Job search secret
SUMMARY - To find a job of $50,000, imagine that you are selling a product worth $50,000 to someone. This mindset will truly drive you to act as thoroughly and professionally as a salesperson selling such a high-price item.
DETAILS - If you were in the market for a car costing $50,000, you would do lots and lots of research, and would even test drive the car and kick the tires.
And most likely, the car salesman would mention all the awards that the car you're looking at has won last year and how it is the "best-selling car right now." And he has the documentation to prove it, too!
HR people are in that situation when they screen candidates applying for a job. They have to make a big, hugely important decision of "buying a product costing between $40,000 to $100,000."
The product, of course, is the human capital of the ideal candidate: education, experience, skills, energy, interpersonal abilities, etc.
Yet, most job searchers are simply not serious about selling themselves. They are obsessed about details like the resume and job interview. They think that a great-looking resume and a highly rehearsed interview will land them a job.
This is like the car salesman hoping that a glossy brochure, and a sit-down chat with a customer, will enable him to sell a $50,000 car!
What the car buyer really wants (and what HR managers really want) is objective documentation, a live demonstration of the capabilities of the car (or job candidate), and clear, objective answers to ALL his questions, fears and doubts (even the ones that are not raised in an interview because it would be impolite -- for example, most people make claims in their resume without being able to PROVE those claims. No job interviewer would say: "What you wrote is not credible, why don't you prove it to me?" Yet, it is the candidate's job to prove every important claim. After all, everybody knows that a resume is just a piece of clever fiction!).
If a job seeker adopts this mindset (that he must sell himself like as if he were selling a $50,000 product), I guarantee that he will be much sharper and more thorough in his presentation.
I've always had that attitude and I've always landed the jobs I wanted (at IBM, American Express, CDI Corporate Education Services, etc.). This has been my secret weapon for a long time and, well, it's no longer a secret!
DETAILS - If you were in the market for a car costing $50,000, you would do lots and lots of research, and would even test drive the car and kick the tires.
And most likely, the car salesman would mention all the awards that the car you're looking at has won last year and how it is the "best-selling car right now." And he has the documentation to prove it, too!
HR people are in that situation when they screen candidates applying for a job. They have to make a big, hugely important decision of "buying a product costing between $40,000 to $100,000."
The product, of course, is the human capital of the ideal candidate: education, experience, skills, energy, interpersonal abilities, etc.
Yet, most job searchers are simply not serious about selling themselves. They are obsessed about details like the resume and job interview. They think that a great-looking resume and a highly rehearsed interview will land them a job.
This is like the car salesman hoping that a glossy brochure, and a sit-down chat with a customer, will enable him to sell a $50,000 car!
What the car buyer really wants (and what HR managers really want) is objective documentation, a live demonstration of the capabilities of the car (or job candidate), and clear, objective answers to ALL his questions, fears and doubts (even the ones that are not raised in an interview because it would be impolite -- for example, most people make claims in their resume without being able to PROVE those claims. No job interviewer would say: "What you wrote is not credible, why don't you prove it to me?" Yet, it is the candidate's job to prove every important claim. After all, everybody knows that a resume is just a piece of clever fiction!).
If a job seeker adopts this mindset (that he must sell himself like as if he were selling a $50,000 product), I guarantee that he will be much sharper and more thorough in his presentation.
I've always had that attitude and I've always landed the jobs I wanted (at IBM, American Express, CDI Corporate Education Services, etc.). This has been my secret weapon for a long time and, well, it's no longer a secret!
posted by Super Peter at 11:39 PM
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