Ask the Headhunter

by Nick Corcodilos

Ask The Headhunter, by Nick Corcodilos, speaks to your readers with candor and humor. Each week for more than a decade, Nick's job-hunting tips and concise answers to tough questions have earned him a loyal readership.

In addition to the weekly Q&A format, Nick gives readers a voice of their own with his Headhunter's Challenge section of the feature. Nick poses a challenging career scenario and offers your readers a multiple-choice quiz. Readers can then visit your Web site, where they can vote, track results in real time and read more of Nick's expert advice and commentary.

Samples

ASK THE HEADHUNTER by Nick Corcodilos

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO NETWORK?

Q: Everyone talks about networking as the best way to find the right job. There must be a key to this approach, beyond just going to "networking meetings" and signing up with one of those "online social networks." What advice can you give me about how to do it right?

NICK'S REPLY

You have no doubt been to networking events where people spend a minute apiece with you, and then expect that you will introduce them to your closest business buddies. Such gatherings have gotten a bad reputation because they can be mercenary and impersonal.

The new, online social networks are even more problematic. You sign up, add the names of your co-workers, former employers and friends, and the network links you to other members with similar backgrounds. But while these networks create lots of connections, there is no emphasis on the quality of those links.

And that's the key: the quality of relationships. Having good contacts is more important than having lots of them.

Good networking has three key ingredients. First, it requires common ground. People must have something to share that is useful to others. The best place to start is with your work. Identify people who do the work you do (or want to do), then e-mail them, call them and meet them.

Second, good networking is sustained by value. What can you do to either help or genuinely engage another person? How about a tip that will enable her to be more productive? Or you can ask honest, sincere questions about the work she does, to draw her out.

Third, good networking takes time. Trust grows between people through repeated good experiences. Once I trust you, I'll draw you into my circle of friends -- and that's where valuable job referrals come from.

The best way to become well-connected is to meet and stay in touch with people in your business who are good at what they do. Don't go to them when you're job hunting. Establish the kind of reputation that makes them want to come to you when they learn about a great job.

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THE HEADHUNTER TIP

The most important question in an interview.

Career books trip over one another claiming they can tell you what the top 10 interview questions are. There is just one question that matters in a job interview, and proof of its power lies in the fact that it's the most important question whether you're the employer or the candidate:

"Would you like me to take a few minutes at your whiteboard to outline what I think are the challenges and problems you're facing in your business today, and then show you a brief plan for how I would tackle them to make your department more profitable?"

An employer can easily turn it into a request of the job candidate.

How you're going to do the work is the most important question in an interview. If you can't answer that one, the rest of "the top 10 questions" don't matter.

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THE HEADHUNTER CHALLENGE

The best way to hunt at a job fair.

You're going to a job fair. Being prudent, you carefully plan your time to maximize the chances of landing a good job. What's the best way to hunt for a job at a job fair?

POLL

1. Visit all the employer booths and distribute as many resumes as possible.

2. Gather all the business cards you can. What counts is the number of contacts you take home.

3. Spend time only with hiring managers, not personnel representatives.

4. Don't bother with job fairs. They're largely a waste of time.

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NICK'S COMMENTARY

Going to a job fair is like trolling bars to meet someone for a serious relationship. You might get lucky, but not the way you'd like. Here's the problem. Both job fairs and bars present a forced-choice situation, where you're limited to the pool of options that's presented. You have little to say about who is among those options. You're mainly wandering around trying to find something that might make you happy. You're likely to settle rather than select. Worse, you're advertising yourself as overly eager and somewhat desperate. In other words, you are likely attracting questionable prospects.

So randomly handing out lots of resumes and gathering business cards is likely to be futile, or it may distract you with an "opportunity" you don't really want.

Some people go to job fairs specifically to meet a certain company. The job fair seems to be a convenient way to cut through the want ads, the resumes and the waiting. But there's often a price to be paid for this seeming convenience. The circumstances and the environment can have a profound effect on the outcome of the encounter.

To continue our dating analogy, think about the difference between (a) introducing yourself to a stranger in a bar, and (b) getting introduced at a casual get-together at a mutual friend's house. You will be viewed and received differently in each case. In the bar, anything you say is regarded suspiciously as a pickup line. At the friend's house, you're more likely to get a friendly, inviting response.

So even if you find the company you want at a job fair, you're the too-obviously available job hunter, and the employer behind the booth has your number before you've opened your mouth. Booths are usually manned by personnel reps. You're not very likely to meet a manager. Even if the manager you've always wanted to work for is sitting behind one of those recruiting tables, you'll probably be treated very differently than if you were introduced by a mutual associate over lunch -- or, better yet, in a work-related setting. At a job fair, the employer is always in the position of control.

Now let's take our analogy to a worrisome extreme. In the bar you might run into someone you're dating who is quite surprised to see you on the prowl. At a job fair, you could run into a customer who reports seeing you back to your boss. Are you willing to take that risk?

If you want to search for a job in a hall full of people, make sure the other attendees are not your competition and that your target company doesn't have the upper hand. Consider an entirely different option. If you want to hunt for a new job in a large group of people, go to industry seminars, training workshops, association meetings and product shows. These are places where you can meet the right people and emphasize your talents rather than your availability. You have much more control in such a professional setting. Few job fairs offer that kind of opportunity.

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Write to Nick at P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833 or www.asktheheadhunter.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 NICK CORCODILOS

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