What's different about my background? What qualifies me to be able to advise you on what to do and assure your success? Because I've worked with every level of management at salaries up to about $400K/year. I've been in the trenches and seen it all, over and over and over again. And not just as a hiring authority in some HR department.
I was a recruiter for 22 years. For the first 8 I did contigency placement, working with mid level management at salaries of about $50K to $90K/year. At my first company I learned and developed an industry new to their focus, and it went so well they gave me a department to train and manage. When the company decided to switch all their offices to that industry, I left and ran the same division at two other firms consecutively.
Next up was 3 years as Office Manager of a local/temp perm office in Santa Fe, NM, which was something akin to pulling rabbits out of hats on a daily basis. Here, the perm placement was entry level, generally topping out about $40K/year. Then I went back to contingency for 7 years but this time working out of my home. I learned and developed exclusive clients in first one, and then another new industry, before both of those industries tanked thanks to the economy. Salary levels were about $75K to $150K/year.
My last 4 years were as a retained recruiter, working with C-level execs and VPs, candidates who made anywhere from $150K to $300K/year or more.
It's very unusual to find a recruiter who has been successful in two of those three disciplines. I was successful in all three. And I'm blessed for it, because it's given me the range and depth to be able to help a huge variety of individuals, because I found that the inability to successfully manage one's career - by short-term detail or long-term strategic plan - has absolutely nothing to do with years of experience, salary level, education, or any of those other variables.
Estimates vary on how many people don't like their jobs but it's always over 50%, so it's no wonder people are skeptical about being able to find their perfect job. And now that we're in yet another cycle not favorable to job searchers, that skepticism deepens. But then why are my clients - some of whom have searched fruitlessly for a long time - landing something? And about 40% of the time it's either outside of their area of expertise or the position has been created for them? And why are they loving their job and the company for which they work?
When it's an employers market - like it is these days - companies continue to hire, but they're pickier. What you do for a living - banking, marketing, project management, whatever - is your skill, and that means that when you try to find a job on your own, you're outside of your skill range.
If you're going to beat all the others who are competing for that same position, you better know exactly why you want that position with that company. And you'd better know how, not only to communicate that to the hiring authority, but also to make sure you learn what you need to know to make sure you do, in fact, really want to work there.
So unless you know how to differentiate yourself right out of the gate, you'll never make it into the race. And if you don't know how to dig out the details about why you're there and sell yourself concurrently, you'll either never close the deal and get hired......or you run the risk of starting work and learning you were sold a bill of goods in the interview. By then of course, it's too late. You're already rationalizing your decision to stay.
Finding a job is a serious business, and don't think for a minute it's not. You spend too much time there to be miserable. It's a question that needs to be settled way before you get to the point where you'll take anything - a sure recipe for disaster that more often than not ends up perpetuating itself with each ensuing job.
Those who have held few jobs have no idea how to find a new one. And those who have held a lot of jobs don't know either.....or they wouldn't have held so many. So why not do it differently this time?
I promise you it will most definitely not be boring. I also promise always to tell you the truth. And if you stick with me and do the work, you'll get what you're looking for, especially if you pay attention to one specific factor that is totally within your control, and yet is often the hardest part of the entire equation.
To get you where you want to go, we can do it full retainer or cafeteria style. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain, right? It's your choice!
MEDIA ACTIVITIES AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Interviewed and included as a resource for New Girl on the Job by Hannah Seligson
Selected as a contributing author for a chapter in 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, v iii
Syndicated columnist to over 300 newspapers in the United States, including Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, and Chicago Tribune
Bi-weekly columnist in the Business section of the Sunday New Haven Register, New Haven, CT (not part of the syndicate)
Selected to have a blog on Vault.com; the internet's predominant source for employment information; carried regularly in their monthly newsletter
Selected to be interviewed for the New Job segment of First 30 Days, a major program about life changes. The program tackles specific points in a person's life, during which the first 30 days are critical. Each topic has experts on that given topic that are consulted and interviewed.
Regular columnist for many online newsletters, including Net Temps Careers, Best-Interview-Strategies, and Gray Hair Management
Articles selected for feature on multitudes of job search websites and recruiting firm websites
Invited by Vault’s law editor to contribute, and was included, in Vault’s pamphlet “Getting Hired.” Distributed to first-year law students
Invited to edit and contribute to 2 chapters in Natalie Prescott’s book, Nail Your Law Job Interview, Interviewing Advice for Lawyers. Subsequently requested to edit and contribute to two additional chapters
Numerous and frequent radio interviews on stations around the U.S.
Frequently quoted in various magazine articles and newspaper columns
