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Table of Contents |
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| Foreword | xiii | ||
| Preface | xiv | ||
| Acknowledgments | xx | ||
| STEP 1 INNER VIEW | 1 | ||
| Chapter 1 Take Charge of Your Career and Your Life | 3 | ||
| Chapter 2 Create Your Life the Way You’ve Always Wanted | 23 | ||
| Chapter 3 Recontextualize: It’ll Rock Your World! | 30 | ||
| Chapter 4 Challenges and Opportunities for Your Spouse/Partner | 45 | ||
| STEP 2 STRATEGIES AND OPTIONS | 55 | ||
| Chapter 5 Career Strategies and Options | 57 | ||
| Chapter 6 Entrepreneuring–To Be or Not To Be? | 88 | ||
| STEP 3 CREDENTIAL BUILDING | 105 | ||
| Chapter 7 Your Résumé: The Killer App | 107 | ||
| Chapter 8 Create Powerful Marketing Letters That Evoke Action | 173 | ||
| Chapter 9 Your Verbal Résumé™–Marketing Sound Bites That Grab ’Em | 197 | ||
| Chapter 10 Your References Are Like Gold | 208 | ||
| STEP 4 THE SEARCH PROCESS | 227 | ||
| Chapter 11 Where Are the Jobs, Anyway? | 229 | ||
| Chapter 12 Power Networking–Unlocking the Secrets to Career Success | 233 | ||
| Chapter 13 Executive Search Firms–Your Success Partners | 256 | ||
| Chapter 14 Target Organizations–Who, What, Where, and Why? | 267 | ||
| Chapter 15 Into the Vortex–Internet Career Searching– (Plus Traditional Classified Advertisements) | 276 | ||
| STEP 5 SELLING YOURSELF | 291 | ||
| Chapter 16 Power Interviewing–Beat Out Your Competition | 293 | ||
| Chapter 17 230 Tough Interview Questions | 310 | ||
| Chapter 18 Digging Deeper–Competency-Based Interviewing | 352 | ||
| STEP 6 MANAGING THE CAMPAIGN | 369 | ||
| Chapter 19 Manage Your Campaign—Sustain the Momentum | 371 | ||
| Chapter 20 Revitalize Your Campaign–What to Do When Your Campaign Is Stalled, Stuck, or Derailing | 385 | ||
| STEP 7 NEGOTIATIONS | 399 | ||
| Chapter 21 Negotiations–Gain Leverage and Get the Compensation You Deserve | 401 | ||
| STEP 8 THE NEXT STEP | 427 | ||
| Chapter 22 Executive Onboarding–Ensure Success in Your New Job | 429 | ||
| Resources | 449 | ||
| Index | 453 | ||
| Top of Page | |||
ForewordAre you serious about relaunching your career? If so, you’ve just found a remarkably comprehensive and easy-to-use tool for optimizing the process. In Search of the Perfect Job is a personal owner’s manual that will lead you through the maze of choices and decisions that culminate in a successful job search. I’m living proof that the author’s compass works, having personally benefited from his direction during my own career transition 10 years ago. Clyde Lowstuter is one of the most prominent authorities–if not the authority–in the outplacement industry. For over 25 years, he has helped thousands of executives get reconnected. In Search of the Perfect Job consolidates his vast experience, creative ideas, practical tools, and important perspectives into a comprehensive guide. Simply put, it is an open me first! tool for any job search. Irrespective of the circumstances, losing your job is unsettling, and it stimulates the full range of fears and emotions. It can be downright debilitating. The trick is to make it exhilarating. Even if your departure is on positive terms, landing the right new career opportunity requires a complete change in mindset, a well-defined plan, and a new daily routine. Getting started is the key. Recovering from the devastating news and “getting your head on straight” is when executives need all the help they can find. While outplaced executives invariably want to jump right into interview mode, In Search of the Perfect Job provides a much broader foundation and a work plan for orchestrating a successful career transition. Having watched a close friend mistakenly take the first opportunity presented, I’m convinced a type A focus on getting a new job must be preceded by introspection, a thoughtful plan, and proper perspective. A candid, in-depth discussion with yourself is a difficult and unfamiliar task for most people. To make it easier, Clyde shares his own personal story of being fired from his job. His honest account of his anger, humiliation, and family situation is both revealing and thought-provoking. He shares the feelings many people experience but are hesitant to admit. Exercises in the first few chapters encourage readers to face the unvarnished truth about their own situations and personalities. This approach inspires an authentic, results-oriented perspective which enables readers to more successfully navigate the real world of job search. Beyond these first critical steps, In Search of the Perfect Job is packed with valuable exercises, tools, positive self-talk, and vivid examples. For instance, following Clyde’s format helps reshape a factual, five-page résumé into a hard-hitting, concise, results-oriented resume that will get the phone ringing. Another particularly helpful section relates to tactful negotiation of a job offer. This is a very stressful time point, and job offers can sour with poor strategy and word choice. In Search of the Perfect Job offers a range of tactful and persuasively worded responses for elevating a good compensation package into a much better one. Finally, the chapter on auditioning your job references and preparing for tough interview questions is simply outstanding. These are not trivial steps in a job search. In Search of the Perfect Job painstakingly explores both of these challenges and offers thoughtful approaches. So, go for it! Take control of relaunching your career. In Search of the Perfect Job is as important an investment as you will ever make in both yourself and your future career. Joe Herring
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Preface: Employment RealityDenial Is More Than a River in EgyptIt’s common for people who have involuntarily exited their companies to grudgingly admit that they had been in denial of their employment reality. Invariably, they had employed an amazing array of coping mechanisms to survive or convince themselves that the increasing emotional outbursts toward/from the boss was no big deal. In fact, that is exactly what happened to me. It’s not the lack of technical competency that gets people terminated. Rather, it is the lack of commitment, fit, personal chemistry, and organizational endorsement. Like water seeking its own level, people have the ability to contribute to their organization’s success if given a chance at their competency level. Staying in an organization is largely a function of getting egos out of the way and setting aside past upsets and recriminations. Correspondingly, if competencies are reasonably equal, it is the job seekers’ commitment, fit, personal chemistry, and organizational endorsement that results in them being hired and staying in their organizations. My company, Robertson Lowstuter, is an executive development consulting and coaching firm specializing in equipping talented executives to achieve what they want (and need) in their careers. Since 1981 we have coached thousands of executives who were suboptimized in their roles. They often felt frustrated, unhappy, undervalued, and underutilized. One COO client* of ours indicated that for the last three years in his company he felt like he was driving slowly through a dense fog. He was familiar with the road but couldn’t see the terrain clearly enough to drive as well as he knew he ultimately could. That’s how it feels when you are not aligned with your boss or the organization’s culture. Many clients admitted staying with their companies long after they knew they should have left. Some were actively looking, and they just hadn’t found the right opportunity. Others felt the board would terminate their boss before they would be fired, so they would be spared. Many did not see clearly the extent to which their relationships had deteriorated. Still others felt that they could turn the situation around if given enough time, successes, and the right boss. When I Zigged ... and My Boss ZaggedWhen I was first terminated, I was in denial–big-time. I was unconscious as to the reality of my situation. I ignored how distant my boss and I were toward each other. I knew we had differences of opinions, but I was clueless as to how, not so subtly, combative my boss and I had become. I zigged and he zagged. I believe that you get what you create. I created getting zapped a number of years ago from a job and company I loved, not because of the lack of commitment or competency, but because of the lack of chemistry with my boss. I likened being zapped to wetting two of my fingers and sticking them into an electrical outlet. I was shocked at being terminated with no performance discussion or attempt at raising my awareness and turning me around. I had no notice, just BAM! The shock ran through my body like an electrical current. It was, to say the least, jolting (no pun intended). As Charles Dickens said, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” I thought I was living an idyllic life. We were in northern Wisconsin on the border of the upper peninsula of Michigan with a beautiful setting: a heavily wooded seven acres lot on a river. It was a wonderful refuge from the intense 100 percent travel I had experienced for a few years as an organization consultant for Ernst & Ernst (now Cap Gemini Ernst & Young), a global public accounting and consulting firm. Unfortunately, there came a time when my company needed to streamline and, ultimately, downsize. Like every traumatic situation, I can still remember every minute detail with crystal clear clarity. One morning after I had heatedly hammered out some additional severance concessions from my boss to better support some senior executives who were about to be terminated, he turned to me and said, “By the way, Clyde, you’re fired, too.” I laughed, thinking it was merely gallows humor, given the conversation we were having. But only after seeing his pale, waxy complexion did I realize that he was serious. I remember sitting back down in a lump, feeling a rush of emotions: shocked, dazed, hurt, angry, sad, fearful, shamed, vengeful, bitter, and most of all violated and used. “Excuse me, but you must be thinking of another Clyde Lowstuter. I’ll go get him because you can’t be referring to me!” My emotional roller coaster was predictable and classic: a prolonged disorientation alternating between red-hot anger and profound sadness. I blamed my boss; I thought he was a jerk and I was a victim. I was so ticked I couldn’t see straight. Ironically, there was no chance for appeal to those senior executives with whom I worked closely. I’m sure everyone is scrambling to survive at a time like this, I thought. What was really upsetting was that my last year’s performance review was deemed excellent. And now! Nothing except sudden and perfunctory dismissal with zero opportunity for appeal. Intellectually, I understood that this was a business decision, but it felt deeply personal. At some intuitive level I knew that I was more than merely my job. However, my identity was so closely aligned to my work that I was not able to see the firing objectively. Plus, I worked long and hard hours, sacrificing my family time in favor of the company. I felt crushed, angry, embarrassed, used, and discarded. I was also really, really scared. I had never lost a job before. I was devastated. I’m not telling you this as a way of reliving painful memories. Rather, I am sharing my experience with you as I have heard stories similar to my own repeated countless times from the lips of others. I learned that the best way to deal with a trauma of this magnitude is to give it a voice and not to suppress it. It is helpful to acknowledge the trauma’s existence, accept complete responsibility for it, learn from it, and move on with your life. One step at a time. Breathing in. Breathing out. Traumatic situations will always be with you. Tough, unsettling times represent opportunities for profound learning and personal growth. The hard stuff of life strengthens us. Steel is tempered only after repeatedly being immersed in the blast furnace. Such tempering in our lives and careers enables us to move on to bigger and better things, more confidently and boldly. It is true that I probably was difficult to manage. I spoke up rather straightforwardly when asked my opinion. While younger than my boss, I felt I had a much broader range of practical experiences given the years of consulting throughout North America. He would suggest something, and I often countered with an alternative strategy based on my experience. He wanted to move forward on a specific project right away, and I remember saying there was more groundwork that needed to be done. I zigged and my boss zagged. I moved forward and he stood still. When he moved one direction, I told him what I thought of his idea by moving down another path. So, in reality, I got exactly what I had created in the relationship; I wrote the script, and my boss played out his role. I’m convinced that he did not see me endorsing him, so why should he endorse me by confronting me on my interpersonal ineptness or by giving me a more generous severance package or a longer notice? Before my termination, my boss was probably as frustrated with me as I was with him. It’s a shame neither one of us had the foresight to stop the destructive cycle once we were in it. In my termination meeting, I was dimly aware that my boss was trying to minimize my feelings, as he mouthed platitudes about this being the best thing for me and acknowledged that this was a tough decision for him. I thought, Big deal. I don’t give a rip about how you feel or how much sleep you lost last night; you still have your job. I’m out in the street, battered and bruised! How tacky. You want me to feel sorry for you? What a jerk. I remember thinking at the time that everything seemed to be moving alternately in slow motion and at 250 miles an hour. My head throbbed with a scratchy, tingly sensation that quickly developed into a thunderous roar, drowning out my former boss’s explanation of the severance benefits and what the company wanted me to do with regard to my current programs and projects. I felt the rush of tears come to my eyes, and the need to remain strong overshadowed the emotion. As I lowered my head to conceal the humiliation and rage, I noticed with mounting alarm that I could not feel my fingers nor move my arm. I felt nauseous and could taste the bile rising in my throat. I knew I had to regain control of my mind and body to fully understand the details of my severance package. But it was no good; I couldn’t hear, and I could barely see my boss, as the room was spinning out of control. I rose to my feet and lurched for the door. Only later did I realize that I was in the beginning of a major migraine and stress attack. I stumbled out of my boss’s office clutching the carefully worded severance letter full of legalese, facts and figures about months of pay and benefit conversion. There was nothing about my contributions and sacrifices. I found myself floating in slow motion in a sea of flashing and blinding lights filled with alien shapes and sounds. The pain in my head overshadowed my termination as the will to survive took over. Wow, I sighed. From hotshot to nothing in a couple of minutes. Guess I’m not that great, after all. Maybe I have been living a lie. Maybe my confidence is all an illusion. No! That’s not true. I’ve got a beautiful wife and an adorable infant son who think the world of me. For sure, though, my world has shifted, and much of what I knew to be reality feels unreal now. Not surprising, within a matter of days, the projects I was working on were absorbed by others or dropped. It was as if the projects that were deemed to have a high priority several weeks ago now seemed to be contaminated, as if to imply that anyone assuming responsibility for this work would suffer the same fate. Consequently, there was little passion or commitment to see these programs through to completion. Within a week of my departure, I also found something else about organizations that I had not experienced before. No matter the extent of the support and endorsement I had inside the company, once I got zapped, the organization closed ranks around itself and isolated me, the tainted one. Granted, there was a fair amount of sympathy for my plight, but there was not sufficient hue and cry to overturn the decision. I discovered that it’s not personal; rather, it’s a form of survival instinct. As hard as it was for me to realize it, the company needed to operate like this to keep on moving so it did not grind itself to a halt agonizing over these kinds of decisions once they were made. Being zapped was very rough on me. I thought of myself as confident, assertive, and competent, yet all that was shaken to the core. I got migraines, gained weight, lost weight, and fiddled away the modest six weeks of severance, with no outplacement. Quite frankly, Carolyn, my wife, silently wondered if I could ever fully recover to work again. Apparently, I was a lot further gone than I was aware. I vaguely remember spending a full day in my canoe on the river on our property. I was pretending to fish, when in fact I was merely trying to heal my fractured soul. Carolyn refers to this time of me being “flatlined” with no discernible brain waves. Years later she remarked that I was way beyond just being spaced out–I was deep into the ozone. While that was apparently true (though it wasn’t so obvious to me), it wasn’t for the lack of trying to get back on track. I was just badly beaten up in the process, not unlike being run over by a truck and living to tell the tale. Sure, my boss could have told me months before that fatal day that we were on a collision course. He could have had the courage to confront me honestly and indicate that my behavior was unacceptable. Of course, he could have terminated me more effectively (and compassionately), but he didn’t. I’m convinced he didn’t because he was no longer in support of me and he was worried of how I might react. The possibility also existed that he did tell me to modify my behavior and I was too stubborn or blind to see what needed to be done. While I acknowledge the possibility this might have happened, I know that my boss did not confront me on our rapidly deteriorating relationship in a manner that I could really hear and act upon. While I knew my company was experiencing financial difficulties, I never thought that my job was in jeopardy; others’ jobs perhaps, certainly not mine. Granted, budgets had been steadily cut in the last 18 months, and all nonessential programs or projects were either eliminated or severely scaled back. Even so! Not Clyde’s job! He was the guy you turn to when you wanted something done. How arrogant of me. Unfortunately, the termination of our relationship was unnecessarily messy, on both of our parts. The more adverse reaction my boss received internally from his peers, the more he tried to justify his actions. When I heard about some of his explanations, that made me even more angry, and I got hooked emotionally all over again. I only wish I had been able to create the much-needed emotional distance to put my upset into perspective. Clearly, I was stuck. It was only through the tireless loving support from my family and friends that I was able to survive and get back on track. The ownership of my dismissal went through some distinct cycles, not unlike my emotional roller coaster. My boss fired me. I thought he was wrong, myopic, inflexible, and had difficulty sharing authority. Clearly, he did not know how to handle bright, high-energy, creative professionals. I blamed him. Once I pushed through all the blame and the emotion, I realized that there was much more personal power in my accepting complete responsibility for how my career and life looked, rather than rationalizing my termination by blaming. The “context” of fault requires that someone be wrong and that roles of victim and persecutor be assigned. I didn’t want to blame anyone anymore. When I finally worked this out for myself, I realized that I had wasted a lot of energy making my old boss wrong and me right. In the final analysis, I was disruptive to what he wanted and needed for his department, regardless of how talented I felt I was. While he had made a business decision, it felt deeply personal. He wasn’t wrong; he was absolutely right to terminate me if there wasn’t a fit. I’m only sorry neither one of us had the courage, insight, or interpersonal skills to candidly discuss the status of the relationship. Had we been able to do so, a tremendous amount of trauma and angst (on my part) would have been avoided. So, this is my story. While it is years in the past, it is with me always, as I have integrated this painful experience into my life’s guiding principles of taking accountability for my actions and living authentically. The most powerful discovery for me was that I created my life and career the way I desired, albeit at the unconscious level. I did not get zapped for the lack of competence. I got zapped for the lack of personal chemistry, fit, and endorsement from my boss. I got what I deserved. Nothing less; nothing more. My upset was around reality crashing headlong into my sense of entitlement. It was painful having to grow up and take responsibility for how my life looked. I chose to take the job; no one forced me to do so. In hindsight, it was obvious that I chose to not support my boss more and, in doing so, lost the endorsement I once had. I chose to join an organization that was, metaphorically, loping along at 35 mph when my hard wiring had me racing along at 85 mph. Culturally and operationally, we were not an ideal fit. A famous line from the musical Man of La Mancha comes to mind: “Whether the rock hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the rock, it’s bound to be bad for the pitcher.” I was living the metaphor; I was the pitcher, and my boss was the rock. It still amazes me how blind I was and how caught up in my own “stuff” I was that I did not see the unintended impact of my behavioral choices. Even after so many years, it embarrasses me to realize how entitled to an easy career I apparently felt. As I write these words, I shake my head at how clueless to my own disempowering beliefs and behaviors I was. To all those people back in those days, especially my old boss, please forgive my naïveté and inflated sense of self-worth. This book reflects the lessons I learned from personally being zapped many years ago, as well as lessons learned from the executive coaching, team building, and career transition my colleagues and I, at Robertson Lowstuter, have been engaged in with thousands of executives since 1981. As you read this material, you may think you are being described in the examples or you may relate personally to some of the clients mentioned. I suspect that the truth of some of the vignettes and some of my experiences might even resonate with you. I invite you to read this book with positive expectancy, while diligently completing each worksheet. I crafted this book so that every question in every worksheet is a good interview question. If you proceed with an open mind and a keen desire to master your career and your life, I know you will be challenged to shift your perspectives and enlarge your vision of what is possible. I hope that you will push against the edges of your comfort zones. When you are nervous and are inclined to resist modifying your thinking or behavior, you are probably face-to-face with those hard-earned beliefs that define you. There is nothing wrong with having such beliefs, as they bring a measure of certainty, stability, and comfort to you. In fact, as humans, we seek to create harmony and balance in our lives. Without it chaos reigns. However, we know that the outer edge of this comfort zone is where the real learning and personal growth occurs. If you are committed to learning about yourself and others while living on the “edge” and are open to modifying how you think, feel, and act, you will definitely broaden your behavioral response repertoire. In effect, you will have a broader array of behavioral options from which to choose. Since my life-altering experience those many years ago, I have made it my life’s mission to operate more openly, honestly, and authentically. I try to always take what I do seriously, though not myself. You were right, Jerry. Being terminated was a good thing. Thank you for allowing me to be your career coach on your personal journey of self-discovery. I hope that you will enjoy the trip and experience greater authenticity, boldness, confidence, creativity, and success. Best wishes for an exciting trip and for your continued careering success. May you always . . . Create Uncommon Results!® Clyde C. Lowstuter *Point of clarification: When I use the term “client” I am referencing an executive who is in outplacement with my firm. While the fee is paid by an organization (“sponsor”), we consider the displaced executives our “clients,” as we are 100 percent focused on their well-being. While other firms might call people in career transition “candidates for reemployment,” we do not.
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