Persuasion rarely is about offering what people need. By having a deeper
understanding of people's hopes, desires, expectations and so forth, persuasion
makes it possible to offer what they truly want, what they dream about. In the
professional setting of the job interview persuasion is about solving the hiring
manager's business problems.





A successful job-hunt is built on three basic components

1. Focus This is about narrowing down the opportunities, which are most relevant to
your career goals. So you will learn how to boil down your career expectations into
focused career goals. Then you will learn how to quickly identify the most appropriate
openings and how to effectively move towards an interview.

What this is NOT about is soul-searching. I cannot teach you how to discover what you
"really" want to do. I just don't know how and frankly I don't trust all the aptitude tests
designed to tell you who you should be in business. I will treat you like adults and I
will teach you how to get a job that will advance your career, whatever it may be.

2. Definition This is about defining who you are as a candidate. Every single company
that hires wants to hire only the best possible candidate. That's why it is critically
important to identify all your marketable skills, your accomplishments, you 'assets'. Once
this inventory has been done - I will teach you how to 'package and communicate these
assets in a convincing way (before interview) so that when you apply - you'd actually
be considered and they'd call you in.

3. Persistence We all know the meaning of the word, but we will talk also about keeping
the faith and learning to create miracles. That's right - you need not only to do and say the
right things - you need to do them with the right heart. Put in good 8 hours a day. Do one
good deed where you expect nothing in return and tell nobody about it. Miracles happen every
day even to non-believers and you need to be attuned to creating one.

So in summary - to succeed, you must narrow the search to a specific type of job, define
skills and accomplishments that set you apart from the pack, and keep at it until landing the
job you want. In the next few pages you will learn how to approach your job-search as an
integral part of your career progression. It is an important project with beginning, middle and
end and at each stage you need to accomplish different objectives. You will learn to manage
your time, your resources and your performance and you will learn to be successful in getting
the job you want.



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The 7 Deadly Sins of Job-Hunting

#1 "Wallow in the mire!"

When finding yourself without a job you can only feel depressed if you don't want another job.
Well OK - may be you spent more than 5 years with the company and got so comfortable
you pictured all your life there. You have a lot of friends still working there and you really felt
free to express yourself and your creativity. You were really happy at your prior job. Well - in
that case I will make an exception and give you half a day. Take the afternoon off, drink, cry,
sleep - do whatever you do to grieve. By the evening I want you back here with me. You need
to start building the rest of your life and I want you to feel happy, motivated and enthusiastic.
Because the rest of your life will be happy and full of good energy - right? I am sure you want
nothing less. So take the afternoon off - then come back here, but without any anxiety, stress
or bad moods. You are your own boss now and it's time to tell yourself: "This is the drawing
board for my future and it starts with finding the right job."

#2 Failing to Focus

Your routines are changing and all of a sudden you have all this free time. You can actually
smell the roses, go for a walk, fix the car/garden or finally get to the mall … WRONG! You
only have free time if you have created a detailed plan for your job-hunt, listed all the daily
activities (8 hours is like a minimum) and if your to-do list for the day is complete - then it was
too short. That's right! Focusing and getting organized from the beginning will preserve some
of your good work habits and will help you cut the time you are without a job.

#3 Disregarding Definition

Before contacting employers, you need to know what you're marketing and to whom. Defining
yourself as the 'Best possible candidate' for a job requires you to learn how your education,
skills and experience apply to the expectations of the hiring managers. For each application
you should know to what extent your background can be presented as the 'perfect fit', or at
least a good-enough-to-call-for-an-interview fit. Because if you don't know that and you are
just sending a resume with the hope to get 'lucky' - then you are playing a lottery and this is
simply wrong. It is wrong not because you can't get lucky, but it is wrong because you are
consciously wasting your time. So stop doing that. It is better to spend 4 hours preparing a
customized resume and cover letter for one position that you see as a great fit than to spend
these 4 hours sending 40 standard resumes to random positions from a job-board.

#4 Skipping Inventory of Your Assets

The assumption that you know all your marketable skills is partially true and this is what
makes it such a bad trap. Let me give you an example. A very good friend of mine - Joe, with
whom I went to grad-school, was on my team for a project in database design. We learned
together how to do the databases, and as a side exercise we also played around with how to
link databases with an Internet interface. Because this was in the late 1990-s and all the
Internet stuff was still relatively new we had a lot of fun with it. Years later Joe called me for
career advice. He had gone to a series of interviews but was getting desperate because there
was no job-offer. I asked him for the inventory of his marketable skills and it turned out Joe
had not compiled this list. So we went through the exercise and among the other things he
listed our school project - creating and interfacing databases with the Internet. This was
something he had completely forgotten about and it just came up during our conversation.
The very next day he went to interview for a Marketing Manager position and his interview
went just like all the others until the end. The interviewer asked if Joe had anything else to
add at the end. Joe remembered the list and gave a few items, including the
database-to-Internet skills. In Joe's words - the interviewer almost jumped from his seat.
Because of that 'minor' expertise, Joe was offered the job in a couple of days. His success
came only three days after we did his Inventory of Marketable skills. Make sure you let us
know how long it takes to for YOU to reap success from this exercise at:
http://interviewskillsuniversity.com/support/support1.php

#5 Neglecting to Investigate the Industry, the Job-Market, the Company

These days the winds of change are blowing through Healthcare, Automotive, Banking, and
Government to name a few. How about in the field where you want to apply? Are you familiar
with the latest industry trends? Do you know how these trends are affecting the job-market in
you area or the company where you want to apply? You should. So get on Infotrac, Google,
the Wall Street Journal - find the latest news, read the analysis, educate yourself. Putting
your job-application in perspective could be a critical strength that will put you in front of the
pack.

#6 Ruling Out Opportunities too Early

So this is a director or VP position, but you were a manager. You skip to the next one. Or do
you? Should you? You should read each job description carefully before making a decision.
Quite a few smaller companies are willing to give the right candidate a step-up if he or she
has the right mix of skills and attitude. In some organizations all the client-interfacing
employees are with the title 'Vice President'. Other companies avoid hierarchy by labeling
everybody 'associate'.

#7 Avoiding Job-Hunting Support and Services

The Job-hunt is a learning process and getting help from resume-writers, career counselors,
and recruiting specialists will only speed up and improve your chances of getting you to your
next job. Working with someone on your career will not only bring you the sense of
teamwork, it will enrich your perspective and ultimately will improve your end-result. In all
fairness to you - you don't need to just get to the next job - you need this done faster and you
need this job to be better than the previous one, no matter how good the previous one was.
So … email me at: Vlad@careerconceptz.com and schedule your personal consultation.


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Job-hunter on a Wire

Striking the right balance between needs, wants and opportunities can often feel like a
balancing act. On one side you need a job and while you are not too stressed out yet - you
kind of need the job sooner rather than later. Add to this sense of urgency the desire to get a
'better' job than the last one you had and it is already complicated.

Then you open the job-listings and there come all the possibilities. It can be mind-boggling.
You want one job, but just on this first job-board there are 50 listed. If only there was a way to
send your resume to all of them with one click … perhaps you should just post your resume
and wait to see what happens. Well, let me save you some time. Most of the calls (if you get
any … ) are not a good fit for you at all. Perhaps you will be this one-in-a-million lucky person
who will get the right call right away, but I am yet to meet a guy like this.

I am not advocating not posting your resume at all - by all means, please, do. Just don't stop
there and don't waste too much time, energy or hope at this. Your job-hunt is about how you
go through the process of getting your next job and posting your resume is a really minor
step.

Before you even get to the resume, we need to make a few decisions. Like for instance - do
you really want to get this job in Santa Monica, California? It sure seems a good fit, and …
Santa Monica is such a great place to live … Well, if you are not prepared to fly there for an
interview next week and move next month - STOP DAYDREAMING. Have you made the
decision to use this break in your career to relocate to Southern California, or Maine, or
wherever? If this is not really on the agenda then - GET SERIOUS! Stop wasting your time,
close the Santa Monica job-posting and let's talk shop.

You need a job, you want a good one and therefore the first thing you need to do is to narrow
down the opportunities by location, by industry and by function. Then write it down. This is
important - write it down. I want you to email me personaly at Vlad@careerconceptz.com
with the following:

"I will be looking for career opportunities in Healthcare, Financial Services or Publishing, as a
Senior Analyst or a Junior Manager with companies in the greater Kansas City area!"

You can substitute the underlined areas with your specific choices - only make sure you have
thought everything through and have a good rationale for each of the choices. Now if it seems
easy for you to complete a sentence like this - good job! Are you sure? If you email me this I
will ask you 'why'.

So what do you think you have done here? I will tell you - you have helped yourself sharpen
you career focus and you have saved yourself valuable time. Every time you come across an
opportunity in Orange County you are now much more likely to move quickly to the more
important task of getting to your next job. This is about keeping your balance and maintaining
focus throughout your job-hunt and you just learned how to achieve this balance before
anything else.


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The Hunter and the Hunted

A few thoughts on recruiters and how to use them without losing focus, and opportunities!

First - clearly there are wide ranging opinions about recruiters. A top recruiter and a friend of
mine once jokingly said: "Recruiters are like toilet paper - when you need them, they're very
useful. When you're done, you just flush them away. " This is not exactly the case,
especially with good recruiters. Good recruiters can be very helpful not just finding you a job,
but with career advice, or by challenging you to perk up your resume, cover letter, coaching
you for improved interview behavior and connecting you to opportunities only available to
them.

So if you are considering calling a recruiter it is worth your time to shop around and find out
more about the recruiter and the company he or she is working for. Typically working with up
to 2-3 recruiters would be most effective. More than 3 - you may start running into trouble. It
is not worth it even if you loose one opportunity just because two separate recruiters sent
your resume for the same position and by doing this made you look desperate.

Second - you still need to remember that recruiters work like any other consultant from a
management-consulting firm. They will defend their own interests. They want good relations
with you and they need even better relations with the companies, who use their services.
Because the companies are the ones paying the bill in the end - there may be some
disadvantages for you or even there may be 'hidden agendas'.

The best way to find a job is through your professional networking. It is part of the
professional experience to learn how to measure your exposure to recruiters. So if you haven't
done so already - go to LinkedIn and create a professionally looking profile. Then connect to
all your contacts that are already part of the network and start taking advantage of the
opportunities there. LinkedIn has established itself as a primary professional networking site
and I don't see this changing in the coming years.

Third - if you find a position that you like, DO NOT call your recruiter to learn more about it.
The recruiter has a vested interest to send in your resume and application, but he or she will
also send all the other candidates' resumes that are a good fit. So by telling your recruiter
you may have just increased your competition.

If you really are an excellent fit for the position - do not hesitate to apply directly. This can
save you time and the company will not have to pay your recruiter, which often would be to
your advantage when they are making the hiring decision. So remember - the only positions
you discuss with your recruiter are the ones he or she brings to your attention. (Sorry Victor!)


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Evolution, Revolution and Career Darwinism

So far you have learned two important early steps that are critical to your career success -
you've learned the importance of focus and how and why to do it and you have learned how to
deal with recruiters if you decide to use their services. Now we are coming to the actual
details of how to invent yourself as the impending #1 Choice for the recruiter for your
ideal next position. Yes - this is not an exaggeration - you will be hired and the reason you
will be hired is because someone will decide that you are this #1 Most Appropriate for the
job person. Despite of how you feel about yourself, your goal is to make someone believe
that you are The Best! So it is important to understand that this is what you are doing, this
is your goal. It is also important to agree with yourself that you are going to do the best job
possible towards achieving this goal.

If we are on the same page - please read on. If you need further convincing - please email me
at: Vlad@careerconceptz.com

The Hunt for the Interview

As I explain in my Ebook Instant Career Crash Course for Stellar Employment Success
(which you can download from Amazon) - the telephone is your primary weapon in the hunt for
a job-interview. Calling the people from your direct network is only the first step. After you are
done with your direct contacts it is time for cold-calling.

Speaking on the phone with someone you don't know can be a daunting task and the key to
doing it right is preparation. You need to know at least the position of the person you are
calling and you need to have a plan for what to say and what to ask for. In the case where
you have only a number, but no idea who is answering at this number, present your name
and the reason for the call with one sentence and then politely ask who you are talking with.

The best way to be successful on the phone is to script your part or at least write down a
bullet list of the areas you want to cover. Even after years, when I am on the phone, I still find
having pen and paper and jotting down notes very helpful. Preparing a statement for the
voicemail is also a good habit, because the recording will go on even after you loose your
train of thought or even say something silly or ill-advised.

When leaving a message, always remember to give your name and telephone number
(slowly, unless they are interviewing for an auctioneer position), the reason for your call and
most importantly - what you want them to do. In most cases you want a call-back, but if there
is something else that you are expecting - make sure you spell it out. All this should be
structured in a concise and clear message and this is why scripting it ahead of time makes
sense.

Who do you call and why? Here is your game plan. Every morning scan your sources for new
positions. Select the top 10 most desirable ones and for each one check out the company,
the industry, the department - everything that you can find out in 30 minutes or less. In the
process - come up with 2-3 questions that you want to ask before submitting your Cover
Letter and Resume. It could be technical questions - clarifying a point on the job-description,
or strategic ones - dealing with the long-term future of the company or the sector.

The best questions though would be the ones relating to the presumed needs of the hiring
manager. You want to find out more about the problems that they are trying to solve and then
you want to customize your application in a way that would directly suggest how you could
be the best solution to these problems. When you do this you automatically positioned
yourself in the best possible way and because you called with intelligent questions, you are
already present in the mind of the recruiter as proactive and solution-oriented. Candidates,
who go the extra mile even before submitting their resume, inspire confidence that they will be
exactly the same kind of employee - who goes the extra mile.

Of course - there is a fine line between being persistent and being a stalker. On any given
day there may be a number of companies that would not take your call. Some even put a
"No calls" sign on the job posting. Ignore it and call anyway. Just make sure it is a polite and
short business call - you want information, you don't want to apply over the phone. You could
speak with the hiring manager, with the human resources or even sometimes you may be
able to get the information you need from the assistant. In any case - try calling everyone on
your daily list and work first on the applications for the companies you were able to connect
with.

If you do the math of your daily schedule you would see that for 10 positions done the right
way - you would need at least 10 hours of focused work every day. A lot of smart job-hunters
make the mistake of assuming that because they have a stellar resume and a sharp cover
letter, they are all set and every employer they submit to should be calling them soon. Then
they are often surprised when for months nobody calls.

In order to be called in for a job-interview you should be able to position yourself as the best
possible fit and this takes time and work for each position. Cold-calling is an essential part of
this work so … pick up the phone already!!!


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Time is on your side if you are doing the right thing.

Some time ago I met the incredible mentor and teacher Dov Siemens. In his 2-day film
school, along with the "how to" of filmmaking I was fortunate to hear him talk about work
ethic. Here is a summary of the relevant for the job-hunter points that Dov made.

1. Thinking = paralysis
2. Doing = good sleep at night

You are writing when you move your fingers. Get used to doing it if you want to have
impressive cover letters.

If you are afraid that your writing will probably suck - let me save you the suspense: Your
writing sucks! There - now you know it and so you don't have to worry about it anymore. Just
move your fingers and remember the Hollywood motto: Nothing is written - Everything is
re-written!

Speaking of mottos - here is one last from Dov:

Stop talking, go to work, do a good deed every day and do not tell anybody about it. Learn to
work with God whomever you conceive him/her to be. Let the Universe work its miraculous
way of balancing things out. When you invest good deeds, positive emotions and honest
effort what you get in return is success. Remember it all happens in time and time is on your
side when you are doing the right thing.


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More from the Diary of the Former Job-Huntress:

Preparing for the Interview

There will be a few questions, for which you would need to specifically prepare for each
interview. One of them is the question about the company. Reading about the company, the
most important news, the annual report, etc is totally overrated and a waste of time. If they
ask you any questions about the company, it would be with one purpose only - to see if you
are a good match for their culture. I got asked multiple times the question why you want to
work for us or for this industry. The answer I gave had nothing to do with the recent financial
results or acquisition. They are looking for cultural match and that is what I addressed in
my statement. General characteristics of the industry, the company, the dynamics, the type
of people who succeed, etc. Surprisingly enough both HR and the hiring managers loved
those answers.

The strengths and the weaknesses are the two other questions I spent quite some time
thinking about every time when I had an interview. Different jobs may require changing those
statements (especially the strengths one). I would read the description again and try to
imagine the best possible candidate for that job. In the description of that person I would find
my strengths, which I would later discuss at the interview.

I also found very helpful watching some of the videos of the online "Mastering the Job
Interview" video seminars. It was very helpful for my self-esteem to just watch and listen how
a variety of top-notch MBAs from Harvard, Babson and other ivy-league colleges answer the
same questions. I realized they are all only human even though with a master's degree from a
top university. Their answers to the same questions I was facing also gave me some valuable
clues into the mindset of the recruiters.

The next section is the "can" section. Can I do the job; do I have all the qualifications for it?
Again, I would read the description of the job without any preset expectations. The biggest
trap I have been into was to start reading the job description and half way through I jump to
the conclusion - this is it and yes, I have it. Then I would go through the job interview and it
turns out to be a completely different job that I am unprepared to talk about and then I never
hear from the company again. A few of those and I realized the job description is not in my
mind - it is on the page in front of me and it may take a few very careful readings to
understand what I am applying for.

After I get the overall picture I go paragraph by paragraph and make sure that I have a
relevant example form my experience for each of them. This practice turned out to be
EXTREMELLY helpful and again it was something I learned from the online "Mastering the
Job Interview" video seminar. If there was only one thing I could do to prepare myself for the
interview, I would pick this one.

The "will" section is very tricky. It usually comes in the second or third interview but you
have to be prepared to answer this type of questions from the very beginning. Most likely the
HR person will ask the salary question and that one borders the "will" section. The "will"
questions refer in general to - "will that person be motivated and willing to do the job? Is this
a good opportunity for this person, what is she/ he looking for, what are his/ her priorities right
now?" If this is an "analyst" job and I have a "manager" position on my resume, why am I
willing to step down? Maybe because I am trying to get into a new industry, or I really like the
company and want to work for it. Or whatever your current situation is, just make sure it
makes sense at the end of the day. Because I really need a job is not a good reason.

I got asked a third group of questions for the job that I got an offer for: the "personality fit"
questions. My second and last interview with the hiring manager was mostly about these
questions. How I would describe the best boss? I answered that both my previous
supervisors fit the bill best and then I talked about my relationship with these people. What
do I need to work on? For this one I always make sure that is not on the list of required skills
for the job. What were the things that will make the working relationship successful? I really
appreciated that my future director asked those questions. That alone was already speaking
about her type of management and how much she valued the personal connection.

In all my preparation I used the DVD "Mastering the Job Interview" to do a reality check.
Every time I came up with a plan how to answer a certain question, I wanted to know what
the Harvard and the Babson and the Suffolk MBAs said, when answering this or a similar
question. I have made this DVD an inseparable part of my interview preparation and I
recommend it 100% as the single most important tool in my job-hunting arsenal.


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Special Note To the Career-minded Job-hunter

With “Mastering the Job Interview” You Get

*** Exclusive footage showing the best of the best from the top Ivy-league schools in actual
job-interview situations.

*** Authentic examples of the use of professional body language and gestures of actual
job-candidates.

*** Unique, top-notch strategic insights into the career culture at Harvard, Babson, Bentley,
Suffolk and Brandeis.

*** Effective demonstration of power-posture, confidence-display and other non-verbal and
body-language influence techniques.

*** Rare and precious guidance and instruction from distinguished career professionals.

*** Powerful content, usually available only to Career Counselors and Career Development
Professionals.

*** Exceptional Job-interview preparation that can position you ahead of the pack and help you
get your dream job.

*** Loads of outstanding, brilliant answers to the 12 most common job-interview questions.

*** Exceptional examples of how to come across as a confident professional in a subtle,
highly skilled manner.

*** Last but not least – we are so confident in our product that if you use it and don’t get hired
within 2 months, I’ll let you keep everything 100% FREE.


So here is what you do:

1. Get instant access to the full-video by clicking the image below. It is just $59.97
and you will get as a free bonus 3 of my career eBooks. If you are hired even 1 day
earlier, this investment just paid for itself.

2. Watch all the videos, read the eBooks, and write down all your observations,
thoughts, or questions. Focus on the non-verbal behavior. Write down who
comes across as confident and note what they do.

3. E-mail me. Once you are my customer, you can ask me any career-related
question at any time. Your success becomes my personal goal and I will work
with you until you get a job. Vlad's Email







I used Mastering the Job Interview in workshops with both our fulltime and parttime
MBA students … and they loved it! There were so many great learning points and the
students really connected to them. The vignettes prompted more discussion and some
students asked to borrow it. We will definitely use it again.

Jane E. Patterson,
Certified Professional Coach
University of Pittsburgh
Katz Graduate School of Business




Vlad: The DVD was very helpful. I used a tactic from it - suggesting to my new
employer that for a reasonable offer, I'd take the job. It worked! I got the job and
he gave me more money than I had been making.

Happy Holidays
Cliff C (Masssachusets)




I like what the DVD looks like. The good news is it has the same content as the online
video-course and you can get it on Amazon. I actually like the online video better, because I
can access it any time I want, without leaving my PC. You can get The Online Video
by clicking here and you can purchase the actual DVD from Amazon. Good luck!

Tanya Z (Kansas)