How to get your email opened – top tips from Australia’s top marketers

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

It’s often enlightening to do random and off topic things just because you can. Yesterday I could and I did. I had a day as the roving Tweeting reporter at EMSA10, an email marketing summit run by the lovely team at Vision 6. I sat in the serenity of the NSW Art Gallery and listened to some industry leaders on email, brand and social media marketing, and how they all connect. Many of the pearls I picked up from email marketers would actually work well for any job seeker emailing an employer directly. So for some proven tips to make an employer instantly open your email, read on… That’s my average attempt at a direct call to action. The tips are actually better, so please persevere.

1)  Julian Peterson, Marketing and Online Director from Time Out Sydney said they send out their weekly email at a specific time on a Thursday, because that’s when people are starting to plan their weekends. Lesson here for job seekers: think about when people might be the most receptive to reading your email. You really don’t want to be in the middle of the Monday morning minefield.  Fun o’ clock on Friday might work better.

2)  Confine your creativity to the email not the header, suggested Julian. Enticing headers do not work for Nigerian spammers, so the same won’t work for you. Avoid extra exclamation marks, or headings that may suggest secret packages are on the way.

3)  Email is incredibly intimate said Jamie Madden, Creative Director of Cirul8. You are marketing in the same space that people receive information from friends and family. The message for job seekers “adopt a friendly and personal tone, without being too casual”.

4) David Smerdon, Digital Strategist from Clemenger BDO, suggested good emails and marketers need to have a call to action to a deeper place of engagement.  I don’t think he was talking marriage proposals. Perhaps for job seekers this means to think about the next step: where do you want this email to lead – a coffee, a telephone call, a lunch….

5)  A big theme of the day was preferential marketing – to try to understand readers’ preferences and deliver only information they need to build a relationship or make a decision.

6)  Allow people to unsubscribe easily. I forget who said this, but it’s a very useful, if slightly strange sounding, suggestion. Emotional blackmail never really works as a job seeking strategy. You don’t want to appear too needy. I’ve always found that if you make it easy for people to say no, they usually don’t. Or if they do, you usually get an honest explanation as to why.

7)  You might not be as sexy as you think you are. This gem came from Blair Cooke, Database Marketing Director of Fairfax Digital. He said marketers often rush to the proposal, before setting up the first date. As a job seeker or as a direct marketer, you may need to woo your recipient before getting down to the main game. I’ve rarely seen an unsolicited email lead immediately to a job offer.

8)  Do you truly know who you are? I thought I did but Jack Perlinski the Director of Brand Strategy at DAIS made me question it. He suggests that if you speak authentically and are sincere, others will respond.

9)  Jack also said that brand desire has moved far beyond ration, to the rationale. As a country that now spends $130 for every $100 we earn, marketing is (more than ever before) not about what people need, but what people want to make them feel more desirable. As a job seeker, if you are approaching people out of the blue with your compelling offer, you may need to think about shifting the boundaries of your discussion. Think beyond a job title that may exist in the company at that moment. To become desirable you could try to paint a picture of the future landscape of your industry, and how much prettier that picture would be with both of you in it.

10)  Email marketing is only spam when it’s done badly. That kind of just about sums it up. Perhaps I should have written this as my first tip.

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Don’t miss these special free gifts for your LinkedIn profile!!!

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

I’ve been trawling through LinkedIn today searching for some inspiration for a client’s profile, and I’m feeling a bit scarred.

I’ve witnessed several hundred crimes against copy writing. But then inspiration hit! Christmas is coming up.  I could save the world from blurry eyes and nodding off.

These gifts are for those people who’ve just copied and pasted large chunks of their resume into one long, never-ending, yawn-inducing, unintelligible paragraph.

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☜

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⇨

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♦

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✔

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Specially selected by InterviewIQ and tested in all the main browsers.

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If you’re a word nerd you’ll love this little resume tool

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

Karalyn's Wordle Image

Karalyn’s Wordle Image

A great tool for your resume

If you’re ever stuck on working out your unique qualities, put your marketing/technology hat on for a minute or two. Sometimes it’s better to ask other people. With that in mind I copied and pasted all of my Linkedin recommendations into this website, Wordle then I hit go.

Voila! An instant tag cloud. I’ve translated my word nerdiness into something visual.

I’m glad I’m so professional. 🙂

Try it for your resume. See what it says about your strengths.

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To follow or not to follow – tips for Twitter job hunters

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

Sometimes I love Twitter. I love it because it buzzes so much with people, ideas and connections, kind of like a networking event on steroids. People pop up, answer a question, crack a joke or two, then they move on. But at times I loathe Twitter for exactly the same reasons. It is so easy to get lost in all the chatter, and to think you’re making worthwhile connections, when you’re not.

As a business owner I’ve experimented with Twitter for the past nine months or so. I’ve wanted to keep a conversation going as it’s an easy platform to keep connecting with people who may help my community. I look for people who may have interesting ideas I can share; people who might add to the conversations on my blog; and people who might in turn share my ideas.

It’s been a learning journey. Along the way I’ve become much more discerning about whom I’ll follow for conversations. This post is aimed at Twitter relatively newbies and people who may want to use Twitter to build connections to find a job. If you’re a Twitter sophisticate, as I know many millions are, and you have some better ideas for my readers about conversing in the Twitterverse, I’d love to hear them,  on Twitter or otherwise.

Here’s what I look for when I look for people to follow.

I take a look at people’s bios. I pass on the network marketers, crystal healers, cliché peddlers and herbalists and focus on people who have similar interests to me. It is very easy to go down the path of thinking “I’ll follow that. They sound fun. That could be useful” but my advice is skip it. I’ve found when I have moved away from my fundamental interests, I’ve had way too many spam type direct messages land in my inbox and a twitter stream that’s clogged with useless junk.

I look for plenty of @ signs, and preferably a few @ signs where someone is sending out others’ information rather than only a conversation between two people. I also look for RTs. If someone is a sharer of other people’s stuff I’ve figured they may well share mine as well.

I look to see acknowledgments and “thank you’s”. That tells me there is a person behind the tweets who may want to talk to me.

I look to see how sophisticated the tweeter is. By this I mean if they know how to use hash tags or shortern URLs. I’m guessing if they use these simple tools, they’ve probably spent some time working out how Twitter can work. I also check out whether the tweeter lists people. That tells me they are likely to be sorting their conversations into some sort of order.

I look for a link back to a blog or a site that’s updated often. I do this as I am looking for interesting stuff to share with my followers or comment on, again as a building block for a relationship.

Finally I look for a person tweeting, rather than a machine, and someone who may make me laugh. All this tweeting does have a point. That’s to turn online connections into offline conversations and beyond.

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Can someone please give this man a job!

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

How to find a job in Australia – part 1

I, a skilled migrant, like many other people moved to Australia looking for new challenges and a better quality of life. I arrived a few months ago, full of hope, highly motivated an eager to start a long a promising career.

Like many of skilled migrants I started my job hunt through internet sites, companies, recruitment agencies, job boards. You name it! I started writing resumes, cover letters, looking for a first chance here, there and everywhere.

I picked up the phone and called recruiters. After a couple of weeks I got my first interview. How exiting! I had to be sure my suit was clean and ironed, as well as my shirt. I spent some time deciding which tie was the perfect match and of course I polished my shoes so they shone like a mirror.

So, there I was, outside the building 30 minutes before the appointed time. I had to be on time and wanted to have some spare time in case something went wrong. I just can’t avoid thinking about the worst case scenario. I’m a Risk Manager.

The interview started well. The person in front of me asked questions about my background. She asked about the places I had worked for before and not so relevant questions about my experience. Again, I, full of enthusiasm answered all the questions. She said she will look for a suitable position for me but I never heard back from her.

I tried to call but she never answered any of my calls. What went wrong? Am I a bad candidate? My experience is not relevant? These and other questions were pumping through my head. Maybe I was so enthusiastic that this recruiter thought I was childish, not serious at all.

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 1

Being enthusiastic is good. Showing too much enthusiasm not. It might give the wrong impression.

Round two!

I kept doing the same, internet, telephone, resume, cover letter. Then I got a second interview! This time I toned down the enthusiasm. I explained to the recruiter (who, off the record, wasn’t very friendly) that I was open for any role in my specific sector as my skills would fit. But she said “You should know exactly what you are looking for. There’s no use for me to interview you if you don’t know what you want!”  Ouch! I think the last time I felt like crying was when I was about seven years old.

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 2

It is fine to be open to any role. But still being specific at the interview would help (even if it’s with a recruiter who might have different suitable roles for the same candidate).

I kept on looking for a good job and responding to job advertisements like crazy. I applied for many jobs within a week thinking. “Of course my academic background, skills and experience would be very useful for any organization. They will read my CV and will call me to make an interview appointment”. After a couple of weeks the telephone almost had spiderwebs all over it. Not one single call! Can’t tell the same about my inbox. Every day I could read two or three emails, and in a funny way, I could read the same in almost every one of them:

“Dear XXX

Thank you for your interest in the XXX position at XXX and for your application.

After careful consideration, I am sorry to advise that your application has not been successful on this occasion. We received a number of applications from candidates whose experience more closely matched our client’s requirements.

Please do not hesitate to contact us in the future if we advertise a position that is of interest to you. Thank you again for your application.

Yours Sincerely,

XXX”

Something must be wrong I thought. So I start thinking about my approach strategy. I looked for advice from anybody. I started working on very specific applications, and of course, making it unique for every position and sending it to a “person” not through a website.

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 3

Peter Drucker once said: “My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions”. That means, nobody knows everything, especially about job hunting techniques in a foreign country. Ask some questions!

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 4

Job applications (resume and cover letter) have to be specific and tailored to each job opening.

Phew… so much still to learn. I started this new approach, and it worked! I even got a call from the same agency I had my first interview. Not with the person I had the interview with, but from another girl, really friendly, who by the way I have not met in person yet. She got a job for me! And she organized an interview for me directly at the company, with the Area Manager. Great! Just what I was waiting for! I prepared for the interview, did a lot of research about the company, although I knew the company already, a major Swiss investment bank, and the role, exactly the same I performed back “home” for another investment bank.

The interview went extremely well. I knew all about the duties and even more. The manager told me they were just looking for somebody on a three month contract because they needed “an extra pair of hands,” nothing fancy.

A week after the interview I got a phone call from the girl at the agency “sorry that I have to deliver bad news. They think you are too overqualified for the position since they just need an extra pair of hands for equities operations and you have proficiency in equities, fixed income, derivatives and FX but they don’t need that much”. Again, my whole enthusiasm and motivation vanished in a second (I recovered it of course). What could have happened? Was I sent to the wrong interview?

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 5

There is a big difference between Recruiters and Consultants. Some people working as a recruiter might not even know what the advertised job is about. See this post for more detail.

I called another person at that agency. He said he would put me forward for an interview at the company after showing me the job description. But I never heard from him again. I called him many times, no answer. Could it be that he had been swallowed by earth? Seems so, but I don’t think so. Anyway, I knew this position existed in that company and it was suitable for me. So I prepared a great cover letter, tailored my resume for that specific position and just before sending it, I reviewed it again. Something was missing. Of course something was missing! Who should I address the application to?

I dressed up, shiny shoes, nice tie, everything was perfect. I went all the way to their offices. When I entered a girl approaches me and asks “Can I help you?”  I say “Hi, I saw on your web page you have a XXX position open, I would like to apply for it but would like to know who should I address it to?” “That would be me!” she says. Amazing! So she gave me her business card. I said thank you and left after a really small talk. The next day I send her my job application, of course everything addressed to her, Name, position, business address, perfect! The following day she called me to schedule an interview.

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 6

Make it personal! Use a name. People feel flattered if they receive a personal letter, and it also shows some research about the company. It shows that you want the job.

I was exited about the interview. I prepared myself and I must say I think I did well. Showing enough enthusiasm, a positive can do attitude, talking slowly and straight to the point, asking a lot of questions about the company. Everything went beautifully. The next day I got a call to make an appointment to do a test at the office. I passed that. The next step was a presentation. I spent the whole week I had working on that. It was my chance to blow their socks off and get the job! They were amazed after the presentation, and they told so. A couple of days after I got a call from them:

“What you did was really amazing! We can see you are really committed with excellence and can go way far beyond expectations, but” oh-oh! A “but” is never good “you are too senior and overqualified for what we need right now”. Come on! Not again! I said I could start at a lower level, I really don’t mind going a couple of steps backward since I am new in this market. I would prove I can do more with time and get more responsibilities. I tried to negotiate something but as they said, they felt I was “too good for them”.

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 8

A job interview and the job per se are like a relationship. If I like a girl I would ask a lot of questions about her, what she does, what her plans are?, if I like the job I have to show I like it and have to show my interest. But then, there’s lesson nine.

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 9

You can’t win them all, and sometimes there’s no explanation. Carry on and never give up!

Back on the job hunt I saw an advertisement, read it carefully and prepared all my documents. I debated about whether to send it since in the requirements was clearly stated: “experience in an Australian company fundamental”. I decided to give it a go, I already had the “no” so why not look for a “yes”. And yes it was! I got the interview with the recruitment consultant (she was definitely a consultant) who by the way, committed to helping me find my first job since she understands I am a skilled migrant looking for a first opportunity.

She put me forward to an interview with the company, directly with the manager that would have been my boss. She even said we, the manager and I, would surely get along really well since we are in the same level, she made a pause and said: “maybe you are a little bit above her”.

The interview went well. I could feel that, and believe me, after so many interviews you learn how to feel those things. I even closed the interview saying I would really love to be part of the team and start immediately. A week later I got the feedback which was read to me by the consultant:

“XXX is really charming with a positive can do attitude, really motivated and motivating. He has an amazing academic background and working experience. He would definitely add a lot of value to the company and will go beyond expectations, but this time we will not proceed on hiring him”.

So am I good or not? What happened? There was something wrong for sure, but what?

How to get a job in Australia – Lesson 9 (again)

You can’t win them all, and sometimes there’s no explanation. Carry on and never give up!

Anyway, there is nothing to do other than keep on looking for a right position and stay hungry! And stay looking foolish! I had another interview a couple of days ago, with a new recruitment agency, and will be put forward for two roles with two different companies. I really hope I can give you good news this time.

However, there is so much I have learnt through all this time, and even if I have not landed in a great job yet, I know I will very soon. The the knowledge I have acquired is a plus and something I would have not had in any other way. I am really happy to share it and help others in their hunt.

Sincerely,

Mr. John Jobhunter

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What to do if you don’t have referees

by K B , updated on November 8, 2020

If you’ve been out of the workplace for a while or changed jobs a lot you may have trouble supplying recent referees. You may even be concerned about the type of reference you’ll receive. Many people have had bosses they don’t trust and jobs that are just rubbish. First step, don’t panic. I get this question a lot. There are ways upon ways around this little dilemma. Here are few things that I know have worked.

How hard have you looked for them?

 

At the risk of sounding like my Mum did when I said I’d lost something, just how hard have you really looked? How many people are on Facebook now? Is it 500 million? How many degrees of separation are there? Six, five, four? Think Google and think laterally. Then proceed with caution. If you do decide to approach someone who may know someone on Facebook, just be respectful of their privacy and don’t demand that they help. Not everyone likes to be approached this way.

Alternative referees

If you can’t provide a reference and the recruiter seemingly won’t budge, be helpful. Don’t let the conversation stop there. Explain why you can’t supply referees and skip the BS. Good consultants are not silly and will have heard a variation of the excuses you can think you can get away with. Ask the recruiter to ask the employer what they would accept as an alternative. I’ve heard job seekers who have provided recent performance reviews. I’ve heard other people negotiate a longer probationary period.

There are alternatives as well. Some employers still will accept character references from other areas of your life such as teachers, lecturers, clients, customers, colleagues, suppliers and referees from voluntary work or sporting teams.

How to and when to bring it up

State that you have no referees at the start of the recruitment process you risk sounding defensive. This is the last impression you want to create. At the end of the interview explain your dilemma. Explain also the work you have done to find your referees. You don’t want the recruiter to think you are covering something up.

You may not be asked for a reference

Recruiters and employers will not tell you this, but it happens a lot. I was once hired by a recruitment consultancy who did not ask me for a reference. If you impress during a job interview and the employer is really keen (or desperate) to take you on, the question of references might not come up. You’ll just be hired.

One place I worked took me on quickly but then put into my letter of offer that my employment was subject to successful reference checks, which they never undertook. We both got busy – I did a good job and my employer forgot the whole reference issue.

I once recruited for a small business. The owner insisted I didn’t do a reference. She said they were rubbish. Watch this clip for a funny take on how people get around this question. It’s a plug for their business, but funny just the same.

The thing I’ve found in my years as a recruiter is that if an employer wants you badly enough, they’ll find a way to take you on, references or no references.

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