The reference to what soldiers were instructed to the tell the enemy if they were captured seems to be the expected norm of some job seekers when it comes to reference checks these days, although it’s generally – confirmation of employment, dates of employment, and title.

The reality is, that’s just not true. I’ve done hundreds, if not thousands, of reference checks over my 12 years in Executive Search, and I don’t think anyone has ever given me “nothing but the facts” about a candidate. I always get color on the person and their performance, and I mean always.

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Lately, I’ve been thinking about personal image and branding as it applies to job search, so it seemed almost meant to be that I got a chance to speak at an event this past Monday for a San Francisco Senior Level Group at Lee Hecht Harrison, hosted by Gary Purece. During the event, the topic of first impressions came up and I asked the transitioning audience of 12-15 execs how many of them had utilized an image consultant in the past. Absolutely no hands went up. I asked them to share how many hours they thought they spent, in total, with a potential employer’s decision makers during the interview process. The large range of answers was 8-20 hours. I followed that up by asking them, “Out of those 8-20 hours, how many hours do you think you would spend with your potential boss before he/she hired you?” The answer was 2-3 total. With such a short amount of time with the ultimate decision maker…first impressions really do matter!

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I was sitting in Temple last week for Yom Kippur services and the Rabbi had a great sermon which really put things in perspective for me. Now, I must admit that I don’t go to the adult service and spend all day on the High Holy Days in Temple. In fact, my wife and I keep pumping out kids as an excuse to be able to go to the Children’s service, which I refer to as either Diet Temple or Temple Lite. It makes it much easier for me. Now that my youngest is 5, it’s getting tougher to justify, but that’s a problem for another year. 

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I recently finished the book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin. Great book. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.

While most business books I’ve read don’t really introduce new concepts (I know my blog doesn’t really either), the really good ones get me to focus on the important things I’ve been missing, or some areas for improvement, generally in leadership. This book falls into that same category and reinforces some important concepts we’ve all learned in the past, but does put a different perspective, in my opinion, on the mindset the Linchpin has while doing her work. She’s an artist, and is “giving” away her art, or, in my opinion, her gifts and strengths to an organization and those it serves. It’s just who she is – she is going to do a great job and not keep score, and make sure she leaves those she serves better off for having interacted with her. Keeping score – “They don’t pay me enough”, “I’m not appreciated”, or “They overwork me” – can be very tiring and generally leaves the score keeper not feeling better for the experience.

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A thought I’ve considered recently: If job search is like sales, why is it that job seekers have so few prospects? One of the most elementary and well known facts about a sales person is that you can’t afford to have too few prospective buyers. And let’s face it…in a job search, you are the product you’re selling. Why would you sell yourself short (pun intended) by not presenting yourself seriously to as many buyers as possible?

How many times have you said to yourself, “I’m perfect for this job”? I’ve recently spoken to far too many job seekers that have recounted their most recent prospective job opportunities only to tell me they fell in love with one or two opportunities and focused all their efforts to pursue them only to be let down in the end. Not only is this damaging to your corporate ego, but you’re hurting yourself by not incorporating a funnel or pipeline (more comparison to sales) of possible job opportunities that you can seriously pursue all at one time.

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I know I’ve blogged about this already, but it seems worth bringing up again, for a number of reasons. First, I’d like readers to share their own experiences on two topics, and second, I want to give readers a unique perspective and see what they think about it.

OK, onto the topics:

I. Head Trash
We’ve had this conversation once before, but it seems to prevail in the marketplace. I refer to head trash as those thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that serve no purpose other than to create a roadblock in your head. I have a theory on it as well: sometimes head trash serves to be the “reason” we’re NOT making progress in our job search. For instance, if I want to be a leader/manager in a company in the healthcare industry, I can tell myself, after being told the same thing many times, that it’s almost impossible because I don’t have healthcare experience. What does this do for me? It validates why I haven’t made progress and therefore, it can’t be my fault, right?

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Below is an update on CEO Charlie and his job search journey. To read the introduction and learn more about CEO Charlie’s profile, please click HERE for PART I and HERE for PART II.

It’s been an enlightening, busy, and productive couple of weeks for CEO Charlie. He’s been focused, open-minded, and determined. Unfortunately, he is still plagued with the same few questions:

1. “Am I making a mistake positioning myself as a ‘digital media’ guy rather than a broader software centric technology transformational leader and giving up on my initial job search plan too soon?”
2. “If CEO’s are feeling potentially threatened by me, should I target Board Members instead? If so, how do I find and reach out to them?”

Disappointingly, Charlie got calls from two different companies letting him know they didn’t think he was the right fit for their opportunities sighting his year out of the industry as their reasoning. He plans to continue to compensate for that time by attending tradeshows, reading trade publications, blogging, and staying active in industry groups. He has also been exploring a promising board seat opportunity at an IT services firm and is in the process of scheduling a third phone meeting for next week.

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The Big Question: What am I?

Charlie has an extensive background in the media and entertainment technology industry, but not in media companies that develop content like Disney, CBS, etc. He has an even deeper background in IT technology applications that are software related.

When he started his search, Charlie was focused on his media domain knowledge, but with that industry is going through tremendous contractions including further layoffs and consolidations, he had to ask if it was a wiser idea to step back and position himself as a technology turnaround guy rather than a broadcast tech executive? Another question that I posed in my last blog that continues to plague Charlie is, “Am I a potential threat to CEOs and therefore should I be reaching out to board members instead?”

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Learn what a CEO/COO candidate does to make himself stand out from the masses in this tough job market.

Hard work, being extraordinarily strategic, and impressing the potential boss even before the dance begins has allowed this job seeker to have 5 interviews in his first month on the market.

In addition to my continuing blogs on “Networking Nancy”, I would like to introduce “CEO Charlie” and his background. Again, due to the very real nature of the details in these blogs, I will refrain from using their real names as well as generalizing some information that may reveal their identity. However, these executives have willingly participated in this series in hopes that they may get your ideas, feedback, and support in their job search. They also hope that their story may help and encourage anyone that may be going through something similar.

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Below, I’d like to give you an update on Networking Nancy’s progress and activities in her job search. I’ve also included some questions that Nancy is interested in hearing your thoughts on. Please feel free to post comments if you have any advice for her or share your experience if it might help her or others in their job search. To read the introduction and learn more about the profile of “Networking Nancy”, please click here.

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