Selling Yourself as a Commodity to Land that Job

It can be said that selling yourself to land your next job is much like selling a commodity.

As opposed to a recent college grad, I have eight years of hands-on business to business sales experience to help me do this. My sales experience may not be recent experience, since I've had a non-selling job for the past eight years. Still, much of it is like riding a bike. You can't unlearn cold-calling and canvassing. You can't forget things like doing your homework on your prospect, and knowing to pitch the right products/services to your prospect. And one doesn't forget that there WILL be rejection - you can't take it personally. (Even it if is your "person" so to speak, that you're selling.)

The job market may just be the most competitive it's ever been in my lifetime. Sending out resumes to companies via snail-mail, facsimile, or even on-line is practically a futile effort. These companies are receiving hundreds of resumes for every job posted. Nobody is reading resumes anymore - they are scanned. It's survival of the fittest out there now, with thousands of applicants all vying for the same jobs. And the companies doing the hiring not only know this - they are using this to their advantage.

In order for me to stand out from the crowd, I'll need to develop a marketing strategy. I will need to devise an approach to give me an advantage over the competition. I will need to brand myself. I'll need to be memorable.

I am seriously considering setting up a professional blog, like this one, along with a video resume. Recruiters and hiring managers will have access to these links found on my social media websites. I am going to have some business cards made. I will have these with me where ever I go. I will give them to everyone I meet; at networking events, job fairs, on interviews, you name it.

What are some other things that a person can do that can give him/her an edge over the competition? Maybe it's bringing the hiring manager breakfast every day, until he agrees to hire you... or sending a singing telegram?

I'd be interested to hear what kinds of things you've heard about other people doing, or that you've personally tried to get your foot in the door. What was the outcome?

God Must Really Love Me!

"God Must Really Love Me".

Tonight I watched a really heartwarming show on Dateline called "You Might Be Rich!" It showed some very deserving real-life people, who have been faced with various struggles, finding out that they have some money coming their way.

I would much rather see these kind of uplifting stories about people being blessed, than the doom and gloom we so often read (or watch) in the news these days.

But being blessed isn't necessarily about money. Most of us can find other evidence in our lives as to how we have been blessed by God.

Craig Morgan posted this video to give everyone an opportunity to share the reasons that they feel they have been blessed.

Upload a video to your YouTube Channel.

Then POST AS A VIDEO RESPONSE TO THIS VIDEO.

Please allow a couple of days for your video to show up in the video response section.

(If you don't feel like sharing, check out the video anyway. It has a pretty powerful message.)

Am I Pure Yet?

I lost my job this week. The day after Easter. I tend to not spend too much time blogging about really significant events in my life. However, this event is about to change my life drastically.

I am a single mom. I am the sole breadwinner of my little family of two. Just over two years ago, I was fortunate enough to buy a modest house for my daughter and I to live in. It was our escape out of the 20 year-old condo complex in a run-down part of the metro-Phoenix area.

The condos were built in 1981, to originally serve as apartments. Somewhere along the way they were converted into condominiums. The ventilation system was all inner-connected with the other units, so our unit always smelled like cigarette smoke. We carried the smell on our clothes, and in our hair, so you just know we were also breathing it into our lungs. And there was no yard for my little girl to play in. There would be no way I would let her outside without an escort, in any event. We didn't know our neighbors - most of the units were rentals.

After our exodus from the rat-race, and moving to our new house together, I commuted on the inter-state over 30 miles to my job each day. I was able to come home every night to enjoy simple perks, such as parking inside my own garage, having a cold drink on my back patio, while my little girl could swing on her swing-set in the backyard. To me, nothing beats living in your own house. I'd rather be stuck doing my own home maintenance and yard work, than share to walls with neighbors and be able to hear their every move. Or compete for parking spaces in a parking lot with all other residents and nonresidents alike, leaving your car exposed to the elements, neighborhood cats, door dings and in some cases, theft and burglary.

Due to the housing crisis, my house, just like everyone else's house, has lost significant value. But that's not the real dilemma. My job was in the new home construction industry. My livelihood. When the housing market took a dive, so did my industry. And after so many months of steady decline in the building industry, our company had taken hit after hit in this lousy market, and was forced into filing chapter 11 last September.

Now, seven months later, the post-filing layoffs have begun. My job, and many others, has been eliminated. In the worst of all labor markets since (who really knows when?) the early 80's, the media reports. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about loosing my house. It may not be worth much nowadays, but it's my family's own little slice of heaven.

Now, I am just NOT sitting around, crying in my beer. I am rolling up my sleeves, asking everyone I know for a recommendation, personal reference, for any job leads they might know of. I am being proactive. I am going to be attending a "pink slip party" soon, which is a networking event for people who have just been laid off, or are worried that they might be laid off. I have my network built up on LinkedIn and Facebook. I have been hitting the on-line job boards and the job search engines. All the things I am supposed to do.

I know that I am going to have to put my nose to the grindstone and treat my job-search like a full-time job. I can't afford NOT to. After all, I don't have a husband to carry me through this. I didn't get a severance package. I don't have a fattened calf to slaughter. I don't have Daddy's money to bail me out.

Still, I have something greater than all these. Know what that is? My faith. This is a test of my faith. For some time now, I have been falling off my horse and getting back on, over and over again. The reason why I have been falling off so many times is because I keep taking my eyes off of God, and looking towards the ground. I haven't been walking by faith.

He is going to see me through this. He always takes care of me. He always makes sure I somehow survive. And when I come through this, I will be stronger. Purer. A very dear friend use to tell me, "The purest gold goes through the hottest fire."

Looking forward to being 24 karat, by the time this is all over with. :-)

Good Friday

Good Friday is bittersweet for me. When I think of all that He endured on this day... the endless beatings, the humiliation and degradation, the cruel torture, the unbearable agony of the crucifixion... I am overcome with angst and emotion. I can't explain just how grief-stricken I feel inside.

And yet, I feel so incredibly grateful. Wow. WOW! He DIED for me. So that I could be SAVED. I certainly don't deserve it, and yet it has been done... for ME. A gift of grace. The realization of it all is so humbling. It makes me want to change my ways, become a better person.



I have news for you. He died for YOU, too.

Wordless Wednesday

The Worst Drive-Thru Foods in America

What I learned by reading this:

• Avoid any sandwich made on honey wheat bread.
• Stay away from the DQ Blizzard and opt for a small chocolate sundae instead.
• You’d be better off eating two Quarter Pounders than McDonald's Large Triple Thick Chocolate Milkshake.
• Skip biscuits at all costs.

The Worst Drive-Thru Foods in America

The Power of Connection

Yesterday morning on the Air1 morning show, Scott Smith was talking about one of his Facebook friends reaching out to him last night. She is a military wife, living in Jacksonville, Florida. Her husband is currently serving overseas, and they have two small children.

She sent him a message that told him that she feels all alone; her family lives thousands of miles away, and she is hitting a wall by turning to alcohol for comfort. She recognizes that this is a serious problem. So, Scott in turn asked another female friend of his (who just happens to live in Jacksonville) to contact her and see if they can't get together for coffee, or whatnot. He went on to say that we need to realize "the power of connection" and there are many of us facing difficult times right now, and that many of us feel alone. Some of us in doing so, turn to alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc.

Wow. That is a giant step for her to reach out like she did. It's a simple gesture to send a message on Facebook. But to admit that you feel overwhelmed and that you feel swallowed whole by life is a huge undertaking. If you have no trouble asking for help when you need it, well, you are much better off than most of us.

I know that when I am hurting, my tendency is to turn AWAY from others. To withdraw and disconnect. Which is really counter-productive, because people just assume that I am busy, and thinking that I need more space, they leave me alone. And a result, I feel even more alienated from my friends and loved ones. It's a vicious cycle. And it doesn't make any sense, because I have nothing to loose by reaching out, but there is much at stake if I don't.

When I was in my twenties, I used to turn to food. I was a very unhappy person in very unhappy circumstances. Food was my "drug of choice" because it widely available, and gave me comfort. Food was my friend who could always cheer me up when I was sad. Food never chastised me. Food never belittled me. Food never pushed me, threw things at me, and it never called me names. Food was there for me when I felt that no one else cared. Food gave me security. I wanted out of my circumstances, and food was a temporary reprieve.

Most of us are really good at holding things in, and covering up emotions. If connecting with another person early on helps keep us from turning to unhealthy things, maybe we should heed his advice. Connect with one person each day, before the end of the day. Even if you don't feel like it. Maybe the person on the other end really needs that connection. Most of the time, we don't really know what is going on in that person's life. They could be going through hell. Maybe it's YOU who is going through hell. You don't need to go through it alone.

Reach out and connect. What have you got to loose?

Connect with me on Twitter.

Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne Says "Don't Panic"

Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne says that some school districts have overreacted by assuming that budget cuts will total 60%, and are already planning teacher layoffs. This is "dangerous" according to Mr. Horne, because this negatively affects the teacher's morale, which will in turn affect the students, and ultimately hurt their education.

Horne stated:

“There are still a lot of uncertainties, and estimates are dangerous. However, some school districts have overreacted, and are planning to send out notices for layoffs of teachers based on assumed 60 percent budget cuts, which are way out of proportion to anything that can be reasonably anticipated. These excessive layoff notices can create unnecessary panic and consternation, and can adversely affect the quality of education by damaging the morale of teachers who, in the final analysis, would not lose their jobs. It is therefore important, that even though there is uncertainty, the schools have an idea of the proportion of cuts to be anticipated.”

(This advice might have been more beneficial given sooner, as the AIMS tests were held yesterday.)

See his idea on the federal stimulus package, and how it may relate to pending cuts in the state education budget here:
pr03-31-09.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Wordless Wednesday