Gail Neal, from Detroit, Michigan, started looking for work on June 7, 2009.

From that day until Sept. 17, when she learned about Guerrilla Job Search methods, she had zero job interviews.

After starting a Guerrilla Job Search on Monday, Sept. 21, interviews came quickly.

She accepted a new job 51 days later, on Wed., Nov. 11, in a city where unemployment tops 25-30%.

How did she do it?

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Here’s how you can turn ordinary phone conversations into job interviews and job offers.

Best part: It works even when employers call to REJECT you for a job.

Want proof?

Here’s the story …

One of our readers, Joe L. in Pennsylvania, got hired by the same person who called to turn him down for a job. And it took only 7 days.

Joe had applied by email for an advertised job opening (not something we recommend you spend a lot of time doing, by the way).

“The president called me to state that I was not qualified for the position, but I kept talking. After a brief discussion, during which I gave him some business ideas and posed questions as if I were networking, he invited me in for an interview.”

The results?

“They created a position and presented an offer a couple of days after our meeting. The time between the first e-mail contact and job offer was 7 business days.”

Got that?

Joe was called by an employer, to tell him he wasn’t going to be hired.

Joe kept talking past the first “No.” He kept selling himself, by demonstrating his value to the employer.

Joe was not hired for the job he applied for. That position went to somebody else. And this is why you should not spend more than 20% of your time applying for advertised jobs! The competition is too stiff.

Joe was hired for a job that was created for him. Why? He did his homework, asked smart questions, and struck the company president as too valuable to ignore. Joe had ZERO competition for this job. And this is why you should have as many intelligent conversations with as many hiring authorities as possible.

Do NOT waste your talking to HR gatekeepers who can only fill jobs handed to them. Talk to the heads of departments and companies who can create jobs for you.

Action Step: Resolve to turn every phone call with an employer into a face-to-face meeting, even if that phone call is to reject you for a job!

Because, if you persist politely with more reasons to hire you, only good things can happen. At the very least, you can ask for a referral to another non-competitor, like this:

“Well, Mr. Employer, I want to thank you for your time. One last question: You thought enough of my skills to at least talk to me, and I appreciate that. What other companies would you call if you were in my shoes?”

If you quit at the first sign of rejection, however, you have ZERO chance of succeeding.

Remember that the goal of all your job search efforts, from sending out resumes to networking, is to get an in-person interview with someone who can hire you.

Joe got hired by persisting past the first “No” on the phone, and by proving his value with his suggestions and questions. And — as is so often the case when a job seeker demonstrates his/her smarts — the job was created just for him.

By the way, here’s the marketing basis for this: Every phone call is a chance to sell.

Example: Credit card companies train their customer service reps to sell something to every person who calls in, no matter why they call.

Whether it’s a new card for your spouse or a balance transfer, at the end of every conversation, credit card companies almost always ask you to do something that makes them money. Why? Because it makes them money.

Why not use this in your job search? Try selling yourself to employers on every phone call you make or receive. See if it doesn’t produce more interviews and job offers.

Want more ideas like these? Listen to our Free Guerrilla Job Search audio.

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Clay Shirky, professor at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, gave an intriguing talk about the Internet at the South By Southwest Conference in Austin, Tex.

His PowerPoint presentation had … one slide. And only one slide.

Here it is:

It says: “the internet is the largest group of people who care about reading and writing ever assembled in history [now what?]”

Now. I’m all about Funnel Vision, which is adapting and adopting new ideas to your job search.

So, how can you use this “one-slided” approach in your job search?

Here’s how …

Bring your laptop to your next job interview and tell the hiring manager, “I put together a PowerPoint with some ideas on how I can help your company. And I know you’re going to enjoy it, because it’s the shortest presentation in world history.”

Do you think you might have the hiring manager’s attention at that point?

In fact, they may beg you to explain or start the interview with your “world’s shortest PowerPoint presentation,” but you should make them chomp at the bit until they’ve asked all the standard, bone-headed questions, like, “Why do you want to work here?” or “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

Then, at the opportune time, launch into your PowerPoint.

Just like Clay Shirky’s above, your presentation will have exactly one slide.

Here’s what to your slide should say:

Today’s economy offers the most danger and the most opportunity for business since The Great Depression.

[Now what?]

You then spend the next 5-10 minutes talking about the 3 things you would do to make your target employer’s business more profitable.

Such as:

1) How I can save you $35,000+ a year in supplies by negotiating new deals with vendors (as I’ve done three times since 2007).

2) How I can cause your customer to buy repeatedly and refer others by delighting them with superior service (as I’ve done since 2006, winning two “superior service” awards along the way).

3) How I can double your revenue by putting 250% more prospects into your sales funnel (as I’ve done four times since 2005).

Get the idea?

When you use this “world’s shortest PowerPoint” tactic to get the attention of hiring managers, you force them to give you the floor in a job interview, where you can sell yourself by telling them specifically how you would make more money or save more money than you are asking for in salary.

Don’t think you can do this?

Think harder.

You must clearly spell out what you can do for employers if you want to stand out in this (or any) economy and create real, long-term job security.

If you liked this idea, you’ll love our free job-search CD (a $50.00 value).

Grab your Guerrilla Job Hunting audio here.

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Ever been to one of those “cattle call” job fairs at a hotel or event center?

If so, you likely left without a job. Like many folks did here.

That’s the bad news.

The good news?

You can stand out and impress employers at a job fair — and get hired — if you do just 3 things differently.

And, no, I am NOT going to tell you to wear a suit, gargle, or do any of that typical crap.

This is the story of one of our Guerrilla Job Search clients, Tom from Minneapolis, who found a great job by attending a job fair and impressing the hiring manager with how much he knew about the company’s plans to expand.

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A lot of job interview tips focus on what to say in response to tricky interview questions.

But one of the most over-looked interview techniques is a variant on the old saw, “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.”

And some cutting-edge research at MIT is backing this up, as I read in The Wall Street Journal.

Here are the relevant parts:

As a professor at the MIT Media Lab, Alex “Sandy” Pentland naturally knows how to take a quantitative and technological approach to research questions.

But when Dr. Pentland and his colleagues began applying technological tools to a question of human behavior — how people use nonverbal communication cues — the results were startling. And powerfully instructive for managers.

Many of Dr. Pentland’s findings — based on data from a device he calls a “sociometer,” a wearable, badgelike contraption that can continuously measure various nonverbal aspects of people’s interactions — have implications for both how executives communicate and how they understand what is being communicated to them.

…..

(more…)

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