|
Page 2 of 3
It is a four-phase process:
Phase I: Lay your foundation with diamonds.
Your first task is to thoroughly understand yourself, your core strengths and your objectives. After all, if you can’t articulate these to yourself, it will be impossible to communicate them effectively to others. Take an inventory of your core strengths and talents, or, as Kate likes to call them, your ‘diamonds’. These are usually found as the basis for your accomplishments, at the heart of kudos or feedback you get from others, and in the kinds of activities you consider the highlights of your day.
Taking the time to identify your ‘diamonds’ is critical. Not only can you then clearly ‘market’ yourself to others, but reviewing your accomplishments, performance reviews, and highlights also prepares you for activities that will come later such as networking and answering behavioral interview questions. For example, ‘Tell me about a time you were able to convert an irate customer into a loyal customer.’ Hint: It’s important to think in terms of the issue, the actions you took, and the results you got.
Everything else proceeds from this discovery exercise. That includes your objective, your resume, your one-minute ‘elevator pitch’, other written marketing materials, and preparation for the interview when it comes.
Phase II: Learn The Lay Of The Land.
Now that you know yourself and your objectives, it’s time to look externally and begin figuring out who your likely targets are. Very different from the old approach of passively waiting to see what floats by on the job boards and company websites, this phase consists of networking in the form of informational interviews. Your end game is to identify companies or industries where there may be opportunities.
You already know your objectives and can support them with your elevator pitch and your diamonds, right? You begin working your way through your network by calling friends, neighbors, colleagues and acquaintances to say you’re in career exploration and could really use their counsel and advice. It’s important to phrase your request as seeking their help and wisdom at this point, not asking if they know of any jobs. During this process, if they have any openings or know of any, and they think you’re a possibility, they’ll suggest it. But otherwise, don’t ask. Approached in this way, 9.9 people out of 10 are happy to help.
Keep in mind that the quality of your questions determines the usefulness of the information you receive. Lay out your objectives, tell them where you are with the hunt so far, and ask them their thoughts and what they would do if they were in your shoes. If you have a particular challenge, ask them how they would address it. And always, the last question you ask is who else they know that you could talk to. These conversations yield what Kate calls ‘nuggets of gold’. People suggest you talk to someone, or they tell you about a company that seeks people with your talents, or suggest you go to a certain meeting or get involved in a particular group. By the time you’ve done a number of interviews you begin to see the trends and opportunities that may lie out there. Kate often sees jobs drop into the laps of people who follow these guidelines diligently.
Another benefit of this approach is that because you are being proactive you have more sense of control. That can help even out the emotional ups and downs that often accompany a job search. You have a plan for your day; you have a purpose, and activities and goals to accomplish.Phase III: Identify And Approach Your Targets.
Now that you’ve identified the companies and opportunities you’d be interested in pursuing, it’s time to turn to your network once again. Who do you know at Whole Foods? Do you know anyone in Human Resources at Dell? Typically, if you’ve done a thorough job in Phase II, you can find the people who can help you get in to your target companies.
LinkedIn is a very popular online professional networking site that can also help. It makes the hidden networking connections that exist between our friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and colleagues visible to us. Maintaining and using this tool effectively can be a big help in finding people who can ease your way into target companies.
|
.jpg)
