Looking to start a new business? Are you in the job market?

Chances are that if you previously worked for a company and had an assistant, many tasks were delegated and support was just a phone call away. Whether you are starting a new venture or looking for employment, your success will depend on your basic computer skills and having a technology plan that supports your efforts.

The majority of Baby Boomers did not start their professional careers in the digital world. The way we communicate and acquire information has changed dramatically. Social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are now part of our personal and business lives. Cell phones have made us more mobile and reachable everywhere. Everyone uses Google to find people, places and things.

Set aside some time and take an inventory of your basic technology skills. Are you able to retrieve and save e-mail attachments, search through past e-mails? Are you able to type and format documents? Are you able to locate your documents? Are you able to make educated decisions about your equipment? Do you know how to use a smartphone? The list is endless.

Individuals and companies that have not embraced technology will find it very difficult to compete in today’s global and wired world.

10 TECH TIPS FOR PEOPLE IN CAREER TRANSITION

1. Develop a technology plan and budget.
2. Take an inventory of your existing equipment at home and determine what is usable and what needs to be replaced.
3. If you currently share a computer with other members of your household, consider buying one for yourself.
4. Find a place in your home to work without background noise and traffic.
5. If you don’t have wireless Internet access at home, have one set up so multiple computers have Internet access simultaneously. Make sure your wireless network is strong in your work area and secured with a password.
6. If you only have one e-mail address, set up another for business purposes only.
7. Consider purchasing an all-in-one printer, scanner, copier, fax machine if you don’t already have one. If it is wireless, there is no need for more than one printer.
8. Don’t bother adding another telephone line at home for business purposes. Use your cell phone.
9. Since you no longer have a corporate support line to call, find a reliable tech support person and set up a maintenance program for your equipment.
10. Since recent surveys indicate that 3 out of 5 people find that they spend more time working outside their office, consider upgrading to a smartphone (blackberry, iPhone, or android) which will give you access to your e-mail and the Internet on the road.

HAVE YOU SELECTED THE RIGHT AREA FOR YOUR HOME OFFICE?

Location, Location, Location

Selecting the right location for your home office is critical. Chances are that you already use a computer at home and have set up an area for the computer, printer, etc. However, using a computer for personal use is substantially different from using it for business purposes. A business office requires a private environment, with no traffic and noise. While I realize that many of you have space limitations, particularly those of us that live in an apartment, you need to avoid an area that is a walk through, has a dishwasher running and other diversions. Pick a bedroom, if necessary, and close the door while you are working.

Once you have decided on a location, be sure that you have Internet access. Most of you probably have a wireless network at home. If this is the case, there is no limit on how many computers can access the Internet through the network. You don’t need a separate account with an additional modem and router. The main issue is whether you can obtain a strong signal in your designated work area. The range of a wireless network is several hundred feet. However, thick walls and floors such as those that exist in prewar (World War 2) structures will encounter “dead areas.” If this is the case, boosters can be installed to carry the signal to your office area.

Now that you have selected a nice quiet, remote area to work, desk location needs to be addressed. You don’t want to face a window or have it in back of you. The glare from the outside will make it very difficult to see the monitor.

Although it would be nice to be able to view the park and the birds, make sure you are either facing a wall or have it behind you. Do not take this advice lightly!! An acquaintance of mine told me that she had her desk in front of a window with a marvelous view for years. Now her eyesight has deteriorated. Make sure you avoid excessive light and glare.

Selecting the right chair will save your back. Make sure your back is supported, and that you are not leaning over to view the monitor. Kitchen and dining room chairs should not be used. Invest in a good chair.

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HR Handouts and Strategic Credit Hours Awarded: 1.25 click here to download

Is your HR function the driving force to ensure that your organization has the leadership system and expertise to cost-effectively employ people? If not, your organization will never achieve all it could and all it should.

The first step in effectively positioning HR in your organization begins with providing a crystal clear understanding of its purpose. The purpose of HR is to insure the cost effective employment of people. Everything else you do is subordinate to that, such as determining the right number and the right kind of people. Amazingly, although we’re more than a decade into the 21st -Century, the field of HR still does not have a clear understanding of its purpose. Only when HR has clear understanding of its purpose, and has specific tools, methods, systems and expertise, will it be able to position itself as what the organization needs –  a true expert in managing the performance of people.

John Roulet

John Roulet is a dynamic presenter who has received rave reviews from audiences. He is an HR executive and author of a highly acclaimed management book. He has also been published by Forbes and other prestigious business publications. Through this workshop, you will learn:

1. the 21st-Century and correct description of the purpose of HR: the purpose that your CEO and your organization’s shareholders want HR to have.
2. discussion points for you when you meet with your CEO to begin the process of repositioning HR
3. HR’s deliverable to the organization.
4. the two most important skills modern business leaders must have.
5. the critical skills and the tools, methods, systems and expertise that will enable you to begin the exciting journey of positioning HR as it should be.

This workshop will provide you with the basics of:

1. a training class that you can immediately deliver to the leaders in your organization.
2. a sample HR plan you can use to develop your own plan to position HR as the driving force ensuring that your organization has the leadership system and expertise to cost-effectively employ people.

HR can play a key role in increasing workforce output without increasing people costs. Your CEO wants to hear how you are managing workforce productivity in all areas of the organization and you need to learn the “nuts and bolts” required for leaders to effectively drive staff performance, business process performance and strategic performance.

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Landing the job of your dreams means you need to have a dream to begin with. These exercises will help you identify that dream. You are in the right place if you want to find the right career, your purpose in life, your passion, or simply want to make a career change. This is the starting point. There is no quick quiz to tell you the answer. Instead, go through the two exercises contained here and spend the time it takes to get the answers. These exercises are so powerful that 58% of the people who do them decide to change careers!

The two exercise are: The Seven Stories Exercise® and the Forty-Year Vision®, both registered trademarks of The Five O’Clock Club. In this first exercise, you will examine your accomplishments, looking at your strongest and most enjoyable skills. The core of most coaching exercises is some version of the Seven Stories Exercise. A coach may give you lots of tests and exercises, but this one requires work on your part and will yield the most important results. An interest or personality test is not enough. There is no easy way. Remember, busy executives take the time to complete this exercise—if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for you.

Do not skip the Seven Stories Exercise. It will provide you with important information about yourself for the direction of your personal life as well as your career. If you’re like most people, you have never taken the time to sort out the things you’re good at and also are motivated to accomplish. As a result, you probably don’t use these talents as completely or as effectively as you could. Too often, we do things to please someone else or to survive in a job. Then we get stuck in a rut—that is, we’re always trying to please someone else or always trying to survive in a job. We lose sight of what could satisfy us, and work becomes drudgery rather than fun. When we become so enmeshed in survival or in trying to please others, it may be difficult to figure out what we would rather be doing.

The direction of change to seek is not in our four dimensions:

it is getting deeper into what you are, where you are,

like turning up the volume on the amplifier.

Thaddeus Golas, Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment

When you uncover your motivated skills, you’ll be better able to identify jobs that allow you to use them, and recognize other jobs that don’t quite fit the bill. Motivated skills are patterns that run through our lives. Since they are skills from which we get satisfaction, we’ll find ways to do them even if we don’t get to do them at work. We still might not know what these skills are—for us, they’re just something we do, and we take them for granted.

Tracking down these patterns takes some thought. The payoff is that our motivated skills do not change. They run throughout our lives and indicate what will keep us motivated for the rest of our lives.

Look at Donald Trump. He knows that he enjoys—and is good at—real estate and self-promotion, and that’s what he concentrates on. You can identify commonalities in your accomplishments—aspects that you must have that will make you happier and more successful. In my case, for example, whether I was a computer programmer, a chief financial officer or a career coach, I’ve always found a way to teach others and often ran small groups — even in my childhood!

One’s prime is elusive….You must be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of life it may occur.

Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

The Seven Stories Approach:

Background

This technique for identifying what people do well and enjoy doing has its roots in the work of Bernard Haldane, who, in his job with the U.S. government in the 1940s, helped military personnel transition their skills to civilian life. Its overwhelming success in this area won the attention of Harvard Business School where it went on to become a significant part of its Manual for Alumni Placement. Haldane’s work is being carried on today all over the world through DependableStrenghts.org. They have brought Haldane’s method to places as diverse as South Africa and China, to colleges and universities and in their work with young people.

The Seven Stories (or enjoyable accomplishments) approach, now quite common, was taught to me by George Hafner, who used to work for Bernard Haldane.

The exercise is this: Make a list of all the enjoyable accomplishments of your life, those things you enjoyed doing and also did well. List at least 25 enjoyable accomplishments from all parts of your life: work, from your youth, your school years, your early career up to the present. Don’t forget volunteer work, your hobbies and your personal life. Other people may have gotten credit or under-appreciated what you did. Or the result may not have been a roaring success. For example, perhaps you were assigned to develop a new product and take it to market. Let’s say you worked on a project for two years, loved every minute of it, but it failed in the market. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you enjoyed doing it and did it well.

Examine those episodes that gave you a sense of accomplishment. You are asked to name 25 accomplishments so you will not be too judgmental—just list anything that occurs to you. Don’t expect to sit down and think of everything. Expect to think of enjoyable accomplishments over the course of four or five days. Be sure to ask others to help you think of your accomplishments. Most people carry around a piece of paper so they can jot ideas down as they occur to them. When you have 25, select the seven that are most important to you by however you define important. Then rank them: List the most important first, and so on.

Starting with your first story, write a paragraph about each accomplishment. Then find out what your accomplishments have in common. If you are having trouble doing the exercises, ask a friend to help you talk them through. Friends tend to be more objective and will probably point out strengths you never realized.

You will probably be surprised. For example, you may be especially good interacting with people, but it’s something you’ve always done and therefore take for granted. This may be a thread that runs through your life and may be one of your motivated skills. It may be that you’ll be unhappy in a career that doesn’t allow you to deal with people.

When I did the Seven Stories Exercise, one of the first stories I listed was from when I was 10 years old, when I wrote a play to be put on by the kids in the neighborhood. I rehearsed everyone, sold tickets to the adults for two cents apiece, and served cookies and milk with the proceeds. You might say that my direction as a general manager—running the whole show, thinking things up, getting everybody working together—was set in the fourth grade. I saw these traits over and over again in each of my stories.

After I saw those threads running through my life, it became easy for me to see the elements I must have in a career to be satisfied. When I would interview for a job or think of business ideas for myself (or when other people made suggestions), I could find out in short order whether the job or the business idea would address my motivated skills (running small groups, writing books, public speaking, and so on). If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be as happy as I could be, even though I may decide to take certain positions as an interim step toward a long-term goal. The fact is, people won’t do as well in the long run in positions that don’t satisfy their motivated skills.

Sometimes I don’t pay attention to my own motivated skills, and I wind up doing things I regret. For example, in high school I scored the highest in the state in math. I was as surprised as everyone else, but I felt I finally had some direction in my life. I felt I had to use it to do something constructive. When I went to college, I majored in math. I almost flunked because I was bored with it. The fact is that I didn’t enjoy math, I was simply good at it.

There are lots of things we’re good at, but they may not be the same things we really enjoy. The trick is to find those things we are good at, enjoy doing, and feel a sense of accomplishment from doing.

To sum up: Discovering your motivated skills is the first step in career planning. I was a general manager when I was 10, but I didn’t realize it. I’m a general manager now, and I love it. In between, I’ve done some things that have helped me toward my long-range goals, and other things that have not helped at all.

It is important to realize that the Seven Stories Exercise will not tell you exactly which career you should have, but the elements to look for in a career that you will find satisfying. You’ll have a range to consider, and you’ll know the elements you must have to keep you happy. Once you’ve selected a few career possibilities that might satisfy you, talk to people in those fields to find out if a particular field or industry is really what you want, and the possibilities for someone with your experience. That’s one way to test if your aspirations are realistic.

After you have narrowed your choices down to a few fields with some possibilities that will satisfy your motivated skills, the next step is to figure out how to get there.

. . . be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart

and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms

and like books that are written in a foreign tongue.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

A Demonstration of the Seven Stories Exercise

To get clients started, I sometimes walk them through two or three of their achievement stories, and tell them the patterns I see. They can then go off and think of the seven or eight accomplishments they enjoyed the most and also performed well. This final list is ranked and analyzed in depth to get a more accurate picture of the person’s motivated skills. I spend the most time analyzing those accomplishments a client sees as most important. Some accomplishments are more obvious than others. But all stories can be analyzed.

Here is Suzanne, as an example: “When I was nine years old, I was living with my three sisters. There was a fire in our house and our cat had hidden under the bed. We were all outside, but I decided to run back in and save the cat. And I did it.”

No matter what the story is, I probe a little by asking questions: What was the accomplishment for you? and What about that made you proud? These questions give me a quick fix on the person.

The full exercise is a little more involved than this. Suzanne said at first: “I was proud because I did what I thought was right.” I probed a little, and she added: “I had a sense of accomplishment because I was able to make an instant decision under pressure. I was proud because I overcame my fear.”

I asked Suzanne for a second story; I wanted to see what patterns might emerge when we put the two together: “Ten years ago, I was laid off from a large company where I had worked for nine years.

“I soon got a job as a secretary in a Wall Street company. I loved the excitement and loved that job. Six weeks later, a position opened up on the trading floor, but I didn’t get it at first. I eventually was one of three finalists, and they tried to discourage me from taking the job. I wanted to be given a chance. So I sold myself because I was determined to get that job. I went back for three interviews, said all the right things, and eventually got it.”

What was the accomplishment?

What made her proud?

• “I fought to win.”
• “I was able to sell myself. I was able to overcome their objections.”
• “I was interviewed by three people at once. I amazed myself by saying, ‘I know I can do this job.’”
• “I determined who the real decision-maker was, and said things that would make him want to hire me.”
• “I loved that job—loved the energy, the upness, the fun.”

Here it was, 10 years later, and that job still stood out as a highlight in her life. Since then she’d been miserable and bored, and that’s why she came to me. Normally after a client tells two stories, we can quickly name the patterns we see in both stories. What were Suzanne’s patterns?

Suzanne showed that she was good at making decisions in tense situations—both when saving the cat and when interviewing for that job. She showed a good intuitive sense (such as when she determined who the decision-maker was and how to win him over). She’s decisive and likes fast-paced, energetic situations. She likes it when she overcomes her own fears as well as the objections of others.

We needed more than two stories to see if these patterns ran throughout Suzanne’s life and to see what other patterns might emerge. After the full exercise, Suzanne felt for sure that she wanted excitement in her career, a sense of urgency—that she wanted to be in a position where she had a chance to be decisive and operate intuitively. Those are the conditions she enjoys and under which she operates the best.

Armed with this information, Suzanne can confidently say that she thrives on excitement, high pressure, and quick decision-making. And, she’ll probably make more money than she would in safe environments. She can move her life in a different direction—whenever she is ready.

Pay attention to those stories that were most important to you. The elements in these stories may be worth repeating. If none of your enjoyable accomplishments were work related, it may take great courage to eventually move into a field where you will be happier.

People have to be ready to change. Fifteen years ago, when I first examined my own motivated skills, I saw possibilities I was not ready to handle. Although I suffered from extreme shyness, my stories—especially those that occurred when I was young—gave me hope. As I emerged from my shyness, I was eventually able to act on what my stories said was true about me.

People sometimes take immediate steps after learning what their motivated skills are. Or sometimes this new knowledge can work inside them until they are ready to take action—maybe 10 years later. All the while internal changes can be happening, and people can eventually blossom.

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,

and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,

he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.

Henry David Thoreau, American writer and philosopher

Motivated Skills—Your Anchor in a Changing World

Your motivated skills are your anchor in a world of uncertainty. The world will change, but your motivated skills remain constant.

Write them down. Save the list. Over the years, refer to them to make sure you are still on target—doing things that you do well and are motivated to do. As you refer to them, they will influence your life. Five years from now, an opportunity may present itself. In reviewing your list, you will have every confidence that this opportunity is right for you. After all, you have been doing these things since you were a child, you know that you enjoy them, and you do them well!

Knowing our patterns gives us a sense of stability and helps us understand what we have done so far. It also gives us the freedom to try new things regardless of risk or of what others may say, because we can be absolutely sure that this is the way we are. Knowing your patterns gives you both security and flexibility—and you need both to cope in this changing world.

Now think about your own stories. Write down everything that occurs to you.

The Ugly Duckling was so happy and in some way he was glad that he had experienced so much hardship and misery; for now he could fully appreciate his tremendous luck and the great beauty that greeted him….And he rustled his feathers, held his long neck high, and with deep emotion he said: “I never dreamt of so much happiness, when I was the Ugly Duckling!”

Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling

The Seven Stories Exercise Worksheet

This exercise is an opportunity to examine the most satisfying experiences of your life and to discover those skills you will want to use as you go forward. You will be looking at the times when you feel you did something particularly well that you also enjoyed doing. Compete this sentence: “There was a time when I…” List enjoyable accomplishments from all parts of your life: from your youth, your school years, your early career up to the present. Don’t forget volunteer work, your hobbies and your personal life. Other people may have gotten credit or under-appreciated what you did. Or the result may not have been a roaring success. None of that matters. What matters is that you enjoyed doing it and did it well.

List anything that occurs to you, however insignificant. When I did my own Seven Stories Exercise, I remembered the time when I was 10 years old and led a group of kids in the neighborhood, enjoyed it, and did it well.

When you have 25, select the seven that are most important to you by however you define important. Then rank them: List the most important first, and so on. Starting with your first story, write a paragraph about each accomplishment. Then find out what your accomplishments have in common. If you are having trouble doing the exercises, ask a friend to help you talk them through. Friends tend to be more objective and will probably point out strengths you never realized.

Section I

Briefly outline below all the work/personal/life experiences that meet the above definition. Come up with at least 20. We ask for at least 20 stories so you won’t be too selective. Just write down anything that occurs to you, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Complete this sentence, “There was a time when I …” You may start with, for example, “Threw a fiftieth birthday party for my father,” “Wrote a press release that resulted in extensive media coverage,” and “Came in third in the Nassau bike race.”

Don’t just write that you enjoy “cooking.” That’s an activity, not an accomplishment. An accomplishment occurs at a specific time. You may wind up with many cooking accomplishments, for example. But if you simply write “cooking,” “writing” or “managing,” you will have a hard time thinking of 20 enjoyable accomplishments.

Complete this sentence, “There was a time when I …”

1. _____________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________
6. _____________________________________________
7. _____________________________________________
8. _____________________________________________
9. _____________________________________________
10. ____________________________________________
11. _____________________________________________
12. _____________________________________________
13. _____________________________________________
14. _____________________________________________
15. _____________________________________________
16. _____________________________________________
17. _____________________________________________
18. _____________________________________________
19. _____________________________________________
20. _____________________________________________
21. _____________________________________________
22. _____________________________________________
23. _____________________________________________
24. _____________________________________________
25. _____________________________________________

Section II

Choose the seven experiences from the above that you enjoyed the most and felt the most sense of accomplishment about. (Be sure to include non-job-related experiences also.) Then rank them. Then, for each accomplishment, describe what you did. Be specific, listing each step in detail. Use a separate sheet of paper for each.

Here’s how you might begin:

Experience #1: Planned product launch that resulted in 450 letters of intent from 1,500 participants.

a. Worked with president and product managers to discuss product potential and details.
b. Developed promotional plan.
c. Conducted five-week direct-mail campaign prior to conference to create aura of excitement about product.
d. Trained all product demonstrators to make sure they each presented product in same way.

e. Had great product booth built; rented best suite to entertain prospects; conducted campaign at conference by having teasers put under everyone’s door every day of conference. Most people wanted to come to our booth.

—and so on—

Analyzing Your Seven Stories

Now it is time to analyze your stories. You are trying to look for the patterns that run through them so that you will know the things you do well that also give you satisfaction. Some of the questions below sound similar. That’s okay. They are a catalyst to make you think more deeply about the experience. The questions don’t have any hidden psychological significance.

For now, simply go through each story without trying to force it to come out any particular way. Just think hard about yourself. And be as honest as you can. When you have completed this analysis, the words in the next exercise may help you think of additional things. Do this page first.

Story #1.

What was the accomplishment? ________________________

What about it did you enjoy most?______________________

What did you do best?_________________________________

What motivated you to do this?_________________________

What about it made you proud?________________________

What prompted you to do this? ________________________

What enjoyable skills did you demonstrate? _____________

Story #2.

The accomplishment?_________________________________

Enjoyed most? _______________________________________

Did best? ___________________________________________

A motivator? ________________________________________

Made you proud? ____________________________________

Prompted you to do this?______________________________

Enjoyable skills demonstrated? _________________________

Story #3.

The accomplishment?_________________________________

Enjoyed most? _______________________________________

Did best? ___________________________________________

A motivator? ________________________________________

Made you proud? ____________________________________

Prompted you to do this?______________________________

Enjoyable skills demonstrated? _________________________

Story #4.

The accomplishment?_________________________________

Enjoyed most? _______________________________________

Did best? ___________________________________________

A motivator? ________________________________________

Made you proud? ____________________________________

Prompted you to do this?______________________________

Enjoyable skills demonstrated? _________________________

Story #5.

The accomplishment?_________________________________

Enjoyed most? _______________________________________

Did best? ___________________________________________

A motivator? ________________________________________

Made you proud? ____________________________________

Prompted you to do this?______________________________

Enjoyable skills demonstrated? _________________________

Story #6.

The accomplishment?_________________________________

Enjoyed most? _______________________________________

Did best? ___________________________________________

A motivator? ________________________________________

Made you proud? ____________________________________

Prompted you to do this?______________________________

Enjoyable skills demonstrated? _________________________

Story #7.

The accomplishment?_________________________________

Enjoyed most? _______________________________________

Did best? ___________________________________________

A motivator? ________________________________________

Made you proud? ____________________________________

Prompted you to do this?______________________________

Enjoyable skills demonstrated? _________________________

We are here to be excited from youth to old age, to have an insatiable curiosity about the world. …

We are also here to help others by practicing a friendly attitude. And every person is born for a purpose.

Everyone has a God-given potential, in essence, built into them.

And if we are to live life to its fullest, we must realize that potential.

Norman Vincent Peale, theologian

Let me listen to me and not to them.

Gertrude Stein, author

What seems different in yourself; that’s the rare thing you possess.

The one thing that gives each of us his worth, and that’s just what we try to suppress.

And we claim to love life.

André Gide, author

Stick with the optimists, Niftie.

It’s going to be tough enough even if they’re right.

James Reston, journalist

Optimism Emerges As Best Predictor To Success In Life

“Hope has proven a powerful predictor of outcome in every study we’ve done so far,” said Dr. Charles R. Snyder, a psychologist at the University of Kansas. “Having hope means believing you have both the will and the way to accomplish your goals, whatever they may be. . . . It’s not enough to just have the wish for something. You need the means, too. On the other hand, all the skills to solve a problem won’t help if you don’t have the willpower to do it.”

Daniel Goleman, The New York Times, Dec. 24, 1991

Your Fifteen-Year Vision and Your Forty-Year Vision

by Kate Wendleton, President, The Five O’Clock Club

In my practice as a psychiatrist, I have found that helping people to develop personal goals has proved to be the most effective way to help them cope with problems.

Ari Kiev, M.D., A Strategy for Daily Living

By recording your dreams and goals on paper,

you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be.

Put your future in good hands—your own.

Mark Victor Hansen, American inspirational and motivational speaker

If you could imagine your ideal life five years from now, what would it be like? How would it be different from the way it is now? If you made new friends during the next five years, what would they be like? Where would you be living? What would your hobbies and interests be? How about 10 years from now? Twenty? Thirty? Forty? Think about it!

Some people feel locked in by their present circumstances. Many say it is too late for them. But a lot can happen in 5, 10, 20, 30, or 40 years. Reverend King had a dream. His dream helped all of us, but his dream helped him too. He was living according to a vision (which he thought was God’s plan for him). It gave him a purpose in life. Most successful people have a vision.

A lot can happen to you over the next few decades—and most of what happens is up to you. If you see the rest of your life as boring, I’m sure you will be right. Some people pick the “sensible” route or the one that fits in with how others see them, rather than the one that is best for them.

On the other hand, you can come up with a few scenarios of how your life could unfold. In that case, you will have to do a lot of thinking and a lot of research to figure out which path makes most sense for you and will make you happiest.

When a person finds a vision that is right, the most common reaction is fear. It is often safer to wish a better life than to actually go after it.

I know what that’s like. It took me two years of thinking and research to figure out the right path for myself—one that included my motivated abilities (Seven Stories Exercise) as well as the sketchy vision I had for myself. Then it took 10 more years to finally take the plunge and commit to that path—running The Five O’Clock Club. I was 40 years old when I finally took a baby step in the right direction, and I was terrified.

You may be lucky and find it easy to write out your vision of your future.

Or you may be more like me: It may take a while and a lot of hard work. You can speed up the process by reviewing your assessment results with a Five O’Clock Club career counselor. He or she will guide you along. Remember, when I was struggling, the country didn’t have Five O’Clock Club counselors or even these exercises to guide us.

Test your vision and see if that path seems right for you. Plunge in by researching it and meeting with people in the field. If it is what you want, chances are you will find some way to make it happen. If it is not exactly right, you can modify it later—after you have gathered more information and perhaps gotten more experience.

Start with the Present

Write down, in the present tense, the way your life is right now, and the way you see yourself at each of the time frames listed. This exercise should take no more than one hour. Allow your unconscious to tell you what you will be doing in the future. Just quickly comment on each of the questions listed on the following page, and then move on to the next. If you kill yourself off too early (say, at age 60), push it 10 more years to see what would have happened if you had lived. Then push it another 10, just for fun.

When you have finished the exercise, ask yourself how you feel about your entire life as you laid it out in your vision. Some people feel depressed when they see on paper how their lives are going, and they cannot think of a way out. But they feel better when a good friend or a Five O’Clock Club counselor helps them think of a better future to work toward. If you don’t like your vision, you are allowed to change it—it’s your life. Do what you want with it. Pick the kind of life you want.

Start the exercise with the way things are now so you will be realistic about your future. Now, relax and have a good time going through the years. Don’t think too hard. Let’s see where you wind up. You have plenty of time to get things done.

The 15-year mark proves to be the most important for most people. It’s far enough away from the present to allow you to dream.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Your Fifteen- and

Forty-Year-Vision Worksheet

1. The year is_________(current year).

You are ____________ years old right now.

• Tell me what your life is like right now. (Say anything you want about your life
• as it is now.)
• Who are your friends? What do they do for a living?
• What is your relationship with your family, however you define “family”?
• Are you married? Single? Children? (list ages.)
• Where are you living? What does it look like?
• What are your hobbies and interests?
• What do you do for exercise?
• How is your health?
• How do you take care of your spiritual needs?
• What kind of work are you doing?
• What else would you like to note about your life right now?

Don’t worry if you don’t like everything about your life right now. Most people do this exercise because they want to improve themselves. They want to change something. What do you want to change?  Please continue.

2.   The year is xxxx (current year + 5).

You are _______ years old. (Add 5 to present age.)

Things are going well for you.

• Tell me what your life is like right at this age? (Say anything you want about your life as it is now.)
• Who are your friends? What do they do for a living?
• What is your relationship with your family, however you define “family”?
• Are you married? Single? Children? (List their ages now.)
• Where are you living now? What does it look like?
• What are your hobbies and interests? ·
• What do you do for exercise?
• How is your health?
• How do you take care of your spiritual needs?
• What kind of work are you doing?
• What else would you like to note about your life right now?

3.   The year is xxxx (current year + 15).

You are _______ years old. (Add 15 to present age.)

Things are going well for you.

• Tell me what your life is like right at this age? (Say anything you want about your life as it is now.)
• Who are your friends? What do they do for a living?
• What is your relationship with your family, however you define “family”?
• Are you married? Single? Children? (List their ages now.)
• Where are you living now? What does it look like?
• What are your hobbies and interests?
• What do you do for exercise?
• How is your health?
• How do you take care of your spiritual needs?
• What kind of work are you doing?
• What else would you like to note about your life right now?

The 15-year mark is an especially important one. This age is far enough away from the present that people often loosen up a bit. It’s so far away that it’s not threatening. Imagine your ideal life. What is it like? Why were you put here on this earth? What were you meant to do here? What kind of life were you meant to live? Give it a try and see what you come up with. If you can’t think of anything now, try it again in a week or so. On the other hand, if you got to the 15-year mark, why not keep going?

4.   The year is xxxx (current year + 25).

You are _________ years old! (Current age plus 25)

Answer all of the questions above.

Keep going. How do you feel about your life?

You’re allowed to change the parts you don’t like.

5.   The year is xxxx (current year + 35).

You are _________ years old! (Current age plus 35)

Answer all of the questions above.

6.   The year is xxxx (current year + 45).

You are _________ years old! (Current age plus 45)

Answer all of the questions above.

7.   The year is xxxx (current year + 55).

You are _________ years old! (Current age plus 55)

Answer all of the questions above.

(Keep going—don’t die until you are past 80!)

You have plenty of time to get done everything you want to do. Imagine wonderful things for yourself. You have plenty of time. Get rid of any “negative programming.” For example, if you imagine yourself having poor health because your parents suffered from poor health, see what you can do about that. If you imagine yourself dying early because that runs in your family, see what would have happened had you lived longer. It’s your life—your only one. As they say, “This is the real thing. It’s not a rehearsal.”

Related links:

Thinking of Having Your Own Business? Start with the Seven Stories Exercise and Lots of Research

How to Improve Your Position Where You Are

The Value of Having a Long-Term Vision No Matter What Your Age

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by Kate Wendleton

I wrote to Betty, a senior HR executive whom I have known for years, asking her to be on a panel addressing about 100 other executives. A few days later, I called her office. Her assistant, Jeb, said he could see someone in her doorway talking to her, and he would ask her to call me. Betty didn’t call: She’s a very busy lady, and I never expected a return call. When I called again that afternoon, I joked with Jeb, asking him if there was someone still standing in Betty’s doorway. I asked him not to interrupt his boss because I understood how busy she was, but he said he would buzz her anyway, and I then spoke to her.

This is the way it works in everyday life. When you’re making routine work-related phone calls or calling your friends, if they don’t return your call, you assume that they’re busy. And you think nothing of calling them again if you really want to talk to them. But when you’re job hunting, you assume they don’t call back because they don’t want to talk to you. You become fearful of rejection. Unfortunately, you cannot get a job unless you actually meet with people—usually lots of people. And it’s difficult to get those meetings without using the telephone.

What should you say first? What if they don’t answer? What if they do answer? And, yes, in this day of voicemail, things are certainly more complicated.

I had no trouble calling Betty. But when I have to recruit speakers I have never met, I dread making those calls even though prospective speakers are usually flattered.

Making follow-up phone calls is the part of the job-search process people tend to dislike the most. Yet, the calls must be made:

• As a follow-up to a letter asking for a meeting – the most common reason for making a call
• As a follow-up after an interview
• As part of your research to find out the name of the right person to contact.

In this article, we’ll cover how to ask for a meeting.

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. — Elbert Hubbard

The Set-Up: Usually by Email or Letter

An email or  letter followed by a phone call is effective because most executives do not like to be caught off guard. They want to know what your phone call is about. If you have been following The Five O’Clock Club process, you have been contacting people through networking or targeted mailings (via email or snail-mail). “Networking” means that you are using the name of someone else to help you get the meeting: “John Doe suggested I contact you because he thought you could give me the advice I need.”

A targeted mailing differs from networking because you are not using someone else’s name. Instead, you create a tie-in to that person. You may write, for example, “I have been following your organization for some time and noticed that your international sales have been dropping. I’d like to talk to you about that.” or “Congratulations on your new position!”

Whether you are writing a letter using someone else’s name or establishing your own connection with that person, the last paragraph of your letter says: “I will call you in a few days.”

Most people find it difficult to make those follow-up phone calls after having written to someone.

Learning the Art of Calling

To get the meeting you want, you will have to pick up the phone.

What should you say first? What if they don’t answer? What if they do answer? And, yes, in this day of voicemail, things can certainly be more complicated.

You’ll have to practice to become good at your follow-up phone calls. This means tracking results and outcomes. Observe what is working and what is not. Modify your script to suit yourself and the situation at hand. You will soon learn to think on your feet and get that meeting or a referral to someone else—without annoying people. But this comes with repetition and practice.

Getting Started

I am a great believer, if you have a meeting, in knowing where you want to come out before you start the meeting. Excuse me if that doesn’t sound very democratic.

Nelson Rockefeller

Before you make that call—even before you write that letter—be sure you know the purpose of your call and what you want to get out of it. If you have unclear goals, you are less likely to accomplish anything worthwhile.

You may be calling to get:

• an in-office meeting with the person, unless the person is in a distant city;
• a phone meeting if that is the only reasonable option; or
• the name of a person who may be appropriate for you to talk to—if the person you’re calling is himself at simply too high a level or in a different area.

“May I have Mr. Jones call you back?”

“No, thanks. I’ll be in and out a lot myself. I’ll call him back later. When would be a good time for me to call?”

Keep control of this process. If you say to your group, “I’ve left four messages and they haven’t called me back,” your group will say, “Stop leaving messages.” Instead it’s your responsibility to put in the effort to make the connection happen eventually.

Become Friends with the Assistant

A long time ago, I wanted to meet with the person in charge of outplacement coaching at a Fortune 10 company. Even with research, I could not uncover the name of that person. So I wrote to Kevin Altria, the head of human resources, knowing that he was inappropriate because he was too senior. I didn’t need to get in to see Kevin or even speak to him. I just wanted him to refer me on. Then, when I contacted the appropriate person, I would be able to use Kevin’s name.

So, before I finished the letter, I called Kevin’s assistant to get her name (Jane) so I could include it in the letter, and to tell her to watch for it.

I followed the Five O’Clock Club format for cover letters. In the opening paragraph to Kevin, I wrote, “I know you’re not the right person for me to contact, but I assume you know who’s in charge of outplacement coaching at your firm. I’d like to tell that person something about myself and find out more about your company’s outplacement department.”

Paragraph two was my summary about myself. Paragraph three, the bulleted accomplishments. In the closing paragraph, I said, “I will call Jane in a few days to find out who you suggest I contact.”

But there’s more. On my letter, I put a sticky note saying, “Jane, this is the letter I told you about.” When Jane opened her boss’s mail, she saw my note with her name on it. She took the letter in to her boss, and got the information I needed. Then I called Jane back (by now, we’re friends) and I said, “Hi Jane, this is Kate Wendleton again. I’m following up about the letter that I sent your boss.” And she said, “We sent your letter on to Sylvia Norwood, who is in charge of outplacement here.” I never had to bother Jane’s boss.

At this point, I could have simply called Sylvia. But I didn’t want anything to go wrong, so I wrote to Sylvia and said, “Kevin Altria suggested I contact you.” This was my standard letter. And again, I followed the routine of finding out Sylvia’s assistant’s name (Jason) and using the sticky note. So, when I called back, I talked directly to Jason again and asked him to help me set up a meeting with Sylvia.

Notice that I don’t use the assistant as a messenger, asking him simply to tell Sylvia that I called. Instead, I want the assistant to be my ally. I tell Jason a little about my background, why I want to meet with Sylvia, and ask Jason to pass that information on to her. Sometimes, it may take five or six talks with the assistant to set something up. Eventually, Jason said, “Sylvia’s very busy, and she manages her own calendar, but I’ll get her to talk to you.”

This is a slow but fairly sure approach for getting in to see appropriate senior-level people. I had a two-hour meeting with Sylvia and was referred on to excellent people in the field.

Very senior people tend to have very smart assistants on whom they rely. So I can “pitch” to an assistant and ask him to make sure the boss sees my letter.  And I don’t try to meet with people who are inappropriate for me to see, irritating them and wasting their time.

Have goals for your phone calls.

Develop an outline of what you want to say.

Practice to become smooth and natural.

What Are Your Back-Up Plans?

Sometimes you will not get what you want. Perhaps the person is in the middle of a major project right now, or sees herself as an inappropriate person for you to talk to. You can still get something out of the conversation. You can at least try the following tactics:

•     Determine when the person may have more time to schedule a meeting with you. The manager may have said to you: “We’re in the midst of a crisis;” “The next month is murder for me;” or “We’re reorganizing. I don’t even know what’s going to happen. The dust isn’t going to settle for three months.”

Try to book something. “How about if we schedule something for a month from now? I’ll call you ahead of time to confirm.” Or—in the worst case—“May I call you back in [a month] to see if the situation has changed?”

•     Get other names. For example, the manager may have said, “I’m leaving the organization in a few weeks;” “This department doesn’t concentrate on that;” or “We don’t use financial people in this department.”

You can say, “Can you direct me to others in your organization you think would be appropriate for me to talk with?”

For most people, getting in to see a specific, appropriate person is not easy and requires a high degree of motivation. It must be important to you or you will not think of the right things to say and you will give up too quickly. Do you want a meeting with this person or not? If not, go back to the Targeting book and rethink what you want to do with your life.

Why should a person meet with you now just because you wrote to them? You’re sitting by the phone, but they’re busy.

It’s a Self-Selection Process

You wrote a letter. Why should a person meet with you—and meet with you now—just because you wrote them a letter now? Not only are they busy with their jobs, but personal things come up: There’s been a death in the family; he’s suffering from the flu; she’s on vacation; she is out of the country 90% of the time.

You’re sitting by the phone, but they’re busy.

Part of getting meetings is a self-selection process: you decide how important this meeting is to you, and you put in effort to the extent that you want it to happen. Five O’Clock Club research shows that it takes an average of eight follow-up phone calls to land a meeting. The research also shows that the more senior level the person, the more calls you will have to make. Senior-level people travel a lot or are in meetings, they are difficult to track down, and returning your call is not the most important thing on their “to do” list. If you really want to see them, prove it by your effort. You can show your interest without irritating them, such as when you acknowledge, “I’m sure you must be very busy. . .”

It’s a self-selection process. If meeting with this person is important to you, put in the effort.

One Five O’Clock Clubber—a senior-level marketing executive—sent targeted mailings to twenty important, high-profile people. He got in to see people like Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular and John Kluge, one of the richest men in America. On average, this process required fifteen follow-up phone calls—fifteen conversations with assistants. He met with approximately half the people on his list. He ended up spending four hours with Craig McCaw at Newark Airport—that was the only mutually convenient place they could arrange. His search was very successful, but he also understood that he needed to prove to these in-demand people that it was important that they meet. By the way, he spent four days preparing for his meeting with Craig McCaw.

Busy and important people must have their calls screened or they would never get their work done. On the other hand, part of their job is to look at new talent, make sure they don’t miss someone, and keep up with what is happening in the industry.

It takes an average of eight follow-up phone calls to get a meeting. The more senior the person, the more calls it takes. But leave a message only once.

How can an important person decide with whom he should meet? Part of that person’s decision is how important the meeting is to you. Have you done your homework? Do you know how to talk to his assistant? Do you make a good pitch to the assistant? Do you call back frequently, but without becoming a burden? You have to break through the clutter of all the other people vying for a place on his calendar.

When I was in my early 30s, living in Philadelphia, I had my day job, but loved artwork and art museums. I was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art every single Sunday, did a lot of volunteer work there, and I knew a lot about that museum. It was announced that Jean Boggs, who was at Harvard, was going to come in as the new head of the museum. I wanted to see Jean Boggs because I had so many ideas for that museum.

Would I be able to network in to see her? Not a chance. No one in Philadelphia would have introduced “Kate who?” to Jean Boggs. Instead, I wrote to Jean Boggs at Harvard six months before she was scheduled to come to Philadelphia. I said essentially, “You and I should meet. I have a lot of interest in the museum and a lot of ideas.” By the way, this too is not networking (using someone else’s name to get in). This is called “direct contact,” a very effective technique, especially when you want to see someone very senior.

Then a month before Jean was to arrive at the museum, I wrote to her again saying, “Do you remember me?  I know you’re coming to Philadelphia in a month and when you get here I think you and I should meet.” A little arrogant of me!

When she got to Philadelphia, I wrote to her a third time and I said, in so many words, “Hi, it’s me again. I know you’ve arrived and I still want to see you.”

When she got to Philadelphia, I was so persistent in making those follow-up phone calls — and not leaving messages for her to call me — that poor Jean Boggs eventually agreed to meet with me. I was passionate about the museum, so these calls were easy despite my shyness.

When I met with Jean, I was enthusiastic and had plenty of ideas. She graciously had granted me15 minutes, and then took me down the hall to meet Noble Smith who actually ran the museum on a day-to-day basis. I had a great meeting with Noble and he came up with a project for me. I worked with about 20 people who were on staff, shared my ideas, and we implemented a lot of them. I actually got paid a small amount so I could say that I was a paid consultant.

Although I have always been shy, I’ve managed to meet with anyone I’ve ever targeted. Who was I to get in to see Jean Boggs? I was just a lowly volunteer with no connections. I didn’t have great credentials in the art area. I simply wanted to see someone for what I thought was a good reason, I wrote a letter using no one else’s name, and I followed up – a lot. Being successful in a targeted mailing has to do with being sincerely interested, doing a fair amount of research, contacting the right person, and not being put off when you make those follow-up phone calls.

If I’m afraid of making 20 follow-up phone calls, the good news is that only two people will actually be there!

The Follow-Up Call

You must make those follow-up phone calls. Don’t leave a message saying that you called and hope they’ll call you back. Instead, say to the assistant, “I don’t want to leave a message for Ms. Boggs to call me. I’m going to be in and out a lot myself, so I’ll call her back.”

Do Not Leave Your Phone Number

If you leave two or three messages asking them to call you back and they don’t call, you are stuck. Instead, stay in control. Leave one message saying that you called, and then keep calling until you reach them.

The first time you call, you can leave a message saying, “Hi, this is Jane Doe. I wrote you a note, and I’d like to meet with you.” And repeat some of the pitch you made in your note. Have your note in front of you. You can even say, “I’ll call you back, but my phone number – just so you have it – is 222-555-3456.”

But after that, don’t leave messages for them to call you. You must call them back. Don’t complain to your group, “I’ve left three messages but they haven’t call me back.” You shouldn’t expect it or complain about it. Hiring managers have their “9 to 5” obligations and plenty of people who want to get in to see them. They don’t have time to drop everything and call you back. You screen yourself in by doing your research, by doing those follow-up phone calls, and by becoming friends with the manager’s assistant.

Case Study: Philip

His 28 Follow-Up Phone Calls

Philip, a Five O’Clock Clubber in his 60s, landed three offers from Fortune 500 companies. But this might not have happened. When he had made his 27th call to one of the companies, he said to himself, “My ego can’t take this anymore.”

But Philip made a “research” call to the purchasing department where he thought there was an opening, and asked for the purchasing manager, the job he was hoping to get. The person who answered the phone said, “I’m sorry we don’t have a purchasing manager right now. Maybe I could help you.” So he knew the job was still open. He called the hiring manager for the 28th time, and the hiring manager said, “Thank you so much for being persistent.” That’s normally what happens. As long as you don’t leave messages for them to call you back, they’re usually apologetic when you finally get to talk to them.

If it takes an average of eight follow-up phone calls, some job hunters have to call some people 20 or 30 times to get a meeting. You can call lots of times – so long as you don’t leave messages or ask to be called back. You know how it is: you get voicemail. Just hang up and call later.

It’s a Mental Game

Very few job hunters enjoy doing follow-up phone calls. I’ve always disliked doing them. But my attitude was this: My anxiety level gets extremely high for even one follow-up call, and when I finally make that call, the person isn’t there anyway. So I’ve wasted all that anxiety on one phone call. Making 20 follow-up phone calls takes the same amount of anxiety. And, chances are, most of the people I call won’t be there anyway! I’ll probably reach only 2 people out of 20. So I was able to force myself to make those calls when I was job-hunting because I expected to reach no one. If I got someone on the phone, it was almost a surprise.

When I have my list of calls to make, I first call a friend. Or you could call a job-search buddy, and say, “Hi Jim, this is Bob. I’ve got to make some follow-up phone calls. The minute I hang up this phone, I’m going to dial that first number without even thinking so I can get on that phone and start talking to people.” And then your friend Jim may say, “I’m going to talk to you in an hour, Bob, to make sure you made those calls.” Sometimes you need that kind of help. You might as well call 20 people because you’re going to reach almost no one. Make a clump of phone calls at once and don’t waste all that anxiety on one call!

It’s your responsibility to find some way to get in to see the people on your target list and then keep in touch. I used to get so anxious, I would postpone and postpone making those calls. Then I was forced to write to the people again and say, “I wrote to you some time ago, but got off track. I’m contacting you once again because I think it’s important we meet.” By that time, I was humiliated, but I would finally make my follow-up phone calls.

Remember, you are calling people because they really should meet with you.

Through a targeted mailing—and fifteen follow-up phone calls— one client got to spend four hours with Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular.

You Do Not Want to be Interviewed

on the Phone

Unless you live far away, there is no substitute for an in-person meeting: You can pick up non-verbal information, there will be fewer distractions (the person is unlikely to be sorting mail while you are in the room), and you will be better able to establish rapport and, hopefully, a relationship.

In addition, the person is more likely to give you more and better information, and may even shuffle through his rolodex to give you names or pick up the phone and make a call on your behalf.

Very senior-level job hunters want to meet others in person even though this may require travel. They may conduct a screening call, but then it may be worth using their frequent-flier miles, “I can be in Chicago early next week so we can meet in person. Which day would be best for you?”

Important people must have their calls screened or they would never get any work done. But part of their job is to look at new talent.

Your Answering Machine

If someone calls you in response to a mailing, be prepared. Have an appropriate, businesslike message on your answering machine – no kids’ voices, blaring music or flip comments (“Hi, this is Jake. You know what to do.”). Have your script handy; know your Two-Minute Pitch cold. For direct mail campaigns, you can figure on getting a 4% response rate. That is, 4% of the people you write to may call you in for a meeting. So if you mail to 100 people, four are likely to call you for a meeting.

Before Making the Call

• Call into your own phone answering machine, practice your pitch and listen to your voice. You will probably need to polish your presentation.
• Practice with other people, and get feedback. If you don’t do this, you may sound canned or unnatural.
• Warm up by calling a friend.
• Don’t make just one call at a time. Bunch your calls together so you can get on a roll.
• Sit up straight and smile. The listener will hear the energy in your voice. Some Five O’Clock Clubbers prefer to stand up as they talk so their total presence is focused on the call.

Your Basic Script

If you followed the basic Five O’Clock Club “four-paragraph formula” for your cover letter, use that as the starting point for your script. But people don’t talk the way they write, so don’t repeat the opening paragraph of your letter verbatim – even though it will be the basis for your introduction on the call.

The quickest way to success is to build a relationship with the person you are calling. Using the key points in your opening paragraph in your greeting, establish that there may be mutual interests.

“Hi. This is Peter Song. I wrote to you a few days ago because I’ve researched your organization and I am so impressed with your bold move into the European market. (Pause.) I have 15 years of international marketing experience with companies such as ___ and ___, and I was hoping to meet you at some point to find out more about your organization and to tell you something about myself.”

The first 15 or 20 seconds establishes the tone of the call. You have to practice so that your call will sound conversational. An actor doesn’t read a script the first time and go on stage—he reads it dozens of times—to sound natural.

Prompt the person you are talking with when it’s time for a response. In other words, be quiet! If you do all the talking, it’s not a conversation. You should also ask open-ended questions: “I’m so impressed with what you are doing . . . I’d love to hear more about that.”

If you don’t practice your pitch, you’ll stumble or sound canned or unnatural.

You want a brief conversation—if only a minute—that covers something of interest to the person you’ve reached. This helps you form a relationship with the person and increases the odds of your achieving your objectives—that is, in most cases, getting a meeting.

Your cover letter outlined the most important points you want to make in your phone call: the points of mutual interest, why you want to see the person, your background, and your key accomplishments.

Some people find it easier to list their “talking points” and goals on a card.  With this kind of mini-script handy when they make the calls, they can cover the bases and become more conversational. Some examples follow.

If the Assistant Answers

The assistant may be a great help. Talk as if you were conducting normal business: You wrote a letter to Mr. Jones and you’re following up.

For the first call, leave a message saying that you called. After that, do not leave a message. Instead, keep calling back. Keep the ball in your court.

You:  Hi. Mr. Jones, please.

Assistant:  I’m sorry, he’s not in right now. May I take a message and have him call you back?

You:  This is Kevin Walters. Who am I speaking with please?

Assistant:  My name is Dorothy Black.

You:  Hi, Ms. Black. I had written a letter to Mr. Jones asking for a brief meeting. I’ll be in and out a lot so I’ll have to call him back later. When would be a good time for me to call?

Assistant:  I don’t know. He’ll be in and out of meetings also.

(Become friendly with her. However, it’s always preferable to use “Mr.” or “Ms.” in your first contact. Later it may be appropriate to use first names.)

You:  Dorothy, I’ll call back later. Maybe I’ll be lucky and find him in.

Call frequently. If you wait too long, they won’t remember who you are and will sense no urgency on your part.

Later

You:  Dorothy, hi, this is Kevin Walters. We spoke earlier. Is Mr. Jones available now, by any chance?

Dorothy:  He’s in a meeting right now. May I have him call you?

You:  No, he can’t call me back, so I’ll have to call him later. You must have your hands full managing his schedule, but I know we will link up soon.

Sometimes you can try early in the morning or in the evening when senior executives may answer their own phones. Voice-mail systems, however, have made this more difficult. Call frequently. If you wait too long, they will not remember your letter. You’ll get no momentum going.

If you are calling voice-mail—but not leaving messages—you may even call back three times in one day. It’s not a bother because you haven’t taken up the person’s time. Even if they see on a log that you have called a number of time, this simply shows your persistence and this person’s importance to you. [Note: Remember that your target may have Caller ID, a feature sold by the phone company that identifies your phone number to the person you are calling. Simply call your local phone company and ask them to block your identification.]

Sometimes you may be able to get the assistant to set up a meeting for you or a time to connect:

You:  I really wanted a few minutes of his time. (Here’s the reason why.) I was wondering if you could facilitate the process. Do you happen to handle his calendar? If not, I’ll just keep trying.

Eventually

You:  Hi, Dorothy, this is Kevin again. You’re probably starting to recognize my voice. I hope I’m not bothering you. Is Mr. Jones in?

Assistant:  It’s terrible that he is always so busy. You’ve tried so often. I’ll try to get him to talk to you. He’s in a meeting right now, but I’ll ask him take your call.

To Get Your Paperwork to the Boss

You:  Dorothy, do you know if Mr. Jones read my letter?

Dorothy: No, I don’t know. He receives so much mail.

You: Well, I’ll fax you a copy. You can put it in his “to read” pile so he’ll know why I’m calling.

If They Did Not Receive Your Letter

You:  I sent him a note a few days ago. Has he seen it?

Assistant:  I don’t remember it.

You:  Well, let me fax it to you now. What is your fax number?

[Note: Fax your résumé to yourself and see what it looks like. If the type is too small, it may be unreadable by fax. If possible, fax from your computer to lessen degradation.  Also, be mindful of the “message” that your fax may be automatically printing at the top of transmissions!]

If the Boss Answers:

First, establish a connection. For example, “Hello. In my letter to you, I pointed out my interest in your new European campaign.” Then, go through your script or checklist.

Handling Objections

In addition to your basic script (which should relate to your cover letter), it is valuable to put together an “objections card.” Then you will have a ready response when an objection is thrown at you.

You are most likely to handle objections smoothly if you develop your skills of active and reflective listening. This will help you understand the situation of the person you’re calling.

Listed below are a few basic objections from bosses and some possible answers. Believe it or not, objections can be an opportunity. You want to uncover the real concerns of the person, even if the objections seem like a closed-end statement. Paul Miller, a Five O’Clock Club member and marketing executive suggested some of the following responses to objections:

a)   There are no jobs here now.

I didn’t expect that there would be. I’m contacting you because of your knowledge of the industry. I’m very interested in your organization and your industry. I have 20 years’ experience in direct marketing, and a lot of it has been with an industry that is a direct competitor of yours. I thought it would be good for us to meet.

I have read that you are being challenged by Monmouth Company. Is that one of your chief concerns right now?

b)  I’m busy.

I can understand with all that’s going on. May we set up a time a month from now? I will call to confirm to make sure that that time is good for you.

[Note: If you show consideration of their time, they will sometimes suggest that you “come in tomorrow.”]

c)  I didn’t get your résumé.

I’ll fax it to you right now and then I’ll give you a call back. What’s your fax number?

d) We don’t need people with your skills now.

See (a) above. Try to ascertain their one or two greatest issues/problems. You may have experience that is a match.

e) How did you get my name? You can’t say that you did a mailing to 200 people. You can say that you found the names of several key players through research or you can say what I have sometimes said:

“A few people mentioned I should contact you.”

“Really, who?”

“Sharon Nuskey and Deirdre Cavanagh (two of my friends).”

“I don’t know them.”

“Maybe not, but they know you!”

Prepare an “objections card.” Then you will have ready responses for objections they throw at you.

Here are some basic objections from assistants and possible answers:

a)  He’s very busy.

I’ll bet. You must have your hands full with his schedule. What would be a good time to call?

b)   I sent your résumé to Human Resources.

Thank you. However, I really wasn’t calling about a human resources matter. I thought Mr. Jones would be interested in discussing a project I’ve done that relates to what he is doing at United Widget.

c) We have no openings now.

I didn’t expect that you had openings. See (a) under bosses’ objections.

What to Do If You Get Voicemail

First, you can try the company operator to see if you can get the name and number of Mr. Jones’ assistant or the name and number of someone who sits near him. Talk to that person and say you’ve been trying to reach Mr. Jones, but you only get voicemail. Has he been in? How would they suggest you reach him? Does he have an assistant?

Other than that, use voice mail as an introduction to begin getting your message across.

Early on: “Hi. This is Kevin Shaw and I’m calling to follow up on my letter.” You want them to hear your name and that you sent something. Say that you will call them back.

Here’s a danger: If you leave your phone number, you may get a blow-off message on your voice mail that would make it very awkward for you to call again. You don’t want people to call you back if you have not had a chance to explain yourself.

Always try to understand the situation of your listener. “I understand how busy you are with so much going on . . .”

How to Handle Rejection

If you aim to talk to 10, 20 or 50 people, you can never expect 100% success. There are no perfect scores in this game. But learn to use rejection. Hearing why you have been rejected is a way to modify your pitch. A “no” requires you to probe.

If you are perceptive, you can pick up on the negatives. One good rule is: Don’t ask a question that can be answered “yes” or “no.” You want to keep the conversation going, and “no” can kill the conversation.

Be polite and direct, but probe!

You:  I have been trying to break into United Widget (or the Widget category). I’m sure that’s a fine place to work. I’d really like your opinion of how I can further my candidacy at United Widget. . . Thanks. Is there someone else you suggest I speak with?

Rejection is a way to modify your pitch. A “no” requires you to probe.

They Don’t Teach You This in School

Improved telephone techniques are both job-search and life skills. With the help of your small group, you can get through this part of the job-search process.

Can we talk?

Joan Rivers

Case Study: My Brother

Call When You Think They Have Your Letter

My brother, Robert, is a scientist and a marketer in a very narrow industry with very few companies in his specialty field. He wrote a very detailed, intelligent letter to the president of one of them, a small company that happened to be in a remote geographic area. This was a targeted mailing – there were no job openings he knew of.

Because his letter was so intelligent and on-target, he thought the president would pick up the phone and call him right away. Well, Robert waited a week, and the president didn’t call him. So, instead of calling him, Robert wrote another detailed, very intelligent, analytical letter. Again, no call. Finally, I said to Robert, “Just pick up the phone and call the guy.” I come from a family of shy people, and we’ll all reluctant to call strangers. So my brother finally found his courage, picked up the phone, called the president, and said, “Listen, this is who I am. I’ve written to you twice, and this is what I said.”

The president didn’t remember having seen either of the letters, “But,” he said, “I’m interested in what you’re telling me, and I’d be delighted to meet with you.” My brother was absolutely dumbstruck that the man had not read his letters! The president dug them up later. In fact, hiring managers will often ask you to send letters again because they can’t find them. Those follow-up phone calls are critical.

But don’t wait two weeks to call, wasting too much valuable time. Among other things, you need to know if the letter arrived. If you figure it takes four days for your letter to arrive, call on day four. If they haven’t received it yet, that doesn’t matter. You can say, “Hi this is so and so. I sent you a note recently.” In response to, “I don’t think I’ve gotten it yet,” you can say, “Well let me tell you what it said.” Have your note in front of you: That’s your script. So, you see, there’s no downside to calling a little bit prematurely — before the letter arrives. If you wait two weeks to call, you may be too late.

Time your call so they get your note and your follow-up call at the same time.

It’s now 4-1/2 minutes before 8:00

—just in case the time means anything to you.

Heard on a radio show in Jamaica

Someone Offers to Make a Call on Your Behalf

What if Martin, a networking contact, says he’ll call a few people on your behalf and ask them to see you? If you don’t know who Martin is contacting, you’re helpless. Say two weeks pass, and you haven’t received any calls from Martin’s referrals. Then you call Martin again and ask him if he had a chance to contact any of the people he promised he would. Pretty soon, Martin sees you as a pain. Martin was enthusiastic when he met with you, but now he’s back doing his work. He meant to make those phone calls, but life keeps interrupting him. To him, it doesn’t feel like so much time had passed, but to you the time is dragging.

What was wrong with this scenario? The ball will never be in your court if you’re waiting for someone else to make calls for you. If you had asked Martin to give you the names of the people he was planning to contact, then you could have immediately written to each person saying, “By now you’ve probably heard about me from Martin Radice.” Or “ By now, you may have received my résumé from Martin Radice.” And the rest of your cover letter would follow the standard Five O’Clock Club format. You could enclose your resume, and do a follow-up phone call later. You’ve got to ask for the list because if Martin doesn’t actually call the people while you’re sitting there, chances are good that it won’t happen – ever.

So, the next time someone volunteers to make a call or two on your behalf, ask who it is they’re planning to call and help them to help you.

Keeping Up Your Contacts After Landing That New Job

We tell our job hunters that after they land their next job they should make at least one networking contact a week. That’s not that much. That’s one phone call, or one lunch date, or one getting together for a cup of coffee after work. People who have a solid network in their field have quicker and easier job searches than those who are careless about staying connected. Those with no networking contacts have to start from scratch to build up their contacts, and that takes time. So write your long-term career plan and build your networking contacts now for the targets you plan to have in the future. That’s what successful people do.

Is this the party to whom I am speaking?

Lily Tomlin

When Networking With Fellow Five O’Clock Clubbers

Club members and alumni are important contacts. The Club attracts people who are intelligent, proactive, and helpful. They know how to get along in a group. These are not your average everyday people. Club members expect you to know the process. So be prepared before you contact other members, such as through our LinkedIn group. Wait until your fourth small-group session before you start networking with other members. Then you’ll know your Two-Minute Pitch, and you’ll know what you want out of meetings with them. You’ll also know how to network by then. Five O’Clock Clubbers will bend over backwards to help you, as you will with other members who contact you. So don’t abuse or waste these contacts.

Most members contact each other through our LinkedIn group. Or you could write a letter or email if appropriate. And do your follow-up phone calls. Don’t ask for a job – ask for information and guidance! Email a thank-you note after a networking meeting. And if a fellow Five O’Clock Clubber opens the door for you to someone else, make sure you go through that door, and follow up with the contacts they’ve set up for you.

The moment you feel foolish, you look foolish.

Concentrate, block it out, and relax. Of course, that’s not always easy.

Michael Caine, Acting in Film

In all human affairs, the odds are always six to five against.

Damon Runyon

Take calculated risks.

That is quite different from being rash.

George S. Patton

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A Five O’Clock Club coach is often the “secret weapon” behind a manager’s or executive’s success, and executive success is what this book is all about.

Work smarter, not harder, to move your career forward. Whether you are in a new position or have been in a job for a while, this book will help you to work smarter. The authors, all Five O’Clock Club coaches, share their expertise and collective wisdom about what it takes to succeed.

Actual case studies walk you through challenging work experiences of Five O’Clock Club clients… and how they worked smarter to resolve them.

Twenty Five O’Clock Club coaches and three Five O’Clock Club executives teach you how to:

• Position yourself smartly to excel in today’s fast-paced organizations.
• Turn difficult work situations into opportunities.
• Ask for a pay raise.
• Handle conflict at work.
• Make sure those above you know how good you are.
• Be an effective leader.
• Handle corporate politics.
• Keep your job and do well in it.

Sample Chapter | Table of Contents

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Jane was the company’s human resources director. A friend of Amy’s, who had recently been laid off from the company as well, told her about The Five O’Clock Club and suggested that she ask for outplacement as part of her severance package. She knew that she would be getting some money as part of her severance, “but this was so much more valuable to me than money,” Amy notes. She asked Jane, her HR director, about getting job search assistance from The Five O’Clock Club and before long she was meeting with her career coach and learning the Club’s methodology.

Amy had lived in Los Angeles for 20 years, working as a story executive and producer in the film and television business. When she returned to New York in 2006, she had been made an offer for three times what she had been earning previously and negotiated a signing bonus. Unemployed three years later, the landscape had changed completely. The country was in the midst of a severe recession. “I realized I was a woman of a certain age,” says Amy, “trying to job-hunt during the recession in a field where most of the jobs are in Los Angeles—I was a really tough case.”

“I was a woman of a certain age trying to job-hunt during the recession in a field where most of the jobs were in L.A.

I was a really tough case.”

Anita Attridge is one of the Career Coaches who worked with Amy when she came to The Five O’Clock Club. “Amy developed and conducted an aggressive marketing campaign in her niche market,” Anita explains, “she worked to obtain consulting assignments, and she was open to new ideas about how she could use her skills.” Amy also regularly attended the Club’s weekly small-group strategy sessions, where she was a great contributor and supportive of other members in her group. “During her arduous negotiations for her new position,” Anita continues, “the group supported Amy as she worked through uncharted waters for a new position that was being created.” The group regularly reminded her that she didn’t have a new job until she actually had a written agreement in her hands—and this feedback encouraged Amy to creatively and persistently ask for an offer in writing.

Since succeeding in landing another position, Amy has thought about her job search and notes one critical element of The Five O’Clock Club methodology that helped her find the right job—the assessment process. Amy credits The  Five O’Clock Club’s Seven Stories Exercise (which asks that you look back on your life and identify personally meaningful accomplishments) with allowing her to take a step back and really reflect on what her strengths were. The exercise helped bring to mind a birthday party that she had regularly organized for the past 21 years. It wasn’t something that she had ever associated with work until it came up during the assessment process.

“Doing this exercise, I thought: What does this have to do with anything? And I looked at it the other day—I’m now the Executive Director of two organizations in a different field, but I’m juggling the same skill set.” Initiating something, putting people together, facilitating conversations, organizing, planning—these were all skills that were important in making the birthday party such a success every year, but they were also skills that could be readily utilized on a successful career path. Amy, having spent her career in a business essentially centered on telling stories about others, realized that sometimes we tell ourselves stories about who we are, when there might be a different narrative that our lives could follow. For years, she had been refining skills that she excelled at without ever imagining that she could utilize those skills in a different career that she could be passionate about.

“And as you transition,” she says, “from one field to another—transition from different points in your life—you realize that there are seeds that have been sown all along the way.”

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Five O’Clock Club coach, Renee Rosenberg, appeared on ABC’s Eyewitness News. But her best words of wisdom about job search were cut! Remember, the media loves things that look good on TV as well as the latest fads. Hence, their emphasis on job fairs (which don’t work) and social media (pay attention to LinkedIn). Do yourself a favor and learn the facts: Direct contact is a terrific way to supplement your networking. The last Five O’Clock study showed professionals and executives got 30% of their interviews by directly contacting someone, without being referred in by someone else. Take a look at the mini-course in the “How to Find a Job” section of our “For Individuals” area.

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He has held leadership positions in hospitals, clinic management, physician practice management, managed care organizations, homecare administration, and entrepreneurial ventures. Since 1997 he has been working full time with executives in career strategic management, and is a frequent speaker at the annual ACHE Leadership Congress held in Chicago (American College of Healthcare Executives).

Craig is Board Certified in Healthcare Management (FACHE), a Certified Retirement Coach (CRC), and is a Certified Five O’Clock Club Coach.

He served in the US Army and volunteered to fly as pilot in command, medical evacuation/air ambulance missions. Serving a year in Vietnam, flying close combat support to move casualties from the battlefield, he completed his obligation and returned to graduate school at University of Alabama in Birmingham. He received a Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina State University, and a Master’s Degree in Hospital Administration.

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Want to figure out which elements are important in outplacement services? We’re making it easy. Here’s a handy Outplacement Checklist to help you identify the services that truly help job hunters. We’ve indicated which services we provide job hunters and those that we avoid. Then you can make up your own mind.

Allow people to continue even after landing a job or consulting assignment

• This allows people to quickly earn money, try out a new field, or have executive coaching in the new job – for the duration of a package lasting one year or longer.
• Allows people to get coaching again if they lose that next job.
• People can put their time on hold for up to two years to return to school, do consulting work or handle personal issues.

No one else does that!

Avoid three- and six month packages.

They are far inferior to one year packages,and the cost is the same. A Columbia University study said those in three- and six-month programs feel the pressure to take jobs more quickly, and are more likely to take the first job offer, however inappropriate. Those in unlimited programs get better jobs faster and at higher rates of pay.

A mix of employed and unemployed job hunters

It’s a healthier environment to have a balance of employed, self-referred job hunters working alongside those who have packages paid for by their employers. And it’s in the best interests of the community to make this wonderful service available to all who need help.

Avoid outside investors

Bowing to a Wall Street mentality means the firm cannot focus on what is in the best interests of your former employees.

Career development, not just job search

Traditional outplacement services focus on helping people get a job. We help
them find a career. Job hunters need career direction through assessment sessions with a private coach who really gets to know them well. The coach
helps job hunters determine where they want to be in fifteen years, in five years and in their next job. The assessment process is so powerful that 58% decide to change careers (field or industry). Then they work with the coach privately to develop a customized resume, cover letter and job-search plan.

Avoid two-day seminars

People feel good during the seminar, but have no one to turn to when they need help. Instead, offer everyone a full year of outplacement services to see them through their search and any other issues that may come up during that time, such as family or health problems.

A research-based, high impact methodology

Many firms now claim to have a “methodology,” although they are teaching the same old techniques but with a web-based delivery. How effective are those databases of stale job openings anyway? Why is it a coach in one office offers them advice that is very different from the coach in the next office?

Our research-based program:

• 25 years of research into who gets the best jobs and how.
• Powerful assessment process with private coach:
• 58% decide to change careers (industries / fields).
• Can try out a new field while still working with us.
• The best career development materials (books, CDs, etc.) on the market.
• The best coaches are attracted to us:
• They work intensively with clients over a very long period.
• They are paid handsomely – but only for time spent with your employees.

No one else does that!

Avoid an emphasis on space instead of coaching.

Provide a supportive group atmosphere instead of costly and unnecessary office space. We spend your money on coaching, the benefit job hunters need most, rather than on office space.

Immediate engagement

Why let a person suffer or stumble around doing the wrong things? Instead, you tell them the bad news—that they have lost their job—and we immediately tell them the good news: that you are providing them with a minimum of one year of outplacement, that Five O’Clock Club Members always outperform the market, and that they will have a coach who will personally get to know them and work with them throughout the year—no matter what happens. Their private coach will make a courtesy phone call to them before sundown that day. We FedEx books, CDs and other materials that day.

Package automatically extended at no additional cost

A member’s outplacement package can be extended for any reason. e.g., if a person takes a consulting assignment or simply want to take time off. If the person loses his or her next job or simply doesn’t like it, we help that person find a new one!

No one else does that!

Make sure you are getting your money’s worth

You get monthly reports with a human touch on each former employee—not computer-generated reports. Not only do we report to you monthly to let you know how they’re doing, we track them down and try to get them back on track if they have fallen behind in their job search. This is in contrast to the traditional outplacement mentality of “We’re here if you need us.” No one else goes after your former employees to make sure they’re okay.

Avoid O/P firms that have more people in sales than in customer service.

We have no sales force. Instead, we have a customer service team that keeps you informed and makes sure your former employees are well taken care of.

Pay the coaches well

We pay our coaches three to four times more than they would get at any of the traditional outplacement firms. They get paid only when they work with your former employee. So our coaches have an incentive to want to work with your employees.

Train the coaches well

When hired by a traditional outplacement firm, a coach with 20 years of experience is up and running the next day. But because we pay our coaches well, we can insist that even very seasoned coaches go through our four month certification process to unlearn what they think they know about career development and job search and learn our methodology.

No one else does that!

The best materials on the market

Take a look at our materials versus theirs. Our 25 years of continual research is poured into our five basic books and CDs and other materials (such as our 110-page bibliography of research resources for job search and career development).

In addition, if people want to have their own businesses, they will get our own 350-page book, Your Great Business Idea: The Truth About Making It Happen, plus coaches who specialize in entrepreneurship. If people think their age is an issue, we give them our book, Achieving the Good Life After 50.

No one else does that!

Weekly small-group strategy sessions

Others have tried to imitate our small group sessions, but without a proven methodology to follow, they quickly become didactic sessions on a specific topic or “action” groups to make sure job hunters are actively searching.

But are the job hunters doing the right things? NO! Our job hunters are relieved when they “master the methodology” and can tell how well (or poorly) they are doing in their searches.

• They get individual strategic analysis in a group of their peers with a senior coach.
• It’s a healthy environment: Half of the attendees are employed!
• They meet with the same small group every week.
• The process provides accountability, innovation and camaraderie.

A guaranteed number of hours of private coaching

We avoid vague promises of unlimited coaching with an overworked coach who is penalized for spending too much private time with a job hunter. We also avoid having a coach on duty who will meet with anyone who needs help that day. Your former employees have a coach who gets to know them well and is accessible and responsive to them.

A website aimed at helping employees and job hunters rather than one focused on selling to HR

Take a look at www.fiveoclockclub.com, and you can see where our emphasis is. Compare it with any other firm’s website. HR people know that the job hunter is the “client” for us. HR people who care about their former employees want an outplacement firm that also cares, not one that is focused on selling.

No one else does that!

The bottom line

We don’t drop job hunters who are having a difficult search. Instead, we encourage them to continue with us, perhaps with a different private coach or in a new group to get a fresh start—at no additional charge to you.

Life happens. People have health problems and family problems. While our typical job hunter is re-employed far more quickly than those at traditional outplacement firms, the real difference is taking care of those who are having difficult searches and staying with them no matter what problems they may face.

Ours is a different mentality— focused on helping our members find fulfilling jobs, while being keenly aware of the personal challenges people face in the wake of losing a job.

It’s your choice

Either select a firm that focuses on sales or one that focuses on service. Whether you want us to work with 1 or 1,000 displaced employees, ALL of them will get a level of personalized attention unrivaled anywhere else.

For more information, click here.

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Mary Mooney tells how she made a significant career change with the help of The Five O’Clock Club.

When Mary Mooney first joined The Five O’Clock Club,” says Chip Conlin, Senior Five O’Clock Club Career Coach, “she knew the one thing that she did not want to do—and that was to practice law in the traditional way.” While Mary had earned a law degree, she hadn’t made substantial use of it, and much of her work experience had been in book publishing. She didn’t want to remain in her current position, however. Her employer had decided to relocate the organization far away from the New York area, and Mary and others chose not to follow. She would need to find a new position and she came to The Five O’Clock Club to help her identify what that next position should be and how to obtain it.

By her own account, Mary followed The Five O’Clock Club methodology very closely, completing the extensive assessment exercises, doing the necessary research, following the networking advice, creating a Two-Minute Pitch,and updating her resume (something that she hadn’t needed to do for a decade). “Assessing my options,” she says, “I decided that I wanted to work in something related to the environment.”

After joining the Club, Mary began attending the weekly small-group strategy sessions in Manhattan, where she regularly shared with the other group members the particular issues she was having in her job search and the progress that she was making. Her coach, Chip Conlin, says that while Mary had identified an interest in working in the environment, she initially seemed to lack the structure or focus to really mount a job search. “So we got her going on the Seven Stories, the Forty-Year Vision, and some of the other assessment exercises,” Chip notes, “which then gave her the confidence, I believe, to put together that legal background and the publishing background to pursue her endeavor in this field.”

Her employer decided to relocate far away and Mary and others chose not to follow.

Mary developed her targets by researching companies. She also began attending networking events, and took a one-day class, the first step toward becoming an LEED Green Associate, despite having no relevant work experience in the field. She worked as a con- tract attorney in the meantime, while she built up her knowledge of the industry and its possibilities.

“I wanted to work in something related to the environment.”

Over the course of numerous weekly Five O’Clock Club group sessions, Mary received valuable input from her coach, as well as other group members, on the next steps that she needed to take, all the while gaining confidence that she would find a new career that was right for her. “And, to my own amazement, as much as anyone else’s” Mary says, “I found it and it worked! I got a position that I really liked, that I really wanted, that made use of my past experience—editorially—and  also my legal background. And so far, so good.”

“To my own amazement—and everyone else’s—I found the perfect position. It made use of my past experience as well as my legal background!”

Chip Conlin, Senior Coach with The Five O’Clock Club, was Mary’s coach.

Chip says it was Mary’s persistence, her follow-up, and her commitment to her search—in addition to the important techniques that she learned as a member of The Five O’Clock Club— that brought her to a new and satisfying career. “I believe that The Five O’Clock Club method really does work,” Mary says.

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But it may be hard to get started, especially if “get a new job” is high on the list of priorities. Rather than dread job-hunting in the New Year, you can embrace it—once you have a grasp of the how to do it well. You can make 2012 the year for change if you conduct a smart job search. Now is the right time to put a plan into action!

There are a couple of things to keep in mind above all else: you want to find a job you really like, and you’ll probably have to outclass a lot of competition to get an offer.

So many people simply update their résumés—without enough thought—answer ads randomly, go on a few interviews and send thank-you notes. They post their résumés on Internet job boards and websites—as do hundreds of thousands of other job hunters who assume that this is the modern way to job search. HR inboxes are swamped, and most of those résumés are simply deleted.

There is another way to get noticed.

Interviews and offers happen when job hunters search in an orderly manner, heeding the mantra of the Five O’Clock Club:  “Target, Target, Target!”

What do we mean by this? We’ll look at this in detail shortly, but hold this thought: a target is:

• A geographic area
• An industry, or company size
• A function or role

When job hunters follow the steps that are described below, they usually land better jobs much more quickly than others do—and at higher rates of pay. These steps are part of the Five O’ Clock Club methodology, which is based on proven research. When job hunters combine our rigorously targeted approach with attendance at our weekly strategy sessions, they find jobs in an average of 16.4 weeks compared to the national average of 35 weeks.

Determine Your Goal:

First, decide what you want.

What is that big change you need to make? Is it time to change jobs? Transfer to another department, branch or city? Work in a different industry? Take time to review your accomplishments and your strongest and most enjoyable skills. What do you do well and makes you happy? Do not pass GO until you have done The Seven Stories Exercise! Then finish the Forty-Year (or Fifteen-Year) Vision Exercise, which will help you identify goals to achieve in your life and career. These exercises are crucial in forging a targeted search.

Brainstorm Your Target List

It is common for people to come up with at least three or four targets on which to focus—at least initially. But then they need more. With family, friends and your small group at the Club, brainstorm as many job targets as possible. Research fuels the brainstorming: use the library and the Internet. Investigate industries, companies and other geographical locations that may have more opportunities for you or that will provide a better environment or commute. Speak with people in your targeted fields, and attend industry association meetings to meet key players. Learn as much as you can about a city you are considering a move to. Know all the factors that will affect you and your family. We encourage job hunters to build a list of approximately 200 positions, which may be spread over many targets. Although first overwhelmed at the thought of identifying 200 positions, clients are thrilled when they grasp the power of conducting a search in such an organized way. They get highly motivated to define their targets and create the list, following this formula:

• A geographic area
• An industry, or company size
• A function or role

In any of the geographical areas you have selected—maybe just one—identify how many companies in that area would be of interest to you, and how many positions at your level that each one has (not openings, but positions). Then plug in the numbers. How close are you to 200? Initially you don’t have to know for sure; make educated guesses. Your research will help you refine the numbers.

Once you have come up with this chart of targets and positions, your research can go into high gear. You need to determine if those positions are worth exploring further before you conduct a full-fledged job search in each target. Look for trends and future prospects, areas of growth and decline, and the culture of those organizations. Identify the best companies, then the second-tier and third-tier companies in each of your targets. The results are exciting! This approach will help you to feel very positive; and it will then be very clear just how many options you have within each of your targets.

Use a Targeted Resume and Cover Letter

Traditionally, people have created one résumé, and consider it all all-purpose document. They send it to every employer, for every position they apply for. But that approach won’t work now in a highly competitive job market. Résumés and cover Letters should be tailored to match each position you apply for. Once you have a target map of 200 positions in front of you—and your research has uncovered unique issues about each organization—then the need for targeted résumés and cover letters becomes obvious.

Targeted documents are more likely to attract the eye of recruiters and hiring managers, who will be able to see more clearly that your skills and experience match their needs.

Contact Recruiters and Hiring Managers by Target

Aim to build a list of 6 to10 people you can keep in contact with on a regular basis in each target. These will be people who are appropriate—in terms to connecting you with people who matter in your targeted areas. Direct contact is a great technique if you are interested in changing careers, because people will meet with you when you show interest in their field or industry, whether or not there is actually a job available. If you want to make a career change, your current list of networking contacts probably does not include people in the new field. Direct contact means aggressively pursuing specific people (i.e., former colleagues, an association president, a hiring manager, CEO, CFO, etc.)  Networking (using someone else’s name to get in) and direct contact are both proactive techniques to be used in securing meetings in your target market. Networking and direct contact complement one another and, when used together, are especially effective.

If a better job or career direction is your goal for 2012, you can probably make it happen, even in this tough job market that doesn’t seem to go away. But the key concept to keep in mind is TARGET. Take a deep breath, and keep repeating, “Target, target, target”—and have a very Happy New Year!

By Nancy Karas, Senior Five O’Clock Club Coach

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She has created and managed a system of leadership and governance opportunities for young women ages 14-30 and trained legal professionals, law enforcement officers and social service providers. She is a skilled trainer with workshop creation and facilitation experience in both live and virtual environments. Her presentations include leadership and professional development, intergenerational partnerships, as well as a range of juvenile justice issues.

As a trained mediator, business owner, and certified Five O’Clock Club Coach, Stephanie inspires clients towards happiness in their professional careers. She earned a B.A. in Sociology from Yale University and a J.D from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  She is admitted to practice law in both New York and Washington, D.C.

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On the flip side, attending professional association meetings are a great opportunity to expand your network and there is no better place to practice your Two-Minute Pitch.  This opportunity was evident at a speech I delivered this past week to the New York/New Jersey Chapter of the National Sales Network, an association dedicated to African-American sales professionals.  What made this particular speech memorable was its venue since the meeting was held in a brownstone in Harlem converted into a hip, and I must say, totally cool lounge bar.

I have delivered speeches in some other unique environments, such as the time I was invited to speak to a professional group in the auditorium of a church.  However, due to a conflict in schedule the group’s meeting had to relocate to the church’s sanctuary, and I was given the pulpit to deliver my speech on “Keeping Your Career Going.” Now I must admit I have given speeches in some unique circumstances, but this one was probably the closest I will ever get to God when it comes to speaking on jobs and career opportunities!

On another occasion, I gave a speech to the New York Chapter of the Project Management Institute but since they were between moving from one location to another they held this particular meeting in a mid-Manhattan diner. Standing under a dim light with the members ordering dinner (after all, we were in a diner at dinner time) I felt somewhat like a stand-up act in a nightclub. However, just like my recent experience at the cool lounge, the mood was congenial and networking was the optimal word.

The message here is that you can network in any venue and pretty much under any circumstances so you need to be prepared with your Two-Minute Pitch (or a 30-second version of your Pitch) because you never know when the opportunity to meet someone who can help you in your career will present itself. Having the self-confidence to tell someone who you are professionally and the type of work you are interested in pursuing, even over cocktails or dinner, can open up entire new possibilities for you.

As I mingled and networked with members of the National Sales Network I learned that many were looking to transition their sales careers into other industries or companies. As such, I reminded them about the opportunities right there in front of them to talk to other sales professionals who might just be able to help them in that effort. Not many of them were polished in their “Pitches” but the potential and opportunity was there, and of course I took the opportunity to tell them about the 5OCC, and how the Pitch was the “keystone of their search.”

Now I can only encourage you to get out there, meet with as many people as you can who are knowledgeable in your field, or the field you in which you want to transition. With practice and self-confidence, you will get your mojo on The Five O’Clock Club way – no matter where the venue.

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