Sell Yourself Like A Product

Good article and video about how to sell yourself like a product. Full article here

Interviewing for a job is in many ways comparable to a sales person making a sale. If you were a sales person and were about to sell a product to a customer you would do some homework or research so that you could convince your customers that your product was the best product on the market to fill their needs.

If you think of this scenario and apply it to the job interview process you will find that it is a powerful tool to use for your interview preparation. What do you have to offer (as a product), to the customer (the employer)? What do you have that will fill their needs (the requirements of the job)? What can you bring that is unique or added value to the position/company? (that sets you apart from the pack)?

Confessions of A Jobaholic

This can’t be that hard a task – finding a new job. I have experience. Knowledge. Some might even say there’s a charisma in the way I speak. Yep, okay. I’m articulate.  I play well with others in the class.

This won’t be difficult.

Monday 23: Log
Today I revised my CV. It was patchy in places and I wanted to make it concise. I altered it ever so slightly for the new career direction I’m considering. I used some example CVs on the net as a guide.

By the time I’d done this, and caught up on a few odd jobs that needed doing around the house (ignored due to the demands of my previous job), the day was over.

With my new CV complete, however, tomorrow I intend to blitzkrieg the job market. Job boards…here I come!

Tuesday 24: Log
I can’t believe how many opportunities the job scene holds. And people are saying there’s a recession!

Seriously, I sent my CV to at least 20 highly-suitable roles, and 30 or so roles more peripheral to my experience, yet still suitable for a person of my skills. Now, I guess I wait for a call from the recruiters…it should be a very busy few days. Made sure my mobile is fully charged.

Wednesday 25: Log
No calls from recruiters for interviews. Called a few recruiters directly, just to let me know I’m available. Unfortunately, they were all in meetings. I believe in persistence, however. I intend to call them frequently over the coming few days. They’ll see that I’m keen. They’ll believe in me, and they will take me on as a project. Of this I am certain.

While waiting for a call back, watched an episode of Dr Phil. What an interesting fellow.

Thursday 26: Log
Still no calls back from recruiters. Left a message with each of the main players in my industry.   While I was at it, thought I’d give some of the agents I posted my application with a call. Left a message where I could. One very promising lead: an application for a job. Secretary said he’d make sure the appropriate recruiter would return my call. Said I sound like an interesting candidate.

A hot, hot lead, I’d say. Better get as many episodes of Dr Phil in as I can. I’ll be back in the game by next week. Of this I am certain.

Friday 27: Log
Applied for a position as a traffic controller for the local council. While this is not at all related to my area of expertise – IT – I figured it would be good to hedge my bets. Just in case. No one called today. I guess this is a Friday thing.

Ate three packets of chips and watched ten episodes of Dr Phil in a row.

(One month has passed for our hero…)

Log
I forget what bloody day it is. Time gets hazy when you’ve nothing to do. Dole forms were processed today. My wife says I have put on “at least” 15 kilos.

Not one recruiter has returned my calls.

Dr Phil is a farkwit.  Of this I am certain.

* This story is based on a fictional character and no recruiters were hurt during the making of this story.

Friday Funny Job Interview

CareerOne Delivers Christmas Price Rise

Any shenanigans reminding me (even remotely) of our elected w*nkers in Canberra leaves me with a taste in my mouth akin to the tempting flavors of a post-NYE binge.

So you’ll have to excuse me for a moment, while I go rinse, ‘cos CareerOne have been up to some no good that should set the folks there up for fabulous post-corporate careers in gummintal politics.

In true, “kick ‘em while they’re down” form, while recruiters (whose nuts and ovaries are already slightly shriveled due to the impending gloom bought on by lower rates of employment blah blah) folks at C1 got together under the mistletoe and, in between kissing each others’ asses, decided some price hikes were in order.

Merry Bloody Ho Ho.

And if this isn’t bad enough, those that they decided to hit the hardest, were the recruiters on smaller packages.  Folks on a 20-ads a month package will now pay a whopping 32% more than they did pre-Festivus.  What are larger recruiters on 50-ads-a month paying extra?  Not a penny.

There’s equity for ya.

A comparable 20-ads package on Seek is now 35% less expensive than the CareerOne option.  Tell me again why I should shift my business to the distant second-placer in the job board egg and spoon?

Funny – Employer and Employee

Are you a shareholder?

Oh groovy baby… yeah…

Seek had better be prepared for some hefty competition. Groovy Jobs is on the scene, man. (Hang ten, dude, I just need to readjust my bandana. Okay, there, that’s better. Bloody thing gets uncomfortable after a while).

Groovy Jobs’ point-of-difference is made clear in their press release: candidates are important (der), so don’t advertise with us unless your job is creatively remunerated, described in terms of it being exciting, challenging and offering a variety of experiences, and set in “an environment where the employee actually looks forward to getting out of bed in the morning.” These criteria, according to Groovy Jobs, are what differentiate a “groovy” job from one that is…”square”? Man. I’m running out of cliched fifties vernacular to whack in here, so I’ll cut to the chase.

Firstly, this is obviously nothing more than a marketing ploy. How the heck are Groovy Jobs really going to monitor a company’s level of groove? And if they’re not going to monitor it, isn’t this simply about companies being required to present a role in terms that it may not be able to fulfill in reality? Isn’t that misleading? And not everyone wants a job that is groovy. And what of the companies that can’t find their groove? What about the ones who are on the dance floor, trying really hard to find the beat, but becoming more and more out of time with each step? Are these nerds of the job market less worthy in terms of their ability to make employees content at work? Moreover, some folks like consistency, solidness. Some people want to be remunerated in terms of cash, and are less interested in so-called “benefits”.

Call me square, but when I look for a job, I want to see that the environment is safe and professional, the company is established and growing, and that there may be a real possibility of growing with it. And I’d prefer not to advertise on a job board that is forcing me to put more time and energy into meeting its requirements for grooviness, and therefore fewer resources into getting acquainted with the right candidate for the position.

I’ll leave you with these thoughts. My kids are laughing at the stupid bandana on my head, and frankly, flares never suited me anyhow. Peace. Man.

Space Farming?

First LinkMe tested the waters by advertising their internal vacancies on Seek. These ads were swiftly removed by the latter.

Now this job listing on MyCareer (one of forty-four).

What’s interesting about this listing is that – Apply Now – the company placing this job on MyCareer on behalf of their client is a job board also.  See about us>

The official line is that job boards don’t allow other job boards to advertise on them. Why would a company facilitate the operation of its competitor?  Probably more to the point, however, why would Apply Now want to support its competition by giving it business?

Here’s an even stickier point.  While the principles of certain terms of business within the realm of the internet have yet to be precisely defined, it’s arguable that this sort of corporate behavior could be catagorised as Space Farming.

Fairfax has a clear policy on this subject.

* Third Party Advertising: Fairfax will not, under any circumstances, accept third-party advertising (also known as “space farming”) in any advertisement, including inserts, tip-ons, or other forms of separate publications inserted into or attached for distribution into the publication

Is Fairfax permitting this sort of on-selling of its advertising space? (Apply Now rates here)

The ‘Apply Now’ button links directly out to Apply Now’s external application form. Surely an employee at MyCareer had to notice something was smelly when they set this external apply link up??

Or with the cost cutting going on at Fairfax they might be grabbing any advertising dollars that come along…

MyCareer The Head Hunter

I reported on the Jobfox and MyCareer technology deal back in early January.

At the recent Australian Talent Conference, the fruits of this partnership were revealed. MyCareer is set to launch a new product called Head Hunter. Here’s how it works:

Candidates complete an online interview that captures skills, desires and competencies. Head Hunter then matches these with available jobs. Employers can access the information and rate the matching candidates. They then get a shortlist of candidates for a particular role.
By MyCareer’s own admission, resume databases just don’t work (Taken from MyCareer’s presentation at the Australian Talent Conference, 2008).

And as I see it, there ain’t much difference between the Head Hunter concept and a resume database. The only difference is that, provided the technology being used is adequately assessing the suitability of candidates (and I am skeptical about this. It’s really difficult to design valid questionnaires for testing skills etc. and the whole idea of such flimsy concepts being reliant on the self-reporting of candidates makes me cringe), as a recruiter I get the most suitable candidates in my Head Hunter backend, rather than a bunch who I have to sort through.

Frankly, with the ‘manageable’ number of apps. I get from MyCareer (usually about 3 per job), sorting through the applicants is not really a big deal. Why would I want to pay for the service.

This brings me to wondering about the strategy behind the introduction of Head Hunter. Was it to provide a service to recruiters? I doubt it, recruiters aren’t too interested in being cut out of the recruiting process in this way, and paying extra for it.

Was it to cut out the role of the recruiter and offer a method of recruiting for employers? If yes, PageUp People already does this.

When a company devises a strategy for a new product, it needs to have some area of the market that it plugs; it needs to give it something that it’s longed for – or that you can convince it it longs for.

This ones just all flailing around with its arms in the air like it’s lost out at sea – and there’s no life jacket anywhere close by.