1. The Job Market-The Cruel Reality
"GET A JOB IN TODAY'S INCREASINGLY TOUGH MARKET BY USING STRATEGIES THAT MAKE
VISIBLE THE HIDDEN / UN-ADVERTISED JOB MARKET. WORK TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION,
GET TO THE DECISION MAKER AND MAKE THE SALE"
How much is it costing you for every day you are unemployed or under-employed? Every day you cut
helps by reducing your need to dip into savings, limits the need to increase the unpaid balance on your
credit cards, take a second mortgage, let the payment of bills slide, put off college for the kids or any
other need for money that may be jeopardized.
Nothing can happen until you meet with the key decision maker. To accomplish this you must
give that person a compelling reason (s) to initially open a dialog with you, next invite you in to
meet and finally open an ongoing relationship which leads to the RIGHT POSITION for the right
reasons. It is not unusual that a position does not exist upon initial contact, but that one can be
created once the face-to-face dialogue has been initiated.
A REALITY CHECK:
If you are experiencing any of the following it is critical that you read on:
*Your resume and sale's letters are vague and bland and unable to generate interest?
*You are unable to get an interview, or interviews of value?
*Is there a lack of advertised jobs in your area?
*Do you fail to make the sale if you get an interview?
*If you are offered a job is it beneath your skill level and salary target?
*Are you responding to job ads or sending out unsolicited letters, but getting no response?
*Do you do as you are told to do-"network" but you do not have a network, run out of contacts quickly or
wait for you family member or friend to get his or her employer to get you an interview but with no
success?
*Do you have perceived or real liabilities/concerns that are killing your ability to get an interview, the
interview itself or your success in getting an offer?
*Are you using strategies that may have worked in the past but are now totally useless but you have no
idea what to do?
*After an interview do you hear nothing but "dead silence" from your potential employer ...remember you
were most likely told "we will be in touch"?
THE JOB MARKET
*The Internet has made it very easy for companies to find people and people to find companies-the
completion is intense and growing daily
*The value of recruiters, except for highly specialized positions, is declining
*Unless you are an "ideal" fit there is no chance of success-unfortunately the "ideal" is often arbitrary,
poorly defined and established by people, often HR, who do not understand the key needs of the position
*The old ways of finding a job-responding to ads, networking, sending unsolicited bulk letters,
job fairs, registering with recruiters are increasingly ineffective-the higher the target position the
less any of these will contribute to your success

2. *Most resumes are “tombstones"...what did I do, where did I do it...NOT WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH
AND DEFINED IN CLEAR, CONCISE, MEASURABLE AND BOTTOM LINE IM PACT
*There are at least 30 million resumes circulating at any moment of time-employers are given an endless,
and often overwhelming source of potential candidates
*In today's job market there are close to 4 job seekers for every available job up from the normal 2 in 1
*The time to get a new job is at least three times longer than even a few years ago
*It takes 19 interviews on average to get a job offer
*The strategies and tactics that used to work, responding to ads, networking, sending unsolicited
letters/resumes, job fairs, registering with recruiters are increasingly ineffective-the higher
the target position
*It is becoming increasingly difficult to get by the many gate keepers in an organization. Typically a cold
call will result in a “thanks but we are not hiring” or a redirect to HR where you are told to simply send a
resume or register on the site
*The time to find a new job is increasing every month
*LESS THAN 25% OF AVAILABLE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ARE EVER ADVERTISED
DIRECTLY OR LISTED WITH RECRUITERS-this is where the vast majority of job seekers look for
opportunities-the competition is intense and working in this arena is increasingly unproductive
*A company can receive up to 4000 resumes for a posted position putting intense pressure on screeners
to select the best candidates. Companies are increasingly reluctant to post positions given the ready
source of candidates in their data base or registered on the web
*Job seekers are taking jobs well below their experience or salary level out of desperation
THE GOOD NEWS:
*Regardless of the state of the economy there are many jobs available-people leave or are fired, skill
sets for current positions are redefined, new positions are created
*Strategies exist to get you in front of the decision maker, for the right reason, with a compelling message
and solid strategy to close the sale
Typical Strategies That Are Used Have Lost Much Of Their Effectiveness
*Responding to ads, particularly those on the broad horizontal boards such as Monster or Career Builder
can attract 3K to 4K responses. Although many responders are totally unqualified and look upon their
response as a way to get into the company database, creating an overwhelming task for HR to address. It
is not unusual that HR simply uses a scanning tool looking for key words as the emails arrive. These key
words may or may not be the most appropriate but HR will pull out 7 to 10 candidates from the first 200.
Thus many of the most qualified candidates are missed. Remember, most often HR is in the business of
looking for reasons to reject a candidate. Also typically, the most important core competencies are not
discovered until candidates meet with the hiring manager and together they go through a full discovery
process which flushes those out. It is not unusual that the selected candidate is very different than the
defined candidate in the initial position description. Also as one moves up the corporate ladder those
positions are less likely to be advertised.
*Recruiters can be great time wasters. If they have a position available there will be value in opening a
dialog. If not, unless the recruiter is one of the limited recruiters that has solid relationships with local
companies and has the approval to bring qualified candidates to a company even if a position does not

3. exist, getting into a long time-wasting discussion can create false hope and loss of inertia in a
campaign. On average, only 5% of positions are filled by recruiters. In today’s market it is so easy for
companies to find people and people to find companies, why would a company spend 30% to 35% of a
candidate’s compensation package unless the position was very unique, the skill set required was difficult
to find or there was as a need for confidentiality.
*Sending unsolicited intro letter (“I am available give me a call”). These come in by the thousands and
most often end up being sent directly to HR for dumping or scanning. If they do get through to a potential
hiring manager’s gate keeper, unless there is a compelling reason to pass it to the manager it gets sent to
HR or thrown out. This is most often a waste of time, paper and postage but give a job seeker a feeling
that he or she is doing something while wasting valuable time in the job search process. The lack of
response or receipt of rejection letters can be psychologically devastating resulting in loss of interest in
the campaign and a feeling of hopelessness. If an interview is given (most often acquired through another
channel), the desperation and diminished self-confidence will often sabotage the interview. Despite
answering ads and sending intro letters, increasingly companies do not respond as they see no need.
The sender most often gets no feedback as to whether it was received. If a response is sent, it is the
“thanks but no thanks we will keep your resume on file” or “we do not accept unsolicited letters or
resumes go to our website and register”.
*Although networking can deliver significant results, many people have not established solid networks
and quickly run out of people to contact. Strategies exist to build additional networking contacts but they
can be time consuming and result in significantly extending a campaign as the job seeker sits and waits
for the anticipated call. Networking can also limit your sphere of opportunity as it can create both industry
and geographic constraints. It is an important part of a campaign but its limitations must be considered.
Employing the new social media, with an emphasis on groups such as Linkedin can extend your reach if
used effectively. A key trap in the networking process is to assume that if you know a person in a
company of interest and you give that person your resume it will virtually guarantee an interview. This
seldom happens unless that person is in a position of significant authority. The best that may come is a
brief call or meeting with HR as a way of placating the referring employee.
The Key To Getting To The Right Person
As indicated above, you must get a compelling message into the hands of the right person and then have
a means to get directly to that person by bypassing the gate keepers or getting through them. The typical
intro letter with a request for the recipient to call seldom works. You must also approach the decision
maker positioning yourself as a SOLUTION to a set of well-defined KEY CHALLENGES and not as a
person seeking employment or a person trying to sell a consulting service. The only reason that an
opportunity will be opened is that the core competencies, skill sets and accomplishments you bring to the
organization are consistent with the challenges that the organization is facing. Any good decision maker
will look at you as a potential asset and as any good decision maker, will be looking at the return he or
she will get on that asset. Your initial mission through a document (spot opportunity letter) is to present a
high enough potential return to encourage the decision maker to open the dialogue. Once opened, the
mission is to continue building the potential return to so as to be invited in to discuss ways that you could
make a major contribution to helping that firm meet those challenges. If at all possible you want to define
those challenges as having a potential, measurable and significant negative impact on the organiz ation.
People are motivated more by fear of loss than opportunity or gain. This is part of the branding
process which positions you as a unique and potential highly valuable asset and not just one
more person who wants to waste the time of the decision maker.