Part 23 (1/2)

Take advantage of the fact that people are trained to look for and read the P.S. in a letter. You will gain an immediate advantage over ordinary job seekers.

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A WAR STORY.

Mark J. Haluska

In November 2008 I received a phone call from Anthony, who is at the Director Level in the fast-food (QSR) industry. He asked if he could send me his resume. I said, ”sure.” The resume was like 99 percent of all the resumes I get. BORING!

It just so happened that the timing could not have been better because I just received a heads-up from an industry insider regarding a restaurant organization that is well funded and has an aggressive growth plan of becoming a $100 million dollar company within the next 2 to 3 years. I was told they needed someone at the Director or VP level that could lead the operations side of the company.

As a favor to Anthony, but more realistically in my own $elf $erving interests, I asked if I could help him do an Extreme Guerrilla Resume. He had no idea what that was, but he said, ”Sure, you're the expert.” Under my guidance, within 2 days we had the perfect marketing piece.

Now, I've never met, much less ever had spoken to, the CFO or the COO of the company, but with a little networking and research I did obtain their e-mail addresses. Uninvited, I sent both the COO and the CFO Anthony's Extreme Guerrilla Resume. I did blind his contact information to ensure the company had to call me if there was an interest.

Two days later a call comes into my office from the CFO of that company. She introduced herself, and said, ”How soon can we see this candidate?” I asked her what she liked about Anthony's credentials and she replied, ”the company officers looked at his (Extreme Guerrilla) resume and were simply blown away!” The later a call comes into my office from the CFO of that company. She introduced herself, and said, ”How soon can we see this candidate?” I asked her what she liked about Anthony's credentials and she replied, ”the company officers looked at his (Extreme Guerrilla) resume and were simply blown away!” The first first Guerrilla Lesson here is that Anthony's resume looked like everyone else's. Although he is impressive in every respect, his resume certainly did not reflect it and it certainly did not scream, ”Hire ME!” The Guerrilla Lesson here is that Anthony's resume looked like everyone else's. Although he is impressive in every respect, his resume certainly did not reflect it and it certainly did not scream, ”Hire ME!” The second second lesson is that Anthony was also doing what everyone else does. He was going directly to HR rather than to decision makers. No wonder he had yet to get any interviews! lesson is that Anthony was also doing what everyone else does. He was going directly to HR rather than to decision makers. No wonder he had yet to get any interviews!

We broke all the so-called ” ”rules” and within 1 week of my first contact with Tony, and within 1 week of my first contact with Tony, he was invited to interview with this company that neither of us had ever spoken with, and as I write, these talk's are ongoing between Tony and the company. he was invited to interview with this company that neither of us had ever spoken with, and as I write, these talk's are ongoing between Tony and the company.

Contributed by Mark J. Haluska, founder and executive director, Real Time NetWork, /in/Mark J.Haluska. J.Haluska.

Chapter 6.

Twenty-First Century Digital Weapons

If You Build It, They Will Come for You ...

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

-RALPH WALDO EMERSON

So, your resume is done. Your cover letter is complete and you're feeling pretty good about yourself. Any employer that reads it will immediately know that you've got the right stuff. Great! Now what? Resumes, cover letters, and job boards are pa.s.sive tools for job hunting and require your continuous involvement.

The million-dollar question is, How How can you make employers knock on your door and ask you to interview for a job? How can you make it easier for employers to find you? can you make employers knock on your door and ask you to interview for a job? How can you make it easier for employers to find you?

British battlefield strategist Liddell Hart summed it up years ago when he coined the term the indirect approach. indirect approach. It means you don't keep banging headfirst into the problem-that just makes it worse. Attacking the trenches head-on in World War I is a tragic example of the direct approach. Instead, you do something surprising that maneuvers around the blockage. In World War II, the n.a.z.i army used an indirect approach when it attacked through the supposedly impa.s.sable Ardennes Forest and swept around the Maginot Line behind the French Army. Today, going around human resources (HR) and straight to the hiring managers also requires an indirect approach using the Web. It means you don't keep banging headfirst into the problem-that just makes it worse. Attacking the trenches head-on in World War I is a tragic example of the direct approach. Instead, you do something surprising that maneuvers around the blockage. In World War II, the n.a.z.i army used an indirect approach when it attacked through the supposedly impa.s.sable Ardennes Forest and swept around the Maginot Line behind the French Army. Today, going around human resources (HR) and straight to the hiring managers also requires an indirect approach using the Web.

DIGITAL BREAD CRUMBS: THE MAGIC OF SEARCH ENGINE TECHNOLOGY

How do you apply the indirect approach to job hunting? You start by leveraging the changes in candidate recruiting to your benefit, and make it easier for people to find you. Reading the following brief history on the evolution of Internet recruiting will be worth your while.

Despite the softening of the economy in 2009, many employers reported they were finding it harder to find the right candidates. Many people reasoned-and the billion-dollar staffing industry heavily promoted the idea-that the best candidates were already employed. Right or wrong, pa.s.sive job candidates became the most prized by employers. As profit margins were squeezed and sales dropped, the ”war for talent” quickly morphed into the ”war for the best talent.” Search engines and social media sites became the vehicle of choice for finding pa.s.sive candidates.

Today, you are far more likely to be Googled by a recruiter than found on a job board. That, or recruiters will track you down through Facebook, Mys.p.a.ce, or LinkedIn. Keyword searches in ”communities of interest” have replaced the tedious telephone spadework that recruiters have long used.