Thank you for attending and for making the three hours we spent together so lively. I hope you got as much out of it as I did.
Now, for next steps.
I will be reinforcing and expanding upon what we discussed yesterday in this blog for the next few weeks. Please post your questions in the comments area. Each post will, I hope give you greater insights into the field of job change and will help you get the job you want.
As I said at the seminar, you must know who you are, what you enjoy doing (and are good at) and the type of impact you can make (and have made) in any area or field that will help others succeed. Your success will be in direct proportion to the problems you solve and the success you create FOR OTHERS.
Now, I want you to think about AIDA. AIDA is not a person. It is an acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. It has been used in the marketing and sales fields for decades and it is of absolutely vital interest to you if you want to secure a position with an organization that is important to you.
How do you plan on capturing the attention of a hiring decision-maker? If you are thinking about brightly colored paper, having your resume delivered by courier, a singing telegram or some other gimmick, then think again. To capture their attention you must meet them where there attention is. Is it in their favorite charity? Or, most likely in their greatest problem. Pursue the charity route if the charity is also of interest to you and if you are prepared to dedicate serious time to that charity (or cause) and help them in their efforts. If not, you are much better off becoming an expert in solving their problems. I have dozens of ideas. But, I am looking for yours.
What field are you most interested in? What are their most serious, pressing, or unsolved problems? How can they be solved?
Next, think about your history, your experience at solving problems, creating ideas, helping others to accomplish their goals. (It is not necessary that you be creative or an idea person, merely that you have a track record – a reputation – for helping others, be they individuals, non-profits, associations, clubs, or any for profit organization.)
There are a number of ways to do this. The simplest is to create a timeline for your life. Divide the timeline in 1/3s and in each 1/3 segment list the most outstanding or significant thing you did. This is usually something for which you still feel good even today. Then develop a pattern. Remember the group exercise “I am someone who…”
Now think of the fields in which you have an interest. Read articles about the main players. Check out their websites, their Yellow Pages, their commercials, their CEO’s letter to stockholders. There are dozens of ways to find out what a public company has on its agenda. And, while they will not express their problems in their public profiles, there are many magazines and services that follow those companies and speak openly about their problems.
If you don’t have enough information to begin formulating a plan to address their needs, then you don’t have enough interest in them to make them an offer that will result in a job. But, if you do, it is time to begin writing headlines about the solutions you can bring.
Remember the example I used about the company that had a headline of “DAMP BASEMENT?” If you had a damp basement, wouldn’t you think of contacting them?
Now begin writing your headlines based upon your “I am someone who” and as you write it, picture the hiring manager at the firm that you want to hire you.
Yes, there is a lot more to this than what I have written above. But we are only talking about the A in AIDA at the moment.
