by Kevin Donlin

Mary Berman, from Farmington Hills, Michigan, had been looking for work since February 2009 before starting a “Guerrilla” job search, in late September.

Up to that point, 20 weeks of job hunting had produced zero job interviews.

Just 7 weeks later, she accepted a job on Thursday, November 12, as a marketing executive assistant.  The same tactics she used will work also for those looking for their next HR job.

How did she use Guerrilla job hunting tactics to find work 65% faster?

“I saw a job advertised online and applied by mail. I sent a box with a paper Starbucks coffee cup, my cover letter, and resume inside. On the side of the cup, where it has boxes for the type of coffee, I made my own box that said, ‘Hire Mary’ and checked it with a black marker. I heard back a couple days later to get my first interview,” says Berman.

After her first job interview, which went well, Berman followed up with panache.

“It was Halloween time, so I decided to send them a chocolate covered apple with my hand-written thank-you note in a bag. I had a friend of mine, who was off work that day, take it over and deliver it to [the employer]. That was a big hit — they were thrilled — and I got the second interview out of it.”

Berman’s second job interview was with the executive vice president. Afterwards, she followed up diligently. “When I came home, I wrote a 30-60-90 day plan.

I had taken copious notes during the interview and used that information to create suggestions for what I would do in my first 30, 60, and 90 days. I sent that to them via FedEx with another thank-you note. And I got a job offer.”

Now. Let’s break this successful Guerrilla Job Search down …

1. Start smart

The Coffee Cup Caper — a paper Starbucks cup, full-color Guerrilla Resume, and a cover letter (asking to meet for coffee), shipped in a box — gets extraordinary results. By contrast, ordinary resumes and cover letters, sent by email, get ordinary results.

2. Follow up with style

Delivering a Halloween treat with her thank-you note was correct seasonally, if not politically. Use good judgment before sending items that might be perceived as bribes by employers sensitive to such things, such as universities or public-sector organizations.

In Berman’s case, however, it worked like a (chocolate-covered) charm.

And, leaving out the gift, think of the impact a hand-delivered thank-you note can have on an employer, versus standard U.S. Mail or email. Could you arrange to have your thank-you note delivered by a courier, or a friend acting as one? Of course.

3. Give employers another reason to hire you

Mary did this in spades after her second interview, when she sent a written plan of action that outlined her first three months on the job.

A 30-60-90 day plan is a way of proving you can do the work — before you’re even on the payroll — by describing how you would learn the job, build rapport with employees/customers, and contribute to the bottom line.

Mary’s plan was 8 pages long and took the better part of a Friday night to prepare. (Before you balk at spending an entire evening at home researching and writing a 30-60-90 day plan, ask yourself if you wouldn’t trade a night out for getting a steady paycheck again.)

4. Score style points with your delivery

Mary’s first follow-up, the chocolate-apple-thank-you note, was delivered by a courier, not by email. Her 30-60-90 day plan was delivered by FedEx, not by email.

Do you not see a pattern? Email should NOT be the delivery method for your career documents. Because you can’t delete a courier, and a FedEx envelope can’t get caught in a spam filter.

Bottom line: This smart Guerrilla had failed to get even one job interview in 20 weeks of job hunting with conventional tactics.

After adopting unconventional Guerrilla tactics, she found work in only 7 weeks.

If Guerrilla job search methods can work in Michigan, where the unemployment rate tops 15%, they can work where you live. The only thing stopping you from thinking and acting like a Guerrilla is you.

To learn more about how Guerrilla Resumes and tactics can accelerate your job search success, CLICK HERE.

Kevin Donlin is co-author of “Guerrilla Resumes.” Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, ABC TV, CBS Radio and others.

Thousands of HR folks have lost their jobs in the last year. Even though you’re in HR, if you’re getting downsized or fired from your HR job, chances are you won’t know about it until happens. It’s just a fact of life. But you can pick up little clues. If you don’t know what clues to look for, you can find them HERE.

If, after looking at these clues, you still feel vulnerable, it’s time to stop worrying, get proactive and take action before the ax falls.

Step 1: Accept the fact that your job may not be safe.

Fact the facts. No matter what your position is in the company, nobody is indispensable. But don’t space out. If management has not yet selected who will be let go, you want to improve your odds of being the one retained. So stay calm, keep your head down and continue to focus on your job.

However, also prepare for the worst. If you’re not selected to be let go, that’s great. But if you are, you’ll minimize the bad feelings and gain greater control over your destiny if you start preparing in advance.

Step 2: Start discreetly reaching out to your network.

Outplacement counselors rightfully preach that networking is the best way to find another job. So get a head start. Use the time wisely while you still have a job. Start very discreetly checking in with your colleagues, vendors, clients, co-workers who are now at other companies. Set up breakfast and lunch meetings with as many of these folks as possible. Your only objective at this point is to re-connect and line up these relationships so that you’ll feel more comfortable calling on these people for assistance later on should the ax fall on you.

Step 3: Prepare your spouse or significant other.

As tough as it may be to discuss your fears, you need to lay it on the line with your partner about your current job situation. Trying to protect her him/her from possible bad news, while admirable, may well backfire if your partner feels that you have intentionally kept him/her in the dark.

Step 4: Investigate your company’s severance policy.

Being in HR, you know that most companies don’t disclose or publish any printed information on severance policies. But most use a formula based on rank and years of service. Others just wing it as they go along. So, finding out what you will be paid upon termination can require some digging. Your best source of information will be other employees who have been recently laid off. As you gather information, it’s important to not only find out the amount of severance you can reasonably expect, but also:

• Does the company make lump-sum severance payments or continue employees on payroll? Will your severance payments stop if you find another job?
• Will they extend your insurance benefits?
• Do they provide outplacement assistance?
• Do they offer alternatives to severance? Some companies have recently started to offer employees leave of absence packages as an alternative to termination.

Step 5: Begin taking possession of your personal belongings, personal files and e-mail addresses.

If you are let go, you could be escorted out on the spot and denied the opportunity to go back to your office and clean out your personal stuff. Since there may be a question as to what belongs to you and what belongs to the company, now is the time to sort through your personal files and take them home. Just be careful not to remove anything that could be deemed to be company property or proprietary in nature.

Since your network is the key to a successful job search, you’ll want to be sure that you’ve got all the telephone numbers, e-mail, and address information of your valued contacts for future reference

If this information is maintained on company-owned equipment (such as a PC or PDA) copy those files on a CD and take it home. Or copy all pertinent data to your home e-mail account.

TIP: Be subtle in your packing activities – you don’t want to create the impression that you’re expecting to be laid off. Although the company may not allow you back in your office after being dismissed, they will return your personal belongings so don’t feel the need to take down personal photos quite yet. But, consider removing anything you consider personal or valuable in a non-obvious manner.

Step 6: Update your resume.

In today’s workplace, you should always have an up-to-date resume on your hard drive. You never know when a perfect job opportunity might surface. So don’t let an outdated resume prevent you from reacting to new opportunities in a timely manner. if you need to update your resume in minutes and print it in thousands of different custom professional formats and templates the best resource I’ve ever seen is RAPID RESUME BUILDER. You can find it HERE.

Step 7: Re-establish ties with executive recruiters.

If you’ve successfully worked with recruiters in the past, give them a call to touch base. Send them your updated resume and a brief cover letter.

Step 8: Use websites to help you explore HR job opportunities and produce job leads.

There are a growing number of websites that can produce job leads for you. You input the specifications of your desired job – the job search agent will check all the jobs posted in its database and then periodically send you e-mails with postings that match your profile. Here is a list of job search websites you can use.

Step 9: Investigate job opportunities elsewhere within your company.

In some large companies, one division can be laying people off, while another division thrives and is hiring. If you have skills that might be attractive to other departments or divisions, look into options for transfer.

Step 10: Hold off on long-term financial commitments.

If you have financial concerns, for now, it goes without saying that you should put off buying that new home, undertaking a major remodeling or purchasing that new car. The last thing you need right now is to be hampered with new monthly payment obligations.

Step 11: Pay off credit card debt.

With credit card interest rates, the cost of maintaining a monthly credit balance can be staggering. If it’s not possible to totally eliminate the debt quickly, investigate ways to consolidate the payments on a card with a lower interest rate.

Creatively increase your savings account. Certain bills such as auto insurance, health clubs, etc. can often be paid in either a lump sum or installment payments. If you normally pay them on an annual basis, this may be a good time to look into monthly or quarterly payments instead. Surprisingly, the borrowing cost on these installment plans can be quite low, providing you with the option of maintaining a higher cushion in your savings account during this critical time period.

Step 12: Use your employee benefits, before you lose them.

In the event of a job loss, your job benefits will most likely be eliminated. While you will be given the opportunity to extend your health coverage through COBRA, now is the time to maximize your other benefits.

Personal Days: If you need to take time away from the job, save your vacation days by depleting your personal days first. After termination, you’re normally entitled to receive pay for accrued vacation time, while payment for unused personal days or holidays is rare.

Vision Benefits: If you’re entitled to a vision care plan, schedule your family’s eye exams and purchase of glasses/contact lenses immediately.

Max out your Medical Flexible Spending Account: If you are fortunate enough to participate in a section 125-reimbursement account, you can claim all eligible expenses (prescription drug costs, eye care, unreimbursed medical deductibles, etc.) incurred through your date of termination, even if you have not yet fully contributed to the plan. So, do what you can now to maximize those reimbursable expenses – schedule check-ups, order all needed meds, and get your family in tip-top medical shape at an unbeatable price!

Dependent Care: If your child is enrolled in a company-sponsored childcare program, you should investigate the company’s policy regarding your right to continue participating in that program following your termination. If that is not an option, begin to collect data on suitable childcare services in your area.

Other benefits: Is your company affiliated with a work-life service that provides helpful information about eldercare, referrals to summer camps, or daycare providers? How about the little perks – like membership at Sam’s Club? Take advantage of these services while you are still eligible.

You may want to bookmark this site for the future. Layoffs are a fact of life. Even though you should always stay positive and focus on the best, you should also get your head out of the sand and prepare for the worse. You don’t want to get caught flat-footed.

Hopefully, these steps will help prepare you greatly if you think you are about to get let go. Stay strong.

ADDITIONAL ADVICE: If you want additional guidance if you think you’re about to lose your HR job, then you must check out my book: UNWRITTEN HR RULES: 21 Secrets For Attaining Awesome Career Success in Human Resources.”  

You can download a couple of FREE CHAPTERS by CLICKING HERE. You can find great value for your HR career in just these two chapters alone. Then you can decide if the rest of the book is for you.

This book isn’t for everyone in HR. It contains straight talk that is No BS, unsugarcoated and uncensored. Much of this is stuff no one discusses out in the open in HR. And frankly, there are not many that many “tell-it-like-is” HR books out there – especially written by a former PepsiCo HR VP who’s toiled in the human resources trenches for twenty-five years.

See what other HR professionals have to say and grab your free sample chapters by CLICKING HERE.
About The Author: Alan Collins was formerly Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now President of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of “Unwritten HR Rules.”

CLICK HERE to comment on this article.

© SuccessinHR.com

by Kevin Donlin

Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are getting a lot of press these days as job search tools.

However, as an HR professional, have you considered adding Craigslist to that list of online employment destinations?

You should..

Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) is a vast network of online classified ads that includes job listings. Founded by Craig Newmark in 1995, Craigslist now serves all U.S. states and major cities, as well as countries from Argentina to Vietnam.

And it just might help you find your next job. If you use it right. Here’s how:

Start by visiting Craigslist.org to find your city or state. Then click on Jobs, where you’ll find listings for Human Resources.

“You can browse job postings by headlines, but searching is more effective, especially in the busier communities. And it’s best to search for skills rather than job titles,” according to Jenna Lloyd author of the forthcoming book, “Craiglist 4 Everyone” (Que Publishing).

Example: If you want an human resources manager position, you could search for HR Manager, Human Resources, Talent Manager, etc., and still miss out on listings. But almost all HR job postings mention recruitment or staffing, so searching for core skills like these can uncover a large number of relevant results, according to Lloyd.

Mark Chatham, from Ridgefield, NJ, found his current job on Craigslist in October 2006, when he was hired for online retailer Big Joys Distribution.

“I found their job posting on newjersey.craigslist.org, emailed my resume and was asked to interview a few days later,” says Chatham.

Chatham must be doing something right — he’s landed four jobs on Craigslist. His advice is to position yourself as both qualified and memorable. His resume included the facts that he held a patent at age 18 and once appeared on the TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? “Employers remembered me,” he says.

Because employers receive an average of 51 replies for each job ad, according to Craigslist’s own data (www.craigslist.org/about/job.boards.html) you must work hard to stand out.

Do this by writing a resume that connects with hiring managers, one that proves you understand their business and that you have the skills they want. “I tweaked my resume each time to make it relevant to the job I was applying for,” says Chatham.

One thing to keep in mind when using Craigslist is time management. You only have about 960 minutes per day to spend on a job search. So make sure you limit your time using online tools like Craigslist. Otherwise, you may find yourself wondering where another day went, and why you’re no closer to finding a job.

Another issue is trust. A quick look through the job postings will turn up dozens of potential work-at-home scams and get-rich-quick schemes. “In larger cities, there’s a fee to post jobs on Craigslist, which weeds out most scammers, but this is not the case in smaller cities. So listen to your instincts — if a job sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” says Lloyd.

If you’re unsure about submitting personal information to an employer on Craigslist, don’t. Simply send them a resume that masks your home address, names of your employers and other identifying data.

Also, it’s important follow directions when replying to a job posting on Craigslist (or anywhere). “Pay close attention to what the employer asks for — do they want you to email your resume as an attachment or paste it into the body of the email, for example,” says Lloyd. Because companies can afford to be picky, they may drop you from consideration if you botch instructions.

And don’t forget the cover letter, even if it is only emailed. “Take the time to write a message in your email that tells employers which ad on Craiglist you’re responding to and where you saw it. Don’t skip this last part!” advises Lloyd.

A final note on Craigslist: To me, it’s a throwback to the days of Usenet bulletin boards in the 1990s. You won’t find any fancy graphics, audio or video here. But you will find the sort of DIY community spirit that helped build the Internet into what it’s become. And that makes Craigslist worth a look if you’re looking for that HR dream job.

If you’d like additional information that will help you avoid overlooking needed resources for landing your dream job quickly, check out Kevin’s Instant Job Search System, which you can learn more about by CLICKING HERE!.

About the Author:  Kevin Donlin, is a nationally known expert on job search, who has helped over 10,000 job seekers in and outside of HR find their dream jobs and has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.

by Kevin Donlin

(Note: Since this is a lengthy article, don’t neglect to play the video at the end of this article.)

Let’s be blunt – if your resume is like most in HR…there are probably lots of opportunities to improve it.

Here are four suggested improvements that will make your resume stand out from the rest of the bunch.

Improvement #1:  Give your resume focus by including an “Objective” at the top, with the specific job title you’re seeking.

If you can’t focus on one job, describe the three skills you want to use in your next job (not 5 or 11). You must do the thinking for the reader and make it clear exactly what type of job you’re seeking.

For free resume-writing help, send your resume to 5 people and ask them if they can figure out what job you want. If they can’t, employers and hiring managers won’t be able to either.

Improvement #2:   Focus on quantifiable results and dollars that you MADE, SAVE, and ACHIEVED in every position you’ve held in HR.  Then, include those totals in your resume and put them up front, where they can’t be missed.

This should include:

(a) Dollars, dollars, dollars  (this is the language of business) – example:   Saved company $50,000 in recruiting manufacturing supervisors.

(b) Improvements, reductions and enhancements – example:  Reduced turnover in IT positions by 11%.

Let say you looking for a Labor Relations position, you should look at metrics for the labor relations initiatives you’ve accomplished that fall into either of the categories above.  Below are 10 examples of metrics for a labor relations manager that may stimulate additional thought…

(1)   Reduced by 14% the number of complaints filed per employee which resulted in $30,000 savings.

(2)  9% of cases were resolved with NO monetary settlements which saved the organization $45,000 in legal and litigation costs.

(3)  Reduced 7% in turnover attributed to ER conflicts.

(4)  Did ER training with managers in-house saving $125,000 in outside consulting fees.

(5)  Reduced the cost of an average complaint by 14 hours/days, valued at $76,000 in management time.

(6)  Reduced cost of attorney’s fees in ER cases by $78,000.

(7)  Led actions which improved by 6.5% of the employees ratings on our organization health survey.

(8)  Collaborated on an action plan which improved turnover rate by18% of the top performers.

(9)  Led the task force which improved the performance 5% of the lowest performers and turned them into top performers.

(10)  Won 2 union organizing campaigns saving the organization potentially $1.5MM in increased costs if the group had successfully unionized.

These are examples of the types of direct results that organizations are interested getting from labor relations professionals.

Using this as a model, think about your area of focus within HR and work hard at MONETIZING THE IMPACT OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS. as in the above examples.

This is clearly easier said than done.  If you have difficult using dollars, focus on QUANTIFYING IMPROVEMENTS IN PERCENTAGE TERMS (time saved, turnover reduced, absenteeism prevented, etc.).   By doing this, you will still differentiate yourself from 95% of your human resources competitors.

Improvement #3:  Borrow from “best practice” resumes.

Ask three or five of the most-successful people you know to send you their resumes and cover letters.  Then determine what parts can you adapt and use in your own documents?   Your friends will be flattered that you asked.  Plus, you’ll be doing some “accidental networking” which is a nice secondary benefit.

Another approach is to go through your LinkedIn contacts list and look at the profile descriptions of some of your most successful  contacts.   How are they describing their accomplishments?  What parts can you adapt and use in your own documents?

Improvement #4:   Use a guerilla resume.

The video below describes what a guerilla resume is.  After playing the video, if you want more step-by-step information on how to put together a guerilla resume, CLICK HERE.

To obtain Kevin’s system for building your own guerilla resume that can quickly differentiate you from the rest of the HR pact, CLICK HERE.

About the author: Kevin Donlin is co-author of Guerrilla Resumes. Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 10,000 people. Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, Fox News, ABC TV, CBS Radio and others.

by Kevin Donlin
Executive Search Consultant

You already know that most employers will use Google to research your HR background before hiring you, right?

If hiring managers find nothing online about you, you won’t stand out from the crowd. That’s bad.

If they find photos on MySpace of you table dancing in a fur bikini or videos of you on YouTube doing keg stands … that’s worse.

But, what if, during their Google search, the HR or the hiring manager finds that you’ve written several industry-related articles and you’ve been published all over the Internet? You’ll look like an expert in their eyes — and be much more likely to get a job offer.

Sound farfetched? Actually, it can be easy to do, according to Alan Collins, CEO of SuccessInHR and former vice-president of human resources at PepsiCo and Quaker Oats.

“By writing and submitting industry-related articles to a few key Web sites, you can get your name all over the first pages of Google search results. When employers search for you, they will find content written by you that’s related to your area of specialty within HR, which will definitely impress them,” says Collins.

Best of all, this won’t cost you a penny.

Now, don’t worry about the writing part. If you’ve ever written a book report or a coherent email, you can write an article that positions you as knowledgeable in your field — and makes you more attractive to employers.

You can do it by following these five steps …

1) Go back through your past HR jobs and the files you’ve kept…and dig up any reports, memos and papers you wrote over the years. “Basically, you’re looking for anything you have written that’s related to your field,” says Collins.

2) If you’ve already written 450-550 words on a human resources-related topic, great! That’s enough for an article. If not, combine or break apart your writings until you get roughly 500 words. Then, edit and clean up the language so that it reads well.

3) Still can’t find anything relevant you’ve written? No problem. You can write something now.

Visit Google, Wikipedia, industry Web sites, online magazines, etc., until you’ve gathered enough raw data for an article. Write fast and don’t censor yourself. Put your draft article away for at least 24 hours. Then come back and revise slowly. For extra editing, show it to two or three friends for input.

4) Write a short bio, also called a resource box, to insert at the end of your article. “Obviously, you want to write this with an eye toward the job you’re seeking,” says Collins.

Example bio: “Janine Smith is a senior HR manager at Exelon in Chicago, IL.  Janine has a BS and MS in Industrial & Labor Relations from University of Illinois and has a passion for helping leaders build high performing teams. ”

Note: If your name happens to be Barack Obama, Bill Gates, or something else that’s already “taken” on Google, be sure to use your middle name or initial to create a unique moniker for the search engines.

5) Now, the fun part. Get published by uploading your article(s) to free online article directories that share your work with multiple Web sites — this is how Google finds you.

Collins recommends you submit to three directories: EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com and SearchWarp.com. “You can send the same article to all three, but definitely be sure to use EzineArticles.com — it’s well-liked by Google and will get you found the fastest,” says Collins.

Bonus: While you’re waiting for Web sites to find your articles, why not set up a free blog and self-publish immediately? Blogger.com is an especially useful blogging tool, because it’s owned by Google, which means your writing — and your name — are likely to be found by employers faster.

If you’ve never been published before, you’ll get a kick out of seeing your name in print. And your job search will get a kick, too, when employers find your name in Google — for all the right reasons.

Remember: Everyone wants to hire an expert. That expert could be you, if you write and publish articles about what you’ve done in human resources.

For more information that can help you get your next HR job quickly, check out Kevin’s Instant Job Search System, which you can learn more about by CLICKING HERE!

Kevin Donlin, an expert on job search, has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.  

]]> http://yournexthrjob.com/hr-job/feed 0 http://yournexthrjob.com/hr-job-search-00004 http://yournexthrjob.com/hr-job-search-00004#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:31:59 +0000 admin http://hrdreamjob.com/?p=252 by Alan Collins

In today’s tough, competitive HR job market, if you’ve had trouble landing a job you may need a different approach. Otherwise, your unsuccessful results will likely continue. To improve your chances for success, here are four quick, proven guerilla strategies you just might want to try…

Strategy #1: Envision & position yourself like a blue chip stock…

Strategy #2: Get brutally clear on the job you’re going after….

Strategy #3: Develop a compelling, one-page resume that stands out from the pack..

Want more information on how to put together a guerilla resume, click HERE.

Strategy #4: Stay off the internet…

If you’d additional guerilla strategies for landing your ideal job quickly, check out Kevin’s Instant Job Search System, which you can learn more about by CLICKING HERE!.

About the Author:  Kevin Donlin, an expert on job search, has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.  For more information that can help you get your next HR job quickly.

Want to make recruiters find you?

Here’s how.  Listed below are four questions you should ask yourself — the answers of which will provide you with ideas on attracting recruiters, headhunters and hiring managers to you.

(1) Could you start up a blog that gets noticed by employers?

Many recruiters for HR positions today are beginning to become attracted to candidates that have their own HR-specific blogs.  They are especially impressed with HR blogs with posts or articles that show the candidate as intelligent and informed.  Here are some blogs that could use as models to start your own:

Kris Dunn, (HRCapitalist.com)
Michael Haberman, (OmegaHRSolutions.blogspot.com)
Linda Rosenthal (HRManager.squarespace.com)
Lance Haum (YourHRGuy.com)
Angelique Kennedy (InspiredHR.blogspot.com)
Alan Collins (SuccessInHR.com)

Your blog is your living resume. It shows how you think. It shows how you write.   It shows what’s important to you.  It can draws career  opportunities to you that you would not believe.

What’s your HR passion?  Compensation Design.  Leadership Development.  Labor Negotiations.  Diversity Programs.   Educate other HR professionals on your passion and help all of us grow through your blog.   Blogs are relatively easy and cheap to set up. And they give you an instant publishing platform to discuss hot issues in your niche. And as far as your job search is concerned, they’re an excellent way to position yourself as the “go-to source” for current information, news, and your opinions…and attract headhunters.

Yes, writing a high-quality blog (or posting thoughtful comments on somebody else’s) will greatly increase your chances of getting noticed and perhaps called by recruiters with job opportunities.

( 2) Could you join a professional association like SHRM, ASTD, The OD Network, Toastmasters, or Chamber of Commerce that lets you showcase your expertise among movers and shakers?

Beyond simply joining a local work-related organization, you should stand out, get noticed or take a leadership role.

How?  Offer to help with a committee, give a lunch-and-learn presentation on your area of expertise, or take on some other activity that demonstrates your leadership.

Why is this a good strategy?  Because almost every professional organization in every city is in need of new leaders. And employers almost always prefer to hire leaders over followers.

To find lists of associations near you, Google the phrase: “professional associations YOUR CITY” or “professional organizations YOUR CITY.” Or for the HR associations just go to their websites.

(3)  Are you “findable” by employers and recruiters on social networking sites?

Whether you’re a member of LinkedIn, Facebook, or MySpace — or all three — you can make it easier for headhunters and hiring managers to find you by including the right words in your online profile.

Here’s why: You may think of yourself as an HR professional and define yourself that way in your LinkedIn profile, for example, but a recruiter searching for a HR Manager might never find you, even though you’re a perfect match for the job.

Solution? Embed all relevant job titles and skills in your profile.

If you can’t find a way to do it naturally, simply include a sentence like this: “Similar job titles to what I’ve done include HR manager, Human Resources leader, Human Resources Supervisor, Manager Talent Management.”

As long as you’re accurate in your descriptions and don’t go overboard, this tactic can get you found by recruiters searching LinkedIn or other social networking sites.

(4) Could you join a community service organization and meet local leaders in a setting that lets your altruistic side shine through?

This is different from joining professional associations, in that community service organizations are not likely to be connected with HR.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t turn your volunteer efforts into networking contacts that lead to a new job.

Many of the most influential people in any community volunteer for soup kitchens, church boards of directors, youth mentoring programs, and the like. Why not join one and work alongside the kind of people you need to meet for long-term career success in HR?

To find lists of possible groups to join, Google the phrase: “volunteer opportunities YOUR CITY” or “community organizations YOUR CITY.”

Now, go out, get found by recruiters and get hired!

If you’d like additional information for becoming attractive to recruiters and headhunters, check out Kevin’s Instant Job Search System, which you can learn more about by CLICKING HERE!.

About the Author: Kevin Donlin, is a nationally known expert on job search, who has helped over 10,000 job seekers in and outside of HR find their dream jobs and has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.

by Kevin Donlin

(1) Here’s how you really leverage HR networking….

Treat networking like a mating dance.

If your networking isn’t paying off, you might try a less-obvious approach.

Consider Bill McCausland, an executive from Novi, Mich.   His networking improved when he stopped asking for job leads and started asking for information.

This makes sense, when you realize that hiring is a lot like marrying.

Asking people for job leads at their employer, especially someone you’ve just met, is like asking someone to marry you on the first date. You look desperate, oafish.

Instead, ask your contacts for information — a reference or suggestion on companies you should pursue. This is more likely to lead to a dialogue, which leads to meetings with hiring managers, which leads to employment.

That’s what McCausland did on networking web site Linkedin.com. He sent a personalized email to people who joined his network. His advice? “Write a short, 4-5 sentence message saying you are looking for career opportunities in X industry and do they have any recommendations on great companies you should research?”

This helped McCausland, who was hired for a new job, at a higher salary, less than three months after being laid off in June.

(2) Here’s how you really LEVERAGE cover letters…

Stop sending cover letters. Start sending sales letters.

What’s wrong with most cover letters? Consider the words “cover letter” — they imply wrapping paper, something to tear through and discard.

That’s not what you want.

You want to sell employers on the idea of hiring you. And a great way to do that is to send a sales letter.

So start learning all you can about sales letters. Read books on sales letters. Keep and analyze the best sales letters you get in the mail.

To get you started, here’s a basic tip: Emphasize specific results in every letter you send employers.

Example: Which of the following statements is more interesting?

A) I’m a hard working labor relations manager, with excellent attention to detail.
B) You will benefit from my labor negotiating skills, which saved $850,000 for my last employer when we negotiated our last union contract.

It’s B, of course.

The candidate who sprinkles results throughout his/her sales letter is more likely to get hired. Every time.

That’s what Jay Robinson, from Newport, Ore., found after sending sales letters to employers earlier this year. He was hired in mid-July  in a county with less than 45,000 people and no large employers.  Robinson enjoyed a 12% hit rate after sending out about 25 sales letters and landing three interviews.

He found success this way: “I sent my sales letter and resume to an out-of-town company. One of the principals called, drove three hours to my town, interviewed me, and hired me on the spot.”

Robinson researched the company to write a cover letter that resonated. But the kicker was his use of testimonials — his letter included four recommendations from past managers, such as this one:

“Jay is a very dedicated and conscientious professional who is always willing to lend a hand at a moment’s notice in order to get the job done.”
– John Doe, ABC Associates

Ordinarily, you won’t find testimonials in cover letters. But they’re found in most good sales letters. Which leads to the third tactic …

3) Here’s how you really LEVERAGE your recommendations…

Since 1996, I’ve urged people to include testimonials or recommendations in their resumes.

Why?

Watch any infomercial with a stopwatch and time how much of the program is straight selling and how much is testimonials from customers. It’s usually 30-40% of the latter — or more.

This illustrates the power of recommendations as sales tools.

Jim Muehlbauer, of Woodbury, Minn. learned this in mid-February and received two job offers a few weeks later.

“Both jobs had similar salaries to what I was making before I was laid off. This was extremely exceptional considering my profession currently has about 50% employment,” he says.

Muehlbauer hit pay dirt after including recommendations (testimonials) on his resume.

“I was told by a colleague at my new firm that mine was one of 160 resume that came in on the first day the job was posted. I asked the hiring manager and HR if my resume made a difference, and she said the recommendations definitely caught her attention,” says Muehlbauer.

Where can you get recommendations for your resume?

From recommendations on your Linkedin profile, letters of recommendation, and performance reviews, to name three sources.

Now, you have a choice.

You can keep using the same job-search tactics you’ve been using up to now, and keep getting the same results. Which, if you’re reading this, probably aren’t good.  Or you can take a step in a new direction by trying one or more of these tactics today.

To learn how you can quickly leverage your background by enhancing your resume, CLICK HERE.

Kevin Donlin is co-author of Guerrilla Resumes. Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. Kevin has been interviewed by The New York Times, Fox News, ABC TV, CBS Radio and others.

by Kevin Donlin

Welcome to HR Dream Job Strategy #8.

Recently, I surveyed 159 job seekers by email, many of them human resources professionals, and asked them this question: “What is the biggest problem in your job search right now?”

The responses were intriguing and I had a hard time boiling the problems down to a manageable number to answer here.

But I did.

So, here are the three of the most common job-search problems – with my proposed answers.

Problem #1:   How can I make contact with someone at a company where I’d like to work?  I want to send my resume to a live person when applying for HR jobs.

Solution: When responding to an HR job posting, do whatever it takes to find out who the hiring authority is. Then, try to make contact with that person through your network.

If your network of contacts doesn’t reach that far yet, build a bridge!   Start with your personal network first, and Web-based tools second.

Remember: Computers don’t hire. People do. So any information about an employer you can gather from the people you know (or the people they know) can help. Go through your email address book for names, or use Web tools like LinkedIn.com and Zoominfo.com to connect with more people.

Another Web resource worth a look is Jigsaw.com. The site aims to help you bypass gatekeepers by contacting decision makers directly, and it boasts more than 7 million contact names from more than 400,000 companies. Jigsaw.com offers a free trial membership.

Problem #2: How can I find unadvertised job leads? I want to get beyond recruiters and HR gatekeepers (to the hiring manager for HR) to find someone who cares.

Solution: Spend time talking to people who already care about you. Start with your family.

Right now, the HR job you want exists somewhere in the mind of an employer. It may be advertised, or unadvertised, but it’s there.

Your task is to get into the minds of as many people as possible, until you connect with the right mind — the right employer. That’s how you get hired. And that’s what networking is all about.

Now. If you’re at all average, you probably think you’ve told “everyone” in your family about your job search. But have you, really? Have you:

Written down the name of every single relative you have, aged 18 to 108?  Shown that list to your family to make sure you didn’t forget anyone?

Called or emailed everyone on that list to tell them exactly what type of job you seek, the company you’d like to work for and the city you want to work in?

Asked each relative for the names of at least 3 people they know who might know of potential employment leads?
Thanked everyone you spoke to for their time?

Repeated this process every 30 days until hired?

What about relatives who live in other states or cities? Should you spend contact them for job leads? Yes! Because, you have friends across the country, right? Your relatives do, too. All it takes is one contact at one company and you’ll be hired.

So stop making excuses and start making phone calls to relatives. And forget about pride here. Pride won’t pay your mortgage.

In the end, you can’t depend on a recruiter, the government or the Internet to help you — they don’t care about you. They don’t even know you exist. But your family does. Start talking to them about your job search today.

Problem #3:  It’s been awhile since I interviewed.  I know I’m in HR, but I’m rusty.  How can I find good answers to the most common interview questions?

Solution: Try The Interview Center at Monster.com — the direct URL is interview.monster.com. There you’ll find tips for answering dozens of the most common questions, as well as virtual interview modules that let you practice online.

However … once you know what you want to say, there’s no substitute for practicing with another person. Because there’s more to interviewing than words. You also communicate by your tone of voice, vocabulary, posture, wardrobe, the food stuck in your teeth, etc. So you absolutely must get feedback on these areas from people you trust. And mock interviews are the way to do it.

You need to practice live interviews for the same reason airline pilots practice making emergency landings in a flight simulator — to build “muscle memory” so that your mind and body will react correctly in real life. Whether it’s piloting your career or a 747, you can’t afford to take chances.

Now, go out and make your own luck!

Onward!

Welcome to Strategy #1.   Let’s not waste time.  Here are the 7 biggest mistakes just about everyone makes before landing their ideal job in HR and how to avoid them…

Mistake #1:   You don’t focus your efforts.

With the intense competition for HR jobs, it’s imperative that you determine EXACTLY what kind of job your really want and go after it — with blinders on.

Make sure it’s something you’re qualified for and that your experience directly correlates to.

For example, if you’re going after an HR Director’s position that leverages your skills in Labor Relations with companies only based in the Midwest — don’t get diverted exploring opportunities in corporate office settings that don’t have unions…or pursuing jobs in the East Coast.  These types of jobs don’t play to your interests or strengths and divert your focus.

You want to maximize the use of your time.  If you’re out of work, treat your job search like it’s a full time job!   Work on it on 6-8 hrs a day — focusing intensely on the jobs you really want — and rest in the evenings and you will find something pretty fast.

Mistake #2:  Spending too much time looking for HR jobs on the internet….when you should NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK and CALL, CALL, CALL.

Most HR folks in the job market  immediately start surfing on the net for HR jobs.  And right away they get sucked into social networking sites, shopping or catching up on the news.  Or they start blasting resumes all over the place to every job site they can.  Wrong!  Wrong!  Wrong!

The best job search advice you’ll ever hear is to start networking and calling people. I know it’s old school and doesn’t sound glamorous, but it works.  Start by identifying the companies most likely to hire you.   Look for companies that either need someone with your expertise or are simply hiring.

For example, if your dream job is in Chicago, I would start with these companies first and start calling them.  Once you have a list of companies, write down everyone you know in your LinkedIn or Facebook network (or in your offline network) and then call them.

Networking is about ACTION, which means picking up the phone and leveraging current contacts to develop new contacts.  Ask your contacts if they know anyone in your target companies that might be willing to talk to you or who could refer you to the best person to speak with. Not only will you have someone new to call, you’ll also have your first contact’s name to use as a referral and to make that next cold call a little easier.

Again, send out a call for help, don’t be shy about sharing the fact that you are looking for a new job — tell friends, family, and connect with old coworkers and classmates.  After sharing your story, most of your contacts will want to help you — if they can.

Mistake #3:  Not being persistent and giving up too early.

Many people give up entirely too soon and settle for an HR job that they’re ultimately unhappy with.

One word of advice:  Don’t.

If you’re contacting companies, don’t wait for the company to call you back.   Most people play telephone tag, so they think the concept of networking is making a phone call and then waiting for a response.

If you’re like me, your mom may have taught you not to be pushy — but that won’t get you a job. Persistence is key. Sure, calling a hiring manager who has never heard of you is hard. But to create an effective job search network, you’ll have to get used to rejection.

The best time to call a potential contact is before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. — when assistants have gone home and hiring managers answer their own phones. When you get a hiring manager on the phone, introduce yourself and give a quick pitch of how your accomplishments could fit in with the company.  (We’ll talk a lot more about how to effectively do this in one of the later strategies coming up).  But it’s important to get started.

When you’ve made a contact, determine if he’d be willing to arrange an interview with you.  Don’t give up too soon. The hiring manager may say he isn’t hiring right now, but he may be willing to give you the name of someone who is. So ask for a referral:  Who else would it be good for me to get to know?   What are some other companies that I should consider?

Mistake #4:   Turning negative and getting discouraged.

This is similar to mistake #3.

When unemployment is high and you find yourself in a competitive job market, it is easy to get discouraged.   It is a fact that right now there are more and more people competing for fewer and fewer HR jobs.

In a time when it seems like no one is hiring and you hear about new layoffs on a daily basis, it can be challenging to even get motivated to start a job search, never mind successfully land a new job.   BUT, THERE ARE STILL GREAT HR JOBS TO BE FOUND!

Companies are still hiring and HR job seekers are landing jobs on a daily basis.   So, what are these newly hired HR professionals doing that gets them noticed and gets them hired ahead of their competition in the job market?  The secret is a common sense one—the HR  job seekers who are getting interviews and winning jobs have found a way to set themselves apart from the masses.

What have they done to distinguish themselves?   Let’s talk more about this in….

Mistake #5:  Failing to make adjustments in your HR resume.

IF YOU’VE BEEN SENDING OUT RESUMES AND YOU AREN’T  GETTING ANY RESPONSES, YOUR RESUME IS THE PROBLEM.

Look over your resume and make sure it contains plenty of NUMBERS, IMPROVEMENTS, QUANTIFIABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

As you already know, your resume is your first introduction to many potential employers and so it must be written to set you apart by clearly illustrating that you have the ability to produce RESULTS.  Don’t let the fact that you’re in HR discourage you from doing this.

Hiring managers are NOT looking for job descriptions or activities on your resume.   Job descriptions simply tell the reader about the responsibilities of the HR positions you have held in the past.

To set yourself apart, your resume must tell the reader what you have accomplished-and more importantly, the VALUE and BENEFITS that those HR accomplishments have produced for your past employers.

If you have NUMBERS (e.g., dollar figures, percentages, raw numbers, etc.) that illustrate the impact of your accomplishments, make sure you include them in your resume.    It is an outdated mindset that your job-related skills are a selling point.  They aren’t.

In today’s competitive job market, it is essential that you know your value and be able to communicate exactly how you contributed to your past employer’s BOTTOM LINE — including costs you’ve saved, efficiencies, and profit improvements you’ve supported.

Mistake #6:  Not talking about money in your interviews.

In tough economic times, EVERYONE is talking money.   Around kitchen tables everywhere, most families are discussing how to SAVE money or how to MAKE more money.

The same is true in companies. It is important to recognize that as an HR professional, you are an investment. The hiring company invests in you with the expectation that you will produce returns on that investment. What types of returns? Most employers are seeking HR folks who have the proven ability to SOLVE a challenging problem, to help them MAKE money, to help them SAVE money, or to help them INCREASE efficiency and productivity.

By communicating how you have delivered these results in the past, using numbers when you can to illustrate the actual return on investment you have delivered, you will easily set yourself apart from the masses of the HR folks who are emphasizing the soft stuff.

Don’t let the rising unemployment rate throw you into a panic.   There are still new HR  job openings that crop up every single day. Will you be the next person to get a good job? It’s all up to how you look at the situation.

In short, you must change your focus to emphasize what is in it for the company.   To do this, here are some helpful hints:

(a)  SELL YOURSELF IN YOUR INTERVIEWS BY MAKING IT ALL ABOUT THE COMPANY.  What can you do for them? How can you solve their problem? How can you make money for them? In what ways can you save them money? How can you help them in these tough economic times? Emphasize and communicate how you can be an asset to the company, and you will be surprised how quickly you will see positive job search results.

(b) MAKE A LIST OF THINGS YOU’VE DONE THAT SET YOU APART FROM OTHERS…and then be prepared to talk about them in your interviews.

(c) PRACTICE YOUR PITCH IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR, to get connected to it and believe in it. This will allow you to feel confident, comfortable in your own skin. People who are unemployed or struggling in their careers often have a lack of self-esteem or get discouraged and this shows up non-verbally in the interview.  You need to feel confident that what you have to offer someone is important.

Mistake #7:  Not being prepared for the interview.

When selling yourself in the interview, prove that you’re a well-prepared, smart, no-nonsense HR professional from the get-go.

Ask well-thought-out, specific questions.  It’s helpful to write them down in advance, so that you don’t forget them under pressure.   Some examples of good questions that you can make even better include….

(a) What’s your organization’s biggest challenge?

(b) If you could find a star performer, where would you put her in the organization?

(c) Of all the people you’ve ever hired for this position, who was the best and why?

Be prepared to interview the interviewer. Sometimes all it takes to get the hiring manager’s attention AND TO SET YOURSELF APART FROM OTHER CANDIDATES is ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION or, better still, the right question that no one else has asked.

I know all of this isn’t glamorous and probably much of this is what you know already, but the key here is EXECUTION!

If you’d like additional information for avoiding mistakes and that can help you in landing your HR dream job quickly, check out Kevin’s Instant Job Search System, which you can learn more about by CLICKING HERE!.

About the Author: Kevin Donlin, is a nationally known expert on job search, who has helped over 10,000 job seekers in and outside of HR find their dream jobs and has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.