It weighs too much, so they can’t pick it up and make a call.  Or, pushing ALL the numbers to dial out is too tiring, so they don’t do the last 1 or 2, and the call doesn’t go through.  Or, there’s a powerful magnet that makes you slam the receiver down before the person answers.

I’m joking, of course, but that’s what it can feel like!

What are we afraid of?  The person saying “Hell0?”  Are we afraid of having a meaningful conversation?  Are we afraid of what they will think of us if we fumble?

Whatever it is, get over it, or work through it, because the phone might be the most powerful job search tool you use.

Networking involves communication… start to master this, enjoy it, and your job search will do a 180.

What better place is there?

If you get together with family and friends at Thanksgiving, you have a great opportunity to spend time with people, and help them help you in your job search.

Make it clear what you are looking for, and how they can help you, and ASK FOR HELP.

You should know how to easily communicate what you want, and how they can help you.

YOU MUST NOT APPEAR DESPERATE, or hurt.  Okay, since you are with family, you can be honest.  But realize, before they introduce you to their network, they are going to want to know you are confident, competent and professional, and you won’t appear hurt and wounded to their network.

When you go into the gathering, if someone doesn’t listen or respond the way you want them to, don’t worry about it.  Your family relationships are more important than any poor reaction you might have.

When you get someone’s attention, and it turns to your job search, keep the jargon and cliche out of your talk. You know what all the titles and certifications mean, but many times they don’t.

Go, have fun, be yourself, renew relationships.  And when the time is right, let people know how they can help you.

And then…. FOLLOW-UP!  Follow up Monday or Tuesday… and then continue to follow-up.  Be professional about it, but don’t assume that since they didn’t follow-up that they don’t care.   The follow-up is your responsibility.

If they are good, shouldn’t they remember who you are??  Isn’t that THEIR JOB?

It might be a part of their job, but if they aren’t doing that part of their job well, is it their FAULT?

Some recruiters will be really good at remembering you.  Especially if there is a reason to remember you.  Sometimes, though, you will be just another number, just another random resume.

Is this an issue? Isabelle Shelby asks if it is okay to take a picture of candidates to help remember them better (and wonders if there are ethical issues with this).  I’m a visual person, so this would definitely help me, but I would feel awkward asking people if I could take their picture… at that link there is a lively discussion about taking pictures of the job seeker to help the recruiter remember who they are.

What can YOU DO to help them remember who you are?

1. Follow-up. Because practically no one really does this, as you follow-up you’ll be more memorable.  You’ve heard the saying “the squeaky wheel gets the oil….”  Be that squeaky wheel (but not annoying).
2. Have a solid story. In a comment on that post one recruiter says “… isn’t it performance, good or bad, that make an employee memorable…”  Is your story, and your performance, making you memorable?  If you have a LIST of things you’ve done, you are as memorable as the 1,000 others who have a LIST.  Tell stories and stand out.
3. Introduce your recruiter to others. When you open up your network to them, you provide them value. The more you do this, the more valuable you become to them.  You’ll be on their mind more often.
4. Follow-up, some more! The follow-up is NOT a one-time thing.  Think about nurturing a long-term relationship – that takes work, and multiple follow-ups.

I don’t object to the picture thing – John Comyn makes a strong case for that.  But YOU can do things, like the four I mentioned above, to give the recruiter (or hiring manager, or HR, or the venture capitalist, etc.) remember you for many months, or years, to come.

One of Mark’s messages has had a significant impact on how I run my business.  It is deceptively simple, yet is really, really powerful.

In a business, he says, we need to identify three “high value activities.”  Those are activities that will lead us towards our monthly goals, or target numbers.  Organizing your desk is NOT a high value activity.  Working on a new product is.  Doing research is not necessarily a high value activity.  Making a phone call to a customer or prospect, with a purpose, is.

What are high value activities for job seekers?

I remember a problem my job seeker buddies and I had: we had ALL DAY LONG to do whatever we wanted.  Sometimes we’d do things to “take a break,” and that break could last hours.  We would send one email, or apply to one job, and then we’d reward ourselves with the break.  By the end of the day we could have spent hours on breaks, and the things we did that “merited” rewards were really not that significant.

Differentiate between a productive activity and a HIGH VALUE activity.

Mark says we need to do 3 high value activities each day.  3 * 5 = 15 at the end of the week.  I bet most job seekers are doing 1 – 3 each week right now.  Can you imagine if you do 15 each week?

Do you think that will get you closer to your goal?  Since I’ve been working on getting my three in each day I know I get closer to my goals.  I’m not just feeling productive, I’m seeing results.  And that’s what we need to do.

This is a skill that we can carry with us throughout the rest of our life, whether we do three high value activities in a job search, in our marriage, in our personal life, in our job, for our house, for our body, etc.

What do you think high value activities might be for you?  Here’s a list of some activities… which are high value?  (for sure, one is NOT)

• make phone call to someone you sent a resume to in the last 6 months
• schedule an informational interview for sometime in the next 7 days
• go to a network meeting and make and follow-up with 3 contacts
• go to an informational interview, and follow-up
• apply to ___ jobs on a job board
• introduce one of your contacts to another contact
• Find 3 relevant contacts on LinkedIn and communicate with them
• Review your LI Contacts and find 3 to reconnect with
• Find a blog in your profession and leave a comment on it, linking back to your LinkedIn Profile
• Help a new job seeker get started in their job search, ensuring they avoid the job search pitfalls

Make your own list and then do three, every day!

1. Have a great business card. It can be really simple or somewhat complex.  It should have relevant information only, and help the recipient understand/remember who you are and what you have to offer.
2. Have an email signature that reminds people who you are and how they can help you. Use the line right under your name as a tagline, which will have no cliche or jargon, and clearly communicates their brand.
3. Create a strong LinkedIn Profile. I’d guess about 99% of the LinkedIn Profiles out there are pretty lame.  Sketchy, skeleton Profiles.  Do yours right once and for all.  Career Resumes does LinkedIn Profile makeovers.
4. Figure out your 30 second pitch, then get rid of it. Really, how many good pitches have you heard?  Ever?  One?  Me neither.  The idea is excellent, our execution is pretty bad.  The idea is to concisely communicate something relevant to the conversation, and somehow let others know who you are or how they can help you.
5. Ensure your resume somehow makes you stand out. Perhaps it could be as simple as having a link to your industry or profession blog, so the reader can learn more about your knowledge and passion online, and without the resume restrictions.  I’ll leave the resume advice to Peter Newfield’s team at Career Resumes. They can review your resume for free.
6. Participate in relevant LinkedIn Groups. Find where your hiring managers and influencers would be, and join them as a PEER.
7. Write an article. Post it online: search for “ezine directory” on google and you’ll find plenty of places to easily, quickly post your article.  Now, link back to that article from your LinkedIn Profile (under the websites section).

There are plenty more tips, but I wanted to give you seven quick, actionable, implementable tips.  Now, go do them!

Somehow, I didn’t make it there, and went home. At least I “tried.”

The second time I did the same… I “tried,” then went home.

I was embarrassed and nervous, and I really didn’t think I’d get any value out of going to that meeting.

The third time, fortunately, was a charm. I got there, went inside, introduced myself, and the rest was history.

I needed to be there. I really, really needed to be there. Why?

I learned that it was normal for someone with my education and experience to be in transition.

I thought that I was a big loser, and everyone else with my skills and experience were in jobs.  This was not the case. I sat down and listened to the 30 second pitches of others and was amazed at how accomplished they were.  Just listening to that made me feel much, much better about my own situation.

If it could happen to them, why not to me?

This was invaluable.

I learned I was doing what everyone else was doing, and I was getting the same non-results.

I assumed I knew what a job search entailed, and that’s what I worked on for about 10 hours a day.  When I learned, at those meetings, that I was doing all the wrong things, it helped me realize it isn’t necessarily a numbers game… I had to have a smarter, better strategy. I had to do things dramatically different.

If I didn’t go to those meetings I would have just kept plugging away a tall the wrong things.  Total waste of time.

I learned about resources that could be really helpful.

In my meetings I learned there was a free 2-day workshop I could attend – this really changed a lot for me in my search.  It was very, very valuable.

As I travel I’ve seen clubs that offer short workshops, long workshops, and help you tap into state resources (for example, to get your PMP certification, etc.).

Clubs have a lot of information to help you get to the next level, and you need to go and at least ask what other resources they can share with you.

I regret not going to these meetings earlier… but I was really just too scared.  Thank goodness I finally made myself go.

Have you gone?  Will you go?

Here’s a link that might help you find something local to you: http://www.job-hunt.org/job-search-networking/job-search-networking.shtml

Imagine you are a recruiter trying to fill a job (a job that is a perfect match for you, the job seeker).

Go to Google and do a search for the right candidate (which is you, of course).

Are you coming up on the searches?

You can’t use your NAME in the search phrase, since the recruiter doesn’t know your name.

What would you use?

Check out this very short post that shows how recruiters search using Google (another gem from Recruiting Blogs).

Now, try the search again, but a little more refined, based on that search.

It might be something like:

Seattle “project manager” resume

OR

site:www.linkedin.com (Seattle | Washington) “project manager”

Are you coming up?

If you are NOT, then what can you do to your profile, resume, website, etc. so you do come up?

(hint: figure out what keywords are most important, then make sure you have those in your profiles/documents so you have a chance of showing up when a recruiter is looking!)

Wake up around 4:30.  I’m not a morning person at all, but by 4:30 the anxiety had me fully awake, and I couldn’t lie in bed anymore.

Jump online to see what was new on Monster and other boards.  Usually nothing.

Eat something between 5 and 8am.

More online searching and applying to openings.

Make myself eat lunch.

more online searching and applying.

Join the family for dinner around 5 or 6pm.

Do some family stuff for a couple of hours – I was probably more of a zombie than a dad.

8:30pm – after kids went down, I jumped back online for more online searching.

Crazy? Yes.

Ineffective? Yes.

Unhealthy? Definitely.

I was anxious to land my next job.

I was “too busy” to network.

I thought people would see my resume and KNOW I was the right person to bring on the team.

My physical activity was very, very limited, and involved many hours sitting in my new office, which was a reclining rocking chair in my bedroom.

My mental health wasn’t so hot either… how could it be if you seclude yourself and hardly talk to other humans?

What would my advice be to myself, back in those days?

GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!

Shower and dress up and get out.  Regular showers are good!

Go where others are!  See them, meet them, watch them.  You can talk to them or just observe them, but be around other people, and maybe borrow some of their energy and passion.

Create a regular exercise strategy. Whether it is to walk a mile every day, or do something much more vigorous, you need the endorphins.

You might need the routine.

You might need the social interaction.

But I’ll tell you from painful experience – you do NEED TO GET OUT!

(go on, what are you waiting for?  Get out!)

How do you succeed in a video interview?  Alyssa Martino wrote a post titled How to Not Screw Up a Skype Interview on Brazen Careerist.  In her post she has three sections, each with valuable gems to succeed on video:

Tend to the Big Picture talks about body language, colors to where (yes, it is important!), where to look, and what to have in your background.

Silence is Golden talks about cutting out distractions, like chat clients and cell phones, as well as any noises that might come from other family members or pets.  She suggests you even put a sign over the doorbell so people don’t ring and ring.

Expect Technology Hiccups talks about what kind of connection to choose, using Skype before you do the interview to be familiar with it, and having a Plan B (another laptop).

I’ve done many interviews, and here’s the bottom line.  You can wing it with your responses, and with your technology.  But, just as you might say something off because you haven’t prepared, you may have some glitch in your presentation or your appearance or your technology, and that can be distracting enough that people don’t listen to your message and your substance.

Don’t let poor preparation get in the way of successfully getting your message across.  PREPARE!