In Transition Part Five - Getting To The Correct Person

In Transition Part Five - Getting To The Correct Person


Where we've been, where we're going

In the four preceding In Transition discussions, we have decided on the five accomplishments we are proudest of in our life as a whole, we have discovered what makes us happy on a daily basis, and from these efforts have decided what kind of work we want to do during the next five to seven years. We followed this with research on the companies/employers we would like to work with and researched them carefully to learn their management's goals and ensure we know how we can help them reach those goals. In all of this we have been in buying mode; now we must switch to the selling mode, the professional selling process.


Landing your position of choice and hiring you, are both educational processes

Everything listed in the preceding paragraph has been an educational process. Think about it; you have been educating yourself. Now think about the person(s) in each target company, that you believe will most benefit from what you can do for them as a member of their team. They haven't the foggiest idea of what you can do for them until

• They know you exist.


• They know how you can help them and


• They know enough about you and your experience, to believe you can.

Accomplishing these three things is an education process in which you are the teacher. Every professional salesperson performs this education process in order to gain each new customer.

You are not applying for a job; you are educating them on what you will do for them. You must reach the person, who will appreciate and profit from what you will do for them. Remember, as in every selling situation, there is a "buying committee." In a larger company this will be the Human Resources (HR) department. In a small company organization there may not be an HR department so labeled, but the function will be there in one of two forms.

1. The owner/CEO and people you will work with on a daily basis. In a fifteen to thirty person company the owner/CEO, his/her spouse and the person you will directly report to, are key members of the selection/hiring committee. Any of them can say no, but only the CEO and spouse can say yes to your coming on board and they will negotiate your compensation plan. The rest of the staff, who you meet during the hiring process, are influencers; be wise and assume one of them can say no.

2. An outside contractor, such as Administaff, a nationwide firm, that performs all HR functions, payroll and other employment support services for small companies. If this is the case, they will perform the HR function of screening applicants, doing background checks etc. before sending you to the next step. They must approve of you; they tend to look at details and tend not to make decisions on concepts or gut feelings. The details of your appearance, demeanor, attitude, are important to them; their reputation and the continuation of their contract with the company are stake when they are involved in the hiring process.

They will study your resume and compare it to the written criteria in the job description. They will look for things that don't make sense, the typos, misspellings and bad grammar. They will administer the various tests used to filter out those who will not fit the company's culture and image. The tests are used to learn if your characteristics are similar to those of successful performers in the position they are filling. The tests and interview questions are designed reveal what makes you tick. If you are lucky enough to get hired without going through all I've described, you will have to do it later. That is what happened in the true experience described in my blog, "Crazy Like A Fox."

Chances are the HR people have never seen anything like your Five Proudest Accomplishments. Having never been a part of a Human Resources Department, I cannot know how the five proudest accomplishments will work with them, but my years of experience in professional sales, tell me to suggest you save your Proudest Accomplishments for use when you meet with the actual hiring person. You want to have something extra for the meeting with them.

Your time with the people in the HR function is your opportunity to get educated about the company and the hiring person. To get educated you must ask questions that you have written and practiced. You want to know what you have not been able to learn in your advance research about this company.

Begin as if you had met this person at a networking event; ask about them, start a relationship by asking them how long they have been doing their present job; what did they do before this; why do they like working in the company: Listen between the lines as they answer, their tone of voice, body language. Remember what I learned watching people leave the company in part three of this series on In Transition?

You are still buying at this stage, you must be sure this is the place you want to be a part of. If it doesn't feel right, if your liver quivers, be careful.




Wes (Wesley) Zimmerman
480.628.2450
wes@perceptionofdifference.com