Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

How to Win A Pitch

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howtopitch1“How can we distinguish ourselves from the competition when what we are offering is so similar?” That is the first line of the book, How to Win A Pitch, by Joey Asher, an Atlanta-based sales presentation coach and President of the nationally-recognized consulting firm Speechworks. (Joey is also someone I know personally, so I am happy to share the great information he offers in his book.)

While his book targets professionals who are pitching to win business or a project for themselves or their organizations, his advice is absolutely essential for job seekers to learn and understand.

Joey offers readers all of the fundamentals to consider when trying to communicate their value to another person or group. Sound familiar? That’s exactly what you’re doing in a job hunt – trying to make a strong connection to someone to convince them to hire you. Here is a run-down of the fundamentals and their job search applications:

Fundamental #1. Present a solution and nothing else.  All too often, people start presentations by talking about themselves. “Before we start, let me tell you about how our company began . . .” Who cares? Your prospect only cares about is how you can save them money, grow their revenues, or reduce their risk. Detail your plan to help your prospect and tell stories about how the plan has worked for others.

Job search application: Hiring managers care about what they want to know and how you solve their problems. You need to learn how to identify and hone in on the most important information to them in order to win the job.

Fundamental #2. Keep it simple. Resist the urge to cover too much ground in the presentation. Pound away at three messages. “We’ll build your project on time. We’ll meet your budget. We’ll deliver quality work.” Simplicity always separates you from the competition.

Job search application – Sending a 3-page resume detailing every thing you have done in the last 25 years and/or going on and on ad naseum in an interview is NOT going to win you the job. Focus on the basics – how you have what they want. Demonstrate why and how.

Fundamental #3. Speak with Passion. If you’re one of three firms competing, you know that your competition can do a great job.  But as one CEO explained, “When it’s close, many of the decisions just come down to who connects with us best.”.  Passion in the voice helps you connect.

Job search application – You need to realize that you are probably not the only one who could do this job. You might not even be the best qualified. But if you can connect with the hiring managers and communicate better than the competition, you will earn the job.

Fundamental #4. Leave half of your time for questions. Questions address what your prospect wants to hear. Your answers almost always separate you. Your competition often makes Q&A an afterthought. Consequently, you can gain an advantage by considering the questions on the front-end.

Job search application – Questions are key. Typically, you’re the one answering the questions (in an interview), so answers are important, but it is also important to ASK good questions. Sometimes, a few well-placed questions can really set the job seeker ahead of the crowd.

Fundamental #5. Rehearse. One CEO who has had hundreds of sales presentations stated, “I can always tell who has rehearsed.” Most people don’t rehearse much. Practicing sets you apart.

Job-search application – I always advise my clients to practice answers to potential interview questions out loud – not inside of their heads! Hearing how you sound and even watching how you look in a mirror can really make a difference in the outcome. I sometimes suggest talking to a pet, or even a stuffed animal!

Joey’s book can be a great help for job seekers who could use some help presenting a solution that works, focusing on a simple message so the target can connect, demonstrating passion and managing anxiety. As an added bonus, it is a perfect resource for anyone who needs to “win” presentations once landing in their targeted jobs!

You can buy the book here. I also highly recommend Joey’s Talking Points blog for a lot of great tips about how to communicate and present to win!

Need some help getting your targeted message together? I can help! Follow THIS LINK to learn more about me and how I can help you shorten your search and land the job you want!

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Are you a career coward? Your guide to changing careers!

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careercowardj3904If you are afraid to make a change in your career and/or hesitant to begin to take the wheel to drive your own career bus, you are not alone! Many people facing a change stop in their tracks because they can’t figure out what to do next and don’t want to make the “wrong” move.

Enter Katy Piotrowski’s book, The Career Coward’s Guide to Changing Careers.

Katy guides her readers through a series of stages to help them decide on their plans and overcome roadblocks caused by fear and hesitation. She offers exercises and support from the “discover your natural talents and best skills” stage through to the point of being ready to learn “how to succeed and progress in your new career.”

With confidence checklists and profiles throughout that demonstrate success stories and cases in point, Katy brings her (potentially reluctant) readers along and offers courage to overcome “panic points” to succeed.

My favorite chapter? Chapter 8 – Execute a Successful Informational Interview. Katy offers sample scripts to secure the meeting and step-by-step instructions to help readers know “What to Wear, Where to Meet and How to Act.” Key advice? “Take notes and leave your resume at home.” Successful networkers conduct as many informational meetings as possible. (CLICK HERE for my thoughts on info interviews.)

I highly recommend The Career Coward’s Guide for anyone who is experiencing a fearful transition – and who isn’t?

If you’d like to win a FREE copy, comment on this blog post to enter a random drawing! Feel free to comment on all of my blogs for a better chance to win:

If you need some coaching to figure out what you should do next, contact my business partner, Hallie Crawford. Once you know what you want to do, if you need some help to get your job search in gear – Learn more about me and my services.- I will help!

Career carnival rides again!

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ferriswheel1425942468_868186c527_mIt’s time for the Career Blogging Carnival. This week, Stephanie Lloyd hosts at her blog, Radiant Verocity. Stephanie invited several recruiting professionals to join, so it’s an eclectic mix of great advice for job seekers. Don’t miss it! FOLLOW THIS LINK.

To read previous Career Carnival Blogging Events click here and here.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the next Career Carnival Blogging Event!

photo by _Robert C_

Strawberry picking and your job hunt

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strawberriesI wrote the following post last year, and I thought it was appropriate to share it today. I learned my lesson and plan to go berry picking this morning. In fact, I may be out picking berries as you read this! (Or eating the fruits of my labor!)

The career lesson in a nutshell? Don’t delay your job search. I know that it is tempting to take a break over the summer. It’s hot and a good time for vacation. The kids are home from school, and schedules are off kilter. However, if you hold off and delay your search – you don’t get your resume in order, start (or grow) your online and in-person networking efforts, you’ll just be that much further behind in the fall. So, take some time now and get some help with your search. Contact me for a quote for a resume revision. Did you know that you can probably make back your investment in the first few days – maybe even hours – on the job?

Read on for some additional incentive to get up and get going from last year’s post!

Have you ever wanted to do 
something but waited too 
long and it was too late?

This happened to me this week. I had planned (by planned, I really mean thought about it and decided it would be fun) to go strawberry picking. Although it would be hot (really hot), the idea of having a productive day in the sun, resulting in lots of juicy, inexpensive strawberries seemed like a great plan.

To make a long story short, I waited too long. The strawberries are all picked over. It’s not even worth going now. But, blueberries are in season soon! You can bet that I’m not going to miss out this time. I’ve already penciled in a blueberry picking time – right as the season starts.

Even the best intended plans sometimes go astray. My problem? I didn’t focus on my goal (mmm…strawberry shortcake, strawberry shakes, strawberries and cream…) and my idea never actually became a plan. When a job hunt is at stake, the results are more important than a lack of strawberry treats. A new job isn’t going to come knocking on your door any more than a bale of berries was going to start growing in my yard.

You need to plant the seeds -
make a plan to get things moving 
in the right direction for your career.

Are you someone who planned for a “new career for a new year” back when the ball dropped? If you are, I hope you aren’t letting someone else pick all of your berries! It’s hard to believe, but this year is almost 1/2 over.

If you haven’t focused on your hunt, you’ll be right where you started when another new year comes around.

What is holding you back from making a positive change in your life? Even if the strawberries are all gone, you still owe it to yourself to make sure you have a fruitful career! I can help by walking you through every step of your job hunt, from writing your resume to negotiating your offer. Learn more about me and how I can help and be sure to get in touch soon!

What job seekers can learn from Susan Boyle's loss

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susanboyle2163_medium1As the Susan Boyle rise to fame tale comes to an end, it seems as if I am more than making up for the fact that I resisted writing about the lessons her rise to fame offer job seekers! (Being that I wrote about her yesterday and still have more to say!)

So, did you hear that the media darling, who rocketed to fame with 100 million hits on YouTube after surprising judges (and everyone else) by displaying a talent they did not expect from her appearance (a classic – you can’t judge a book by its cover story) – lost the Britain’s Got Talent competition to a group of ten young dancers, named Diversity in the final of the British show that made her a global star?

So, the seemingly anointed star, favored by the judges, can’t even land the top spot. What lesson does that offer job seekers? That, no matter how good you are, you still can’t expect to land the job? Umm…Maybe, but I’m a bit of an optimist, so let’s see how to frame this.

Stephanie Lloyd recently wrote about the “75 Reasons You Didn’t Get the Job.” The main gist – some things about your job search are out of your hands. There are some elements of luck, some of simply connecting with the interviewer and some of just being the right “fit.”

Let’s face it – Susan lost in a popular vote, and you know how popular votes go. It can be a bit of a toss up. Sometimes, in the end, whether or not you get the job is a bit of a toss up as well. But – and this is important – where the job seeker DOES impact his or her own chances is early in the process. That is, in creating a personal brand and an online presence, when submitting a resume, while preparing for an interview and by conducting high quality and appropriate follow-up.

Yes, in the end, even if you knocked the interview out of the park, if someone did not like one of your answers, or if another person had slightly better qualifications (or better answers), all of your work may still not result in landing the job. But you must take the wheel and drive your own career bus when you DO control the process. If you don’t make sure to do everything you can to position yourself to be asked for an interview and to appear well qualified for the job during the interview, THEN you are handing over the job to your competitors on a silver platter and buying yourself a ticket to continued job search mode.

Just as Susan, a 48-year old singer who had never had a big break, kept training and practicing and trying, job seekers need to ensure that they do everything possible to make themselves competitive for the jobs they target. The search is in your hands for most of the process, and you do influence and impact the results. Let’s face it, Susan did come in second, and she is likely to have many opportunities, even though she didn’t win. You need to be in it to win it, and as a job seeker, it is your job to to make sure you are in it with all the best you have to offer!

Don’t forget that Keppie Careers offers many services to help you get your job hunt on track. Don’t you deserve the very best? Stop wasting your time! Learn more about me and how I can HELP YOU get your job search on track!