DoThisGetHired.com

RELAX! by Abby Soley

2012-02-23T15:38:00.000-05:00

I’m going to be honest with you: waiting in line to talk toa recruiter at a job fair can be boring and, for me personally, the mostnervous part of the whole experience. Countless questions race through my mind.“What do I say?” “What are they goingto say?” “Did I prepare enough?” “What if I don’t know how to answer thequestions they ask me?”

RELAX!

While you are standing in line, don’t text your best friendabout the new shoes you bought for spring break. Instead open your ears andlisten to the questions the recruiters are asking the students who are in linein front of you. Chances are they will ask you similar, if not the same,questions! Now that you know the questions, spend the time waiting in line toformulate answers to them. Once you get to the front of the line, your answerwill be perfect, and your confidence in yourself will sky rocket!

What if he line isn’t long enough to listen to the questionsand come up with answers, casually walk by the table and listen to thequestions, then go to a quiet corner to prepare your answers. Once you havethem down pat, GO GET ‘EM!

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs…in THIS difficult job market. He has already helped thousands with his advice because it is different and it is PROVEN to work! The advice he gives is not the traditional advice that can be found on the Internet or being given by most career professionals. Now and for the last 15-years, Mr. Lyden has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. Mark is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and, Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! Visit DoThisGetHired.com for additional information. A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

Tell Your Story by Abby Soley

2012-02-21T10:18:00.003-05:00

Do you dread seeking employment for the sole reason that you are scare to death of being interviewed? Fear no more.

I’m sure you know the basics when it comes to being interviewed: research the company, prepare, and if you wouldn’t wear it to your grandmother’s, don’t wear it on an interview. Beyond that, there are some very good tips outlined in the book, “Do This! Get Hired!”

The first one that helped settle my nerves about interviewing is to remember, “interviewing is nothing more than telling stories.” Yes, the company needs to know about the special skills you have, but that should be clear on your resume. The interviewer is trying to dig deeper to get to know how you can handle certain situations. Each story you tell should follow the SBO method. SBO stand for situation, behavior and outcome. You should describe the situation you were in, the steps you took and how you reacted to the situation, and the result to your action. If you spend about 30 seconds on each section (and completely answer the question in about a minute and a half), PERFECT! Remember, the interviewer wants to know how YOU reacted to a situation, not how the team worked together. Team work is important, but the team isn’t being interviewed, YOU ARE!

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Ace the Interview by Abby Soley

2012-02-08T12:54:00.002-05:00

Do you dread seeking employment for the sole reason that youare scare to death of being interviewed? Fear no more.

I’m sure you know the basics when it comes to beinginterviewed: research the company, prepare, and if you wouldn’t wear it to yourgrandmother’s, don’t wear it on an interview. Beyond that, there are some verygood tips outlined in the book, “Do This! Get Hired!”

The first one that helped settle my nerves aboutinterviewing is to remember, “interviewing is nothing more than telling stories.”Yes, the company needs to know about the special skills you have, but thatshould be clear on your resume. The interviewer is trying to dig deeper to getto know how you can handle certain situations. Each story you tell shouldfollow the SBO method. SBO stand for situation, behavior and outcome. You should describe the situation you werein, the steps you took and how you reacted to the situation, and the result toyour action. If you spend about 30 seconds on each section (and completelyanswer the question in about a minute and a half), PERFECT! Remember, theinterviewer wants to know how YOU reacted to a situation, not how the teamworked together. Team work is important, but the team isn’t being interviewed,YOU ARE!

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

College Students: Do This! Get Hired! Initial Review by Liz Smith

2012-02-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

Upon reading theIntroduction of Do This Get Hired, I found it very useful that Mark Lydenstates all his previous experience with interview processes, resume knowledgeand recruitment methods, etc. It really helps the reader to understand hiscredibility and knowledge of what the reader is interested in. He also makes iteasier for us to understand the material, because it’s clear and to the point.I also like how laidback the book is; it makes it a lot easier and moreenjoyable to read. It’s also nice how he values the reader’s opinion and asksfor feedback. That is a great idea considering he’ll get real information andexperience from other people as well to show that his advice really is the bestout there.

I worked so hard to raise my GPA, but it's still low! by Abigail Soley

2012-02-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

"I worked so hard to raise my GPA, but it's still low! I can't put this number on my resume!"

WRONG! One of the biggest mistakes you can make is leaving your GPA off of your resume. If your Cumulative GPA is below a 3.0, there are some tricks to getting you a higher number. For instance, if you happen to do better in your major classes than you do in your core classes, calculate you Major GPA and if it’s higher than your CGPA USE IT! If it’s still not high enough, calculate you GPA for the past year you were in school. If that’s above a 3.0, include it on your resume and call it something like Junior Year GPA. If that’s still not good enough try calculating your Last Semester GPA.

If all of those numbers still don’t come out to be above a 3.0, you should still include the highest one on your resume and have a compelling story about why it is low. If you immediately, right off the bat, tell your story to the recruiter. You will be surprised at how well the recruiter will take the information. Above that, you will be AMAZED at how good it makes you feel about yourself, and in turn that will raise your self confidence for the rest of the conversation!

Do This! Get Hired: Resume Tip #1

2012-01-30T10:31:00.001-05:00

Do This! Get Hired: Resume Tip #1
By: Greg Hill

For some, getting a job is easier than others. Some students have several dozen activities that they have done throughout their college career. Some have excellent GPA’s that they, and recruiters, can be proud of. But what if you don’t have the best CGPA? What if during your time at college those pesky “gen ed” courses, such as math and English, brought your excellent GPA down so far you don’t think you will ever get a dream job? Have no fear because Mark is here! In his book, “College Students, Do This: Get Hired! Mark Lyden describes the many tricks you can do to ACTUALLY put a GPA on your resume. Putting a GPA on your resume actually allows recruiters to distinguish your resume from the other 300 they get on a weekly basis for one job. Now if you are like me and the general education courses have been a burden to your CGPA, you can always calculate you MAJOR GPA and put that instead. Not only will you have a way of distinguishing your resume, but you have a greater chance of getting a call back from an employer about a job/internship.

Do This! Get Hired! by Greg Hill

2012-01-24T17:45:00.001-05:00

Getting a real life job could possibly be the scariest, and hardest, thing in the world to do. But do not fear there is help out there! Do not try to go down that dark path of employment alone! Many students have recently become plugged into a book called, “College Students: Do This! Get Hired!” by Mark Lyden and it is your look into a new way of going about getting that job, it’s called: The Right Way. So you think you got the interview thing down pat? Do you think your resume is flawless? Believe it or not, there are techniques so simple to getting that job/internship that you may not even think of doing them! Mark Lyden’s book, “Do This! Get Hired!” will expose those techniques to you and change your outlook on interviews, resume writing, and many other techniques to get you on your feet and making THAT salary you always dreamed of.
These are just a few examples of how “College Students: Do This! Get Hired!” by Mark Lyden has helped students here on campus and it can help you to! So get connected with your copy of “College Students: Do This! Get Hired!” at DoThisGetHired.com or by visiting Amazon.com. Check it out and get a jump start on your dream job today!

Recent Graduates Face an Unemployment Rate of 8.9%, and the Highest Debt-burden on Record

2012-01-20T10:26:00.001-05:00

[January 2012] –The Unemployment for new graduates is about 8.9% (TheDailyTarheel.com, 2012). “The search for potential job opportunities has become frustrating,” according to Ms. Caison who writes for The Daily Tarheel. Add to this the fact that the class of 2010’s debt burden grew -- the highest debt on record. (NYTimes, 2011)

How are today’s universities ensuring their students get hired? By arming their students with the skills and knowledge to GET HIRED in today’s market. The Lally School of Technology and Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has made “College Students: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” required reading material for its MBA students. According to Thomas Whalen, Director of Career Services, “[College Students: Do This! Get Hired!] ….gives (an) 'insider's' perspective on the hiring process. [Mark’s] His work ethic gives him the energy and appetite to remain at the front of his field. His message is what gives everyone hope and confidence that the hiring process is not a fixed game. His message is fundamental, it is human, it is real and it is a message that is transformative when heard by an audience with open ears. I recommend Mark's books to any serious student of the hiring process. Mark really is his message and, at his core, he is utterly authentic and hopeful.”

“College Students: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” Mr. Lyden’s first top selling book caught the eye of Senator John McCain’s son, Jim McCain and his fellow Marine Jesse Canella, both co-founders of HonorVet.org. With their full endorsement and with the help from veterans from all four major branches of the military Mr. Lyden’s second book “Veterans: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” is hailed as the, “Best advice for getting hired that we have ever read." (Jesse Canella, CEO of HonorVet); and is helping reduce the high unemployment for our veterans and soldiers getting out of the military. Mark has now turned his success, attention, and expertise to helping today’s unemployed professionals with his book, “Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!”

About the Author

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs. He has already helped thousands get hired even in this difficult job market. For over 15-years, he has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. His approach is fresh, practical, easy to follow, and extremely effective. In his recruiting career he has recruited for small, medium, and large companies and organizations. Mark has screened, taught, mentored and interviewed thousands of candidates and has presented job search seminars across the country. His extensive experience plus the fact that he recruits each day in this difficult job market, gives him the unique insight on the best ways--the proven ways to approach every major step of the job search process so candidates have the best chance at getting hired.

A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales Mr. Lyden and his wife donate back to charity to help our military veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

Mark has been interviewed by or featured in The Washington Post, CNN MONEY, The Huffington Post, The Herald Tribune and many others. He has been a frequent guest on national and local talk radio shows including Ken Gaines (WKZK-103.7FM), Marc Bernier (WNDB-1150) The Marc Bernier Show and with Howard Keating and Gail Kubiak, www.TheKeatingNetwork.com.

College Students: DO THIS! GET HIRED!

· CreateSpace	· ISBN: 978-1439229132
· Price: $19.99	· Pages: 94 pages, Paperback, 6 x 9
· Pub Date: April 2009
www.DoThisGetHired.com

REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE

###

HUGE TIPS FOR THE JOB / CAREER FAIR

2011-10-20T10:35:00.003-04:00

After 20 minutes of standing in line you finally get to talk to the recruiter at the career fair. Now what?! Okay you gave him your resume. Now you are talking. Good progress. But wait… the conversation is ending. No offer for an interview yet? Then it happens. The recruiter that you stood in line for, printed this crisp resume for, and woke up early to talk to, now suggests you should apply online and someone will get back to you. What did you do wrong? After stressing out all day about trying to get that one interview with that one company you have blown it. Have no fear career fair go-ers here is your chance to figure out what exactly went

In my book, “College Students: Do This! Get Hired!” there are not 30 things you need to do, but rather let’s stick with those that work! So let’s start with HUGE TIP #1: Ask yourself this question: “How can I show this recruiter that I am serious without ever having met them before?” Your resume is a huge part of it. This shows major accomplishments, but what about showing that company and their representatives exactly how you act in a working environment? (Remember your whole goal when it comes to recruiters is to impresses them!) So having available for them a performance evaluation from a previous internship is a great way to get recognized. There is nothing more powerful than basically handing that recruiter an outline of your skills and a real life example of how excellent you preformed them. It is one thing to say you were in a professional working group that did testing for a major airline than to have a breakdown of how well you worked in that group and the actual accomplishments you made all the while cohesively attaining the company’s objectives written by your previous employer. This will really raise your likelihood of getting that interview.

HUGE TIP #2 Listen for the questions! While in line, listen to the questions that is asked of the person in front of you. Do you really think recruiters are creative? They have a set of basic questions they ask at these events. Or simple walk up close –pretend you are looking for something….step to the side and LISTEN. Then get in back of the line and PRACTICE your answer to the questions! That wasn’t rocket science, right

HUGET TIP #3 Ask for the interview! Recruiters cannot resist if you make it personal. Simply ask for the interview this way, “I really would appreciate and interview with you ….I promise if you grant me the interview, I WON’T LET YOU DOWN.” Who in their right mind would not give you an interview? You’ve just made it personal. This will work! Try it.

So you’ve got the INTERVIEW…now practice your interview answers. This is all up to you now.

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

DoThisGetHired.com

Since the time I read your book and followed your advice, I was interviewed by the following companies:

2011-10-18T12:50:00.001-04:00

Mark's advice works!

Hello Mr. Mark

Since the time I read your book and followed you advice, I was interviewed by the following companies:

1- Rolls-Royce (Virginia)
2- Continental Airlines (Houston)
3- Southwest Airlines (Dallas)
4- American Express (Embry Riddle)
5- Etihad Airways(Phone interview)
6- Embraer – North America (Fort Lauderdale)
7- Lufthansa Technik (Fort Lauderdale)
8- CB Aviation (Phone interviews)
9- US Airways (Phone interview)
10- American Airlines (Dallas)
11- Boeing (3 phone interviews)
12- Commercial Jets (Miami)
13- HEICO Aerospace (Hollywood, FL)
14- TRAX (Miami)
15- GE (5 phone interview)
16- Ayla Aviation Academy (Jordan)
17- IATA (Jordan/ phone interview with IATA Canada)
18- Royal Jordanian (Jordan)
19- Jordan Airports Company (Jordan)
20- Mearsk Line (Jordan)
21- Delta Airlines (I denied the interview since I accepted a position with Lufthansa)

Just wanted to let you know that your book is extraordinary; you are awesome.

My current objective is to obtain a position with Boeing (Middle East) i.e Dubai.

I'm keeping my eyes open on the website!

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! [by Jenny Chabrian]

2011-10-05T09:37:00.002-04:00

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! Here it is the inside story on college recruiters! WAIT A MINUTE?! Recruiters are real life people with subjectivity to other real life people?
Stop the presses!
This has changed my whole view on my approaching technique. If I just keep in mind that giving my recruiter the chance to see that there is in fact a positive, go getter of a person behind my resume I can in fact open up my recruiter to the ability to evaluate me as a person on top of my resume. Hiring managers and college recruiters rely a lot on the evaluation of your attitude to judge whether or not your attitude will make the difference. I think this really ties into what Mark says in Chapter 3 about resumes too. How sometimes the STRUCTURE is actually as important as the CONTENT. I can write or simply speak and try to portray all that I do and have accomplished. However, if I do not expose that hard positive attitude I have in a way that is arranged and structured to portray myself as the hard working, motivated person I am, I will basically be out of luck. It’s funny how everything is really pretty much interconnected. It’s all about the attitude.

DO THIS! GET HIRED! [by Jenny Chabrian]

2011-10-03T15:42:00.000-04:00

DO THIS! GET HIRED!

“I’m not going to waste your time.” That is the first thing that jumped out at me when I started reading “College Students: Do This! Get Hired.” Someone who is actually going to be real with me about what I need to do to get my dream job! Many times when I meet potential employers I try to use impressive big words and focus on my technical skills because lets face it my bad jokes and part time job I never thought recruiters were interested in. Turns out some of my soft skills are actually really important! I now know that allowing my recruiter the ability to see that I have a positive attitude along with an openness and ability to learn new things can really give me a heads up in getting that interview. I never had the other-side-of-the-fence view on recruiting and now I can cater my approach to recruiters knowing that not all recruiters are the same. According to Mark the experience and level of training of recruiters will vary and that means my approach to each must vary accordingly too. I feel now I will have a significant competitive advantage by showing both my ability to effectively communicate with a recruiter and not shying away from my soft skills.

In this difficult job market: Start Applying to Jobs that You Qualify For

2011-09-09T09:02:00.003-04:00

What I hear from students all the time is they can't seem to find the job that matches them on the website's of the companies they really want to work for. They explain to me how they know the companies they want to work for take students from their major but when they go on the website they find nothing that is a good match for them for what they want to do.

First, you are not alone. Many, many students come up to me with this problem and they all are very disappointed and feel as though all their hard work in college might not get them the job they want. Let me answer your question with a real life story that happened early in my recruiting career.

I was out recruiting with a senior engineer. There was this candidate by the name of Jeff and he was great. What made him great was his attitude. His grades were solid and he cleaned up in the interview. The senior engineer asked him what he wanted to do. He thought a few seconds and said, "Well, I really like all aspects of engineering but I know what I DON'T want to do." The senior engineer asked him, "What is that?" Jeff said, "Structures."

Well it turned out Jeff really struggled with his Structures class. He actually had to take it twice to pass and felt he just wasn't good with that subject.

Jeff took that structures job. And guess what? He LOVED IT!...and did very well. He stayed in that group for years.

Jeff got hired into the company I was recruiting for as a Design Engineer. He did very well. But a few years into his job, the program he was on was winding down. He needed to find a new job in a new group because the project he was working on was nearly complete. But Jeff made the mistake of staying too long. While other engineers around him got picked up by different groups, Jeff kept hanging on until finally he had to leave. But now, there were few jobs to pick from. He tried everything but the only job he was offered was in, guess what? STRUCTURES!

The point of the story is the answer to the question. The point is you can take all these classes and you can read all the text books, however, sometimes you never know what you are going to like or not like unless you try it. You can't try it if you don't get your foot in the door.

For those of you in this situation, start applying to more openings. Especially in this market, STOP looking for the perfect match and apply to anything and everything that might interest you. Not only that, but apply to all the jobs THAT YOU QUALIFY FOR. Remember, managers are not English Literature professors. Sometimes their job descriptions to a really, really cool job is just boring or flat when you read it. Just apply! You can always say "no." But give yourself a chance at being contacted by someone who can give you a better idea of what the job will entail. I have seen this for the last 10 years, some of those jobs you think sound boring on paper, are some of the coolest jobs out there. APPLY!

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Infantry Company Commander conducts his own study on the effectiveness of author’s advice on how to get a job

2011-08-07T14:28:00.001-04:00

5.0 out of 5 stars Expert Advice for Transitioning Soldiers and Veterans

Infantry Company Commander by trade, Captain Brett D. Kelley decides to test the advice given in Mark Lyden’s book, “VETERANS: Do This! Get Hired!” The result? Captain Kelley, “Recommends and personally endorses, VETERANS: DO THIS! GET HIRED! as an exceptional resource without hesitation.”

In his test, Captain Kelley lent it to fellow officers; Senior Non-Commissioned Officers with 12-20 years of service; and junior enlisted Soldiers with GEDs for tweaking resumes, polishing interview skills, and salary negotiation. Although there was definitely a gap in the level of understanding between the officers and young, junior enlisted Soldiers, all gained greater insight into the hiring process and reduced their overall anxiety with the process. Captain Kelley, who calls himself and his fellow soldiers "green suiters," found that the wounded, injured, and ill Soldiers he is currently helping transition from active duty military to the civilian world have a tough time translating their experience and marketing their skills in the civilian job market. He comments that in the book, “Mr. Lyden is able to succinctly bridge this gap without exceeding the attention span of a grunt like me.”

According to Kelley, “While the military offers and often mandates civilian employment preparation classes and workshops (e.g. resume writing and interview technique classes), they are rudimentary at best. Soldiers are still leaving the military without the skills they need to get hired and the last thing anyone wants to see is another Veteran in fatigues panhandling under a bridge. Civilian corporations and firms want to hire Veterans, but we [soldiers] do a terrible job marketing ourselves. Many young Veterans believe that the world will be handed to them on a silver platter, which couldn't be farther from the truth in a fiercely competitive and tenuous job market.”

Captain Kelley states that, “[the book] is a short read and functions more as a handbook than a self-help guide… Don't let your next interview turn into an ambush by walking into it unprepared. Take the time to read this one.”

The real unemployment rate? 16.6%. Author’s latest book is PROVEN to help today’s job seekers get hired.

2011-08-01T16:19:00.000-04:00

The real unemployment rate? 16.6%. Author’s latest book is PROVEN to help today’s job seekers get hired.

[August 1, 2011] – Mark Lyden has done it again! Aimed to help the millions of unemployed, his latest book, “Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” is geared to help today’s job seeker increase their chances of getting hired. The Labor Department's statistics don't include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work. (MSN Money 6/2011). When the underemployed and the discouraged are added to the numbers, the unemployment rate almost doubles making it 16.6%. But there is a solution.

“Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” Gives those that are unemployed advice to get hired in today’s job market. Mr. Lyden emphasizes the: 7 Critical Steps to Applying Online; How to stand out at Job Fairs; Acing the Interview; and How to Negotiate Salary. Also included is a special chapter addressing the issues and concerns of those who are 50+ and older who may be looking for work…after being employed for 20+ years. The mature unemployed have a ton of experience yet they are overlooked because they are consistently told they are “overqualified.” A good rule of thumb according to Mr. Lyden is, “If you are in your fifties, sixties, or even higher…you can include your experience, but you don’t have to include it all or just don’t include the dates of when you worked there. This helps prevent the “age issue” from ever coming up.”

Mark Lyden’s first top selling book “College Students: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” caught the eye of Senator John McCain’s son, Jim McCain and his fellow Marine Jesse Canella, both co-founders of HonorVet.org. This year, with their full endorsement and with the help from veterans from all four major branches of the military Mr. Lyden’s second book “Veterans: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” is hailed as the, “Best advice for getting hired that we have ever read." (Jesse Canella, CEO of HonorVet); and is helping reduce the high unemployment for our veterans and soldiers getting out of the military. Now Mark has turned his success, attention, and expertise to helping professionals with his new book “Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!”

About the Author

A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales Mr. Lyden and his wife donate back to charity to help our military veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!

· CreateSpace	· ISBN: 978-1463561598
· Price: $24.99	· Pages: 92 pages, Paperback, 6 x 9
· Pub Date: July 2011
www.DoThisGetHired.com

REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE

To a Recruiter, Attitude is The Most Important Attribute

2011-04-07T12:59:00.001-04:00

Your attitude is the most critical item when being evaluated or interviewed. It is not your grades. It is not how good you are as a team player. It is not your leadership skills. It is not even your intern, co-op or work experience. All very important things I admit, but not nearly as important as you having the right attitude.

To illustrate this point and take it one step further, here is a question for you the reader: What do you think is the biggest fear of a hiring manager is when hiring a candidate? Some might say it is hiring someone that can’t do the work. But that’s not it. In my experience, hiring managers are most fearful of hiring someone with a bad attitude. Why? Because it often has a domino effect that can be very damaging. Hiring someone with a bad attitude negatively affects the whole team. That in turn causes conflict. Conflict lowers morale. Lowering morale increases inefficiency. Inefficiency translates into lost time and money….which is misery for guess who? The hiring manager! At least, if the hiring manager hires an employee that can’t do the work, they have a fighting chance to work around it by sending them off for training or giving them different assignments; having them do work they can do. But having a candidate with a bad attitude is nothing short of throwing a psychological grenade in the middle of the room with all team members present.

Moreover, who do you think gets a lot of the blame, or even becomes the scapegoat if a candidate gets hired that has a bad attitude? Yes, you are right; the recruiter! So wouldn’t it be logical for a company to send out those people that tend to be the best at screening for this relatively subjective, very soft science attribute we call attitude? That is why you see mostly HR and business type people out on job and career fairs doing the initial screening. Engineers and technical people tend to concentrate and be more comfortable evaluating attributes that they can quantify, like GPA, months of intern or co-op experience, or even leadership. But again, it is your attitude that is most important. The recruiter’s mantra is, “hire for attitude, and train for skill.”

Mark Lyden

DoThisGetHired.com

Mark Lyden is the author: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! (Coming Summer 2011). A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

Veterans’ Day Comes Early for The Howard Keating Show Listeners

2011-04-01T10:58:00.000-04:00

I will be part of this wonderful event along with many other organizations throughout the country which will take place online April 6th through April 7th at www.keatingnetwork.com.

24-Hour Web-a-thon Will Connect Vets With Jobs, Financing and Franchise Opportunities

Veterans’ Day is observed every November, but for America’s veterans and listeners of The Howard Keating Show(www.keatingnetwork.com), the holiday will come early this year as Howard hosts a 24-hour national Web-a-thon to benefit struggling veterans and their families.

From 5:00 pm EDT on April 6 until 5:00 pm the next day, Howard will honor America’s most-important heroes by giving them what they need most – access to jobs and a better financial future. By bringing together authors, job boards, financing experts, franchising representatives, social services professionals, entertainers and a their fellow active soldiers Howard will be doing his part to end the national shame of poverty and hopelessness among so many of our veterans.

For more than 30 years, Howard Keating – a veteran himself -- has been one of the nation’s strongest advocates for supporting small, developing or minority-owned businesses. He has been involved with over 25 start-ups and 16 turnarounds and his expertise spans everything from manufacturing, to software, to electronics, to land development, to health care. He has deep roots with the intricacies of federal programs and he organized and chaired the World Summit for Small Businesses in Washington D.C.

For this live, interactive Web-a-thon, over 60 associations and 200 companies have pledged to help our returned soldiers:

 Get a new job;

 Start a business;

 Expand their business; and

 Obtain up to $25,000 in business development loans.

“Our goal for this program is to get 1,000 veterans to apply for a job, and make 1,000 business contracts available to veterans,” said Howard Keating, CEO of Keating Network and host of The Howard Keating Show. “This is just the beginning. We will continue these Web-a-thons until all of our veterans and their families have established the financial independence they so deserve.”

Contact Patrick Fitzgibbons, Fleishman-Hillard, (212) 453-2124, Patrick.fitzgibbons@fleishman.com

Time To Level The Employment Field for Veterans and Reduce Their Unemployment

2011-03-31T09:48:00.001-04:00

No need for me to site what is wrong with a system that allows veterans to have an unemployment percentage of over 21%. There is a lot of smart people out there; a lot smarter than me. Researchers, Ph.D’s, subject matter experts in my opinion have all basically failed to resolve the problem. I am not blaming any group in particular. There are plenty of good people out there trying to make a difference; trying to help vets get jobs. And we all need those people should keep trying. But can we all agree that whatever we are doing, it is just not working with an employment rate of veterans at over 21%.

I know this is a complicated subject. Very complicated when you realize what all the veterans have been through. But when something is complicated, at least in my experience as a Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company for nearly 15 years, getting back to the basics is often the best solution.

After talking to many veterans from each of the four major branches of the military, and after doing the research for my book, “Veterans: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” I see why most veterans are having problems getting a job. Veterans do not know the best ways to represent themselves within the job search process. It’s the fundamentals where they need help. They just have not been given the fundamentals. Well at least not until now.

Look, getting a job for veterans is not complicated if you break it down. It really is only three steps: 1. Finding a job opening; 2. Getting an Interview; and, 3. Doing so well in the interview that you get an offer.

The first step is research online, going to job fairs, and networking with your friends and family and letting them know to keep their eye out for you when it comes to openings. The second step is about putting yourself in a position with your resume and online application process, where you spark the interest of an employer enough so they contact you. That is an opportunity for an interview. The third step is performing so well in the interview that they have no choice but to give you an offer.

So here is the problem: there is a ton of advice on these and other job search topics on the internet. But anyone with an opinion can post advice even when they have no idea what they are talking about. I would say about 50% of the advice out there is bad.

What vets need is one comprehensive, easy to follow guide, with specific steps and techniques that are PROVEN to get veterans hired in this difficult job market. It needs to address the real issues that vets say they have when it comes to getting a job. It needs to offer new, fresh, easy to follow, and logical information and advice. The advice needs to be from a trusted source; from someone who actually recruits for a living, every day in this challenging market, so veterans can be assured they are getting the latest information on what works and what doesn’t. Lastly, it needs to work.

This is why I wrote the book/guide “Veterans: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” Simply put: It gets veterans jobs!

Mark Lyden

DoThisGetHired.com

Veteran 24-hour Web-A-Thon

2011-03-27T17:57:00.001-04:00

The Howard Keating Show is hosting a 24-Hour Veteran Web-A-Thon on April 6 – 7th, 2011. The program is anticipating over 1MM viewers during the 24-hour period.

According to Susan Wellman, Executive Vice President, “The web-a-thon is designed to help our veterans get jobs, start businesses or expand their existing businesses through opportunities and resources offered on the program….the purpose is to increase awareness throughout the media community of the significant needs and challenges our veterans face (90 percent divorce rate, 107,000 living on our streets, loss of homes and jobs, etc.). These heroes are so completely demoralized upon their return from service, and we need them to know that the corporations of the U.S. are behind them.”

The show’s goal is to honor our veterans by helping at least 2,000 get jobs, contracts, start a business, or create joint ventures.

When: April 6^th, 5:00 PM ET – April 7^th at 5:00 PM ET

Offering:

® Businesses looking to partner with businesses

® franchises at a discounted price

® Jobs from major businesses

® Loans to either start a business or to help increase sales of an existing business

® Distributorship opportunities

® Product and service companies that want to go global.

Media platform

® The Howard Keating Show (keatingnetwork.com)

Veterans

® 5.5 million veterans with disabilities

® 92 percent have high school diplomas or higher compared to 85 percent of the nation as a whole

® 90 percent of today’s returning veterans get divorced within 2 years.

® For every military personnel that that die in war, a veteran commits suicide

® 7.6 million Vietnam era veterans are living

® 9 million veterans are 65 and older

® 1.5 million veterans are female

® 20,000 veterans lost their homes in 2010

® 1.5 million veterans are in poverty or homeless

® 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night

Interviewing is Nothing More than Telling Stories

2011-03-27T11:41:00.003-04:00

Interviewing is nothing more than telling stories. It really is that simple. You are essentially scored on how well you tell stories about you and your experiences. So, why is it so hard and stressful for some? Some say because it is like a test. You really never know what they are going to ask. Plus, you are talking to a complete stranger and in a small time, trying to stand out, impress, and convince them that you are “all that and a bag of chips.” This is nerve-racking for some. I know it was for me when I was in your spot, but there is a solution.

The key to all of these methods is to prepare and to have examples in the form of a story. Any question they ask should be answered detailing: Situation –(S), Behavior –(B), Outcome –(O) and should be completed in about 90 seconds. That leaves you approximately 30 seconds for Situation, 30 seconds for Behavior, and 30 seconds for Outcome. I would say allow yourself 10 seconds total either way but no more and no less. In other words, your entire answer should lie between 80 – 100 seconds with the sweet spot at 90 seconds. If it is much shorter than this, usually there is not enough detail to warrant a really high score. If it is much longer than this, there is usually too much detail or it is not organized enough for the interviewer to quickly see what they need to. Although each section is very important and a must have to score high, if I had to choose which one was most important, I would have to pick Behavior. This is because all recruiters or interviewers should know what I have told you already and that is past behavior is often a good indicator of future behavior.

Here is how you get started: You should have 6 or more stories ready to go. Focus your stories on areas or topics that companies most likely will ask. Here are some:

Leadership
Dealing with a difficult person
Adaptability
Helping others (without being told to do so)
What did you do when something went wrong?
Solving a Problem
Your Greatest Strength
Your Greatest Weakness
Your Greatest Accomplishment
Your Greatest Disappointment

Now I know what you are saying: “I thought we weren’t supposed to memorize answers and regurgitate them back.” This is different. These are stories about your life -- your experiences. You already know them because you lived them. So really all you have to do is to tell your stories back to the interviewer in the S, B, O format. That’s it! You don’t have to memorize them because they are your experiences; you already know them.

What I suggest is to take a piece of paper and write down each of the topic areas above. Then put S, B, O below them and start filling in your story. Concentrate on the Situation first. Then move to Behavior, YOUR behavior. Finally, work on the Outcome. Once you have that down, all you really need to do is make sure the timing and details are in each section and you got it! Yes, you will have to practice them so they flow. Yes, it will take you an hour or two to develop and practice your stories, but that is all. Plus, you spent at least that much time on your resume, so if you just spend the same amount of time rehearsing your stories, you will do great. This is a critical step if you want success. Remember, companies hire the person, not the resume.

Mark Lyden

DoThisGetHired.com

Mark Lyden is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! (Coming Summer 2011). A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

Two-thirds of Veterans Applying for Jobs are Counted Out

2011-03-25T11:58:00.002-04:00

An alarming quote by a company representative needing to hire hundreds per month, “We love veterans. We want to hire as many as we can. But two-thirds of veterans applying online are counted out because they do not know the process.”

Before you apply to any job opening, before you set up any account or profile on any website, before you do anything, wouldn’t it be nice to have the inside story on what the manager is looking for in a candidate—the required skills or knowledge they want you to have—so that you can highlight them on your resume? Well, you already have that information in the job description, and here is how you use it and the best way to apply online. Here are the 7 Critical Steps:

Before doing anything else, go to the company website and print out all the jobs that interest you.
Take a highlighter and highlight the key words and phrases the manager uses to describe what skills and knowledge he is looking for right from the job description.
Take the key words and phrases you highlighted and incorporate them throughout your resume.
At the bottom of your resume, create a heading on your resume called "INTEREST AREAS," and take all the key words and phrases you highlighted and list them under this heading.
Then, set up an account online, taking those same key words and phrases and incorporating them into your profile or the “interest areas” section they ask for.
Then apply for the jobs.
As you apply to more openings, continually update the key words and phrases in your resume, in your profile or interest area section.

This is known as Reverse Engineering your resume. From the job description, see what the employer wants first. See what are key words and phrases are that they want to see. Then adjust your resume and apply. Just remember, to do it right, it will take you about 40-45 minutes to take your “base resume" and transform it into a resume specifically for each job.

Remember to approach it this way, as if each job that you apply to is the only job your resume is geared to. It may sound like a lot of time and effort, but for you to stand out and get contacted, your resume can’t just be a good match, but must be a great match. Reverse engineering is the way to ensure that that this is the case for every job you apply to.

Please keep in mind, your resume will get noticed, but this is only the first step. There are many more tips and tricks on the road to landing a job; but if you start with this, you are already ahead of the game.

Mark Lyden

DoThisGetHired.com

Things You Should Never Say during an Interview

2011-03-22T09:48:00.001-04:00

When interviewing you should never say you are a procrastinator. To a hiring manager or recruiter even saying that you procrastinate from time-to-time will trigger them to think you are not going to be able to meet deadlines. It will also lead them to think that when your boss gives you an assignment, you may leave it to the last minute and the final work will be poor quality. If you say you procrastinate those interviewing you will know that eventually there will be a time where you let something go too long and you will prevent your boss from meeting one of his deadlines and that will reflect bad on him.

Another thing you should never say in an interview is anything dealing with salary or how much you will be paid. Unless the interviewer brings it up specifically in the interview, it is not the right time to discuss compensation. Concentrate on doing the best you can in the interview and that will hopefully lead to that discussion after you get an offer. Leaving that topic until after you get an offer also prevents you from giving the impression that money is your motivating factor for wanting the job.

Lastly, you should never bring up a time when you failed at something. Everyone knows we all have times when we fail at something. And sure, the interviewer might ask you a direct question about a time when you failed at something; if they do be honest and answer it. But there is no need to bring up a failure in an interview unless you have to. There are people out there that believe that if they bring up one of their failures but then explain what they learned from it -- this is good; if the interviewer asks you directly about a failure you should do just that. However, there is no need to bring any negative story about yourself into the interview unless you’re directly asked to do so. Keeping things positive and upbeat gives you the best chance at leaving them with a positive impression and those are the people most likely to get a job offer.

Mark Lyden

DoThisGetHired.com

Mark Lyden is the author of a number of books: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! (Coming Summer 2011). A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

The Truth about Company Reps behind the booths at Career and Job Fairs

2011-03-21T11:12:00.000-04:00

In my experience, the smaller the company usually means the more experienced the reps are at recruiting; but not always. That is logical if you think about it because they usually have a smaller budget, go to fewer events, and, therefore have one or two of the same people doing all their events. That means they get a lot of experience and practice. However, with larger companies? It’s a totally different story. They usually go to a lot more events and need a lot more people to help at those events; often, many of those people lack the experience.

This is why I am very comfortable with saying there are as many poor recruiters out there as there are good ones, simply for the fact that many don’t do it enough to have the experience and practice needed to develop into good or great recruiters. This is reality. And the reality is that recruiting is a talent and a skill that needs to be practiced often to get better. It is the experience and repetition that is critical for recruiters to develop the skills and techniques that enable them to wade through a sea of candidates to find the very best ones, consistently. It takes a substantial and continuous amount of practice and learning to grow and get better. How can you get better if you only do it once a year? Even a better question: How can you call someone a recruiter that only does it once a year?

Now you might be asking, “Why is this important to me?” It is important because it helps you understand the importance of preparing for poor or inexperience people that are functioning in some capacity as a recruiter. If you get one of them, which again I figure is about a fifty-fifty chance, you need to ensure you do everything you can to prevent them from making a mistake.

This is exactly why I teach candidates and give seminars across the country. Job seekers need to format their answers in a way so no matter what the experience level or training of the recruiter or interviewer, the candidates gives a complete answer that needs no probing or follow up questions. This is also why I train recruiters. They need to know that most, year in and year out, will not give them enough detail in their answers. The recruiter needs to know how to ask probing, follow-up questions to get the detail they need to fairly assess a candidate’s answer. However, I can train all I want, but I can’t be in the room or at the booth to hear what everyone says. That is why the candidate needs to take the responsibility of preparing.

Mark Lyden

DoThisGetHired.com

A Candidates Ability to Strategically Navigate the Online Application Process is the Most Critical Part of their Job Hunt

2011-03-18T10:18:00.001-04:00

In the recruiting world, it is now being argued that a candidate’s ability to strategically navigate the online application process is the most critical part of their job hunt. I'm not a 100 percent there yet, but I'm close. The facts are there are more people getting hired off the Internet than through all the recruiting events and all the professional recruiters combined. I see nearly every large, medium, and even small companies now having some kind of online employment application process on their website. At job fairs and recruiting events, I consistently and constantly hear company reps instructing candidates to apply online, because that is the only way that they will be considered.

Why do you think the vast majority of companies ask you to go and apply online? If I didn’t know and I was reading this, I would probably say something like: “Who cares? Can you just tell me what I have to do to get noticed?” But having a true understanding of why so many companies are adamant about you applying online will help you understand why you have to do it a particular way. After all, you don’t want to get lost in the abyss called “Applying Online” like most do, right?

There are a few good reasons why companies want you to apply online. The obvious one you already know: it’s an efficient way of collecting and tracking a talent pool with little to no touch labor.

However, in the predominant motivating factor for corporate America is fear: fear of litigation and liability. You see, if you are a big company and it can be shown that you didn’t treat someone the same as everyone else or that you were not fair in the hiring process, you leave yourself open to, potentially, a very expensive lawsuit. Having some kind of system in place that treats everyone the same and doesn’t discriminate among applicants whether they are male, female, black, white, Hispanic, or whether their first name is Bill or Saddam, means that no one can be accused of discriminating against a candidate for gender or race or anything else. This reduces liability, which is the goal of corporate America.

Mark Lyden

DoThisGetHired.com

Formula For Getting Veterans A Job, SOLVED!

2011-03-17T11:18:00.004-04:00

Along with help of veterans from each of the four major branches of the military, I have authored a book that helps vets get hired in this difficult market. It is called "Veterans: DO THIS! GET HIRED!". The unemployment rate for vets is over 21%, I can help.

I coordinated writing the book with HonorVet.org a company Co-founded by Senator John McCain's son Jim McCain, and a fellow Marine Jesse Canella, Co-Founder and CEO. They've endorsed it and said: "If you’re a veteran you need to read this book!! Best advice for getting hired that we have ever read."

“I was blown away by the depth of his [the Author Mark Lyden] knowledge and solution based information is an understatement. If you are a Military Veteran or Active Duty Service Member making the transition, YOU NEED this book NOW before someone else steals your dream job.”… Mr. Todd M. Hecht, Veteran and Co-Owner and Managing Partner of Military Stars (www.MilitaryStars.com)

“Thoroughly enjoyed reading the publication. Your insight to helping educate our returning vets is remarkable.”… Gene Clark, Veteran and Director, Military & Veteran Enrollment Services, Rochester Institute of Technology

“You rocked during the interview! Can't wait to do it again!!”…The Keating Network Radio Interview (www.keatingnetwork.com)

A portion of the proceeds my wife and I are donating back to help vets.