Without a sales team, my business was doing a couple hundred thousand dollars a year in revenue, but when I hired sales reps, we brought in a couple million dollars a year. The same applies to your job search, if you're not actively selling, you're not really in the game - you're on the bench. Sitting on the bench in your job search means you've been forgotten and get called up only in the event of an emergency. Is that where you want to be? If not, here's how to get… read more >

You land a job offer when a hiring manager decides she likes the way you come across. Put another way, you get the job when her perception of you matches up with the requirements of the job and the culture of the company. So, how useful would it be to know how you're coming across to others? I'll tell you -- it's critical. The hiring manager's perception of you involves how you look, sound, interact, and present on paper, email, telephone or web. To increase your… read more >

When you apply for a posted job, assuming you're qualified for it, one of the greatest obstacles you face is being forgotten. Here's how to make yourself memorable, or better yet, fascinating. Try to picture the overload affecting a recruiter handling three positions, receiving a dozen resumes every day for each with candidates in every stage of the recruiting process: screening, interviewing, reference checking, salary negotiation and on-boarding. Picture the… read more >

You have 5 or 10 seconds to make your first impression with the hiring manager or recruiter. In those crucial 10 seconds, a 'value proposition' has more power to grab and hold the reader's attention than anything else you can write. It demands attention by clearly stating in a few sentences why a manager should hire you instead of the other qualified candidates in the stack. Below, I'll give you a blueprint (and some examples) for creating a persuasive value… read more >

[H]ave questions about  job search that aren't answered in our job search guide? Ask them here and we'll try to answer them for you. Have career questions not covered in our guide to working smart? Ask those also and we will do our best to give you a thoughtful answer. read more >

To get hired, you need to be number one on a recruiter's shortlist and it helps to ask for the job directly. Here's how to do it - in a nutshell, spend more time preparing than any other candidate. Use the checklist below (like a good surgeon might) and nail every single "little" item. Recruiters like me are desperate for these simple things you can deliver with a bit of effort. Okay... taken together it's much more than a little effort, it's more like a full-time… read more >

When your boss reviews your work, typically he'll suggest some improvements and correct some errors. It's the errors that are really dangerous to your career. There are two kinds of errors. First, there's the harmless kind, where you make a mistake that just about anyone in your shoes would make. You are new on the job, for example, and still learning the ropes. There are lots of other acceptable ways in which you might screw up. The second type of error is the… read more >

I sucked at my first job. It was 1992 and I had just been hired during a recession at Metropolitan Bank. Barely out of training, my boss Michael called me into his office and explained that my (evil) coworker had blamed me for missing her deadline. What I learned working for Michael and in the last 15 years hiring and managing my own team will help you avoid career-ending mistakes and help you succeed at a great company where the standards are high. Below, I share… read more >

When I graduated from college I sucked at job search and spent six miserable months unemployed. From the lessons I learned then and over the last 15 years in business, I'll teach you to be better than 99% of all other job seekers and land a job at a great company. Below, you'll find those lessons distilled down into a step-by-step guide complete with e-mail templates and telephone scripts. Job search was the last thing on my mind when I graduated in 1992 - I went to… read more >

Informational interviews really work (as Steve notes below). But, not all interview requests are created equal - I'm regularly asked to have coffee with someone wanting to "pick my brain." I struggle to reply politely because I have a strong allergic reaction to this offensive phrase (reasons why at the bottom). While not everyone will respond so poorly, I promise you can do much better searching below for a template that fits with your personality and situation.… read more >

In the best job search guide online, I recommend you blog to show your talent and passion. But, that's not the full story - I've screened out more job-seekers than I've hired because of their blogs. To make sure no one ends up unemployed because they followed my advice, here's a guide to making sure your blog doesn't kill your chances of getting hired. First, let's look at the blogs that have killed my interest in a candidate - they've included a job-seeker: … read more >

I know a developer who lusts after all the sexy projects. He asks for them and he wants to talk about them. You might think this kind of enthusiasm makes you a star in your boss's eyes. And it can, up to a point. But what if my developer wants to talk about the sexy projects with a handful of unfinished ones still on his plate? That's a dangerous habit for your career because it can give your boss the impression that you're a lightweight - someone who will try to take… read more >

My boss wanted me to help him get a prostitute back to his hotel in Mexico City because he didn't speak any Spanish. At the office in Charlotte, NC, I noticed he didn't want to go home in the evenings (he didn't like his wife). I had just graduated with an MBA and was selling chainsaws and weedeaters to Latin America. My heart wasn't in it and I'd have sucked at that job had I stayed longer. The chainsaws I sold were used to cut down tropical forest and the… read more >

My daughter flew over the handlebars a dozen times and got banged up pretty good. I had taken her to a gentle grassy hill just like it said in the magazine article about teaching your kid to ride a bike. But, it only works if your kid can reach the ground while sitting on the seat. Oops! Lucky for me, she's focused and ignores pain. She was still eager to try something new and learned in a heartbeat on a basketball court. That's how success is. Success demands pain… read more >

I teach my kids about winners and whiners; that winners: are in charge of their own lives don't blame others or God take responsibility for making good choices, having a good attitude and for good behavior At 10 years old or at 30, at home or at work, it's all the same -- we only thrive when we take ownership of everything in our life. In each moment we are interpreting events around us with the opportunity to take the high road of responsibility (and… read more >

Ever wonder why so many people seem to be incompetent in their jobs? Although it was famously explained in a humorous book titled The Peter Principle, there's an important kernel of truth in it that we all need to chew on. The Peter Principle says that everyone in an organization gets promoted to the level of their competence. So if you are doing a good job, you get promoted -- and promoted again, until you start screwing up at which point you've reached your… read more >

Three weeks after I hired Maria (not her real name) she distributed her first press release for me. She published the draft version instead of the final. Maria was not a native English speaker and the draft was chock-full of grammatical errors. This was the most public mistake my company had made. I was very embarrassed. Still, I let Maria make a lot more mistakes over a period of two years before I finally let her go. With little experience managing people or… read more >

Your boss wants you to listen attentively (not just when he speaks). Good listening is critical for building trust, within a team and without. So whether it's with your boss, a colleague, a customer, partner or vendor, take the cotton out of your ears! If we were playing baseball, good listening would be first base. To hit a home run, first you need to listen, because there's no home-run that doesn't pass through first-base and then remember, act, and follow through.… read more >

Business is a team sport -- but a rough one like rugby. Companies and people can get hurt badly because more than ever before it's a winner-take-all contest. It's a game played under pressure - losing is not fun and winning solves everything. So, it's no wonder bosses are looking for real team players. We look for people who remain calm and effective under pressure, who empathize with clients and team members in pursuit of the best possible results. The gifted… read more >

No one knows better than a boss that everyone makes mistakes. But not everyone handles them the same way. When you make a mistake, your boss will be watching you closely and asking himself these questions: Am I dealing with someone who: learns easily from mistakes or repeats them endlessly? tells the simple truth or creates confusion to hide behind? sincerely accepts responsibility or just tells me what I want to hear? really hears and understands me? Your… read more >