Tuesday, September 8, 2009

[CNG] Digest Number 1744

Messages In This Digest (2 Messages)

1.: New opportunities - starting with Labor Day From: Alex Freund

2.: ARTICLE: The First 5 Minutes. How To Kick-Off A Successful Intervie From: Ann Bergquist

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1.: New opportunities - starting with Labor Day

Posted by: "Alex Freund" alex@landingexpert.com freundalex

Mon Sep 7, 2009 8:00 am (PDT)

Today is Labor Day,.. and how appropriate that The New York Times publishes
an apropos article. Here is a part of it but if you want to read it in its
entirety open the following link;
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/07worker.html?pagewanted=2
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/07worker.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&th&emc
=th> &_r=1&th&emc=th

What prompted me to promulgate this article is the fact that it highlights
failures and negativity. This is PRECISELY what people DO NOT need
nowadays! (But unfortunately this is what sells papers). What people
in-transition need is encouragement, opportunities, venues for hope and
success stories. People learn from other's success - not failures.

As pointed out in this article some people are forced confronting the
reality that they will not be able to find a job - at least not in this
disastrous job market. I am talking to lots of people during the week and
I started telling them that they need to overcome their barriers by opening
up to an alternate plan. This is very difficult to do. When we look every
morning in the mirror we see what we are. We see an accountant, a manager,
an IT professional and so on. In some situations attaining another position
in that field is impossible because of the unprecedented competition. Look
into another field where your skills, talents, enthusiasm and desire lie.
Impossible you say. Not so! I went through this myself and could not be
happier with the change and outcome. Just allow yourself to look in the
mirror and see a different professional - a very successful one with lots of
opportunities and hope.

Alex

Out of Work, Too Down to Search On, and Uncounted

Steve Hebert for The New York Times

"You send out so much, and you don't get responses. Then when you get called
in, you're treated like you're too old." RAY RUCKER, a 62-year-old former
facilities manager from Overland Park, Kan. More
<http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/07/us/0907WORKERS_index.html>
Photos >

By MICHAEL LUO
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/michael_luo/in
dex.html?inline=nyt-per>

Published: September 7, 2009

They were left out of the latest unemployment rate, as they are every month:
millions of hidden casualties of the Great Recession who are not counted in
the rate because they have stopped looking for work.

"There are thousands of people applying for every job I'm looking at." RICK
ALEXANDER, a master carpenter living in Florida More
<http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/07/us/0907WORKERS_index.html>
Photos >

But that does not mean these discouraged Americans do not want to be
employed. As interviews with several of them demonstrate, many desperately
long for a job, but their inability to find one has made them perhaps the
ultimate embodiment of pessimism as this recession
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/r/recession_an
d_depression/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> wears on.

Some have halted their job searches out of sheer frustration. Others have
decided it makes more sense to become stay-at-home fathers or mothers, or to
go back to school, until the job market improves. Still others have chosen
to retire for now and have begun collecting Social Security
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/social_secur
ity_us/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> or disability benefits, for which
claims have surged.

Rick Alexander, a master carpenter in Florida who has given up searching
after months of effort, said the disappointment eventually became
unbearable.

"When you were in high school and kept asking the head cheerleader out for a
date and she kept saying no, at some point you stopped asking her," he said.
"It becomes a 'why bother?' scenario."

The official jobless rate, which garners the bulk of attention from
politicians and the public, was reported on Friday to have risen to 9.7
<http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf> percent in August. But to
be included in that measure, which is calculated by the Bureau of Labor
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/bureau_
of_labor_statistics/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Statistics from a monthly
nationwide survey, a worker must have actively looked for a job at some
point in the preceding four weeks.

For an increasing number of people in this country who would prefer to be
working, that is not the case.

It is difficult to assign an exact figure, because of limitations in the
data collected by the bureau, but various measures that capture
discouragement have swelled in this recession.

In the most direct measure of job market hopelessness, the bureau has a
narrow definition of a group it classifies as "discouraged
<http://www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm#discouraged> workers." These
are people who have looked for work at some point in the past year but have
not looked in the last four weeks because they believe that no jobs are
available or that they would not qualify, among other reasons. In August,
there were roughly 758,000 discouraged workers nationally, compared with
349,000 in November 2007, the month before the recession officially began.

The bureau also has a broader category of jobless it calls "marginally
attached to the labor force," which includes discouraged workers as well as
those who have stopped looking because of other reasons, like school, family
responsibilities or health issues. But economists agree that many of these
workers probably would have found a way to work in a good economy.

There were roughly 2.3 million people in this group in August, up from 1.4
million in November 2007. If the unemployment rate were expanded to include
all marginally attached workers, it would have been 11 percent in August.

But even this figure is probably an undercount of the extent of the jobless
problem in this country. There are about 1.4 million more people who are not
<http://www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm#nlf> in the labor force than
when the recession began. Some of these are retirees, stay-at-home parents,
people on disability and students. But it is also rather likely that many of
these people have given up looking for work at least partly because of
economic reasons as well.

Here are four people's stories:

Rick Alexander: A Builder by Trade, With Too Much Time

In the worst case, Rick Alexander figured, he could scrounge up a job at
Home Depot.

He was a master carpenter, after all. He had skills. He had run his own
successful home-restoration business for 28 years.

In early 2008, however, he moved to Florida to take care of his ailing
parents, leaving his business in Connecticut to his daughter.

After helping his parents into an assisted-living facility, he began
applying for jobs. He devoted eight hours a day to the task, sometimes
sending out three or four applications a day.

"It was a full-time job," he said.

At first, he focused on jobs in construction, applying to be a site
supervisor. He looked for anything within an hour's commute of where he was
living in Jensen Beach.

But the real estate industry had fallen off precipitously, bringing building
to a near standstill. Mr. Alexander, 58, began branching out to suppliers,
applying at lumberyards and other wholesalers. Eventually, he expanded his
search to Home Depot, Lowe's and mom-and-pop hardware stores. Finally, he
began applying for "everything under the sun," even the overnight shift at
convenience stores.

By that summer, he had still received no callbacks for interviews. He went
back to Connecticut for several weeks to do a renovation for an old client
to earn some cash. When he returned to Florida in August 2008, he tried to
start his own business, selling advertising on video displays mounted in
coffee shops and other places.

He networked furiously with local businesses, but by then the economy had
nose-dived. Mr. Alexander said he grossed a total of $150. He sank into a
funk and stopped looking.

Alex Freund
(609) 333-8866
<blocked::mailto:alex@landingexpert.com> alex@landingexpert.com
http:// <blocked::http://www.landingexpert.com/> www.landingexpert.com
<blocked::http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfreund>
http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfreund

Alex Freund
(609) 333-8866
<blocked::mailto:alex@landingexpert.com> alex@landingexpert.com
http:// <blocked::http://www.landingexpert.com/> www.landingexpert.com
<blocked::http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfreund>
http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfreund

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2.: ARTICLE: The First 5 Minutes. How To Kick-Off A Successful Intervie

Posted by: "Ann Bergquist" annber55@yahoo.com annber55

Mon Sep 7, 2009 3:40 pm (PDT)

From Spin Strategy [http://blog.spinstrategy.com].
Links included (and other links inside; see comments):
     The 5 Keys To Successful Information Interviews
     How to Prepare For A Successful Interview
     Quick Tip - Don't meander in job interviews

July 08, 2009

The First 5 Minutes. How To Kick-Off A Successful Interview

I'll be honest. I can tell pretty quick whether you are likely a good fit
for a job.
And I can tell in the first 5 minutes.

If that sounds unfair, wrong or short-sighted then you need to remember
that we are all human. And that we all react very quickly to a variety of
stimuli. Many of them are ones that we cannot even identify. Just a feeling but
one that stays with you all the way to the group meeting where the
candidate's fate is decided.

So even if I am not consciously aware of all the stimuli, I will tell you
that there are things that I am conscious of and do look for in the first 5
minutes. You know what they say about a good first impression, right?

So, whether this is exactly right or not, here's the truth from my
viewpoint. As an interviewer over twenty years and as a job seeker on the other
side of the desk.

1st MINUTE

Your approach is important. The way you walk and carry yourself. The way
you communicate with whoever is guiding you to my office matters. I am
looking for confident but not full of yourself. Friendly but not too
comfortable. If you are tentative on the way in, that's a problem. It's important
that you act as if you deserve to be there.

Look nice. No frayed shirts. No twisted neck ties. Shine your shoes.
New, clean coat. Should be obvious. Be hydrated. Dry mouth helps no one.
The presentation of you as a candidate starts with how prepared you look.
How you speak.

Your handshake says something. We all know this, right? So why are there
so many bad handshakes? A confident, inviting smile tells me you are
relaxed. That helps everyone else relax. Immediate and consistent eye contact.
Introduce yourself to me. Now I know how to pronounce your name and you
get a chance to say it with pride. It tells me you are engaged and ready.
You are not sweating or breathing hard. It says you got there early and
had plenty of time to check in and rest your legs.

2nd MINUTE

Say "thank you" for the opportunity and grab a seat once I do. Thank you?
Sure, why not? I had a lot of people to choose from in that stack of
resumes. Oh, and everybody likes to hear it. Tell me something that lets me
know this is an important interview and that you are excited for the
opportunity. Not desperate. Appreciative.

Engage in a little light banter before my questions begin. Have a few
intro questions to lighten the moment. Allows me to see you as a possible
co-worker vs. someone with whom I am jousting.

Appear comfortable. Be interested in me and in the company from the
start. And also? Provide long or short answers to each question, as appropriate.
Open ended questions are asked to elicit a deeper, more detailed
response. Have one ready. Closed ended questions are asked to get specific
details. Be ready with those, too.

3rd MINUTE

Keep eye contact. Have good posture. Says you haven't relaxed or become
complacent. When in doubt, provide a shorter answer. This allows you to
hit with your best points. Allowing me a follow-on as necessary. Meandering
or long answers early in the interview says that you are winging it. Or
that you aren't sure what I was asking. So you provide the whole truth. And
then some.

Ask me to clarify a question. Ask me if an answer was satisfactory. It
says, early on, that you care that I am getting the right information. And
it will guide you as well.

4th MINUTE

Include key "leave behind" points in your answers. Start doing so in your
response to an open ended question that gets to career summary ("Tell me
about yourself"). Guide me back to successes, traits or key
accomplishments. These allow me to envision your repeating those someday on my team.

Be real. Be honest. Give me the sense that you are the real person I am
interviewing. Not someone who is trying desperately to fit a certain
stereotype. If you get a question that forces you to admit a lack of perfect fit,
admit it and move on. Don't create a new past for yourself.

5th MINUTE

Look for an opportunity to ask a follow-on question. Keeps interview
conversational. Like the beginning of a solid and trusting partnership.
Inquire about my challenges, team objectives and goals for the next few years.
While I may not leave you an obvious hole in my questioning, look to ask one
at the end of an answer to a prior question. Understand my situation and
you can better position yourself to be part of the solution.

Be interesting. Make key points by inflection and emphasis. Displays
focus, understanding and passion. In short, give me solid indications that
you are someone with whom I should spend the entire 45-60 minutes. Make me
want to get deep into your background. Tease me with an interesting story
of how you creatively solved a big problem. Paint me a bright picture and
get me involved. Engaged in what happened and the role you played.

Establish yourself not just as a pursuer but also as the pursued. I
expect to be interviewed as well. Early and throughout. You are not taking over
the interview, but rather looking for openings to gain the information you
need to make a separate and independent decision about whether the company
is right for you.

So . . .

Your first five minutes should read like the back cover of a good spy
novel. Convince me there is a great story with you. That you are a great
character. Well developed, interesting and driven to have a big impact. One
that compels me to dig deep and read on. But don't wait too long to begin
sharing some of those juicy details. Show me your best traits early and keep
the measurable examples coming.

I've got a business to run and grow. And I need someone's help to do it.

Make those first 5 minutes count.

ALSO, READ THESE RELATED POSTS:

_The 5 Keys To Successful Information Interviews_
(http://blog.spinstrategy.com/2009/06/the-5-keys-to-successful-informational-interviews.html)

http://tinyurl.com/mwgcdn

_How to Prepare For A Successful Interview. Take A Sipâ„¢._
(http://blog.spinstrategy.com/2009/05/best-job-interview-preparation-tool.html)

http://tinyurl.com/qqr8pg

_Quick Tip - Don't meander in job interviews_
(http://blog.spinstrategy.com/2009/03/quick-tip-dont-meander-in-job-interviews.html)

http://tinyurl.com/nbewov

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