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Jan 12To Whom It May Concern
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To Whom It May Concern: Or, How to Stop Sucking at Your Job Search aims to help frustrated, scared and panicked job seekers calm the heck down, screw their heads on and then craft and execute a job search strategy that will actually work in today’s crummy economy.
It promotes the use of social media (FB, LinkedIn, Twitter and personal websites/blogs) as means to network and brand yourself, and search for opportunities in places that the competition isn’t flocking to (in the way that they’re flocking toMonster.com, CareerBuilder, etc.)
And, yes, it’s written in a rather irreverant fashion, but certainly not at the expense of delivering fresh, actionable advice and content.
Here’s the Table of Contents if you want a closer look.
Q & A
Why did you write the book?
As most of you know, I run a recruiting agency. When the economy tanked, I got deluged with calls and emails from scared people who were suddenly in the market for a new job, yet had no idea how to effectively search. Many of them had already wasted weeks, or even months, using passive job search methods (e.g. spending hours a day on job boards like Monster.com, or machine gunning resumes into blind mailboxes, or calling recruiters and expecting them to ‘get on the case’)
My heart truly went out to these people, and I tried to help all of them. But the reality is, I just can’t spend hours a day on the phone counseling people — I have a recruiting agency, a blog and a family all needing my attention as well. And so, the idea for To Whom It May Concern was born.
Who will benefit the most from To Whom It May Concern?
I think anyone who is unemployed, underemployed or preparing to look for a new job can benefit. The people who will, perhaps, benefit the most are those who are either not sure how to use social media to their massive advantage in job search, or those who didn’t even realize that social media is a critical aspect to today’s job search. It’s also a great tool for new graduates looking for their first “career jobs.”
What’s the very most important piece of advice in this book?
Have a game plan. You just have to have a plan, and then create a daily or weekly schedule around the overall game plan. This is probably the biggest mistake job seekers make. In their panic to quickly land a new job, they race to their computers and start madly searching for jobs online, firing off resumes to every opening they find. This is not only incredibly ineffective, but can have the opposite effect in terms of “duration of job search.” You really need to have a plan that incorporates bold, strategic, ACTIVE job search methods. And these methods are discussed, in detail, in the book.
This is such a serious topic. Why the humorous approach?
The premise behind JobJenny.com and To Whom It May Concern is people really don’t appreciate it when you come across all preachy and know-it-all-ish. Especially stressed people, which is exactly what most job seekers are. I infuse levity at every logical opportunity, not only because that is my personality, but more importantly? Because I believe you can deliver spot-on advice and information in a way that makes people smile and laugh. Just because it’s a serious topic doesn’t mean readers can’t have a bit of fun along the way.
