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How To Get a Job In a Bad Economy –4 Key Steps To Getting An Interview7 Steps To Nailing Your Dream Job
In my twenty years of sales, I have hired and trainedhundreds of salespeople. One woman who joined myteam was Cathy. She was in her mid-50’s and haddecades of experience in corporate America. She’dworked 16 years for a company when it abruptly shutits doors, so Cathy needed a job quickly. Cathy was aslow starter. She had a fantastic work ethic, and sheread motivational books every night, but she stillstruggled in reaching her goals. We took her under our wing and trained and trained her to help her getover the hump. She was struggling financially and hadwiped out her savings to stay afloat. After a year of watching her struggle with no improvement, mydirector and I decided to have a heart-to-heart talkwith her and help her find a “real job.”When I talked to Cathy, she said, “I know I need acorporate job, but there’s nothing out there. I’d beenlooking for a job for almost a year before I interviewedwith you.”I thought, “A sharp woman with more than 30 years of experience can’t get a job?” Immediately I knew why.She’d been going about it all the wrong way. She hadbeen conducting her job search the way 95 percent of Americans do.
 
Cathy sent me her resume. I “cleaned it up” andcoached her on exactly what to do. She followed myadvice and got a salary plus commission job within aweek! She’d wasted more than a year—her old way of looking for a job took her over a year with no results.What is the key?
Four Important Steps To Getting Your FootIn the Door 
Step 1: Know What You Want
Most people post their resumes online or tell a staffingfirm they will work for any company, anywhere, thatdoes anything. This becomes a JOB (Just Over Broke)—not a career. You’ll work there for thepaycheck and then quit within a year to find the nextbest JOB.The first step, as I explained to Cathy, was to make atarget list of 25 companies she wanted to work for. Itold her to think of companies that offered a productor service she was passionate about, companiesknown for stability, and relatively close to home. “Butwhat if they aren’t hiring right now?” she asked.“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Contact them anyway.”
Step 2:
The Resume
 
Nothing to put on your resume? No college degree?No significant work history? Guess what? I don’t havea college degree either. Yes, I am a college dropout.Guess who else is a college dropout? Three of thewealthiest and most successful entrepreneurs in theworld: Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Steve Jobs. I’venever been turned down for any job I applied. I’veonly had one interview where someone has evenasked about my education. In my two years workingfor a staffing firm, I can count on one hand thenumber of employers who had specific requirementsabout a college degree.
Step 3:
Who’s the Boss?
Every company has a generic email address toreceive resumes. It’s usually jobs@company.com or careers@company.com. The problem with submittingyour resume to these generic email addresses is thatit puts your resume in the company’s inbox with 5,000other applicants. Each company has a humanresources person or recruiter who sifts through thegeneric email box and looks at resumes. Find out whothat person is and send your resume directly to him or her. All you have to do is call the company and say,“Hi, my name is _______. How are you today? I havea quick question for you. Who’s in charge of hiring for your company for the ________ position? Great.What’s his/her email address? (confirm that you’vespelled it correctly). Is there a second person whohelps with the hiring as well? What is his/her emailaddress? Great. Thank you so much for your help.”
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