Do you really want to know how I help professionals land during these difficult times? Are you sure?
Pour yourself a cup of coffee and let’s get to work on my Extreme Job Search program. It is a procedure that’s been tweaked to near-perfection over the past six years but will undoubtedly be tweaked many more times whenever improvements are discovered, tested, and evaluated.
As you step yourself through this process, we'll take the networking skills you learned, the powerful CEO mind set, and the magnetic attraction of your value proposition and weld them together for maximum impact.
To do this, your CEO business brain must think in four dimensions, i.e., remember that each component (networking, CEO mind-set, value proposition, and methodology) becomes supercharged when combined with the other three but has ample horsepower to stand on its own when the situation calls for it.
This will be challenging work and at times you may become frustrated. But the payoff is substantial: You will cut yourself free from the grip of The Black Hole. Instead of being dependent on people who don’t know you to advance your career goals, you will learn to network your way to an interview, job or contract by leveraging the power of advocates — people who not only know you, but like you, trust you and will gladly help you to “connect the dots.”
The Seven Steps: High Level Overview
Step 1
As the CEO of ME, Inc, you will determine what your core skills are. Everyone is good at something; so what are your skills, talents, and abilities? What would be a suitable title for someone who does your kind of work?
Step 2
You call your work by a particular name; now it’s time to find out what the marketplace calls it. Are you a Java Developer? A Financial Analyst? You’ll make good use of a web site called Indeed.com to perform this task. You’ll also get a first look at opportunities that may be a good fit for you. The importance of this step is that it helps you determine the market demand for your skills (i.e., the spot market; a snapshot of what the prevailing market conditions look like).
Step 3
Now, using LinkedIn and your networking skills, try to identify advocates; these are people either in your network or in the networks of friends, business contacts, etc… who can “connect the dots” for you within a targeted company to get your name circulated among key decision-makers. At this step, you are performing “networking research”, that is, you are not actually reaching out to these advocates yet, just identifying who they are.
Step 4
You will then develop your value proposition consisting of: 1) a targeted resume; 2) a cover letter (or T-Letter), and 3) the job description itself. In this step you are building your case for the job. Since these documents will either make or break you, you will want to have them as close to perfection as possible.
Step 5
Once you’re SURE you understand the position for which you’ve identified suitable advocates, prepare to connect with them. With advocates who are friends, or friends of friends, you'll network to establish a communications chain to the decision makers (your “Research & Development Team” manages this). In all cases, you will document all contact with advocates to ensure timely and appropriate follow-up.
Step 6
After that, you will submit your value proposition as instructed and set up a specific follow-up schedule. You will track your contact with all advocates to ensure that no follow-up calls or e-mails are forgotten.
Step 7
Finally, you will repeat the process. As the CEO of a business, you never settle for having just one client prospect. When you’re in transition and actively looking for work, your goal should be to find at least one new client opportunity per day.
Best wishes and keep networking alive,
Rod Colon
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