job search notes: Is that your best offer?

Dan DemaioNewton was the featured speaker at the Hopkinton Networking Group meeting on Friday, May 14th. Dan is Director of Strategy and Business Development at Monster Worldwide. His presentation was seductively titled "Monster Secrets."


My notes and take-ways are as follows:


"We are at the altar of the bottom line." 


On worrying:
If you believe change is possible, then there is nothing to worry about, work to make the change happen
If you don't believe change is possible, there is nothing to worry about as worrying won't do any good, it is a waste of energy.


Looking for a job is like playing a guessing game. They have a job, perhaps they have advertised it properly, maybe not, but there is a real need behind the job and the key is to find and understand that need in order to position yourself to be able to fulfill that need.


There is a difference between samurai and soldiers. Solders follow orders. Samurai use their wits to avoid fighting as much as they use their wits in the fight itself when necessary.


Corporations are not hiring now due to their fear and uncertainty with the marketplace.


Be like a willow tree, bend but don't break. Important to keep the positive attitude at all times.


The informational interview is like a two-step dance.
1 - ask for two other people to talk to about this company
2 - include the name of your individual contact in your cover letter


Your cover letter should address three things
1 - that you know people in the company
2 - that you understand the business
3 - that you can meet their real need


Statistics show that MA, CT, RI are three of the top 10 states with the greatest hiring needs.


New website to check out: betterjobsfaster.org/


Include your name in the file name of your resume
Include 'yourself' (i.e. what you can do for them) in the file name also
Create a master resume, customize per job application


Brief demo of new secret Monster feature where it does an analysis of your resume (a la Wordle.net) to show what words are really highlighted by frequency of appearance. Based upon the analysis, it suggests key terms to include in your resume. (Note: I would include a link to this feature but I haven't found it yet on the website. Updated: 5/25/10 - I had followed up with Dan and he just replied: "It's a secret tool not available to the public". So there won't be a link available. Additional feedback was provided to Dan about the demo as the "secret" was touted as being available and that is not fair. )


On Monster you can have up to five resumes, with one revealed to the search engine. Didn't really have a great answer on how to respond to the differences between the 'master' and custom resumes when someone in the challenged the differences. Need to be prepared to explain if required.


The most important question to ask when they have made a job offer is:
"Is that your best offer?"




My take-aways:

• be like a samurai, not a soldier
• don't worry, be happy
• revise resume file name accordingly
• revise resume using wordle-like analysis
• revise cover letter to include company contact name (keep t-format)
• remember question - "Is that your best offer?"