Guy Kawasaki, of Alltop fame, says it best when talking about Twitter: “Nobodies are the new somebodies.” Albeit a different medium, I think that philosophy applies here. LinkedIn is the premier on-line professional networking site. And, just as you would network at a live event, the goal should be to get to know those you don’t already know. Moreover, following Kawasaki’s logic, don’t try to predetermine who can help you…those second and third degrees of separation with the most random of persons can take you places you never expected to go!

It’s essential to connect with likeminded people. A massive number of connections with non-networking types nets you “garbage in, garbage out.” Personally, I have used OpenNetworker to grow my network from under 2,000 connections to over 15,000 in just over a year. More importantly, 15,000 connections who want to network. This has been instrumental in helping me get the word out on what I do and the pain I address (more on this in a second). I don’t decide who needs to hear my message – I let the audience…my connections…decide what has value. They then make the introductions and connections accordingly.

Can you do this with a small, closely knit network? Sure. But, chances are that your immediate network already knows your accomplishments. Your closest network would hire you if they could. But what about those “nobodies” who could just be the “somebody” that lead you to your new job? You owe it to yourself to connect with them sooner rather than later.

As always, I’d love to hear what you think!

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2008 – 2011 (c) Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

I want you to think of LinkedIn like your personal White Pages. The more first degree connections you have, the larger your phonebook. I’ve written before about my philosophy that out of quantity, quality is born. The tool I highly recommend to all my clients for building a vast 1st level of likeminded networkers is OpenNetworker. After signing up with them, you will see your connections grow exponentially…as well as your ability to find the people with whom you want an audience. In my case, simply by signing up, my connections went from around 1000 about 24 months ago (which took me almost 4 years to build) to 19,869 as of this blog…connecting me to under 22,000,000 LinkedIn users.

What I am going to walk you through today is only one of the techniques I teach in my Job Search 2.0 Bootcamp.  Adopting this approach, I want to show you how you can get in front of more hiring managers and take control of what they are hearing and seeing about you:

1. Getting Started – Here are the basics that you need:
• The name of the company,
• The role (you can select more than one, if you are uncertain) to which you would be reporting. You are looking for decision makers here – not HR or recruiters. In the video, I walk through this step-by-step (there is more information on this below).

2. Searching on LinkedIn - Using this criteria, conduct a search on LinkedIn to find the right point of contact – who you would be reporting to in your ideal role. Write down their full name. If you are on the fence about who your ideal contact is, take down all the possible options you can find in LinkedIn.

Tip: I recommend starting your search as broad as possible. Run it by company only, and then start adding in criteria like location, title or keywords. It’s always better to cast a wide net to begin with and then narrow your search.

3. Googling the Email Format – Since you are going to be reaching out to this contact on your own, we are going to move from LinkedIn to Google. If you think you might have a good contact to use instead of making your own introduction, that's fine. But, I recommend using my “Litmus Test” in the tip below before relying on someone else to get you in the door. You need to know exactly how good an advocate they are going to be.

Tip: When trying to decide whether you should use a connection for an introduction or go it alone, use this easy litmus test. Ask your connection if they are willing to make a call to the contact you are trying to reach. If they are reluctant to do so and only offer to email – or worse yet, put your resume in front of someone in HR – politely thank them and go it alone. Someone with a solid relationship that bears weight won’t hesitate to pick up the phone. Anything else is simply an introduction with no teeth and a missed opportunity to make a meaningful first impression.

Using Google, add the “@” sign in front of the URL of the company in the search box. In the video, I use the example of Applied Robotics. You can see below what that search looks like.

You may need to dig through a page or two of search results to find the format. I also share some secrets on uncovering hard-to-find email format in the video walking you through this technique. If you enter your name and email below, I will send you a link to the short video that includes more tips and walks you through this process step-by-step.

As always, share your comments below. I always want to hear that you think!

Good details

The types of information resumes should include—but often do not—are things like the following:

-How many people report to you?

-How much money did you make for your last company?

-How have you saved your employers money in the past?

-Were you recruited or promoted by previous employers?

-What special projects or tasks have you been chosen to complete?

-What have you accomplished that was above and beyond your job description?

Bad details

When people include too much information on their resumes, it typically falls into these categories:

-The verbatim name of the department and supervisor you reported to. Unless you report directly to Mark Zuckerberg or someone equally famous, you can use a general title like VP-Marketing or Director of Branding to convey your status in the company.

-Outdated details about your college experience. If you’ve been out of school for ten years, your college GPA is old news. Ditto the name of the specific school of your university that you attended, unless it’s a highly ranked, nationally recognizable program, e.g., the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.

-Personal details about your life. If gaps on your resume are due to something like taking personal time off to care for an ill family member, it doesn’t matter what his or her diagnosis was. Keep your explanation as brief as possible.

An effective resume strikes the right balance between providing specifics that clarify how valuable you are as an employee, while at the same time generalizing your accomplishments in a way that makes sense to a wide audience. To be sure your resume doesn’t include bad details, make it a point to let another set of eyes proofread it.

Jessica Hernandez is the President of Great Resumes Fast. She has a true passion for the job seeker, evidenced by her desire to share everything she can with everyone she can about resume writing and interviewing. Jessica holds the strong belief that life is too short to hate your job and believes wholeheartedly in pursuing that which makes you happy. She loves creating colorful, dynamic, eye-catching resumes, and her articles have been published multiple times in popular job search books and on tens of thousands of career and job search Web sites including Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com, and more.

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2008 – 2012 (c) Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

What adds insult to injury is that which passes for feedback...the “advice” you are given as you discover you didn’t get the job. And this, my friend, is what I want to tackle today. Because, I see how much effort, energy and emotion is often put towards the words and ideas passed off as “helpful information” once your ride on the interview train has ended. And, frankly, it’s often wasted energy that is detracting you from moving down the path to your goal: finding the right job.

Don’t Assume You Are Being Told the Truth – You know I use the dating analogy a lot when talking about the hiring process. Remember what it was like to split up with someone? “It’s not you, it’s me.” The reality is that many times saying the truth can be as uncomfortable as hearing it…and many will avoid that at all costs. As well, in our uber-legal, highly litigious society, there is a reluctance to share the truth for fear of liability.

They May Not Know – You know those gut feelings you get about people – good or bad? Do you really need to know why you feel that way? No – you’ve learned over the years to trust your instincts. The hiring process is no different. You may be a perfect fit for a role but another candidate moves forward in the process (even gets the job) because the hiring manager just felt more comfortable with them. In the search business, when asking clients to describe the common thread shared by everyone on their team, most would respond with something along the lines of, “I can’t tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it.” What do you do with that?

A Choice for Someone Else isn’t Always a Choice Against You – Following on the heels on them not knowing, this is really important to remember. When someone else is selected, it doesn’t mean a conscious choice was made against you. The natural place for any of us to go after being rejected is to what we could have done differently. This is all you can control, but it could have nothing to do with why you didn’t get hired.

Is all this unscientific, arbitrary and largely beyond your control – absolutely. The hiring process is a sum of its parts: people. And we are a quirky bunch. Put us all together and try to get consensus amongst a diverse group of people…it’s a wonder any decisions get made at all. Trying to apply rationale and logic to something as speculative and nuance driven as the hiring process can, simply put, drive you insane. On top of that, you are emotionally in the thick of things. Being objective isn’t only an unreasonable expectation for you to have for yourself, but it’s largely impossible.

Instead of reflecting on and dissecting what you are told (if anything) after an interview, I want you to do two things. First, capitalize on the opportunity presented (read this past blog I wrote on the topic). Second, reflect on whether you were the truest representation of you in the interview. If you were, and didn’t get the job, then it wasn’t the right fit for you. As much as you have your eyes on the prize (AKA: the job) during an interview, sometimes not winning is a blessing in disguise. The downside to getting hired for something you aren’t can be even more devastating in the long run than it is frustrating to be in the job search.

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2008 – 2011 (c) Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

Imagine that Joe is a salesperson at the local Toyota dealer. The Toyota Tundra has just been named Truck of the Year. The truck has been advertised constantly on TV and in the newspaper. It's the dealership's best-selling vehicle. There's a special promotion going on that ends today, and if Joe sells one more vehicle before closing time, he'll meet his sales goal and receive a nice bonus. But the dealership closes in 20 minutes, so he has little hope of doing that. Then Joe sees a guy drive in, park his 10-year-old pickup truck, get out and walk over to look at a new Tundra. "Looks like I'm going to get that bonus after all!" Joe thinks as he rushes over to greet him.

Joe: "Hi. Welcome to City Toyota. I'm Joe."

Customer: "Hello."

Joe: "That's a beautiful truck, isn't it?"

Customer: "Yep, sure is."

Joe: "Did you know it was just named Truck of the Year?"

Customer: "Yep."

Then Joe proceeds to tell the customer all about the Tundra's outstanding qualities, it's features and benefits, and it's amazing value. He talks about it for several minutes, being sure to leave no detail out, and finally concludes with, "This is absolutely the best truck you can buy. Don't you agree?"

Customer: "Yep. It's the best truck I've ever seen."

Joe: "Great!"

Joe notices the lights are being turned off and the manager is at the door ready to lock up, so he says, "It's closing time, but I can ask the manager to stay so we can get you in that truck tonight. Shall we go write it up?"

To Joe's dismay, the customer says "Nope," turns away and starts walking back toward his truck.

Joe follows him and says, "Wait! There's still time. You can drive a new Tundra home tonight!"

The customer keeps walking and gets in his truck.

Joe: "I'll knock two thousand dollars off the price right now. No one else has gotten a deal like that on a new Tundra. What do you say?"

The customer starts the engine and just before driving away, says to Joe, "I came in to buy a Prius."

Here's the key that most job candidates miss: you need to know what the customer wants before you can sell it to him.

The problem is that job candidates THINK they know what the customer wants. After all, they're responding to an advertisement (job announcement) that spells it all out, right?

Yes... and no.

Imagine a manager tells his HR department to hire him a new administrative assistant. Everyone-the HR person who creates the job announcement, the job applicants who respond, and even the manager himself as he conducts the interviews-thinks the manager wants someone who can screen his calls, prepare his correspondence, schedule his appointments, record minutes of his meetings, make his travel arrangements, file his paperwork, etc., all in a competent, friendly, and professional manner.

Each question during the job interview is designed to determine how closely the candidates match those qualifications and expectations. The candidates respond to those questions by talking about their skills and experience as they try to sell themselves.

The more prepared candidates talk in terms of "benefits" in addition to "features." For example: "I have 10 years of experience recording meeting minutes." (Feature) "I'm familiar with what's required, won't need to be trained, and can have accurate minutes posted within 30 minutes of the meeting's end." (Benefits). They'll also talk about accomplishments, not just responsibilities. For example: "In my last job I was responsible for handling the administrative needs of six people." (Responsibility) "I created a prioritization system to ensure all six individual's needs were met in a timely manner, and I never missed a deadline." (Accomplishments)

Only one candidate, Mary, does something different. She wraps up her answer to the interviewer's opening question ("Tell me about yourself") with a question of her own:

"How can I help you by solving your problems and making your job easier?"

This question takes the manager by surprise. He responds half-jokingly by replying, "Make our customers stop complaining, and give me three more hours in every day so I have time to do everything I need to get done!"

Mary then asks more questions, such as "What do most customers complain about?" and "What do you feel are your biggest time wasters?" She listens carefully to the answers, asks follow-up questions to draw out more details... and achieves two very important goals:

(1) She shows the hiring manager that she's genuinely interested.

(2) She gets the manager to reveal the real "product" he needs and wants, and is thus able to position herself as that perfect product.

The manager didn't want an "administrative assistant." He wanted a problem-solver who could make his life easier. Knowing this, Mary answered every question during the interview in a way that showed she understood, would be able to solve his problems, and could make his life easier. In other words, she was exactly what this customer wanted to "buy."

Remember Joe? If his first question when greeting the customer had been, "How can I help you today?" he would've earned that bonus. His mistake was focusing on what HE wanted instead of what the customer wanted.

That's the biggest and most common mistake job candidates make.

By being genuinely interested in solving the hiring manager's problems, you will more effectively sell yourself as the product he really wants-and get the job!

For more information on Bonnie Lowe and her winning interview strategies, check out her Job Interview Success System.

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2008 - 2011 Career Attraction - All Rights Reserved

Kevin,

In one of your webinars, you mentioned two types of networks: real and "acquaintance" (or something like that). I would like to know how to cultivate a real network. I don't really think that I am relationship challenged. It is just the nature of my personality to be calm, cool and collected, and in the background. People don't really gravitate to me. So anyway, I have 53 LinkedIn connections that span most of my life. But they are mostly acquaintances and they aren't really people that engage in an equal give and take with me.

This isn't a personal question. I'm more interested in the professional side. How to I create those professional relationships that can stand the test of time?

Karel

Karel,

You are spot on in your approach. Like I talk about in the Bootcamp, you want to grow your loose (btw- I like “acquaintance”) network so that you can have the best choices for your real network.

Be you – You are building relationships here - not entering into some quick, transactional situation. The goal is to find your true audience and for them to “know-like-trust” you. Do this by being yourself . The easiest, and more productive, way to stand out is by being you. Not to mention, you will find it infinitely easier than trying to constantly morph to what you think someone else wants you to be. Which, if hired for, is going to turn out to be a huge disappointment for you both.

OpenNetworker – This is absolutely the easiest way to rapidly grow your loose network with likeminded people who understand “give to get.” I’ve talked about getting quality out of quantity in the past, but it’s worth repeating. You can never assume who may be able to help you or be connected to someone who can help – or even hire – you. So, by broadening your first level connections, you simply give yourself more options to find the people who are your true audience. Focus on pushing your message out and having as many resources as possible to help spread your message…not restricting the flow.

Be a Hub – This is the best way to stand out in the job search. Good economy or bad economy, people need great information. When you provide this – as a hub – you put yourself in the spotlight with your audience (peers and potential hiring managers). The broader your network (hence, OpenNetworker) the greater the likelihood that your audience will get access to your information.  Plus, cultivation completely takes care of itself.  When you provide great information to your audience, it's like a self-tending garden.  Very little maintenance is required.   Plus, by being yourself, they get to self-select when your message resonates with them…letting you know they want to be part of your real network.

Give, give, give - It's a cornerstone to building successful relationships. This article shows you how you can do just that.

By putting this system to work, you will start to see networking as a by-product of you simply being you…versus some shoomzy, alter-ego you feel you have to assume to play the game. You get to be yourself and attract the right opportunities. Sounds like a much simpler way to find a job, right?

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2008 – 2011 (c) Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

If you aren't a regular listener to The Career Catalyst, I highly recommend you put it on your "to do" list.  Kenrick and Scott always have some great information and they make sure their guests get into the "how" and go deep with actionable information.

After you've listened in to this episode, please leave your thoughts below as comments on the blog.

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2008 – 2011 (c) Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

1. Begin with the End in Mind – Borrowed from Steven Covey, the end isn’t defined as simply a job. It isn’t just being employed. It’s much deeper than that. It’s about the problems you solve, the type of environment in which you thrive and are happiest (these two are inextricably linked). The more you start defining where you want to be by these terms, versus just a generic job title, the easier it will be to uncover where someone “needs” you most. When you start speaking to what a company “needs” and “wants” you can often define a role for yourself inside the organization. It doesn’t get more “hidden” than that.

2. Network without Asking for a Job – There is no value in introducing yourself to someone as a job seeker. That’s all about your needs, not theirs. First seek to understand, then seek to be understood (more Covey!). You have to establish “what’s in it for them?” The quicker you do this, the better you will be able to figure out who you can both help one another best. Again, when you identify their pain and establish how you can address it, you start making the case for how you will add value to their organization.

It’s all about Give to Get and Paying it Forward. You’ll also find this to be an excellent litmus test in determining the best networkers. The great ones will always try to reciprocate. The not-so-good ones won’t. Hang on to the former and cut slack with the latter. But remember, just because someone doesn’t have a need to hire you doesn’t mean you can’t be great resources for one another. Think about degrees of separation.

Don't have a plan on how to do this?  Check out this interview with a professional who found himself in a new city, with no network and unemployed...and listen to how he found a job without ever asking for one.

3. Be Online, but Get Offline – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are powerhouse resources for your job search. But you shouldn’t be spending the lion’s share of your time online and behind a computer. Just like no one is going to hire a resume, no one is going to hire an online profile.

4. Be a Hub – Position yourself as “the” resource for information in a niche that ties in with the end state you have in mind. Provide information for others and be a resource. Instead of trying to stand out in a crowd, get out of the crowd. By being a conduit for information that your audience (those who are in your field – peers or hiring manager) you make yourself relevant and needed – key components to getting hired.

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2008 – 2011 (c) Career Attraction – All Rights Reserved

Visibility – These mediums allow you access to an unlimited amount of professionals within your targeted audience. What’s more, Social Media sites by definition allow for and promote the organization of niche “groups” which make finding your audience that much easier. LinkedIn is a prime example of this, but Facebook and YouTube as well.

Transparency – This is a bit of a mantra to your success in Social Media environments. I like to equate it to going to a party. Would you set up a table and starting pitching your product (i.e. “Here I am, looking for a job”) or begin by connecting on common ground? This is particularly true on Twitter – one of the more transparent tools out there. It is the first step in the process of “Know, Like, Trust,” which we all go through in determining what we are going to buy. Or, in this case, who they are going to hire.

“Pay it Forward” – Coupled with transparency, it is the second key to success in Social Media. Help others to not only get them to help you but, of equal importance, discover who will help you. And, by way of this assistance, you get a third party endorsement or recommendation. You can start doing it by simply asking others, “How can I help you?”

Nobodies are the New Somebodies – Borrowed from Guy Kawasaki, in the simplest of terms you don’t know who can help you nor do you know who knows who. Connecting with the big wigs in your industry through Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn can be fun, but it’s that avid networker who you have never met or heard of who is your better bet.

The Quality is in the Quantity - This is how you get to the “Nobody Somebodies.” By using tools like Opennetworker, you can build a network of likeminded, “give to get” individuals rapidly on a number of platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). By having a large number of connections, you have more choices from which to drill down and develop deeper, more meaningful connections. Think of it like filling your own networking event: pack the hall with as many folks as possible and then work the room to see who can help you (and, of course, who you can help).

It’s clear that Social Media isn’t the fad some first claimed it to be. It is almost equally as pervasive off-line as it is on-line. By incorporating it on the front end of your job search efforts to “fill the funnel,” you will not only more effectively tie in with the opportunities you seek but also uncover that elusive “hidden job market.”

And, as always, let me know what you think by sharing your thoughts below!

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Winning Hearts and Minds - The closer you work with fellow volunteers, the better they will get to know you. And, let’s face it, people help and hire those they like. Give people the opportunity to get to know you – not your tails of unemployment. Like we discussed last week, remember not to dwell on the fact you are looking for a job. You want everyone to think of you in terms of the great addition you would be versus the person who is always talking about being unemployed.

Words and Deeds – The interview process is a two-way street. You size up a future employer just as they do the same to you. Both sides are trying to figure out if the other “walks the talk.” By working side-by-side with someone in a volunteer capacity, you get to see if someone’s work ethic is in line with yours. Moreover, make sure you are gravitating towards those that give 110%. Good people always know good people.

Do What You Know – When volunteering, most people think in terms of what the Not for Profit does as a function: soup kitchens need help in the kitchen, Big Brothers/Big Sisters need adults to sponsor kids, etc. But shift your mindset to what you do best. If you are in accounting, volunteer your time to help with the books. A sales professional would be a great fundraiser or trainer of other fundraisers. You will not only be showcasing what you do, but your value-add to the organization will be even greater. Not to mention, you increase the likelihood of interacting with Board Members – who might have a connection or two. Talk about the "hidden" job market.

It Doesn't Always Have to Be a NFP - The key here is to get you out using and contributing your skill set. When you list yourself as a "consultant" or "freelance" on your resume, no one is going to ask what you were paid. The closest you will get is "what's your bill rate?" The bottom line is that you can contribute your expertise wherever you like and you are only limited by those who won't take you up on your offer. This is also a great way to develop some new skills and subject matter expertise that you might be lacking - volunteer to work on a project to get some OJT.

If you have been thinking of retreating from your volunteer commitments in order to focus more time on your search – Don’t. Get more involved, make more connections and leverage your skills set in doing so. It is a win-win for everyone involved. Not only might you find a job in the process but you will do some great work to feel good about in the interim.

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