By Larry Goldsmith, CWDP, P.E.T.

Job seekers should consider enrolling in Theater 101.  Exploring the mechanics of how to create a scene for a stage play offers unexpected rewards in upgrading your job search skills. What is a stage play but a series of activities design to engage an audience.  The audience is not told the outcome of a scene.  They are subject to storytelling through the use of staged activities. A successful playwright leaves the audience to think about the outcome and its implications and consequences.  An effective playwright uses actors to illustrate a storyline in the anticipation that the audience will leave the theater with an affirmative experience. 

Just like the audience leaving a theater, it is hoped too by the job seeker that the employer will have a positive experience from the job search encounter as well.  What if you approached your job search from the perspective of a playwright?   Every activity (telephone call, a networking event or an interview) is approached as a scene in a stage play.  Think of each of these scenes with their own beginning and ending. 

Job search is not “improv”.    Start by preparing a script on making a cold call to a potential employer.  Most importantly, your central point, is remaining true to yourself, your capabilities and future potential.  Your purpose is to prepare and present your case.   Think what are you trying to accomplish?    

1. Write a general scenario. [Illustrate your purpose through a picture created with words.]
2. Prepare a script [Define the call in your own words.  Compare and contrast available alternatives.]
3. Visualize the essential elements of your scene set [desk, mirror, résumé, script]
4. Create a storyboard like in a cartoon script [sketch your movements]
5. Work your script [Define call in your own words / Compare and contrast available alternatives.]
6. Walk through your script for wording [Verbalize the scene to develop your rhythm, intonation  and choice of words.]
7. Block your scene [Blocking is your play by play.] 
8. Rehearse your scene until you feel comfortable.

Perhaps the most exciting component of writing your scene will be that the actual telephone call or networking experience is not a surprise. You will find by working on staging your search interactions with employers that you are more in control over your job search.  You’ve already had the rehearsal dinner.  You worked out your kinks.  You have a script.  You know want is coming.  You analyzed assumptions and have alternative solutions to their responses.  You are prepared.

By Larry Goldsmith, CWDP, P.E.T.

In the context of job search, networking is the process of communication that consists of using contacts and relationships (oftentimes a third party) to gain access to decision makers in the hiring process.

Historically, in the job search preparation stage, job seekers have been instructed to create and rehearse a brief networking (elevator) speech.  The original label of elevator speech comes from the situation when a salesperson is in an elevator, and low and behold who walks in but the purchasing agent they have been trying to make contact with for the past couple of weeks.  The salesperson has no more than 30 seconds to speak up before the door reopens and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity steps off the elevator.

While, a prepared elevator speech is essential to clear and effective networking; you are not always in an elevator, so think backwards.  It is not about you.  Give attention to the broader issue of networking.  The first obstacle you must overcome is to actually gain the other party’s attention.  Sales professionals will tell you that you cannot make a sale until you know the barriers you face.   The elevator speech that you have worked so diligently on is actually your number two speech.

An elevator speech is show and tell.  Your number one goal is not to show and tell.  If you don’t know what to show and tell, your elevator speech will not be effective.  This initial contact is the time for asking questions and active listening.  Your goal is to get the employer to commit to something or give you an angle about themselves or their organization.  Start with targeted questions.  In the course of this conversation your questions should be directed to identifying the type of employee the company is interested in, the skills and personality or behavior traits they seek and even the barriers or challenges the company faces that may be their Achilles heel.  Only when you have this information can you offer an effective elevator speech.   You have turned the table and given them something to talk about that is of interest to them and you have earned their attention.

Start thinking backwards today.  Create two networking (elevator) speeches.  The first is to open the door.  The second is to sell your talents.

NETWORKING ELEVATOR SPEECH WORKSHEET

By Larry Goldsmith, CWDP, P.E.T.

[This week's lecture was Interviewing.  Students were instructed to respond to their most difficult interview question.  I share this encounter because it reflects the plight of many a job seeker.]

I think my most difficult interview question will be….

How will an employer recognize your value if you cannot?  Your key to achieving interviewing success is to identify what you offer an employer and be able to match or connect those values conclusively to the position you seek.  In short, it is not always the candidate with the best talent that is selected but rather the individual that communicates their skills the most effectively.

By Larry Goldsmith, CWDP, P.E.T.

It is Spring Break and Larry’s on the move.  This time we have a double plan.   The first plan is that you will find me speaking in Plant City, Florida offering tips on  Effective Job Search Strategies, (Bruton Memorial Library Presentation).  Plan two is that I am in Plant City, Florida during its annual Strawberry Festival and you know what I will be doing.  Just how much time I will have to slurp up a strawberry shake and chuck down a huge slice of strawberry pie with lots of real whip cream will be questionable.  Because in hindsight it may appear that I am going for a new Guinness Record.

In just one hour you will learn how to job search from the employer’s perspective—a job search which identifies an employer’s needs and how to fill those needs.  You will understand the cycle of a job search and how to Stage a Self-Directed Outcome-Based Job Search.  My message is straight-forth.  A job search is more than a résumé.  If you leave your job search to chance, you will end up with someone else’s dream.

Attendees will discover how to:

• Identify the best ways to job search
• Write an attention-getting resume
• Interview with impact and authority
• Answers to the most difficult interview questions
• Design and implement a strategic job search plan.

…and even if you do not have a sweet tooth I hope you find time to join us, if you are in the area.

By Larry Goldsmith, CWDP, P.E.T.

Those of us that watch Law and Order (or CSI) know that it is the felon’s DNA that quite often leads to their being caught.   It is this DNA that has lead to the downfall of more than one careless felon. Do you know that each of us has a makeup of personality preferences which make up our own learning styles just as each of have our own DNA genetic identification?  Even if your personality DNA is not as exacting as your hereditary DNA, it this personality preference or behavior that is guiding your job search.

Knowing the manner in which you take in information allows you to move through your job search by applying the most effective search strategies.   Grasping the underlying significance of preferred learning style and adding this information to your job search preparation gives you an additional edge for achieving a healthy exchange of knowledge with potential employers.  Haven’t you ever walked out of an interview and said, “That is the worst interview experience I ever had.” Could you have really meant this?  “That Human Resource Manager’s interview style sure didn’t match with my learning style”

Oftentimes your failure in an interview might be just that you are not communicating correctly.  You may be the perfect candidate.  Your skills are an absolutely match.  What you haven’t brought into the equation is that they did not understand you because your delivery, and how they receive your message, was a mismatch.  The key to your job search might be no more than paying attention to the interviewer’s learning style and to adjust your method of delivery in such a way a connection is made between both of you.   Just as one resume does not fit every job it is also true that the same method of communication with each employer does not fit precisely either.

Probably the most recognized personality assessment tool for addressing personality preferences and learning styles is the Myers Briggs assessment instrument.  This assessment tool follows the psychological type theory of Psychoanalyst Carl Jung (1875 – 1961).  It categorizes people in one of sixteen fixed personality types.  Job seekers taking this personality assessment are assigned a specific label. The great challenge with this assessment is people become affixed with this label and don’t focus further on the interpretation of the label.

Another personality assessment tool is called Personal Empowerment through Type.  (I am a certified P.E.T. Facilitator)  This assessment tool too is based on the psychological type theory of Psychoanalyst Carl Jung.  This instrument does not assign a specific label but instead becomes part of an ongoing process of personal empowerment.  Personal empowerment is about becoming self-empowered through increased awareness of self and others. The P.E.T. instrument becomes a self-guiding progression leading toward heightens understanding of learning style.  P.E.T. allows you to become aware of how your personality preferences influences your decision-making.

It is only by understanding ourselves and others can we empower our success.  When you play into the learning styles of the employers’ DNA by adjusting your style, you will reap the rewards of a successful search.

By Larry Goldsmith, CWDP, P.E.T.

1)The purpose of a résumé is to secure an interview.

2)Use a profile summary to highlight your strengths at the very beginning of the résumé.

3)Brevity is a desirable trait in a résumé. One to two page résumés are preferable.

4)Sell yourself. Create a good first impression by highlighting skills and abilities appropriate to the position.

5)Use “active” language. Articu­late marketable skills acquired through your previous positions.

6)Be consistent. Choose a pattern of spacing, format of high­lighting and an order of information presented.

7)Present information in reverse chronological order.

8)You are not texting your friends. Use proper grammar & spelling.

9)Make sure your résumé is neat and visually appealing.

10)Make your résumé unique. High­light special relevant accomplishments, exper­iences and skills.

11)If you have more education than work experience, list your education first.

12)Under skill categories, des­cribe your responsibilities emphasizing your achievements.

13) Focus on nouns for electronically submitted résumés. Use appropriate current industry buzz words.

14)A strong handshake is essential.

15)Watch your posture and maintain direct eye contact.

16) Dress for the job you want.

17) Focus on what you bring to the table. Demonstrate that you are a team contributor.

18) Practice your responses to expected questions. Give precise, quantified answers and examples.

19) Get information about a com­pany before the interview. Ask intelligent ques­tions.

20)Do not ask about salary informa­tion or benefits until you are offered the job.

My top interviewing rule: If you do not arrive 15 minutes early, you are already late.

What is your favorite tip?

By Larry Goldsmith, CWDP, P.E.T.

Do you know the most difficult interview question?  The most difficult interview question is the one that you did not practice until you sat down in the interview chair.  Ask your colleagues and friends what is their most difficult question.  Is it: ”Tell me about yourself?”  ”What your biggest weakness?”  How much do you want to earn?”  It matters not.  These questions are only hard if you wait to figure out the correct answer when you are posed with the question.  Bottom-line is know what you are going to say before you go to the interview.  Identify your most challenging  questions.  Write your responses down.   Practice them.  Bounce your answers off a friend.

You have lots of control at the interview but only if you identify the issues before you sit down in the interview chair.

Oftentimes the most qualified candidate does not receive the job offer.  The offer goes to the person that communicates their skills the best.  You can practice your way to interview success.  An effective winning interview can be achieved by being better in communicating these points:

1. Discuss company products and services with confidence and insight
2. Demonstrate with examples you have the knowledge, skills & abilities the company seeks
3. Show you can hit the ground running by giving examples
4. Give ‘related’ examples to emphasize that you have a shorter learning curve in taking on new software, projects and activities
5. Expand your potential by establishing added value with abilities and talents the employer did not cover in the interview
6. Fit your personality to their business culture
7. Express passion and enthusiasm for the position and the company if you want to be rewarded with a job offer