Football, Turkey & Networking "Time for a SALE"

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and people are travelling all around America to celebrate the holiday with friends and family. This year the Thanksgiving NFL game with the Lions promises to be enjoyable even for Detroit fans. But for job seekers, large get-togethers are often dreaded. “What do I say to people when they ask me, ‘What’s up, or how’s work?’” runs through many job seekers’ minds.

Yet the coach says, “What a great opportunity to network with people on your list. What a great time to add people to your contact list.” Let’s face it, to career coaches, Thanksgiving (in fact all holidays) are a fantastic opportunity to network. Just remember to 

S-A-L-E (Smile, Ask, Listen, & Eat).

Smile, be warm, welcoming and friendly. Even if you’re visiting and not the host take on the attitude of a gracious host. Greet people upon arrival, the host and hostess are probably busy with everyone so help them out. Smiling will help you to feel good and makes those around you want to smile too.

Ask questions upon your arrival and the arrival of the other guests; engage with everyone at the gathering. Trust in the fact that people like to talk about themselves and will tell you more than you want to know. But they will also tell you things that could help your job search. Remember to ask them about work and things in their community. Trust that they will appreciate someone actually asking about them. When you’re asked about yourself, everything is great!!! The job search is running smoothly and you have some great opportunities... only now isn’t the best time to talk about it, Detroit just scored.

Listen to what everyone says. Listen to responses and look for things that are of interest to your job search. But!!! don’t jump in with a pitch for why you’d be a great candidate to solve the problems they have at work. Mostly they’re trying to forget about work for a couple days. Be supportive and make mental notes. Then ask more questions looking for common interests and listen some more.

Eat your dinner in small bites so that when someone asks you questions about your situation, you don’t choke. Or you don’t have to chew for another 30 seconds and swallow and miss the opportunity to share an interesting insight, story or anecdote. Relax over dinner, you’re not there to give your elevator speech or hand out your resume or handbill. You’re there to celebrate and express thanks for all your blessings.

Then after Thanksgiving, follow up and call the friends and family you saw; use LinkedIn to connect or reconnect. Ask the local folks for some time to meet and discuss what’s going on in your job search; ask for some help and advice. You can utilize the three networking questions then... not over Thanksgiving dinner.

Hopefully during and after dinner you’ll realize all the blessings you have in your life. Maybe things aren’t 100% wonderful... but you’re alive, you’re loved and you probably had some good food, drink and conversation. And who knows maybe the Lions will win a Thanksgiving game this year.

F. U. Interviews

Bev Rautenberg

I have a client that always reminds me that I was the first to tell her to F. U. I’m always a tad nonplussed when she says this until I remember that F. U. is not an expletive.

Following Up (F. U.) after interviews is one of the more neglected aspects of a job search. Some research have cited 60% of job seekers fail to follow up after the interview. Client’s have told me...  “They said they would be making a decision is two weeks I’ll check in then.” Other’s say, “I don’t want to look too desperate.” And still others say, “The ball’s in their court, if they want me they’ll call me.” Sitting by the phone waiting for the phone to ring is a sad and lonely task. “But the interview went very well; I thought I hit a home run. Why haven’t they called? Maybe I should call them, but it’s been too long for me to follow up now!”

Following up is sometimes scary for the job seeker. “What if they tell me that I didn’t get the job?” or “I don’t know what to say.” So what if they tell you that they decided to go a different direction! Is that really bad? Sure, it doesn’t feel good to be told you didn’t get the job, however, two things are available for the job seeker if they give you this message.

First, express your disappointment, and wish them success with their choice. Then ask if they know of anything else that could utilize someone with your skills and abilities. “Gee, I’m sorry to hear that I didn’t get the job; I wish you success with the person you selected. You and I spent enough time together that I’m wondering if you would know of any other opportunities that could utilize someone with my experience and talents?”

Second, the job seeker can continue to create networking opportunities and follow up with other job leads. Just because you have an interview doesn’t mean that you will land the job. Having several so called irons in the fire allows you to relax a little. If you get a no, you have something else to follow up on. It’s just one more no which brings you closer to the yes. The sales adage goes, you have to get through the nos to get to the yeses. “So I’ve got another no, yea!!! I’m that much closer to the job offer.” Maybe that sounds a little Pollyannaish, but that really is the right attitude to have in times like today.

Success comes out of persistence and constancy. Doing what you need to do and staying the course when you meet defeat or disappointment is the path to success. Thomas Edison once said, “Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” So even though you’ve not heard back from the interviewer or the HR rep; don’t quit and give up. Call them back with a positive expectation that you’re the right candidate... it may be that they are too busy because they don’t have you on their team.

The coach says, keep  following up (F. U.) until you get a definite yes or no.

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...