The Landing Expert

Sunday, March 21, 2010

While in Transition, Are You Keeping Pace with Technology?

I know that the title I selected for this blog represents a near impossibility. Technology in the past decade has been developing at a furious pace, and from what I read it is expected to speed up even more. And that makes it even more difficult to stay abreast with. In this blog I want to limit my intent to two areas when I talk about technology. The first area is the technology in your particular profession. And regardless of what that profession is, new and technological advancements are parts of every profession. Companies are very interested in reducing costs, and they therefore embrace technology to keep up their levels of competitiveness with others in the same industry. The second area is the technology that evolved in the past decade in the area of social media.

It is highly advisable that while in transition you stay on top of technological developments in your particular profession. Hiring managers are more interested in hiring someone who’s up-to-date as opposed to someone who’s been out for a while and who lacks the latest technology skills and therefore whose learning curve will be steep and possibly prolonged.

Equally important, I see the need for people in transition to show potential employers their proficiency in using social media. At the very least, one should use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook but also potentially some others. The aforementioned social media could give a job seeker a huge advantage by acquiring a personal brand and then promulgating it to would-be employers or other networking folks. As a career coach, I strongly recommend to my clients that they spend no less than one hour a day—and possibly longer—in learning the functionalities of these new and developing and ever-changing tools. Many recruiters and hiring managers take advantage of them, and so should you.

Alex Freund is the founder of Landing Expert–Career Coaching. His Web site includes a current and comprehensive list of job search networking groups in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and the city of New York, and the site is visited by thousands of people every month. Landing Expert is a premier career-coaching service with the objective of preparing job seekers for interviews. Alex’s clients are gaining knowledge, receiving marketing material, and acquiring the know-how to beat the competition.

Alex can be reached at:

609-333-8866

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Can You Automate Your Job Search?

A recent visit to a public restroom made me smile. I was hoping nobody saw me smiling, but it was quite humorous. In this recently remodeled restroom, everything was automated. To wash my hands, I placed one hand under a U-shaped pipe, which squirted soap. I then moved my hand under the faucet, and water flowed out. When I then needed towels, I waved a hand in front of a paper towel dispenser, and a towel rolled out. Yes, I could have placed my hands under an automatic dryer too. Such advanced automation made me smile and started me thinking, Why can’t the job search be so simple? And indeed, when searching for a job, we find that almost everything is still done manually.

Yes, you need to create a résumé. Yes, most people ask their friends to just “look at it” and suggest improvements. No, your friends are not professionals, but they can still offer you advice. My suggestion is that you get a professional to assist you. It will cost you some money, but would you have your car repaired by your friend who’s an amateur? And when you get really sick, would you consult your friend who typically gives you health-related advice? If you post your résumé and nobody calls, that means your résumé is lacking. A well-written résumé that highlights years of significant accomplishments will get reaction. If your résumé is written in an intriguing way that arouses curiosity about how you achieved your results and how you could do the same for others, then your phone will ring. When passing billboards on the highway, do you notice them? Some of them you may still remember.

And then comes interview preparation. So you think that since you’ve gotten jobs in past, you can be good at it again? Really? Today’s extraordinarily competitive job market rewards only the very best. There’s no gold, silver, and bronze here. Gold or nothing! So think again about your need of a professional for preparing for that interview. As a career coach, I help job seekers every single day. In the past I used to think that the more senior an executive is, the less preparation the person needs. Not so, I found out. At times even though executives might be more articulate than average, many of them—just like nonexecutives—still neither understand nor know how to apply the strategy of convincing an interviewer that they represent the ideal candidate.

The only automation within a job search consists of the various alerts one can set up so that when certain keywords appear in a job posting, the job seeker gets alerted. Try setting up an e-mail alert via indeed.com. I’m hopeful that by and by, technology will evolve to make the job search easier and more automated. Until then, job seekers have to do things manually, and my advice is to get professional help.

Alex can be reached at:

609-333-8866

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The Career Doctor: The return on investment for a professionally written resume

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Negotiate the job offer to win

You wanted this job so bad, and finally the offer arrived. The adrenaline is flowing freely, and you feel like sharing the good news with the entire world—certainly with those who contributed to your win. But is this job a really good deal? Could you have gotten a better deal if you only knew how?

The majority of people simply melt once they get a coveted job offer. They’re so grateful and they feel so saved that they think that by crossing the finish line, their goal has been attained. However, that is not the case. A job offer is a significant milestone indeed, but negotiating your best deal right now is the only time you can do it. You’re now in the falling-in-love period—like when you were in your teens and falling in love and your love interest could do no wrong and was simply perfect. Well, once the company you’ve applied to goes through the arduous and protracted hiring process and decided on you as the winner, they want to move on. At this point, they don’t want to go back to square one and start the process all over. That’s the time to negotiate.

Compensation negotiation is a six-step process. First, identify what’s important for you—for example, size of company, reputation, challenge, work-life balance, and your future manager. Second, carefully examine the offer by talking to as many people as you can who can provide relevant information about your areas of interest concerning the company and the job. Third, compare the offer with your priorities by writing down your thoughts. Consider the pluses and minuses, and prioritize them. Then do the same by writing down your feelings and emotions about taking this job.

Fourth, you must perform your due diligence by defining your dealing points and your deal-breaking points. Be truthful to yourself, but stay flexible. Remember that it’s not the money that you make but the money you keep. So review in detail the package of company-paid benefits. I can think of at least 20 different items in such a package—from medical coverage to tuition reimbursement.

Fifth, negotiate your best deal. Most companies expect you to do that. Show an unusual level of excitement about the opportunity, but register disappointment with the compensation. As a career coach, I train clients by practicing mock negotiations together with them. Initially, during such mock negotiations, many people feel awkward, but after we do this a few times, they learn this new skill.

The sixth and final step is to make the decision. Consult with your spouse, advisers, and career coach. If you’re a high-level executive, you may want to consult with a lawyer and a financial adviser as well.

A job offer should be executed in writing and with the parties signing it. At some small companies, the process is much simpler, and if there’s no written document to sign, it still behooves you to summarize your understanding of the compensation and document it via e-mail.

Alex can be reached at:

609-333-8866