I keep trying to puzzle out in my head what people are thinking when they apply for a job they haven’t really ever done.
I want to understand it better to become a better recruiter, and so that I can give better advice to job seekers. But I’m not sure I can completely understand it because [...]
When I was a cadet at the USAF Academy I got to fly Cessna 172’s, a single-engine plane, for just long enough to solo plus a few hours. Too bad it was my only flying experience, because it was one of the most memorable, thrilling things I’ve ever done.
All of flying is tough…especially in a [...]
Imagine you have an old friend who owns a small business, and she performs some complex professional service for other businesses.
She’s phenomenal at what she does! When someone retains her, really does great. She has a unique perspective, incredible experience and personal habits that make her the ideal choice for companies that are experiencing the [...]
Fresh front line advice…
I’m back in the resume reading business this week…took a recruiting contract, so I’m poring over dozens of resumes every day, interviewing and watching hiring managers walk people through the hiring process.
A few thoughts from my first week for job seekers who trying to crack the code.
1. Think about what you’re NOT saying [...]
Last time I wrote about how our own limited perspectives and beliefs become cages that hold us back from our true potential.
Like some tired lion we live in these too-small places, vaguely yearning to be free, but never seeing how easily
we could get out.
Sometimes we see how flimsy other people’s cages are, but we usually [...]
I’m a visual kind of guy, so today we’ll draw a simple picture to illustrate one of life’s most critical lessons. (This is an exercise I first read in the book “PsychoCybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz a few years ago…good read!)
Get out a sheet of paper.
Now, around the edges, draw a large square box.
Now in the [...]
If you’re a job seeker today, you’re the Chief Everything Officer of a tiny entrepreneurial company known as “Me, Inc.”
Glenn Livingston, one of my ‘paper mentors’ as an entrepreneur has a mantra for smart entrepreneurs:
“Fail fast, fail cheap, and get to what works quickly.”
When I initially heard that, my reaction wasn’t positive. I mean, who [...]
(Hear the follow-up interview on eliminating fear here.)
In 2001, after 6 months of unemployment, I began to experience some pretty serious fear.
After another 6 months reinventing myself for a new job (and making lousy money), fear was turning into outright panic.
On Tuesdays (bill night at Casa de Birkhead) as I faced the stack of bills [...]
Maybe…
I hate that answer. Of all the things that can happen when I sell, the very worst is when the client looks at me, smiles politely, and says “I’ll think about it,” “I’ll get back to you,” “I need to talk it over with someone” or any other form of maybe.
From experience, I know that [...]
There’s a wonderful selling site called “Rain Today” that I found out about after buying a sales training eBook years ago from Jill Konrath, who’s one of the contributors to that site.
She’s brilliant at teaching people how to sell to corporations in a consultative, ‘truth focused’ style.
One eBook from this is called “10 Things I [...]