Thursday, January 31, 2008

Long Distance Job Hunting: Not For the Faint of Heart

More people are looking for jobs away from their home territories in order to defeat regional issues that make it difficult to find work near home. They hope that their next employer will provide benefits that make it easy to move (some do; many don't), but forget that long distance job hunting is extremely difficult.

Here's why.

1. You are at a major competitive disadvantage with local talent. Local job hunters can come to interviews tomorrow or the next day. You may have to take a day off from work, drive 250 miles for the meeting, stay overnight, interview and return home. You may have to book a flight (at their expense, you are costing them money; at your expense, to get cheaper rates, you may need a few days to get a reasonably priced air fare).

2. Firms worry about you adjusting after the move. Even if you are 22 and living with a roommate, employers wonder about how you're going to find an apartment or new home, move your things and be able to perform given the stress of the move.

3. You cost an employer more. Look at these costs--flights, meals, hotels, a car to take you o their offices and to and from the airport, relocation, temporary living, travel to a second and perhaps third interview. Some firms don't want to bother, especially during slow economic times.

Ideally you don't want to be planning a move "under the gun" of needing a job. Hopefully, a move is a planned event in your life.

To help defray some of the costs and make more opportunities available to you with firms that do not pay interview and relocation expenses consider these alternatives:

a. Accumulate frequent flyer points and use them for interviews.

b. Group your interviews so that you can do several on your trip

c. Find a friend or family member with whom you can stay when interviewing

d. Make sure your wife, husband, partner and kids are OK with moving BEFORE you begin interviewing

If you are out of work, or if you making an interview trip as part of a job search, the more you can do while on a trip, the better (for you),

If firms in your new market don't usually pay interview or relocation expenses, the more you can do to erase their apprehension of hiring someone who is not local to them, the better off you will be,

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

He is the author of “Get Yourself Hired NOW! The Big Game Hunter’s Guide to Head Hunting Your Next Job and Every Job After That” (in ebook and audio formats) and “Get Your Job Search Organized NOW!” (ebook) Both are available at www.getyourselfhiredNOW.com

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

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Monday, January 28, 2008

A Creative Idea for Marketing Skills

Time Magazine carried a story a few years ago about an unusual auction on eBay.

"Team of 16 employees from major ISP willing to leave as a group," the posting read. "Total minimum bid would be $3,140,000."

Although the team did not sell, it does open the idea into your mind that in certain areas and with certain skills it might be possible to market group of skills collectively and get a number of people hired.

For example:

Complete trading team (this is pretty common)
Entire sales department
7 Accountants
6 architects
5 engineers
4 systems administrators
3 French hens
2 turtle doves

And a partridge . . .

Joking aside, why not market a group as a package?

If you are laid off, why not ask your former employer to create a website, complete with domain name registration, web design and the like for everyone affected to have their resume available for search?


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

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Priorities

A new client contacted me about a consulting assignment that they needed filled.

I found someone who fit their requirements called and left a message with the wife who told me that he would call back after taking their child to school/

No problem.

Three hours later, I called again and spoke with him, reviewed his experience, discovered he was out of work for 8 months (red flag) but decided to go ahead with trying to arrange an interview for him.

The client liked his background and I called him to alert him to the probability of receiving a call from them late that afternoon.

"But I'm grouting the floor!"

"Sir, you;v been out of work for 8 months, are not close to landing a new job, I waited three hours for a return phone call and never received one, despite your wife's promise that I would receive one about a half hour later. Now you have an interview and you tell me you would rather grout your floor? Help me undertsand this."

He hung up and I was glad. A colleague called him back in an hour and gthe man described me in unkind terms for having pointed out how inconsistent his behavior was (I want a job, I won't call you back; I won't interview at the time I told you I could interview in our first conversation because I would rather grout the floor). I was thankful for not having my time wasted any more.


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

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Everyone Should Know You're Looking

I sat with John Sampson last week for an hour and talked with him about the importance of networking. If you don't know John, he is a technology manager in New Jersey who rums a large networking group called MIS Network Associates as an act of giving back (I know, I suggested ways he could make it more profitable and he rebuffed the ideas, saying it was an act of love for all the help he has received.

Beyond helping people develop their elevator pitch (you know, the 30 second commercial about your work), John encourages members to tell everyone that they are looking for work and what kind of job they do.

Can your wife explain what you do in 30 seconds or less? Make sure they can!
Blogger: Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter's Job Hunting Advice - Create Post
He told a wonderful story about how one of his members has being pushed by their cleaning person for a resume. Eventually, the man's wife told him, "Give her the resume so I can get her off my back!"

It seems that the woman's husband managed a function at a large employer in the area and hired him for a terrific job.

Have you told your mechanic, doctor, hairdresser, accountant, lawyer, best friend, pastor, rabbi, monk, priest, nun, shoemaker, former boss (gasping for air) that you're looking for a job?

Tell everyone and tell them what you do!


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

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Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Top Six Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Search: #2

#2: Circumventing Your Recruiter to Do Your Own Negotiating

Too often people subscribe to the thinking that trusting a recruiter during financial discussions costs them money. In fact, not listening to their recruiter will cost you everything.

You see, a recruiter is having conversations with their corporate client (in my thinking, the real client since they are the ones who are paying them) and have access to their tyhinking.

Sometimes this will come across in how they "manage you" into accepting a particular salary or package.

Read between the lines in what you are being told. After all, recruiters, whether retained or contingency are paid for success and failure does not help them achieve their fee (or the balance of their fee if they are retained) and additional business.

So, often they are sending messages to you about what their client is thinking.

Contacting a firm behind their back, attempting to negotiate a salary different than what you are telling them hurts you, not them. After all, the recruiter is the trusted party by the client, not you and they will thow you under the bus and align themselves with their client's interests at that moment to preserve the relationship rather than defend you, despite what you may think.

A friend with another search firm told me a story recently about an applicant who she was representing who after two interviews decided they wanted another $20,000 more than what they had expressed to the recruiter and to the firm directly. The reasons are unimportant; the reaction is.

The client was bewildered; they asked the recruiter about the candidate and their thinking; the recruiter was dumbfounded by being blindsided, pointed out that this was the first she had heard of the applicant changing their thinking, and calmly accepted the rejection of this candidate by the client.

If you have issues with the salary that is being discussed or might be proposed, talk to your recruiter.

They may not be able to get any more because, after all, budgets are fixed for particular jobs.

But if they can, they will. Why, because it is their interest to. After all, recruiters are paid a percentage of your compensation. The more you make, the more they make. But they make nothing unless the negotiation is successful AND they come out with less than what they started with if, in fact, you embarrass them and they defend you without being prepared to do so.

Avoid this tactic unless you believe that scorched earth is the best environment to start a relationship.


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

Plus

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Top 6 Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Job Search: #1

Having been in the search profession for more than 30 years, I have seen a lot of ridiculous things that people do that subvert their efforts.

Yet there are six things that I believe do so much harm that I can't sit still any more and allow you to make these mistakes any more. Time will be too short for many of you and even in markets that will not suffer the effects of a slow down, correcting these mistakes is critical to making sure that you don't lose opportunities that you really want.

This is the first in a series of articles designed to help you avoid many of the mistakes people make when they look for work. I am not presenting them in any particular order.

#1 Way People Sabotage Their Job Search: Flipping Resumes to Job Ads Like They Were Flipping Hamburgers in the Kitchen of a Fast Food Restaurant.

Think of that image for a moment. A fry chef kid at a fast food restaurant is preparing orders for lots of people. Lots and lots of people. He or she has to turn them over and is flipping so many of them.

Well people keep submitting the same resume to job after job as though the job requirements in every position they are applying for are identical. They do nothing to emphasize particular skills that the employer might care about. They just keep sending out the same resume again and again without tweaking it.

The broken watch is right twice a day and sending the same resume again and again will get some interviews but miss far more.

Don't you really want the interview when you send the resume? If you do, tweak your resume to make it obvious that you fit the ojb, instead of just sending the same resume again and again.


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

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Friday, January 18, 2008

Be Conscious When The Phone Rings

I was calling a job hunter this week for a relationship manager role (with this client, it is a sales role for farming existing clients for new business) with a client. I introduced myself, confirmed that it was a convenient time (it was).

I described the job I was recruiting for to which he had forwarded his resume and started to ask a few warm up questions like "Why are you trying to make a change" and "Tell me about the work you've been doing," when I had to stop and ask myself, "Did I wake this man because he is dead and its almost noon."

His voice showed no life; he answered questions sloppily.

I asked him point blank whether I had interrupted him from something else (it wouldn't be the first time I interrupted someone doing some "personal" [wink. wink}).

"No, I've been up for hours, he told me.

I paused and decided to be helpful, explaining how I was disappointed in his presentation; that for someone with his experience I was expecting a lot more of him than what he gave me.

Then he said those immortal words, "Well, you're only the recruiter," and explained that he didn't think he had to sell to me.

So, in a polite manner, I explained that I was there to evaluate and assess people for my client and not "flip resumes like the staff does with burgers at a fast restaurant." I wished him well and left.

So, the moral to this story is take no one for granted when you are looking for work. Although I believe that many skilled professionals will be safe during the 2007-2008 recession (yes, I believe it has already started), many people won't be and shouldn't cavalierly come to interviews unprepared.

Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

Plus

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Monday, January 07, 2008

Text Messaging: The New Tool in Job Hunting

Many of us have been brought up to believe that testing is for kids. That email and cell phones are far better ways to communicate.

But if you work in an environment where you can't take calls (others are close by, you work on a trading floor, to name two reasons) and people need to convey info to you quickly, what can you do other than demand they call you off hours (I'm not the only person with a family in the search profession; plus how many corporate people are going to call you at 8PM)?

Get a text messaging plan for your cell phone and let people know on your resume that they can text you (next to your cell number, xxx-xxx-xxxx cell/text).

In this way, you can get critical information that can't wait for you to get to your personal email account outside the office or to a private place to make a call. You can handle everything via text easily.

Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

Plus

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Saturday, January 05, 2008

Don't Just Answer Ads and Network

Most people make the mistake of conducting a job search just like people did in the 70's--they answer ads in the newspapers or online and wait for th phone to ring.

Others think that they are doing a good thing by networking. Networking is a terrific way to use your relationships in order to make contacts that leads to work. (By the way, if you want to network with my 1300+ contacts on LinkedIn, send me an invitation through their system. My public page is http://www.linkedin.com/in/thebiggamehunter (Please note I do not connect with third party recruiters).

The third way to find work is using a two pronged approach--find a company that has a need and then either network to the person or people who are charged with fixing the problem or use Jigsaw to find the person or someone near the person who you can contact.

Jigsaw is an online directory of business contacts; they have a pay service where you are charged $25 at registration, receive 25 contacts and get access to 25 contacts and can purchase more as needed' they have a free service where you get 25 contacts but also commit to adding 25 names and contacts per month or else you are charged $25.

However you do it, adding the effort to contacting companies with needs to your repertoire will widen the scope of your search quite a bit.


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

Plus

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January Isn't Just For Resolutions

Every January, people sit down and resolve to lose weight, save money, stop smoking and a host of other things.

For years, I have suggested that people use the start of the new year to take a career and job inventory, something that will be far more likely to be useful than the well intentioned resolutions that will be forgone by the second week.

What are your career goals?

Are you still pointed in the right direction?

How is your job helping you on the path to achieving them?

Are you reading about your company in the newspaper for growth or struggle?

How does your salary match up with the job market for what you do? Is the difference worth sacrificing (sometimes it is)?

What do you need to learn in order to advance yourself? Should you go back for another degree or will a different type of training be sufficient (and cost thousands less).

Write down your accomplishments for the past year. These will be particularly helpful at review time. As a matter of fact, if you can do this at least every six months or, better yet, every three months, you will have the best information imaginable when you are reviewed by your boss.

Making a regular habit of professional critiquing will help you waste less time on doing things that are not useful for you professionally and keep you pointed in the right one.


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

Plus

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