Who can I connect YOU to today?

February 17, 2010

Job Seeker Tip of the Week – 2/17 – The Pursuit

Filed under: Job Seekers, Tip of the Week — Tags: Austin, Austin Job Search, Austin Job Seeker, Career, Job Search, Job Seeker, Job Seekers, Tip of the Week, Unemployed — Kim B @ 10:40 am

I’ve been talking to a lot of job seekers about what to do when you are in the interview stages of your pursuit of the job. Frequently people are left wondering in silence hoping that they will go onto the next interview. Let me help to explain what is happening on the staffing side of things and then what you can do to handle the situation.

First, when you are finishing up an interview, you should always ask to see what the next steps are going to be and when you should expect to hear back from the company. Take that date and add 2 days. If you haven’t heard back by then you are free to follow up.

People get busy. I know it’s hard to believe but people are not thinking about you and your interview process all day long. I mean, people other than you. They may be interviewing other candidates. They may be actually doing work. If you don’t hear back from someone in the time frame that they have set assume that they are busy.

If you have a recruiter that you are working with, they are the first point of “harrassment”. What I mean by this, is that you can contact them more frequently to get feedback than you can a hiring manager. So, if you have a recruiter, feel free to contact them every couple of days or so to see where the process stands. If you only have the contact info of the Hiring Manager themself, then you’ll have to step a little more gingerly and contact them every 5 business days or so.

I heard a great comment yesterday and that’s “Treat it like a Date”. That means you want to contact them often enough to make sure they know you are interested. Sometimes, its the one person who follows up that actually gets the job. However, you can’t over contact them and come across as a stalker. After you have contacted someone 3 – 4 times and received no response, consider the situation dead. They may contact you back at a later date, but you need to give up on them contacting you.

So, general Rules of Thumb:

Make sure you get a “follow up” date upon completion of an interview
Give a Recruiter 2 days after that date to contact you – and then you should contact them
Give a Hiring Manager 5 days after that date to contact you – and then you should contact them
Follow up every 2 – 4 days appearing eager but not desperate
If you don’t hear back after 3 – 4 tries, let it go

To Receive Our Newsletter Go to – www.BridgeATX.com/Newsletter.html

Comments (0)

February 12, 2010

Job Seeker Tip of the Week – 2/12 – Be Visible

Filed under: Job Seekers, Tip of the Week — Tags: Austin Job Search, Austin Job Seeker, Career, Job Search, Job Seeker, Job Seekers, Tip of the Week, Unemployed — Kim B @ 10:28 am

Tip of the Week

Be Visible

So much of a job search is about being in the right place at the right time. Last night I was out with a few friends. I was talking to someone who I hadn’t met before. At the end of the conversation I realized that this woman who was sitting next to me could be perfect for a job posting that I had heard about this week. Today I will be sending her more information and we’ll see how that goes.

If I had not been sitting next to her last night, I would have never known that she was unhappy with her current job. This job is not posted anywhere yet. So, had she not been sitting next to me she would have never known about it.

You don’t know where your next job opportunity might come from. You could start a conversation with the guy standing behind you at Whole Foods and he could turn out to be a Hiring Manager. You could be at your kids basketball game and you’re sitting next to a woman who is the Director of HR. You might be volunteering for an event and the person who is helping you to stack chairs might be your next boss.

You laugh, but I’m telling you that every time I go downtown to the Whole Foods on 6th Street I ALWAYS run into decision makers that I know. Decision Makers are typically working 60 – 80 hours a week. Where do you think they are? They need to go shopping. If they have children, they will be at their children’s events. If they are philanthropic they will pick organizations that they want to volunteer for.

Decision Makers are not going to Job Clubs. Job Clubs should be used to increase your knowledge and meet new people (who may know the decision maker that you need to talk to).

Decision Makers are not going to be sitting in your house with you watching the History Channel.

Decision Makers lurk around every corner. Get out there and BE VISIBLE.

Comments (0)

February 2, 2010

Job Seeker – Tip of the Week – 2/2 – Seeking Help

Filed under: Job Seekers, Tip of the Week — Tags: Austin Job Search, Austin Job Seeker, Career, Job Search, Job Seeker, Job Seekers, Tip of the Week, Unemployed — Kim B @ 1:22 pm

Tip of the Week

Seeking Help

In my Connection Conversations I help people understand what they need to do when they are trying to seek help from others. I go through three scenarios:

It’s 3 AM, I’m stuck at the airport. Cabs are all gone and I need a ride home. I ask YOU to come and pick me up from the airport. Will you come?

It’s 3 AM, I’m stuck at the airport. Cabs are all gone and I need a ride home. I ask MY BROTHER to come and pick me up from the airport. Will he come?

It’s 3 AM, I’ve been busted with a DWI and I call my brother to come and bail me out of jail. Will he come?

The scenarios above address the issue of familiarity and how easy it is to help me. Would you come get me at the airport? Maybe, because you realize that you would then be able to call in a favor from me. However, you would definitely think twice about leaving your cozy little bed to come get me. In the second scenario, my brother would not be very happy about it, but he would come and get me from the airport if I were stranded. In the third scenario, I think my brother would probably think it was good for me to stay in jail overnight for my terrible behavior and would likely wait until the morning to come and help.

The point of this is that when you are asking people to help you you need to consider 1) How well do they know you and 2) How easy it is for them to help you. The easier you make it on someone to help, the more likely you will get a quick reaction and a lot of help.

I go into much more detail in my classes on how this can be accomplished, but you can’t expect me to tell you all of that for free do you?

Comments (0)