Networking is the leading source of finding a new job – Do you have a compelling Elevator Pitch to communicate your personal brand?

You may know it as the one-minute drill or the Elevator Pitch.  It is a concise (well rehearsed) speech that communicates your personal brand, much like business owners and sales people use it to describe their business, product or service.

The majority of jobs secured today are discovered by networking with friends, members of your local and virtual community or people met throughout your career.  Whether by chance meeting or a specific networking event, people are constantly faced with the challenge of quickly stating who they are, what they do and what is unique about them.  To do this effectively, you (the job candidate) must understand your personal brand.  A personal brand statement is a concise communication that clarifies what makes your value proposition unique and compelling.

Even thought the pitch is crafted and rehearsed, it should sound completely natural and leave the listener with a lasting impression. The objective is to simply create interest and make your listener remember you. The time taken to develop and rehearse the Elevator Pitch will lead to productive outcomes in the form of warm introductions to people who can help you advance your career. 

Here are some of the questions you need to ask yourself in preparing your Personal Elevator Pitch:

-         What is your job target?

-         Who is most likely to make a hiring decision for this role?

-         What issues are being faced by those within your job target?

-         What do you offer that can solve these problems?

-         How are you different than others that provide solutions?

-         What benefits have you delivered for your target audience?

Once you have the answers written down, you may then start to craft your Personal Elevator Pitch.  The key to a successful Pitch is practice / modify, practice / modify and then practice until it is muscle reflex to deliver. Practice in front of someone that can give you honest and productive suggestions.  Practice in front of a mirror and remember your body language and facial expression is important.

Here is a very good example:

“You know how some career professionals miss out on really great employment opportunities, or don’t advance as quickly in their careers as they would like, or don’t get paid the compensation they deserve, all because they don’t really know how to differentiate themselves in their careers or promote themselves effectively in the job market?

Well, I am a career coach, personal branding strategist, and career marketing professional-one of just a few people worldwide with this unique blend of expertise. In my business, which is internet-based and global, I provide a mix of innovative products, programs, and services delivered to six-figure+ and aspiring six-figure+ professionals, managers, and executives. All my offerings are designed specifically to empower my clients to promote and market themselves effectively, opening doors and enabling potential to achieve their highest career ambitions and goals.

The benefits are that my clients dramatically reduce the time and money they spend job searching, rapidly advance their careers, boost their incomes, enjoy greater professional recognition, and overall, establish themselves in careers that are more professionally, financially, and personally rewarding.”

From career expert Michelle Dumas  www.distinctiveweb.com

Note:  www.wintheview.com is developing an on-line template for developing a “Personal Elevator Pitch” and will be introduced in the near future.  For information, call Ken Diamond at 215-948-3722

Great Interview Questions to ask – for the job seeker

I have been in recruiting now since 1998 and have learned through the years how important it can be to ask the right questions of the hiring team so I can pinpoint my search activity and deliver the candidate who will be a great fit.

Many times the hiring authority will quickly spout out what they are looking for and seems to expect me to fill in the blanks for the details that they didn’t provide.  Earlier in my recruiting days, I would accept this and was happy to simply have the search to work on.  What I realized through the years was how much time I could waste making assumptions about what those “gray area” details were.  I have adjusted my approach when getting the position requirements and have a prepared list of questions that I make sure to ask to avoid fishing in the wrong pond or missing an important detail that ends up derailing the search after weeks and weeks of phone calls and screening.

Job seekers need to be asking the same questions when they are approaching the job interview process.  If they understand the nuances and the critical hiring criteria for the position they are considering, they will be in a much better position to articulate their match of skills and accomplishments  further down the interview process in the face to face segment.

Based upon years and years of recruiting and digging out the true hiring criteria, I offer the following questions to job seekers to be asked of the first person they speak with in the interview process. This could be anyone from an executive search consultant to the in house Human Resources representative.  The job seeker should be sure to take good notes upon getting answers to these questions so they may prepare their interview strategy and comments during the face to face part of the process.

Here are some examples of questions that should will reveal some of the true hiring requirements.  Note that these questions are also included in the free WinTheView Workbook that is downloadable upon log-in at www.wintheview.com

What are the primary “must have” skills/attributes a person needs to be successful in this position?

What are the skills and attributes you value most for someone being hired for this position?

What is the single most important attribute for success in this role?

What do you consider the greatest overall challenge of this position?

What are the most immediate challenges of the position during the first three months?

What are the major challenges this position presents over the next 6 – 12 months?

What are the performance expectations of this position in 6 – 12 months?

What will I have done to be viewed as a over-achiever after 6 months?  After a year?

How will I be evaluated and how often?

Who are some of the people this position requires interaction with on a regular basis?

Can you describe a typical day for a person filling this position?

What are the most important personality characteristics for a person in this position?

These questions will help the job seeker to understand the specific needs and pain points for the career opportunity and enable the development of a sales oriented presentation of why the candidate is a strong fit for the position and why they should be hired.  The questions may be asked of each person on the “interview team” to get a sense of consistency and what requirements should receive the greatest priority.

Success Stories say it all for the Power of Wintheview

Wintheview is a powerful website for Personal Branding Tools and Interview Presentations.  These comments are from recent users that experienced success by using the on-line, easy to use tools to land jobs in record time.  To learn more, call Ken Diamond at 610-941-0700.

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Ken,

I have to tell you that the website “Win the View.com” is one of the more innovative aids in job hunting that I’ve seen in a long time. We all learn in marketing that presentation is a significant part of selling anything. So why not “present” ourselves to prospective companies? I went through the process, produced the presentation and got the job. No, it wasn’t JUST the presentation that got me the job. More likely it was the thought process through which “Win the View.com” guided me. The entire site helped me distill my talents and skills into a marketable set of bullet points and talking points. That was really valuable to my prospective employer.

 You have to do the work to make the presentation successful, but I believe, if you are qualified for the position and if the “Win the View.com” presentation deck is produced with diligence and care, the process will increase your probability of receiving an offer.

 All the best,

 L. Harris – starting my new job June 1.

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The tools are great and provide a solid basis for develolping a compelling, comprehensive, and highly professional delivery of your Personal Value Proposition to the intended hiring manager. Concise yet thorough outline of skill sets, experience and accomplishments, and a ramp up strategy for short term and long term success. This is a stand out tool that differentiates you from all the other applicants and routine resumes. Plus, you can keep it current, as a live career tool, always ready when a new opportunity presents itself.

I’ve enjoyed success every time I’ve used it and, I even introduced my daughter to it. She is new to the workforce, freshly minted Master’s in hand. She did her research, found the job she really liked, got the interview, and WON THE VIEW on her first and only try!! Her credentials were good, work/internship experience appropriate, but the hiring manager was totally impressed with her preparation and the presenatation tool was a huge differentiator.

J. Sammons

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‘Wintheview’ is a useful tool in the interview process. Walking through the steps of the presentation allowed me to link my skills and experience to each requirement of the position. Additionally, the presentation was an excellent leave behind – providing the prospective employer with a concise summary of my skills/experience and how it relates to the job .

_____________________________________

Hi Ken:

I want to inform you that the Win the View Presentation was a great success. It was easy to complete and the Library tools gave me different options to choose from. I had two interviews on Wednesday December 19, 2007 and they were both impressed and awed at how professional, well prepared and organized the presentation was. It was easy for them to view and they were extremely impressed with Match for position requirements, Additional areas of expertise, Outstanding Accomplishments , Personal Factor and my favorite Why Hire me and the Closing Questions and the follow-up letter which is the key factor.

I even received a call today Friday December 21, 2007 for a job offer from one of the companies I interviewed with on Wednesday which is a full service Practice Management and Billing Company. I have another interview today in the afternoon with a Spanish Organization from Spain as an Executive Assistant and I even did the presentation in both languages(English/Spanish). This will determine my future within the company. Thank you for letting me have the opportunity to use this great tool I would recommend Win the View Presentation to anyone who wants to land a succesfull position with a Professional company.

V. Ramos

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“My wintheview presentation blew away the hiring manager and the other influencers. The presentation became the interview. They could see exactly what I could do for them and how I fit. It really set me apart from the competition.” landed director e-commerce marketing job at major communications company.
J. Zigon

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‘Wintheview’ is a useful tool in the interview process.  Walking through the steps of the presentation allowed me to link my skills and experience to each requirement of the position.  Additionally, the presentation was an excellent leave behind – providing the prospective employer with a concise summary of my skills/experience and how it relates to the job .

L. Travice

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Thank you for your support during my transition.  Your support has allowed me to join a company that is positioned for profitable growth in 2008 and onward and continue my career in the printing industry.  Your “Win the View” system was an important tool in my job search process that assisted me in selling my skills, abilities and what my strategies were to move the business in the right direction. Win the View is a great product and I am sure it will be a successful endeavor.

M. Dinan

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I used Wintheview 4 or 5 times. Rather than presenting it in the interview, I would send it ahead with the comment, “this my help you understand how my background, experience, and accomplishments relate to the position”. In all cases, this set me apart and differentiated my approach from the other applicants. Most interviews started off with: ” thank you for taking the time to put this together, it is very impressive.”

T. Ford

 

 

 

 

Wintheview helps executive get competitive edge in the interview process

“WINTHEVIEW is an extraordinarily useful tool that helps an interviewer differentiate themselves from the competition. It allows the interviewee the ability to summarize his/her skills in a presentation type fashion that not only impresses the interviewer but facilitates the exchange of information. I have used WINTHEVIEW to formulate a very comprhensive and strategic presentation in order to demonstrate my past accomplishments, focus in on my strengths, and provide the interviewer with such infomation as a 30 – 90 day plan, and how my skills can help develop the organization. This type of presentation demonstrates that you are not only serious about yourself, but have taken the time to research the company, and provide insight that you have thought about how you can help the company in today’s market. Using WINTHEVIEW has propeled me to the top of the highly competitive list in a CEO/President opportunity within the Renewable Resources Industry where I am competing against seasoned Executives, but WINTHEVIEW has seperated me form the competition and helped me to differentiate myself in a very positive fashion. I recommend WINTHEVIEW to anyone that is seeking to differentiate themselves from the competition when interviewing for a job, or just sending the presentation as a supplement to your resume. Its another great product developed by Ken Diamond that really shows that he and his organizations want to develop successful strategies and products that do in fact work and are not gimmicks or scams. Please feel free to contact me at anytime for a more indepth discussion of how it has helped me in today’s tough job market.”

Best Regards,

Paul Claro
(201)245-0450

Tips (good web sites) for effective job search

I receive tons of resumes each day and would love to get back to each person individually to strategize on career advancement and the tools that are most useful on the web today.  In the search business, we get paid by companies to go out and find people with very specific skills sets.

 

To be good at finding the right people, our team needs to know to leverage all of the tools on the web and where to look.  In that process, we have generated some opinions on a few of the most effective sites for job seekers.  As time doesn’t allow us to get back to each invidividual who sends us their CV, we decided to put together a quick list of sites we think would be helpful.  Here they are:

 

www.visualcv.com     VisualCV.com gives you an easy new way to present your Curriculum Vitae (CV) online. VisualCV replaces the traditional resume with an online professional profile. VisualCV.com is the first website that allows you to create an Internet-based resume, build and manage an integrated online career portfolio, and securely share professional qualifications with your customers, partners, employers and colleagues.

 

www.wintheview.com  (WTV) is an easy to use, step by step web program that helps you to prepare better for the interview by gaining a better understanding of the job requirements and then creating specific talk points that directly correlate your strengths, skills and accomplishments to the “position success requirements”.

 

www.indeed.com  Indeed is a search engine for jobs – with a radically different approach to job search. In one simple search, Indeed gives job seekers free access to millions of employment opportunities from thousands of websites. Indeed.com includes all the job listings from major job boards, newspapers, associations and company career pages – and we continue to add new sites every day.

 

http://www.weddles.com/awards/index.htm  Who has the best insight on which employment sites are most helpful? We think the answer to that question is obvious … it’s you, the recruiters and job seekers who have used the sites. And, that’s what the annual WEDDLE’s User’s Choice Awards are all about. They recognize the elite of the online employment according to the most discerning judges around—that would be you!

 

Get yourself on linkedin.com

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/ten_ways_to_use.html

Most people use LinkedIn to “get to someone” in order to make a sale, form a partnership, or get a job. It works well for this because it is an online network of more than 8.5 million experienced professionals from around the world representing 130 industries. However, it is a tool that is under-utilized, so I’ve compiled a top-ten list of ways to increase the value of LinkedIn.

Hope these help and best of luck in job search!

Ken Diamond

Nail the Interview with powerful career accomplishment stories!

One of the top recruitment experts states that one of the best all time interview questions is “Tell me about your greatest career accomplishment”.

I have used this question many times when interviewing my candidates and am amazed at how many people are not ready with a story.  Maybe it’s just because I am in the recruitment industry and know that behavioral interviewing is how many (trained) hiring managers conduct their interviews these days – that I expect that job seekers would be ready for this question!?

When I designed our interview preparation web site www.wintheview.com, I added in a section where candidates could follow a template and easily create their accomplishment stories based upon a common format known as STAR.  It stands for first stating the SITUATION, then the TASK, then the ACTION taken and finally the RESULT which is the benefit derived from the action taken. 

Every person in the job market should be ready with at least 3 accomplishment stories that illustrate how they overcame a major obstacle, in a creative way to help the company to: cut costs, be more efficient, get more business, gain a competitive edge, get product to market more quickly or some other specific result that was achieved as a result of their proactive action.

We are in the process of making the “accomplishment story” tool more flexible with better formatting on the www.wintheview.com site.  Currently, users can create accomplishment stories with the help of a template which is automatically saved and printable for use in interview preparation and as a ”leave behind”  for interviews.  The real power is putting your stories in writing so they are INTERNALIZED and come out naturally when you are in a networking discussion or interviewing for the job of your dreams.

Bottom line is to spend the time necessary to prepare and practice what you will say in that all important interview.  www.wintheview.com will provide the roadmap to get you where you need to be!

Will you be prepared with a 30 / 60 day plan during your interview?

I just spoke with our candidate that had a final interview this morning for Project Management role in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device industry.  I had suggested that he take a look at our www.wintheview.com interview tool to formulate his thoughts and prepare for his final interview.  He did so and sent me a copy of the presentation / talk points prior to his interview and commented that he probably wouldn’t use it during the interview, but it seemed like a great tool to help organize his thoughts.  I suggested he be ready to use it when appropriate and he should get it bound and printed at a Kinkos or Staples in color so it looked professional – which he did.

Sure enough, the hiring manager asked the question that made it easy for my candidate to introduce WintheView:  “So, tell me what do you plan to do during the first 30 – 60 days”?  He provided the VP with the presentation and took him right to the 30-60 day action plan page and went through his planned action items.  WTV makes it easy to generate a 30-60 day plan with the assistance of templates and pull down menus.

The VP said wow, this is perfect, and he went through the other pages and was extremely impressed.  My candidate said he scored “lots of preparation points” and felt great about his interview performance. 

He should feel great ……. the VP told him an offer would be forthcoming just in time for the holidays!! 

One of the common concerns of using the WTV approach is how does the hiring manager feel about losing control.  They don’t lose control at all – they are actually more engaged.  It just takes an ounce of finesse for the candidate to introduce the “talking points” they have prepared by introducing the color printed spiral bound presentation.  And by the way, just happened to have a copy for everyone on the interview team.  The real value though is in the preparation process and the time invested by the person being interviewed.  Their talk points should be “muscle reflex” after going through the WTV process.

The are better prepared, more confident, professional, get a competitive edge over their competition and more likely to get an offer and move forward in their professional career.

The WTV approach can be introduced to the hiring team in many ways.  Most common is when the interviewer asks a pointed question about the job seekers qualifications (such as the 30-60 day question).

This great job offer will be a timely gift for the holidays!  

Best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy holiday season!

GOT AN INTERVIEW? WHAT ARE YOU DOING DIFFERENTLY TO PREPARE??

30 Day Free Trial for the WinTheView Interview Preparation & Presentation tool

If you have the committment to spend at least one hour preparing for your next career opportunity interview, then this interview preparation / presentation tool is for YOU.  Try it out with no investment other than your time.  If you need 1:1 coaching, we can provide training and support (for an additional cost.)

This POWERFUL interview preparation tool now comes with a 30 DAY FREE TRIAL

Our search firm continues to chalk up the success stories as our candidates outperform the competition during the interview with their confidence, demonstrated preparedness and professionalism and on-point articulation of their ability to overachieve for a given career opportunity.  We provide this tool as a value add to candidates (for our recruiting firm) and would like to make it available to all job seekers for no charge (for 30 days).

Just log in as a new user and create as many presentations as you like.  They will be there .. on-line, until the next time you need to access them.  This process will make you better prepared without question and you WILL differentitate yourself with your interview performance.  Try it out and see for yourself!  But, you must be willing to invest about an hour to win your next interview!!!

Feel free to call with any questions.

Best regards,

Ken Diamond

610-941-0700

Got an interview? Take a different approach!

We have been using a different approach to prepare our candidates for interviews. We’ve developed an on-line tool that has the candidate generating a solutions based presentation on why they are a good fit for the role. The candidates’ walk into the interview (typically the second interview or first in person) with a printed and bound presentation (call them discussion points) and when the questions start … the candidate says, I’ve put together a brief summary of why I am excited about this opportunity and why I believe I’m a good fit. Would you mind if I review it with you? 95% of the time the hiring manager says yes, unless it is a highly structured interview. The candidate must know to be flexible and watch body language of the interviewer. Bottom line is this approach has worked great for us as recruiters and to help prepare our candidates. We’ve had a wide variety of individuals use it. We do recruiting in technology and health care.

Going through the process is where the real value is because the candidates must think through the key qualifiers and be able to come up with a few key points / accomplishments relative to the requirement. As a result, they are much more confident, on point and differentiate themselves among the competition.

We used a powerpoint platform previously and then decided to develop the process on the web. It’s called WintheView – winning the interview. It’s like a turbo tax for recruiting … a step by step wizard that makes it very easy for job seekers to create a presentation to powerfully communicate their fit for the role.

Candidates can develop as many presentations, follow up letters and accomplishment stories as they wish and can come back to them anytime in the future. It has custom industry templates for the cover page and many pull down libraries of information to help build the presentation. Hiring managers respond well to this approach and appreciate the level of preparation demonstrated by the candidate.

It’s nice for recruiters as candidates can work on it independently and then collaborate with them to make sure they are on track. One placement pays for hundreds of presentations. The cost is $59.95 for 3 months.
We are just now starting to market this tool so it is still very much a differentiator for recruiting firms and candidates. Any suggestions for getting the word out would be much appreciated. We have over 200 success stories and many placements directly due to WintheView

Using solutions sales techniques in the interview

Several years ago (in 1999) I was called by a recruiter on an opportunity which represented a big jump in my career path both professionally and financially.  I was selling typesetting (black and white only) systems for AGFA Compugraphic and the opportunity was to sell color prepress systems for Scitex, the leader in the industry.

At the time, I was going through a consultative selling course with AGFA which focused on the step of sale approach.  The steps being:

1. Identify your target company and do the due diligence

2. Make the introduction

3. Conduct the needs analysis

4. Write a letter of understanding

5. Provide a demonstration

6. Present a proposal solution

7. Negotiate and close the deal

8. Implement the services and assure client satisfaction

I decided to apply this step of sale approach to my interview with Scitex by creating a table top flip chart presentation which followed these steps.  I prepared this after I did my needs analysis step and determined I was a good fit and I wanted the job badly.  (There was no off the shelf presentation software available).

I started the interview with the usual small talk and when we got into why I was qualified and should be hired (in my opinion), I asked for permission to share the presentation / discussion points I had prepared.  I was very excited to do this because I had taken the time to carefully prepare the key points and accomplishments that supported my qualifications for the position. 

The best part is that the control of the interview shifted and I guided the discussion.  As I finished my points and summarized why I should be hired, the VP of Sales fell back in his chair laughing and said YOU’VE GOT THE JOB.  It created quite a buzz at the kickoff meeting and several people asked if I was the guy who gave the presentation in the interview.

Since then, I have used the same approach to help my candidates (I own a search firm) prepare better and differentiate themselves during the interview process.  I am very excited to announce that our team has created an on-line version of this approach www.wintheview.com and it is already a huge success, helping hundreds of people do better in their interviews and increases their chances of beating the competition and get more job offers.