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A while back, I talked about the need to prove your worth to a potential employer — to prove that you can provide a return on investment. I still think it’s an important piece of the puzzle, but during my conversation with Sherry and Sarah at Bowdoin College, Sherry pointed out that job searchers, especially recent graduates, need to show other qualities, as well.
She said something to the effect of, “ROI is results-oriented business-speak. And really, young graduates don’t have much business experience or proven results. You have other things, though. You’re smart as heck, you’re enthusiastic and you can learn things at the speed of light.”
So what’s the implication for us? I think it’s to incorporate the qualities of enthusiasm and intellect into your personal brand and job-search campaign. To give you a concrete example, I think you should take a page out of Jamie Varon’s book, or rather, Web site.
Jamie wants to work for Twitter. How do I know that? Because she built a site that says so. Yes, she built an entire Web site about how she wants to work at Twitter. Then she publicized it — guess where? On Twitter. Over the past few days it’s gone viral.
If that doesn’t show enthusiasm, I don’t know what does. She’s also demonstrating her aptitude for the medium and her understanding of ROI with her list, “10 Reasons Twitter Should Hire Me.”
All the items are under 140 characters (the limit for Twitter). Numbers one through nine show her overwhelming enthusiasm. But number 10 shows she can produce results, too. She talks about how many retweets her story has earned and how many original hits the Web site has received.
It’s the perfect combination of enthusiasm and ROI.
I’m not saying you have to or should go as far as Jamie Varon, but remember her enthusiasm as you’re writing your cover letters and sitting in interviews.
Ask yourself, “Why do I really want to work here? What about this organization makes me excited?” and convey those ideas in your answers, instead (or along with) your list of past experiences and results.
Put yourself in the position of the company. Wouldn’t you rather hear a person who’s genuinely excited about the job, as opposed to someone just rattling off the same type of accomplishments you’ve been listening to all day? One executive got so tired of the same old boring cover letters, he submitted one of his own to Craigslist just to show job seekers how to do it. See the balance of enthusiasm and ROI?
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Comments
03.18.09
I think the biggest challenge to cover letters and interviews is that we have to put on marketing and sales hats to succeed at them. This might come natural to you if you're a copywriter or already been working as an inside sales rep, but it requires learning some different skills for the rest of us. People don't necessarily get jobs because they are the best qualified, they get jobs because they are the best at getting jobs. Government and politics is a prime example.
When you're preparing to write a cover letter or a resume, the things you need to start thinking about are what exactly it is that the hiring manager for this position wants you to do and the biggest fears and frustrations the hiring manager has about hiring for this role. Your cover letter and interview question answers should almost exclusively focus on those two things. If someone is hiring for an analyst role for example, they want someone who is good at math and can make good reports. One of their fears is that despite what it says on your resume about your amazing Excel skills, it will turn out that you think a "pivot table" is a table that turns. That inspirational tale about overcoming adversity as a child with a learning disability is impressive, but ultimately irrelevant to the big question "can you do this job?" Or more importantly, "can you make me feel safe in hiring you?"
To borrow another marketing term, what Jamie Veron has done with her get me a job at Twitter campaign is a great example of "moving the freeline" in terms of selling her talents as a social media expert.
03.19.09
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment, Brian! I'm 100% in agreement with you that resumes (really, all career materials) are marketing pieces. Once you realize that, it becomes a lot easier to talk about your accomplishments in a forthright, confident way.
I think your advice about alleviating the hiring manager's fears is great. Most people are so focused on themselves - the skills they bring to the table, whether or not their experience matches the job description - that they forget to put themselves in the organization's shoes and understand their true concerns. The company has just as many fears about finding the right person as you do about finding the right job.
03.22.09
And then when Twitter discovers, after a short search, that she quit her previous job after 2 weeks and says it was the smart thing to do for everyone, I'll be interested in finding out how she spins it under some pretty intense grilling by HR and the hiring manager.
03.23.09
Thanks for the comment, JRandom. I'm guessing that Twitter has already 'discovered' her two-week stint because Jamie talked about it in a guest post on Penelope Trunk's blog: http://tinyurl.com/d9wh83.
I'm not an expert on Twitter corporate culture, nor am I a hiring manager, but I think Twitter is probably a pretty progressive place with a stronger-than-average Gen Y influence. If that's the case, I think all she'll need to do is explain that the job didn't mesh with her passions and career goals. It did, however, help her realize that she wanted a job in social media, specifically at Twitter. And it's clear she can produce results when her passions and goals align, as evidenced by her successful self-promotion campaign and Web site. That would be how I would spin it, anyway.
Jamie Varon is on here, and I'm curious if she was asked about her two-week stint in her visit to Twitter headquarters. If you read this, Jamie, would you let us know?
03.23.09
Kelly,
Just wanted to note that I was the first commenter on that post.
04.06.09
The twitter site is an awesome idea but her site falls flat due to weak content in the actual 10 reasons. For example "Passion is something I live and breathe each day", its too bold to be taken on its face value by any hiring manager. She didn't outline in any of the reasons why twitter. Its very easy to find fans for any hiring manager when a product is popular.
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