Ready to Ramp Up Your Job Search? Try Informational Interviews!

Informational interviews.  I’m sure that many of you just made that inward “ick” sound when reading those two words.  It conjures up feelings o f having to uncomfortably call people on the phone or ask them in person essentially if you can pick their brains useful information to help your career, and probably not help them in return.

Yeah–”ick”.

But, that’s just how you feel.  That’s not necessarily, 100% how the person on the other end of the phone is going to feel when you call them and ask them for their expertise.  I’m guessing that they’d feel kind of flattered.  Here’s you, nervous, unsure, curious and anxious, calling them—and perceiving them as confident, knowledgeable and helpful.  See where the natural opportunity for flattery comes in?

However, you still need to handle it like a pro.  Used effectively, these interviews can be the quickest way to jump-start your career.  But you need to do ‘em right.

Informational interviews are a chance for you to sit down with someone (either in-person or over the phone) and learn about their job, their industry or their career and specifically how it relates to your experiences.  You want to get information from them that will enable you to take the next step.

First—the Ask.  The one thing that does go through your perspective informational interviewee’s mind (notice how in this case YOU’RE the interviewER?  Cool huh?)  is that you’ll take up too much time.  So when you ask them for an appointment—give them a time frame.  Be realistic, but don’t expect to have their attention all night.  A “brief” interview is defined as 15 to 30 minutes.  The most you want to commit them to is 45 minutes to an hour—and you’d better spring for a meal or coffee.  The ask should go something like this:

“Hi, I’m Barbie Mayham, and I was referred to you by Tom Jones who said you would be a great resource of information for helping me get into the Marketing field.  Do you have a few minutes to chat?”

“I just graduated from college with a degree in marketing, but I’m not sure what field I’m specifically interested in, though at this point I think I’d like to eventually be the person creating the ads.  I did a little of that in college and am interested in learning more about what it would be like to create ads for an advertising campaign.  If it’s possible, I’d like to setup a time for us to talk—about 30 to 45 minutes if you can fit it in your schedule.  I’d be happy to meet at that new diner down the street and buy you breakfast or lunch for so generously taking the time to meet with me.  Do you have any time available next week?”

Work with their schedule and be as flexible as possible.  If they sound like they can’t commit to that long, then punt and ask if you can have a brief—15 to 20 minute phone conversation instead.  In some cases, that still may not fit into their schedule—and that’s OK.  It does not mean that you’re a bad person, or that nobody likes you, or that the fates are against you. Thank them for their time, and move onto another prospect.

Second, if they say yes, then your next step is to come up with a list of questions to ask.  Brainstorm with a friend to make sure you cover everything you need to know.  The last thing you want to do is leave the meeting and think of some additional questions on the way home that you REALLY need the answer to.  It’s fine to bring the questions to the interview.  You should get their permission to transcribe their answers as best you can during the meeting, or better yet, to bring a mini tape recorder.

Stick to the time frame that you agreed upon in your phone call.  If it is approaching, or is a little over the agreed-upon time, stop the interview, and let them know that if they need to go, it’s fine with you, you do not want to keep them longer than planned. In most cases unless they have a pressing appointment, they will keep talking to you.

Your questions should relate to ways that your experience and interests would fit into their career or industry.  How they got into the industry, and what they feel it takes to become successful.  You can of course ask other questions, but those are good ones to start off with or weave throughout the interview.

You may not like their answers.  This can happen.  The thing to remember is that it’s just one person’s opinion based on their experiences.  Sometimes you’ll be able to ask someone else to get a different viewpoint, in other cases you won’t.  Go with what your instincts tell you about the advice they give you.

Third, thank them profusely at the end for their help, and ask them if there’s anyway that you can help them in their business.  If you didn’t meet face-to-face, then it’s nice to send a follow-up gift of an online gift certificate to Amazon.com, or a tin of cookies to show your appreciation for their time.  As the saying goes—it will be like a cat finding a mouse in a bowlful of milk—completely unexpected, but much appreciated.

Have a great week!

Want to Fix Your Job Search? Get A Handle On The Jobs You Apply For

I got this piece of advice from a CPA client of mine, and I was reminded of the simplicity of the statement.

How many times have you made a choice based on your impressions or hunches, or instincts, when if you laid out the cold, hard facts about your job search (or situation) for that matter, the data would tell a different story?

So here’s what I propose you do. Right now. Because you—and I—know that if you put it off and tell yourself that you’ll get to it later (or don’t even take the time to write it on your to-do list) you won’t.

1. For EVERY job you apply for, from this point forward, copy and paste the job description into a separate document so you have it at your fingertips. ALWAYS! Don’t count on it still being posted if the company calls you for a phone interview. The job descriptions are your key to understanding exactly what the company wants, and provide you the fodder you need to discuss in a job interview.
2. Once you have a collection of those positions—say 5-10, print them out, or somehow organize them on your computer so you can really read all of them and look for trends. You might even end up putting them into different physical piles based on job titles. Applying for jobs one at a time doesn’t give you a chance to see common trends nor the unique qualities some jobs are looking for over others. Looking at the big picture lets you formulate a strategy and see how your resume may or may not be matching what they want.
3. Now customize a few resume “templates” to match these jobs.

Taking this systematic, focused approach can really let you get a handle on what’s going on in your search and with the jobs you’re looking at.

Yes, it is a pain to customize your resume for every job—but when I was a hiring manger, I just wanted to look at resumes for people who matched what I was looking for. What’s happening now is that everyone is applying for any job that they’re remotely interested in—with one generic resume. Hiring managers are left scratching their head over the resume wondering what about this person’s background makes them think they’re qualified for the job?

Customizing the resume well demonstrates a deliberate, focused candidate who clearly understands the qualities of the position and how they fit into the role. You can’t fix it if you can’t see the big picture and how you need to modify your approach to fit better into it.

The Fine Art of Following Up Without Stalking

Either you’re calling to entice them to dig your resume out of the pile, or you’re checking in after a great interview. Either way, you want them to DO SOMETHING. Here’s how to make that happen.

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is an HR Director at a large company.   I like to keep in touch with her to get the other side of the story about how candidates are coming across in their job searches and some of the latest tactics that work for her, and those that don’t.

She was telling me about an out of work friend who, after submitting her resume, was calling the hiring manager daily to inquire about the status. “After about three days of seeing the same number come up on caller ID I’m sure that hiring manager won’t be calling her back, regardless of how qualified she is. Who wants to hire a stalker?” my friend commented. And sadly, it’s true. Just like that guy or gal who calls you incessantly after having a great date, or a salesperson you briefly talked to in a store. You might have been interested in them, or working with them at the time, but too much, is still, too much.

So what should you do? Send your resume, and if you have the contact info (and the ad does not specifically say “Do not call.”), you can place a brief, friendly follow-up call the following week to touch base and let them know you’re a real person who didn’t just hit the Submit key on Monster.com.

In order to get them to dig you out of the pile, you need to tell them one or two unique aspects about you that relate to the job that will entice them to find you. The goal being to make their lives easier–they don’t have to interview everyone when they can bring you in right now.

If you have made it to the interview stage, you have earned a little more leeway. First, you should NEVER, EVER leave an interview without asking-”What are the next steps?” or “What is your timeline for filling this position?” You can even ask “I’d love to follow-up with you, what works better for you, a call or an email, say, next week? I don’t want to turn into a stalker. ” (insert casual laugh here) There you have it-you just got their timing, showed you were interested, and saved yourself a stress-ridden week of worrying about the position.

After you’ve made that initial post-interview follow-up call, don’t revert to your former stalker ways and leave a voicemail every day, but it is OK to check in with them, either by phone or email every week and a half to two weeks. You can simply remind them of your interest in the position, or better yet, include a link to a relevant article about something happening in the industry is completely appropriate.