published handbook for (it) job hunters

Daniel Barber

Handbook for (IT) Job Hunters

The magic of common sense, know-how, and spiritual exercises as

applied to the job hunting process

Janus: in Roman mythology the God of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings.

“. . . a

thorough set

of guidelines on how

to successfully fi nd work

. . . even better than Richard Bolles.”

Handbook for (IT) Job HunTers

Handbook for (IT) Job Huntersdaniel barberCopyright 2010

Handbook for (IT) Job

HunTers

danIel barber

Handbook for (IT) Job HunTers Table of C onTenT s

Pr e fac e - 1

c ha P t e r 1 how to G o a b ou t t h e Job of Job h u n t i nG - 3

know before you go 3 Pl annIng wHaT To d o 3 C ommon sense 5 wHaT To exPeCT 9 THe T yPICal HIrIng Pro Cess 10 reC ord keePIng 13 regardIng sal ary 14 QuIz & revIew 15

c ha P t e r 2 You r t e a m - 1 6 C ommon goal — C ommon Cause 16 THe Pro Cess and THe goals 18 esTablIsHIng r aPPorT 20 QuIz & revIew 20

c ha P t e r 3 t h e wa i t i nG G a m e - 2 1

baCkfIll PosITIons 21 overfIll PosITIons 21 To o many C o oks In THe kITCHen? 21 Hr and your resume 22 THe HIrIng manager and your resume 23 QuIz & revIew 24

c ha P t e r 4 e f f e c t i v e r e sum e De v e l oP m e n t- 2 5

THe PurPose of a resume 25 THe summary 26 eduCaTIon 27 TeCHnICal skIlls 28 work HIsTory 28 QuIz & revIew 28 a sImPle and suC Cessful meTHod olo gy 28 Job sPeCIfICaTIon/desCrIPTIon 29 a web develoPer Job desCrIPTIon 29 resPonsIbIlITIes 30 mandaTory reQuIremenT s 30 Preferred reQuIremenT s 30 develoPIng a resume for THe web develoPer PosITIon 33 mulTIPle resume versIons? 41 a PICTure Is worTH a THousand words 42 C onsIder usIng a skIlls & exPerIenCe gr aPHIC In your resume 42 leT Ters of referenCe 43 ProfessIonal referenCes 45 QuIz & revIew 45

c ha P t e r 5 e f f e c t i v e i n t e rv i e w i nG - 4 6

THe mosT ofTen sougHT afTer 46 THe role PresenCe Pl ays 46 QuIz & revIew 50 mo ods and THe InTervIew 51 mo od ParIT y 54 mo od sCale 55 QuIz & revIew 57 oPPosITIon — mIsIdenTIfICaTIon — l abelIng 57 QuIz & revIew 63 “CHarge” 63 dress for THe InTervIew 64 anTICIPaTe THe ClIenT 65 Pr aCTICe 66 wHaT mosT PeoPle wanT fIrsT and foremosT 68 r aPPorT 68

c ha P t e r 6 mor e a b ou t t h e Job i n t e rv i e w- 7 0

THe T yPICal Job InTervIew model 70 daTa gaTHerIng 70 fo Cused PresenTaTIon 71 ClosIng 76 follow uP 76 QuIz & revIew 76

c ha P t e r 7 r e a l l i f e i n t e rv i e w Qu e st ion s - 7 8

usual QuesTIons 78 more QuesTIons and PossIble resPonses 80 off-THe-wall remarks 84 Problem-solvIng QuesTIons 85 wHaT If QuesTIons 85 sIlenT assessmenT 86

c ha P t e r 8 s a l a rY e x Pe c tat ion s - 8 8

THe sal ary r ange 88 ab ove THe r ange 88 sal ary HIsTory 89

c ha P t e r 9 f or t ho se J u st sta rt i nG ou t- 9 0

your goal 90 THe emPloyer skIlls assessmenT 91 C omParIson 93 THe HunT 93 suggesTIons 93

c ha P t e r 1 0 f or t ho se w ho a r e u n e m Pl oY e D - 9 5

f IrsT THIngs fIrsT 95 exerCIse 1 — skIlls assessmenT 95 sTarT wITH your fInanCes 97 develoP a work sCHedule 98

c ha P t e r 1 1 G e n e r a l t i P s - 9 9

C ommunICaTIon skIlls 99 PresenT vs. absenT 99 PosITIve versus negaTIve 100 “ THe b ox” — undersTandIng IT, workIng wITH IT 100

c ha P t e r 1 2 w hat to l o ok f or i n a n aG e nc Y- 1 0 6

Job C oaCHIng 106 InTervIew C oaCHIng 106 resume develoPmenT 106 mo od sCale Tr aInIng 106

c ha P t e r 1 3 a DDi t iona l t e st i mon ia l s - 1 0 7

from Job seekers 107 from C orPor aTe ClIenT s 112 aCknowled gemenT s 114

Handbook for (IT) Job Hunters 1

Preface

daniel barber has a 41 year IT (Information Technology) back-

ground with 25 years as a recruiter, and is an experienced personal

advisor. He founded niche Technologists, Inc. in 1993 following 26 years

in corporate america where he held a variety of roles from entry to senior

level management/executive positions.

niche Technologists is an IT (Information Technology) consulting

and staffing company that provides corporate clients throughout

the u.s. with flexible and permanent IT staffing support services.

mr. barber has been quoted in various trade publications, appeared

on television, participated in radio talk shows, published in sev-

eral newspapers and trade magazines, is an ex-drug rehab counselor, a

student of Crv (Controlled remote viewing), and student/adept in the

field of metaphysics the past 38 years.

“my purpose in writing this guide is to empower job hunters to do

for themselves in their job search what I do for others. although the

slant is for the experienced IT professional, the guide should be useful

to anyone job hunting. It also gives one a look at the process on the

Corporate/Hr side.”

Daniel Barber2


Chapter 1 How to Go About the Job of Job Hunting

know before you go

a good first step is to write a plan before you launch into the job

search.

a simple, realistic plan will help to reduce the stress and establish

prediction and stability.

a plan gives you a road map to follow, keeps you out of the woods.

If you are currently employed, skip the obvious parts of the follow-

ing sample plan.

Planning what to do

• decide if you are willing to relocate for the “right” job. If you are,

make a list of geographical areas you are willing to relocate to.

• fully describe (write it out) what the “right” job would be for you.

• If you’re not willing to relocate, do not invest any time consider-

ing a job that would require relocation.

• decide if you are willing to take temporary work through a

consulting company/agency or if you would be willing to take

temporary work that includes a right-to-hire option.

• If you are, decide if you’re willing to travel during the week if

required; if you are, ask your associates for names of any consult-

ing companies/agencies they may be aware of in your area, and

then search for them and others on the web.

• Put the contact information of those consulting companies into

a folder labeled “Temporary Jobs”.

Daniel Barber4

• make a list of current and past co-workers, and managers you

have reported to.

• Inform them you are looking for a job. ask for their help by

informing people they know who may be in a position to help.

• Put those contact names and dates you contacted them into a

folder labeled “networking”.

• search the major job boards on the Internet but do not post your

resume yet. what you want to do is search for, retrieve and print

out job descriptions that align with your background experience,

skills and geographical preference. Put these job descriptions in

a folder labeled “Job boards”.

• Create a search agent to automatically notify you when jobs are

posted that align with your background experience, skills, and

geographical preference.

• If you do not want to relocate, generate a list of companies that

are within a reasonable commuting distance. a directory of cor-

porations is available in some of the larger libraries and perhaps

through a local Chamber of Commerce. some libraries offer the

on-line use of “usa ref ” which is a database of thousands of

companies throughout the u.s. complete with contact names,

titles, addresses, etc.

• using the Internet, go to the web sites of these companies and

search their career opportunities/job postings for any that seem

to align with your background (do not apply on-line yet). Print

out these job postings and place them in a folder labeled “local

Companies.” revisit these web sites each week for any new post-

ings.

• go to the chapter in this guide on effective resume development

and read through it several times.


• go to the “Job boards” and “local Companies” folders. Pull out a

job description and create a “skills Comparison Table” as shown

in the chapter on effective resume development.

• follow the steps to develop your resume for that position.

• return to that appropriate job board or company web site and

apply / submit your resume on-line.

• Continue with the next job description until completed. keep a

list of all companies where you submitted your resume and the

date of submission.

• afterwards, post your resume on the major job boards.

• now go to the folder labeled “Temporary Jobs”.

• repeat the process.

• Purchase newspapers and review the jobs advertised. Proceed

accordingly.

• look for job fairs and attend them with several copies of your

resume (be sure to get as much detail on open positions that is

available).

• look for monthly or bi-monthly “business card exchange” gath-

erings. attend them with several copies of your resume.

• Contact the local Jaycees and ask if they can help.

• Contact the lion’s group and ask if they can help.

• Contact the association of retired professionals (or some such

title) and ask if they can help.

common sense

If your skills and experience are a stretch for a particular job, don’t

waste your time by putting your resume forward. you’ll only become

frustrated if no one gets back to you.

Daniel Barber6

If you have all of the mandatory skills and your background aligns

with a job description, go for it by all means but take the time to research

the company by going through their entire web site for starters, and then

surf the web on the company name.

If you have a majority of the mandatory skills and your background

aligns with the job description, go for it.

If you are entry level, look for entry level positions.

If you are entry level but can’t find an entry level position, look around

your area for consulting companies and agencies such as robert Half and

kelly services. Contact them for an entry level position or temporary job

while you search for a full-time position.

If you are entry level, think about starting your own freelance con-

sulting company to gain the necessary experience that can help you get

a full-time corporate position (you can always subcontract yourself out

to established consulting companies who work in your field).

If you’ve been out of the game for a while and want to get back in,

look for entry level positions — or make yourself available on a trial

basis for a more advanced position. offer yourself on a trial basis with

a right-to-hire option. These trial periods usually run 3 months. at the

end of three months, or before, a decision is made to either let you go or

convert you to full-time employee status. The objective here is to show

the client he does not have to make a long-term commitment right away

and allows both parties the opportunity to get to know one another (often

referred to as “try/buy”).


If your background reflects a pattern of career volatility (job hop-

ping), don’t expect a response to your resume if you apply for a full-time

position. Three jobs over a five or six year period usually qualifies as job

hopping. The client will see this as a red flag and have no reason to believe

the pattern won’t continue. doesn’t matter what caused the job hopping,

what matters is the pattern. That said, given the recent “crash” don’t put

too much attention on this, just be sure to include a brief statement in

each work history resume entry such as “laid off,” “downsizing,” “m&a

led to reorganization and layoffs.”

If you are a consultant wanting to leave the consulting sector for a

full time position, the client may be concerned about five things: (1) your

salary history, (2) your salary expectations, (3) why you want to leave

the consulting sector, (4) that you might return to the consulting sector,

or (5) that you may continue doing “freelance” work in your off-hours.

regards (1), your salary history, and (2), your salary expectations,

consultants typically out-earn full-time corporate employees. It’s likely

the full-time position pays far less than what a consultant is accustomed

to earning. It’s a trade-off that requires some careful thought on your part.

regarding (3), why you want to leave the consulting sector: the con-

sultants I’ve worked with who decided on a full-time position usually

wanted to eliminate extensive travel (spend more time with their families

or create a worthwhile relationship); wanted more stability in their life

(eliminate being unemployed for extended periods between contract

work); wanted to build a steady retirement fund (not always possible

for a consultant when he or she is not on assignment); wanted a good

medical, dental, vision, etc. benefits package (a consultant often pays all

Daniel Barber8

or as much as 50% of this while a corporate employer usually pays all or

the majority of the costs).

regarding (4), you might return to the consulting sector, the items

in (3) above address this concern.

regarding (5), a good response is that your decision to leave the

consulting sector includes any free-lance work. what you do in your off

time is your business, but I’ve seen clients dismiss very qualified appli-

cants when they said they planned to continue free lance work on their

off hours. why they were dismissed is because the client/hiring manager

had a past bad experience with just such a person.

If you are a consultant who has left the consulting sector for a full

time position in the past but later returned to the consulting sector and

now want to return to a full time position, the client has no reason to

believe that pattern won’t continue.

The pattern is a reflection of your employment stability or instability

and, of late, the uncertain economy. but patterns can be deceptive. for

example, I’ve had candidates who were laid off a full time job and later

took a consulting engagement because no full time positions were avail-

able that aligned with their skills or that paid a decent salary. now that

one is available, they wanted to go for it. explain that to the client in your

resume summary (more about resume development in a later chapter).

be honest with yourself and those you work with during the process.

don’t kid yourself or waste your or their time. for example, if you initially

informed the client or agency that your salary expectation for a position


is x but you later decide it should be increased to y, you need to inform

those involved before you get into the interview phase. likewise if you

have known all along that a position does not include a bonus and you

agreed with that but later decided you want a bonus, you need to inform

those involved – I have had very qualified professionals tell me what their

salary expectations were, which I passed on to the client. The interviews

went so well the person told me he would bet the client would pay more.

I strongly advised against this but the person told the client he decided

he wanted more money. The client wanted to hire the person but decided

to walk away. The person was not viewed as trustworthy.

If you’re currently employed and decide to leave, isolate and identify

the exact reason(s) why you want to leave your current employer. Then, if

possible, discuss this with your manager and ask for him or her to work

with you to resolve the problem. realize that any new hiring manager who

interviews you is likely to ask “Tell me why you want to leave your current

employer?” or/and “did you try to resolve the problem with them?” what

will your answer be to those questions? I had one job seeker tell me he

left two jobs because “It was time to move on.” well, as a hiring manager

myself, I would and did discount him as a viable candidate. moreover,

there are always at least two reasons for moving on, the one you tell the

hiring manager and the one you don’t want to reveal.

what to expect

understanding the typical hiring process may help to alleviate frus-

tration you could experience during your job search.

Daniel Barber10

the typical hiring process

understanding what usually happens on the client side when they are

hiring will help. The sequence and time line explained below is typical

but not always the case.

• The job description is usually posted internally to give current

employees the opportunity to apply (career path opportunity).

This internal posting period is often for two weeks.

• If no internal candidates, the job description is then posted on

one or more of the major job boards, often posted on the client’s

corporate web site, and given to a few recruiting agencies the

client has developed a relationship with over time.

• resumes begin to arrive and are routed to an assigned Hr

(Human resources) representative.

• Hr reads through the resumes to determine if the candidates

appear qualified to the job description. If not qualified, the

resume is basically ignored. If qualified, the Hr usually does a

pre-screening interview by phone with the applicant. If the Hr

is reasonably assured the applicant is qualified, the resumes are

routed to the hiring manager for review.

• The hiring manager reads through the resumes and generally

sorts them into three categories: (1) those he wants to interview

first, (2) those he wants to interview in a second round if no one

is hired from the first round, and (3) those he does not want to

interview.

• The hiring manager then informs the Hr representative who

he would like to interview and includes dates and times he is

available.


• Hr then contacts the candidate directly or the agency to sched-

ule.

• The first round of interviews begins usually with the hiring man-

ager and one or more of his team attending. This first interview

is almost always a technical assessment; it can be on-site or on

the phone.

• all the while resumes continue to arrive and the process contin-

ues until the hiring manager has lined up four or more candi-

dates for the first round of interviews. This cut off point of four

is arbitrary and at the hiring manager’s and/or Hr’s discretion.

what generally happens is all resumes are put into a hold status

once this cut off number for the first round is decided. If no one

is hired following the first round, the hiring manager goes to the

second category candidates (my experience is that someone is

almost always hired when the first round concludes).

• when the first round of interviews is completed, the hiring man-

ager will meet with others who were involved in the interview

to decide which applicants they want to bring back for a second

interview. This second interview is usually to meet the senior

managers. note that it is not unusual for four or more interviews.

• again, the hiring manager will contact Hr with names of those

for the second interview and provide dates and times he and the

team are available. This is a narrow down and usually includes

the top two applicants.

• and again Hr contacts the candidates directly or the agencies

to schedule.

• The second interviews begin.

• once these are completed, Hr and the department managers

will select who they want to hire.

Daniel Barber12

• Hr is contacted and they in turn call the candidates (or agencies)

to arrange a third and final meeting but this time with the Hr

representative. This meeting includes the formal offer, a review

of policy, benefits, forms to sign, establish a start date, etc. The

offer is often contingent on successful reference checks, drug

screening, sometimes background and credit history checks, and

almost always employment and salary verification.

• The remaining candidates are often not contacted with the

feedback that the position has been filled. However, the agencies

usually are and most of them will inform their candidates. I think

the reason so many candidates are not kept well informed by Hr

is because of the sheer volume of resumes received (hundreds

is not unusual).

• at some point, the job description will be removed from the

client’s corporate web site although any posted on the major job

boards are usually left to expire.

The above hiring process can take as few as 2 weeks or as long as 3

months.

you also need to be aware of another variable: there are agencies that

browse other agency web sites in search of job descriptions. They will

often copy them and then post them to their favorite job boards and / or

their own web sites in hopes of finding a qualified candidate (this often

explains why you’ll sometimes see several postings for the same posi-

tion). If they do find a qualified candidate, they will contact the agency

from whom they pulled the job description in hopes of working a “split

fee” arrangement.


most agencies (not all) will not go along with a split fee so be sure to

ask any agency if they have the job order directly from the client or have

been invited to help by another agency that was given the order by the

client (these agencies will have agreed to a split fee).

record keeping

every time you apply for a position through an agency or on your

own, put the company name on a list and the date you submitted your

resume alongside. Tell agencies representing you to ask for your prior

approval before putting your resume forward to any client, and ask they

send you a copy of your resume that was sent to the client.

Having the agency get your approval before submission lets you check

the agency’s client against your list and avoids “double submissions,”

potential conflicts, and upsets. (be willing to give a copy of your list to

the agency so they don’t waste their time.)

I’ve seen clients walk away from valid candidates when two submit-

ting agencies made a fuss about who should receive commission if hired.

sometimes this is avoided if the client time stamps the resume on receipt

(first in wins). but the best handling is no handling when you employ

good record keeping and set the ground rules with the agency.

Having a copy of your resume that the agency sends to the client lets

you know what the client knows about you.

If you’re using an agency and you want to review your resume for

any changes they may have made, ask for a review before they submit it,

Daniel Barber14

but be willing to guarantee your turnaround within a few hours or 1 day

at the most (time can be of the essence).

regarding salary

many companies instruct the agencies working / recruiting for them

to never give a job applicant the salary range for a position nor allow it to

be posted on any job board. why they do this is because their experience

is that job applicants, hearing the salary range, will only remember the

top end of the range. This is too often the case and if the client decides for

any reason not to offer the top end, the applicant is upset, and the agency

who presented the client gets a hand slap or knocked off that company’s

agency list. but there is another reason salary ranges are usually not posted

within job descriptions: it happens that current employees of the hiring

company who have similar qualifications, perhaps in a similar role, will

find that job description and become upset if the salary range exceeds

what they are currently earning and this often leads to discord that can

affect an entire team/group.

If your average annual earnings over the past 3 years was in or near

six figures and your salary expectation is in or near six figures, don’t

expect a client to respond if the position pays a starting salary less than

$75,000 unless the position includes bonus, options or commission such

that, combined with the salary, you have a total compensation package

that can move you into that earnings range.

regardless of what the starting salary is, take into account the whole

package: salary, medical, dental, 401(k), pension plan, bonus or com-

mission plan, tuition reimbursement, company sponsored training, paid


vacation, holidays, personal days and sick days, career path opportunities,

working environment, and payroll taxes.

a starting salary of $75,000 can easily ramp into the six figures when

you take all of this into account — and you may be sure the client has

taken this into account in structuring the compensation package.

another thing to know about salary is they are often determined by

a Compensation analyst in Hr and, generally, are competitive for the

geographical area (but not always).

also to know is that hiring managers are sometimes given authority

to offer more but this rarely happens unless the hiring manager really,

really wants to hire a particular candidate.

Quiz & review

1. list three reasons why having a plan to follow is a good idea.

2. what are some of the advantages of setting and holding to a

schedule when you’re between jobs?

3. why would it be important to understand the typical hiring

process?

4. what is the purpose of record keeping?

5. what are some of the things you can expect during your job

search?

6. what are some of the things you can do to relieve tension and

frustration during the process?

16

Chapter 2 Your Team

common goal — common cause

your team includes you, your PC, the job boards, your resume, your

network, the hiring manager, Hr representatives, family, friends and

associates willing to help, agencies, etc.

your tools include your plan, a job-hunting work schedule you stick

to, an effective resume each time out, job board postings, the Internet,

job openings that fit, etc.

Hiring managers want to hire job seekers who are qualified to their

specifications (the job description).

Hr wants to give the hiring managers resumes that are qualified to

those specifications.

The successful job seeker wants to be hired and should only go after

job specifications for which he is qualified.

all share a common cause: all are working towards the same goal.

but on occasion there is another dimension on the client side which

the job hunter must be aware of and prepared to work with.

That dimension could be described as a veil that sometimes exists

between the job seeker and the hiring manager, and the job seeker and


Hr — a veil that you have to work with and through although you had

nothing to do with its existence.

If you were a hiring manager or Hr representative, how would you

feel about having to tell people you’ve interviewed and like that they will

not be hired?

what would you tell them?

what reason(s) would you give?

Hiring managers meet and interview dozens of job applicants when

they have positions to fill.

Hr is continually tasked with interviewing hundreds of applicants.

both try to get “close” to each applicant they meet in an attempt to

get a “good feeling” about the person.

a “good feeling” about someone means you would like or be willing

to have that person around, get to know, etc.

but a hiring manager and Hr know they are going to have to tell

some of the applicants they would like to have around that they aren’t

going to be around.

on the one hand they want to get to know you, but on the other

hand they may have become somewhat regretful from having gotten too

close to too many others before you whom they have had to disappoint.

Daniel Barber18

most people don’t enjoy disappointing other people especially those

they have come to like even a little. In fact, some people may actually

feel as though they are committing a harmful act by having to disappoint

someone.

some people, rather than give someone disappointing news will

simply try to avoid talking with the person which, in part, explains the

absence of feedback.

regardless, the successful job seeker has to presume the existence of

this veil and work with it to bring about a “good feeling” about him by

the hiring manager and Hr.

a good feeling about someone is called rapport but it’s really a com-

posite of empathy, self-esteem, honesty, effective communication, and

the ability to interface with others.

you begin to work with the potential existence of this veil through an

effective resume which insures the client will know within the first 5 - 10

seconds of looking at it that you meet the job specifications — (Chapter 4).

you continue through effective interviewing (Chapters 5 – 7).

the process and the goals

many job seekers fail to realize they are participating in a hiring

process without having a clear understanding of what that hiring process

entails; this lack of understanding can lead to a great deal of frustration.


of course, it would be nice if the process was explained up front but

it rarely is and that is why I’ve given you a typical hiring process. Having

some understanding of the process sequence and how it flows allows

you to put some reasonable prediction in with regard to what to expect

and when.

If you’re dealing through an agency, ask them to explain the client’s

hiring process.

If you’re not working through an agency, use the typical hiring process

model or ask the Hr representative if they would explain their process.

a majority of job seekers also fail to incorporate and more closely

align their approach with the goals of the client.

your goal is a no-brainer: to get hired.

a search agency’s goal, if you’re using one, is a no-brainer: to get

you hired.

Is anything missing?

what about the hiring manager’s goal?

The hiring manager’s goal is to hire someone he feels is best fit for

the position.

I can tell you with absolute certainty that “best fit” does not always

mean the most technically qualified.

Daniel Barber20

managers regularly hire people they have a good feeling about whose

technical skills are lighter than stronger technical applicants they don’t

have a good feeling about or whose “soft skills” are lacking (a soft skill

would include strong interpersonal skills, high on empathy, willing to

interact with others, etc.).

The Hr goal includes reviewing resumes, interviewing applicants,

and sending to the hiring manager those applicants’ resumes they believe

fit the job specifications.

later in the process, Hr meets the applicants chosen to interview,

has them fill out an employment application, explain what they know

about the position, usually give an overview on the company, and ask a

few questions before introducing you to the hiring manager.

establishing rapport

establishing a rapport begins with realizing that you and the client

are on the same team, the same page, developing your resume to parallel

the job description, and the aforementioned attributes.

Quiz & review

1. what is the value of having a team whose goals are aligned?

2. why would it be important for you to view yourself as someone

who is on the same team as the client?

3. what is the definition of rapport?

21

Chapter 3 The Waiting Game

There are two types of positions you should be aware of so that you

can estimate how long the hiring process is likely to take.

The two types are often referred to as “backfill” and “overfill.”

a backfill comes about when someone vacates an existing position

(promoted, transferred, resigned, whatever). an overfill position is a

newly created position.

backfill positions

Hiring managers are usually in a hurry to fill them because his or

her team is carrying the extra workload. I’ve had backfill positions close

within two weeks from resume submittal, through the interviewing pro-

cess, and formal employment offer. However, sometimes they take longer.

overfill positions

The hiring manager is usually not in a big hurry to fill these. I’ve had

overfill positions take three or four months to close.

too many cooks in the kitchen?

expect unusual delays in the process if three or more hiring managers

are involved in the decision making process. why is because each manager

has a vision of what he feels is needed and sometimes these visions are

Daniel Barber22

not aligned. It becomes your job to find out what they are and to align

yourself to them (more about this in Chapter 6).

when there are too many cooks in the kitchen, whose vision do you

think will win out? usually it is the most senior of the managers.

hr and your resume

Hr representatives do much more than read through resumes,

schedule job interviews, make employment offers, review benefits, policy,

etc. many of them are also responsible for a host of employee relations

activities: understanding and implementing relative federal and state

legislative issues, resolving workplace issues, managing industrial and

labor relations, labor negotiations, mediations, employee counseling,

state and federal Hr audits, etc.

Hr is usually assigned to partner with hiring managers when the

hiring manager has an open position to fill. Their purpose is to save the

hiring manager time so that he can continue to spend most of it on his

primary duties.

when Hr is involved, it is they who first read through incoming

resumes, often hundreds of them. It is Hr who decides which resume

seems to fit the job specifications. It is Hr who usually interviews you

first, and who sends your resume to the hiring manager for his review if

a good interview, and it is Hr who will try hard to get feedback.

until you read through a few hundred resumes for a single position,

and sort out who seems to fit, all the while handling interruptions which


break your train of thought, having to turn your attention to a higher

priority issue, etc. you can’t image how frustrating this single task can be.

I’m not making excuses, but I am giving you an understanding of life

on the other end during the hiring process.

If your resume does not immediately convey to Hr that you have

what the job specification calls for, it’s not likely to find its way to the

hiring manager.

and if your resume does finds its way to the hiring manager, but does

not immediately convey to him that you have what the job specifications

calls for, it’s not likely you’ll be interviewed.

the hiring manager and your resume

as hiring managers read through resumes, they usually sort them

into there categories: (1) candidates they want to interview first, (2) can-

didates they will interview if no one is hired from the first round, and (3)

candidates they will not interview.

Clients often, but not always, fill positions when the first round is

completed.

making the first round requires getting your resume to the client

quickly, making sure it presents you effectively and how long the posi-

tion has been open.

Daniel Barber24

Quiz & review

1. what is a backfill position?

2. what is an overfill position?

3. why is it important to know if the position is backfill or overfill?

25

Chapter 4 Effective Resume Development

the purpose of a resume

The purpose of a resume is to get you the first interview (there are

usually 2 or more interviews in the hiring process).

There’s no such thing as a “job winning” resume. There is such a thing

as an effective resume summary drafted to the job’s particulars such that

you probably will be interviewed.

I’ll show you how to create a resume that will stand out above the

others and be more likely to get you the interview.

Presuming you have the hard and soft skills, you’ll win 2nd and 3rd

interviews through your friendliness, preparation, ability to empathize,

and effective communication and interview skills.

you’ll win the job offer through your friendliness, preparation, ability

to empathize, and effective communication and interview skills.

Here is an exercise that will help increase a person’s friendliness:

exercise 5

as yourself or have another person ask:

1. look around here and find someone, something, or somewhere

you would be willing to like.


that’s really real to you.

Daniel Barber26


that you wouldn’t mind contacting or getting into communica-

tion with.


you wouldn’t mind or would be willing to understand more of.


you would be willing to have a higher quality friendliness toward.

Cycle through 1 – 5 over and over and continue until you notice and

feel a nice improvement in friendliness and then end off.

To increase your chances of getting the interview, here is one approach

I’ve been using with a great deal of success with hundreds of job seekers

for many years.

a resume would contain (1) a summary, (2) education, (3) Technical

skills, and (4) work History.

summary

education

technical skills

work history

the summary

The summary is the key component; it is the first thing that appears

on your resume and the first thing the client will read.

The summary is developed and written to closely align with the cli-


ent’s job specifications.

(Job specifications are almost always developed or approved by the

hiring manager.)

your summary tells them you have what they have been looking for

(presuming you do).

They will read through your summary, realize you appear to have

what they are looking for.

at this point, they will look down into the “body” or work History

of your resume in search of entries that support what you have told them

in the summary

supporting entries in your work History show them where, when,

and how you have done what the summary says you have done.

If your work History does not support your summary, you’re out

of the game.

If your work History does support your summary, it is highly likely

you’ll be called in to interview for the position.

education

Here you would include educational background including any cer-

tifications and on-going academic pursuits.

Daniel Barber28

technical skills

software and Hardware.

work history

This is the “body” of your resume — whatever else it contains, it must

also contain entries that support your summary.

In this section, you would highlight or otherwise emphasize (bold

type works well) those entries that support your summary.

Quiz & review

1. what is the purpose of a resume?

2. what sections should be included in a resume?

3. what importance does the summary have?

4. why is the summary placed at the beginning?

5. why is it necessary that the work History section support the

summary?

a simple and successful methodology

I’ll introduce you to a simple and successful methodology I have

used to employ hundreds of job seekers all over the united states who

were or still are employed by some of the largest companies in the world.

The methodology begins with a job description/specifications, con-

tinues with the development of a “skills Comparison Table,” and follows


through with the development of an effective resume.

Job specification/description

you’ll find these posted on job boards, corporate web sites, in news-

papers, trade publications and magazines, or through agencies.

read through the job description several times until you understand

what is wanted and needed.

study the mandatory skills, desirable skills, preferred skills, and job

responsibilities. Honestly compare your skills and experience against the

job description.

a good way to do this comparison is to develop a “skills Comparison

Table” consisting of rows and columns (example below).

The left-hand column contains the skills, experience, etc. that are

listed on the job description.

The right-hand columns you fill in based on your skills and experi-

ence.

when completed, you’ll know if you’re qualified. If you are, you will

use the table to develop your summary.

a web Developer job description

Here is a web developer job description from one of my clients:

Daniel Barber30

responsibilities

• Handling day to day maintenance of HTml and Javascript on

any of our branded websites;

• building and maintaining the content management system for

various sections of our primary web site;

• researching emerging technologies and the ability to determine

how they could be applied to current initiatives.

mandatory requirements

• 2-4 years of experience with HTml, dHTml and Javascript

(not academic or self study);

• some knowledge of Java J2ee programming;

• sample work available for viewing either on disk or via url is

required;

• The ability to take direction well and follow project guidelines

closely, as well as have a strong desire to learn new development

languages and techniques;

• well-rounded in both client and user side interfaces;

• must live within reasonable commute distance

Preferred requirements

• experience with xml/xslT and JsP/servlets/oo Programming

• some knowledge of Coldfusion

• Prior experience with a content management system; e.g. Inter-

woven.

• 4-year degree


• some experience developing front-end applications in a portal

environment

A Skills Comparison Table developed from the Web Developer Job Descriptionmandatory skills

(taken from the Job Description)

my hands-on experience

not including academic or

self-study

last time i used the

skillmy skills level:

b = beginneri = intermediate

a = advanced

HTML : 2-4 years experience required

4 Sept 04 I

DHTML : 2-4 years experience required

4 Sept 04 I

JavaScript : 2-4 years experience required

4 Sept 04 I

Some knowledge of Java programming

1 2 projects since 2002

B

Sample work avail-able on disk or URL

Yes

Can take direction well and follow proj-ect guidelines closely

Yes

Strong desire to learn new development lan-guages and techniques

Definitely

Reasonable commut-ing distance from the

client?43 miles

Well-rounded in client side user inter-faces, and server side

dynamic scripting

3 Sept 04 I

Preferred skills (taken from the Job Descrip-

tion)

Daniel Barber32

mandatory skills (taken from the Job

Description) my hands-on

experience not including academic or

self-study




a = advanced

XML No

XLST No

Servlets Yes Sept 04

OO programming Yes J2ee Sept 04

ColdFusion or similar No

Content management software; e.g. Interwo-

ven or similarNo

Developing front-end applications in a portal environment

A little Jul 04

Computer Sciences degree

No, Masters in Biology

responsibilities (taken from the Job

Description)

Handle day to day maintenance of

HTML and JavaScript on any of the branded

web sites

Yes For the past 2 years

Building and main-taining the content

management system for various sections of the primary web site

A little Helped do this on a project 1 year ago


mandatory skills (taken from the Job

Description) my hands-on

experience not including academic or

self-study




a = advanced

Research emerging technologies and

determine how they could be used with current initiatives

Yes Respon-sible for this over the past 2

years

The completed table reveals that you have the mandatory skills, some

of the preferred skills, and experience with similar responsibilities.

you’re qualified to proceed.

Developing a resume for the web developer position

This is prepared from your skills Comparison Table using your current

resume.

(This applicant was invited in by the client for a technical interview, a

second interview to meet senior management, and subsequently hired.)

John doe

2 nabisco way

wala wala, wa 00009

(610) 555-1111

email address

web develoPer summary

i have been using html, Dhtml and Javascript since 2000 and rate myself at an intermediate skills level with these tools. i also have used Java J2ee

Daniel Barber34

since 2002 on two projects.

i have a master’s degree and a 6+ year it background with one employer and have been looking for a web Developer position since relocating to this area in January 05.

my communication and interpersonal skills are excellent. i am a strong team player, take direction well and have no difficulty following established guidelines.

[The summary was developed from the skills table. The table was developed from the job description. The summary appears as the first entry in the resume so as to immediately inform the client you have what they want]

technical skills web Development: HTml, dHTml, Css, Javascript, Java, Jrun, dreamweaver, asP, frontPage Databases: sQl server, microsoft access 97/00operating systems: windows 95/98/00languages: vba/visual basic 6.0software: ms excel expert, adobe Photoshop, microsoft office

eDucation

studied Computer Information systems at (name of college or university)master of science degree in biology

work historY

(Company name, city, state) Sept 98 – Dec 04web developer/Programmer

[The experience section supports the summary & objective. The support-ing entries are highlighted so the client can easily and quickly spot them] Technologies utilized: sQl server, asP, vbscript, Java

• upgraded existing Process Control Plan application to expand its use across other engineering departments.

• added more users to the database and as a result improved security of the application

• Improved robustness of sQl server back-end and asP front-ends with increased normalization of entity relationships.

• Created Java classes for timers and escalation notices• upgraded older technology used in the application to comply with the

J2ee standards

Technologies utilized: sQl server, Jrun, Java

• upgraded the business process by eliminating the usage of ms excel


and created a web-based Java front end using the mvC architecture (JsP, Java servlets & Java beans)

• developed document/file management with version control and secu-rity features.

• Produced HTml reports for management for tracking visibility of upcoming issues.

Technologies utilized: visual basic for applications, excel, sQl server, Jrun, Java

• developed an application that automates and consolidates the scorecard entry of all validation employees.

• generated reports in ms excel using vba for departmental cost met-rics, cell phone usage metrics, budget-based on workdays and glide path report.

• used an innovative approach to integrate two different application environments, Java and microsoft.

• upgraded the application by creating a sQl server back-end and Java-enabled web front-end using mvC architecture (JsP, Java servlets & Java beans) for entering information.

Technologies utilized: html, Dhtml, Javascript

• led a website development project for productivity improvement and managerial efficiency.

• designed and developed website solutions for process validation, TasT, departmental support, Iso, and the manufacturing engineering’s executive director’s website. Had all of the sites certified by the I.s. & s. board of certification.

• achieved balance between user and customer requirements and ePd template requirements.

• effectively established a network within the engineering department for data and web support.

• represented the department in developing a coordinated web strategy for manufacturing engineering.

• Created a system delivery Process using sdP-21 for dTs application• developed project charter, business case, project plan, system require-

ments, system design, and system construction

Technologies utilized: visual basic for applications, ms access

for the following three projects, analyzed user requirements, information flow, project definition, design, development, implementation of security, comprehensive data testing, piloting, data acquisition plan, documentation, distribution, training, backup, and maintenance for several applications.

for all of the databases, a multi-user setting with multiple layers of security was applied which was inclusive of creation and addition of users, granting permissions to users, generating mde and mdw files.

technical specification Database • Converted access 2.0 to ’97 and eventually to 2000• Importing and exporting from ms excel to ms access

Daniel Barber36

• Created macros in excel.• successfully completed and deployed version I of the Technical speci-

fication database. • revised version II with user-friendly front-end and lean charts for

database requirements.• Compiled vba codes and compacted the database

metrics Database• developed and deployed dimensional lean engineering metrics

database. • effectively integrated ms excel charts with ms access.• Compile vba codes and compacting the database• key features included production of a variety of charts for average

hours/deliverable, average deliverables/engineer, and average cost/deliverable.

facility Database• Created initial version of a facility database: The application maintains

the departmental people information such as the personal info, profes-sional info such as years of service, education, training etc.

• developed database design, user defined queries, reports, and forms. • generated monthly headcount report to the director used for main-

taining headcount. • generating complex queries, canned and ad hoc reports and user

defined forms. Creating modules, macros, sending objects via email. Importing and exporting data from various applications.

end

another example

a hyperion essbase Job Description

Job title Hyperion essbase systems administrator

Job DescriptionThis position is responsible for Hyperion essbase application development and administration within the management reporting and Planning divi-sion. This position will work with the account department on monthly system operations and maintenance. The position will be responsible for developing and maintaining essbase cubes, developing relevant catalogs and reports, applying essbase formulas, building load rules and running calc scripts. In addition, the position will manage the budget process and maintain systems related sarbanes-oxley control items. This position requires primarily technical skills but knowledge of financial and profit-ability information is required as well.


responsibilitiesmaintaining and developing essbase cubesCreating and maintaining relevant reports and books in essbasedeveloping critical essbase applications to fulfill expanding needs of grow-ing company and provide internal support for internal customersday-to-day system operations and maintenance including system upload plans and procedures, system backups and server upgradesdevelop and maintain essbase calculation scriptsmaintain system security, budgeting information, currency tables, business rules, updating interfacesmanage development workmaintain system documentationdeveloping and delivering training on Hyperion reports and analyzer

experience and skills requiredability to develop database applications within essbase, implement those applications into a production process and provide ongoing production support to the application.ability to work independently with business areas, internal technical sup-port functions as well as external vendors. ability to assume some senior level development and leadership respon-sibilities.bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or ITdisplay and ability to work with the financial aspects of Hyperion and com-prehend complex financial calculations. International experience, including working with multi-currency translations, a definite plus.Two years experience with Hyperion essbase, reports and analyzer and demonstrate the ability to develop applications in these disciplines on their own.strong technical background

hyperion essbase skills comparison tablemandatory

skills my hands-on

experience last used my skills level:

b = beginner i = intermediate

a = advanced

2 years develop-ment experience using Essbase, Reports and

Analyzer and demonstrated

ability to develop applications in these disciplines

on their own

Approximately 4 years of experi-

ence (4 years with reports

and 2 years with Essbase and Ana-lyzer). Extensive experience writ-ing reports, as

well as building data cubes.

Starting in 1998, and used for over

2 years. Also currently using it during consult-

ing.

Advanced

Daniel Barber38

mandatory skills


last used my skills level:b = beginner

i = intermediate a = advanced

Bachelor’s Degree in Finance,

Accounting or IT

Bachelor’s degree in Economics,

Master’s degree in Finance and MIS

Experience working with the financial aspects of Essbase, and

comprehend complex financial

calculations

Extensive in all aspects of my

career. Experi-ence in financial calculations as

well as statistical.

Since 1998 Advanced

International applications

experience and multi-currency

translations

International experience comes

from working abroad for over

two years.

Intermediate: I understand

multi-currency translations and

international applications.

Strong technical background

Yes Since 96 Advanced

Experience includes devel-

opment and implementation of applications into a produc-

tion process with ongoing support

Numerous custom financial, operational and

reporting applica-tions in a variety

of software. Each has been supported and documented.

Throughout my career

Advanced.

Experience work-ing independently

within business areas, providing internal techni-cal support and interface with

external vendors

Both within companies and as an outside consultant.


mandatory skills


last used my skills level:b = beginner

i = intermediate a = advanced

Experience assuming some

senior level development

and leadership responsibilities?

Management responsibilities of up to 20 people reporting to me.

hyperion essbase resume

(The client interviewed this job seeker, once on the phone and then flew

him in for an on site interview. a formal offer was made a few hours after

the on-site interview, which the job seeker accepted.)

John doe2 nabisco way

wala wala, wa 00009(610) 555-1111email address

summarY

• approximately 4 years experience with reports and 2 years with essbase and analyzer. extensive experience writing reports and building data cubes (advanced skills level).

• extensive financial systems throughout my career (advanced level, financial and statistical).

• i understand multi-currency transactions and international applications from my experience at (company name) (intermediate skills level).

• bachelor’s degree in economics, and master’s in finance and mis.• Development and implementation of applications into a production

process providing on-going support has been the cornerstone of my career. i have created numerous, custom financial, operational and reporting applications in a variety of software, supported and docu-mented (advanced skills).

• experience includes working independently within business areas, pro-viding internal technical support and interfacing with external vendors and clients, both within companies and as an outside consultant.

• experience assuming senior level development and leadership respon-sibilities with up to 20 people reporting to me.

technical skills

• Hyperion essbase, Hyperion analyzer, Hyperion reports, Crystal report-

Daniel Barber40

ing, sPss, sas, saP, vantive. • excel including programming macros, access including modules. • microsoft office programs including word and PowerPoint, Project, visio.• as400 applications including Jde. • mainframe computing including foCus and nomad.

eDucation

master of business administration (Name of college or University) Concentrations in management Information systems and finance Honors

bachelor of arts major: Political economy minor: Political science (Name of college or University)

work historY

consultinG sept 03 - Present

• Currently providing analytical consulting for a range of clients.• adjunct professor in communications and humanities.• Created custom reporting database developed in access and designed

accounting reporting system in essbase.• Conducted sarbanes-oxley process flow documentation analysis.

(company name, city, state) may 02 – sept 03Project manager

• Performed data and financial analysis for channel incentive programs.• organized writing and implementation of all original training, including

innovative reference documentation system for 75 person customer care department. Trained all instructors in courses and teaching methods.

• Created manufacturing scheduling system in access to provide management information not available with the current system.

• streamlined order process and reorganized department to improve efficiency and increase productivity. directed my team in diagramming out the sales order process from company receipt at end of sale to user receipt and fulfill-ment. This included documentation, process flow analysis and reorganiza-tion through saP and vantive. month end close time was reduced by 50% with no additional headcount required saving significant overtime costs.

• supervised fifteen employees.

(company name, city, state) aug 00 – may 02manager of finance and mIs

• Project manager on a comprehensive budgeting model using access in a client server environment. This included designing the model to specifica-tions, overseeing and coordinating development and testing, training and support during use, and analysis of results.

• Project manager on several financial and hospitality forecasting models and automated financial reporting process.

• both projects involved international analysis and reporting which incorpo-


rated currency exchange and consolidation from several countries.• Provided all finance and mIs support for all divisions. This included ess-

base development and reporting, custom applications in visual basic, and advanced Jde.

• Casino statistician.• supervised two employees.

(company name, city, state) oct 98 – Jul 00senior financial risk analyst

• directed essbase reporting for auto loan and lease division.• developed several original loss forecasting methods that were later adopted

by a major consumer credit bureau.• Implemented automated decision process.• Created analysis of relationship between loan origination and loss rates

using sas.• developed consumer credit criteria for targeted sales and database market-

ing analysis for subsidiary.

(company name, city, state) mar 96 – oct 98financial analyst

• developed and managed implementation of new division level reporting tools in excel and access using visual basic for automation. Contribution for several sales and customer databases included design and formatting, all programming, writing user manuals, teaching end users, and follow up.

• developed a production forecasting tool in access that incorporated infor-mation from the as400 and the mainframe and provided automated output within minutes.

• Provided monthly statistical regression analysis on forecasting accuracy using sas

• automated several capital investment Irr processes, as well as roI model for field use.

• supported all divisions including accounting close, marketing, sales and manufacturing.

end

multiple resume versions?

This system does not require that you develop multiple resume ver-

sions for each position you apply for.

This system conditionally requires that you develop a new summary

depending on what skills and experiences are emphasized in different

Daniel Barber42

Job descriptions. my experience has been that a resume developed, for

example, towards a web developer position with one company requires

no or very minor changes to the summary for a web developer position

with another company.

you can end up with multiple summary versions but the body (work

History) of your resume does not change other than what you highlight

based on the summary and job description.

a picture is worth a thousand words

from a survey I conducted with several hiring managers, one of

the questions I asked was: “what do you want to immediately see in a

resume?”

The majority of hiring managers told me: “a picture that shows me

the candidate has what I’m looking for.”

I’ve given you one approach, which is the summary at the beginning

of the resume.

There is another, often more effective approach: give them a picture

of the summary and then the summary in words.

consider using a skills & experience graphic in your resume

The next page gives you the picture incorporated into the resume but

only shows the graphics and the summary.

hyperion essbase resume with a picture and summary




0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

FINANCE & IT

HYPERION REPORTS

ESSBASE & ANALYZER

HYPERION ESSBASE ADMINISTRATORYEARS EXPERIENCE

summarY

• approximately 4 years experience with reports and 2 years with essbase and analyzer. extensive experience writing reports and building data cubes (advanced skills level).

• extensive financial systems throughout my career (advanced level, financial and statistical).

• I understand multi-currency transactions and international applications from my experience at sun International (intermediate skills level).

• bachelor’s degree in economics, and master’s in finance and mIs.• development and implementation of applications into a production process

providing on-going support has been the cornerstone of my career. I have created numerous custom financial, operational and reporting applications in a variety of software, supported and documented (advanced).

• experience includes working independently within business areas, providing internal technical support and interfacing with external vendors and clients, both within companies and as an outside consultant.

• my experience assuming senior level development and leadership respon-sibilities with up to 20 people reporting to me.

(The hiring manager immediately “sees” and then reads about the major skills he wants. MS Excel was used to generate the graphic, which was then copied and pasted into the resume in MS Word.)

letters of reference

I suggest you obtain letters of reference as these can be powerful tools

if you know how to use them in your resume.

Daniel Barber44

The following page gives a resume of a job seeker applying for a

network systems administrator position. This job seeker had letters of

references which I excerpted into the summary and then attached to

the resume which I sent to the client. The resume won him the initial

interview.

The Job description and skills Comparison Table are not included

in this example.

network administrator’s resume that includes a graphic and excerpts in the summary from letters of reference



0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

FINANCE & IT

HYPERION REPORTS

ESSBASE & ANALYZER

HYPERION ESSBASE ADMINISTRATORYEARS EXPERIENCE

summarY

my technical background for this position includes 6 years with windows nt, 3 years with windows 03, 5 years with windows 00, 3 years with sQl, 5 years with iis, 4 years with terminal, 6 years with wins, 8 years with ms office suite, 10 years with backup units, routers and scanners, 10 years with ibm and compaq desktop and laptops, 5 years with norton antivirus, 4 years with cisco hardware, 10 years with compaq and hP hardware, 5 years Dns, 6 years Dhcp, 2 years landesk and sus servers, 5 years active Directory, 6 years with application, print and file servers, and 4 years with veritas backup software.

i have a masters Degree in computer sciences, and a bachelor’s in business administration. my certifications include mcP, mcP+, and mcse. i am currently pursuing ccna/ccnP certifications.


references from my last employer are attached. excerpts below:

“he has performed extremely well in the daunting task of supporting in excess of 200 users in 17 locations among 5 states. his ability to effectively and punctually service and administer the infrastructure of the company single-handedly is testimony to his abilities and work ethic. i whole-heartedly recommend him.” — Director of mis

“his assistance in the communication and data area has been the key to keeping our systems functioning at a high level of accuracy. he provided the proper balance of support and direction needed to enable individuals to suc-ceed and has a sense of urgency about business and consistently reinforces the priorities of the company. he promotes good relations and adheres to a high standard of ethics. i enthusiastically recommend him.” — vP of operations

(The summary was developed from the skills Table. The skills Table

was developed from the Job description.)

Professional references

Take the initiative and have two references lined up with former

supervisors.

Quiz & review

1. what is a skills Comparison Table?

2. what is the purpose of a skills Comparison Table?

3. what is used to prepare a skills Comparison Table?

4. what is used to develop the summary?

5. why must the “body” or work experience part of the resume

contain information that supports the summary?

6. what is the value of having letters of reference in preparing your

resume?

46

Chapter 5 Effective Interviewing

the most often sought after

I’ve seen hiring managers time and again hire the job applicant who

was friendlier, and whose interpersonal and communication skills were

superior to other applicants — even though the other applicants were

technically stronger.

This tells you the importance friendliness, empathy, self-esteem,

effective communication, honesty, and interview skills play in the process.

the role presence plays

Presence is defined as you being “here now.”

Here are two axioms you can live by:

• where your attention is — Is where you are.

• where another’s attention is — Is where they are.

your attention can be in the past, the present, the future or all three

concurrently.

attention in the past

you left home earlier than usual this morning so that you could get

to the office by 8:00 am, plenty of time to complete the business plan that


you’re scheduled to present at a 10:00 am manager’s meeting.

severe traffic congestion and long lines at the toll booth caused

unusual delays and you end up arriving at the office at 9:15. you’re very

frustrated and frankly quite angry because now you have only 45 minutes

to prepare. Then you realize this time of the year is when a lot of people

are vacationing, more cars on the roads then usual and you get a little

angry at yourself for not remembering this last night so you could have

left home even earlier.

regardless, the plan is due and you immediately start working on it

— but you can’t seem to take the plan to a satisfactory end point because

of the frustration and anger. now you find yourself getting angrier than

before.

you are being pulled back into the past.

Do exercise 3 on Page 50.

attention in the future

you’re discussing the status of on-going projects with the project

manager in an 8:30 meeting, but your attention keeps getting pulled

onto the employee reviews that are expected by your manager at 4:00

pm. you’ve had review meetings with all 8 of your staff but still have to

complete the review forms and handle everything else that will probably

come up during the day. you know from past experience that each review

form takes about 1 hour to complete.

Daniel Barber48

you are being pulled into the future.

Do Exercise 3 on Page 50.

again, where your attention is — is where you are.

absence prevents effectiveness.

In both of the above examples, the person was absent from the “here,

now.”

This can be especially lethal during an interview, review, presenta-

tion, etc.

Can you recall a time you became slightly annoyed with someone

you were talking to because he really wasn’t there — lights were on but

no one at home?

Can you recall a time someone became slightly annoyed because you

weren’t really there?

absence is the opposite of presence.

absence comes about when your attention isn’t where it should be

or where you want it to be.

Presence is vital to effective communication which is the mainstay

in successful relationship building, interviews, presentations, conflict

resolution, evaluating the important from the unimportant, establishing


priorities, envisioning, planning, implementing, etc.

exercise 2— freeing up your attention to increase your presence

below is an exercise that will help to increase your potential to be

more present.

• make a list of all the projects you may have your attention on —

set aside some time to do this and let it take as long as it takes.

• when you have completed the list, take a look at the first item

and estimate how much time it is likely to take to complete. Then

do the same with the next item, etc.

• now go back through the list and decide which should be done

first, second, etc. Here you are establishing priorities, orders of

importance.

• Then schedule time for the first item and do it. doesn’t matter

how long it takes to complete, what matters is that you do it fully

and to the best of your ability. (If you do something half-way, it

will come back at you to be done again.)

• Take the second item and do it.

Change priorities as needed, and allow for new things to be added to

the list. expect some things to take longer to complete than you expected,

and expect things to come up that may cause delays.

as each project is completed, you’ll feel a little better, more present,

less “scattered,” and more in control. your attention that was focused on

that project frees up and comes back under your control for use elsewhere.

This not only gives you an increased sense of well being but increases

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your presence factor in that you have more of you to work with than

before. It’s that simple.

exercise 3 — how to increase your presence and friendliness

Here is a simple exercise that will help you become more present

and friendlier. I find this one particularly enjoyable while taking a walk

outdoors although it can also be done indoors.

• notice something in your surroundings.

• now notice something about it that you can agree with or like.

• notice something else in your surroundings.

• now notice something about it that you can agree with or like.

repeat this exercise until you feel more “here” and friendlier.

Quiz & review

1. what is meant by presence?

2. what is meant by absence?

3. recall a time when you were present with someone.

4. How did that make you feel?

5. recall a time when you were absent with someone.


7. recall a time when someone was present with you.


9. recall a time when someone was absent with you.



moods and the interview

moods can be very powerful and they play a key role in interviews

and in life.

a mood is just a mood. There are lots of them but the main ones

include apathy, lethargy, sadness, fear, masked rage, rage, anger,

Contentious, boredom, reserved, Interest, enthusiasm, and a few others

(refer to the mood scale below).

a mood is not you. a mood may certainly influence you, but a mood

is not you.

moods are triggered by the ups and downs of life. They put a person

into a particular frame of mind (attitude) and it is from this position that

we try to get things done.

so powerful are some moods that people have a tendency to become

the mood as reflected in their attitude: anger can cause a person to become

angry. Cheerfulness can cause a person to become cheerful.

bad moods are catching.

recall a time someone near you was in a bad mood.

How did that affect you?

good moods are catching.

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recall a time someone near you was in a good mood.

How did that affect you?

everyone experiences a bad mood at one time or another so go easy

on yourself or the other person. keep in mind a mood is simply a mood,

not the person, and that moods are triggered by the ups and downs of life.

To handle the unwanted moods, you need to know more about them

and how to work with them.

ever try to be effective, productive or friendly when you’re angry?

Takes a lot of effort, and makes for a tough day.

ever notice how little effort it takes to be effective, productive and

friendly when you’re in a good mood?

not much at all and it makes the day more enjoyable for you and

those around you.

as an aside, it is when you are in a good mood that you want to think

about and plan your future.

when you are in a bad mood, your immediate goal should be to

separate yourself from that mood.

Here is an exercise that will help you do that: exercise 4

ask yourself or have another person ask: “describe your mood level.”


Then describe your mood level. describe everything you feel about

it, holding nothing back. repeat and answer this question as many times

as needed until you can feel that your outlook has improved if even just

a little. all you want to do here is improve your mood level so end off

when you feel a little better.

what happens during the exercise is that each answer to the question

requires that you actually push the mood slightly away from you so as to

get separation. The further it moves away from you, the better you feel,

and the more able you are to describe it. It’s the act of separating yourself

from the mood that causes improvement.

note: The agent that binds the mood to you, what keeps it in place,

is emotions which are contained within the mood so expect some to

manifest as you go through this extremely effective exercise.

moods generate carrier waves whose characteristics are determined

by the mood.

a carrier wave transports (carries) your feelings and words.

The carrier wave is projected outwards and makes first contact —

before the words arrive.

The negative moods generate dense, heavy and slow moving carrier

waves: lethargy and boredom are two examples.

The positive moods generate lighter, faster moving carrier waves:

interest and enthusiasm are two examples.

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someone in a positive mood will be highly effective, more productive

and friendlier than someone in a negative mood.

mood parity

what happens during a job interview if you are in a positive mood

but the client is in a negative mood?

a majority if not all of what you say will simply not arrive because

the absence of mood parity prevents connection.

you and the client are at different positions on the mood scale. He’ll

hear your words, see your lips moving, but the words won’t register. It’s

like trying to send an e-mail with no connection to the Internet or Intranet

(the message never arrives).

effective communication will not occur.

Conversely, if the client is in a positive mood but you are in a negative

mood, the same thing happens.

It’s like trying to draw a circle with pen to paper but not being able

to connect the start point to the end point.

you end up with a sort of but lousy circle or a sort of but failed attempt

at communicating because the two carrier waves were so out of range

they failed to connect.

you walk away feeling a little confused. The client walks away feeling


he’s just wasted valuable time.

you’ll encounter people in various mood levels so knowing how to

recognize and approximate various moods in order to achieve parity is a

vital skill to possess if you really want to win more often in life.

mood scale

below are a few of the moods. There are many more, but these are

the major moods.

look up the definition of each mood. role-play each mood. observe

others and try to spot their mood. Then approximate their mood.

when you become reasonably accurate at spotting mood levels,

you can take a position on the mood scale that approximates the other

person’s mood.

The process of defining, acting out, observing and approximating

moods can be a lot of fun so long as you keep it at the spirit of play level

(keep it fun).

developing the ability to recognize and then achieve mood parity

is a tremendous asset that is vital to achieving effective communication.

achieving mood parity does not require that you assume the same

mood. all you really have to do is approximate the mood.

for example, if the other person appears to be in a mood level of

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boredom, you can either assume boredom or the next higher mood:

reserved or conservative.

In a mood of reserved or conservative, you would be reserved or

conservative in speech and manner.

If the other’s mood is interest, assume the mood of enthusiasm.

In a mood of enthusiasm, you would be enthusiastic in speech and

manner.

earlier I said that good moods are catching. with practice, you can

actually lift another person’s mood level say from interest to enthusiasm

simply by being enthusiastic around that person in your manner and

speech.

If the other person’s mood is contentious, assume the mood of bore-

dom. and so on.

The main moods from top to bottom:

enthusiasm

Cheerful

Interest

reserved

boredom

Contentious

anger

rage


masked rage

fear

sadness

lethargy

absence

Quiz & review

1. what is a mood?

2. what is a mood not?

3. what is meant by mood parity?

4. recall a conversation when mood parity existed.

5. what were some of the consequences of that?

6. recall a conversation when mood parity did not exist.

7. what were some of the consequences of that?

opposition — misidentification — labeling

known opposition could be a member of the opposing team. for a

salesman it could be a competitor. for a job hunter it could be other job

hunters applying for the same position.

known opposition can also be problems that surface during a project,

not having enough time to do what needs to be done, having to make

a lot of things go right to get to work each day, managing a budget, too

many interruptions, too many meetings, trying to be well rested during

the week, etc.

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It’s easy to go into opposition with someone or something — we do

it all the time.

known opposition has its dark side to be sure, but unknown opposi-

tion is insidious because it comes about unknowingly and without the

benefit of self-awareness or inspection.

example

you are introduced to John, a hiring manager, who is going to inter-

view you for a job.

shortly after being introduced to John you begin to feel something

about him you don’t like — you can’t put your finger on it but you can

feel it.

These feelings may include anger or resentment or anything at all.

you are aware of and sense the feeling but are completely unaware

of the cause.

In spite of your best efforts to suppress your feelings the interview

does not go well.

you leave the meeting confused, a little upset about what happened

and why. you may even think something is wrong with you.

afterwards, you rack your brain trying to understand what happened.


Then you get it: John reminded you of Joe!

Joe was a bully in grade school who frequently picked fights with

you or was always putting you down, making less or nothing of you in

front of your friends.

what actually happened?

although you were not aware of it at the time you met John, you

noticed something that was similar between him and Joe.

The similarity could have been anything: appearance, tone of voice,

facial expression, color of his hair or how it was combed, how he looked

at you, how he moved toward you to shake your hand, how he asked

questions, mannerisms, etc.

something about John reminded you of Joe and you still harbor anger

and resentment toward Joe.

Misidentification

you didn’t like John because he reminded you of someone you had

problems with so many years ago that you had all but forgotten. and this

silly little thing could cost you a job or a relationship.

worse, you walk away thinking something is wrong with you!

nothing could be further from the truth.

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when you unknowingly and unwittingly connected John to Joe you

went absent from John — and the interview.

your attention was pulled back to those encounter points in the past,

the where’s and when’s you had major problem encounters with Joe.

your attention then got caught on those encounter points. you didn’t

know at the time what was going on but you struggled to maintain some

control and attention during the interview.

This, and the ensuing confusion, can knock anyone off the rails.

when misidentification takes place (Joe to John), the tendency is to

involuntarily superimpose your feelings about Joe onto John.

Labeling

you no longer see John — you see what John represents to you: Joe

something about John acted as a “trigger” on Joe.

The trigger caused you to access past incidents with Joe that were

still “charged up.”

These past incidents came rushing forward with your attention in tow

and were overlaid onto where you were (environment), who you were with

(people), and what you were doing (interviewing) in the present time.

The moods associated with these feelings included anger, resentment,


wanted to knock Joe’s block off, etc.

you involuntarily superimposed these feelings onto John.

John could feel them but was in total mystery as to what was going on.

you were struggling to maintain control but having a hard time sort-

ing out Joe from John, the present from the past.

your attention was in the past and, to some degree, also in the present.

This can knock anyone out of present time — small wonder the

interview didn’t go well.

To give you an example of how destructive misidentification can be

especially during the job hunting process:

one of the job candidates I recently worked with had submitted his

resume to a client company from a job posting that client had placed on

one of the major job boards. a few days later he followed up by calling Hr.

He spoke with (we’ll call her debbie) in Hr who confirmed they had

his resume and that he seemed to be a valid candidate for the position.

over the next week, he placed two or three more phone calls to

debbie but she didn’t return any of them.

He became exasperated and very upset with debbie. He wanted to

tell her off, remind her she said he seemed to be qualified for the job,

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remind her of the unanswered phone calls, etc.

about a week after this incident, he called me in response to one of

my job postings. However, to him I was another Hr person (I “repre-

sented” debbie).

He proceeded to give me all the details about the incident with

debbie and thoroughly vented for nearly 10 minutes. fortunate for him

I understood the life mechanics that sit behind such incidents so I simply

allowed him to vent all the pent up anger and frustration.

but what’s wrong with this picture?

He is in opposition with the very people that are in a position to help

him find a job because he has unwittingly misidentified them with debbie.

The truth is that nine out of ten Hr people you deal with would love

nothing more than to be more helpful. The problem is the hiring process

they have to work with is one they have little, if any, control over. The

problem is also the sheer volume of resumes and phone calls from other

candidates.

I’m not excusing the lack of good manners, but you must realize

that’s the way it is.

you don’t have to agree with a client’s hiring process, but you do have

to try to understand it and work with it if you decide to put yourself in it.


Quiz & review

1. what is meant by labeling?

2. recall a time you put a label on someone.

3. did you feelings towards that person change afterwards?

4. recall a time someone put a label on you.


“charge”

when John triggered the past bad encounters with Joe, the candidate

was triggered into the past unpleasant experiences he had with Joe.

The charge (harmful energy) contained in those experiences revivi-

fied and the candidate could feel them as through they were happening

all over again right now!

The candidate accumulated a lot of charge on Joe and poor John got

it all put on him.

The upset with debbie in Hr began the accumulation of charge on

every other Hr person this candidate contacts during his job search —

the people whose very survival the job seeker depends on at this time

in his life.

do exercise 3 before the interview. In fact, if you do it regularly it will

have an accumulative affect that keeps you more present and friendlier.

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when you are present and friendly, things that might otherwise cause

opposition become things you are more willing to work with. moreover,

you’ll find fewer things coming your way that you will oppose.

simply being aware of this mechanism will give you some altitude

over it.

Dress for the interview

Image conveys a message.

People often tend to make snap judgments.

you want to convey a professional image and message in your appear-

ance.

dress for the interview and then take a look in a full length mirror.

what image does your dress convey?

business dress is best at the first interview unless you’re told other-

wise. If the client invites you to return in business casual dress, do so but

be conservative. and if the client is dressed business casual, take notice

of what is acceptable.

Try to be well rested and well fed before the interview. People who

are physically tired and hungry often go absent and can become easily

confused.


anticipate the client

Presume you are the hiring manager and that you wrote the job

specifications. you then sent the specifications to your contact in Hr

who subsequently posted them to one or more of the major job boards.

a few days later Hr begins to receive resumes; they set them aside

until they collect six or a dozen to read through. after reading through

them, they find two that seem to fit your (you as the hiring manager)

specifications. Hr then sends those resumes to you.

you’re busy when they arrive so you set them aside until you have

some time to read through them. when you do read them, you find that

one that looks promising.

you call Hr with days and times you’re available to interview that

candidate and then you begin writing out a list of questions you plan to

ask during the interview. you also contact your team leader and ask him

to do the same (you plan to have your team leader join you on the first

interview).

now if you were the hiring manager, what questions would you ask?

review the job description.

realize the first interview is almost always to technically assess your

software skills and experience against those identified in the job descrip-

tion (to learn what you did with the software; to get an overview of the

project; to learn what your role was in the project; the size of the project

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team; the hardware and software platform; if the project was a difficult

one and, if so, why; to learn what you would do differently and why if

the project was a difficult one, etc.).

make a list of questions. refer to the questions in Chapter 7, ask

friends who have interviewed for similar positions, and ask the agency

what questions he thinks you will be asked.

Practice

If you’re working through an agency that does not offer an interview

role-playing service, do some role-playing with a friend and tape or video

record the pretend interview.

ask the first question from your list as though you were the hiring

manager (or ask a friend to assume that role).

now answer each question as the job applicant.

Continue through the list until completed.

now replay the tape and listen/watch carefully to your responses, your

tone of voice, your facial expressions (if video), if you are coming across

with confidence, if you sound nervous, your mood level, etc.

If you’re not satisfied with the first role play, repeat the process until

you are satisfied.

as an aside, the first time I video taped a mock interview I was hor-


rified at how awful I was coming across and not at all pleased with my

facial expressions. I sounded nervous, my answers seemed uncertain,

my mood level was fear, and I realized that I wouldn’t hire me! I simply

repeated the process until I just knew I was ready.

arrive early

my suggestion is that you arrive at least fifteen minutes before the

interview is scheduled.

do exercise 3 outside the building or in the lobby for five minutes.

review the job description and the questions you expect to be asked.

be prepared to let the interview take as long as it takes. If the client asks

how long you have, tell him as long as it takes. If you only have an hour,

make sure the client was told this when the interview was scheduled and

make sure to tell him again before the interview begins and explain why

you only have 1 hour.

usually, the longer an interview takes, the better — a client will not

waste his time if he doesn’t have a good feeling about you within the first

few minutes.

“good feeling about you” — remember moods and carrier waves? If

you sense the client is in a mood of boredom, then you need to be in a

slightly higher mood in order to connect (try reserved or conservative).

look up the definition of boredom, role play that mood. look of the

definition of conservative, role play that mood, etc.

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you don’t have to be in the exact same mood level as the other person,

but you do want to position yourself in the approximate area or slightly

higher.

for example, if the other person is in boredom, you can assume the

mood level above it: reserved or conservative.

when you assume a mood level you act and talk through that mood

level about anyone or anything that is discussed.

refer to the mood scale.

what most people want first and foremost

what do you think most clients are really looking for when inter-

viewing job candidates?

It might surprise you to learn that what they are really looking for is

friendliness, someone who can establish and maintain a rapport. yes, the

technical skills and relative experience are important to be sure, but the

winner is almost always the friendlier person even if his technical skills

and relative experience are less than the other candidates.

rapport

realize that dozens of people have the technical skills and the experi-

ence, but not all have the ability to establish and maintain the tempo of

a friendly rapport.


I’ve heard it told me many times by hiring managers and experienced

Hr people:

“I’ve seen friendliness win out over technical time and again.”

look for something about the other person you are willing to like

and build your relationship on that.

be willing to communicate freely and willingly. be friendly. be your-

self by being present.

get a sense of the mood level of the person in front of you. Pay atten-

tion to mood parity.

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Chapter 6 More About the Job Interview

the typical job interview model

• data gathering

• focused presentation

• addressing concerns or objections that exist or seem to exist

• Closing

• follow up

Data gathering

It’s always a good idea to know the job description cold. read through

it until you are thoroughly familiar with it but realize the vast majority

of job descriptions do not contain all the information you really need to

make an informed decision — there will be questions you will want to

ask in interview. In fact, the more relevant questions you ask, the more

interest you are showing about the job (a good thing).

The interview will start with introductions before it gets into the

actual Q&a phase.

after introductions, explain your understanding of the position based

on the job description and ask the manager if he would mind giving you

a more complete overview, the size of his department or group, how it

fits into the overall organization, about on-going projects and planned

projects, etc.


His answers to your questions will give you what aspects of your

background you want to emphasize so that your presentation stays on

point and stays focused.

remember your goal is to partner with the client to help him achieve

his goal. by knowing more about what he wants, you are in a better

position to emphasize those aspects of your background that will be of

interest to him.

some people have a tendency to become nervous during job inter-

views. The danger is this can cause the job applicant to go absent, to drift

in and out of the interview.

one way to work with this:

after the introductions, but before the Qa begins, explain: “I’m truly

glad to be here and appreciate your time, but I want to let you know

that I have a tendency to get nervous in job interviews so please bear

with me.” This often eases tensions and results in a far more relaxed and

comfortable setting.

focused presentation

The adage “know before you go” is a good one. knowing as much

about the job before the Q&a begins will empower you in that you’ll

know what is and what is not important. If you’re not sure about the

importance of something, ask the question.

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stay on point, stay focused, no rambling. be sociable by all means,

but do so while staying on point. on point is to know what is important

and what is not important and staying with what is.

If you ramble, your audience will lose interest and go absent.

Hiring managers often look to see how long it takes an applicant to

answer THe question they ask, not what the applicants THInks they

asked. so if you don’t understand a question, ask for clarification.

example

Hiring manager: “Can you give us an overview of this project you

worked on while with xyz Company?”

Candidate: “That was a tough one because we really had to guess

what the users wanted and often had to go back to square one because

we missed. Try as we did, we couldn’t get them to schedule enough time

with us to work out the specifications.”

what happened here?

The candidate’s answer was not an answer to the question asked.

moreover, the candidate reveals a potentially failed project.

Hiring managers also look to see if the applicant is on the same page

or “tracking” with the interview.

example


The interview is hot and heavy into technically assessing the candi-

date’s know-how with specific software tools.

The job applicant asks about career path opportunities.

Career path is important to be sure, but what does it have to do with

technical assessment?

addressing unspoken concerns or objections that seem to exist

It’s pretty easy to “read” most people by their facial expressions — if

you look.

for example, if you ask a question and then notice a blankness or sort

of question mark or confused look on the person’s face, your question

may have triggered something.

If something was triggered, it could be anything but never leave it

to chance. for all you know, there could be a Joe to John thing going on

with you acting as the trigger.

It’s vital to take it up it then and there.

How would you address it?

one way would be to say “did I say something that needs clarifica-

tion?” and then look at them expectantly.

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or, “do I remind you of someone?”

If the person asks why you asked, explain you noticed a sort of

puzzled look on their face and just wanted to make sure it wasn’t you or

something you said.

If there is nothing to address, let it go.

If you don’t pick up on these and address them the moment they

occur, the other person may go absent for the remainder of the meeting.

worse, if he misinterpreted your answer to his question, he may get the

idea you are not qualified.

It’s also important to never say or do anything that might distract the

other person after you’ve asked a question.

Here’s what goes on after you ask a question:

when you ask someone a question they look to their mind for an

answer.

The mind is an infinite repository of data, thoughts, feelings/moods,

precepts, fixed ideas, conclusions, past experiences, and mental imagery

all very nicely sequenced by time and location, indexed and cross-

referenced.

It is through this interaction with the data in the mind that one educes

(draws forth) information relative to the situation at hand.


The other person takes your question, looks to his mind where rela-

tive information is stored. That information is retrieved, reviewed, and

then passed over to you.

If you look at the person’s face after you ask a question, you can actu-

ally see him viewing and assessing the information he retrieved from his

mind.

you can also tell if he has more to say when he’s answering as he will

pause but is still looking. If you interrupt, you chance cutting that educ-

tion line before he’s through and this can cause upsets.

Can you recall a time you were in the middle of answering a ques-

tion and the other person fired another question at you or did something

unexpectedly that cut your eduction line?

you’ll know when he has no more to say. If you’re not sure, gently

ask “Is there anything else?”

listen carefully to each answer because it may contain the answer to a

question you plan to ask later. If you don’t fully understand his response,

ask for clarification.

If at any time during the interview, you notice a blank, question mark

or confused look on a person’s face, take it up. effective interviewing,

presentations, etc. require presence and know-how.

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closing

a lull in the meeting will take place just as the interview is conclud-

ing. If you’re comfortable with it, make the following or a similar remark:

“I want to thank you for your time. I have a good feeling about this

opportunity and would like to continue with the next step. do you have

a good feeling about me for this position?”

This closing statement says you want the job, and puts their attention

on you as a good fit for the job. sometimes you’ll get a direct answer and

sometimes you won’t, but you do want their attention on you as a good

fit for the job.

follow up

a summary (very brief) email follow up with those you met is a good

idea. be sure to cc your agency representative if you have one. If you are

using an agency, give them a thorough debriefing after the interview

and feel free to have them review your follow up before you send it (they

may have some good suggestions to make it more effective). The agency

will use your feedback in his debrief with the client at which time he can

assess if the client wants to continue with you.

Quiz & review

1. what could happen if you ramble during the interview?

2. what could happen if you fail to recognize and then follow up

with someone who seems confused about something you just


said?

3. what is the value of asking a closing question?

4. why would it be important to make sure you understand as

much about the position as possible before getting into the heart

of the interview?

5. what is the value of a follow up after the interview?

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Chapter 7 Real Life Interview Questions

If you’re working with an agency that knows their stuff, is on the ball

and really doing their job, they will offer you coaching and role-playing

before the interview as part of their service. They will also give you effec-

tive resume tips and help you develop one for the position.

The agency will also assume the role of client and role play the inter-

view using his list of questions and your own.

usual questions

The client will want to know more about your background as reflected

in your resume. If you use an agency, be sure to get a copy of your resume

as sent to the client and take a copy to the interview.

Questions might include:

Tell me about the most difficult project you’ve worked on, and what

you would do differently, if anything.

your answer gives the client some insight as to how you handle

yourself in a difficult situation, and if you self-critique with the intent

of improvement.

How would you describe the best manager you’ve ever worked for?

your answer gives the client a short-list of the managerial charac-


teristics that you respond to best. It also enables the client to assess if the

manager you will be reporting to possesses some or all of these traits,

and if it is likely you will work at your best with that manager and within

their particular culture.

How do you go about setting up for production each day?

Think about it -- your answer to this question provides some insight

regarding your self-discipline, your analytical / reasoning skills, how you

set your priorities, how you distinguish between the more important from

the less important (orders of importance).

What is your career goal over the next 3 – 5 year’s?

watch this one, I’ve seen strong contenders blow it by saying they

expected to be in a senior management position within the next 3 years

— while interviewing with a company that could not offer a senior man-

agement position within the next 3 years.

Clients are reluctant to hire anyone whose career path time frame

they may not be able to accommodate. all depends on the position and

career path they can offer, but it’s safe to simply say your immediate goal

is to master your current profession: if you are a web developer, your

immediate goal is to become a master web developer, etc.

How do you learn new technologies?

give a real-life example of a situation in which you had to learn a new

software tool in order to the job done. describe what you did to learn

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that new software, how long it took you to learn it well enough to use it,

and then what you did with it.

What is your greatest strength?

your answer could be anything from being a good listener, to some-

one who does not compulsively react to situations, that you finish what

you start, or that you can be assertive when necessary, that you do not

jump to conclusions but rather tend to gather as many facts about a situ-

ation before making a decision, etc. whatever it is, I think it best to relate

the strength to your career / profession.

What is your greatest weakness?

again, I would keep the answer relevant to career / profession. one

example is an interview I had in the late 60’s with a large computer

company. my answer to the question was that my people skills needed

improvement and so I had taken some after hours’ classes in effective

communication to improve my interpersonal skills. I then told him what

classes I had taken and asked if he could recommend others.

What made you want to become a (Java Developer, Web Developer,

Business Analyst, etc.)?

more questions and possible responses

Why should we hire you?

rare is the job applicant who has all the qualifications a client wants,


but many have a majority of the most wanted, the “mandatory or must

have” qualifications. If it’s obvious you lack one of these, a response that

did result in a job offer and acceptance went like this: “well, I’m not a

perfect fit because I don’t have experience (or that much experience)

with (whatever it is). However, I do have the experience you ask for with

(whatever it is), and am otherwise a good fit and a fast learner. also please

note that I have demonstrated by ability to learn new skills quickly, and

apply what I learn quickly.”

How do you feel about working for a large company?

I feel pretty good about it. larger companies usually offer a good

career path, more responsibility, use the latest technologies, and offer a

good benefits package.

Tell me about yourself.

This and similar questions are considered “open ended” in that they

really don’t go anywhere. a good response would go something like this:

“well, I earned a b.s. in Computer sciences in 1996 and landed my

first IT job 2 months later as a Java programmer at (company name). I

found that I really enjoyed working with the technology and developed

a lot of affinity for it. I stayed at (company name) for the next four years

but found my salary hadn’t improved that much from when I first joined.

I left to join my current employer in 2000, and have been continuing to

develop my Java skills all the while. Truth is I really like my job and the

company, but the company has announced outsourcing and it looks like

my position will be eliminated.”

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How would you approach a problem you’re not familiar with?

Why do you want to work for (company)?

be sure you have learned all you can about the company before

going to interview. you can learn a lot by simply doing a search on the

company name on the Internet. Try to learn about the people who will be

interviewing you. ask the client Hr for names and titles, or the agency

rep. Then go to the various social networks such as linkedin, facebook,

the company’s web site, etc.

This question also presents an opportunity to gather more informa-

tion about the position, and the company if these have not been discussed

earlier. If not yet discussed, one response would be to ask if it would be

okay to first discuss the position and the company based on your current

understanding. This approach demonstrates your interest in the position,

the company, your analytical skills, that you gather relevant information

to ensure you are on the same page, etc.

with an okay from the client, present your understanding of the

position – it’s also a good idea to end your final remark as a question

because a question naturally invites further discussion (by the client).

His or her response will give you a more fully developed picture of the

position, which information you can use during the remaining course

of the interview.

say or do nothing that might distract the client at anytime when he

or she is talking – you want their attention to remain where it is rather

than be pulled away by some distraction.


when the client has finished talking you can say the position is what

you are looking for (if it is), and then explain why so.

once the discussion about the position is completed, you can repeat

the process with regards to your understanding of the company (its his-

tory, products / services, the public or publics it serves, etc.).

now and again a job applicant can become quite surprised during

the interview to learn that he or she is being interviewed for an entirely

different position! such occurrence points out the need for you to address

your understanding of the position very early on during the interview

process – shortly after introductions and pleasantries are exchanged. I’ve

had experiences where the hiring manager had more than one position

open, and confused the two while interviewing the applicant. I’ve also

had hiring managers ask job applicants towards the conclusion of the

interview if they would be interested in a different position – this usually

occurs when the manager’s assessment of the applicant is such that he or

she would be more qualified, more suited to the other position.

What really drives or motivates you?

relate whatever it is to the position, to your career. Could be what

really motivates you is a job well done, a system well maintained, satisfying

clients, challenge, acknowledgement when a job is well done, a manager

that does not micro-manage, learning and applying new technologies, etc.

What do you like most about you current job (or last job)?

your answer enables the client to assess if the job you are interviewing

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for contains any of the components that you like best.

What did you like least about it?

Careful here about “sour grapes” and also careful you do not inad-

vertently reveal information that may be or is considered sensitive about

your current or last employer.

Tell me about a time you went “above and beyond the call of duty”

to get something done?

again, keep it relevant to your current or past position, and be able

to back up what you say with a reference or two.

How would you deal with a difficult co-worker?

as with any of these questions, think them through before the inter-

view and be prepared.

Tell me about a time when your listening skills enabled you to see a

problem that no one else spotted.

use resources around you, ask for some advice.

off-the-wall remarks

you may be asked an off the wall question to see how you handle

yourself with it.


an example from personal experience: during an interview I had

several years ago with a senior executive who made the remark: “you

seem all used up, burnt out.”

I noticed he had a smile on his face as he made the remark. my

response: “funny you said that, I was just thinking the same thing about

you.”

I’m not recommending this response but you get the idea. I was suf-

ficiently present to have observed his mood and went with it.

Problem-solving questions

you have a water tank that holds an infinite amount of water. you also

have a 5 liter bucket and a 3 liter bucket. How do you go about getting 4

liters of water into the 5 liter bucket?

you’re hired by a rich entrepreneur who wants you to tell him how

many quarters it will take if stacked one on top of the other to reach the

height of the empire state building. Including the lightening rod on top

of the building the total height is 1,454 feet. How would you go about it

and what is the answer?

what if questions

what if you are a hiring manager and you have two qualified candi-

dates applying for the job. one is a super technical person and the other

has the technical skills but also has strong “soft” skills (good communi-

cator, good interpersonal skills). which one would you hire and why?

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If all I really need is a strong super technical person, I would hire

that one. but if I needed a good technical person with good soft skills, I

would hire that one.

be honest with yourself and the client. be willing to tell the truth.

be yourself.

stay on point. stay focused. stay on the same page. answer THe

question asked.

The person interviewing you will presume how you act in his pres-

ence and how you handle yourself is how you will conduct yourself in the

presence of others including his management. observe good manners.

silent assessment

The client will be quietly assessing what many call “chemistry.” what

he’s really doing is looking to see if you’ll be able to fit in and adjust to the

varying personalities of people you’ll be working with (your friendliness

factor, your interpersonal skills, your ability to connect with others, to

integrate into the team), if you can fit into and work with their brand of

corporate culture.

will you fit, can you adjust, have you had to adjust in the past, are you

flexible, are you friendly and willing, are you a “work with” type, are you

the aggressive type, etc. all these things the hiring manager will assess.

expect additional interviews if the first one is successful. expect as

many as three, sometimes more before getting a decision.


expect the hiring process to take as long as it takes and be sure to

know if the position is a backfill or overfill. If you don’t know, ask the Hr

representative, the hiring manager or the agency representative.

regards freelance work when applying for a full-time position:

I had one hiring manager who was ready to make an offer to an

outstanding job candidate coming out of the consulting sector. The

hiring manager decided not to make the offer. Turns out during the job

interview the candidate got carried away with his free-lance work and

mentioned how excited he was about a upcoming free-lance project he

would do in his off-hours.

The problem was the hiring manager had past bad experiences with

others he hired who were performing occasional off-hours work because

it had severely interfered with their full-time duties.

what you do in your off-hours is your business but if it includes occa-

sional freelance work, keep it out of the interview and out of the office.

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Chapter 8 Salary Expectations

the salary range

a salary range for a position is almost always established before the

position is published to the job boards or released to the employment

agencies the client may be working with.

Postings to job boards and corporate web sites by client companies

almost never include the salary range.

agencies almost always know what the range is or is likely to be, but

most will not include it in their job postings.

The range is usually established by Hr compensation analysts and is

generally based on competitive salaries for similar positions within the

geographical area, as well as existing salaries within the target area of the

client company — but not always. I’ve seen a difference of $10k within

a 40 mile radius that crossed state lines.

sometimes hiring managers have authority to offer a bit more espe-

cially if they find a candidate they really want to hire.

above the range

The salary offer can be higher than the salary range, but for the most

part it is usually kept at the mid-point of the range — the client wants

some room when it comes time to review and increase.


an offer exceeding the range can occur when the client has not been

able to locate a qualified candidate over some extended time period.

In this instance, clients may even be willing to provide some form of a

relocation package even if the posting says otherwise or nothing at all

about relocation.

If relocation is involved, you should take into account the cost of

living differential between the two locations. other things to consider:

salary comparisons, state tax comparisons, sales tax, local tax, property

tax, cost of homes if you plan to buy one, best areas within a reasonable

commute, local schools if you have school age children, etc. you can easily

research all this and more on the web.

salary history

If you use an agency, they will probably ask for your salary history

(usually the last 3 years), and your salary expectations. This information

is usually submitted to the client along with your resume.

If you submit your resume directly to a client through a job posting

that does not ask for salary history, you will be asked at some point if the

client contacts you.

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Chapter 9 For Those Just Starting Out

Your Goal

The first step is to decide what job you really want to go for: web

developer, Java Programmer, network engineer, etc.

I’ll take you through an exercise that presumes you want to be a web

developer.

your skills and Competency assessment

The second step is a personal skills and competency assessment.

In other words, (1) what IT skills do you have, and (2) what is your

competency level with those skills?

all you want to do at this point is make a list your skills, and along-

side each put a competency level: “b” (beginner), “I” (Intermediate) or

“a” (advanced).

examplemy technical skills HTML Intermediate levelDHTML BeginnerJavaScript Advanced

The next step is to learn what skills employers are looking for when

they hire web developers.


the employer skills assessment

at this point, you want to gather enough information that will enable

you to compare your skills and competency assessment list against the

skills employers are looking for.

one way to do this is by going to one or more of the major job boards

(dice, monster, etc.) and perform some job searches.

use the appropriate job title as your search criteria. for example,

search for web developer job postings.

Carefully read through five or six web developer job descriptions

posted by five or six different employers, and make a list of the required

skills.

examplexYZ company web Developer post-

ings

required skills

HTMLDHTML

JavaScriptServlets

ABC Company DHTMLHTML

JSP

ProgrammerRUs JSPDHTMLApplets

EJB

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xYZ company web Developer post-

ings

required skills

Software Solu-

tions, Inc.

DHTML

HTMLJSPEJB

Perl Script

Acme DHTMLJavaScript

HTML

when completed, take the above list and make a new one that shows

each of the skills from the job descriptions by order of priority.

exampleDHTML Appeared in all 5 post-

ingsHTML 4 times

JSP 3 timesJavaScript 2 times

EJB 2 timesServlets 1 time

Perl Script 1 time

now you know with confidence that dHTml, and HTml are must

have skills for a web developer position and that JsP, Javascript, ebJ,

servlets and Perl script, although required, are not considered vital by

five employers each looking to hire a web developer.


comparison

Take the above list and compare it to your skills and competency

assessment list.

The results tell you if you do or do not have the vital skills (dHTml

and HTml).

If you do not have those skills, then you need to get that training. If

you do have those skills, you’re ready to start your job search.

the hunt

review earlier Chapters and those which follow to extract what is

most appropriate for you as someone starting out, and follow through

as suggested.

suggestions

Presuming you have no “real world” hands-on experience, ask for

letters of references from teachers. use the excerpt approach in your

summary as was done in the network administrator’s resume.

search for entry level within job descriptions.

If you need to strengthen your technical skills, consider an IT techni-

cal training school (look for one that also offers job placement services).

search out IT consulting companies within a reasonable commute

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from your home. Call them and ask to speak with the Technical services

manager (or some such title). explain you are looking for an entry level

position and want to “prove” yourself.

Contact local companies to see if they have an IT department. ask

for the IT manager and ask for part-time or overflow work. explain

you’re willing to come in as a temp or that you’re even willing to come in

free for a week — if they like your work and want to keep you on, you’re

flexible on starting salary.

Contact job agencies. brain-storm any reasonable approach and

follow through on all of them until they dead-end or pan out.

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Chapter 10 For Those Who Are Unemployed

first things first

Consequences of an extended period of unemployment often include

lowered self-esteem and perhaps a sense of failure.

It’s hard to be effective and give off a “sunshine and good roads” atti-

tude in the job hunting and interview process but that’s what it’s going

to take.

I can tell you with certainty that your sense of self-esteem and your

mood level will have a dramatic affect on your job hunting activities.

my experience is that a hiring manager may very well empathize with

someone who’s been out of work for several months, but not many will

hire someone who appears and comes across as down-trodden.

Here is an exercise that may help rebuild a feeling of self-worth:

exercise 1 — skills assessment

set aside some quiet time and fully answer the following questions.

doesn’t matter how long it takes; just do it.

make a list of all your skills (a skill is defined here as something you

have developed an ability to do well).

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for example: good writer, listener, organizer, diligent programmer,

strong documentation skills, strong financial skills, good time manage-

ment skills, etc.

Include any certifications, degrees, letters of reference, letters of com-

mendation, awards, etc. — and any on-going academic pursuits whether

formal or self-study.

next to each skill, write how long it took you to develop the skill.

next to that, estimate how much money it cost to develop that skill

(your money, a past employer’s money, your parents’ money, etc.).

you can develop a table similar to the one below for this exercise:Skill How long it took to

develop the skill

The estimated cost to

develop the skill

Degree(s) How long it took to

earn

How much it cost

Certification(s) How long it took to

earn

How much it cost

Letters of reference

– Commendations –

Awards

What it took to earn


after the table is completed, read through it as though you were

reviewing another person’s background for the first time.

The purpose of this exercise is simply to get a person to acknowledge

and appreciate the time, energy and expense it has taken to develop those

skills.

If you job hunting experience has caused feelings of anger, resent-

ment, frustration, etc., go to Page 52 and do exercise 4.

start with your finances

• make a list of your basic monthly financial obligations that must

be met (mortgage/rent, food, transportation, utilities, etc.)

• for all other expenses, work out how much you spend each

month on each item (you’re looking for an average over the past

three months)

• Take a look at which expenses can be temporarily reduced or

eliminated

• Take a look at your cash reserves/savings

• work out how long your cash reserves can satisfy your basic

monthly financial obligations that must be met (mortgage, etc.)

• If you have investments that can be liquidated if needed, work

out how much cash that would yield

• The bottom line you’re looking for is how long can you go without

income. and don’t feel that taking advantage of unemployment

compensation makes you less worthy or less honorable. your

employer has been financing the fund as long as they have been

making payroll. you have been financing the fund as long as you

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have been on any payroll. and the fund exists exclusively to help

those who have become unemployed.

once completed, you’ll have a grasp of your financial scene. using

this information, develop a simple plan that covers all your basic expenses

(mortgage, etc.).

Develop a work schedule

approach job hunting as you would a regular job with regular work

hours.

when you need to take a break or when you’ve done all you can do

for the day, work on some indoor or outdoor project.

Job hunting can be stressful; it’s very important to do things which

are not related to the job hunting process when you’ve had enough and

want to take a break.

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Chapter 11 General Tips

communication skills

The precursor of good communication is both parties being present.

when someone is talking to you, put your attention on him and what

he is saying. when he is finished, acknowledge him so that he will know

you were actually listening.

lack of an acknowledgement can cause people to ramble on and on in

an attempt to deliver their communication; it can also cause the recipient

to go absent or elsewhere with his attention.

Present vs. absent

being present is having your attention on the here and now. being

absent is having your attention elsewhere.

everyone has had situations where going absent is more pleasant

than listening to _____________ (fill in the blank — e.g. drivel, pomp-

ous associates, etc.).

but going absent is a bad solution. It can become a chronic, unwanted

condition.

Instead, find something about the person that you can like or relate

to and build your relationship on that.

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Positive versus negative

People like working with positive people.

validating what has been accomplished and envisioning how to

improve upon it is more productive than complaining that it’s not good

enough.

making less of people makes them feel smaller and can set up an

adversarial relationship.

backing up people encourages them to do more and creates allies.

an empowered team will out-produce a group of unfriendly indi-

viduals.

enabling all the people who you deal with will result in an easier and

quicker realization of common goals.

“The box” — understanding it, working with it

working with “the box” requires an understanding of what people

mean when they talk about “outside the box,” what a box is, how they

come about, and how to work with “the box.”

what people mean when they talk about “outside the box”

what they’re referring to is the ability to look beyond the usual or

the normal so as to glimpse or conceive a new approach, a new solution,


innovation, a new idea, another way to approach an issue, etc.

what a box is

Think of the box as a huge walk-in closet. The closet is filled with a

stunning variety and diversity of clothes. each piece of clothing represents

how we are going to behave, what is ok and not ok for us to perceive,

and how we are going to conduct ourselves when we put on that piece

of clothing.

example

a senior executive would retrieve an entirely different set of clothing

for work than would a senior programmer (different roles would call for

different behaviors, different levels of perception, different standards of

conduct).

and so on for different roles: husband, wife, father, mother, brother,

sister, salesman, recruiter, simply relaxing at home, dressing to perform

work around the yard, etc.

How a box is created

we create our box from the precepts and fixed ideas we accumulate

in life.

A precept is a rule or principle that imposes a particular standard of

action or conduct.

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example of a precept

“If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

The particular standard of action or conduct imposed on a person

by this precept would include a reluctance to delegate responsibility or

trust others to get the job done right.

Consequences might include not being promoted into a management

position or a manager who manages by force and intimidation because

he doesn’t really trust others to get the job done right.

Consequences of someone working for a manager with this precept

might include unnecessary stress, likes the company but not happy with

the job, continual complaints about always having the boss looking over

his shoulder, etc.

Consequences to the employer with such a manager would prob-

ably include low morale and high employee turn-over in his group or

department.

A fixed idea is an idea that worked in the past. It could be based on

tradition or it could be an unusual solution to a specific situation. A fixed

idea becomes a piece of frozen logic accepted as truth without personal

inspection.

a fixed idea that worked in the past

alfred was 10 years old in 1965 when his father purchased a new


sports car that required a premium grade gasoline for best engine perfor-

mance. Today, alfred continues to use a premium grade gasoline in his

2000 model car although the engine was built to run on a regular grade

gasoline. alfred believes using a premium grade will improve engine

performance.

some consequences include spending more money for gasoline than

is necessary and achieving poor performance with the 2000 car.

a fixed idea based on tradition

mounting a horse from its left-side started in the middle ages.

armored knights wore their swords on the left side so always mounted

from that side of the horse. The tradition of mounting a horse from its

left side continues to this day.

Consequences could include a rider who is thrown from a horse and

hurts his left ankle. not having ever mounted the horse from its right

side, the rider makes several clumsy and unsuccessful attempts to mount

from the right. The horse becomes agitated so the rider decides to lead

the horse back to the stables, or the horse becomes agitated, breaks free

from the rider and gallops away.

a fixed idea from an unusual solution to a specific situation

Jack arrives home one evening from work to find his daughter in tears,

seems her boyfriend dumped her. she looks to her father for consolation

or help. Confused and not really sure what to say or do, Jack listens but

then walks away. unbeknownst to Jack, his wife has a heart-to-heart with

Daniel Barber104

the daughter afterwards. The next morning Jack notices his daughter is in

better spirits. He gets the idea that doing nothing was the right thing to do.

later that day one of Jack’s staff comes to him with a complaint about

the group’s leader. Jack is a bit confused about this and not quite sure what

to do. He listens but takes no action. a few weeks later the complaining

staff member resigns.

addressing the box

a precept is a rule or principle that imposes a particular standard of

action or conduct.

a fixed idea is an idea that worked in the past. It could be based on

tradition or it could be an unusual solution to a specific situation. a fixed

idea becomes a piece of frozen logic accepted as truth without personal

inspection

1. review the above definitions and give a few examples of each.

2. Then look for any areas in life that are troublesome, not going

right, etc.

3. Carefully examine the area to see if a precept or fixed idea might

exist that could be causing interference.

4. If you find one, describe it.

5. Then make a list of potential consequences that could result from

having that precept or fixed idea.

6. Take another look for other fixed ideas or precepts that might be

in the area from step 2.

7. If you find more, repeat steps 4 – 6.


8. finally, describe an optimum version of the area in step 2.

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Chapter 12 What To Look For In An Agency

Job coaching

one who will work with you to determine if the position you are

considering aligns with your short and long-term goals.

interview coaching

This is role-playing before the interview from a list of questions you

and the agent generate from the job description, combined experience,

and common sense.

resume Development

an agent who will work with you to develop your resume with one

objective: to increase your chances of getting the job interview.

mood scale training

using a copy of the mood scale, role play various mood levels, and

practice mood parity.

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Chapter 13 Additional Testimonials

below are several quotes from both job seekers and corporate hiring

managers.

from job seekers —

“Niche helped me to close on my job quickly and easily.

“Daniel related my offer to me as I was driving home from the interview.

By the time I arrived, he had negotiated for me the high end of the range.

“The offer letter came by e-mail that night. Everything was handled quickly

and professionally from the moment I first responded to the time I started

the job.”

“I want to thank you for the effort and time you dedicated to my search. as

you know, in the beginning I had wondered if a “daniel” existed because

I have been getting the niche e-mail for so long I had figured you were

more of a front for a large, impersonal corporate recruiting engine. How

wrong I was and happy to be so!

“your personal style, coaching, and professionalism helped me success-

fully present myself to the hiring company with confidence and clarity.

your advice helped me discern the opportunity with a clear mind and be

able to truly measure critical aspects of the job when making a decision.

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“additionally, once I received an offer, I most appreciated the help with

fashioning a successful counter-offer (helping me obtain all but one of

my counter points) that allowed me to accept the position. you were able

to help me in the right places at the right time and I want to personally

thank you for that. In short, your services were an invaluable aspect of

my being able to secure an attractive offer.”

“My experience with Niche Technologists exceeded expectations. Dan was

great to work with and did an excellent job of matching my skill set to the

client’s needs. The result was satisfaction for all involved.”

“as a professional who has been in ranks for almost 25 years, I have experi-

enced the workings of professional placement firms and their approaches

to assisting me in my quest to grow in the IT market.

“with this experience in mind, I can emphatically say that the tireless

work and strong ethics associated with niche Technologists, and its

president dan barber, has provided a great positive change in my pro-

fessional life.

“dan’s philosophy on matching the goals of both the individual being

placed and the hiring organization includes a strong adherence to making

sure the position is a right fit for the client both personally and profes-

sionally.”

“I would like to thank you for your attention and efforts regarding leveraging

my skills in a tough market. I can truly say that out of the dozens of people

I interfaced with over the five month period, you and your company stood

out above the rest in terms of treating me like a person rather than just a


resource. Thank you. Someday (not too soon) I hope our paths cross again.”

“It is refreshing to work with an organization that truly “walks the walk”

in its strong code of business ethics in an industry that has taken its fair

share of lumps. dan is a role model that others in this business should

follow if success is to be the end result.”

“The most thorough and thoughtful recruiters I’ve ever worked with. Com-

pletely on top of every step of the process. I’ve enjoyed working with them

and would recommend them to anyone.”

“The attentive support and wise advices for me while locating a full-time

position demonstrated a high level of sincerity blended with a mind-

fulness and deep understanding of my need to find a healthy working

environment. It was a delightful and refreshing experience.”

“I have been receiving e-mails from Niche for about the past two years. The

personal sounding tone of the e-mails caused me to take a look at them

and not delete them like it was spam. Eventually, I knew there would be an

intersection of the right job at the right time and recently that very thing

happened.

“I have been a traveling consultant for the better part of four years. My

wife and I decided it was time to try and make a transition where I could

be home in the evenings with our growing family. Given I have had a lot of

success as a consultant there was skepticism that I could find a permanent,

“no-traveling” opportunity without giving up on the compensation side.

“Well, one day the usual e-mail from Niche came in and instantly my wife

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said “This is a perfect fit.” So I replied to the e-mail and attached my resume

and the next day I got a reply and Daniel and I worked out a time to call

that weekend.

”Sure enough, after a good conversation with Daniel he was able to forward

my resume, which he helped to personalize based on our conversation.

Shortly afterwards I was requested for an interview, which with some coach-

ing from Daniel went very well. Then I received an offer which included

relocation, stock options, and a generous salary. However, there were a

couple more details that I wanted to negotiate.

“To do this, I drafted the main points out and Daniel helped with the word-

ing and I forwarded my counter-offer. After less than a day, I received an

answer that met all but one of my desired changes. The item that did not

get approved was not on my critical list so it was a go!

“Personally, I truly appreciated the approach that Niche took in helping

me realize an opportunity. Daniel was always available (and we had to

have a couple of weekend conversations due to the fast-moving nature of

the opportunity), had sound advice and helped me frame my thoughts in

a fashion that allowed me to focus on the important things that mattered

in the exchanges between myself and the hiring company. I hope in the

future, when the time comes again, to look at Niche e-mails in the inbox

with another great match.”

“you helped me to completely overhaul my resume without my request-

ing; my resume was a mess before, and you made it shine.

“you kept me updated about the status of the position and encouraged


me to keep you updated at the same time; kept an open line of commu-

nication with me.

“you asked me for feedback in order to improve your services; I’m

impressed by those who invite both positive and negative feedback.”

“Thank you for helping me out with my job search, particularly with rework-

ing my resume. I updated my posted resumes to use the one you reworked,

and also used the reworked resume on my job search.

“I think it helped a lot since I got quite a few phone calls and I was offered

a job 7 miles drive from my house!

“I’ll definitely get in contact with you if I start a new job search in the future,

and I wish you the best in your business and everything else.”

“I would like to thank you again for all of your help, advice and especially

your frankness and honesty.

“out of all the other recruiters and consulting agency people I have met,

only one other person has come close in the kind of coaching and com-

munication as you.

“now I finally understand why someone else would make some money

when I get a job.”

“Dan Barber reviewed my skills and interests meticulously and matched

them to a position.

Daniel Barber112

“His weekly reports kept me informed about the proceedings with the hiring

company.

“The whole process was very professionally handled and I not only got the

job but a starting salary that was more than expected.

“Thanks Dan! I will certainly recommend Niche and refer my associates to

the jobs that you have available.”

from corporate clients —

“you were very responsive, quick to provide candidates and had continual

communication with us about your progress. you kept both parties

informed in a timely fashion. I believe that is why we had a successful

candidate.”

vice President of Human resources

“as always, you are at the front of my call list with regards to when we

commence new hires.”

director, fortune 100


“frankly, I would prefer to do business with you as you understand the

market space and the qualifications I’m seeking . . . most of these other

recruiters are flying blind and just sending me anything that has essbase

on it.”

vice President, fortune 100

“niche has been a favorite of ours in the search for reliable, experienced,

and cost-effective staff. we have utilized niche personnel for consulting

on several occasions, and even filled a permanent staff position through

niche.

“going to the vendors for olaP expertise is cost-prohibitive. we go to

niche.”

manager, fortune 500

“niche Technologists really understands the unique human resource

demands associated with the latest business Intelligence tools and tech-

nologies. Coupled with their warm and personal service, this makes them

the first supplier I call when I need a temporary or permanent addition

to my staff.”

senior manager, fortune 500

Daniel Barber114

“niche Technologists responds with a sense of urgency to client requests

and delivers high quality resources. It’s a real pleasure working with an

organization that not only wants to respond to critical business needs,

but has a wonderful focus on customer support.”

senior manager, fortune 500

“The assistance we got from niche played a major part in helping us to

meet our objective. The quality of assistance was outstanding.”

manager, fortune 500

acknowleDGements

To my wife, anne C. young, a highly trained and experienced Personal

advisor, counselor, and best friend whose advise and help over the years

and in writing this guide have been extremely insightful and helpful.

To all the Personal advisors who have worked with me over the past 32

years, particularly the late mr. alan walter, mr. eric wolery, and ms.

rana killough for her untiring work in helping put this book together

and published.

To the multitude of self-help books and their authors I’ve studied over

the years, and all the wonderful clients and Hr professionals I’ve had the

pleasure of knowing and working with.


and to the managers and mentors I’ve been associated with throughout

my career.

About The Author:Daniel Barber, is a 41 year IT (Information Technology) veteran, 25 year corporate recruiting veteran, personal advisor, a 38 year student/adept in metaphysics, and student of CRV (Controlled Remote Viewing).

This handbook is a guided experience that takes the reader through the spectacle of the entire job hunting process in detail. Although written with a slant in IT (Information Technology), the handbook is useful for any job hunter regardless of his or her field. It contains an abundance of real-world, tried and true actions, approaches, real examples, quizzes at the end of major chapters, spiritual and mental exercises designed specifi-cally to keep you at your best, an extensive chapter on effective resumes, interviewing, salary, and much more, all based on more than 4 decades of experience by a profes-sional still active in the field.

ENDORSEMENTS FOR

DANIEL BARBER“. . . a thorough set of guidelines on how to successfully find work . . . even better than Rich-ard Bolles.”

“. . . a great guidebook and so detailed.”

“. . . invaluable to me in my continued growth as a working professional . . . provides a solid foundation . . .”

“ . . . I was able to land a position with a company that truly represents the best opportunity for my career . . .”

“. . . the advice, coaching and collection of articles he’s written on interviewing definitely helped me ace the interviews and ultimately land the job.”

“. . . my management team indicates delight in the successes you’ve had placing people here . . .” – Senior VP, Fortune 100

“I always interviewed Dan’s job applicant’s first.” – HR Recruiter, Fortune 100

“. . . first supplier I call when I need a temporary or permanent addition to my staff . . .” – Senior Manager, Fortune 500

“. . .a wealth of experience and an unbelievable awareness of the workings of this world . . . ”

Visit us on the web at www.NicheTech.com

USA $14.95