by Katie Dunn | Jul 28, 2020 | job search
The 2-Hour Job Search, or 2HJS for short, focuses on getting job seekers to the interview stage by providing detailed instructions on these 3 steps:
1. Prioritize the universe of possible targets. Steve walks us through the creation of a target company or “LAMP” list and tells us how to prioritize which companies to pursue first.
2. Contact people who work at those target companies by determining who best to reach out to and how to do it in a way that maximizes the chances that they will be sympathetic. Steve has identified the 3 types of people who will be on the receiving end of your email requests: Boosters, Obligates and Curmudgeons. Find out why Obligates are the most dangerous! He’s also got instructions for writing a 6-point email to ask people who work at your target companies for their time doing an informational interview.
3. Convince those people to be our allies and to help us get an interview. 2HJS includes specifics about how to conduct an informational interview, down to what you should talk about and how much talking you should be doing.
One of the things I like best about this process is that Steve is not a guy who gives tips or job search advice. Instead, he provides the exact instructions you need to predictably land interviews over time. The 2HJS system is precise and efficient – Steve knows how long each step will take you and focuses his system on those activities that have been proven to provide the best return on your investment of time and energy.
By the way, 2 hours is how long it will take you to set up the system on the first day. Getting set up involves brainstorming a list of companies, prioritizing that list so you know which ones to attack first and drafting outreach emails to people who work at those companies.
Here’s where you can find Steve Dalton and The 2-Hour Job Search: The 2-Hour Job Search is available at Amazon.com. Find the system online at 2hourjobsearch.com
Steve’s 2HJS LinkedIn Group is over 5,000 people strong! Find it here: The 2-Hour Job Search – Q&A Forum
by Katie Dunn | Jan 28, 2020 | job search
Jeremy’s courses and training on tech careers and LinkedIn are used by over 60 schools and 10K students around the globe – from UNC to the Australian Graduate School of Management. He’s been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Lifehacker, Business Insider, and USA Today. That’s pretty impressive. So Jeremy is not only a real expert in helping others land a tech job, he himself made a career change from being a kindergarten teacher to becoming a product manager early on in his career. Jeremy has worked at Apple, and LinkedIn among other cool places and is now the Principal Product Marketing Manager at Khan Academy. Khan Academy happens to be my favorite resource for help with math homework that my kids are doing that I no longer understand. Jeremy had a passion for teaching and considered himself to be a self-proclaimed tech nerd and was looking for a way to combine his passions. When he discovered that people without a background in programming and writing code, did, in fact, have a seat at the table in tech organizations and that there were so many types of tech companies beyond what most people consider to be the big organizations he wanted to help others break into the tech field as well. “You might’ve been like me, you might’ve said, if I want to get a job at Google, I have to have gone to Stanford or Harvard. But now with a simple search on LinkedIn, you can find out that 8,000 Googlers went to community college and you could find the exact one who went to your school and reach out to get your foot in the door.” – Jeremy Tell us about one cool way you see technology improving our lives. Jeremy tells us how to land a job in tech and he’s got 3 steps to share with us. 1) How to understand the different tech roles 2) How to find the right role for you3) How to break into that role Listen as Jeremy breaks down the 12 roles in a tech company through a story of Apple’s development of an electric car. And none of them require technical expertise!
You can find Jeremy online at breakinto.tech. If you’re serious about working in tech, especially if you’re making a career change to work in tech, you have to look Jeremy up and take advantage of the great courses and resources he has created. He’s got the formula. Don’t fight it, just go get it!
Listeners, now that you know how to land a job in tech, go do it! I believe in you!
by Katie Dunn | Mar 2, 2018 | career break, confidence, interview, job search
Job fairs are a great addition to your job search toolkit. But the thought of all those employers in one big room and lots of other job seekers circulating around the room might be intimidating to some.
Never fear – I’m going to walk you through a foolproof guide to knock it out of the job fair ballpark. When you follow these steps, you’ll be prepared, confident and ready for success. Let’s get started!
First, find the right job fair. Many are free for job seekers or charge a small fee, so look carefully at any job fair that comes with a hefty admission price. Do your research – call the organizer and ask some questions before paying to attend a job fair as a job seeker. The right job fair will have employers there that you are interested in, or at least that you are open to learning more about.
Register in advance. This signifies a commitment on your part and will help ensure that you don’t back out!
Research the list of companies that are attending. Look them up and note the following things about each one:
- What the company does
- How big it is
- What types of jobs they list on their website that they’re hiring for now
- Which of their available jobs you are interested in and are a good fit for
- How the company describes their culture
- One interesting fact about the company that you can bring up in conversation with a recruiter
Apply to positions with those companies prior to the job fair.
Go to LinkedIn to search for a recruiter or Human Resources contact at the company. This is gold! Now send an InMail message or email to this recruiter to let her know you are a perfect fit for this job and will be at the job fair. Include your resume. Send it just a few days in advance of the job fair. Be brief – you want your note to be read, so after you write it, cut it in half and then send it!
Prioritize the employers attending the job fair in order of how interested you are in each one.
Practice your personal pitch. You should have a 20-second version of your pitch for a job fair that includes the following:
- A firm and friendly handshake while you look the recruiter in the eye, smile and introduce yourself
- A mention of your key skills and how they tie to the work this company does
- The specific job opening you saw on their website that you are interested in. We want it to be obvious that you did your homework before arriving
Your pitch should sound polished, but not like a recitation. Keep it conversational. Record yourself delivering it (I like the Voice Recorder & Audio Editor app for iPhone) so you can get good at it.
On game day, wear a suit. You are a job seeker, and job seekers need to look professional. Many other people there won’t be in suits and you will stand out for your professionalism. If your closet no longer holds suits, pull together the most professional outfit you can and go for it.
Bring copies of your resume. Print them out on regular white paper, no need to buy the fancy paper we used to print our resumes on in the old days! Put these in a padfolio or a nice folder along with some blank paper so you can take notes. Also bring business cards with your contact info if you have them. You can get these made at Staples or any other office supply store on really short notice and for very little money.
Arrive early: If you arrive close to the beginning of the job fair, you’ll wait in fewer lines and catch recruiters while they’re fresh. If the job fair starts at 8:30am, plan to arrive by 8:45am – let recruiters have their coffee and get set up before you arrive.
Look at the floor plan for the job fair and note where each company has their booth. Start with a company that is not one of your top priorities. You want to get practice giving your pitch and really hit your stride by the time you approach your most desired company. I also want you to avoid looking like a lost soul wandering around the room.
Enter the room like you own it! You are the reason job fairs exist, after all. Job fairs hope to attract qualified, professional candidates and that’s exactly what you are! So walk in with purpose and get started with the companies you want to meet. Here’s a sample pitch:
“Hi, my name is Elizabeth Smith. It’s nice to meet you. I’m a marketing manager with an expertise in digital marketing and I’m really interested in IBM because you set the standard in the tech field. I applied for a Digital Marketing Manager position online and would like to talk to you about it.” Then ask a smart question about it.
Before you leave the table, offer your resume and business card and ask for the recruiter’s card. Also, ask about the best way to follow up and if it’s OK for you to check in with them in a few days. (You’ll need to have the recruiters contact info to follow up.)
Need a break? Step into the lobby, find a comfy chair and write down some notes while you take a breather. Notes like this are helpful:
Met Cindy Smith at IBM. Hiring in digital marketing, but not in partner marketing. Call on Monday to follow up. Also have openings in Watson Health area.
Don’t rely on your memory when you get home, because if you visit multiple booths they’ll all start to blend together in your mind.
Within 24 hours, reach out to the people you met. Connect with them on LinkedIn with a personalized message or send an email – or both. Let them know that you enjoyed meeting them, remind them of your conversation or the position you applied for and express interest in meeting again soon. Don’t skip this step. Follow up is very important and very few job seekers do it. It will set you apart.
Good luck at the job fair!
by Katie Dunn | Feb 24, 2018 | career break, confidence, job search, skills
If you’re feeling stuck in your job search or just need some fresh new ideas about how to move the ball forward, here is my list of Top 10 Resources for Job Seekers. Many of these are free and easy to take advantage of. So whether you’re ready to return and find yourself at an impasse, or if you just want to think ahead, pick one of these to investigate this week.
My Top 10 Resources for Women Returning to Work
- Community College – many of their job search classes are free to job-seekers. This is also a great place to take low-cost classes that help you demonstrate that you’re a continuous learner and fill your skill gaps.
- Job search groups – many of these are run out of churches, and you don’t always have to be a member of the church to join the group. They provide support, community and speakers on topics of interest to job seekers. In my area, for instance, First Baptist in Cary runs a big job-seeking group.
- Groups that provide technology skills training, some are focused specifically on women:
- Women Who Code is a national group that holds meetings, runs courses and provides lots of online resources
- Mozilla offers online resources and courses for learning and refreshing tech skills
- Girl Develop It – now in 58 cities, they offer meet-ups for women learning to code
Meet-Ups seem to have a group for every specific coding language that exists! Google “code meet-ups (your city name)” to find out what exists in your area
- Local networking groups that hold periodic networking lunches and events for women. This is a great way to meet people and make new connections. Again, either google or search MeetUp.com to find groups. Remember, you must get out of the house and meet people to advance your job search!
- Flexjobs is an online job board that posts flexible and part-time jobs
- If you need professional help putting your resume together, there are plenty of coaches out there who will help you with this and you can find them on LinkedIn. We use Mir Garvy of RTP Resumes or Catherine Tuttle of Forward Thinking Resumes. Both of these resume experts will work with you remotely if you’re not local and are interested in their services.
- Here’s a terrific book that I highly recommend: Back on the Career Track by Vivian Steir Rabin and Carol Fishman Cohen. It’s written just for stay-at-home-moms returning to the workforce and full of practical advice. Reinventing You by Dorie Clark is another great read that will inspire you on your job search. Dorie’s advice: “Find the common thread between your past and where you want to go in the future.”
- Learn a new skill or refresh a current one by taking online courses on LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, or Udemy.com. There are smart and economical ways to brush up on your Excel skills and many others, and some of these courses are free.
- Additional online resources that focus on women:
- Power To Fly – job board that staffs women on virtual jobs
- Werk – Werk’s mission is to promote flexibility in the workplace
- Apres – online resource and job board for women returning to work
Let me know what other resources you have found to be helpful.
by Katie Dunn | Feb 20, 2018 | job search, LinkedIn
Whether you are re-launching your career, making a career change or bringing in more business for your own venture, you simply must be “LinkedIn” these days. Use these tips to update your profile and get the most out of your LinkedIn experience.
Attitude
Approach LinkedIn as a professional reconnecting with colleagues in the working world and finding ways to make a meaningful contribution. This tilt in attitude will help you enter with confidence instead of as someone who wants a job. Just as you are eager to expand your network, so are others. People will welcome your invitations to connect.
Sign up for a free LinkedIn account
First things first. A free account is all you need. You can decide after you’re using it regularly if you need the deluxe model and are willing to pay for it.
Turn off your Notification
Start by clicking on your picture icon on the bar at the top of the page. Go to Settings & Privacy, then scroll down to ” Share job changes, education changes, and work anniversaries from profile”. Change that setting to “No”. This is just while you’re getting set up. We want to prevent your network from being notified of every change you make as you update your profile as you build out your page. Once your profile is to your liking, go back and turn this notification to “Yes”. You’ll want to notify your network when you are adding a skill, a recommendation or a new position (!), but not right now while you are completing your profile and making edits. Build out your profile before you make lots of connections. Then start by connecting with people you know.
Create/Update your Profile
Now for the heavy lifting. Recruiters and hiring managers view your LinkedIn profile as the new version of the resume, and it could be the first thing they see – even before there is a job posting to respond to. So update your profile the right way – and do this before making connections – but know that your profile is an evolving creation that you will be editing regularly.
Photo
Even a clown uses a professional photo! You are selling the image that will get you that job, whether it is for a data manager or a clown. A professional photo is important because you’ll be reconnecting with people from the past and with people who have just interviewed you and might need to be reminded of who you are. In fact, professional photos are so important that we make it a priority at The Back to Business Women’s Conference to have a professional photographer on-hand to take photos for everyone. If you need to get yours done, I urge you to spend the money to have it done professionally. This is an investment that is well worth it. There is data to show that profiles with pictures get a much higher percentage of looks and connection invitations.
Headline
The first thing people see after your name and photo is your headline. It is not just a job title — pack it with keywords to attract others to read your profile. It does not need to be your current position (or lack thereof) since that will appear again under Experience. It should be strong and personal but not too salesy. Some examples include:
- Experienced Project Manager with pharmaceutical industry experience
- Competitive Intelligence Professional who applies data analytics to enhance decision making
- Certified Professional Facilitator | Helping Teams to get from Chaos to Clarity
- or just pack your “title” with keywords that relate to the job you want and the skills you have. Here’s an example:
Talent Management | Leadership Development | Succession Planning | Diversity & Inclusion | Executive Coaching
URL
Customize your profile URL to include your name by following these steps:
- Click on your profile in the left sidebar to edit your URL.
- Then click on the blue pencil icon next to the box that says “More”.
- Scroll all the way down to the “Contact Info” section of the pop-up box to select your own customized URL. Keep it as simple as possible.
- Then add your personalized LinkedIn URL to your resume and email closing when sending out professional correspondence.
Keywords
Take a moment right now to look up keywords that are applicable to your field of interest if you haven’t already done this for your resume. Use LinkedIn profiles for people in your line of work and job descriptions to find several keywords they use and then be sure to use them in your summary. When you use keywords in many areas of your LinkedIn profile, recruiters have a better chance of finding you.
Summary
This is an essential place to tell readers who you are and what makes you great. Be creative with this – you want to stand out and show enthusiasm – but use those keywords here and keep it professional.
Experience
Use your updated resume to populate your Experience section with your work history, education, and certifications. Pull out your biggest accomplishments at each job you’ve held to add to your LinkedIn “Experience” section. Don’t list all of your responsibilities: You just want to highlight your accomplishments here. Be sure to include new volunteer positions, skills training and organization memberships. The Back to Business Women’s Conference is a professional development opportunity, and as such can be included under the Interests or Organizations section of your LinkedIn profile. Also, be sure to join our LinkedIn group called “Back to Business Women’s Conference” and contribute to or start a discussion here.
Connections
So now you’re ready to start using LinkedIn and making connections. Turn your notification back on. Start with low-hanging fruit – connect with people that LinkedIn recommends for you. You are looking for quality connections: If there is someone you’d like to meet, you can ask for an introduction from a common connection. Set yourself a goal to make a specific number of new connections each day and track your progress. These could be former co-workers, friends and professional acquaintances. When you reach out be sure to note what they are doing and offer a kind word or a quality recommendation for a fantastic former co-worker. Remember that right now as you are connecting, you should be seeing how you can help them.
Tip: When you are requesting a connection with someone (especially someone you don’t know personally), be sure to include a personal note in the connection request that establishes why you want to connect. The generic LinkedIn request of “I’d like to add you to my professional network” is so impersonal!
Recommendations
Recommendations are testimonials to your service, expertise and skills. Ask others for recommendations and be willing to write a recommendation for them as well. Former co-workers, managers and clients are the best people to ask. If you’ve been out of the paid workforce for a while, think about asking people you’ve volunteered with to write you a recommendation.
Groups and Online Learning
Join a group (such as the Back to Business Women’s Conference group) under the Interests tab and get involved in a discussion. This will help to make you known to others in your field so be sure you are contributing in a constructive manner! Belonging to several groups but not participating will not help you. Similarly, check out some of the online learning opportunities – LinkedIn Learning offers online training on a variety of topics and adds completion links automatically to your LinkedIn Profile. Join your alumni organizations’ group, local networking groups and a professional group that interests you.
Use and Update
Use LinkedIn on a regular basis – the more you use it, the more likely you will come up on others’ radar. Keep your profile up-to-date and be sure to add any new skills, training programs or professional affiliations. Offer endorsements of skills for those who are deserving and recommendations where appropriate. Your connections will likely do the same for you.
Research
Use LinkedIn to research potential companies and expand your list of target companies. Get to know everything about them and make new connections who work there. Know where your friends are working and check out who they’re connected to.
LinkedIn is another social media outlet that will demand some time upfront. Knowing how people make a living is a good use of your time for your own future, as is having them find out about you.
by Katie Dunn | Feb 17, 2018 | confidence, interview, job search
As employers look to speed up their hiring processes, more are turning to video interviewing in order to screen candidates. Video interviewing can take many different forms and for the purposes of this article, I’m referring to an interview in which a candidate uses a video interviewing tool to respond to questions asked of them on screen.
Since interviewing with a machine is different than interviewing with an actual human, here are a few things you need to know to ace your video interview:
- Be good – fast! Video interview platforms promise recruiters the ability to quickly scan through large numbers of video interviews. Translation: if they don’t like your video immediately, they’ll skip to the next candidate. It’s not only critical for you to make a positive first impression but to do so quickly. Don’t save your best stuff for later in the interview. Have an introduction that you have practiced and can deliver skillfully to grab the recruiter’s attention and ensure they keep watching.
- Questions will be very specific and easy to understand since you have no way to ask for clarification during a video interview. The good news is that you should expect the usual interview questions such as “Tell me about your work experience”, “Why are you interested in this job/this company” and “What do you know about our company/our products?” Since you can anticipate the questions, there is no reason to not be 100% prepared.
- Recruiters are looking for the same qualities in candidates whether the interview is conducted in person or over a video interview platform. Video Recruit is one such platform and they promise recruiters “you get an immediate and accurate insight into their character, competencies and communication skills.”
- Speaking of communication skills, yours are on full display during a video interview. Again, practice is essential for you to shine in this environment. Record yourself answering interview questions with your phone and then evaluate your performance. Although you may not enjoy hearing your own recorded voice, this will give you the chance to notice any communication quirks you have. Did you say “um” or “like” more than you should? Cutting out these filler words from your speech goes a long way toward helping you make a great impression as a polished communicator. Did you ramble on too long? Not address the question that was asked? The only way to find out is to video yourself and then watch.
- Keep it brief! You are likely to get as many as 6 questions during a video interview and will have a predetermined time period to answer each one, which may be as long as 5 minutes. Ever heard someone talk for 5 full minutes about themselves? BORING! Even if you are allowed 5 minutes, I suggest you do not take it all. 2-3 minutes should be plenty of time to answer a question, especially if you are prepared with a concise answer. Be aware of how much time you have to respond to the question and wrap it up before you run out of time. Your awareness of and ability to manage time is something recruiters will take notice of.
- It’s a level playing field. The good news is that in a video interview all candidates for a given position will receive the same questions and have the same amount of time to answer them. This removes some of the potential bias that can be present in the interview process but also removes your ability to connect on a personal level with your interviewer. Your challenge thus becomes demonstrating your human side in your recorded answers. Be sure to inject some warmth into your responses and don’t forget to smile!
- You choose the setting of your interview – choose wisely! Make sure you’re in a quiet place and pay attention to what’s behind you as a busy background will be distracting. I suggest being seated at a desk or table that replicates a professional setting. Have a glass of water nearby in case you need a sip between questions. And, naturally, dress appropriately for a professional interview.
- Pay attention to the rate of your speech – don’t talk too fast! Interview nerves can cause you to speed up but take a deep breath and remind yourself to slow down so you can be understood. Also, be sure you’re speaking loud enough to be heard and don’t mumble!
Remember, the 3 keys to acing a video interview are practice, practice and practice. Your preparation should help you start strong which is key in this format. A recruiter won’t watch your whole interview if you don’t make a great first impression.
Video interviewing is a speedy way for recruiters to see lots of candidates. Let your personality shine through and focus your answers on what you can do for the company so they can quickly and easily evaluate your fit for the position.
