Received a great gift for Christmas. But how did I find my new job?

My apologies that it has been a very, very long time since my last posting. With the job search and other personal matters in my life, I have not been inspired to write. But after receiving an early Christmas gift on December 22nd I felt I should let the faithful followers of my blog in on the great news.

There was a job lead posted on the Internet for a Training Coordinator at a local company. However, before sending my resume into the black hole of the Internet job search, I have been following the tried and tested job search methodology of the ETP Network. On Step 3, Identify Potential Advocates, I searched my professional and personal networks (LinkedIn) for people I knew who either worked for Allies, Inc. (my target company), or who knew someone who worked at Allies. Unfortunately, I was unable to find someone in my networks.

Next, I visited Manta to acquire the contact information for Allies. After finding the number, I phoned the recruiting coordinator. While it is always best to speak directly to people and not leave a message, after several attempts, I finally left a message mentioning the position, their job requirements and how my experience matched up to those requirements. I was pleasantly surprised when the recruiting coordinator returned my call the same day and asked me to send in my resume. I re-drafted a targeted resume for the position and emailed it to the recruiting coordinator.

I had recently started a temporary position, also in the area. On the second day, of my one month assignment, I received a call from the recruiting coordinator to schedule an interview. After informing my temp agency that I would be leaving early the next day, they informed me that if I did, my assignment would be ended immediately. So here I was between a short term gig (1 month promised - with a very good chance of extending to a year) and a first interview for a job that sounded interesting and worthwhile to me. What is the old adage about "a bird in the hand"? After much prayer and consulting with my family I made the choice to let go of the bird in my hand, watching it fly away, and pursue this new bird.

After we briefly introduced ourselves, the interview started by her asking me to tell her three things that I knew about Allies, Inc. I talked about AllHomes, All In One Basket and Through Our Eyes, giving reasons why each one had significance for me. Through Our Eyes means a lot to me because my name, Genesius, is the patron saint of actors and musicians. I had been involved in theater for most of my teen and early adult life, striving to become a professional actor and singer. However, when I met my wife, I knew it would be difficult trying to support a family waiting for "my big break". Through Our Eyes "is a special needs awareness program for schools, businesses, social organizations and religious institutions...is made up of humorous and moving stories of how people with special needs see the world and are viewed by others...(the cast) help tell the important and entertaining story about acceptance and understanding."

I also shared that the Allies Commitment Statement represented the values of company that I would enjoy working for. "We, the employees of Allies will not allow the people we serve to remain in a house we would not choose ourselves, work at a job we would not choose for ourselves, or live a life we would not be willing to lead ourselves. If it is not good enough for us, then it is not good enough for the people we serve. This is our pledge to the people and the families we serve." I told her that throughout my professional career, as a manager and a leader, I have never given any of my team members a task that I had not done previously myself, or was not willing to assist them with side-by-side.

As the interview progressed I had several questions that I wanted to ask about Allies and the position. "What do you like about working here?" My interviewer shared more of the values I was looking for in an employer with the tail end of her answer giving me good chills. "...when I saw your resume, I knew I had to interview you. Not only do we live in the same town, but you have experience working in the shipping container industry (over a dozen years). One of our founders has had a dream about recycling old shipping containers into materials to build homes for the families we serve."

Needless to say, it was a very good interview, and I prayed there would be a second interview.

At my second interview I met the other members of the training team. This interview went very well, and again, there was the give and take with both sides asking and answering questions; discussing what they needed and how I could fulfill those needs. Later that day, I received a call offering me the training coordinator position. I was overjoyed; and am still dancing.

So "why the long story", you may ask? I want to illustrate some important points I used in my job search that you might want to use in yours.

1. Networking. It is very important to join different networking groups. Both to receive from and give support to other professionals, employed or in transition. Networking is a two-way street. Personally, the ETP Network (Empowering Today's Professionals) is a great network because of their methodology and their ethics.
   
2. KSA. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities as the government says. Perform an analysis on yourself. Know what you can do and what you want to do. Apply for positions where you are a 80% match or better to the requirements.
3. Avoid the Black Hole. Before submitting your resume online (black hole), find someone who works in the company, or knows someone within the company. Check for connections (advocates) in your professional and personal networks who are willing to vouch for your professional abilities and your personal character.
   
4. Contact. Whether or not you find advocates, you need to know where the company is located and their contact information. Go to Manta.com (or Hoovers, or any other company directory/database - there are many at your local library) to find contact information about the target company: contact name(s); phone number(s); email address(es).
5. Pick Up the Phone. Phone the company and speak to someone involved in the hiring process. Don't ask for the job, but rather share what they are looking for and how you fill those requirements. Then ask, "What should I do next?"
6. TARGETED RESUME! Ask yourself, "Would I hire a landscaper whose brochure only had examples of 30-room mansions on 50,000 acre properties, if I live in a small ranch-style home nestled on a 50' by 75' lot?"
7. Take a risk. The "bird hand rule" is usually the safe way to go. However, sometimes you have to take a risk, going into your prayer closet, asking for advice from those you trust, doing a gut check. "Get good advice and you will succeed; don't go charging into battle without a plan." Proverbs 20:18 GNB.
   
8. Homework. Research the company you are going to interview with. Be able to intelligently converse about what services they provide and who their customers are. Know what they do and what they want to do. Also know how you can help them achieve their goals.
   
9. Questions. Compose a list of questions to ask during the interview. I'm not talking about, "How much time off do I receive?"; "What are the benefits like?"; or "What is the dress code?" Ask questions that show the interviewer that you are genuinely interested in working for them. You can't ask those types of questions unless you ARE genuinely interested in working for them.
   

Thanks for understanding my LONG absence from my blog; as well as the length of this posting.

Thanks and God Bless,
Genesius - "I have a passion for helping others to learn."
www.linkedin.com/in/genesiusjaromsky
genesiusj.blogspot.com

"No one heals himself by wounding another." St. Ambrose 340-397 AD

Do You Feed Your Network Table Scraps?

I know it has been over a month since my last blog, but with job search and trying to find a good certificate program to gain web/e-learning skills, time is a precious commodity.

With this blog I would like your opinion. Are You Possessive with Your Job Leads?

I will be the first to admit that I don't forward every job lead that comes across my ears, my eyes, my screen, or my snail mailbox. Partly out of not enough time or laziness. Partly out of not having a legitimate connection within the target company that I can pass on along with the lead.

Anyone can pass on leads blindly to the various Yahoo, LinkedIn and other networking groups. We see this happening everyday on the Internet, within Twitter, Facebook, etc. Don't get me wrong. It is a benefit to everyone on the hunt, including me, that job leads are passing through the Internet. How many of us can view every single job posting site? Its impossible.

For me though, I try not to pass on a job lead if I don't have a connection. But that is not the subject of this blog.

The question is "Do you feed your network table scraps?" What I mean is, "Do you pass on leads that you are actively pursuing, or just the ones that either were not interested in you, or you were not interested in them?"


Recently, I read on one of my LinkedIn groups a discussion that was both interesting and, IMHO, a bit cold. The writer was commenting about how we need to share job leads. But then the writer said only those leads you are not interested in. *I am not singling out this person because that would not be proper network etiquette either. Every day this topic comes up in many networking groups.

At the Professional Services Group at New Brunswick's Dept of Workforce Development, I get some quizzical looks when I share that I pass leads on even if I am pursuing the same position. Why?

No one can argue the fact that there are more people looking for jobs than ever before. The candidate pool for any job is more experienced and diverse than has ever been in our lifetime. Because of this large pool of people to choose from companies are able to be more selective about who they hire. And they are willing to wait it, most of the time, to find that great employee.

I was recently submitted for a Technical Trainer position at CommVault over in Oceanport, New Jersey. This position has been open for more than 6 months. Companies want it all and are willing to wait it out.

Here's a scenario.
Suppose I am applying for a position as a Training and Development Specialist at XYZ Consulting. I am an excellent match for the position. I know that James, a close friend in my network is seeking a position as a Training and Development Specialist as well. I inform Jim about the position and tell me that he should apply. Jim is not competing against me on this job. XYZ is going to hire the BEST candidate. This not only includes skills and experience, but how Jim or I (or any of the other final candidates) will fit into the department, and within the company. And this "fit" includes one's personality, emotions, ethics, and the hiring manager anticipates they will be politically and socially within the organization. If I don't fit in with these intangibles, I am not receiving an offer whether Jim applies or not.

Potential Win-Win for me.
Let's say that Jim gets the job and I don't. It's a potential Win-Win for me. The next time a position opens up at XYZ Jim is going to being looking out for me. He will sing my praises to the hiring manager, and everyone else. I will have a very strong advocate/angel with XYZ Consulting. Also, there is the possibility that in future conversations Jim has with his new manager, he might tell them how I told him about the position. When the manager hears this they will recall my interview and think "Wow. Genesius was so unselfish that he shared a job lead with you, his competition. I should find some way to hire Genesius or create a position for him. I want that kind of integrity on my team."


Didn't you ever invite your friends in school to team tryouts knowing that there was only one spot open?

Yeah, I could be way off base, but "You never know."

Please let me know your opinion.

Do You Want to LinkUp?

Did you know when you submit your resume to the blackhole for a position you saw posted on a typical Internet job search board over 3,000 other people are submitting their resumes for that same position? Did you also know that when you submit your resume online it will most likely be scanned for keywords by a computer program before it ever is seen by an actual set of human eyes? Do you wish you could find jobs and send your resume directly to the employer and not have to go through the screening software used by recruiters?

First, I want to thank a good friend in my network for informing me about this website: Terrance Seamon. You can visit his blog at http://learningvoyager.blogspot.com/.

We all know about, or should know about, the two big aggregate job search engines on the Internet: indeed and SimplyHired. But there might be a new kid (at least to this blogger) on the block: LinkUp. And LinkUp might be the better of the three depending on what you are looking for. LinkUp positions itself as an aggregate that grabs postings from only the company websites – over 19,000. But I'll let the readers decide with the a sampling of results from each of the aggregators using the same criteria, which by the way, is my personal job search criteria while I am in transition.

A little research shows that LinkUp is registered through GoDaddy.com and might be housed out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Of course with the Internet, there doesn't need to a brick and mortar office with a web server being located anywhere.

When one looks at the site one has to wonder who LinkUp is trying to appear like. Anyone who has used indeed and SimplyHired can see the similarities between those two. However, I invite readers to comment on what major Internet branding LinkUp might be trying to connect up with.

Criteria used: 50 miles; training coordinator; employer websites only; last 7 days.

InDeed

If I had broadened my search to 100 miles, I would have found 41 jobs. Unfortunately, indeed is only aggregate job search engine that has a radius setting of "100 miles".

SimplyHired

LinkUp

There are some other interesting tools/functions that are available on LinkUp. There is a page where you can check out the Word Cloud. For those who don't know what that is (before this blog neither did I), a Word Cloud is…a tag cloud or word cloud (or weighted list in visual design) is a visual depiction of user-generated tags, or simply the word content of a site, used typically to describe the content of web sites. Tags are usually single words and are typically listed alphabetically, and the importance of a tag is shown with font size or color.^[1] Thus both finding a tag by alphabet and by popularity is possible. The tags are usually hyperlinks that lead to a collection of items that are associated with a tag. Click here to learn more about Word Clouds at Wikipedia.

The Word Cloud in LinkUp, http://www.linkup.com/job-cloud.php, lists a variety of different job categories. After clicking on a job category, the Word Cloud will be displayed. Here is the Word Cloud for…

LinkUp states that one can use these words for job search terms or those hard to find words for your resume. Personally, I think one should look for glossary sites related to their industry and bookmark them.

Because LinkUp posts only jobs from employer career websites you can start networking immediately. Then you can find advocates who can hand your resume to the hiring manager, and supporters who can help you gather intelligence in your target organizations.