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Latest Articles
How Innumeracy Can Destroy Your Career
If you Google “literacy foundation,” you’ll find over 26 million results. All of those on the first page are dedicated to actual efforts to promote literacy.
If, however, you Google “numeracy foundation,” there are barely 3.5 million results. The first page is filled with curriculum-based results, rather than organized charitable efforts to help people actually understand math. Thinking that perhaps few people use the word “numeracy,” I checked “math literacy.” This gave me a healthy 28 million results. I had hope — briefly — until I noticed that not one single result on the first page was an organized effort to promote such.
I mention this because I am afraid innumeracy is going to bring us down. Read More →
Final Days to Get Your Tickets to the 3rd Annual UX Awards!
The biggest UX event of the year is just days away. The 3rd Annual International UX Awards are on Tuesday, May 21 right here in NYC! 10 exceptional submissions will be awarded prizes, so come see their awesome work and meet the winners from all over the globe!
This year’s UX Awards also features a keynote from Mashable CTO Robyn Peterson. Peterson will discuss Mashable’s recent redesign and key UX industry trends. The 2013 jury panel includes Salon.com’s CEO/CTO Cindy Jeffers, Google’s Tomer Sharon, Netflix’s Chris Jaffe from CA, Moment’s John Payne, Agile UX maestro Anders Ramsey, IXDA NY Local leader Lis Hubert, and Cory Lebson from UXPA DC!
The Hired Guns is a proud sponsor and supporter of this important event, and we’ll definitely be there. It’s going to be a very inspiring and enlightening night, so make sure to get your tickets ASAP!
Sign up here. And be sure to use the discount code “TheHiredGuns” for 20% off the ticket price.
How to Regain Your Confidence and Recapture Your Mojo After a Layoff
I really loved my job. And then my boss walked in one day and informed me that I was being laid off. That was a little over three years ago. There’s a lot more to the story than that, but it’s what happened next that I most want to talk about.
Upon receiving the news that day, I felt confused, disoriented, shocked, lost. It was around 10:00am on a Wednesday morning, and after going to the same office every day for the past three years, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with the rest of my day. Or my week. Or my life. I guess I was just supposed to go home. But the reality hadn’t really sunk in yet, and I wasn’t quite ready to face my wife with the news.
So I left the office and meandered aimlessly up Broadway with no specific destination in mind. Before I realized it, maybe an hour or two, and 50 blocks, later I somehow ended up at 81st Street and Central Park West, right in front of the American Museum of Natural History. So I went in and just wandered around Africa and Asia for a while, then the Planetarium, before settling under the big Blue Whale. Read More →
To Bee or Not to Bee: The Future of Being Your Own Boss
The future looks bright for us freelancers and solopreneurs. The day will come — and come soon — when we will be recognized more for our ability to help build strong businesses than our gypsy existence. Why? Because businesses will need us to be the eyes and ears of what is happening outside of their business. Businesses (and sectors) have, for too long, been insular in their approaches and models. The result of this insularity has been stagnation. Those businesses need people from the outside to bring in new perspectives. Think of us as the bees of the coming economy – cross-pollinating ideas and best practices among and amidst the big companies. Read More →
Sara Horowitz: On Independence, the Future of Work, and Her New Book
No one is doing more to secure the financial well-being of freelancers than Sara Horowitz, founder of the Freelancers Union and author of The Freelancer’s Bible. Her new book is filled with vital info for the experienced freelancer and the novice alike, and covers everything from landing (and keeping) clients to reputation management to setting fee structures, negotiating contracts, and surviving dry spells. She’s also the driving force behind Dispatches, a site devoted to highlighting the ideas and builders behind the new economy. She was kind enough to answer our questions about the new book and the emerging freelance economy.
How did freelancers’ rights become your passion? Given your father and grandfather’s ties to labor rights (a union lawyer and a union vice president, respectively), did you find that it was just in your blood?
I was lucky in that I grew up in a family where I always knew it was an option to grow up and help workers. So when I was misclassified as a freelancer after law school, I saw that there was a new kind of worker that needed to be organized. Back then (the mid-1990s), people didn’t really know what a “freelancer” was. Now, our 200,000 members are proud to be freelance. The institution we’re building with them is really the next wave of unionism. Read More →
UX Visionaries Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden talk about their new book Lean UX
Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden are veteran User Experience designers and Managing Directors at Neo, a global product innovation company. They’re also the authors of Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience. Jeff and Josh graciously answered a few questions about their new book and the future of UX.
What, in your own words, is Lean UX?
Josh: It’s a response to the new reality of software production. Software is no longer duplicated and distributed on physical media. It’s updated and distributed continuously. Designers need a new way to work in this new reality. Lean UX is a response to this new reality. Read More →
Big Data in Adland: Lip Service Galore, but Little Execution
Big Data is the new black in Adland. Yet in spite of widespread availability of proven data collection, mining, processing, and automation tools, agencies have yet to commit to Big Data as a discipline. So why would rational competitive marketers under-utilize tools that could make them smarter, faster, and richer? Read More →
Three Personal Branding Tools You Should be Using Today
No, this isn’t another article about how Facebook or Twitter should play a part in your job search. This is a piece about three cool little apps that you might not know about, but should. If you’re in the job search or just building a personal brand, these three tools can get you a lot of very attractive mileage without a lot of effort.
Vizify is a great personal branding tool that allows you to create an infographic-style bio. Vizify aggregates your content from other social platform and delivers it to visitors in an engaging, side-scrolling graphic presentation with call-outs about work, interests, and general interests. What’s new here isn’t the content that Vizify displays, but the display itself. It’s clean and intuitive, and — perhaps best of all — it updates automatically. Unlike LinkedIn, you won’t develop fatigue from constantly updating the blasted thing manually. If you’re looking for a quick one-stop location to give recruiters and hiring managers, Vizify is a fun and useful alternative to LinkedIn’s dry and purely informational content. Read More →
3 Convenient Illusions: The Frustrating State of Agency Innovation
For those of us in Adland, Mad Men is a persistent reminder that not much has changed in our business over the past sixty years (with the exception of all the illegal and non-PC stuff, of course). Believe it or not, agencies are still run pretty much the way they are depicted on TV. Evidently, the great management and technology revolutions sidestepped Madison Avenue. Read More →
Just One Day (and 36 Tickets) Left to Sign up for paidContent Live
Time is ticking away, friends. There’s just one day left to snag a front row seat to the future of digital media. paidContent Live features influential leaders from publishing, advertising, media, finance, and entertainment, all coming together for a timely discussion about the business of content. There’s no better way to get the skinny about what’s new and what’s next than listening to this very impressive list of speakers.
Get your ticket before they’re all gone. Did we mention that there are only 36 of them left?
Data Science for the Non-Scientists
Last week, The New York Times discussed the emerging academic discipline known as Data Science, and how students will be able to become what’s known, according to Rachel Schutt, as “a hybrid computer scientist software engineer statistician.” I have no doubt that data science will supplant computer science as one of the hot degrees for the ambitious and intelligent over the next decade. But what about the rest of us? We’re out of school and in the workforce. Are we also on the road to becoming obsolete? Read More →
Time 100: One Day Left to Vote for Freelancers Union Founder Sara Horowitz
Time’s 100 Most Influential People, that venerable annual accounting of who’s who the world over, is in its final stage of voting. We’d like to encourage you to vote for Sara Horowitz, founder of the Freelancers Union and all-around champion for freelancers’ economic rights. As our economy continues to shift to a freelance, distributed model, Sara is a vital voice for the economic and social well-being for countless professionals. Swing by Time and tell them why Sara deserves a place on the Top 100. All it takes is a click.
When Brand Building Trumps Conversion
I’d like to take a moment today to step away from my role as pusher-of-the-envelope to talk about something a little outside my normal wheelhouse: branding.
Earlier this morning, I was reviewing the submitted questions for an upcoming panel I’ll be a part of. One of the questions was about metrics and campaign measurement. While there’s no doubt that following the numbers is one of my favorite pastimes, I found my answer had a big “BUT” hanging at the end. Metrics are certainly wonderful, BUT even though you can measure the click-through rate, time spent, the social share rate, and pretty much anything else you are interested in, there is still something about human nature that requires some regular exposure to the thing before there’s a comfort level and commensurate response. (Yes, there are exceptions. There always are.) Read More →
It’s All in Your Head: Overcoming the Stress & Anxiety of Negative Thinking
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” — Shakespeare’s Hamlet
We can’t always control what happens to us, but we do have the power to control how we think, interpret, and respond. Irrational thought patterns and overly hasty emotional reactions are among the leading causes of stress and anxiety.
By making ourselves consciously aware of, identifying, and then correcting distorted and/or anxiety-inducing beliefs, we can think and act more calmly and rationally, and ultimately make ourselves less stressed, more satisfied, and happier as a result.
Though there is some overlap among them, there are five types of negative thinking we are all guilty of at one time or another. Read More →
Monday Bullet Points: No, We’re Not Going to Prank You
Unlike virtually every other site on the Internet today, we’re actually NOT going to pull an April Fool’s stunt. No cats, no fake products, no nothing. We promise. Instead, here’s what’s actually useful on the Web for April 1, 2013:
These Days, Recruiters Are Worth the Money
Metal Mafia founder Vanessa Merit Nornberg was always skeptical about using third-party recruiters. Until she tried one. via Inc.com
The 10 Most-Common (and 10 Least-Common) Jobs in America Today
To no one’s surprise, the most common job in the USA is “Retail Salesperson.” But “Prothsodontist?” Not so much. via The Atlantic
Will the Digital Currency Bitcoin Destroy the State?
Can a “peer-to-peer, digitized crypto-currency” destabilize the state and banking institutions? Probably not, but it’s still a good read. via The Spectator (UK)
Professor Deepak Malhotra Teaches HBS Students How to Negotiate a Job Offer
If you didn’t get enough negotiation tips back in February, then check out this video by Professor Deepak Malhotra, author of Negotiation Genius. 15 sage negotiating tips that work at all professional levels. via YouTube
There’s Still Time! Tell Us Which GoT Character You Are and Win Swag
image via TV Guide
Last week, we announced a Game of Thrones contest. The premise is simple: tell us which Game of Thrones character you are at work and why. The winner gets epic swag from HBO’s Game of Thrones store, just in time for the season premier on Sunday, March 31. The game is still afoot — you’ve got until tomorrow afternoon (March 29) to get your submission in. In the meantime, here are a few of our favorite submissions so far:
@featpete: I’m the office Varys. I don’t say too much but I “overhear” all of the gossip that goes around. People also probably think I’m a eunuch. Read More →
Tony Schwartz: Want Productive Employees? Treat Them Like Adults
This article originally appeared on HBR.org and The Energy Project. It is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author.
For more than a decade now, I’ve struggled to define what fuels the most sustainably productive work environment — not just on behalf of the large corporate clients we serve, but also for my own employees at The Energy Project. Perhaps nothing I’ve uncovered is as important as trust.
Much as employers understandably hunger for one-size-fits-all policies and practices, what motivates human beings remains stubbornly complex, opaque, and difficult to unravel. Perhaps that’s why I felt so viscerally the shortsightedness and futility of Marissa Mayer’s decision to order Yahoo employees who had been working from home to move back to the office, and Hubert Joly’s to do the same at Best Buy. Read More →
We’re Having a Game of Thrones Contest! (Yes, Swag is Involved)
HBO’s Game of Thrones has been a constant source of conversation at The Hired Guns office over the last couple of years. Sunday, March 31st, marks the start of the highly anticipated third season, and we couldn’t be more excited. If you haven’t tuned in yet, you should. Pretty much everything you need to know to survive in the modern work world plays out in this medieval fantasy epic, pitting seven kingdoms against each other, all in the name of trying to regain a single throne.
If you’re navigating a complicated work environment filled with back-stabbing, envy, and mistrust, there is no better way to learn (or just be reminded) of the rules of engagement for getting ahead in a cut-throat workplace. But it’s not all about warfare. Game of Thrones also offers plenty of moral guidance for leaders who want to do right by their people. There are plenty of lessons about beating the pants off your competition, mastering the laws of shifting alliances, and the art of holding your trump card until the right moment. The story lines and the characters are rich, layered, and complex — just like work. It’s the perfect Sunday night ritual for getting your Monday game face on. Read More →
Confessions of a Job Hopper
Very few us of are one-dimensional. Most of us have a spectrum of skills and interests which can be ordered, emphasized and monetized in different ways at different times. So far, I’ve had seven careers ranging from educator to government worker to journalist, consultant, publicist, Internet entrepreneur, and ad man. Who knows what will be next?
Job change is personal growth. But change needs to be carefully considered and actively chosen. I use three criteria for assessing new opportunities. Read More →
28 Days Q+A | How Long Should My Resume Be?
Last month, I wrote a piece called Conquering the First Obstacle: How to Write a Great Resume. I touched briefly on the problem of length, but that seems hardly to have been enough. Here’s one of the scores of emails I received about resume length:
Should my resume be one page or two? I hear SO many differing opinions.
Here’s the answer. Read More →
Are You Down for a Hired Guns Book Club?
Back in January, Todd Cherches penned a piece called Thirteen Books That Can Change Your Life in 2013 (If You Actually Read Them). The response was (and still is) overwhelming. We heard from scores of readers who were interested in Todd’s selections. Some thanked us for bringing new books to their attention. Others were reminded of some venerable old classics. Somewhere in the middle of it all, we had an idea: what if we did a book club based on five of Todd’s books? We kicked the idea around for a while, and finally decided to put the idea to a vote.
Here’s the deal: you (our dear readers) get to select five of Todd’s 13 books. Once we’ve got that nailed down, Todd will kick off each book with a blog post designed to guide and inform your reading. We’ll give you six weeks to read each book, because we know you’re busy. At the end of each reading period, we’ll host a meet-up at our offices where you can come and chat with Todd and your fellow Guns about the book and how it’s impacted your professional and personal life.
So what do you say? Deal? Read More →
The Onion: Company Immediately Calls Job Applicant Upon Seeing ‘B.A. In Communications’ On Résumé
There are a million reasons why we love The Onion here at The Hired Guns, but this piece on hiring recent grads has a special place in our heart.
“A Bachelor of Arts? In communications? I mean, where did this kid come from?” said HR director Robert Bradshaw, who, after seeing Wilhelm’s impressive 3.20 cumulative GPA, walked the résumé directly into the company president’s office and said, “We must hire this person immediately.” “I mean, not only did Corey manage to get into the University of Washington School of Communication right out of high school, but—get this—he then graduated with a degree in that very field. A Bachelor of Arts, no less. Rare and gifted is all I have to say.”
“His résumé says he minored in History, too. We really have to move fast if we want to snag this guy.”
Company Immediately Calls Job Applicant Upon Seeing ‘B.A. In Communications’ On Résumé
28 Days Q+A | When the Job Ad Asks for an Innovator, What Do They Really Mean?
Today’s question comes from an anonymous but thoroughly frustrated digital innovator:
Companies often advertise for “thought leaders” and “game changers,” but during the interview process, they usually reveal that they really just want to build incrementally on what they’ve already got. In a second interview with a major company, I realized that although they want to be recognized as an innovator in their industry, their major focus is on building the adoption for their current technologies across the company. I can do this, but I have the skills, insight, and passion to build the next generation. Is it worth continuing the conversation with them? Do I stand a chance of convincing them to innovate?
That’s a great question. It’s actually pretty rare for prospective employers to be guilty of outright false advertising. It’s way more likely that they’re “aspirational innovators,” meaning that they want to innovate. Someday. When the stars align and everything is perfect, they’ll take that leap. Unfortunately, that’s not quite your timeline, is it? Read More →
All the 28 Days to a New Job Links In One Place
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve received a boatload of requests for a post with all the 28 Days links in one place. Ask and ye shall receive, friends. Here they are! Read More →
The Surprising Story Behind February’s Positive Job Numbers
February’s BLS Jobs Report landed on Friday, and the numbers were surprisingly positive. A healthy 236,000 jobs were added to the private sector, a whopping 71,000 more jobs than expected. While you might think this would be cause for celebration, the reaction among major news outlets was decidedly mixed. The Gray Lady — followed by scores of other outlets – unleashed a frenzy of upbeat articles, each presenting a rosy outlook for the still-wobbly economy. NPR was more measured in its coverage, being bold enough to give some airtime to the falling participation rate (this number measures the amount of employable adults actively engaged in the labor market). It also balanced Friday’s good news with coverage of the continuing challenges faced by the long-term unemployed. Naturally, The Wall Street Journal did what the Wall Street Journal does best: rain on everyone’s parade.
In short, the numbers are more promising than many observers expected, but change is still to come. Here’s what the situation looks like from our spot in the jobs space. Read More →
Internship Doom: Landing a Full-time Job Without Letting Go of Your Life
Not all internships include a creepy little dude following you. But some do.
by Tyler Bradford
We recently wrote about how to act (and not act) during your entry-level job, but, admittedly, I skipped a small step: actually landing that first job. Gone are the days when companies willingly hired scores of college graduates, paying them a living wage and starting them on the upward professional track. Twenty first-century twenty-somethings can no longer rely on such linear development, faced instead with such ambiguous prospects as scores of unpaid internships which may or may not convert into full-time employment and companies who simply refuse to invest in the emerging work force.
In this weekend’s Style section, the New York Times featured profiles of several such disheartened young professionals, exposing a life defined by nonfat soy lattes and incessant iPhone 5-checking (this is the Style section, after all). If you’re in your 20s (I am) or care about the state of employment at all, the article might just make you cry. Maybe you’ll want to throw your computer against the wall (not going to help your career). But if you take a second to take some deep breaths, there are actually some key points to take away. Besides, you’re never going to be able to beat the odds if you don’t know what you’re up against (that’s what we tell ourselves, anyways). Read More →
Home Alone? For Freelancers, Where You Work Matters
Long before Marissa Mayer upset the Yahoo cart (and the well-articulated response to that overturned cart in The New York Times), I’ve had to weigh out the pros and cons of what it means to have a work life when you don’t have an office. In the solopreneur world, it isn’t one way or the other, but rather a blend of both. And that blend is something bigger companies can learn from. The best part is that we set the policy and we can change it! Read More →
28 Days Q+A | How Much Back-Channeling is Too Much?
Our inboxes have been overflowing since we launched 28 Days to a New Job. We’ve gotten tons of great questions, and we want to make sure we address as many possible. So without further ado, here’s our first question from a fellow who calls himself Beantown Product Guy:
If you find a great opportunity on LinkedIn or another job board, how much “back-channel” networking is appropriate? What’s acceptable? What’s crossing the line?
That’s a very, very common question, and the answer may not be as straightforward as you think. Read More →
Beverly May: Founder of The UX Awards, Advocate for Exceptional Experiences
May 21 brings the third annual User Experience Awards, honoring outstanding UX projects and practitioners. To find out more, I sat down with Beverly May, founder and president of Oxford Technology Ventures, a UX consultancy. Beverly founded the UX Awards and remains the moderator and chief advocate. If you have a project, idea, app, site, or software that you’d like to have considered, there’s still time! The submission window is from March 15 to April 15. For more information or to submit, visit userexperienceawards.com.
Tell me a bit about you. What gets you out of bed in the morning?
I like creating and using well-designed products. I find the challenge of designing something with a serious “wow” factor to be deeply motivating. Designing a new digital experience is a lot like being an architect (the original UXers were called “Information Architects,” after all); we design something that someone else will eventually experience. Using a great app is a lot like walking into a wonderful building. When the architect has done it right, you can appreciate the skill that went into conceiving something new and refining every detail. Read More →
Just Say No: Declutter Your Career With These Three Product Management Rules
“Perfection is attained, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
-Antoine de St. Exupery
As a product manager, my job is as much about deciding what features don’t make it into a product as it about what features do. Sometimes it’s more about what not to put in, or — dare I say it aloud — what to take out. Stakeholders will bristle when their pet feature is headed for the chopping block, but product managers have to press on, because the simplest and most elegant solutions are often the most powerful. The same goes for your career.
Example: At a previous website (unnamed to protect the well-intentioned), everyone had an opinion as to what the content engagement efforts should look like: Most Popular. Most Recent. Most Commented. Most Shared. More Like This. Your Cat Would Like This. I inherited an article page that had seven of these modules crammed into a pretty tight circle around the main edit well (this was in the days when “above the fold” ruled, but that’s another post altogether). It was too much, too cluttered, and too unclear what we were asking the user to do next. Instead of driving more engagement, it drove — wait for it — a 60%+ bounce rate.
You, too, are a product manager. It may not be your actual job title, but you are the architect and manager of your career. And the last thing you want is a 60% bounce rate on your professional endeavors. Here are three rules of product management that can help you remove the noise from your career narrative and engage the user in a smart, effective way. Read More →
28 Days to a New Job: Week Four Checklist
February flew by and we can’t believe 28 Days is over. We’ve covered a lot of territory, and all of you should be proud of yourselves with keeping up along the way. The twenty-first century job hunt is definitely manageable, but it also requires hard, consistent work. We’re glad you stuck it out with us, and we hope you’re happy with the results. Before we close the books on an epic month of career navigation, let’s make sure you were diligent to the very end and gave the hiring process the attention it deserves. Read More →
Five Tips for Entry-Level Job Seekers
One of the most difficult transitions you’ll make in your career is the switch from sheltered academia life into the dog-eat-dog world of corporate America. The Red Bull-powered all-nighters in university libraries and the professional work environment can seem like two irreconcilable worlds, but surely four years and $200k must be worth something more than one line on the resume. Entry-level jobs are also often hotbeds of user error: they’re where we screw up our work the most.
But entry-level jobs aren’t just for recent grads; often when switching careers, we have to restart at the bottom of the food chain to establish a new professional record. So wherever you are in your career, if you’re planning to enter a new industry, here are a couple tips to bear in mind, courtesy of LifeHacker. Read More →
Day 28 | Saying Goodbye: How to Resign On a High Note
Here we are, friends. The final day of 28 Days to a New Job. By now, the ink has dried on your offer letter and you’ve got a firm start date at your company. With any luck, you’ve also gotten all your salary and benefits wishes, too. But amid all the joy of landing a new job, there’s still one more difficult task to handle: resigning from your current job.
Whether you love or hate your current gig, there’s no excuse not to leave on as positive a note as possible. Burning bridges won’t benefit you at all. You’ll need to keep your current boss and your coworkers in your network for years to come. They’ll be references and valuable networking contacts. They might even be friends. Whatever they may be, it’s best to keep them close. That means there’s way more to resigning than just submitting a two weeks notice. Read More →
Day 27 | How to Blow It: Five Negotiating Mistakes That Can Cost You An Offer
You’ve got an offer in hand. You’ve figured out how much vacation time you need, how much your salary should be, and how much of your salary you’re willing to trade for better health care options. You’ve read our advice on how to negotiate for the things you need. You’re ready to take a seat at the table and talk it all out. But before you say a word, be aware that five common negotiating mistakes can cost you the job offer.
Over the years, we’ve seen many talented professionals climb right up to the very last step, only to slip and tumble all the way to the bottom. 99 times out of 100, this is because they made some rookie mistake during the negotiation process. Here are the five most common — and most deadly — negotiating mistakes made by professionals at all levels. Any one of these will annoy an employer into taking another look at their second choice. Read More →
Day 26 | How to Negotiate Everything: Salary, Vacation, and Health Care
The offer phase is your first and best chance to negotiate for what matters to you. You won’t have another chance until year-end, so seize the day and lobby for what you want. Being timid here will get you nowhere. In fact, it might just work against you in ways you never expected. Aside from losing out on additional perks and salary, employers expect high-performing and sought-after candidates to negotiate. Not doing so might just make you look a little desperate.
It’s also important not to forget that you have a powerful ally here: the hiring manager. During the offer stage, the hiring manager is probably more than a tiny bit eager to get you on board so you can help solve his or her problems. If what you’re looking for is reasonable, and if you’ve been a respectful and honest participant in the hiring process thus far, your new boss is very likely to go to bat for you with HR.
With that info in your back pocket, here’s how to negotiate your new salary, vacation, and health care. Read More →
28 Days to a New Job | Got Questions? Get Answers!
We’ve gotten a lot of positive response to our 28 Days to a New Job series. After we wrap it all up this Thursday, we’re going to host a few days of Q+A. Maybe you wanted more details about how to network or negotiate. Maybe you wanted some additional resume or cover letter tips. Maybe you’d just like to share an aspect of the 28 Days program that you tried and found successful. Whatever your questions or comments may be, feel free to email us at questions@thehiredguns.com.
We’re certainly aware that some of you may want to keep your job search a secret. If this is you, just give yourself a nickname. Call yourself “Bored of My Boss in Brooklyn,” “Don’t Know Where to Go Next,” or anything else you’d like to use. We’ll be sure to keep your secret identity on the down low.
Day 25 | Before You Say “Yes”: Your Job Offer Checklist
There’s a certain thrill in receiving a job offer. You feel wanted. You feel needed. You know that your skills are appreciated and that all the hard work and long hours have been validated. You’re practically aglow with self-confidence. But even if the company is exploding, even if the title sounds incredibly impressive, and yes, even if the money is almost too good to be true, you need to take a step back and review your situation before you accept.
The best way to do this is to make a checklist and use it to evaluate each offer. Write down all of the criteria (comp, benefits, skills, etc.) that matter to you, and arrange them in descending order from most to least important. If money is your prime motivator, start with comp. If your skill set is getting rusty, put it up top. The process itself is a very uncomplicated one, but it’s one that few job seekers take the time to do correctly. As a result, many hires find that their new situation is just as unfavorable as their old one, if not more so. Prevent yourself from pulling the trigger too quickly by mapping out your needs and giving them a thorough examination. Read More →
Day 24 | Try Before You Buy: How to Hire Your New Boss
You’re finally at the offer stage. You’re thrilled by the role you’ve been handed. You adore the company. And know you can make an impact there.
But do you love your new boss?
Before you accept that job, you need to really ask yourself this question (and — for once –listen to your spider sense). If the answer is no, then you need to press on and find a boss you can jibe with.
Not picking your boss is a J.V. move that can negatively impact your career for years to come. Today, tenures may be short, but memories and reputations are long and back-channeling is just one click away. These days, it’s essential to show meaningful impact in your first 90 days. To achieve that, you need to have a boss under whom you can thrive, not just survive. Read More →
Day 23 | When It Comes to Negotiating, Time Kills All Deals
Anyone who negotiates for a living knows that time kills all deals. Say that aloud — and slowly — right now. Time. Kills. All. Deals.
If and when negotiations starts dragging out and response time lags, it usually means a deal is going to fall apart. To prevent this, you need to have your ducks in a row and be ready to jump into action when you get the call, lest you lose the opportunity. This means you need to know in your gut if you’re going to take the job before that call comes in. That’s why “Time Kills All Deals” should be your mantra during the offer stage. Read More →
Day 22 | Figure Out Your Compensation Needs Before the Offers Start Rolling In
We’re in the final week of 28 Days to a New Job, and by now we hope you’re feeling the transformational powers of editing your toolkit, targeting only the right jobs, tailoring your messaging, and engaging your network. Today, and for the next seven days, we’ll begin to really test your mettle as we get to the final stage of our series which is devoted to helping you close the deal and actually land that new job. But before you start to think about accepting an offer, you need to step back and take stock of your compensation needs. Read More →
28 Days to a New Job: Week Three Checklist
You probably never thought you would make it through the dreaded interviewing stage, but you did! Hopefully, this week’s posts made you realize that interviewing is a chance to show off your skills and personality, and not just a necessary bullet to dodge. Interviewing mode is difficult for everyone — especially if it’s been a while – but being a star interviewee just take a little prep work so you can present your authentic self in a polished and articulate manner. Before we move into the ever-delicate hiring process, let’s tick off some boxes before we abandon interviewing for the light at the end of the tunnel. Read More →
Day 21 | Double Your Chances: How to Write a Post-Interview Thank You Note
Today is the final day of Week Three, and the final day of our Interviewing section. Naturally, we’ve saved the final step in the interviewing process for last. Writing a post-interview thank you email is an absolute must after every interview, and it may make all the difference when it comes to progressing to the second round. It will also be the simplest task in your entire job search. Here’s how to do it well.
Read More →
Day 20 | Your Secret Interviewing Weapon: The C.A.R. Technique
On Day 19, we covered why good story telling is essential to boosting your candidacy when it comes to interviewing. This, my friends, is easier said than done. That’s why it’s time to introduce the C.A.R. technique: a fantastic way to supercharge your interviewing chops and leave the competition in the dust.
So what does the acronym C.A.R. stand for? C = Challenge, A = Action, and R = Result. Together, they form a framework for your work experience that is logical and useful to the recipient. It’s easy to master, and it can be your best tool for making an impact during an interview. Read More →
Day 19 | Good Interviewing Starts with Good Storytelling
Throughout our 28 Days to a New Job Series, we’ve been putting a modern perspective on mastering the job hunt. While today’s topic may not be the most modern invention, it’s something that’s become more relevant than ever.
I’m talking about storytelling. Storytelling is something that humans have been doing for millions of years. It’s the simple act of repeating a narrative from person to person. When a story is repeated, it gets remembered. And when a hiring manager is able to repeat your story to colleagues and other key decision makers inside an organization, you get hired. Here’s how. Read More →
Day 18 | What Top Candidates Know About Interviewing That You Don’t
Believe it or not, hiring managers want every interview to go quickly and smoothly. And yet, they rarely do. The process usually drags on because of a nasty combination of unrealistic expectations — made up of wanting skill sets that are too broad and target salaries that are too low — and an initial unwillingness to make trade-offs, even though they always do after fatigue and reality set in.
Combine all of that with an interviewer who’s inexperienced and/or ill-prepared, and it’s a wonder anyone gets hired. Yet people still do. Every day.
The best candidates — and by that I mean the best prepared — are skilled at sizing up each and every hiring manager that they meet. They know what’s going on by asking questions early and by paying attention to clues dropped by the interviewer throughout the process.
Here’s what they know that you don’t. Read More →
Day 17 | Nightmare Scenario: Preparing for the Three Worst Interview Questions
You’ve got your suit pressed. You know your resume backwards and forwards and you’ve got an anecdote at the ready for every one of your accomplishments. You’re poised. You’re prepared. You’re master of all you survey. You’re ready to walk into an interview and absolutely crush it.
Great. So tell me about yourself. Read More →
Day 16 | It Never Hurts to Be Reminded: How to Dress for a Job Interview
A face to face interview is the ultimate goal of any job search. It’s your chance to reinforce the already stellar impressions you’ve made with your cover letter and resume, and a golden opportunity to demonstrate all the ways you’d be perfect for a position. You’ve got all of two seconds to make a great first impression, so make sure you look your best when a potential employer first lays eyes on you (Facebook and Google searches notwithstanding). This is also the last first impression you’ll get to make in this process. And, while first impressions can be based on just about anything, the clothes you wear can have a major impact on how you’re perceived. Read More →
Day 15 | Blow Them Away: How to Ace an Interview
Only 4.7% of online applications actually converts into an interview. Given how dire that is, if you actually get called in for an interview based on an online application, you’ve earned a hearty pat on the back. But don’t bask in the glow for too long, because it’s time to get your game face on. The competition is on, baby! The next seven days in our 28 Days to a New Job series are going to be devoted to nailing the interview and getting to the fun part: the offer process. Read More →
28 Days to a New Job: Week Two Checklist
You’ve reached the halfway point. You’ve gotten your materials in order, and this week you’ve gotten serious about your research. Give yourself a big pat on the back. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve already done much more than the average applicant. Before we move into the glorious land of interviewing, let’s check to make sure you crossed all your t’s and dotted all your i’s during the applying process. Read More →
Day 14 | The New Rules: How To Network Using LinkedIn
Back on Day 5, we talked about how you can amp up your LinkedIn Profile. Today, we’re going to talk about actually putting that bright shiny new profile to work. Since 80% of your job hunting time needs to be devoted to networking, think about using LinkedIn as the place where you do your up-front work in the networking process. Then, as fast as you can, turn those online interactions into meaningful offline ones. Lord knows you don’t want to become the Manti T’eo of job hunting. Read More →
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Gunsworthy
