[thechat] Job search/title question

[Luther, Ron]

Hi Sean,


I don't know if it will help a whole lot -- but having been in "job search"
mode less than a year ago ... here are some of the things that worked for
me:

(1) Attitude.  Ya gotta be up-beat and confident.  On those days I wasn't
feeling either [and there were plenty of those] - I put the job search on
hold.  Remember the old "answer the phone with a smile - 'cuz they can hear
it on the other end"?  Well it holds just as true for the written word -- if
I was having a "down" day I would use it for research; checking out
companies and technologies - but not for sending out resumes and cover
letters.

(2) Attitude.  Try to remember that the companies advertising open positions
don't know exactly what they want... and that "fuzziness" gets translated
from the manager with the req through their infrastructure and HR group
possibly several times before it gets printed.  The upshot is that if you
don't have the "74 years of experience with Oracle 17ii+" that they are
asking for - don't sweat it ... convince yourself that you can do the job -
and then convince them.

(3) Focus.  Rather than fit your peg into their slot, determine what it is
you really want to do ... and sell that to the prospective employers.  For
generalists, (and I think you're right - a bunch of folks around here seem
to be), this might mean creating several competely different resumes ...
maybe one concentrating on e-commerce, one on intra-net reporting, one on
data architecture ... and using them to cover different opportunities.
Fortunately, a lot of the job search stuff today seems to be handled over
the web -- generate custom cover letters, append your resume-du-jur, and add
some links to relevant pages on your personal site... and crank 'em out!
[Hell - the only reason I bought a personal domain was to put up
"representative pages" to help my job search.]

(4) Advertising.  Tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, your
acquaintances ... get the word out on the street.  [I'm still getting
responses from this stuff - got two this week - one for a job in the UK 'cuz
they heard I had Manugistics experience.]  I got an interview with an oil
company last fall because a fellow my girlfriend used to work with got lost
downtown ... [no - I'm serious!] ... after getting directions from some guy,
he started gabbing and asked that guy if they had any openings 'cuz he knew
somebody (me) who was looking for web-work.  Your friends can't help you
like that if you don't give them the opportunity.  Tell everybody.

(5) Be Ready.  This one is gonna sound really stupid - but I swear it helped
me.  Turn off your car radio and "practice" interviewing yourself ...
out-loud ... while you are driving around.  "What did you like about your
last job?  What are your three biggest strengths?  What held you back from
being successful in your last job?" ... ect.  That way - when you ARE in the
interview - you come off a lot more polished and professional.

(6) Did I mention 'Attitude'?  Have some "success" stories ready to tell
people.  What did you do that was 'cool'?  How did that help the company you
worked for?  Remember that your experiences and skill-set-level are unique
... be ready to confidently give some 'real world' examples of how your work
'made a difference'.


HTH and Hope you find something really "cool".

RonL.

[I liked Monster better than Hotjobs or the local [city] job boards ... but
I "vultured" all of them ... email is even cheaper than sending out
letters!]


-----Original Message-----
From: Sean German [mailto:seanmgerman at yahoo.com]
Subject: [thechat] Job search/title question