Sex and Your Job Search 2013: A Guide to Scoring Your Dream Job (14 page)

PART 1

Give a brief overview of who you are, with a hook that keeps them on the phone. For example, this is what I would say if I was applying for a recruiter job:

“Mr. John Public? My name is Dominic Bokich and we belong to the same professional HR society. I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time for some career guidance.”

Or:

“Ms. Jane Public? Good day, my name is Dominic Bokich and we have an acquaintance (LinkedIn counts)/school/pastime in common. I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time for some career advice.”

If your contact suggests that it is a bad time, quickly ask
when
would be a better time to call back.

PART 2

In the next thirty to forty-five seconds, you want to describe yourself professionally. Kinda like speed dating, but on the phone. Think back to when you completed the DO IT exercise for your resume in Chapter 5 and you wrote several sentences about your professional skills, experience, and job duties. Take these sentences and tailor them to the specific organization you are targeting. Practice saying them out loud to make them sound more conversational. For example, this is what I would say:

“I’m a recruiter with eleven years of experience recruiting and interviewing for one of the largest university medical centers in the U.S.”

If time allows, drop in one or two more bullet points:

“I helped reduce turnover from 25% to 10% in a department, saving our company over $150,000 in turnover and replacement costs over a one-year period. I was commended by our CEO for the job I did. I also received two near-perfect evaluations in the past two years.”

Say just enough so that your contact wants to hear more and starts to ask questions about what
you
can do for
them
. Then you can start talking about your favorite person: you!

PART 3

This brings you to your primary goal: asking for an interview.

“The purpose of this call is that I am looking for a new opportunity, and from what I know about your mission and values, I feel that I would be a good organizational fit. Are the skills and abilities that I mentioned what you are looking for in your recruiters?”

Ending with a question will continue the dialogue and will make your contact think about what you said. Give them a few seconds to respond because they are comparing what you said to their needs and to their own experience in the firm. If the moment seems right, throw in facts that you have learned by researching the company and the news section of the website. As the conversation continues, show interest in what they and their company do.

Also, you can add your observations about the industry. For example:

“My last project involved being in charge of rolling out a behavioral and values based interview program for our medical center and children’s hospital. Have you noticed how most employers ask mainly behavioral based questions these days?”

If time allows and the conversation is flowing, ask them how they got to where they are today. I like when people ask me this question even though I know what they are doing. People
love
talking about themselves.

Other topics of conversation include dialoguing about their customers and how you can relate to them. Discuss your experience and how this fits into their organizational needs. This works for
every
level of position. For example, this is what I would have said after my junior year of high school:

“I’ve worked at a fast-food restaurant for the past year. I became an expert at doing all the jobs no one else wanted. I can clean deep fryers in record time and I worked the second register during peak periods. We were robbed once, so now I am looking for an opportunity to work in a safer environment where I can continue to grow.”

Now it’s time to close. Ask for the interview.

“My schedule will allow me to be off of work next Wednesday. Can we meet around nine or ten in the morning for five minutes? Which would work best for you?” If they deflect, tell them, “I will make time to meet with you whenever you are available. I know you are busy and inundated with calls from job seekers and headhunters. I’d love to hand-deliver a portfolio with letters of recommendation and a sample project.”

When you offer to be transparent with your portfolio, including letters of recommendation and a sample project, and you reiterate your desire to work at
their
company, don’t be surprised to hear, “Ok… let’s meet. Here’s what works for me.” Hiring managers and HR reps love like-minded people that are an easy fit within the organization.

A COUPLE POINTERS FOR MAKING CONTACT

When you are asked questions, feel free to clarify specifics as they relate to job requirements and experience before answering. For example, if you are on the phone and you are asked how much experience you have, respond by saying, “Can you tell me what the main job duties for this position are?” If you feel you are short on experience, reassure them that you can handle all aspects of the job and point out how quickly you have progressed in responsibility at your current employer because you are a quick learner. If you are short on education, show your willingness to go back to school or take related classes.

Try not to memorize. Don’t limit yourself to your script. Know that what you say will vary from the script depending on the person’s response and questions. Ask questions at the end of your answers that revolve around the job description and duties.

Generally, you will not be asked about money at this point, unless you’ve disclosed a very high previous salary. If you are asked about money, the best response is to offer a range. You can get a good idea of a probable salary range from Salary.com, where you can enter a job title and zip code to help your search. This website is teamed with Monster.com and suggests jobs based on the results and location of your search. When you respond to the money question, simply say, “Optimistically between these two amounts. I’m looking for a chance to contribute, and if you do make me an offer, I’m sure that it will be fair.”

If you encounter objections during the conversation, respond kindly and address the concern. If they defer you to someone else, ask for the new person’s name, title, and contact information and write it down.

If you are turned down when asking for an interview or a meet and greet, inquire when would be a better time to follow up with them in the future. Other job-search books recommend a very aggressive approach when asking for an interview or responding to objections. They suggest very wordy responses about making contributions to alleviate stress factors and demanding a time when the contact is the least busy to call back. I strongly disagree with this tactic and have discussed it with numerous recruiters in my field. We all
hate
pushy people. Schmucky people. “Salesy” people.

There is a fine line between pushy and trying to make a sale.
Being too aggressive crosses that line and starts to piss people off.
Then they write down your name and put you on the naughty list. There are a million legitimate reasons why someone cannot meet with you or help you. Some of which are out of their control. Please listen to what they say. If they tell you to call back in a month because there is no chance your desired position will be filled in that time, please accept that as fact. Calling them every other day during that time frame will get on their last [bleeping] nerve and will not help you get the job.

Finish your conversation by confirming the address to send the hard copy of your portfolio to (which is where you will drop it off in person if you can). Ask if there is anyone else you can talk to about your desired position at their company. Thank them for their time and consideration. Please
do not
forget
to send a handwritten thank you note
that
day.

Now, if your contact directs you to HR, that can be a good thing! HR may know of other openings in the company that may fit your qualifications.

It’s important to note that you can benefit by calling people higher up in the company. Here’s why. If you speak to an administrative assistant in a higher-up’s office, get their name and use it when contacting someone else in the company. For example: “Joe Public’s office recommended that I contact you regarding employment.” Whenever someone name-drops an administrator’s name with me, my first thought is, “Oh crap, what kind of trouble will I get in if this person really knows someone higher up in the organization and I don’t respond?” Then I will totally hear out your pitch.

One last very important thing: You gotta be a playa, even if this is not your natural tendency. You have to keep your options open. You have to tell the person you are communicating with that they are
the one
. That they are special. That their company is different. Then you have to tell this to your second, third, fourth, and fifth choices. It’s how the game is played.

The moment you tell an HR rep that they are not your first choice or that you only want to work for them for one year before going to law school or taking a year off for a sabatical, they will try to find the quickest way to get you off the phone or out of their office. Don’t tell them they are wasting their time. If you land a job with your third choice and prove yourself, chances are that opportunities will open up at your first and second choices down the road due to your stellar reputation.

VOICEMAILS

Most HR reps are bad at returning phone calls from job applicants. Sorry, it’s the truth.

The reason I don’t return all phone calls is high call volume. I am personally responsible for reviewing approximately six to ten thousand applications and resumes a year. With around 260 working days in a year and on average five to twenty phone calls a day from job applicants alone, that would average several hours of phone calls a day. I can’t do it. I don’t have the time. I have interviews, seventy managers with open positions calling me for advice, and internal employee problems to deal with. The calls I return are those from applicants I am initially very interested in. Going back to the hot model analogy, sometimes when trying to date a hot model you need to understand that they have lots of other things going on. Likewise, HR reps will call you back if and when they want you. And if you are persistent within accepted practices. But for the calls I don’t return, I do make a note of who they are, and I will check on their resume and/or online job application.

Another thing to consider is that you can’t sweet-talk a hiring manager or HR rep into a job, but you can talk them into an interview. When you call, they go straight to your resume or online application. Again, the first thing they look at is job stability, and if the job application or resume is tailored to
them
and
their
company. A lack of effort gets you bounced. If you are a new grad, they also look at how active you were outside of your schoolwork: class projects, club membership, class officer, sports, and working while going to school.

Please don’t lie. For your sake. Over the past ten years, I’ve had a number of people call me and say that a hiring manager called them for an interview but they “forgot” their name. In reality, I had rejected their application for spelling errors or for some other reason. The application had never made it to the hiring department. I don’t know who gave them advice to say this, but it’s garbage.

So, how do you get a call back after leaving a voicemail? By getting to the point quickly. Remember the thirty-second introduction you scripted for a live person? That works perfectly for a voicemail. If someone referred you, mention their name. It gives you extra attention, because the HR rep does not want to get into trouble for not responding to a referral from a current employee or higher-up.

Some career books suggest that you play coy and say, “Please give me a call back. I may have something you want to talk about.” No one has time for games! It’s 2012, not 1985. Present the facts quickly, and the HR rep will decide if they want to call you back.

And try to smile over the phone. Pretend you are looking at me directly in the eyes and that we are connecting on the deepest level. It will come through in your voice. You know how Tyra Banks recommends that the models on
America’s Next Top Model
should “smize” (smile with their eyes)? I want you to “smoice.” Smile with your voice. It will make a difference.

Also, one call and voicemail every three to four weeks is appropriate. Please do not call the next day angry that you did not get a call back. When this happens to me, I think of Kevin Nealon in
Happy Gilmore
when he says, “Psych-o.” Or better yet, remember in
Swingers
when that guy calls that girl and leaves twenty voicemails in a row. She finally picks up and tells him to never ever call again. HR reps and hiring managers will respond to you the same way if you leave twenty voicemails. Or three in three consecutive days, which has happened several times to me. The only exceptions may be for sales positions. Do some research on what the standards are for calling back in sales positions in your desired industry and use the same frequency and manner for your calls.

GOOD VOICEMAILS

Both of my parents have strong European accents. I was sooooo embarrassed as a kid when they would leave messages, because they would spell out our last name very slowly. They would spell out Bokich like this:

“B as in boy. O as in ocean. K as in king. I as in India...”

You get the picture. But now I see their genius. They were immigrants and wanted to make it easy for the other person to identify them.