Out of work, first time in 20 years

[jhelgesen]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Wayner is not wrong here.

If you have short tenure positions reposition them as consultant gigs.

You are The Guy they picked to solve the problem no one else could.

There are variants on this but think S.T.A.R.

Situation, task, action result.

S. Their **** was broken

T. Fix their broken ****

A. Do some awesome ****

R. Their broken **** got fixed, they increased ROI by 10,000% and the CEOs wife started giving him head again so he dumped his mistress and everyone lived happily ever after

BLINK. Light bulb moment. I get it. Wrapping my head around this.

I’m the Wolf (for Pulp Fiction fans).

Wayner yep, looking forward to that call.


I had to laugh about this Forbes article. Mountain bike ride? Chocolate tasting? Hahaha

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marissaperetz/2018/01/31/here-are-the-subtle-tricks-companies-use-to-find-the-right-person/amp/

[KFC911]

Sound advice in this thread....been out of the game forever now but....use your personal, professional network to get to the hiring managers, avoiding the extraneous bs and HR entirely....the rest will take care of itself
Somtimes openings can appear when they weren't even looking for you....best of luck!

[wayner]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Because I love you guys I’ll share this little bit of secret sauce.

If you don’t know by now that submitting via online is an utter waste of time let me just say, it’s an utter waste of time.

Unless you are using key words and phrases directly from the job description in your cover letter and resume you are not even making it 2 feet past the submit button.

Put another way, if you are not customizing each and every resume submission just stop now, you are just wasting your time.

Here is how you get your resume seen.

Get on linked in, pay for a premium or job seeker account.

Search the company for anyone who works there, department or position does not matter. If you have people in common it helps but is not necessary. Lower level employees are generally better, you are not looking for the CEO but an ordinary shlub like you.

Get in touch with that person or persons, call, in mail, whatever you have to do.

All you want from that person is the name of the hiring manager for the position.

If they don’t know ask them to share who might. Work the leads. Ignore HR contacts, you want to bypass them anyway.

Once you’ve identified the hiring manager or decision maker FedEx that person your resume, tailored to the job description.

Everyone, without exception, will open a FedEx delivered to them.

Good luck.

Some good advice
Build your network

[Gus Berges]

John: not sure I can offer any more advice than what Wayner and Stomachmonkey have offered, but for whatever it is worth, I too am out of a job after having been constantly employed for the last 23 years in international sales. Unfortunately for me, it has been 5.5 months without a job and the future doesn't seem too bright as it stands now from a "corporate chasing" perspective. To further complicate matters, I am living overseas and the economy is in the tanks vs. a great run for over a decade, but wife is not too thrilled about the idea moving back to the States. I still have some funds to hold me over for a while, but will admit, it is starting to get to me....

[wayner]

John, you ARE the wolf
The fixer
You got this!

Gus, you are an awesome sales person. Sell!
Sell to the buyer ( the head and of sales)

Move into marketing
Find the next national sales conference and books yourself a seat in advance

Work the phones
Work your network
Set up meetings for the conference date
Establish your minimum and maximum for those meetings
Recognize each meeting as a step in the sales process

Your there to establish relationship
You follow up
If they don’t need you then find out who they know that does

Have them come to you

Good luck!

[Gus Berges]

Thank you Wayner. Been looking for such events, but have yet to find any. Considering going into the consulting side of things and see what happens. Gotta do something, I am not one for just laying around "doing nothing", plus, with three homes, two kids, and a wife, let's just say "life is expensive"....

[wayner]

Well, if anyone gets down on themselves remember this:
Last year I went from living in a nice big home on the river, with a happy family (so I thought)

By January I was sleeping in my truck in the depths of the Canadian winter for many months.
My home, my home office, and my wife were suddenly no longer mine.

I slept in my truck, I showered at the gym, I ate in foodcourts and coffee shops were my new office.

I'm back on track, and its not by laying around feeling sorry for myself, (although there was plenty of that)

Go get em. The opportunities are out there.

P.S.

Gus, if you can't find events, call buyers, not looking to be hired, but to offer them something of value, followed by some questions about what information sources they read, and what events they attend. DO NOT ask them for a job. Build a relationship and gather this information. You may simply call in the guise of a writer doing an industry survey

[asphaltgambler]

I'm all in with tabs and stomachmonkey............their views are in direct confirmation with what I've personally witnessed and gone through.

I'll share a little more with you regarding the hard truth - told to me via my consultant. BTW, I'm 58 - "Todd - it's not 1960's anymore. It's a World economy where your views and some skills are as antiquated as that. You are trying to compete with much younger people, who in some cultures, are raised from baby's to be soldiers of education / career....................that's the reality"

It's true.........

[wayner]

Rather than buy in to the doom and gloom, why not focus on the opportunities and constant reinvention??

[jhelgesen]

Seems that according to Monster, I’m highly qualified to sell insurance, and the recruiters are filling my inbox about it.

[Gus Berges]

I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that selling insurance could prove to be a very good business to get into. It is what I want to do, but family commitments make it very complicated to just pack our bags and move back to the States and do this. Since I'm a US citizen, I'm not allowed to sell insurance locally...

Regarding insurance: it takes a bit to get started, but once the cumulative efforts get rolling, then it gets to be very interesting. Recurring revenue on a monthly basis and you get to be your own boss!

[GH85Carrera]

I had only had 4 days of unemployment in over 45+years. I always worked for small family businesses. My last good boss died of cancer and turned the business over to his idiot son. He fired us all on a Thursday. Not one cent of vacation, sick leave or even the rest of the week. Just done.

It was a weird feeling the next day and not getting up to go to work after 45+ years.

One of the other former co-workers and myself just started our own business from scratch. We are starting over and kicking butt and taking names. When we get the contract signed for one client we will be buying two airplanes. We are ready to buy one for local flying already. We will need to hire commercial pilots to fly a Cessna 172 and they will build left seat time fast.

We laugh about maybe "accidentally" sending the insurance policy for two or three airplanes to the idiot son. Most likely we will just forget him life the mud on a pair of work boots.

[jhelgesen]

Lots of irons in the fire. Job sites are a bit discouraging, had a few screening calls but nothing further.

Consulting may kick off soon, meeting with a company tomorrow.

Might have some progress with another venture this week also, business startup. Be my own boss.

My therapy targa is getting great progress too, hope to get paint on her before the day job takes off.

[tabs]

You have that little empty feeling in your Solar Plexus don't you. It is knawing doubt caused by uncertainity.

[jhelgesen]

Originally Posted by tabs

You have that little empty feeling in your Solar Plexus don't you. It is knawing doubt caused by uncertainity.

No actually I’m excited that I’m using my skills for my own gain and ready to give they finger to the cliquey self appreciating online system of so called recruiters.

[jhelgesen]

Been a busy guy. Fixing stuff.

Most importantly I got a fresh coat of moss green on my carrera.