Summary of the book 'Highly Effective Job Search', by Orville Pierson

Chapter One: The Pierson Method

Or, Why Orville is Qualified To Tell You How To Find A Job

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Chapter Two: The Job Search Project

A job search should be a work project. You should create a plan, and use metrics to measure progress. Job hunting is a numbers game, and it will take a lot of contacts to find a good job.

The Project Plan

Start by creating a project plan. This consists of a Professional Objective, Target Market, and Core Message.

1. Professional Objective - What kind of work you want. Should be as specific as possible.
2. Target Market - Who employs people in the type of position you are interested in? This will eventually be your 'Target List'.
3. Core Message - Why you are well qualified to do the work defined in your Professional Objective. Should be focused, and written for Desicion Makers in your Target Market. Your core message will be the information you use on your resume and in interviews.

Implementing the Plan

Talking to people is the best way to get a job. Talk to Insiders (those who have positions at your level) and Decision Makers (those who make hiring decisions for the positions you are looking for). It is a good idea to talk to Decision Makers before they have a job opening. Remember to follow up with decision makers to stay on their 'short list'.

Measuring Progress

Having a bad week at a job search often makes people slow their job search. Having metrics that show progress being made is a great way to avoid this slump. These metrics should be numerical, and often have to do with the number of contacts you make that week. These measurments can be used down the road to refine your Project Plan.

Summary

Know what you're looking for -- both jobs and organizations -- so you can make a proactive plan, and then measure your progress to see if you're on the right track.

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Chapter Three: Why You Need Progress Measurements

The Five Barriers to Productivity

Most people looking for a job spend very little time on the job search. Two-thirds spend five hours a week or less. The reason for this is that they don't have any measurments, so they don't know if they are making progress. The five major barriers to productivity are:

1) The Rejection Syndrome

Rejection leads to discouragement, which leads to low productivity, which leads to more discouragement. This can eventually cause someone to stop looking all together.

2) Emotional Stress

Financial pressures, emotional reaction to being unemployed or in a bad job, etc. all lead to emotional stress, which can lower productivity, and can also lead to 'negative communication', which can severely impair your ability to perform a job search.

3) Working Solo

It is hard to manage your time without the orgaization normally associated with work. No regular work hours or deadlines, no coworkers to encourage you or bosses to breathe down your neck. Finding or creating a team of job seekers is a great way to overcome this and other problems with motivation.

4) Lowered Self-Esteem and Confidence

Related to Emotional Stress, this can lead to negative communication, which is poision in a job search.

5) No Plan or The Wrong Plan

Obviously this book is related to fixing this...

Overcoming the Barriers

The trick is understanding these obstacles, and keeping measurements of how your search is going in order to have an objective view of your progress.

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Chapter Four: How Hiring Really Happens

The Decision Maker

The Human Resources Department may help the Decision Maker in the hiring process, but the person who will be your next boss is always the person who has the final say.

The Three Ways Hiring Happens

1) The Applicant Pool (accounts for ~25% of hirings)

The process:

• There is an opening
• A pool of candidates is collected and screened
• The Decision Maker interviews the top candidates
• The Decision Maker selects one of the candidates

Managers use this technique because:

• They have to (company regulations)
• The other two scenarios don't work for them
• They want to have a wider variety of choices (foster diversity, etc.)

Resume is King

• Hundreds (or more) candidates may be vying for the position
• Applications may be screened by non-technical people based solely on keywords
• Any mistakes or worrisome information can cause a resume to be rejected

2) The Created Position (accounts for <5% of hirings)

The Process:

• You identify organizational needs
• You discuss those needs with a Decision Maker
• You suggest meeting those needs by creating a new job
• The Decision Maker creates the new job and gives it to you

This happens when you know enough about an organization to convince a Decision Maker that creating a new position for you would be beneficial to the company. It doesn't happen very often, but could be the route to an ideal job, one built specifically around your qualifications and interests.

3) Tapping a Known Candidate (accounts for ~75% of hirings)

The Process

• The Decision Maker knows some qualified people
• A position opens up
• The Decision Maker hires one of the known candidates

It's easy for the Decision Maker, doesn't cost much money, and results in a more 'trusted' employee (since it is someone the Decision Maker or a friend of the Decision Maker knows). It also lets the DM know more about the person't personality, since there is probably more interaction than in a formal interview. A nice, excited candidate is better than someone with more experience who doesn't care and is hard to work with.

Focusing on the Decision Maker, Not The Opening

In most cases (Cases 2 and 3), contact with the DM is made before there is an opening. Since all decision makers will eventually have to fill a position, and you (and they) probably do not know ahead of time when this will be, it makes sense to focus on contacting as many DMs as possible, and getting your name in their 'known candidate' pool.

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Chapter Five: Your Project Plan

The project plan is essentially a marketing plan -- how to get your message to the right people in the most effective and powerful way. It has three parts:

Professional Objective

• Answers the question 'What type of work do you want to do'
• It is NOT a personal objective -- such as 'a secure, high-paying job in a growing organization'
• Could be a job title (Software Engineer), or a cluster of job titles (Marketing Management, Customer Relations)

Your professional objective focuses your search. It gives you a quick answer to tell people what type of work you are looking for, and helps you write your resume in a clear way.

Target Market

Answers the questions:

• Which organizations do you want to work for?
• Who hires people to do the kind of work you want to do?

Factors to Consider:

• The geographic location of your targets
• The industry or type of organization you want to join (government, private, specific industry, etc.)
• The size of the organization you want to join

Your target market will eventually be turned into your target list. This prepares you for a proactive job search, because you know what companies have Decision Makers you are interested in talking to. It makes sure you don't leave out possible employers, and lets you check that your personal job market is big enough. It is also the key in finding a job with an employer you want to work for. Your Target List will become the focal point of your job search as you pursue leads at the top companies on the list.

Core Message

Answers the questions:

• What will you say about yourself to Decision Makers in your Target Market?
• How will you describe yourself in one minute?
• What can you honestly say about yourself that will convince Decision Makers in your Target Market that you are a good candidate for the objective you are pursuing?

Your core message provides the evidence that you can do the work proposed in your Professional Objective. You must make sure you know what the DMs in your Target Market are looking for -- what are the skills or experiences that mean the most to them when they are filling a position you are interested in? You will use this in writing your resume and during interviews. You will also use it as a message to everyone you network with -- a consistent message about your skills is important (think about it as branding yourself, like Volvo branded itsself as a 'safe' car)

Conclusion

Your Project Plan is a definition of what success looks like, and a road map of how to get there. A job search is similar to marketing in many ways -- you both have a valuable product and a list of potential buyers -- but in marketing, the objective is to sell as many items as possible to whoever will buy. In a job search, you want to make sure you sell to the right person, since you'll only be doing it once.

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Chapter Six: Choosing Your Next Job

Do you want a job similar to what you had before? Something with a little change? A whole new direction? If you want a big change, think about taking small steps. Find a company where you can slowly transfer from your old position to a new one. If you're just unhappy at work, try to take an unbiased look at what is wrong, and try to fix it within your own organization first.

Three Key Areas in Creating Your Professional Objective

Your Interests

What are you interested in? Not everyone is truly passionate about their work -- for many people the greatest passions in their lives will be outside the workplace. However, it would be good both for you and your employer if you were at least interested in the work you are going to do.

Your Skills

When an employer looks at your experience and job titles, he or she is trying to discern what skills you possess. Most job seekers understate their skills, because they have learned them on the job, and haven't had someone tell them the skills they have learned.

*Skills Inventory*

Creating a skills inventory can help you decide what type of work you want, write a better resume, and have a more successful interview. To create a skills inventory:

• List all contributions you have made to a job, large and small
• Concentrate on contributions you enjoyed making
• List the skills needed for each contribution
• Group your most frequently used skills into three to five categories
• Have a friend help you list skills if you get stuck
• Be able to talk about your skills and how they qualify you for your Professional Objective

Your Values

Although not talked about often, your values affect what you find fulfilling and what you would object to doing. It is important to see if your job and objectives are aligned with your values.

Your Personality

It is important to be able to be yourself at work, and often employers are looking as much for a certain personality for a position as they are for relevant skills. Are you extroverted? Introverted? Multitasker? Detail-oriented?

Your Long-Term Career Goals and Life Plan

Make sure that your Professional Objective is a step in the long-term direction you want to take. Think about what your life will be like -- do you want to be traveling a lot? Where do you want to work?

Your Mission, Purpose, or Vision

Do you feel like you have a 'purpose' in life? If so, then this is obviously important to consider in finding a job. For this type of person, starting with that mission and working backwards to find out how to achieve it is of the utmost importance.

Professional Objective

Your professional objective should be one sentence or less, and should clearly define the type of work you are looking for. It should not be too narrow, though -- a job title is probably too narrow unless it is a position held at many companies.

Interests are the best place to start when choosing a professional objective. Choose something you are (at least mildly) enthusiastic about. Then figure out how it fits with your skills, and how it affects your long term goals. If your ideal job isn't practical at the moment, what job would move you in the right direction? Or, find out the key areas of your dream job that excite you, and see if there are other jobs that would give you the same feeling.

If you are making a large career change, it is important to do some 'career exploration' and make sure you understand what working in your new type of job would be like. See if you can visit someone in the new field at their workplace.

Either/Or's

To help you narrow down what type of work you would enjoy, try this list of either/or's:

• Working with people/data/things?
• Alone or with others?
• Academic, government, not-for-profit, or business?
• Doing a variety of tasks of focusing on a few tasks?
• Creative or practical?
• Involving analysis and logic or empathy and compassion?
• Indoors or outdoors?
• Involving decision making or requiring spontaneity?
• Physical or mental?
• Travel or not?
• Team member or solo performer?
• Artistic, administrative, or neither?
• Social service, "hands on", or neither?
• Scientific, business, or neither?
• Management or individual contributor?

Building the Case

Do you have experience in the type of job defined in your Professional Objective? How can you show how well you did that job? If you have not done exactly this type of work before, do you have transferrable skills, or education credentials that show you can be effective in this position?

Other Resources:

• Career planning books
• Discussions with knowledgeable people
• Inventories, instruments, and informal questionnaires
• Career counseling

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Chapter Seven: Your Target List

Just as the type of job you are applying for dictates what information you put on your resume, who you are writing a resume for should influence what is on that resume. You want to speak to the Decision Makers in your Target Market. Having a Target Market and Target List will help you to focus on the audience you are writing your resume for. More than that, though it will help you focus your proactive search on companies that employ people in positions you are interested in.

Creating Your Target List

The first step should probably be to talk to your local librarian. Not only do they have an excellent knowledge of available databases and other resources, they may have access to expensive paid databases you will not have direct access to. Try to come up with a list of around 40 organizations. If you are having trouble, start with just five or ten, and ask around.

Databases

The easiest and fastest way to find potential employers is through a database.

Databases (expensive)

• Dunn & Bradstreet
• Standard & Poor's
• LexisNexis?

Databases (free)

• Hoover's
• other smaller, more specialized ones

Directories in Print

It is almost certain that a print directory exists for your target market. Talk to your librarian. You can also look at directories of directories, such as 'Directories in Print' by Gale Publishing. The local Chamber of Commerce may print an excellent directory available at your local library.

Asking Around

If you are having trouble finding organizations for your Target List, or even if you think you have plenty, ask around. The people you talk with may have knowledge of specific companies, or directories that list companies. They may also help you think of industries or areas you had previously overlooked. Their advice is usually more up-to-date than a directory, and you are also making contacts that may come in usefull later in the job hunt process.

Gathering Information about your Target List

There are two types of information about an employer:

• Information that helps you decide if you want to work there
• Information that helps you get a job there

Sources of Information

• Check their web site -- They may have information about careers and needs, mission statements, etc., as well as information on how to get their printed materials.
• Read their publications -- Sales brochures, printed material, and the required annual report for public companies
• Read articles about them -- Look for newspaper articles or third-party information online
• Ask around -- A great way to find out about companies, as well as to research them
• Talk to an insider -- Whenever possible, talk to a current or former employee

Questions to Ask

• What do they do?
• How do they do it?
• How well are they doing?
• What is it like to work there?
• What do they expect from their employees?
• How do they treat employees?
• What do they pay for the kind of work you want?
• How can you help them?
• Whenever you can, ask for:
• An introduction to an insider, someone who works there
• Your Decision Maker's name, and an introduction to them

Prioritizing Your Target List

It is important to prioritize and update your list so that you can concentrate your effort on those companies you want to work for, and are constantly updating, adding, and removing companies as you find out more about them. Choose top targets because:

• You like them
• They have more people employed in the job titles you want
• They are well-run and successful

Make sure to keep talking to people about your Target List, and stay away from the 'who is hiring' question, and probably stay away from your resume all together.

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Chapter Eight: Your Core Message

Your core message is what you will say about yourself to Decision Makers, Insiders, and anyone else, in a formal or informal setting. You will use it to write your resume and in interviews, but also at social functions. Your message needs to be strong and completely positive.

Leave Out The Negatives

The core message you give to friends and aquaintences will eventually be repeated to insiders and decision makers, so what you tell everyone needs to be completely positive. Don't say anything bad about your current or past employer, or your situation at work. Focus on what you do well and what you can bring to a potential employer.

Focus on Your Professional Objective

All parts of your core message should be focused on showing that you are well-qualified to do the work described in your Professional Objective. Decide the main skills you want to hilight, and find stories to illustrate your ability in these areas. As well as describing the skills that are necessary for a position, include what your specialties are, and what makes you unique and uniquely qualified.

Your Core Message Guides All of Your Communications

• Resume -- your resume is your core message in writing.
• Search Conversations -- practice your core message as a two-minute, one-minute, and 30-second speech. Practice it so it doesn't sound 'canned', and tell it to everyone you talk to.
• Job Interview -- gives you the chance to expand on your core message with accomplishment stories

Creating your Core Message

1) Create an Accomplishment List

• Think of at least 10 accomplishments at work where you did something well, were proud of it, and enjoyed doing it
• Make a list of skills demonstrated by each accomplishment
• Consolidate and organize the list into three to six skill categories

2) Illustrate Each Skill Area With Accomplishment Stories

Keep the list of accomplishment stories, and refine them. Each can be titled "The time when I...". They may be 'above and beyond' stories, or just an example of you doing your job well. They could relate to quick decisions, in a meeting or on the phone, or long-term projects. Always end with a statement of results and how it helped the company.

3) List Your Strongest Qualifications

Your strongest qualifications are probably in one of the following categories:

• Experience and Skills -- use your accomplishment stories
• Education and Credentials
• Personal Characteristics -- usually based on Decision Maker or someone they know meeting you
• Motivation -- may be demonstrated by asking about performance-related incentives, and by accomplishment stories and references
• Interest (Your Trump Card) -- A strong, genuine interest is important, and can be displayed by the background work done to get a meeting with a Decision Maker before there is an opening.

4) Consider Your Liabilities

If possible, talk to Decision Makers about what liabilites they may percieve in you. You can either target companies that do not see this as a liability, or develop a response, and use it proactively, even if the DM doesn't bring it up. Also be sure to see if your liability can be viewed as an asset.

5) Refining your Core Message

As you learn more about your Target Market and how Decision Makers in your field think, refine your stories. Remember to think like a Decision Maker. Also practice giving your core message -- out loud, in emails, etc.

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Chapter Nine: How Many Fish Are in That Pond?

Fallback Plans

Having a 'fallback plan' of looking for a different Professional Objective or Target Market if your first choice doesn't work out is a bad idea, because you can't quantify how long you should look before going to your fallback plan, after which the initial time is wasted. Pursue both concurrently, and the worst result is an early offer from your fallback plan, which you can reject. Most of the time, though, running a dual campaign is a bad idea -- stick to a realistic goal you can be happy with, and go for it.

Reality Check (Target Market)

To make sure your target market is large enough, you need to do a reality check. You should make sure that you have ten to fifty job openings each month. If you have less, expand your Target Market. If you have more than fifty, it would be a good idea to refine your search. To calculate:

• # of job openings per month = (number of companies * average number of positions per company) / average number of months an employee stays in a position

If there are not enough job openings, you can expand your Target Market by:

• Enlarging the geographic area
• Expanding your professional objective
• include additional industries or types of organizations
• Redefine the size of desired organizations

Reality Check (Qualifications)

It is important that you are actually seen as qualified for your Professional Objective by Decision Makers. Find a Decision Maker in your field who you can be referred to (strangers won't see you), and ask about your qualifiications (show a resume). If this isn't an option, try a Human Resources professional, somone with experience in the field, or a career counselor.

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Chapter Ten: The Seven Search Techniques

The Seven Techniques

1) Walking In

Works for dish washers or construction workers, generally not for white-collar jobs

2) Cold Calling

Can work for hourly jobs employing a lot of people in the position you want, and may work for salaried jobs, but most people hate the rejection. Cold calling skills are a must.

3) Using Direct Mail

Requires a huge number of letters or emails, and a very large target list. Rates of interviews to letters is generally 1/1000.

4) Completing Applications

Some employers use it as a way of keeping a candidate pool ready, while others use it as a way of getting rid of walk-ins. It is also an important part of government hiring, where the candidate screening and hiring process is very formal -- a book or conversation with an insider is probably necessary.

5) Responding to Job Ads

This accounts for about 10% of hiring. Internet job ads are just another variety, and competition can be fierce for these positions. This is a more effective method for computer-related jobs than other professions, but still a fairly low percentage of total hiring. You should expect about one interview per fifty specific job listings you apply for.

6) Staffing Firms

About 10% of job hunters find jobs this way. These should never charge you a fee -- they charge the employer. Find a directory or internet listing. Also, since 'contingency' firms are only paid if you are hired, they may try to get you to take a position you don't really want.

7) Networking

Most people find jobs this way, and it is a must for gathering information. The Pierson Method focuses almost exclusively on this method.

Resume Tips

Whether direct mailing, responding to ads or using a staffing firm, resume is king -- and particularly the keywords you put in your resume. Make sure to include keywords Decision Makers will be looking for, and copy the resume into the body of the email, as well as in an attachment. It is usually better to omit salary requirements, even if they are requested. Some other tips:

• You need average qualifications or better
• Your chances are much better if your most recent job is similar to the one being filled
• You need a well-written resume, suitable for your chosen Target Market
• You must show that you have done the same job, or a similar one, before

More Networking Tips

The Big Mistakes

The biggest mistake people make is how they approach their job search conversations. Focusing on job openings and getting hired instead of getting information about your target companies can make people uncomfortable. People are far more willing to talk to you if they don't think you're asking them to 'get you a job'. Make it a casual conversation about your interest in companies on your Target List, and don't focus (or even bring up) your resume.

The Steps

1) Show your Target List to friends and aquaintences

To Do:

• Get information about targets
• Get introductions to current employees at targeted organizations

Questions to Ask:

• Would you be willing to look at my Target List?
• Do you know anything about any of these organization? If so, what?
• Which organizations might be best for me?
• Can you think of others that are not yet on my list?
• How do you happen to know that? (this is important, it gives you clues to who/what you should investigate further)
• Can you suggest other organnizations I should include on my list?
• Do you know anyone else who might know more about any of them? If so, would you be comfortable introducing me to them?
• Do you know any current or former employees of any of them? If so, would you be comfortable introducing me to that person?

2) Talk to insiders

To Do:

• Find out about the organization and the Decision Maker
• Show them your resume
• Express interest in working there the next time the right kind of opening happens
• Get an introduction to the Decision Maker if possible

Questions to Ask:

• What is it like to work there?
• Which job titles suit you best, and why?
• What is the pay range for those jobs?
• Which are the most appropriate departments for you?
• Exactly what do they do and how?
• Who are the appropriate Decision Makers?
• What do they want in employees?
• Could you meet people in those departments?
• Could you meet the Decision Maker?

3) Talk to Decision Makers

To Do:

• Treat it like an interview, even if it lasts only a few minutes
• Let them know you are interested and qualified
• Know as much about the organization as possible before hand

People Hire People

• Skills are often used to justify hiring someone the Decision Maker likes or trusts
• Decision Makers can and do hire people who have few of the expected skills
• Expressing a genuine, informed interest can overcome a weak resume, but...
• You must know enough to be believeable

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Chapter Eleven: Keeping Score

It is important to 'keep score' so that you don't get discouraged, and to make sure your level of effort stays where it should be. The number of Decision Makers you talk to should be your number-one metric. It is usefull to track other criteria as well, especially ones you have more direct control over. There are a number of possible things to track:

Tracking Your Hours

Track the total number of hours you spend on:

• Education and Planning
• Research
• Letter Writing
• Administration
• Talking to people on the phone and in person

At first, education, planning, research and administration will take most of your time. Once you get your initial Target List, though, 75% of your time should be spent talking to people.

Tracking Your Letters

Track the total number of letters you mailed or emailed in each category, including:

• Direct mail
• Advertised positions
• Staffing firms (including search firms)
• Other letters

Resumes sent to ads and staffing firms are the most productive of these methods. If you respond to 75 advertised positions and don't get an interview, it may be time to redo your resume or reevaluate your qualifications. 'Other letters' are generally part of your networking -- follow up letters, etc., which are very important.

Tracking Your Contacts

Track the total number of job search conversations you have each week (on the phone or in person) with:

• General network contacts
• Target organization miscellaneous contacts
• Target organization peer contacts
• Decision Maker and contacts above Decision Maker
• Follow-up with Decision Makers

The Benefits of Contacts

Talking with people is the most important part of the job search, so the number of conversations you have is the most important metric. Even 'General Network' contacts, those who don't work at one of your Target Organizations, or even in your industry, are often able to give you useful information, including infomation about your targets, introductions to other General Network contacts, and perhaps introductions to insiders. Peers and Insiders can give you information about an organization, job, and a specific Decision Maker or DMs in general, and may be able to introduce you to a Decision Maker. If you can't immediately make a peer contact within a Target Organization, start with anyone that works there. Job hunters usually have 15 conversations for every conversation with a Decision Maker, so keep working your contacts and growing your network. Remember to keep everyone comfortable, but always ask for introductions.

Following Up

When you have a conversation with a Decision Maker, and are able to get one conversation closer to that magical number 25, make sure to follow up every two to four weeks, to make sure you stay on the mental short list. The follow up should just be to let the DM know you are still interested and available.

Other notes on Decision Maker conversations

• Count conversations with anyone above the level of a Decision Maker as a Decision Maker contact
• You should be working towards conversations with 25 different decision makers, so count follow-ups separately
• About 20 percent of your Decision Maker conversations should be very serious -- you are one of a small number of applicants for a position, or the DM expresses real interest in hiring you when a position opens

The Progress Chart

Print up a Progress Chart and keep track of the number of hours, number of letters, and number of contacts each week. You can find one at www.highlyeffectivejobsearch.com. Be honest, but give yourself credit for every conversation you have. And keep moving -- if one task isn't working for you, choose something else for a while. Be able to put some numbers down in your chart.

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Chapter Twelve: The Pierson Method (Summary)

Since this is a summary, summarizing the summary probably isn't necessary

-- SamPreston - 24 Mar 2007