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   Tim Conway   

In a weak employment market, it’s a smart strategy to take risks.

Push yourself to try unconventional job search methods.  By being a go-getter, you will spot hidden opportunities.

Here are surprising tactics that are productive:

• compose brief bio and case studies (format of Situation, Actions, Results); send as an alternative to a boring resume
• create a digital portfolio to showcase academic/campus/on-the-job achievements (fact:  “less is more” so only display best samples such as transcripts, commendation notes and awards)
• skim “Newsroom” press releases of target employers to spot names of executives; then use those names during outreach campaigns (e.g., postcard)
• join professional associations to access membership databases; schedule lunch with chapter officers for insights
• attend industry events; stay afterwards to meet-and-greet speakers/panelists
• rehearse 30-second Personal Pitch to highlight useful skills/career goal with relatives, neighbors, community/religious leaders, family physician/dentist/attorney and former supervisors/professors/tutors/coaches; mention preferred organizations to spur others to share contacts
• approach sole proprietors, boutique agencies and fastest-growing firms since these are first to hire during a slow economy; call before 8 a.m. and after 5:30 p.m. when gate-keepers aren’t there
• craft a Solutions Letter to organizations covering specific recommendations to existing problems (that you’ve identified from input by referrals along with observations)
• make phone calls to university/Greek alumni to seek advice (objective is to establish a mentoring relationship so do not inquire about job openings; instead ask about hot projects that need support)
• move cross-country or overseas to an emerging location (check library publications for list of regions/cities)
• leave short voicemail messages:  “Hello ___________, this is ______ _________.  I have some useful information for you.  Please call me when it’s convenient.  Reach me at ___-___-____.   Again, it’s ______ _________ at ____-____-_____.”  The information you exchange should be about recent category or competitive activity.
• submit a Results Letter to prospective firms stating your performance commitments for Years 1-2 (e.g., product training, account management, foreign language fluency, sales revenue, cost savings)
• accept a temporary role or unpaid internship with goal to quickly demonstrate value
• offer to work for F-R-E-E for a limited time in chosen or related field (for instance, pursue a hotel, rental car, airlines or retailer to build client service abilities)

By taking more chances, you will boost odds of being noticed.  Plus, you’ll gain respect of influential staffers for being proactive.

Friend and former colleague Tim Conway is a one-on-one adviser to job hunters.  He wrote about proven employment techniques in “25 Ways To Make College Pay Off” (AMACOM; 2007).  Reach Tim at:  847-749-1394 (office) or timconway@igniteyoungadults.com

Q.  I’ve often applied online for PR jobs at large firms, such as Ketchum.  After sending in my cover letter and resume, I’m often at a loss for what to do next.  The firm’s site makes it difficult to contact an HR person (or anyone else) for a follow-up.  I’ve gone through my contacts list and cannot find any contacts already working at the firm.  What advice would you give for following up with these large firms after I’ve sent in a resume and letter from the online submission?

A.  Unfortunately, most agency HR functions are understaffed and no longer able to properly handle the large number of resumes jamming their email boxes.  I asked our HR director, Mary Lou Finn, to weigh in on this question.  “If the candidate is confident s/he’s fully qualified for the position, they can call the main number for the office and ask for an email address for someone in HR,” she suggests.  “If they have a recruiter, I would start there.”  Mary Lou also recommends placing a call directly to an individual in HR.  Like with an email follow-up, keep your message concise, and don’t simply ask: “Did you get my resume?”  As an earlier post suggests, don’t become a pest with frequent emails or voice mails–unless you’re encouraged to call back. 

A former business colleague called me last week to express frustration about the volume of resumes he’s receiving.  He said only one in 20 has relevant experience for the current opening he’s trying to fill.  He asked: “Do people actually read job postings anymore or do they simply send resumes to every job posting they see?”

Unfortunately, the tight job market causes people to apply for jobs that are beyond their skill levels.  At the same time, many over-qualified people apply for openings seeking more junior staffers.  A HR manager told me that she received more than 300 resumes for an entry-level position, and nearly half were from people with considerably more than five years experience.  And a corporate PR head said red flags were waving in his head when an individual applied for three different job openings in his department–positions ranging from entry-level to VP. 

While individuals are willing to take lesser positions in this economy, most companies aren’t willing to take the risk of hiring over-qualified people who could become bored with the kinds of work performed much earlier in their careers.  It’s also not very productive to try to switch careers by trading down to entry-level PR jobs.  For example, we’ve received resumes from lawyers applying for account coordinator openings.  HR executives correctly advise job seekers to focus their searches on jobs that are within the scope of position descriptions. 

Q.  I’m half way through a four month internship at a major PR agency.  There’s a possibility they could hire me once the internship is complete, but there’s a possibility they might not.  What should I do?  Should I start looking for jobs now or wait until I find out whether or not they’ll hire me?

A.  The half-way point of your internship is the appropriate time to re-start your job search.  Unfortunately, hiring decisions are usually delayed until the last minute of an intern stint due to frequently changing client-driven workloads.   If you’re getting positive signals from your supervisors, try to get an honest guestimate about your chances for continued employment.  They’ll generally level with you, but they also won’t know for sure until the financial number crunching supports addition of a new full-time employee. 

Don’t assume your employer knows you want to stay.  Many interns assume everyone knows they want to continue working for the firm, but never express their desire to do so.  Besides full-time positions, inquire about part-time or hourly positions.   

A majority of internships are three months in duration, which can be extended by another three months.  (U.S. law requires employers to limit non full-time employment, such as internships, to six months).  Fortunately, the internship-to-full-time employment ratio has seen a significant increase this year, although the odds are still 50-50.  I suggest that you quietly start your job search at the mid-way point of your internship, then ramp it up each week that follows.  Good luck. 

At Wednesday night’s Medill IMC networking reception in Chicago, I ran into Edward Bury, who wrote a guest post here earlier this year.  I soon learned Edward has a lot of networking savvy, so I asked him to share some thoughts on the importance of networking.  He agreed to write another post and called my attention to his blog which generously provides valuable insights for job seekers. 

Here is a summary of Edward’s impressive networking efforts from June 1 to July 1, and his personal observations about the process: 

1. Breakfast meeting with a former national president of the Public Relations Society of America.
2. Senior PR leaders reception sponsored by PRSA Chicago at Tribune Tower.
3. Lunch with two public relations industry colleagues.
4. A career coaching event sponsored by the Association Forum of Chicago.
5. A “consultants circle” of public relations and marketing professionals  held at a suburban Starbucks.
6. A luncheon sponsored by PRSA Chicago.
7. A new business meeting with a diversified Chicago real estate company.
8. An alumni event sponsored by Illinois State University.
9. Another new business meeting — the result of a lead from a networking event I attended in June.
10. A casual meeting with a prospective client over beers.
11. Lunch today with a former colleague.

And, for good measure, in the past 30 days I had two formal, face-to-face job interviews, two phone interviews and one online career event.

On average, in the past month I attended or participated in some career advancement activity every other day. This was a lot of work, but it’s necessary to help me reach my goal of securing that next great position in public relations.

Companies don’t hire resumes; they hire people.  The best way to put myself out in front of people I don’t know is to shut off the computer, put on appropriate attire and get out of the house.  Don’t forget the business cards,  your “career summary speech” and your personality.  And, don’t be bashful about letting those you meet know why you’re there.

So far, July is a little bit light in terms of networking events, with just two on the books.  But that will change.

My wife and I weren’t aware we were graduating into a major recession in the early 1970s.   Actually, it wasn’t until we read The New York Times today that we became aware of how bad things were back then.  In fact, the job market was just as bad then as it is today. 

My wife and I both landed jobs in our desired profession — newspaper reporting.  She got the first job she applied for and I had to work just a little harder before finding my first reporting job.  We thought it was dumb luck.  My wife observed this morning that terms like “connections, networking and career path” didn’t exist back then, but that’s how we landed both of our jobs.  From the moment we arrived at Indiana State, we got involved in college activities and soon joined the campus newspaper staff.   These activities and good academic advisers helped lay the groundwork for our careers, and created a network that we’re still part of today. 

The page one Times article by Louis Uchitelle notes that  the unemployment rate for college-educated young adults is 5.5%, nearly twice what it was in 2007 when this recession began.  Fortunately, surveys show that a majority of Millennials are confident that they will have good careers.  “They are better educated than previous generations and they were raised by baby boomers who lavished a lot of attention on their children,” said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.  That explains the reason for optimism. 

The Times article follows the job pursuit by Scott Nicholson, 24, a Colgate University honors grad, who turned down a corporate job because he felt it wasn’t the right fit for his long-term career plans.  Telling his father was tougher than turning down the job, thus underscoring the generational divide between Millennials and Boomers.  His father felt that the would get Scott started on a corporate career path, not necessarily put him in a dead-end position.  While the entire article merits reading, the following charts summarize some key issues facing Millennials.

Q.  I have a major decision to make in the next month–grad school or continue my so-far unsuccessful job search.  I graduated in January and can get my grad degree in a little over a year, so perhaps the economy will improve further by then.  What do you recommend?  -LB

A.  Don’t assume graduate school will increase your chances of landing a job next year.  You’re not alone in weighing the decision to continue your education in pursuit of a master’s degree.  Therefore, you will be entering the job market in a year or two with a record number of others who opted to return to college.  More alarming, the Wall Street Journal reports that a grad-school degree doesn’t necessarily pay off in the job market.  According to the Journal, the jobless rate among individuals with master’s degrees has risen to 4.2% vs. 2.9% in June 2007.  And the Journal indicates the average pay difference between bachelor’s and master’s degrees — currently $7,954 a year — will narrow as more qualified candidates accept lower-paying jobs. 

As Syracuse University professor Bill Coplin said in a post earlier this year — The Grad School Option:  ”Deciding to go to graduate school should be a business decision where the risks, costs and rewards of this significant investment in time and money are carefully considered.”

I reluctantly admit that I watch too much reality TV.  Sadly, one of these shows — “True Beauty”– featured a discussion in last week’s episode where the contestants couldn’t recall when they last read a book.  None of these people would get hired by Linda Heasley, president and CEO of The Limited.

In today’s New York Times, Heasley says she asks job applicants what books they are reading.  Other qualities she screens for:  passion, curiosity, energy level, sense of humor and willing to take a risk. 

Her advice to new hires: “Take 90 days. The relationships you build in your first few months here are critical to your success. Try not to talk in meetings. I know you’re going to want to demonstrate that you’re really capable and you deserve to be here by showing your smarts.  But if you listen and let the void fill with what’s around you, you’ll learn a ton.  It’s really important to take the 90 days and watch and listen, and it’s really hard to do that, because people want to perform out of the gate.”

   Daniel J. Edelman 

PR icon Dan Edelman turns 90 this weekend, and his son, Richard, paid tribute at a birthday celebration Wednesday by listing the 10 reasons for his father’s success.  As a friend, former client and now competitor, I found these 10 principles to be quite moving and full of good advice for anyone pursuing a career in public relations: 

1. Compete Every Minute of Every Day - Don’t become self-satisfied because somebody else is ready to take your place. Mourn your losses but learn from them. Celebrate your victories but be quick about it so you can get back to the game. If you get knocked down, get right back up; nobody is going to pity you.
2. Modesty in Manner and Possessions - Never refer to “I”, always to “We”, when speaking about the company or the family. Buy new suits only when the old ones get shiny. Drive your car until repair costs require you to make a change. Do not take on debt, either personally or professionally. Grow your business from retained earnings-don’t pay yourself much salary and don’t indulge yourself with boats, planes or dividends.
3. Be Well-Informed - Read the New York Times every morning….and the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Financial Times and USA Today. Tear out good stories and send them to your employees or children-they probably missed the important articles.
4. Stay Healthy - Work out at least four days a week but always in a competitive context (why ride the exercise bike when you can fight it out on the tennis court?). Who else at age 84 would proudly display the twenty stitches on his forehead from crashing into the wall in pursuit of the bouncing racket ball? Or would go back onto the court two weeks later with a hockey helmet, paddle in hand, ready to whip the opponent?
5. Strive for Perfection - You got just one ‘B’ in your entire college career-in science, of course. When I came home beaming after scoring a 770 out of 800 possible on a college entrance exam, you asked me what I got wrong.
6. Become a Citizen of the World -You saw the global potential of PR by the mid 60s when we opened in the UK. You travelled to Asia three weeks every year from the age of 70 until your last trip at age 87. You had the confidence to invest in China in the early 90s and have made it a special point to nurture our operation there.
7. Give Back - There are three legs to the stool - family, work and community. You serve on countless boards of directors for non-profits, from the Lyric Opera to the Weitzmann Institute to the Art Institute to Save the Children. You made a generous donation to Columbia Journalism School to fund a patio for students to engage in outdoor discussions. You have encouraged our firm to do pro-bono work for important causes such as Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Operation PUSH.
8. Ethics - Internalize the Mark Twain comment, “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” You were once approached by a consultant for a country tourism board who requested a “commission” for delivering the business to Edelman. Your immediate reaction was to throw him out of your office. You were the first and only one to speak out when one of our competitors took on the Church of Scientology-you said that PR is not the law and that not every client deserved representation.
9. We’re All Entrepreneurs - Take chances. You meet a woman from newly united Berlin, and boom, we have a new office. You rely on your instincts (but you know the numbers like the back of your hand). You give your people lots of leeway-there is no one path to success. You encouraged generations of Edelman executives with your Dan-o-Grams, that describe in pain-staking detail every comment in a meeting (woe to the young person who fails to take notes-sure to prompt a “never do that again” comment). So many have been developed into outstanding PR people, from Tom Harris to Pam Talbot, working alongside the master.
10. Cherish Clients - Every Edelman person is an account executive and required to roll up their sleeves and do the work. You went to every Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee meeting for thirty years. You ran the California Wines Commission account with a monthly trip to San Francisco (persuading Zsa Zsa Gabor to say that she was “weaned on wine” on Johnny Carson). You knew the CEOs but had strong ties to the heads of PR.

Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman Worldwide, writes the 6 a.m. blog.  His current post carries his tribute letter to his father and provides a link to Dan Edelman’s 1988 Today Show interview discussing his remarkable career. 

Several hiring managers have asked me to encourage job seekers to stop sending “teaser emails.”  These are short messages containing few details, but almost always seeking an opportunity to meet in person.

Agencies receive hundreds of quality resumes each month, so some hiring managers speculate that applicants leave resumes off their email inquiries in hopes of increasing interest to learn more about them.  I’m not alone in feeling such emails are woefully incomplete, presumptious and annoying.  “Unless I personally know someone mentioned in the email, I automatically hit delete on any such email that doesn’t contain a resume,” said the HR manager director of a major agency.  

Rule of thumb, always include your resume any time you’re communicating with a potential decision maker in a job search.  Don’t think a cleverly written “teaser” email will engage a hiring manager into a two-way dialog resulting in getting your foot in the door. 

By the way, the same email expectations apply to phone inquiries.  Unless you know the hiring manager or are referred by someone who is well connected to that individual, don’t make the call.  Send an introductory note and resume before dialing.