I got an interesting call recently from an executive recruiter who was checking a reference on a guy I used to work with. We were both senior-level managers at the same company for several years. I hadn’t seen or thought much about “Bob” since I left the company a long time ago. But as soon as the recruiter mentioned his name and asked me what I thought, I had an instant reaction. What an [insert noun describing posterior body part here]. I remembered reaching out to Bob a number of years ago with an email and getting, how do you say in English, blown off? Which wasn’t a surprise when I reflected on Bob’s demeanor at work.

I didn’t tell the recruiter that Bob was a jerk (you thought I was going to say something else, right?).  I did note that Bob had a strong intellect but  no humility; was very focused but had no people skill; could produce great work alone but with others, not so much. Which could all be a perfect combination depending on the job, which in this case was the chief operating officer of a large company.

So what’s my point?

Life is long. Will my appraisal be meaningful as Bob seeks his next job? Probably not. But it would not have cost Bob, and it will not cost you, a dime just to be nice to people in your business dealings. One day you will meet them again, or someone else will ask them about you, and perhaps their viewpoint will be the one that tips you to a huge success, or to be passed over. 

Use your emotional intelligence to get people to support you, by supporting them whenever possible, and being courteous. I have reached out a hand to assist hundreds of colleagues, friends, and acquaintances over the years, and I’m sure so have you. My effort comes back to me ten times over. Some people describe me as “a really nice guy.” I used to not like being thought of as “nice” because it sound boring. The older I get though, the happier I am that many people think I am nice. It makes me feel good to be nice, and I  know that, because I try to be nice, people reach out to help me when and ask, and even when I don’t.

Tags: career management, emotional intelligence

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The Times reports today that job seekers outnumber job openings by six to one, the worst ratio since the Labor Department started tracking this statistic in 2000. I coach many people who are part of that job-seeking group. My clients are getting jobs faster than their competition even in a worsening environment. Here are just a few of the things they are doing, which you can also do, to speed up the process toward your next opportunity. The good news is that out of the six people competing for each job, 5.99999 of them have no idea how to properly look for a job. If you are in the group of 0.00001 who read this, your chances just improved a lot.

1. Looking for a job is a full-time job. You need to spend 35 hours a week on your job search. Allow yourself about three hours a week for fun. Most people are not nearly disciplined enough to do this and even those who are spend the time doing the wrong things, like answering ads on job boards. If you’re employed but the handwriting is on the wall, you should be spending at least 10 hours a week on your search.

2. You have to have 6-10 things in the works at all times. If you are working two or three job leads and are waiting by the phone for a positive outcome, you may also be the type of person who buys Lotto tickets and believes you’ll win. Success in getting a job is a function of high numbers. You have to get, and keep, many opportunities going at all times because most of them will not materialize.

3. Focus on getting meetings, not job interviews. Are you old enough to remember Bill Bradley when he played for the New York Knicks? Great basketball players know how and where to move on the court even when (make that especially when)  they don’t have the ball. It’s the same with job seekers. Your objective should be to have meetings, as many as possible, so that you can become known to an organization even when there is no job currently available. But there could be one next month, or next week, or tomorrow. And there you’ll be, fresh in their minds.

4. Position yourself as a consultant. Too many people approach job interviews as applicants, or worse, supplicants. Your neediness is really unattractive. Employers want solutions to walk in the door. So position yourself as a problem solver. Instead of thinking you are applying for a $50,000 or $150,000 job, your mindset should be that you’re pitching a $50,000 or $150,000 consulting assignment. Uncover needs, ask excellent questions, take really good notes for your follow up.

5. Value-added follow up. Enough with the thank-you cards. If you meet with a potential hiring manager, you need to send a letter after a meeting that she absolutely can’t ignore or toss, because your information is too valuable. Your insight will require another meeting to get into more detail. And then another meeting. And that just might result in a job offer.

These are just a few of the things my coaching clients do differently from most other people.Contact me you’d like to know more.

Tags: career, careers, Five O'Clock Club, jobs, unemployment

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As a parent of one child a year out of college and another one heading into college, I was struck by a statistic quoted by Seth Godin that only 20 percent of 2009 college grads who applied for jobs got one. Ouch! Seth goes on to convey some great suggestions for what the unlucky 80 percent of grads can do while they wait for the world to catch up to them. Things like mastering a programming language; giving a speech a week to local organizations; self-publishing a book; writing a regular blog on a subject you care about; and a bunch more. Great ideas!

But not just for unemployed grads. I coach executives in the 40s, 50s, and 60s who are either out of work, see the writing on the wall with the current job, or might be spray painting the wall themselves just to get the hell out of corporate America. Seth’s ideas can work for them, too.

Getting outside your own head is great advice. Too often we brood on our situation instead of creating something new and re-energizing our career prospects or entrepreneurial desires. What’s one project you can start this month that will take you to a new place and get you passed where you’re currently stuck?

Tags: Career Coaching, Seth Godin

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Some interesting info for job seekers:

This is from a New York Times interview in yesterday’s paper with Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft:

Q. How do you assess job candidates?

A. If they come from inside the business, the best predictor of future success is past success. It’s not 100 percent, but it’s a reasonable predictor. For an external candidate, what I’ve found is that reference checks are super-important. I didn’t used to believe so much in reference checks. You can always get somebody to say something nice about you. But the truth is, if you ask enough questions and you ask around, you can really get a profile of who’s accomplished various things and who hasn’t.

And I try to figure out sort of a combination of I.Q. and passion. I just ask somebody to tell me what they’ve done that they are really proud of and tell me about it. And if it’s something you are proud of, you should be able to answer any question I can come up with, at least at a level that would satisfy my interest. I ought to be able to see your passion. It might be quiet passion; it might be bubbly passion. But I should be able to sense that you are one of those people who just sort of throws themselves into things.

So how do you manage what references are going to say about you? The clearest method I can think of is to make sure you can articulate your most important accomplishments clearly and concisely–not only to people who are interviewing you for a job, but to people you have worked for in the past. They need to be reminded of your accomplishments in your former jobs.
Also in the Times this weekend: an article about a woman in her 40s who changed careers, from journalism to nursing. You’ll see that the shift wasn’t as radical as you might think. She was able to transfer her skills as a reporter–taking copious notes, staying focused, finishing what she started. The article is inspiring and fascinating. It shows that you can reinvent yourself in midlife, or beyond.

Tags: career, Five O'Clock Club, jobs, Microsoft

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In addition to being an entrepreneurship coach I work at the Five O’Clock Club with people looking for jobs and career change. Because of the economy, the Club has expanded its New York City meetings  to three nights a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and now Thursdays. I coach every Thursday evening at the CUNY Graduate Center on Fifth Avenue and 34th St. If you’d like to join us, let me know.

My new group met for the first time last Thursday and we dove into assessing where everyone stood in their search. While each person had a different career interest and expertise, there were common denominators that defined the current status of everyone’s search. If you or someone you know is looking for a job this may resonate with you. Here’s what I emailed the group after our meeting:
1. Everyone needs to have a crystal clear focus of who you are, what you offer the world uniquely, and what you want. The Club calls this your 2-Minute-Pitch. To get the pitch right, you have to lay the foundation: that’s why it’s vital to do the 7-Stories Exercise and the 40-Year Vision. [These are two assessments we use at the Club. If you'd like to know more about them, get in touch with me.]

2. Activity level needs to be higher. If you are employed, you need to carve our at least 12 hours a week to have a good search going. If you are not employed, 35 hours. Keep track, do a time sheet. Make believe looking for a job is a job–because it is.

3.Targets need to be deeper. Most people are not yet targeting 200 positions (not actual job openings–but positions you would qualify for).  You need to do this so that you will always have 6-10 things in the works, which is critical because 5 of them will fall away through no fault of your own. It’s a numbers game. Target more companies and industries and get more velocity in your search.

There are so many career coaching organizations out there, but as far I know from my research, only the Five O’Clock Club has created a unifying methodology that works. Have job-search tips to share? Please comment.

Tags: career change, Five O'Clock Club, jobs

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Last week I spoke at a conference called Re-Branding You, sponsored by NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and organized beautifully by P&V Enterprises and Events by Ny. The conference was aimed at people who are looking to change careers or positions as the economy shifts. I met a lot of highly motivated, forward-looking people who aren’t sitting still while change and opportunity present themselves. One of the innovative aspects of the conference was a “speed-coaching” area. Attendees were given the opportunity to meet for 15 minutes with a number of professional coaches. I met with about a dozen people throughout the day between conference sessions.

One meeting, which was fairly typical, was with a young woman who had been recently laid off from a position at a New York bank. She didn’t have a clear idea of what to do next. Turns out she graduated from a major New York music school 10 years ago as an accomplished French horn player. She also teaches music to several students on the side. A little further into our conversation I learned that she loves to teach music and is passionate about it. Ahe really started smiling and her eyes and facial expression became much more animated the more we talked about music and the less we talked about banking.  And….get this….she successfully teaches dyslexic children how to read and play music. Wow!  I asked her whether she would love doing more of that and getting paid really well for it, versus working in a bank. She practically jumped out of her chair! Slowly, she described a plan to position herself as a private music instructor for special-needs (not just dyslexic) children, and that she would target the Manhattan private school market as a start. One person, one potential entrepreneur, re-branded.

Tags: entrepreneurship, Events by Ny, NYU, P&V Enterprises, Re-Branding You

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The PETA people aren’t going to like this.

The Times reports today that the growing armies of the unemployed are sick and tired of sending out resumes and are starting their own businesses in droves. One laid-off biologist is making–and taking orders for, thank you very much– $25,000 jelly fish tanks. An entrepreneurship professor at the University of San Francisco coined this phenomenon “forced entrepreneurship.” It’s what you do when you can’t find a job and you have to pay the bills.

What I like about the forced entrepreneurs is that they tend to do things on the cheap, which is exactly the right way to get going. When I launched a new service to my catering business, I didn’t buy any equipment or product before I’d made my first sale. The equipment paid for itself after two jobs. Starting up with less definitely helps focus the mind.

Many forced entrepreneurs would be happier if they could only get another job in their field after a layoff. But most of them use poor methods for finding a job so they conclude they have no choice but to start a business. The typical mistakes of job hunters include not having prioritized, multiple targets for their job search; spending the majority of their time answering Internet job listings, which account for perhaps 15% of available jobs; not targeting enough positions (not jobs, but positions that are currently filled but which they’d be eligible for); and falsely believing that their job-search objective is to get a job, rather than to get dozens of meetings. For people who really would like a job rather than forced entrepreneurship, I recommend you visit The Five O’Clock Club. It has the best process for job search I have ever come across. Not that you shouldn’t do your entrepreneurial thing if that’s really your passion. Just be careful–those jellyfish stings are wicked.

Tags: entrepreneurship, Five O'Clock Club, job search

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