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Deb Koen discusses the difference between having a strong work
ethic and being a workaholic: "A strong work ethic, which
demonstrates commitment and flexibility, is expected and desirable.
Workaholism, characterized by excess and obsession, overtakes a
person's life and negatively affects functioning in other
areas."
Following are some warning signs that you are erring on
the wrong side:
- You are always preoccupied with work, even when you are outside
of the office.
- You maintain constant connection with your office (e-mail,
cell, blackberry).
- You don't take full advantage of your vacation time.
- You jeopardize your health due to your unhealthy
lifestyle.
- You are missing on the moments that make life memorable.
For Workaholics, Valuing All of Life Is the Challenge, Democrat
& Chronicle
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I’ve written before that your
job
search
is really a marketing campaign, designed
to identify, qualify and contact prospects (companies you want to
work for), meet decision makers (people who can hire you) and sell
them (convince them to hire you).
Today I’m going to … write about that topic again. Because
there’s an almost limitless number of marketing ideas you can
“steal” and adapt to your job search.
Here are four …
1) Write Sales Letters, Not Cover Letters
Why imitate the same dull-as-dishwater cover letters most job
seekers send out?
To write a better cover letter, emulate the best sales
letters. After all, you’re trying to sell an employer on the idea
of hiring you, right?
You can Google “writing sales letters” or visit your library
to learn how, but here’s a quick list of the essential elements in
every sales letter:
- Personalized opening. Example: “Dear Mr. Jackson.” Never, ever
write: “Dear Sir or Madam.”
- Reader-focused. All good sales letters are written about “you,”
the reader, and not, “I,” the author. If you change all instances
of “I” to “you” in your cover letter, you’ll instantly make it more
interesting and effective.
- Prove your claims with specific facts, numbers and dollars.
Self-explanatory.
- Ask for the sale. Example: “Please call me today to learn how I
can save you $42,000 or more as a customer service manager.” Or,
say you’ll follow up your
cover
letter
with a phone call -- just make sure that
you do!
2) Treat Your Voicemails as Radio Spots
Here’s a great marketing idea I got from Internet radio host and
producer, Martin Wales. It’s this -- think of your voicemail
messages as 30-second radio commercials. That means you should
script and rehearse every voicemail you leave for employers.
While other job seekers leave rambling, unplanned,
unprofessional messages, you’ll give employers one more reason to
hire you. How simple is that?
Try to leave tantalizing messages that practically force
hiring
managers
to call you back. Example: “Hi, this is
Steve Jones. I just wanted to make sure you received the resume and
cover letter I emailed you on Monday for your
accounting
position
. I thought you might want to discuss the
part where I saved $27,000 last year for a firm just like yours. If
so, please give me a call at 702-555-1212. Thank you!”
3) Networking a Little Better Can Mean a Lot
According to the book, “1001 Ways to Market Your Services,” a study
by Stanford University showed that a small increase in the size of
your network can greatly increase your odds of reaching the right
person.
How much? Just a 10% increase in the number of high-quality
contacts can double your results, according to the study.
What does this mean for your job search? If you’ve been
networking and not connecting with decision makers who can hire
you, try to add just 10% more qualified people to your network. You
can do this!
4) “Sell” to Past “Customers”
Most businesses spend most of their marketing efforts attracting
new buyers … while neglecting past customers who already know and
trust them, and would likely buy again -- if only they were
asked.
Similarly, most job seekers get so caught up in looking for
positions at new employers that they neglect the co-workers and
managers who already know and trust them.
Are you committing this same boo-boo? If so, here’s how to fix
it and produce more job leads.
Make a list of every co-worker and manager you have ever had,
going back to high school. Now, cross off the ones you can’t stand.
Then, call or email each of the remaining people to let them know
about your job search. If somebody has moved on to a new company,
rejoice! You can not only contact them at their new employer, you
can also introduce yourself to their replacement at the old
employer -- turning one contact into two.
You should be able to pick and use at least one of these marketing
ideas for your job search, starting today. Why not start now?
Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and creator of
GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search assistance
to more than 10,000 people. Author of "51 Ways to
Find
a
Job
Fast -- Guaranteed," Kevin has been
interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and
others. His latest product, The Instant Job Search System, is
available at
www.gresumes.com/instant
.
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Networking is often perceived as exchanging business cards,
yet it means much more than that. We each have our own way to
network, that mostly fits our personality. This article
relates the situation of a woman who used networking to help her
keep a positive attitude.
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Sarah E. Needleman from CareerJournal.com relates some tactics
used by job seekers in order to fool text-searching programs used
by employers to screen resumes. Amongst those tactics are
using white type on a white background or using type so small that
it looks like a horizontal line, all with the intention of
targeting specific keywords.
Regrettably for those "smarties," technological advancement
also means more elaborate computer programs that can point out such
uses.
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Forbes has an article on stress in the workplace, including a
slideshow of the 10 best workplace stress relievers.
To see the slideshow, please click
here.
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Add elangbiru as a contact
career employment job resume search
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