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This is a guest post contributed by Eric Macias, an experienced executive recruiter. Eric advises many companies and individuals on the intricacies of the hiring and interview process. Check out several of Eric’s Latest Video Tips on job hunting and interview success.
The playing field has changed when looking for jobs. While utilizing your network and checking the newspaper used to be the standard, today technology has changed the face of the job hunt. These days, job seekers can check a particular company’s website or browse the classic job sites: Monster, HotJobs or CareerBuilder. Regional sites like Jobing are available as well as networking sites such as LinkedIn and Spoke. And now the next generation of websites is coming onto the scene in an attempt to improve the efficiency of the online job search. Some actually run searches across the web for all openings on the popular job boards – examples of these are Indeed and Juju. In a few months, ImEmployed.com will add a high level of efficiency to the online job search.
Even with all that is new in the job search market, knowing what companies are hiring is only half the battle, the 2nd half is getting your resume noticed from a virtual stack within HR’s inbox. As a recruiter, I am trained to locate the hiring manager by calling into the company and asking for the individual that is hiring for the position – some companies will tell you, others will not. If you are referred to HR, make sure they received your resume and if possible try to get yourself an interview. Should you get the hiring manager on the phone, be sure to get their contact information so you can follow up with a resume via email. Is this aggressive? Absolutely. Does it work? You’d better believe it! The next time you see a job posting, call into the company, identify the hiring manager and get your elevator speech ready. The goal at this point is not to get the job; it’s to get the interview.
In the HR inbox, the playing field is level. Pick up the phone and separate yourself from the pack.
Layoffs can be a scary prospect- especially if you think you may soon be on the receiving end, but realize that any company still needs to rely on its employees to remain in business. The question is, how do you become an employee that the company decides they cannot do without?
The economy is a mess, it’s no secret. You feel it just about everywhere and you hear about it constantly from the media. There’s a good chance that unless you work for Shell Oil, your company is experiencing slowed growth or even declining profits. Your company is most likely trying to ensure its long-term viability through this economic downturn and is facing some tough decisions. Since employees are generally a very large expense for the company, they look to layoffs to keep things in the black. It’s not fair, it’s not nice, but it is business.
Don’t be disillusioned that “the company” is doing layoffs. After all, a company is at its core simply a large collection of human beings. Layoff talks are simply a matter of some human beings in the upper ranks of the company looking at the books and deciding they need to cut 10% off the expense line- or 22 employees to keep the business afloat. Conversations then ensue about who stays and who goes. If you are providing high value to the company, or providing more value than your peers, then you may just make the “do not cut” list.
Look at how a professional sports team handles things- good times or bad. They have a salary cap and a job to do (winning). What this means, is that if you are 1 of 4 quarterbacks and there is money for 3 on the roster, you’d better not be providing the least amount of value- real or perceived, or you are getting cut. It’s as simple as that. It’s very similar in the business world. So how do you make yourself more valuable? Here are 5 things you can do to keep yourself from being the 4th stringer on a 3-person roster.
#1- Understand the big picture and more importantly how your daily duties affect the bottom line of the company. Make sure the things you are doing on a daily basis are providing real value and are not just duties for duties sake.
#2- Make sure you know what a good job looks like to your boss. If you don’t know, you need to ask. Even the process of asking let’s your boss know you can be counted on if business priorities shift.
#3- Get results! Too many people work for activity sake. Nothing is more valuable to a business than an employee who makes it happen.
#4- Be available. Be the employee that your boss can count on no matter what. “That is not my job!” is a really bad thing to say normally, but in a down economy, it could be the nail in the coffin.
#5- Have a positive, can-do attitude and be willing to accept change. If your boss thinks of you as versatile and layoffs do happen, you may just end up shifting your duties to pick up the slack somewhere else in the organization.
The bottom line is that in a down economy, people are still the most valuable resource in a company. Be the most valuable resource in your work group, department or division and your chances of being laid off are significantly reduced.
This will be the first in a 4-part series of mastering your interview. This series may be applicable to any job field, but as interviewing for new jobs is an extremely frequent event in promotional and marketing, pay special attention…
Stop hoping for that great job by crossing your fingers for a good interview. Prepare yourself! Like in any battle, the fight of the interview is often won or lost within the first two to five minutes.
One of the key factors in ensuring that the interview starts and stays leveraged in your direction is your “Presence”. By “Presence”, I mean making sure that, in the eyes of the interviewer you have his or her direct attention and interest from the beginning. The first step in gaining this is exhibiting a high level of knowledge about the company and the position you are applying for.
You should know a bit of history and information about the company and the person you are interviewing with, including the culture of the company, the business they are in, the markets they target and the goals they have for the position you are applying for. I’m not going to spend any real time on tactics for researching the company and its history; the web is a great tool for that, and I’m sure that you all know how to do this basic level of research. But I want to talk a bit about trying to find out some information about the manager you are interviewing with, their position in the company and their goals & objectives with regard to the position they are looking to fill. Again, the web is a great tool, from LinkedIn to Facebook and MySpace, you can do a lot to understand and learn about the background of the person that you are interviewing with. You can learn about his or her past work history, successes and failures, and gain a bit of understanding about what motivates this person. Any information that you can gain in this respect will aid in maintaining your “Presence” during the interview.
I also mentioned learning about the company’s culture. This is important in terms of the first impressions that you leave upon those that you will be meeting with. While it can be perceived to always be safe to show up in a suit, understanding the culture of the company will help you to understand just how much to “overdress”. If the company is an extremely casual marketing agency, showing up in a suit also says that you didn’t do your research on them. But, showing up in shorts and flip-flops also says that you took too much for granted. The interviewer and the company wants to be shown some respect, after all, you are the one looking for the job! So, it’s important to show them that you are both respectful and knowledgeable of the company culture. Making note of this during the interview process, at the appropriate time, will ensure that the interviewer is aware that you have done your homework.
Within the first few minutes, your interviewer will be determining just how deep he or she is willing to go with you in the dialog. You need to take command of this from the very beginning, and how you greet your interviewer is critical in accomplishing this. A good firm handshake, direct eye contact and an enthusiastic smile all go a long way toward setting the tone of the interview. You want to convey that you are engaged, eager and willing to learn from this person. This will all aid in stroking their ego and show that you have respect for them and the position you are looking to obtain. Remember, at the end of the day, you want the interviewer remembering more about you than the others, keeping you at the top of the list.
In my next article I’ll continue the discussion of the interview and the importance of being a good listener, while providing content and value-add to the discussion.
Let’s start this blog off with what I think are the 10 Commandments of Promotional Marketing. This is just to get us started, we can expand on them later…oh, and be sure to let me know if you have anything to add…
 10-commandments of promotional marketing I. Apply for many positions to better your chances of getting work right away. It’s all a numbers game ladies and gentlemen. A couple months ago I had 3 promising interviews in one week and thought that I would be getting work right away. But a couple weeks went by and I still had nothing…one agency was slow in getting things started, another had payroll issues and the other was completely staffed and only needed me as a backup. The point is, sometimes it just seems like there is always something getting in the way of landing these jobs. So, it is always better to have too much work than not enough. You can always turn down the work (but if you do, be sure to do so with appropriate notice!!!).
II. Know what you are willing to do and how far you will go. You may be asked to wear a variety of outfits/uniforms. You will need to decide what your comfort level is in advance. So if you are asked if you feel comfortable promoting alcohol in a large auditorium in a revealing outfit, you will know what to say. You may want to consider if you are comfortable in different situations, such as wearing embarrassing outfits or costumes, promoting at an alternative lifestyle club, singing, dancing or even presenting in front of hundreds of people, etc. The list goes on and on…just be prepared for the unexpected in this line of work. And if you do not feel comfortable doing anything, there is no shame in turning it down. Just do so respectfully and well before the promotion begins. It is much better to turn it down, than to not be on you’re “A-game” while at the promotion…which brings me to the 3rd Commandment:
III. Be on your “A-game” at every promotion. I know it may be hard to always carry a smile with you while you are promoting that new energy drink, but you have to leave your worries at the door and flash those pearly whites when stepping into your promo job. You are getting paid to represent a brand in a professional manner and to the specifications of that brand. When executing the promotion do the obvious: smile, be friendly and remember that you never know who could be secret-shopping you. Use your promotion as a time to forget about your worries before your job and just have fun. Which I am going to use to segue once again into my next commandment:
IV. Have fun! Not much else needs to be said. If you aren’t enjoying yourself to some degree, it will show. You will look uninterested, lazy and it will become apparent in your punctuality and reporting.
V. Have a promotional resume with great pictures and references. Try and take pictures of your events to create your own portfolio. This way you can show and prove what you have done to your next potential client.
VI. My Name is Earl. Like the TV show, don’t burn bridges. The promo world can be a very small and you will often run across the same people whether that is employers, models, companies, products, photographers, etc. Be courteous and respectful of others…what goes around comes around. If Karma exists, the promotional marketing world sure as hell knows about it!
VII. Be willing to learn more. There are often opportunities for advancement to team leader or coordinator positions if you are interested and have leadership ability. Ask questions to learn the ins and outs. There will be times when the team leader is sick or cannot make it to the promotion. The managers will often ask the next most qualified person to fill their place for the night and if you have been actively asking questions and learning, then you might be that person. So next time they are looking to fill a management position, they will think of you.
VIII. Don’t be late!!!! It’s always challenging for companies to assemble groups of promotional staff and sometimes the hardest part of the promotion is just getting everyone to show up to an event on time. Check in with your boss and assure them that you will be on time.
IX. Try to do various promotions. Variety is the spice of life, especially in this line of work. Promoting a variety of brands shows that you are versatile and capable of learning new material. I am sure I don’t have to tell you about the wide variety of opportunities: alcohol, tobacco, energy drinks, in-store promotions, bar promotions, sporting events, hosting poker tournaments, traveling promotions, fashion shows, etc.
X. Take Initiative. Follow up with the program or event manager. If you want to stand out to the person running the show, just making things easier for them. It’s that simple! They have more than enough to worry about and plan for…any help will be greatly appreciated…and remembered.
Okay, I lied…there are actually 11 commandments…this next one is just too important to leave off:
XI. Contacts, Contacts, Contacts. If the 3 secrets to real estate are location, location, location, then the name of the game in the promotional business is: CONTACTS. Don’t forget it. Don’t lose them. Now is the time to get your networking game on.
Good luck!
ImEmployed is a community setup to discuss all things relating to Marketing and Promotional Jobs.
The goal of the ImEmployed Blog is present ideas and strategies from promotional, modeling and marketing agency professionals in addition to tips, stories and advice from promotional staff and brand ambassadors in different fields from all over the country, providing a great variety of insight. The ImEmployed Blog will discuss topics from interview tips to financial advice to strategies to find, keep and continue to work at the best promotional jobs in your area.
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