Heckers Development Group, LTD.

October Tip of the Month

Heckers Development Group, LTD — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:57:23 +0000

Don’t shoot yourself in the foot networking! Don’t go to a networking event when you are ill. Make sure you dress appropriately for the event (or, if you can’t, don’t go). Take plenty of business cards. Don’t get caught by any one person for more than a couple of minutes (you’re there to meet and greet). Invite people you want to talk with further out to coffee. If a vendor isn’t selling something you’re interested in, “broom” ‘em and move on, as they rarely can help you. Meet as many people as possible. Make sure you take a great pen with you, and write clues on the back of business cards. Make sure your business cards are only printed on one side. Follow up within 48 hours and invite people to coffee.

September Tip: Stand Out on Your Interview

Heckers Development Group, LTD — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 01:06:35 +0000

Since things are so rough out there, you need to make sure that, when you get an interview, you do your very best. Stand out by:

1). Answer questions. Don’t be evasive.

2). Be honest with the salary question.

3). Ask intelligent questions.

4). Be prepared.

You can find out more about this at our class, Interview to GET THAT JOB! Monday, September 26th from 6:30 PM – 9 PM at the Denver Athletic Club. More info and registration here.

July: Find Your Path

Heckers Development Group, LTD — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 15:12:21 +0000

Life is way too short to hate your job, your co-workers or your life. If you are not excited about going to work and don’t feel that you are making a difference, now is the time to pursue your dreams. What?!?! In this Great Recession. Well, yes. At any time, but, in the Great Recession, what have you got to lose…especially if you’re unemployed. You may think you need extra skills or more money in the bank or something else, but you don’t. You can start pursuing your dream even if you’re flat broke, and do not think you have the skills to do that dream. Unless your dream is being a brain surgeon, of course. Then you probably don’t want to experiment on your spouse or children (or anyone else’s for that matter!). But you may well find that the skills you possess are enough to get you started in what you want to do. If in doubt, get a professional evaluation. Most good career coaches will offer a free one hour coaching session, and also have a great many evaluations available for this sort of thing.

June: Burn Your Résumé

Heckers Development Group, LTD — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 15:06:20 +0000

People spend way too much time messing with their résumés. Sending a résumé will not get you a job. It probably won’t even get you an interview. You have less than a 1 in 500 chance of getting an interview through the sending of an unsolicited résumé. “Unsolicited” means that you are sending a résumé that someone has not asked you for individually. This is not a good use of your time, yet most people spend hours trying to find the perfect résumé. Chill on it. Your résumé is fine. What you need to be spending your time on is networking, networking and networking some more. This is how almost all of the best jobs are found these days. In fact, if you’re anywhere above a junior management level, 80% of the jobs that are available are not advertised or posted, but found only through networking. Don’t spend 80% of your time pursing 20% of the jobs!

May: Be a LinkedIn Expert!

Heckers Development Group, LTD — Sun, 01 May 2011 08:47:46 +0000

Whether you’re job hunting or trying to manage your career, it is essential that you use LinkedIn well and often. Too many people neglect this very important business tool. While Facebook and Twitter are usually a waste of time for job searching and career management (and can actually hurt your chances at employment), LinkedIn is highly respected throughout the business community as a place for professionals and executives to gather. And don’t ignore LinkedIn if you’re a college student, new grad, entry level or just trying to find that first real job. Employers (like us) utilize LinkedIn’s enhanced search capabilities to find great candidates even at the entry level. So, whether you”re 18 or 108, you need to be on LinkedIn. Read my article here on the fifteen errors to avoid!

April: Interviewing can be scary

jordan — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 06:13:33 +0000

Interviewing can be scary. Preparation can help make interviewing less stressful. Make sure that you have at least 8-10 STAR stories to tell. A STAR story (Situation, Task, Action, Result) shows how you were able to solve a problem, make money for the company, or otherwise shine.

March: PICK UP YOUR $()%& PHONE!

jordan — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 06:12:52 +0000

PICK UP YOUR $()%& PHONE! Too many people in the job market are letting their cells go over to voice-mail. Younger people, who prefer to text, are the worst culprits, but executives are not far behind. Don’t screen your calls! When the phone rings (or buzzes or plays a song), pick it up. It might be an employer, a job lead, or something else that you don’t want to miss. Playing endless phone tag is very annoying, and, frankly, if you’re looking for a job, you’re the one who should let yourself be caught. You never know what someone has to tell you, so listen to them. Many people (including John) absolutely despise texting. Actually speaking with someone is the BEST way to get employed. So, when the phone rings, ANSWER IT!

February’s Tip: Working with Headhunters

Heckers Development Group, LTD — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:00:09 +0000

See headhunters as a very small portion of your arsenal in finding a new job. Headhunters only have 2% of available jobs out there, so spend your time with them accordingly. However, always take a headhunter’s call and always help them if you know of people who fit the job order they’re searching on.

January’s tip: Keep your cool

Heckers Development Group, LTD — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 12:00:30 +0000

Don’t get angry if you’ve been interrupted. I was interviewing someone for a CEO’s position for one of my corporate clients. I deliberately interrupted him a couple of times. The second time I did so, his face became clouded over, he slammed his hand on the table, and said, “Let me finish (expletive deleted)!” He didn’t get the job. Don’t get angry when interrupted. Take it in good grace. You are not in control here.

Top 10 Interview Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Competition is fierce in the jungle of the employment world these days. If you want to get hired, you must do many things right and very few things wrong. Here are some of the common mistakes I see executives making and how to avoid them.

Read the rest of this article at Colorado Biz Magazine: http://www.cobizmag.com/articles/top-10-interview-mistakes/

December’s Tip: Top 10 Tips for Networking

Heckers Development Group, LTD — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:00:31 +0000

Everyone at an executive level knows that almost the only way to find a great executive job is through a network, Job boards don’t work, the internet is a joke and headhunters only have a few of the top jobs (though you should always take a headhunter’s call). No, if you want a truly great job, you must use the network.

But most executives don’t network very effectively. Here are a few tips to build a great executive-level network.

1). Buy a network. If you’re like most executives, you’ve neglected your network over the years. Now that you’re faced with a job search, you’re calling all of your golfing buddies and attending every networking event you can. These, unfortunately, won’t get you very far.

The most rapid way to build your network is to work with either a transition coach or one of the many executive networking firms that populate every major city. Be very careful and know what you’re signing up for, however, as there are many scams in this area. Utilizing these services will cost about month to six weeks of your normal salary, but will usually pay for itself rapidly in reduced time of unemployment.

2). Don’t waste your time with those who can’t help you. Screen the people you are going to speak with pretty aggressively. Insurance salespeople aren’t going to help you. Broom them and move on. But don’t discount people lower on the corporate ladder than you are. Most of the job leads for higher level execs come from these people.

3). Don’t use your elevator speech unless you must. This goes against everything you’ve been taught. But, realistically, an elevator speech has never wound up with a job offer. Instead, let the other person do the talking first, then say, “I might be able to help you. Would you be open to coffee this next week if I buy?” This acts as both a screening tool and keeps you from being screened.

4). See networking as a process. One meeting may not do it. You might need two or three meetings with a new person before there is enough trust built to help you out. While this is a difficult concept for impatient executives who want leads today, it is a necessary concept.

5). Don’t be pushy. Executives can tend to be a bit arrogant. Often times they’ll push and push for names or leads. While you shouldn’t be wishy-washy or meek, being pushy will just turn people off. Back off a bit, and enjoy the process of trust building.

6). Perfect your follow-up. Consistent and frequent follow-up is the key to networking success. Studies have shown that it takes seven times of seeing an advertisement before it is effective. This is why there is that highly annoying repetition on TV, with the same ad sometimes being back to back. It also takes several times of following up before you’ll get results. Don’t give up if you don’t get what you want the first couple of times you follow-up.

7). Attend small, executives only, networking events. Denver has several smaller venues for executives to network in effectively. Find them and spend your time and energy (and money) with these sorts of events.

8). Form small networking “clubs” outside of the events. If you have some people you’re networking with, get them together. It is best if everyone does something different and are at different levels. Keep the group to seven or eight people, and meet every two weeks.

9). Don’t give away important information. Keep your big mouth shut about where you’re interviewing, or where you’d like to interview. Ignore the rules of some groups that “require” you to reveal every lead. This is suicide!

Don’t join groups of, say, all CFOs. These people are your competitors, not your friends. Join mixed groups where the competition isn’t as great.

10). Be careful of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a wonderful tool. It can also derail you at a company. Do not “follow” a company that you want to interview with. Others who are connected to you can see that you’re following this company, and infer the presence of a job there. It might be best to turn off updates for the duration of your job search. (Thanks to David, a client, for this tip!)

Executive networking is a different breed of cat than lower-level networking. These are just a few of the executive level tips that will help you get re-employed rapidly.