchard, Spencer Johnson, Norman Vincent Peale and Earl Nightingale have all produced marvelous material. Plus there are dozens if not hundreds of newer devotees of building and having a positive mental attitude. At the Harper College’s Career Stimulus Program we will be starting a new regular program for members called Pump Up Your Job Search! in April. The goal of this program is to aid folks in leaving the dark cloud behind and moving into the light.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Shameless Endorsement

  Greetings and Salutations... This week I want to offer a shameless endorsement for a small but important effort in the fight for full employment in northern Illinois.  There are two friendly and extremely hard working professionals that staff the Harper College WorkNet Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois. 

 They offer a series of workshops for job seekers that are free and focus on skills that can and do help folks achieve their goal of landing a job. Here is the link  http://bit.ly/f3dlDb to the courses that are offered. For example, here is a sample of what  courses and workshops they offer:
  • Workshop - JIST Cards for Networking
  • Workshop - First Steps with LinkedIN; Advanced LinkedIN
  • Workshop - Goal Setting for Job Seekers
  • Training - Career Confidence Gets The Job
  • Training - Improving Interview to Interview
     Just click on the link above and register for the class you’re interested in... There is even an information session on Truck Driving. Also, I conduct a four week program which is a Group Outplacement Training. This is for people who didn’t receive professional outplacement when they were laid off, I cover the basics a job seeker needs for a successful job search. 

     The Harper College WorkNet  Center is a little office inside the IDES office in Arlington Heights. It’s a drop-in center where folks are welcome to stop in and ask questions about different programs that are available to everyone at William Rainey Harper College, (In Palatine, Illinois.) Diane and Chris are the two ladies who staff the drop-in center and Diane teaches some of the workshops. I especially recommend her JIST Cards program as a unique tool for job seekers.

    Main Campus
     Lastly, here’s the shameless part, I conduct the Goal Setting for Job Seekers workshop every month. It really pushes the importance of focusing on the goal of getting the job offer and how to support the goal and strengthen your resolve in landing the job as quickly as possible. 

     To learn more about all the programs at the Arlington Heights WorkNet center click on: http://ah.worknetncc.com/  The address is:
    Harper College Worknet Center
    723 W. Algonquin Road
    Arlington Heights, IL 60005