Get Ready To Find Your Next Job
Bill Warner Monday, April 20, 2009
With the unemployment rate continuing to rise I am meeting more and more people who are looking for their next opportunity. Unfortunately, many are nowhere near ready to actually approach an employer. I see people who have not really thought through what they want to do next, assessed their strengths and determined where they would best fit, written an effective resume, and cannot answer the simplest of questions about the value they bring to the table. With so many people on the job market, only the best of the best are going to land any jobs that might be available.
Tips that might help
Here are some tips on what to do to be ready for your job search:
- Smell the coffee – First, take a breather after leaving your last job. You have worked hard; now it’s time to decompress. It’s time to gather your thoughts and get over any lingering frustration about losing your job. You need a clear mind to think about the future.
- Assess yourself – Do a full assessment of your strengths and weaknesses to determine what the basis is for your value proposition. Yes, you are marketing yourself in this process, so you need to determine what your value proposition is as you sell yourself to a potential employer. So, write down what your personal value proposition is.
- Determine fit – Determine what your best fit might be for your next opportunity. Are you a big organization kind of person? Do you work in start-ups? What roles will you be best suited for in whatever sized company and industry you will be pursuing? Answer these questions helps you narrow down what kind of opportunities you intend to chase.
- Establish family priorities – Talk to your family once you have figured out your value proposition and best fit alternatives. Get an understanding of the limits that your family has for your job search. Are they willing to move? Are they willing to get less money? Are they willing to see you travel a lot? Get their buy-in to the kind of job search you intend to undertake. Surprises are not a good thing. Hey Honey! We are moving to Boston!
- Prepare your resume – Write a results-oriented resume. Employers want to know what your objective is and what results you have achieved in previous jobs. I stress results; not just simple statements of what you worked on. You sold products. Well, how much? You created marketing programs. Well, how many leads did it generate? You increased revenue or profit. Well, by how much? Employers want to know what you got done, not so much what you did.
- Network – Get out of your house and voraciously meet people. Use your contacts to give you referrals to people you need to meet that might know about new job opportunities. Yes, this is networking with a purpose. Go to important networking events and meet companies. Make contacts with professional services firms that might know about job opportunities that are arising with their clients; like, attorneys, accountants, HR firms and business consultants. Make yourself known to search and staffing firms.
- Determine targets – Do enough research that you have a list of companies that you want to pursue. Use your contacts to possibly give you referrals to people inside the company. So, when asking a business associate for help, you are not taking a thoughtless approach of simply asking them what opportunities they see. Instead, you are telling them that you are chasing a specific opportunity and you want them to help with a referral. You get a lot more help that way, by showing that you have done your homework.
- Market your resume – Don’t send a resume into the blue sky. Instead, send resumes to targeted companies that you have researched, where you customize your cover letter and follow up with phone calls to inquire about openings.
- Use the Web – Do make a habit of following the major job boards on the Web. Use Linked-In to make yourself known to your network. Overall, use the power of the web to learn about opportunities and to market yourself.
- Practice your story – You need to clearly state your value proposition, what a best fit opportunity is for you, why you left your last job, what you are looking for next and your excitement about taking this next step in your career. These points have to roll off your tongue with enthusiasm, commitment and integrity.
Hunt with a purpose
The hunt for a new job is a major undertaking. Take it as seriously as you would take launching a new product or service in your last company. You need a well thought out marketing program that generates new opportunities that are right for you and then sell yourself into those opportunities using solid sales technique and know-how.
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Setting and Exceeding Expectations
Bill Warner Tuesday, January 20, 2009
At last week’s Business Clubs of America meeting we met an amazing young man that all entrepreneurs can learn from. Logan Aldridge, at the age of thirteen, lost his left arm in a tragic boating accident. His recovery was long and painful. During that time he had hundreds of visitors who expressed sympathy and also unknowingly set expectations that life will never be the same again for Logan. Well, Logan was going to have none of that gloom and doom, and quite frankly did not accept that life was never going to be the same. He proceeded throughout his recovery therapy to set goals, one day at a time, to work himself back into regular life. He had to learn to write with his right hand, because he used to be lefty. He had to learn how to eat, dress, tie his shoes, brush his teeth and the hundreds of things we all do everyday with two arms. Once he got the basics of living, he went back to water skiing, learned to surf and wrote a book. He played lacross and became the team captain.
As he matured, he became and ever increasing inspiration to the people around him. He continues to be a very active full time student at Ravenscroft and most people can’t keep up with him. His motto is “beyond expectations.” This is a young man that all business people can learn from. Don’t let others determine what you can and cannot do. Certainly listen to good advice and coaching, but don’t let the limitations of others become yours. Take every day, one day at a time, and have goals that drive your work and play. Put all your energy into meeting and driving past those goals by exceeding every expectation you have about them.
Now at the age on eighteen, Logan has his own website at www.loganaldridge.com where he talks about exceeding expecations. He will try to sell you a book too in order to finance his growing foundation, but it would good for you and your children to read and become inspired by Logan’s message.
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Internet Companies - Now Grownups
Bill Warner Thursday, December 18, 2008
In reflecting on the recent Internet Summit in Research Triangle Park there were certainly an impressive group of entrepreneurs, investors and consultants presenting on a wide variety of topics. In addition to a delightful key note presentation by Bob Young, the conference covered such topics as the current state of the internet markets, as well as the future of the SaaS, email marketing, blogging, search engine, ecommerce, mobile internet, and social networking businesses. Many related topics about venture capital, internet law, internet infrastructure and internet marketing rounded out the conference with an overall comprehensive look at the state of internet-based businesses.
However, it struck me how different this group of people is from the comparable group of people who were presenting as little as eight years ago. During the dot.com era of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, there certainly was as much enthusiasm as we saw at this Internet Summit, but the business maturity of the presenters at that time was far less than today.
In the dot.com era, we would have heard about how “cool” the internet is and what the possibilities are for reaching consumers and collaboration, but not much on why any of it made business sense. Yet, these companies got millions of dollars to try out their ideas; signed on the backs of napkins over a beer at the bar.
At this Internet Summit, the discussions and presentations were distinctly different from the dot.com era:
- We heard about successful business models instead of business dreams.
- They presented where internet commerce is today in dollars and cents instead of the assertions that it will be billions someday.
- We got information on what works and what doesn’t work in internet marketing and blogging instead of claims that everything works.
- Entrepreneurs talked about how revenue traction is effectively achieved instead of boasting that the world would beat a path to their doors.
- Venture capitalists were discussing quantifiable markets and revenue models that work and had solid opinions on what makes business sense instead of clamoring to write checks.
- The black cloak was taken off of email marketing with a very real perspective as to why it makes sense today, instead of glossing over its simplicity.
- We heard about the details of what makes the SaaS model effective and the solutions to the real issues of successfully deploying the infrastructure and achieving cost effective marketing and sales programs instead of words about moving to the ASP model because it is cheaper.
- They presented solid business rationale for mobile applications and the outlook for new mobile technologies instead of explaining how cool ringtones are.
- The realities of social networking were presented including a balanced view of this delicate business model instead of projections about the wonderful world of collaboration.
- We got the down-to-earth realities about the future of search engine businesses were presented in a very candid and realistic way instead of the techno-geek talk of the dot.com era.
There was a distinct absence of the unrealistic zealots of the dot.com era. Where did they go? Heck, many of the people we saw at the Internet Summit were some of the very same people who made the outrageous claims during the dot.com era. They look older now. They sound like business people with a purpose. They make sense.
Then it dawned on me. Many of the entrepreneurs of the dot.com era have grown up and are now adults in the business world. They have learned a great deal from their experiences, regardless of success or failure. They are seasoned and thoughtful business people who absolutely know the ins and outs of their businesses. They are well connected to their industries and know exactly how their business models work, know what’s wrong with them and have innovative ideas on how to fix them.
Out of the ashes of the dot.com era has come a powerful bread of internet business professionals that know how to build successful internet-based businesses. In fact, they are teaching others as they lead their companies and mentor other entrepreneurs in the community. We are not in Kansas anymore. You can have much greater confidence that this industry is now being led by some of the brightest, energetic and insightful business professionals in America.
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Internet Commerce - Weathering the Storm
Bill Warner Saturday, November 29, 2008
At the recent Internet Summit in Research Triangle Park, the kick-off presentation was a sobering look at the business status of internet commerce given by comScore, a global Internet information provider to which leading companies turn for consumer behavior insight that drives their marketing, sales and trading strategies. comScore maintains massive proprietary databases that provide a continuous, real-time measurement of the myriad ways in which the Internet is used and the wide variety of activities that are occurring online, giving them a comprehensive view of consumer behavior. In other words, this is company that is watching your every mouse click and key stroke.
Intuition would tell you that internet commerce is suffering just as much as the rest of the industry in this market downturn. However, your intuition might not tell you the deeper insights that you need to know. Through the 3rd quarter 2008, ecommerce is up 10 percent over 2007. That is less than half the annual growth that has occurred since 2002, but nevertheless is growing. This can be broken down by consumer income segment, observing that spending by people whose income is less than $100,000 per year is actually declining, while those above $100,000 is increasing 14% over 2007. Clearly, the economic downturn is affecting the lower income group the most.
This can mostly be attributed to higher prices, led by the over 30 percent increase in motor fuel, all of which has significantly squeezed discretionary spending. But, fuel prices over the last several weeks has fallen to less than $2.00 per gallon and food prices are starting to drop as well. One might think that ecommerce is going resume its 20 plus percentage growth again, but that is not what is going to happen. When asked what their major issue is now, the concern about rising prices of consumers whose income is greater than $100,000 is being replaced by a significant concern about the financial markets. For consumers whose income is less than $100,000, their concern is about inflation; including prices, jobs and financial markets.
When asked what they thought their spending for the holiday season would be, about 60 percent of consumers whose income is less than $100,000 said they would be spending less than last year, while 43 percent of those greater than $100,000 said the same.
comScore can only tell us what has occurred, not what will occur. So they have no crystal ball. They did ask about the effect of the presidential election showing that over one third of the consumers are either not sure or have less confidence in making near-term expenditures. The Obama effect is a big unknown and the markets are hanging on every word he says or doesn’t say as well as what the administration says about the various bail-outs that are being proposed.
We certainly have not seen the end of the trend setting for consumer spending as the situation is still very volatile with more shoes to fall with the change in administration.
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IBM Director of Research - Bullish on New Opportunities
Bill Warner Tuesday, November 11, 2008
“Invest now, this too will pass,” says Dr. John Kelly, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, while speaking with a small group of executives and entrepreneurs at the Council for Entrepreneurial development in RTP. John was quite bullish on the possibilities for new opportunities for IBM premier offerings in information technology services and products.
He gave a broad perspective of where IBM is today, and contrasted it to a very different profile as little as a decade ago. A $100B company with 10% market share, IBM is predominately an IT services company with 55% of its revenue coming from worldwide services. The remainder is split evenly between software and hardware. They spend about $6B annually in R&D which fuels a broad array of new technologies.
John is quite cognizant of the economic impact we are now feeling with the downturn of the public markets resulting from the credit crisis. He says those with the strongest balance sheets will weather this storm, and views this as a time to grasp new opportunities. He has no crystal ball as to when the recovery will come, but knows that IBM is in a strong position to invest in profitable growth and become much more competitive in the process.
He cited several examples of industry growth areas, such as financial services and healthcare to name a couple. He believes that the future growth will be fueled by the ever increasing use of computer technology to improve efficiency and competitive advantages in all industries. Actually, this is no different than it has been since the dawn of the computer age, but his bullishness to accelerate growth was refreshing.
John reflected with great respect on the transformation that IBM has made since its “near death” experience in the early 90’s. The culture has changed, the company is leaner and meaner, and all said and done has transformed itself into the leading professional services company in the world. IBM has been managed brilliantly, not taking the bait in the late 90’s dot.com boom. It stuck to its guns by achieving business success through a focus on profit growth and earnings growth. Just growing revenue doesn’t cut it, as did many companies in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Most of them are now gone. IBM remains strong, because it focused on keeping a strong balance sheet. Go look for yourselves.
He is deeply concerned about US competitiveness, and highlighted his disappointment with the lack of congressional action to fund the America Competes Act in 2007, which would have called for significantly increased investment research. He cited several examples of other countries leaping forward in this area and producing large numbers of highly qualified university graduates that will very quickly have a material effect in making those countries, like China, much more competitive.
He was of course asked about the importance of protecting intellectual property (IP). After all, we were talking to the person who manages one of the largest patent portfolios on the face of the earth. His perspective was very balanced, in that IBM certainly makes over $1B annually in licensing fees but also gives away for free the use of patents that could easily make 4-5 times as much for IBM. Their view is that much of their technology will help fuel the growth of industry in general, and as other “boats rise, so will IBM’s.”
Acquisition is still a key strategy for IBM which has recently spent $5-10B on acquiring innovative companies that fill out their product line and broaden them into new markets. This is all driven by the business units within IBM who identify acquisition opportunities as IBM tries to reach further into the IT industry.
Of special note is John’s healthy perspective about people and the fact that business success is really dependent on hiring the best of the best. He spends a lot of time focused on IBM’s hiring practices, the universities they are coming from and the industry expertise they bring. Whether or not they are in research, product development or professional services, IBM still goes after the best people it can find and believes they are the key to their own competitiveness.
He confirmed IBM’s commitment to RTP and was very supportive of the work being done by the IBM team which is now predominately software development and services. Don’t be fooled when you drive by all those buildings that look like manufacturing facilities or warehouses. There is a lot of software development going on in RTP.
During the Q&A period, he speculated on the future of communications devices (like cell phones), saying that speech recognition, including language translation, technologies are the next break-through that we should see. So, those of you who cannot type, you will soon be able to speak into your cell phone and have messages automatically written for you in most any language. Of course, this is one simple example of the endless possibilities that effective speech recognition can bring us.
John’s closing comments called for us all to focus on the global economy, and achieve global reach in our businesses. He left us with a positive view of the economic situation we are in by saying that this is the time to invest in growth opportunities.
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Raising Capital - Bank Loans Are Still Quite Possible
Bill Warner Wednesday, October 29, 2008
I have been talking to some of the local banks, those that serve our region only. Some people might call them community banks. They are the banks that take pride in their independence, provide services to both small businesses and individuals, and act responsibly with good judgment about taking risk.
Despite all the bad news you are reading about the major banks, some of whom are failing, community banks seem to be much better off. Sure, they have some mortgage loan failures, but are well within the bounds of their reserves for such risk. They are not panicking and are still making loans at reasonable interest rates. The stall in the flow in credit is not being felt as significantly as the “Wall Street” institutions. I asked them why this is. The answer I got was that they do not have a substantial portfolio of these bad home mortgages. They did not drink the Kool Aid and buckle under congressional pressure, through organizations like ACORN, to provide loans to people who do not qualify for them.
We are all reading stories about many banks who are taking the bail-out money. The large banks were given an ultimatum, even though a few of them did not want it. Unfortunately, some of these banks are not using the money for loans to small businesses and individuals. I read about one that is actually using the funds to buy another bank. So, the misuse of these funds is already starting. Thank you Mr. Paulson for your oversight and leadership.
Over $100B of the bail-out fund of $700B is being targeted at the smaller banks. Under some mild duress, banks have been notified by the Treasury of the offer to loan them money at reasonable interest rates and payment terms, along with provisions to take warrants in their banks. I am proud to report that many of our community banks are flatly refusing to take the money. They don’t need it and don’t want government intervention in the banking system. They were even told that “it is the patriotic thing to do” to take these funds so that more loans can be made. Many of them countered by saying that the patriotic thing to do is to not take this money and let the free market system work.
This is good news for small businesses that need loans to support their businesses, whether it is for capital purchases, business expansion or simply a line of credit. Target your quest for loan financing at local community banks and you should find a lot more positive response than you will get from the large banking institutions who are struggling to recover from the credit crunch and a boat load of bad loans. Do your homework though. Approach these institutions with well thought out business propositions supported by a solid financial analysis of your needs and how you will back the loan. What is making these banks successful is discipline, so you need to walk in the door with a disciplined approach to your business.
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Businesses Learn About Leadership and Teamwork
Bill Warner Sunday, October 19, 2008
I had the privilege of attending this month’s Business Clubs America meeting at Brier Creek Country Club. This is a premier networking event with members representing all business disciplines and industries.
The event featured a panel discussion lead by the famous sports commentator Billy Packer. On the panel was Leroy Walker, past president of the US Olympic Committee who talked about the importance of sports and how the lessons learned can guide your life. Steve Wojciechowski, former Duke basketball star and now assistant coach talked about how the Olympics can shape your view of business. I thought the most riveting panel member was Tommy Burleson, former NC State basketball player, Olympic basketball team player and NBA star.
As you might recall, Tommy was on the the 1972 Olympic basketball team that lost a very controversial final game to the Russians, after which the entire team refused to accept the silver medal. It was also the Olympic games that were ravaged by a dreadful terrorist attack on the Israeli team, in which Tommy had a very visible and death defying experience. In a heartful and tearful delivery, Tommy said, “It is not about the Olympics. It is not about the medals. It is not about winning or losing. It is about the team!” While holding back his tears, while we held back ours, Tommy stressed that teamwork is what leads to success and lasting relationships. Every business person in the room paid attention and was caught up in Tommy’s passion for his message and his caring for people of the world. He is an example to all Americans, not just business people, who want to have leadership and teamwork put into perspective. To learn more about Tommy, go to his website at www.tommyburleson.com
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CEO Coach - What’s Your Value Proposition
Bill Warner Monday, June 30, 2008
I attended a very enlightening meeting last week of an organization called Men of Significance. It is led, along with others, by Fate Thompson, the CEO of iAdvantage Software in Cary, NC.
They bring to life another aspect of business vision and value proposition. When thinking about these two subjects, most of us think of the obvious observations about market size, customer value, revenue growth, profitability, marketing messages and sales traction. But, we don’t often think about our own fulfillment. That is, what of your own needs have been fulfilled by your business vision and value proposition. Often, the need is really not money or fame. Searching deeply into your own purpose in life, you perhaps will find a more fundemental and significant need that drives you. Entrepreneurs and business executives start businesses for many reasons. When you discuss with them why they are taking this risk, you will often find a deeply seeded and thoughtful reason that really represents their view of their purpose in life. Men of Significance is all about helping business people find that deeper need and to guide them to their significance in life.
This organization adds another dimension to the way we should think about our role in a business endeavor. I invite you to go to their website at www.men-of-significance.org and learn about their organization and the many resources they have available.
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Engage with the North Carolina Sustainable Entrepreneurs
Bill Warner Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Paladin and Associates is a proud co-founder of the North Carolina Sustainable Entrepreneurs Group (NCSEG). We are fostering entrepreneurship in NC by providing guidance to companies that have sustainable technologies. Our organization was founded on the basis that there is tremendous support throughout NC that provide assistance to entrepreneurs. The problem is that entrepreneurs don’t always know how to form their companies and get them launched. We take entrepreneurs under our wings, give them some initial guidance on what they need to do and then get them in touch with the right organizations and resources that they need to take the next step in their company’s formation.
Early this week we had our regular monthly meeting. We are just getting started but here are some of the things that are on our radar screen:
- Supporting the NC Green Fund by guiding companies to their application process
- Engaging in some public forums to make the business community aware of our group
- Having further meetings with successful sustainable companies
- Engaging with university programs and make entrepreneurs award of their services
We encourage all entrepreneurs that have technology that has sustainability characteristics get in touch with us. Perhaps we can help you too. Go to our website at www.ncseg.net to learn more.
