Step 2 in an effective Backdoor(TM) campaign is to research, research, research.  Did I mention that research is important?  What is so cool today compared to when I did my first backdoor campaign 20 years ago (which landed me a corporate position at MGM/United Artists without ever meeting anyone in HR) is the ease of research available.  Back then, to find out about an industry, or the people who make up that industry, you had to virtually prostitute yourself to the local reference librarian: nagging them for this source and that, digging through volumes of corporate information often years out of date, or screening your way through microfiche of magazine articles related to your research.  I did that.  Who knew it wouldn’t always be that way?

Today, any and all information on virtually anything is available instantly at the touch of a Google search.  It continues to amaze me that I can immediately find more than enough to research and dig as deep as I want about anything and anyone.  The “anyone” factor is huge as, 20 years ago, you knew virtually nothing about the folks in the games you wanted to play, save for a specific magazine article profiling them.  You were lucky to simply know, for instance, the name of the CFO of MGM/United Artists Pictures, much less where he/she went to college, what their previous jobs have been, or what organizations or causes they are affiliated with.

With social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook, along with the plethora of general information that a Google search will elicit, you can become conversational on any field–it’s current players, issues, and trends–or any person virtually overnight.  Be careful, however.  As we move into subsequent steps for an effective Backdoor(TM) campaign, you’ll realize that the personal information you gain about someone can be helpful, but don’t blurt it all out if you happen to meet them.  Kinda gives the feeling of a stalker, and not the best way to initiate a relationship. 

So, the crucial second being to research what is happening and who the players are, I Googled, LinkedIned, FaceBooked, and overall milked the cyber world for everything to do with my areas of passionate exploration.

RPO (Recruitment Placement Outsourcing)–This field didn’t even exist 10 years ago, so outside of the traditional headhunter role I was accustomed to and focused on for 15 years, this movement had come along without my notice.  My bad, but as I’ve said, when we’re focused on our job, we don’t always keep up with the whole industry.  I found articles, specific publications, and the names (and pictures) of the players in the field.  This gave me what I needed to have an intelligent conversation and a short-list of folks to begin personal research with.  Remember, you don’t have to know everything about an area, but you want to be at least familiar.

Outplacement–specifically the Big Three of corporate outplacement (Lee Hecht Harrison-LHH; Right Management Consultants-Right; and Drake, Beam, Morin-DBM)–This research gave me a sense of how throngs of laid-off folks are guided through career and job search training on a massive scale.  Again, I knew the subject area very well, having taught in it myself for years.  Yet, I wanted to learn how it was administered in a larger-organization, institutional kind of way.  Besides giving me the roadmap to the new relationships I wanted to initiate with folks in the business, it surprisingly highlighted many career colleagues I knew from past industry dealings who were now part of these organizations.  BINGO!  Foot in the door!

Academic Career Counseling–A little tip from a fellow career practitioner alerted me to another former relationship who headed up a major school MBA center.  This woman had actually attended one of my Learning Annex workshops 6 years ago when my first book came out, then a consultant with one of the outplacement organizations mentioned above.  Now, she was the head of career initiatives for one of the country’s biggest MBA schools.  As I’ll outline in the next step–meeting people–this one reminder of a former connection opened up a whole world of information and contacts in this arena.

Reality TV–Well, after all, I live near Hollywood, right?  If there isn’t information to be gained or people to connect with around that, who am I fooling?  And, that is exactly it: I was fooling myself.  For years I had held onto an idea of bringing career guidance issues into a bigger format such as reality TV, but thought I just didn’t know the right people or was too busy with other things.  Funny how setting your mind to something and taking it off the back burner causes all-of-a-sudden, out-of-the-woodwork synchronistic events to happen.  This is going to be JUICY!

More next time!  Stay tuned, and Always Keep Yourself In The Line of Hire!

I stated in my first blog, “In the Pool of Job Search?  Let’s Dive in Together!” that I would engage in my first “career campaign” in the last 20 years for two reasons: to create a “docu-drama” of using my tips in a real way (rather than simply teaching them), and to open myself up for opportunities outside of my current portfolio of activity to see what some pointed exploration in my areas of passion could deliver.

I committed to letting you, the reader, in on all of it–the good, the bad, and the truth on whether the stuff I teach really works.  So, I begin a series of blogs now to document what I’ve uncovered.  The results are very heartening.

Realize that before an effective Backdoor(TM) campaign can be pursued, however, there is some requisite introspective career-inventory and branding work to be accomplished.  This gives you not only the self-understanding of your own value and unique “essence” to make you confident, but also the written and spoken tools by which to fly your branded “Flag-of-Self” while in the game.  From my past work and understanding, I put those together easily enough for me.  So I begin this series with the assumption of those integral parts being in place.

(NOTE: These are trained professionals.  Do not attempt this at home without the proper foundations intact!)

First, I decided to use the backdoor techniques I teach to investigate and explore a few particular areas of passionate interest for me.  This is the requisite first step: to choose areas of investigation based on legitimate passions. To just go out and “look for a job” carries no deeper energy or meaning to enlist people’s attention or excitement.  Anyone can look for a “job.”  But to explore what ignites you, what causes you fascination and intrigue, not only gives you a reason to get out of bed, but actually makes a contribution to those you will connect with.

Yes, your legitimate, gut-based “ticklement” (the state of being “tickled”) in a profession, industry, or field of work actually makes a contribution to those on your path.  Why?  Because all of us need validation and re-ignitement in every aspect of our lives, be it our relationships, our faith, or our plans for the future.  Why would our careers be any different?

When an authentic “newcomer” comes along displaying intrigue in a field of endeavor we have made our way into (though not necessarily mastered), it can’t help but remind us of what got us here in the first place.  What were the elements of our own interest in this area?  How have we grown in it?  Where are we now compared to when we first came here years ago, wet-behind-the-ears like this newcomer who is coming to pick our brains?

So realize that the people you will be meeting in your campaign will experience a gift of introspection and validation when you truly come from passionate interest.  Plus, they will further benefit from your meeting with them because you are likely to have a good bit of fresh perspective to offer them from your recent research and other meetings.

Remember: they are often too busy doing the job to have the time or space to see the overall view of the field or industry.  If you’ve done your homework well of connecting with others in an exploratory, fact-finding way, you will likely come with news and angles they have been too wrapped up to notice.

So, Step 1 in an effective Backdoor(TM) campaign is to choose areas to explore which light you up and give you juice. The areas I chose to explore were some related to fields I’ve plowed in the past (to see what’s currently hot or not) and some new and outrageous areas of “dream job.”  Here they are:

Recruiting–specifically the area of RPO (Resource Placement Outsourcing)

Outplacement–specifically the Big Three of corporate outplacement (Lee Hecht Harrison-LHH; Right Management Consultants-Right; and Drake, Beam, Morin-DBM) to investigate how they do on a massive scale what I’ve done for years in one-to-one or smaller group settings

Academic Career Counseling–specifically to investigate how the academic world prepares its graduates in MBA and other programs (I sure know what I didn’t get), while at the same time exploring my own question of pursuing a graduate degree

Reality-TV–specifically to put legs to an idea I have nursed for years which would provide career-guidance education on a massive scale in an entertaining way

So, these were my areas of passionate exploration.  Tune in next time to follow this series in the evolvement of this Backdoor(TM) campaign…and remember to Always Keep Yourself In The Line of Hire!

You can see the host of blogs and articles at the links below, but first let’s talk about what you’re going to do after reading all this wisdom.  You’re going to take ACTION with at least 3 things you learn.

All the wisdom from all the career gurus on the planet won’t avail you anything without ACTION.  The problem many folks searching for a new job run into is that today, with the wealth of advice on the internet, they get overwhelmed and simply just do things the same way–or only slightly differently–than they have in the past.  Take on a commitment that today, just for today, you’re going to swing out and do something different.

Take, for example, why you’re going to contact someone today, whether by phone, email, or letter.  What if you didn’t even mention that you were looking for a job?  What if, instead, you authentically found a reason that you wanted to talk to them outside of your pressing need for a job?

Why do that, you ask?  Because you’ll stand a lot better chance of actually getting to meet up with this person, that’s why.  As much as you want to keep things quick and to the point by getting right down to the facts of your job search, telling folks on the phone that you’re looking and to “keep their eyes open,” you’re shooting yourself in the foot in multiple ways:

1. Whether you already know the person on the phone or they are someone you were referred to, talking on the phone is the most impersonal and ineffective way to ever really connect with someone.  People are social animals.  We travelled in tribes in cave man times, and in most ways we still do.  People need to be in the energy and flesh-to-flesh presence of one another for the unseen affinities to catch hold.  It’s these unseen affinities that you want working for you as you venture out to find your next great opportunity.

2. Telling someone you need a job, again whether it’s someone you know already or not, is the best way to ensure that you won’t get those face-to-face affinities cooking on your behalf.  Why?  Because they don’t want to be put in a position where they will be in the same room as a desperate person, and definitely don’t want to set themselves up where they might have to say the “n” word: NO.

Think about it: how do you feel, what are the energies it brings into your own day of challenges ahead, when you sit down with someone scared and searching, or even desperate?  Look, we all want to help each other, that goes without question.  But in challenging times, when you have to maintain your own sense of positivity about the issues you’re facing in your own day, you’ll tend to limit the amount of meetings that can put you into your own concerns.

Everybody out there is facing concerns all the time, good economy or bad, so don’t put people into the position of magnifying them.  Rather, find something other than the challenge you are facing (getting a job) to interact with them about.  How about a “research project?”

What if you found people to speak with who are in the fields and doing the things that interest you and simply created probing questions so as to learn more about that?  And, better yet, rather than simply rattling off a list of questions when you meet them, what if you got all of those questions answered inside of merely asking them to talk about themselves and their experience.

Now that is an effective way to job search.  You don’t even mention anything about needing a job.  You stand a way better chance of actually meeting people, and you ingratiate yourself to this person by giving them an avenue to validate themselves and their experience by being interested in them.  Always better to be interested than interesting.

Look, people aren’t dummies.  If you’re out there doing research projects in the areas that fascinate you, they can only figure that you must be considering making a career move at some point.  So you don’t even need to say it.  And, they’re also not dummies in the sense that, if they see something in you that could help them or someone they know (like a “job” you could do), they’re going to tell you.  So, you don’t have to promote “Hire me!  Hire me!  Hire me!”

Drs. Randell and Katharine Hansen asked each of us career guides to answer a simple question for one of their Job Action Day 2008 blogs.  We were asked to finish the question: “If you could offer one piece of advice for how workers and job-seekers can be proactive regarding their jobs and careers at this difficult time, it would be ________________________.”

Now you know why I said:

“Do something different from everyone else! Be contrarian. Everyone else (95 percent of job-seekers) will be looking to see what other opportunities are available through front-door means (e.g., ads, online job boards, headhunters, etc.). The best way to ensure your ongoing job security, in bad times and good, is to always build and nurture a career tribe through back-door means, which means building relationships outside of needing a job. If you currently need a job, that’s fine…you just can’t use that to meet people, because they won’t meet you! Nobody wants to be put in a position to possibly have to say “no.” You have to find reasons, such as research projects, to create the necessary willingness for people to meet you. … This method is not about tricking anyone and done well, can serve as the door opener to opportunities and entire career changes you would have never imagined. I know; I’ve done it and taught it for years!”

See all the expert responses at www.quintcareers.com/attacking_job_market.html and the one above, in particular, under the subsection entitled “Market and Differentiate Yourself.”

For the entire Job Action Day 2008 plethora of articles, advice and ACTION-able wisdom, go to www.quintcareers.com/Job_Action_Day/2008.html.

When you’re done, before overwhelm kicks in, make sure you write down at least 3 ACTIONS you’ll take, and remember to always keep yourself effectively In The Line of Hire!

NO no No no NO no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  NO no No no NO.  no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  No no no NO no no No NO.  NO no No no NO no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  NO no No no NO.  no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  No no no NO no no No NO.  No no No.

NO no No no NO no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  NO no No no NO.  no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  No no no NO no no No NO.  No no No.  no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  No no no NO no no No NO.  No no No.

No No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  No no no NO no no No NO.  No no No.

NO no No no NO.  no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  No no no NO no no No NO.  NO no No no NO no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  NO no No no NO.  no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  No no no NO no no No NO.  NO no No no NO no No No no NO no no NO no No No no NO no no No NO no no No no.  NO no No no NO.  No no no NO no no NO NO No.

No no no NO no NO.

Yes.

After the final no, comes the yes…and it is upon this yes that the future of the world (and your career) depends.

Look folks, there’s pockets of vitality everywhere!  You just have to find them.

A former career coaching client of mine, positioned now as a Chief Marketing Officer of a major regional company, told me that he needs to fill 14 professional marketing positions before the end of the year!  For a marketing professional looking to make a move, this would be a goldmine.

Obviously, if you’re using methods that are stealth and highly effective, you’re going to get to that yes faster…but you have to know that the yes IS OUT THERE!

Yet, if you don’t even want to deal with No’s at all, then learn the “backdoor method” of career transition, in which “no” is a foreign language.

Whatever you do, stay tuned and always In The Line of Hire.

Those six words carry much weight when it comes to the power of expanding your career networks.  Better to be building relationships in areas of your interest and passion on the side while you’re doing whatever you’re presently doing rather than to do “power crunch” relationship building when you’re pressed for an immediate change.

Easier said than done, sure, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a wise activity to build into your life.  Saving for the future is easier said than done as well, yet we all know the value in that.

What’s important is to remember, even in the midst of whatever current job or role you play in the world of work-service, is that things can and often do change on a dime.  Just look at all the financial industry folks wondering what shoe will drop next as the markets stabilize.  So, even though you owe what you’re doing now your best, it’s critical to reserve a portion of yourself for ongoing development of “what’s next.”

Incorporating a plan of ongoing career-tribe development, even if it means only adding one new person to the tribe every month, is like investing in an annuity that can and will pay off down the road.  What happens is, when the winds of change inevitably blow through your current situation, you are already intertwined and interconnected with folks who know you from your confident, powerful capacities…rather than meet you when you’re in the throes of the self-uncertainty that invevitably happens when a career rug gets pulled from underneath us.

Plus, when you develop relationships with people from the place of NO NEED, you never know what interesting opportunities or directions might come your way.  You just can’t lose!  You’ve already got what you’ve got…or something better!

But what if you need a change right now, and you didn’t already invest time in building your career tribe?  Well, you’ll still always fare better through a “backdoor” relationship building approach than putting yourself alongside the throngs of scared and desperate folks knocking on front doors.  Do your best, however, to keep the “need factor” from entering into your relationship building.  Look, if folks see something in you that will enhance them or their organization, they will let you know.  But you’ll meet a whole lot more people when you’re coming from research and exploration of your interests rather than needing a job.

One of my clients experienced this when I kept coaching him to drop the “need factor” during his backdoor campaign, which he did his best to let go of.  But it flavored the meetings he had with people and, to a great extent, probably slowed his progress.  After a bit of backdoor exploration, given the insights he had during our work together, he realized that he had come from a family of entrepreneurs and that he ought to give that a try.

So, he bought a couple franchises and starting enjoying a different lifestyle than his former corporate one.  Yet, funny enough, some powerful companies then came upon his resume floating out there and started calling him up.  Without the “need factor” in play, he literally could not beat them off with a bat.  They kept coming after him, offering him more, sweetening the pot, etc.  He saw first-hand the power of coming from NO NEED.

It is a mindset, and it can be accomplished…and should be if you’re going to have the most effective relationship building.  And relationship building is key if you’re going to always keep yourself In The Line Of Hire.

I use the word “campaign” when referring to anything related to landing a job: whether it be a 9-5 corporate position, getting a reality-TV show about pursuing purpose on the air, or booking speaking gigs.  It’s all work, and it all adds up to make our careers.  Keeping our campaigns organized and on track is as important for making career transitions as it is for these Presidential candidates expecting to get elected in a few short weeks.

I took on a few goals in my own recent documentary-esque campaign: to explore the world of academic career counseling (who knows…maybe I’ll pursue a PhD one day); to investigate a major industry that has impacted the recruiting landscape over the past 8-10 years, Recruitment Process Outsourcing; and to learn the breadth of services offered by the major outplacement services.

These are just the things I’m interested in.  What are you interested in?  The point is to always keep ourselves out there continuing to learn and explore our areas of passion and interest.  More information is always good.  Unfortunately, from my 20 years of career support experience, I rarely see people making moves from full information.  Rather, they wait until the last minute, and then need to take “emergency career management” efforts.

When you get a good sense of yourself, that unique “essence” you bring to everything you touch, and you’ve branded yourself memorably, then the “backdoor campaign” is ready to launch.  You’ll now be meeting people.  LOTS of people.  And it’s through those meetings that you’ll get all in the information you need and establish long-term relationships that will continue to support your efforts.

But keep track!!  That’s what I have to remind myself.  I’ve met a Community College President and a Dean of Students in their offices; I’ve connected with a corporate founder over the phone; I’ve had breakfast with an old friend who is now getting his doctorate, and I’ve sent out tons of approach letters (a very specific communication…definitely NOT asking for a job) to folks in other fields of interest.  Keeping track of it all is crucial to running an effective campaign.

If you’re like me, you’ll benefit from a special Word file that you open on your desk each day, your “Campaign Action Plan,” and chronologically list every action moving you forward each day: who you contacted, when you met, the thank-you note you sent, advice they gave you, places they directed you, etc.  Every morning, open it, update it, and add to it as you take the steps to get where you want to go.  There are more bells-and-whistles tracking methods, but this will at least get you by.

It’s the little follow ups that we don’t forget–when we’re “organized” labor–that move us forward.

Stay tuned, and always keep yourself In The Line of Hire!

I have important knowledge, skill, and talent to share.

I bring a unique essence to every situation I touch.

Someone I know really well spoke to me the other day about her plight in the job search world.  This is a person who, just a couple years ago, was earning a multi-six-figure income in the entertainment industry as a development executive.  Her job was spearheading studio development programs for films, coordinating the writers and entire project through to completion: rewrites, interface with directors, etc.  She lost her job due to studio restructuring, which happens regularly within entertainment as a new chief brings whole new ideas and people with him/her.

This is a person with specialized talents and skills for which she was paid handsomely for many years…and she was just recently turned down for a job at Starbucks.  Yes, Starbucks.  Simply because she called back the hiring manager in the morning rather than the evening of the day before.

What is significant about this as it relates to ego?  A lot.  First is the fact that, after beating the bushes in the tight-and-getting-tighter writing side of the entertainment industry–severely wounded with long-term scars from the Writers’ Strike early this year–she resorted to doing whatever it takes to keep herself out there, active, and pulling in a buck.  That’s Courageous with a capital C.  Kudos to her for being willing to be so humble.

It’s challenging when you have experienced a certain lifestyle that comes with being really good in a specialized field…and then seeing that specialized field shrink unexpectedly.  It reminds me of the recession of the early 90′s accentuated by the huge decrease in the aerospace industry due to a the disappearance of the Cold War.  There was a huge amount of human retooling and retraining put in place to support people to move on to something else.  But that’s hard when it’s almost all you’ve known your whole career.

I don’t have a secret, magic answer for the humble-ness that such economic or structural changes bring about.  Humility is a wonderful quality to be admired, but it sure requires a lot more than a spoonful of sugar to get this medicine down at times.  But, there is hope in knowing that it is possible to retool and redirect ones own career…whether it is government-sponsored like the aerospace restructuring or not.

A mouse in “Who Moved My Cheese” kept focusing on getting his goodies from the same location he had always counted on to provide for him, while his counterpart realized that new directions had to be taken.  Similarly, it’s important to realize that one must take one’s unique skills, talents, and gifts in new directions at times to see what other tunnels contain new and varied types of cheese.

When we count on our titles or our specific jobs as defining who we are, this limits our cheese.  However, when we can define ourselves by the unique “essence” that we bring to the table, we will be surprised by all the ways that individual essence can find outlets for expression.

So, the most important lesson in my friend’s situation is this:

How long will we keep focusing on the same tunnel for our career or work cheese vs. identifying the unique essence we carry that is transferable to a world of other cheesy tunnels?

More cheesy comments to come…and remember to always keep yourself In the Line of Hire.

When I truly consider the statement, however, it’s so true.  It is just another way of saying what I’ve said for years and promoted heavily in Headhunters Revealed! in a chapter called “Own Your Own Business.”  The advice was not about necessarily having your own private business but in operating, even as an employee, like you are your own business…and that you merely lease out your “employable assets.”  The idea is to keep yourself “at cause” in the matter of your career, rather than fall prey to the employee mentality that you are safe and secure and can, therefore, unplug from the world of other opportunities out there.  This goes for self-employed folks too.  We can build ourselves into a self-contained world that, though engaged in productive work or service, keeps us insulated from the world at large.

It’s not rocket-science to know that the only way to always keep ourselves at the cutting edge our unique talents and skills, using them to their max, as well as reaping the max from them, we must keep ourselves “out there.”  Only by staying abreast of the market in our own areas of passion, interest, exploration, or expertise do we ensure that our employable assets are best invested.

We would all move our money in an instant if we heard the bank down the street was paying 5% more in interest than the one we use now, right?  Same with our careers: we must stay abreast of what is happening in our fields so as to know that the time and effort we are putting in (our investment) is netting us the highest return.  And, the best way to stay abreast is to stay connected with people in our field, actively engaging and interacting with sometimes subtle/sometimes not so subtle “For Lease” signs posted on our career front-yards.

So, I titled today’s blog “Leggo My Ego” to deal with the internal voice that creeps up for everyone putting themselves out there that says “What will they think of me?  I’ll be judged and evaluated!”  That’s the ego talking.  The ego always wants us to stay “safe and secure,” doing what it already knows.  The ego is never for expansion, and is completely focused on avoiding rejection.  But, whether it comes after years in a steady job that’s grown dull or years of self-employment that could use some innovative new twists, putting ourselves “out there” as a matter of course, rather than simply a periodic event (i.e., when we need a new “job”), is critical to getting the most from the gifts we’ve been given.

In this “job search” experiment, I get to discover, on the court rather than viewing from the stands, what happens when one puts themselves out there effectively in a crafted and designed career campaign.  First there’s the self-awareness of one’s unique talents.  Next is the packaging and branding of those talents and skills.  Then, there is the active engaging in the art and science of backdoor networking so as to “stay abreast,” as outlined above.

Because all of our minds can tell us the most discouraging falsities, like “there’s nothing special about me” or “people won’t have time for me” or “opportunities are hard to come by,” I created a list of Career Transition Declarations years ago that I give my clients as they begin to make connections with people in their campaign.  This list takes the standard self-talk statements like above and shifts them to their polar opposite.  We get what we say, and we get what we think about.  So, I encourage folks to read these aloud morning and night (and any other time they can during the day) to place new seeds in the garden where the weeds of discouragement live.  Rather than focus on pulling out the weeds, which just come with being human, it’s better to just plant and water new seeds that will overtake them.

CAREER TRANSITION DECLARATIONS

I have important knowledge, skill, and talent to share.

I add value to the workplace.

I bring a unique essence to every situation I touch.

I am a worthwhile and sought after individual.

I honor and speak the highest truth about myself.

I proudly promote myself, because I am good at what I do.

My unique career essence can be expressed in multiple ways, and I discover more every day.

I easily open doors into my every field of interest.

People want to assist me, and I joyously invite and allow them to.

I am amazed at how much people want to contribute to me.

My job is to build and maintain relationships, and perfect employment takes care of itself.

I easily attract career opportunities I truly love.

These statements and others we invent can fortify us when dealing with the “mind” side of career transition.  Remember, the mind is a dangerous neighborhood you never want to go into alone.

Stay tuned, and always keep yourself In the Line of Hire.

However, in this particular side of the working world where you get hired as an “employee”–as opposed to a 1099 independent contractor, consultant, etc.–you have to justify your existence with a real, honest to gosh resume.  Now, that has been interesting!  Having screened resumes for years as a headhunter, having coached on the creation of them as a career coach, you would think one of those would be a piece of cake!  (And, I’m sure it was, compared to most folks.)  But after 20 years of self-directed, entrepreneurial career movement–recorded at most in what we call a “bio”–actually experiencing the question “OK, what have I done?” was sobering.

Thank God I had my notes from my own career inventory process that I completed 7 years ago still safely tucked away.  Since I had put my self through the same process I teach back then, when directing my efforts more toward coaching, I could still use the “essence factors” that I had arrived at back then…because those stay the same.

What are “essence factors?”  Those are the “special ways” about each of us that make us absolutely and positively unique from everyone else.  It’s the critical first step in a true career exploration: to learn what our particular “patterns” are that show up everywhere we go–be it personal life or business life.  I believe that there is an irrepressible essence that goes with us and colors everything we interact with.  That pattern, like the spots on a leopard, never changes.  It’s how we’re “hard-wired.”

When you combine such an introspective career inventory process with some testing validation (e.g., Myers-Briggs, Keirsey, etc.), you get a blueprint of who you are.  Who you ARE, not what you do.  And that, the who you ARE that you discover, becomes the basis of your career campaign.

Having found my old notes which described “who I AM,” I  the only other aspect I had to account for to create a resume was my chronological existence since the last time I constructed one.  Only 20 years.

Here is what I came up with…a two-decades-in-the-making resume.  It doesn’t format exactly right here, but you get a sense.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

·         Conceived, developed, branded and operated three career-related businesses over a 17 year period covering recruitment and staffing, career coaching, and entrepreneurial growth and development

Nationwide multi-hire recruitment highlights:

·         Staffed 40 positions nationally and internationally as the primary external recruitment provider for a paid local search portal, Microsoft Sidewalk, netting over $250K in recruitment fees over an 18-month period and special commendation by the Vice President of the company

·         Staffed 5 positions nationally as the primary external recruitment provider for a global commercial real estate firm, Equis Corporation, netting over $50K in recruitment fees over a 3- month period

Nationwide career coaching highlights:

·         Facilitated multi-location, Southern California executive networking seminars for 6FigureJobs.com over a 5-year period, resulting in excellent approval ratings and monthly coaching fees of $20K+

·         Conduct international, distance-learning teleseminars and webinars for executive and job-seeking audiences through 6FigureJobs.com and CareerGuy.com, graduating participants into effective career change campaigns

·         Conceived, authored, published and promoted an award-winning career book, Headhunters Revealed!, garnering major endorsements, nationwide reviews (Publishers Weekly), and the 2001 “Clarion Award” for Best Book from the Association for Women in Communications

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Owner/Principal, Permanent Success Partners/Hunter Arts Publishing        1991-Present

·         Conducted contingency and retained searches for Vice-Presidents, CFOs, Controllers, Sales, Human Resources, and high-level Administration professionals

·         Cultivated and maintained major clientele for individual and multi-hire engagements including, among others, Microsoft, America Online, Hunt Wesson, and American Express

·         Conducted international, distance-learning teleseminars and webinars for executive and job-seeking audiences through 6FigureJobs.com and CareerGuy.com, graduating hundreds of participants into effective career transition campaigns

·         Published and promoted an award-winning career book, Headhunters Revealed!, garnering major endorsements, nationwide reviews (Publishers Weekly), and winning the 2001 “Clarion Award” for Best Book from the Association for Women in Communications

Managing Recruiter, Carson-Thomas & Associates                                           1989-1991

·         Conducted contingency searches for placements for Accounting, Sales, Customer Service, and Administrative professionals

·         Supervised 5 Staff Recruiters and office administrative personnel

·         Responsible for training, development, and hiring/firing

·         As Staff Recruiter, won Top Producer 8 of first 12 months

Recruiter, Accountants Unlimited                                                                        1988-1989

·         Conducted contingency searches and placements for all levels of Accounting professionals, including CPAs, Controllers, Staff Accountants, and Payroll

Staff Accountant, MGM/United Artists Pictures                                                           1987

·         Tracked foreign release income for International Theatrical Distribution

Junior Auditor, Arthur Young                                                                              1985-1986

·         Conducted various audit assignments out of the London, UK, office, including entertainment clients such as Thorn EMI and financial clients such as Bank of Canada

EDUCATION

·       BBA, Honors/Finance/International Business – University of Texas at Austin         1984

CERTIFICATIONS

National Speakers Association

Certified Personnel Consultant

Certified Job & Career Transition Coach

Certified Career Management Coach

Licensed Spiritual Counselor

So, stay tuned and check in regularly and I will create a blog documentary, so to speak, of all of it: the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual process of getting a job.  And, I’ll share openly and authentically–even if and when the “rules of engagement” that I’ve taught for years fall flat on their face.  Plus, I’ll really do this too!  Rather than just play-act to get some surface-level experience of job-search in today’s world, without my butt on the line like a real job-seeker, I’ll really go for it: I’ll look for a job!  Who knows?  What’s the worse that can happen?  Maybe there’s something out there that could blow my doors down that I’m not even aware of.

That’s what I’ve taught my clients for years.  You just don’t know what is out there where your unique gifts, essence, and expression can make a huge difference…and where those gifts, that essence, and those expressions can pay off handsomely for you.  I’ve coached them to always have their “career tribe” at the ready, to keep them apprised of opportunities to best capitalize on those gifts.  Yet, the teacher must always remember to stay the student, and I haven’t put my own gifts, essence, and expression on the block for over 20 years.  So, besides testing what I teach, perhaps the world has a surprise for me.

My mentor, Dick Bolles, author of “What Color is Your Parachute,” says that everyone, even us entrepreneurs, even us career counselors, should put ourselves out there every so often to see what exists in the world of employment that could rock our world.  So, I’m willing to play.  Who knows what the Universe has in store?

The first authentic bit to share, which many devoutly self-employed folks like myself might relate to, is the whole circus-act the mind goes into when thinking of getting a “job.”  Having determined my own hours, my own (mostly) home-based lifestyle, and been responsible (good or bad) for my own compensation, the thought of losing control of those sacred cows is, at first, unnerving.  It’s a bit laughable.  The ego wants to say “Oh, I don’t do that any more.  That was before I became ‘independent.’”

The only problem with “independent” is, as I’ve learned after many years of idolizing the independent gurus out there, is that behind the scenes, independence has its struggles too.  I’ve seen lots of people who want out of a job, or out of the corporate realm altogether, so that they can experience their independence and call their own shots.  Yet, I’ve also seen lots of people who, having tasted their independence, want to get back where they feel safe, secure, and taken care of again.  Especially now, with healthcare as it is, one of the loudest moans of the independent is paying their insurance bill each month.  But, then again, ”security” is not a word spoken in corporate circles as in days past.  I’ve heard it said that if you go for security over freedom you lose them both.

Anyway, that is the first aspect of job search to embrace: the whole ego side…including independence vs. security, self-concept, self-esteem, and self-awareness.

This will be interesting!  Stay tuned!