Building Your Career as The CEO of ME | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

episode 1332 of no BS job search advice
radio
I'm your host Jeff Alton the big game
hunter and welcome happy new year again
and I hope is wonderful to you and yours
and I thought I would start the year off
with an interview I did on my other job
search radio now the interviews with rod
Cologne he's a career coach in New
Jersey and rod was terrific you spoke
about a concept I've been talking about
for years called being the CEO of me and
I'll just simply say it's about a
30-minute interview a little bit less
and I think you'll find it very helpful
and I hope you hope you have a great day
I hope you give them so five stars in
Apple podcasts stitcher wherever you
listen to the show and I'll just simply
say when we recorded this we did it as a
phone recording so the audio is not as
good as it is now
I'm only going to intersperse these from
time to time but I thought this would be
a nice show to kick the year off with
and with that well that's gotten going
hi this is Jeff Alton the big-game
hunter and welcome to job search radio
on web talk radio net I started show
with a job search tip and I call the job
search in fire and today's tip is about
honesty when you apply for a position
now most people know that employers are
searching the web to find shall we say
inappropriate behaviors or
inconsistencies and what a person is
telling them with their resume and what
they can find online but there's an even
simpler way if firms are finding out
about these inconsistencies how are they
doing it easily and the answer is with
their applicant tracking system I can't
tell you how often I
look at a resume go to my own system see
the person's background and say what
happened to that firm four years ago
that they said they worked at it's
disappeared from the resume which sets
up a huge red flag what else is this
person lying about the technology is so
easy to work with these days it's so
easy for firms to find shall we say
these inconsistencies in your background
it just isn't worth doing it anymore get
away get away from with it somewhere
along the line a firm is going to do a
background check and find that
inconsistency and they're not going to
talk with you about it you're just going
to get greeted by security at your desk
and escorted out the building so just
don't lie it's really that simple so
that's my tip for this week
and I'd like to introduce my guest for
today's show he's rod Cologne rod is a
speaker author career coach and radio
host with almost 30 years of experience
as a corporate HR management insider and
outside agency recruiter he's created of
solutions and what for many is a bleak
job market career search that's no
excuses Wall Street bred Angie Angie
that's proactive and action-oriented and
challenges job seekers to manage their
lives and job search like a CEO rod
welcome to job search radio great to
have you on thank you so much appreciate
it
you're welcome rod probably the easiest
way I could start off with his lesson on
the strategy the strategy coming from a
Wall Street background is simply how do
we counter the black hole which is
submitting a resume into a portal and
then praying it's got to be better than
that so the approach has been simply
that when we identify opportunities
inside an organization
we put together some great paperwork we
call it a value proposition which is a
cover letter in a in a t-accounts type
format which is on the left-hand side
what the client is looking for
right-hand side your experience and
results with a powerful resume and we
put it in the hands of our network
that's right individuals that we know
and their friends because what's the
sense of you know getting this whole
network if we don't leverage it and most
individuals most professionals don't
leverage it so that's one part of it
Jeff is that we really need to take just
a completely different approach in our
job search strategy one which is
proactive as opposed to passive and one
just pause for a second here and make
sure that the listeners understand that
I'll call it a tee letter that you
describe if I heard correctly I want to
make sure that they have on the left
hand side is the skills being sought the
experience being so on and the right
hand side once you've done that's
relevant is that correct yeah actually
and I'll just just add a little twist on
that too on the left hand side is in
priority order not in how the job
description is written but they
themselves as a business owner as the
CEO of minke they look at what is the
client really looking for and as you
know just job descriptions are not
always written to the priority it's just
written as the best I can do and at that
moment so on the left hand side you
summarize what are the top three to
seven things the client is looking for
and on the right hand side almost as a
table on the right hand side you put
what's your experience and what was the
result for each one powerful tool in and
helping your advocates inside the
organization to tell good story about
you fabulous and you use the term that I
know you use all the time the CEO of me
could you explain that to the listeners
to think of it this way we're business
owners and what is it that we own we own
me Inc you replace the word me with your
name and you are the CEO now of a
business a wonderful business a great
business which is you
the Board of Directors happens to be
your family your loved ones those that
you work hard for and now as a business
owner we take business logic business
rationale in how we manage our network
how we manage our job search how we
manage all aspects from what's our bread
what's our pitch what are our great
skills you know for many of us the
thought of having greatness or great
skills it's not something that was
discussed in the kitchen table at home
we need to now start looking at things
differently and being very much business
owners because when you're the CEO of me
in essence you make significantly better
business decisions where most times
individuals in the job search are making
in essence personal emotional decisions
that may not always be in their best
interest so in creating this new
attitude of the CEO of me I know that
there's a shift for many people to
actually think of themselves in this
sort of what for many may seem grandiose
way but it's actually the smartest
approach to take in creating a career so
where do people start when they
philosophically start to think that way
well what's the first place attention
work yeah the great question what would
many many individuals like coach they
did they also look at me that way say
look rod I'm just looking for a job I
said I understand but in the 21st
century we have to think beyond you know
what was in the 20th century so the
first thing that we need to look at is
accept that we're running a business
okay and and then the second question
that is well what what is it that I'm
running what is it that I'm really good
at what are the skill sets that I have
what what have I accomplished and then
with that is well what's the market
demand for my skills so if I have done I
work with many in the pharmaceutical
industry and many of those skills have
either just left completely or have been
moved to another region or part of the
world so I asked them well what are the
skills that they're great at playing
what's the market demand for many the
market demand for those skills is fairly
low and I'm not saying so what you're
doing is bad or wrong or in effect it's
just what you do which is really
well it's just I didn't demand so it's
not that you're bad it's just simply the
market doesn't demand it anymore but
what are some of the other skills that
you have that the market does demand
well it may mean that those skills may
may mean that you're going to have to
take a SEP step back to take a step
sideways to grow to get some additional
education and for many that's extremely
frustrating for but for a business
looking at it that way they know that
sometimes I may have to move one niche
market to move over take a step back go
across to move up and that's the way we
think about it it's not personal it's
not emotional but this is where we just
look at it from a business rationale and
and I see a lot of people succeeding
that way but the whole aspect of it you
know say well I'm going to run a
business and Here I am well it takes a
little time to make that to mindset
shift if you think about it what I'm
asking individuals is to really it's a
paradigm shift very difficult but in the
21st century that's a competitive
advantage if you can't do it and it's
it's a hinged if for many and it works
very well with one of the things that I
coach people about and that is to also
look with the end in sight that is I
know you have this experience as well
right
so many people say I want to be
such-and-such and they're not anywhere
near that point and thus thinking like a
business owner what skills or
experiences do they need to develop in
order to get to that point agree
beautiful so you spoke about that
powerful resume and cover letter earlier
that gets submitted to a network what
else does someone do is part of
proposing themselves once they've
identified something interesting when an
individual identifies an opportunity
will we say let's get the net your
network involved well what does that
actually mean to get your network
involved for many it means individuals
that they know really well and that
could possibly
maybe 50 or 60 in the business that they
know well so the amount of reach that
you have is fairly limited there's a
wonderful tool tool now and I stress a
tool that's out there which is called
LinkedIn and LinkedIn enables you
through the advanced search feature to
see who your friends know right so Jeff
and I are on LinkedIn and those
individuals who I know if Jeff needs an
introduction
Jeff will say right I'd like an
introduction to this person this is the
reason why and and as a good connector
and that would be my role as a connector
I introduce Jeff with the individuals
that Jeff wants to talk to we need to
leverage that and actually I would say
that most people just just just don't do
that and and here's the key they talk
they say that they want to leverage
their network but at this moment at this
point when networking is critically
important they shy away what actually
happens well the individual will say oh
I see Sam Smith who works inside this
organization that I'm a really good fit
for a really great opening I see Sam
Smith but I don't know Sam same as this
big number two next to his name I'm
LinkedIn so nice realist knows that
means it's second-level connection it's
not a primary but it's someone that's
one person you're one person away from
sorry thanking you right no no no that's
okay so so now I look at the profile I
say oh I know three individuals who know
this person Sam Smith
and so now here's the deliberation do I
reach out to this person I know
or someone know who I haven't spoken to
them in three years or not and this is
where most individuals should hesitate
and say oh no the first person is too
busy
oh no the second person I haven't spoken
to them in three years and all this
person oh I don't remember meeting them
so this is where as business owners of
our career this is our data this is our
tool this is our database of content
having a system that you're responding
that way to it means and make for a very
weak network so I would encourage you
know your audience to look at their
LinkedIn level ones as their frontline
their team their network their family
their friends and and feel comfortable
in getting this value proposition the
job description the resume the cover
letter in the hands of their level one
and I call them their connectors for an
introduction to the individual inside
the organization those individuals who
do that who I coach who do that Aaron a
significant competitive advantage
against their competition unfortified
heard you correctly at the point that
you started looking you're suggesting
that people put their resume into the
hands of their level one connection
right away exactly I hear that right
yeah we have we have what is called a
checklist right and can't go into
details here but this checklist lays out
a technique excuse me a 10-point
strategy as to how to operate each
openings almost like a pilot going into
you know fly his plane he's going to go
in and go through this checklist and
that's all part of the checklist that we
have so the first thing that we want to
find is do we know someone personally
inside the organization why so they can
go in as an Employee Referral versus
through the portal that I called the
black hole that's a smart move then
after doing that once you have your name
in the as they say in the hat so that
you're not going to get kicked out or
closed out now you begin to use your
network and leveraging your network to
speak with individuals inside the
organization to find as much business
intelligence as possible where most
individuals fail here is that they look
for one individual to be their gopher to
be their messenger to be their runner to
talk to the manager that's not what we
need what we want to do is get as much
business intelligence as possible about
the organization about the manager about
what's working and that's where I find
significant advantage for the individual
most individuals when they ask someone
for an for an introduction to the
manager they fail to recognize all the
information that person can provide not
just being their runner their boy their
gopher their messenger for them and some
Sharat you know and if you rely upon one
person the liver or resume is the
example of the work that you do with
people in pharma I do a lot of work in
consulting in financial services these
are organizations with corporate
populations the size of a small American
city and the likelihood that person is
going to be known to that hiring manager
is somewhere between miniscule and
non-existent so what can you do what use
is that person to you and you've just
provided it gives you great information
and intelligence about the organization
and perhaps they know someone who might
be much closer to that hiring manager
than they are and the thing here Jeff is
that we don't just call on our advocates
inside the organization just for the
initial what's going on we use them
through the entire process so we coach
them to talk to them before an interview
to get what's going on in the process
then second round third round
negotiations discussions about the
compensation of the contract the
agreement and then when they start they
now have a built in team that are very
excited about their their success in
joining the organization and they lead
to such a wonderful place that here you
are storing in an organization where you
have six seven eight individuals who you
know it ready that is just a wonderful
way to network and to leverage your
network and the team so not only for the
whole process of the interviewing and
acceptance but once you're in there and
starting to work as well powerful
powerful process and folks as a business
owner this is how you need to work
as a headhunter what rod is describing
is a headhunters methodology for
injecting themselves into a process
working with different people within
that organization to fully understand
what is going on the pain competitive
intelligence that will allow your
candidate to stand out by comparison to
others guiding them through the search
process so they have good information
actionable information that they can
conduct themselves with that's going to
allow them to advantage themselves in
the interview in the negotiation and
once they're onboard
beautiful work rod thank you you're
welcome
so we've got a person who's applying for
a position they're using this type of
cover letter that you've described
they're working their network what are
the sorts of things go into this model
of the CEO of me that that you write
about well one of the things that we
talk about and in business or certainly
in financial services we talk about the
spot market and the futures market right
so the spot market is where there's an
there's an opportunity that's a 70% or
better match and that's my threshold for
me to leverage my network or not so if
an opening is a 50% or 30% or 40% match
there's nothing wrong with submitting it
into the black hole I just don't have
you know high expectations that I'm
going to get an interview so it's like
playing the lotto but when there's a
position that's a 70% of better max
that's where that's the threshold that I
need to now leverage my network we go
through the processing leverage it but
we're most but most individuals many
individuals will say Jeff that you know
the market demand for what I do is very
fairly low it's not a lot of excitement
going on so what do I do
say well in business we have business
development account management right
sales and marketing but for me Inc you
also have the department in the division
of research and development right this
is
the conversations go on so how do we
develop that well this simply is for an
individual let's just either wants to
change their job search direction or the
market demand is low what they want to
do is begin to speak to individuals who
are currently employed who do what they
do or hire what they do and if they're
looking to do something different then
also look for individuals who do what
you want to do and who hire what you
want to do and as a business owner
there's simply no excuse not to know who
these people are it's like any business
not knowing who their potential client
is who their audience is right so you
need to know that and it may take a few
weeks a few days you know it's kind of
figured that one out but once you know
the ideal individuals to talk to by
title and by keywords in the Advanced
Search of LinkedIn you now start
identifying individuals who are
currently employed that you're going to
have informational interviews with these
individuals right and sometimes these
individuals are going to be level twos
if friends of your friends in the same
way as we do in the spot market we're
going to ask our friends our level one
connections for an introduction to these
individuals no resume no no tea letter
no cover letter no job description is
involved in this because this is simply
exploring it's purely networking right
and it's purely getting good business
intelligence so I speak to 510
individuals who do what I do I speak to
another two or three individuals who
typically hire what I do and it's not
about me giving them a pitch selling
myself it's simply about what's going on
what's the market like were the best
recruiters were the best contract
recruiters we're the best networking
goose what's magazine should I be
reading where's the excitement in the
market for these types of individuals
what are you typically looking for you
know so it's that type of conversation
that goes on you have you know fifteen
to thirty good you know conversations
over a period of a month you have no
what is called you know a good think
tank of information a good focus group
that you've leveraged many of these
individuals maybe mentors and sponsors
for you down the road now if someone
that you're speaking to says well it's
interesting that you've done that I
didn't realize you did that we have an
opportunity inside that may be right for
you now I switch gears
from research and development to now
sales and marketing and say hey just can
you tell me a little bit more about that
opportunity it might be something I
would be interested in can you send me
the job description who do I need to
talk to and that's what we call the
hidden job market and that's how you
uncover it by speaking with individuals
who do what you do hire what you do do
what you want to do and hire what you
want to do that's in essence that's how
I work with my clients which is having
them perfecting the spot market and
being really good at the informational
interview what was the hidden job market
Jeff recent guest I had on Shelley
shtetl spoke about how to find some of
these people and you know the obvious
thing was of course using your linkedin
network directly doing a quick search
and see you might know but he then
pointed go out go into a firms company
page so let's say you've identified a
particular firm that you want to target
of course I suggested go into the
company page and that's all fine well
and good but then he said if you want to
get firms that are similar to that firms
you may not know about you look in the
right-hand column down aways and there's
an area that says people who looked at
this company also looked at or language
to that effect so you might find a
similar organization in a similar line
of business with similar types of needs
or you can then attempt to identify
people within that firm and thus broaden
your informational gathering beyond the
obvious into places that you hadn't
considered before and one of the
subtleties here is so often I'm sure you
run into this rod people get input from
warranty people and they think that's
the fact when as another guess I think
was Ellis chase said
one or two isn't enough now you have
five or six people telling you the same
thing then you definitely have a trend
whether positive or negative so you
always have to be going out there and
you spoke about talking to fifteen or
twenty people in the course of a month
if you're talking to fifteen and twenty
people in the course of above for three
or four months then you definitely can
discern patterns that you can build your
career around it's a very nice
methodology for continuing to learn
continuing to network and continuing to
build your business over the course of
time nice approach the thing Jeff is
that we are truly running a business so
if this is not a lip service this is not
a you know just some something that you
do to just to land the job it's a
completely different way of managing
your career because once you land
remember that there's a powerful words
that are in that employment agreement
which is you know employment at-will and
that basically means that I can fire you
at any time and you could quit at any
time and we really look at that and
those who I coach I mean we really
understand the power of that word
meaning that there's no loyalty and
that's not a negative
it's simply that's just reality and
based on a good relationship and mutual
working relationship we'll keep you know
we'll keep the harmony in the process
going on but it is not up to the firm to
make sure that I stay on it is up to me
to make sure that I generate the good
business intelligence continue to
leverage and grow my network continue my
own education process as well looking
down the road as to what I'm going to be
doing and that's the 21st century in the
20th century we didn't have to do that
but in the 21st century if you want to
stay competitive you must or you will
you know you would wonder what what
happened you watch things happen but it
will never happen to you so that's the
whole thing that we just we don't pay a
lip service about yeah I'm a CEO of me
till I find a job and then I go back to
the 20th century methodology it just
means that anywhere from three months to
the next in three years the same thing
is going to happen to you is just your
six months to three years older thank
you if she's the big smile on my face on
I'm sure folks can hear but your
philosophy is just so powerful and so on
target I wish more people followed its
the methodology of people in sales
it's the methodology that says I may
have this client today I may have done
this deal today I may have had this
successful sale what about tomorrow for
you as job hunters you may have a job
today and unfortunately even though you
may have done wonderful work for many
years one day you may get that knock at
the door and be invited into the
conference room where HR is there your
manager is there and some person you've
never seen is they're basically letting
you go too many people have learned the
hard way throwing these recessions that
we've had that they need to continue to
build their network they need to look
out for their own interests because the
institution that they work for doesn't
have their interests in mind and thus
the put themselves in the position where
they can be found and reached out to by
corporate and third-party recruiters and
to listen to opportunities while at the
same time cultivating their own skills
to ensure that they're marketable not
just simply today for many years to come
and advance their career advance their
financial resources and look out for
themselves rod thank you so much great
interview how can people find out about
your book and what is the title of your
book how can they reach you about
coaching and other services that you
provide
we'll keep it Jeff we'll keep a nice and
simple for you audience that the title
of my book is called win the race for
21st century jobs put CEO power to your
job search in your career right so but
all the information on my coaching and
my radio program and my emotional
speaking engagements and all of that is
on my website which is really easy it's
my name it's
cologne combats ro D as in David see Olo
n is in Nancy right so rodcolon.com
you'll get all the information that you
need
Rod's thank you
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