MBA Get-Hired Boot Camp (webinar #2 of 10)

The 2-Hour Job Search Part One:

Targeting Employers & Finding Contacts

Presented by Steve Dalton

Author of The 2-Hour Job Search and Associate Director at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

2HJS is an efficient recipe for getting interviews

1. Prioritize employers

2. Contact employees

3. Recruit advocates

2

“At this point, choice no longer liberates, but debilitates.” -Barry Schwartz 3

The job search begins… with a trip to Barnes & Noble

Decision anxiety is the core challenge of the job search

Hiring managers get it too, which is why referrals have become essential

Artificial desperation

Good game theory

No game theory

Avoid fixation & desperation by working vertically

•

•

Achieves economy of scale

Each column is a predictor of job search success (by proxy)

6 Historically, job seekers don’t get past #10

No. Company List "Alumni" Motivation Posting

1 Best Buy Corporation Y 5 3

2 Disney Interactive Y 5 3

3 Sony Y 5 3

4 Tivo N 5 3

5 Match.com N 5 3

6 L'Oreal Y 5 2

7 Mars North America Y 5 2

8 eHarmony N 5 2

9 General Mills N 5 2

10 Pabst Brewing N 5 2

11 Nike Y 5 1

12 ZipCar N 5 1

13 UnderArmour N 5 1

14 DuPont Y 4 3

15 eBay Y 4 3

… … … … …

40 Enspire Learning Y 1 3

• Ten minutes per each of four

methods

1. Dreams

2. Alumni

3. Indeed.com

4. Trends

•

•

Beware cognitive drift

Internationals seeking in the US:

add a column for H-1Bs

# List

1 Leapfrog

2 T ivo

3 Enspire

4 Teach Street

5 Scholastic

6

7

8

9

10

Generate List of 40 employers in 40 minutes

# List Alumni Motivation Posting

1 Leapfrog Y

2 Tivo N

3 Enspire Y

4 Teach Street N

5 Scholastic Y

Identify presence of Alumni at each target (10 min)

• Proxy for likelihood of finding a sympathetic contact

8

#

List

Alumni

Motivation

Posting

1

Leapfrog

Y

4

2

Tivo

N

5

3

Enspire

Y

1

4

5

Teach Street

Scholastic

N

Y

3

4

•

•

Proxy for “pain tolerance” for getting ignored

Arbitrary coherence

Approximate Motivation to approach each target (5 min)

9

Classify Posting activity for each target (15 min)

• Proxy for urgency of making contact (not to apply for jobs)

#

List

Alumni

Motivation

Posting

1

Leapfrog

Y

4

1

2

Tivo

N

5

3

3

Enspire

Y

1

3

4

Teach Street

N

3

2

5

Scholastic

Y

4

2

10

Sort LAMP by Motivat’n 1st, Posting 2nd, Alumni

3rd

11

No. Company List "Alumni" Motivation Posting

1 Best Buy Corporation Y 5 3

2 Disney Interactive Y 5 3

3 Sony Y 5 3

4 Tivo N 5 3

5 Match.com N 5 3

6 L'Oreal Y 5 2

7 Mars North America Y 5 2

8 eHarmony N 5 2

9 General Mills N 5 2

10 Pabst Brewing N 5 2

11 Nike Y 5 1

12 ZipCar N 5 1

13 UnderArmour N 5 1

14 DuPont Y 4 3

15 eBay Y 4 3

16 Hallmark Y 4 3

17 Target N 4 3

18 3M Y 4 2

… … … … …

40 Enspire Learning Y 1 3

Output of Step 1: Prioritize = Top 5 targets

Next time – Finding contacts & their contact info

12 Coming March 19th, 2014

No. Company List "Alumni" Motivation Posting

1 Best Buy Corporation Y 5 5

2 Disney Interactive Y 5 5

3 Sony Y 5 5

4 Tivo N Y 5 5

5 Match.com N Y 5 5

6 L'Oreal Y 5 4

7 Mars North America Y 5 4

8 eHarmony N 5 4

9 General Mills Y 5 3

10 Pabst Brewing Y 5 3

11 Nike Y 5 2

12 ZipCar N 5 2

13 UnderArmour N 5 1

14 DuPont Y 4 5

15 eBay Y 4 5

16 Hallmark Y 4 5

17 Target N 4 5

18 3M Y 4 4

… … … … …

40 Enspire Learning N 1 5

Summary of Prioritization

1. Employers looking for “good enough” candidate quickly,

not a “perfect” candidate slowly

2. Be The Bachelor / Bachelorette

3. Use the 80-20 Rule for data, but finish with intuition

Steve Dalton

Twitter: @Dalton_Steve

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MBA Get-Hired Boot Camp (webinar #2 of

10)

T

T

he 2-Hou

argeting

r JoQb Se&arcAh Part One:

Employers & Finding Contacts

Author of The 2-Hour Job Search and Associate Director at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

Beyond B-School:MBA Get-Hired Boot Camp

The 2-Hour Job Search Part One: Presented by Steve Dalton Targeting Employers & Finding Contacts

Q & A Author of The 2-Hour Job Search and Associate Director at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

Beyond B-School MBA Get-Hired Boot Camp

March 19 The 2-Hour Job Search Part Two: Make Connections To Get Your Foot In The

DProeosernted by Steve Dalton

Author of The 2-Hour Job Search and Associate Director at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business