The Job Hunting Tool Kit: FREE, Job Hunters! Section 6

In all of the hard work and frustration of your job hunting,
HERE you have free lessons and exercises to customize to YOUR needs.

Enjoy this part of the copyrighted "Job Hunting Tool Kit I-IV", pass it along to friends but do not sell it, please.

Also, enjoy a really funny video for lesson 3Q, right HERE...

3I. The Unasked Test - Eye rolling

3J. Dealing With Your Ugly fish

3K. Lord Churchill - - You Are Drunk!

3L. Never teach a pig to sing

3M. IPS – How to Eat A Cow

3N. Informational interviews

3O. Failure is not a person/ I never lost, only behind

3P. Building Your Spirit/ Making Yourself More Interesting

3Q. The Big Battle lines: Frosting versus Cake

Love that eye rolling

This is my favorite because the unprepared fall for it

every time.

You are the employer for a moment... you have a job that requires a go-getter attitude and ability to do things and change plans on short notice. You want to avoid anyone who would utter the words “I'm not going to do THAT”. What to do? Use an eye roller! Most of the time the eye-roller is a job related test sprung on the applicant at the right moment.

So you have completed the interview and the applicant has begun to relax. Their guard, up for most of the meeting, is relaxed now and you may see the real person behind the well-rehearsed mask some wear at an interview. NOW!! HIT THEM WITH THE EYEROLLER!

Give them a job related test, simple math for cashiers, a written test with vocabulary the right candidate should know. THEN I LOOK AT THEIR EYES AND EXPRESSION!

Did you see them roll their eyes and sigh a ‘oh, not a test!' sigh? Well, they just told you how they deal with the unexpected. And they just lost a lot of their chance at landing this job today. Why hire the eye-roller when another candidate may enthusiastically grab the exam, welcoming the test as a way to show their skills?

Back to you being the job hunter... when an employer springs an eye-roller, like a test or a ”come with me on a tour” or “I'll bring in another worker for a moment”, welcome it and avoid the eye roller expression that can ruin a good interview in one second.

Making It Work:

What are some unexpected things that can be thrown at you in an interview? Make a list of some off the wall questions (like 'name six people living or dead you would invite to dinner tonight?’ what animal most resembles you?) or job related questions (what would you do in unusual situations at work) tests that can be dropped in front of an applicant.

Ask a friend to give you an interview, have them select a few from your list or come up with their own and remember yourtheir thoughts to your reactions. Remember, the eyes have it, eh?

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Taking a long look at your Smelly Fish

Everybody's got a smelly fish. The better you know it, the better you will be at getting him from ruining your life.

First, a story. A single mother was hoping to one day buy a house, but money was always a problem and her dream seemed far away. One day she went to visit a home for sale and was soon chatting with the owner about the financial troubles that she and her children faced.

The owner, wiping tears away, asked her how much money she had with her today. She shrugged and pulled out the $4.00 she had in her pocket. “SOLD!” he said.

The woman found he was not kidding and she accepted the house on the owner's one condition, that he would still own a hook on the kitchen coat rack. He was sentimental about it, and the whole house for $4.00? What could go wrong?

She was settling in when the former owner stopped in one evening. “Sorry to interrupt dinner, but I want to take a picture of the hook. Can you take a picture of me and the hook, please?” OK, no harm done - the house was a steal...

Weeks later, she was preparing a small party in her place when the old owner stopped by carrying a 40 pound fish.

“Yup, just caught it” he said as the fish dripped on the kitchen floor. “Just going to hang it up here on MY hook.”

She allowed it, took a picture of the man and his fish and was surprised when the man left the house leaving behind the fish. The former owner just smiled and said “I'm leaving it on the hook. Don't you touch it now because, hey, a deal is a deal...?”

Days passed - the fish remained there, stinking up the whole house. She was reduced to staring at it and saying “a deal IS a deal.”

*********

Folks, every deal you make and every compromise made carries the prospect that you will be left with a smelly fish. Is it the words you have to say to close a deal on a product you aren't sold on yourself? Is it the late hours or shift work that keeps you away from family?

A different kind of smelly fish pollutes your own self-image. What keeps you from your dreams? Down-cast friends? Fear of the unknown? A condition (physical or mental) you feel that keeps you from advancing? Best to take a good, long look at the fish you have on your hook in the compromises YOU are setting.

FREE HELP:

Employers can receive a large tax credit for hiring people who are members of certain “target groups”, (ex. veterans, disabled, single parents and others. Go to www.irs.gov and see if you are one of the Worker Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) targeted groups.

Once you know you qualify, make that solid first impression and when the time is right, tell them that the employer may get a fat tax credit for hiring and keeping you as opposed to other candidates.

Making It Work:

Draw a picture of the house you want to live in and in the middle of the picture draw your personal smelly fish...maybe it is a whale, or one with thorns and spikes; maybe it is really a lot of little fishes. Name the fish by the thing(s) that holds you back the most. Keep this very personal drawing aside and understand the impact that fish has on your life.

In your own time and your own way, figure how to lose the fish somehow and get it out of YOUR house...

My fish:

Lord Churchill, you are drunk

Lord Winston Churchill had a quick wit that helped him dozens of times. He had one famous encounter that helps with your job hunting.

One night he was at a dinner filled with the richest, snootiest people London had to offer. One woman was shocked (shocked I say) to see Lord Churchill having had too much to drink.

She shouted at him “Lord Churchill, you sir are drunk!” Winston turned to her and said softly but directly: “Madame, tonight I am drunk and you are ugly. Tomorrow, I will be sober but you, sadly, will still be ugly.”

The lesson here is that time and effort, painful as they may be at the time, can cure some temporary problems – but ugly stays. Churchill would become clear and sober again, but her ‘problem’ would remain. How about you?

Making It Work:

List the aspects of yourself that are ‘rust’ in that they are part of who you are and cannot be painted over or hidden. Be true to yourself –

• Are you a slob?

• Do you have trouble taking orders or correction?

• Do you get into arguments too quickly?

Make another list this time of the lessons you need in order to address the problems you face. What are the things that time and effort can get it done for you.

Now get to work solving it.

Never teach a pig to sing,

it wastes your time and annoys the pig

Somethings in life are just what they are. It will snow in my hometown every winter, dandelions growing in my yard next year and that the sun will come out tomorrow.

The important part of this is the lesson comes from this quote. I have faith and hope that with your tenacity and good sense you will land a job that brings you closer to your dreams. But, folks, there are somethings that you cannot change.

It is to save you time and energy (and sanity) I remind you that pig voice lessons are a lousy investment because outside of Hollywood and Charlotte’s Web, pigs have a terrible time carrying a tune.

Making It Work:

Time to bring out tthat beautiful Serenity Prayer:

“Grant me the courage to change the things I can,

Patience to accept the things I cannot and the

Wisdom to know the difference.”

You already have courage and wisdom (you are reading the JHTK series, right) Make yourself a long list of what frustrates you about job hunt. Please make it a long list.

Now break it down into what you can change and what things you cannot. Now review the list a second time and consider what you can’t change list again. With time, help, education, perseverance are there some things in your cannot list that can be changed. I could buy something to get rid of the dandelions or get in snow shoveling shape to prepare for the snow, making it less a problem. Like Little Orphan Annie sang “maybe what’s good gets a little bit better and maybe what’s bad gets gone.”

Now take your list of really can-nots, a pen and a roll of toilet paper. One by one, write down the items on your can’t list onto the toilet paper. Once the list is complete, one by one tear them off, sink them into the toilet water and flush them away.

How to Eat A Cow

So many things are happening to you all at the same time that it is easy to lose track and feel overwhelmed by it all. The best way I know how to deal with this problem is to learn from what my late grandfather said –

“The best way to eat a cow is one steak at a time.”

Hey , folks, you are facing ‘a cow’ in being unemployed or underemployed. You will remember years from now how you handled the pressures you are facing right now. Well, with apologies to our vegetarian friends, you have to bring that cow down to size.

One way is to label each of the steps separately, as is done in the Individualized Placement and Support model of job hunting. By breaking it down into its components, you may be able to have a greater sense of mastery and a better sense of how you will accomplish something toward your overall goals every day.

Making It Work:

List all of the parts of the job hunting process from your point of view:

• Preparing physically: Appearance, transportation, clothes, etc. so you present yourself as energetic.

• Preparing your message: Resumes, applications, Oz factors of you and the specific employer.

• Preparing your research: What are perspectives of each employer, issues facing the hiring managers for today/future, have you kept up with references?

• Preparing for the fine points: Ready for the unexpected, preparing for questions you may face?

• Add here any other preparations unique to your personal situation.

Informational Interviews

So you have tried your best to get interviewed but cannot get past the Bulldog.

Maybe you want to show your capabilities but cannot get through to the employers out there.

Or maybe you are trying to get a better understanding of the interests, points of view and Employer Oz factor, but you cannot find out.

One solution to all 3 of these is the informational interview. One of the best ways to find out an employer’s needs and point of view is to ask one. A great way to express to an employer your skills is to, well, tell one.

Getting that information and exposure can come through an informational interview. This takes some self-confidence to set one up but as with potato chips, once you have finished one you cannot wait for another.

Making It Work:

Practice setting up an informational interview with three companies in the field you want to go to work in. You may not get all three, but keep at it until you meet at least one.

You will need the following:

• Who, Where and When – Find the hiring manager at companies in the field you want to work in.

• How – Compose a letter asking to meet briefly with the person you have identified at their convenience whether or not they are hiring currently.

• Why – Well, what is YOUR reason? What is YOUR interest in the field – why THIS company or THIS field?

• What – Plan ahead, knowing specific things you want to learn about – especially in the point of view of the hiring manager: how do you select the right person? What directions do you see for the future?

The goal overall is to understand more about the field, understand the Oz factor of the employers you are hunting and when that is accomplished to get the word out about your skills.

Spirit 2

It is important to keep your spirit up as you face the challenges of job hunting. Earlier in the series we reviewed some actions you can take to feel more centered or to make your application more interesting, but in the fine tuning we are more personal.

Remember to feel a sense of gratitude in the gifts that you have – the gifts of the world around you and the gifts that you have to share with others. It can make a lasting effect on you to make an inventory of what you need to support your personal spirit.

Helping others toward their goals – whether it is helping someone with homework or joining a job hunting support group – can feed your spirit in a unique way.

Making It Work:

Let us address all three-

• Gaining a feeling of gratitude for the gifts you have requires that you make an inventory of these gifts. Take a moment and list gifts that you share with others - - the sunshine, 24 hours in a day and hope for the future for example.

Include the gifts that you have in the main realms of life – your physical body, your intellect, your heart and ability to deal with others, resources to help yourself financially and your spiritual gifts of faith in yourself, others or tomorrow.

• Make an inventory of what you need for supporting your spirit. This is often difficult at first and requires you to consider what faith means to you and how to foster it for the future. Faith in the future, faith in your being able to meet the challenges ahead.

• Help others toward their goals – give them the benefit of your experience, expertise and caring. This helps open things in your life that only come out in caring for others. At the end of the day you will gain a sense that someone else’s life is different because you were in it and know that this day was special to you as well.

Frosting and cake

My late grandfather used to enjoy warning me about seeing past the sweet words of salesmen or others who he called “all frosting and no cake”.

In job hunting there is a tendency among some hunters to sell all of the sizzle without having any steak to back it up. Employers are often concerned that they may be fooled by an applicant who is just all sweet words (frosting) without a foundation to back it up (no cake). The trick to it is to make certain that when faced with this the employer knows that she is getting cake after all.

How to do that?

First, make sure that in your resume, application and JIST cards that you are showing the cake. Detail specifics of what you can do – have proof with statistics, references who will back up the sweet sounding statements you make.

Second, the cake should be inviting to your audience – review the words about your accomplishments as related to THEIR interests (noted in the job description and all that you have found in research.) If the employers want angel food, avoid giving devil’s food.

Third, too much frosting makes the employer wonder how deep the frosting goes compared to where the cake begins. Avoid too much sweetness by keeping sentences short, resume easy to read and filled with at least some cake.

Making It Work:

Review your resume, application and JIST card in light of the cautions listed above and make the changes as needed. JIST cards? Bulleted points of your best qualities and qualifications targeting what the employer is looking for.

The Job Hunting Tool Kit

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

FREE, Job Hunters! Section 6 - Never teach a pig to sing, eh?

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