Читать книгу Stop Peeing On Your Shoes- Avoiding the 7 Mistakes That Screw Up Your Job Search - Julie JD Bauke - Страница 9

You reach out to people quickly because you want their help, right? Well, how can they help you if you aren’t ready to deliver a concise, well thought out answer to this question? Your answer should be 2-3 minutes in length (any more than that, you will see eyes glaze). It should focus on your professional life only. Give them the highlights of what you have done and where you have done it. Do not include the stuff that you never want to do again.

Remember, this is your opportunity to frame your experiences in a way that highlights the best of you. It will drive the next part of the conversation—and where it goes from there. Why only professional stuff? If you use your three minutes talking about your children or your outside activities, you can come across as a less than serious professional. That may be fair or unfair, but that’s just the way some people will see it.

I had a colleague once who asked this question with a very clear intent. He wanted to know what, given a few minutes of unstructured “air time,” you would choose to talk about. He found the answers to be quite insightful. I would agree. You may be thinking, “How can I get all of my professional life down to three minutes?” It’s a great question. Maybe now you can see how important it is to spend some time figuring out your answer to this one before you start picking up the phone or meeting with people.

Ms. Unprepared’s answer: “I’m a really hard worker with a lot of experience. I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve prepared marketing plans, run trade shows, and created brochures. I did a lot of that for my church too. A few years ago, we had a big conference and I did all of the marketing, I like to do big projects, but I can do small ones too. Like the time I organized an event for my boss. That was fun but a lot of hard work. I think I’m best when I have a good team around me. But I can work well alone too. Oh yeah, I am also a Sunday School teacher. I just love people.”

Ms. Prepared’s answer: “I am an events planner. I have experience in developing, planning, and executing events that range in size from 100 to 10,000 attendees. I am at my best when I am involved from concept development all the way up to, and through, the day of the event. I am a creative, strategic thinker who is able to assemble a team of skilled professionals that deliver.

In my most recent position with the ACA, we decided at a very late date to hold a regional conference. It was a very challenging event to pull off, especially with our very limited budget. By rallying our team and our outside resources, (and with a few very late nights), we held an event for 3,000 that was our most successful event to date. Members are still asking when we can do it again. I have worked across industries, and enjoy working with member focused organizations. Their events are highly complex, and they require the full range of my skills.”

Now ask yourself—after reading these, which one gives you the “visual?” Which one gives you an idea about how to be helpful? Which one inspires confidence that this is a professional that you want to either hire or introduce into your network?

Here’s the really important question: which one do you want to be? Do you really think that you can be that person an hour after losing your job? I didn’t think so.