Looking for a job is tough even when times are good. In a deteriorating economy it provides new challenges. But, then it also provides you new ways to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd. As a career coach I repeatedly encounter some behaviors that get in the way of clients being seen favorably by those who encounter them. Here, I am not talking about your job knowledge or your ability to overcome adverse chemistry with the hiring manager, but I am talking about many simple things that can make you stand out from the crowd. Here is a list:

1. Always write a great cover letter in response to all “A” jobs that you want to pursue.
2. Send your response in the required manner (Website, email, or whatever they have stated in the job posting) and, in addition, send it by some differentiated way to the hiring manager (US Mail, FedEx). You can even have it forwarded to the hiring manager internally through someone you know.
3. Follow-up after a week and remind the hiring manager of the way you had delivered the response (“My package had a picture of the Statue of Liberty on top”). It is a memory jogger!
4. When you send an email (to anyone) make sure that you completely identify yourself. It is best to have your complete name, email address in parenthesis next to your name, phone number, and even a clever tagline that defines you! This way if the recipient wants to call you right after they get your email they can simply pick up the phone and contact you. Even as a career coach I get over 300-plus emails every day. The ones I respond immediately are the ones with all these parameters I just listed. Others, I wait until I have time to look up who they are and their contact information. Hiring managers receive much more traffic because their regular job is not just to hire people! Make it easy for them to contact you
5. Make sure that you have a personal greeting on your voice mail. Most have their mobile devices as their primary contact point. Most of these devices, too, come with a generic greeting identifying just the telephone number and nothing else, in a robot-like voice. Take the time to record your own personal greeting in your own voice and completely identify yourself. I cannot even tell you how many times when I call a telephone number that I get this generic greeting, leaving me to wonder if reached the right person or I simply misdialed. Not doing this makes you look lazy; not a good thing!
6. When you have the first phone (or subsequent) interview try using the land line. Mobile connections are notoriously unreliable and you may lose key parts of your conversation with the interviewer. Even portable or cordless phones are not a good choice because they are noisy and can dropout when the power is out.
7. Always send a thank you note after each interview (even phone). The note should also have some additional points about the interview to fortify your position.
8. For important interviews send thank you notes by Mail. This is so rare that people will remember you, just for that!
9. Do not leave an interview without knowing what the next steps are and holding that person accountable. “So, if I do not hear from you on Monday, I plan to call you on Tuesday. What is a good time?”
10. Be positive, enthusiastic, and cheerful during each encounter. Even on the phone it is easy to “read” a person’s mood on the other end.

It is not that difficult to incorporate all of these habits into your life! Try them all and see how much difference it makes in how people respond to you!

Good luck!

The other day, an up-and-coming executive client was interested in getting into a growing company that has made a big name in the Valley and that had an open position that he was very interested in. I also had a senior executive at this company who has been my client and who was willing to help him navigate through the “entrance gate.” So, after I made the email introduction to them, I was hoping that the right things would transpire.

Well, they did not!

Without looking up the senior executive’s background, my client, who was in transition, sent him a short email asking him to look up both his LinkedIn Profile and the job that was open (of several) at his company, hoping to get a favorable response through this action. I was, of course, not aware of this and was quite surprised—and annoyed—when the senior executive suggested to me that my other client needed to be coached on how to handle such requests gracefully.

That got me thinking: How many times prospecting clients blow their introductions because they do not follow the most well-understood introduction etiquette, and not even know that they blew it; big time!

This etiquette requires that the person seeking a favor look up the contact and assess the tone in which he must handle the request, and all subsequent communication.  Showing proper respect and consideration, the supplicant must show enough care so that they ingratiate themselves with the contact to help them get what they are seeking, making them feel good for having done a beneficial deed. This is the social lubricant that keeps the moving parts moving without squeaks. Doing so reflects well on the person who made the initial introduction in the first place, too!

In this specific instance, my client in transition should have been graceful in his initial contact and should have shown adequate respect for the inside contact to get what he wanted. Such opportunities are often a gateway into your personality and in how you handle matters that deal with building and sustaining important relationships. Consistent with this behavior was that the client whom I introduced did not even send me note of thanks for making this introduction!  That is the last time I am going to introduce him to anyone else, unless he takes the coaching I gave him after this incident to heart!

So, those engaged in businesses that rely on introductions to other people to pursue their cause, please be mindful that, often, it is you that are making it easy for others to reject you!

It is better to sleep on things beforehand than to lie awake about them

afterwards. -Baltasar Gracian, philosopher and writer (1601-1658)

As a career coach I routinely work with clients to make their resumes more presentable. In the process I am often surprised by the number of clients who want to misstate facts or who want to present an outright lie.

Having worked with over 3,500 clients I can say with some experience that those who are tempted to misstate facts are tempted by their desire to match what the job descriptions asks for that they cannot provide. Most common temptations are previous job titles, accomplishments, and oh, the mother of them all, college degrees!

What most do not realize is that checking facts is easy in this Googlized world! Also, people you do not even suspect as possibly fact providers can be working at your prospect employer and they can quickly spot a phony. What most do not realize is that telling truth in ways that serves a situation is far more valuable to you than lying about it in ways that can be a gottcha later! Despite this, nearly 40% of applicants lie on their resumes. And, this goes all the way up to the CEO resumes. Who can forget how Radio Shack had to fire its CEO a few years back because he had lied on his resume. Stories of high-level cheats abound in the corporate world!

It is much easier to state the facts and get in for an interview than to spend sleepless nights wondering about when you are going to get caught in your new job for having lied on your resume, as the quote at the head of this blog admonishes.

In one case, a client of mine brought me a job opening at a major defense contractor. The job required a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and at least 10 years’ experience. My client had a stellar record in all the areas that they had listed in the job description, except that he only had the Master’s degree (from Stanford!). So, he sheepishly told me that he was going to put that he had a Ph.D. from Stanford and send his response, despite my admonition that such things could be easily checked.

He came back the next day and agreed that it would be wrong to do this and that if he were caught (I guaranteed it!) that would be a black mark against him or worse! So, he asked how he could get through the computerized screening process without meeting the job requirements. I suggested to him that the computer was going to look for a “Ph.D. in the resume under “Education,” so why not state the degree he already had and write “no Ph.D.” He liked the idea and we submitted his response with the truthful resume and a cover letter that highlighted why he would be a great candidate!

Viola!

He got a call for a telephone interview and soon he was invited to a round of interviews. Not once was he asked about his not having a Ph.D. during the interviews. He ended up not getting the job, not because he was not qualified, but because he was not able to qualify for the rigors of the screening process for his security clearance, which this job required.

The moral of the story: Avoid any lies on your resume. It is easy to catch them. Instead, tell the truth in ways that positions you favorably and sleep well at night!