
The male red-capped manakin. A native of Central American and northern South American forests, the bird is perhaps best known for the male's unusual courtship dances. Studied and filmed at high speed by Kimberly Bostwick, they were the subject of a PBS program, Deep Jungle: New Frontiers. The dance bears a striking resemblance to Michael Jackson's moonwalk.
The red-capped manakin's courtship dance is a communication that emphasizes the dancer's assets, because the strenuousness of the dance demonstrates the health and vitality of the dancer. So it is with the communications activities of the job search. The content of the communication is important, but the style, energy and poise of the communicator are important, too. Prospective employers do want to hear what you have to say, but they also want to see and hear how you say it. Photo by Lois Knaggs courtesy Eagle-Eye Tours.
Earlier in this series on finding work in tough times, we examined strategy, infrastructure and marketing. In this part we examine communications — written, telephone, digital and face-to-face.
Even in tough times, the goal is to find a job that is the best fit you can find within the time you can afford to keep looking. To do that, you must let prospective employers know what they need to know, and you must learn from them what you need to know. Here are some tips for doing just that.
- Polish your phone interview skills
- Phone interviews are more common now because employers have so many candidates to choose from. Practice answering questions, record yourself, and listen to the recording. If the interviewer isn't a prospective supervisor or co-worker, fret not about the interviewer's manner or style. Reflect on the interview afterwards. What did you learn? Get tips from the Web.
- Polish your in-person interview skills
- Convince the interviewer that you're able and likable. Practicing and reviewing video are very helpful, but preparing responses for anticipated topics is essential. Get tips for enhancing performance in face-to-face interviews.
- Have a dynamite resume
- Customize your resume to every opportunity. Promote your assets, but don't try to defend liabilities. Get tips for resume writing.
- Prepare for interviews
- Most people peruse a company's Web site before interviewing, and some even read relevant news stories, but that's just a start. When preparing, use Web search or business and social networking sites to find whatever you can about the people who will be interviewing you. They'll be doing the same about you.
- Clean up your social or business networking act
- Get a professional-sounding email address: Abraham.Lincoln[at]gmail.com, not HonestAbe271[at]gmail.com. If you already have social or business networking accounts in your name, clean them up to make them professional. Move any unprofessional content behind the "curtain" if there is one, or move it to another, more personal account.
- Clean up your email act
- If you've Customize your resume to
every opportunity. Promote
your assets, but don't
try to defend liabilities.been using a personal email address to contribute personal material to publicly visible Internet discussions, get a new address for job search purposes — something of the form <FirstName>.<LastName>[at]DomainName.com. This might be difficult if you have a common name, but try to avoid cuteness and numbers. - Use email signatures to state your value proposition
- Use your email signature to broadcast your value proposition. Beyond your contact information, add a line or two about your assets. Have a signature on all devices from which you send mail. Consider having different email signatures for different situations.
During the mutual explorations that lead to the offer decision, instead of communicating your needs, communicate what you have to offer, and try to determine what they have to offer. The time for negotiating arrives when the offer arrives. Trying to negotiate before that — about duties or compensation or almost anything else — makes any offer less likely. First in this series Top
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Love the work but not the job? Bad boss, long commute, troubling ethical questions, hateful colleague? This ebook looks at what we can do to get more out of life at work. It helps you get moving again! Read Go For It! Sometimes It's Easier If You Run, filled with tips and techniques for putting zing into your work life. Order Now!
For more on finding work in tough times, see "Finding Work in Tough Times: Strategy," Point Lookout for July 8, 2009; "Finding Work in Tough Times: Infrastructure," Point Lookout for July 15, 2009; and "Finding Work in Tough Times: Marketing," Point Lookout for July 22, 2009.
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Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Coaching and Haircuts
- Lifelong learners use a variety of approaches, usually relying heavily on reading. Reading works well
for some ideas and techniques, especially for those with limited emotional content. For adding other
skills and perceptions, consider a personal coach.
I've Been Right All Along
- As people, we're very good at forming and holding beliefs and opinions despite nagging doubts. These
doubts lead us to search for confirmation of our beliefs, and to reject information that might conflict
with our beliefs. Often, this process causes us to persist in believing nonsense. How can we tell when
this is happening?
How to Avoid Getting What You Want
- Why would you want to know how to avoid getting what you want? Well, suppose you had perfected ways
of avoiding getting what you want, but you weren't aware that you were doing it. This one's for you.
The Retrospective Funding Problem
- If your organization regularly conducts project retrospectives, you're among the very fortunate. Many
organizations don't. But even among those that do, retrospectives are often underfunded, conducted by
amateurs, or too short. Often, key people "couldn't make it." We can do better than this.
What's stopping us?
Workplace Memes
- Some patterns of workplace society reduce organizational effectiveness in ways that often escape our
notice. Here are five examples.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming January 27: Cost Concerns: Comparisons
- When we assess the costs of different options for solving a problem, we must take care not to commit a variety of errors in approach. These errors can lead to flawed decisions. One activity at risk for error is comparing the costs of two options. Available here and by RSS on January 27.
And on February 3: Cost Concerns: Bias
- When we consider the costs of problem solutions too early in the problem-solving process, the results of comparing alternatives might be unreliable. Deferring cost concerns until we fully understand the problem can yield more options and better decisions. Available here and by RSS on February 3.
Coaching services
I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenhZLYrRMtUnyjppRsner@ChacotqZAFalhYTBMgJWoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.
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Public seminars
- The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power
Many
people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.
- A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly
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- A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- Bullet Points: Mastery or Madness?
Decis
ion-makers in modern organizations commonly demand briefings in the form of bullet points or a series of series of bullet points. But this form of presentation has limited value for complex decisions. We need something more. We actually need to think. Briefers who combine the bullet-point format with a variety of persuasion techniques can mislead decision-makers, guiding them into making poor decisions. Read more about this program.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
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