Author Archive

Posted on August 26, 2009 - by Alex

Time For the Interview

2 Interviews This Week

My job hunt has yielded 2 interviews so far, and I’m writing this having just gotten out of one. No one referred me to this employer, rather, the company noticed I had worked with Dell in past, who is one of their key partners. Overall, I think the interview went rather well, especially with the two Senior Account Managers that spoke to me before forwarding me to the Sales Manager… but we’ll see.

How to Interview Well

Having been a student of the craft of selling for many years now, and I’ve learned that perhaps the most important things in an interview are first impressions (your confidence, eloquence and how you carry yourself), and selling the interviewer on howYOU—the sum of your experience and character—will best suit the vocation. Sounds logical, right? Well, the next thing I would ask you is: how do you do that?

1. Determine the employer’s needs by reading and re-reading the job description. Print it out, highlight the key parts that you feel you’re strongest in, and prepare a punchy statement about how you can be an asset in that area. Circle the responsibilities/qualifications that you’re less competent in. Now figure out how you’re going to handle questions that the interviewer brings up them.
    

   Example: When I was looking at the job description for this position, I noticed an emphasis on consultative selling and account planning. I refreshed my memory about the corporate definition of consultative approach and how that compares with other types of selling. Sure, enough, I was asked to give my definition of what that is. Also, drafting “account plans” was not my forte. I spent much of my prep time looking at examples of account plans and how to structure one so that I could speak confidently about them.

2. Prepare all the materials you’re going to take with you. Typically those include: directions/map to the interview location, a folder with your resume and any questions you want to ask (always have questions—to the interviewer, not having questions about the organization means you don’t really care about working there).




3. Get a good night’s rest.




4. In the morning, prepare mentally for the interview and reassure yourself that you’ll do fine. Tell yourself often that you’re worthy of that job—even more, you’re an authority on that type of work. Vision yourself walking out of the interview having nailed it, with a smile on your face.
5. Show up for the interview 10 Minutes early and ready with a smile, ready to go!

I’ve got another interview to do this afternoon, but this one I’m more confident about since I knew a few people working at this Telecommunications company. Wish me luck!

Posted on August 24, 2009 - by Alex

Defining an Outcome

Catching Up: Week of 17th-23rd

Last week I did a lot of strategic thinking about my next move in life. Project management 101: you must define an outcome before you start moving on it. Believe me, as obvious as this may seem, half the business meetings I’ve attended didn’t have a defined objective. If I’m successful in my job hunt, I will have:

Secured local, full time employment where I can be passionate about my work, operate somewhat independently, serve people, and be compensated proportionally to my productivity.

Additional Points

• If I sell a product or service, it sell must be something I can believe in and get behind
• It must be a company that has both short-term and long-term brand-building goals I can align with.
• There must be a creative element to the work.
• The employer must offer initial training if it is an industry I’m unfamiliar with.
• The person I report to must be approachable and genuine.

It would be nice if…

• The company’s marketing strategy was favorable to permission marketing.
• The job was location-independent or I could work from home
• It was heavily creative and knowledge-work oriented.

This definition pertains to the long-term objective of finding finding fulfilling work, however, I still have bills to pay in between. My first-priority is to at least is to replace the income I had, and I may have to make some concessions in order to do so. I’d like to ask the reader: what concessions have you made when accepting an offer for employment, especially when you were in a tough spot financially?

Posted on August 17, 2009 - by Alex

Revamped Resume

Over The Weekend

I accomplished a lot. Friday I received several more phone calls from my friends and colleagues and got some additional leads about open positions, which I followed up on immediately. What I’ve read is proving to be true: your best resource in a job hunt is your personal network of friends and associates.

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Posted on August 13, 2009 - by Alex

Laid Off

Hello Recession!

Today was my last day at work with the company I’ve worked with for the last year and a half—but I feel great. Even though I’ve just joined the increasingly popular club of Unemployed Americans, it’s not a group I’ll associate with for too long. I hope.

Jobhuntchronicles.com

Is just what it sounds like. This site will be a daily record of my unemployment and my struggle to find work that is meaningful and makes me happy. This blog is mostly for me, but you might find it useful too. I promise only that my posts will be honest, and to the best of my ability, useful to others in a similar position.

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