Job Hunting vs. Job Pitching
I want to continue my thoughts from the last post about making the extra effort to market your product and separate yourself from your competition by retelling the story of a childhood friend’s father.
I’ll start out by telling you that my friend’s father was an extremely intelligent and successful businessman. He owned several businesses and had amassed great wealth already by the time his son and I were in school together. He told me his story once and I never forgot it.
When my friend’s father (I’ll call him Tony) was just about to finish up business school, he (like all his classmates) needed to find work. Rather than pound the pavement and knock on doors asking for work with some big business, Tony targeted one business in particular. He didn’t go through the want ads. He didn’t search for available positions he could fill. What he did was research the company, come up with an idea for them that they weren’t currently doing and build the business model on how they could implement it and what the expected return would be. They liked the idea and hired him to fulfill it.
I contrast that with what is the norm today for so many people trying to find a job. Today, companies advertise their positions on sites like Monster.com and they are deluged with resumes of people looking for work. Some are just resume blasts and some have targeted cover letters. But they all still come in surrounded by competition. Is this really the best way to find a job? Lining up with all the rest just hoping to buck the odds and get picked?
That’s why I named this post ‘Job Hunting vs. Job Pitching’. Job Hunters are hoping to find somewhere to land. Job Pitchers bring clearly defined value to the table and make it an easier hire.
Particularly in the current economy where employers are less inclined to take risk, Job Pitchers make the argument that they are a good investment. And what happens if your idea for them is wrong? What if there’s some wrinkle to their business that isn’t public knowledge that prevents them from being able to capitalize on your idea? Well, you’ve still shown deep thought and consideration about how you can help the company, which is leaps and bounds above the rest of your competition. You’ve shown that that they are the company you want to work for and not just trying to find a job somewhere (anywhere!).
Great posting. As a current job hunter, I am in agreement. Lining up with all the minyans through the typical process is an uphill battle against live fire.
First, your resume and cover letter must make it by the HR Bots who do an automatic scan of your information helping to make sure it is ready for human eyes. You have to be the optimal candidate on paper to make it through this level of scrutiny and after this…you are on par with the other candidates who have made it this far. Now you have to differentiate yourself with that added value and a powerful proposition.
One major fact that was left out of your note is networking. This is a major weapon in the hunt. This definitely helps get you one foot up when attempting to secure the interview. In today’s economy, networking will only help to get you to a certain step in the process. Once in…you are on your own to show where you add value and are not a risky investment.
Mike, great to hear from you. Networking is absolutely important. But I also think that there’s a difference between ‘real’ networking and just reaching out to some distant linkedin connection. By ‘real’ I mean somebody who knows you and the quality work you do and can provide a credible testimonial to someone who trusts them. Not “I got the business card of a guy I met once at a party…. here’s his card.”
I don’t want to hold myself out as some authority on finding a job. I think the last thing people who are looking for work want to hear is some guy who’s not looking for work spouting opinions on the matter. I’m really just taking the concept I was talking about in my last post and applying to this scenario.
Best of luck to you on your search. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.
:/ hmm, don’t know… this system can work in 1 case of 100 (my thoughts)
… imagine that your business (not a small one) is analysed by 22 year old boy and are you shure that you will listen to his “wisdom”
.. but, who knows?
While I agree that this wouldn’t work every time, I think 1 in 100 may be a bit pessimistic. I think it would work best for smaller business where the interview/meeting is being conducted by a position of authority rather than just a HR person.
But even if the idea wouldn’t work, the very fact that the candidate invested the time and effort to research and critically think about the company makes them stand out from the competition. In all the interviews I’ve conducted for jobs over the past few years, I can always immediately tell if they really want to work for my business or if they’re just looking for a job. In fact, it may be a bit blunt but these are now questions I directly ask. What do you know about us? How are you going to help us? Why do you want to work here? Not the standard, “What do you think is your biggest weakness?”