Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Job Change Advice: How to Convert a Conversation into a Job Offer

In other posts, I have explained how to get face-to-face with hiring mangers to increase your chances of getting a job offer sooner…rather than waiting for callbacks to online applications in this hyper-competitive job market.

But…once you get there—what do you say?

The first order of business is to establish rapport, build a positive relationship. How do you do that?

Not by selling yourself; why should they care?

No, by first tapping into their concerns. Get them talking about their needs and priorities.The most effective way to do that is to ask questions…then listen.

Think about it, don’t you appreciate someone taking the time to listen to your problems? Isn’t that the substance of most conversations you enjoy with friends and family?

This is what every successful salesperson learns early in their career when they serving a portfolio of accounts with a relational or solutions-based approach to sales.

There are two kinds of questions to ask during a face-to-face meeting: plus or minus questions. It is usually preferable to start with “safe’ questions on the plus side. Start with their Industry or sector; most managers like to talk about trends and issues in their sector.

Why? Because work—when you think about it—is just activity organized around problems, challenges, issues, or pressures that get in the way of organizational goals and objectives.

If it was easy to achieve those goals, the manager wouldn’t need to hire anybody, they’d do all the work themselves and make more money!

But they can’t, too many problems get in the way of their best laid plans, their most clearly defined goals, their most heartfelt objectives. That manager needs you more than you think!

Remember, your goal in this first meeting is to establish rapport, not get a job offer! This is a necessary step towards getting an offer.

Here are a few conversation starters that give you an idea of the kinds of questions that get a manager talking:

- What is responsible for the positive or innovative trends in the industry? Are they social, political, economic, technological or other kinds of trends?
- What factors are responsible for driving growth in this industry?

As a midlife career changer, the scope and nature of the questions might change depending on who you are talking to and what sector you are talking about. Your own questions might be more focused and refined, appropriate for a specific situation.

Your goal is to get them talking. What you are listening for are clues to change and growth in the sector, two key drivers of job creation and hiring.

Your ultimate purpose during these advice calls is to identify the problems, to see if you want to be the problem-solver!

As rapport develops between you over a conversation, an informational interview, or perhaps 2-3 meetings, you might move to minus questions about the sector in order to identify specific pain points

For example, you might ask, ‘What specific trends affect you? (Markets drying up, hostility toward the industry, cost factors, etc.). But, be careful, because a minus question might imply that the manager is not doing a good jobif you ask a question like, ‘Is your growth fast or slow? Is it typical of the field?’

Managing this kind of approach with a hiring manager requires some skill, even practice. I suggest you try out this approach with somebody who knows you well, someone who is willing to give feedback on the effectiveness of your approach.

Since the stakes are so high, in terms of you getting a job offer, consider working with a job change expert to help you practice your approach. You might need to move deftly from sector questions, to company affairs, then personal priorities of the manager.

Moving back and forth between questions, while being sensitive to individual reactions to your tone and approach, is not rocket science…but it is a skill that must be developed and deployed in an appropriate manner.

About Author: 
George Dutch is a certified Job Change Expert For 20 years, I`ve helped over 3000 people just like you who felt lost or confused or trappeda and wanted a better job fit! Are you ready to change your job or career? And start working naturally and effortlessly so that you get ENERGIZED by your job instead of drained, dumped out, dumped on, or dead-ended? For more information: www.jobjoy.com
In other posts, I have explained how to get face-to-face with hiring mangers to increase your chances of getting a job offer sooner…rather than waiting for callbacks to online applications in this hyper-competitive job market.
But…once you get there—what do you say?
The first order of business is to establish rapport, build a positive relationship. How do you do that?
Not by selling yourself; why should they care?
No, by first tapping into their concerns. Get them talking about their needs and priorities.The most effective way to do that is to ask questions…then listen.
Think about it, don’t you appreciate someone taking the time to listen to your problems? Isn’t that the substance of most conversations you enjoy with friends and family?
This is what every successful salesperson learns early in their career when they serving a portfolio of accounts with a relational or solutions-based approach to sales.
There are two kinds of questions to ask during a face-to-face meeting: plus or minus questions. It is usually preferable to start with “safe’ questions on the plus side. Start with their Industry or sector; most managers like to talk about trends and issues in their sector.
Why? Because work—when you think about it—is just activity organized around problems, challenges, issues, or pressures that get in the way of organizational goals and objectives.
If it was easy to achieve those goals, the manager wouldn’t need to hire anybody, they’d do all the work themselves and make more money!
But they can’t, too many problems get in the way of their best laid plans, their most clearly defined goals, their most heartfelt objectives. That manager needs you more than you think!
Remember, your goal in this first meeting is to establish rapport, not get a job offer! This is a necessary step towards getting an offer.
Here are a few conversation starters that give you an idea of the kinds of questions that get a manager talking:
- What is responsible for the positive or innovative trends in the industry? Are they social, political, economic, technological or other kinds of trends?
- What factors are responsible for driving growth in this industry?
As a midlife career changer, the scope and nature of the questions might change depending on who you are talking to and what sector you are talking about. Your own questions might be more focused and refined, appropriate for a specific situation.
Your goal is to get them talking. What you are listening for are clues to change and growth in the sector, two key drivers of job creation and hiring.
Your ultimate purpose during these advice calls is to identify the problems, to see if you want to be the problem-solver!
As rapport develops between you over a conversation, an informational interview, or perhaps 2-3 meetings, you might move to minus questions about the sector in order to identify specific pain points
For example, you might ask, ‘What specific trends affect you? (Markets drying up, hostility toward the industry, cost factors, etc.). But, be careful, because a minus question might imply that the manager is not doing a good jobif you ask a question like, ‘Is your growth fast or slow? Is it typical of the field?’
Managing this kind of approach with a hiring manager requires some skill, even practice. I suggest you try out this approach with somebody who knows you well, someone who is willing to give feedback on the effectiveness of your approach.
Since the stakes are so high, in terms of you getting a job offer, consider working with a job change expert to help you practice your approach. You might need to move deftly from sector questions, to company affairs, then personal priorities of the manager.
Moving back and forth between questions, while being sensitive to individual reactions to your tone and approach, is not rocket science…but it is a skill that must be developed and deployed in an appropriate manner.
- See more at: http://www.jobjoy.com/job-change-advice-how-to-convert-a-conversation-into-a-job-offer/#sthash.urVbIgxD.dpuf

Monday, August 5, 2013

How to choose a career with a 60/40 split between pleasure and pain


There is no such thing as a perfect job where you are 100% happy and satisfied all the time.  The world is just not organized that way!  The key to career success is to limit the downside of your job to 40% of your job duties.  The downside of your job is performing grunt work with `can do` skills that require much effort.  The more you do grunt work, the more it drains your energy.

Understand that, at best, 60% of work hours will be challenging and will provide a sense of growth and fulfillment.  Great work is when you are performing job duties that energize you.  This means the upside of your work should involve job duties organized around your natural talents.  This is work you do with a flair, naturally and effortlessly, and you need to be doing it at least 605 of the time in your job if you want job satisfaction. 

This 60/40 split becomes increasingly important as you grow older and have less energy available to you.  Career masters make it look so easy precisely because their core job duties are performed naturally and effortlessly.  However, you need to be aware of the likelihood that many times this ratio may slip to 40/60, in which case you may feel drained by brief periods of routine work.  This is nothing to be alarmed about as long as the ratio returns to 60/40 in due course; if it doesn`t, you`ll need to take action.

Achieving authenticity in your work with a midlife career change is about correlating your natural inclinations with specific job duties.  Keep your job description aligned with what makes you happy and productive in the workplace, so that you operate 60% of the time in a mode that comes naturally and effortlessly to you. This 60/40 split will energize you.  This is how to make a career change that will motivate and reward you over time.

Besides a good jobfit, career satisfaction is often a result of being in work circumstances that align with your values, priorities and preferences.  For example, numerous studies point to the following factors that influence satisfaction on the job: a lot of job security; relatively high incomes or university degrees; self-employment or how much say you have over what you do and the way you do it; small workplaces; the amount of time you spend commuting or working at home; dealing with people; who controls the pace of work is critical…tight deadlines and high-speed work are bad for satisfaction; small freedoms - such as being able to move your desk or change the lighting.

As you can see, jobfit and career satisfaction are influenced by many factors.  But, clearly, the only true security is in the authentic self.  In terms of a midlife career change, it is important to have a clear idea of who and what you are, then make a commitment to a core set of talents and values when making career decisions. In terms of job change advice--now may not be the time to settle on a career choice but to explore different career options until you have that `a-ha` experience of the right fit.

About Author: 
George Dutch is a certified Job Change Expert For 20 years, I`ve helped over 3000 people just like you who felt lost or confused or trappeda and wanted a better job fit! Are you ready to change your job or career? And start working naturally and effortlessly so that you get ENERGIZED by your job instead of drained, dumped out, dumped on, or dead-ended? For more information: www.jobjoy.com