Tag Archives: You’re Hired radio show

The Disabled and Job Search

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Job search is tough for the sighted; imagine how much more difficult it is for the blind, or others with disabilities.
Job search is tough for the sighted; imagine how much more difficult it is for the blind, or others with disabilities.

Job search is tough, but for a very large, growing percentage of the population it is even tougher. I am referring to those who have disabilities. About one in five people–a whopping 20%–have disabilities that require some special consideration during work. But as my interview with Kerry Obrist indicates, the extra work required to successfully integrate people with disabilities into their job is more than worth it, because they can be incredibly productive workers. Please click on the following link to download a podcast of this interview, or to play it right now.

http://bit.ly/1kjb16K

Kerry’s own story is quite impressive and interesting. She was thirty years old, working as a school psychologist, when a degenerative disorder made her legally blind. She is now the CEO of a company that assists other companies in integrating the disabled into their work force.

Radio Interview: Informational Interviewing with Marty Gahbauer

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If you want to learn about informational interviewing, then it helps to do so from someone who conducted over 100 of them and learned the nuances of this process. That person is Marty Gahbauer and my radio interview with him was a fun opportunity to go over many of the most important insights he shares during a much longer seminar.

The following link will take you to a site where you can download a free podcast and then listen to it when the time is right. That could be during your commute, at the gym, during a shopping trip, whenever. http://bit.ly/1gCrBlx

I hope you enjoy it and please share it with other jobseekers who could benefit from this approach. In a shameless plug, my book, No Medal for Second Place: How to Finish First in Job Interviews, has a chapter covering the subject.

My best,

Tom Payne

 

Accessing the Hidden Job Market

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This is the first of several posts on informational interviewing. The final post will have a link to a radio interview I did with a master of this networking technique: Marty Gahbauer.

How do you gain access to a club that is operating behind closed doors? You knock. Requesting an informational interview is like knocking on a door and seeking a day pass to an exclusive club, and depending on how well your interview goes, you might end up getting an offer to join this club.

interview-questionsCompanies frequently have opportunities that the rest of the world never sees. They are never posted and are filled by networking. Therefore, you’re only hope of being considered for these opportunities is through networking.

There are many ways to network beyond speaking with your personal contacts. LinkedIn is a networking tool. Recruiters can be used to network. But informational interviewing is unique in that it intentionally expands your networking into industries different from the ones you’ve worked in. And this is what makes it such a valuable tool.

The purpose of an informational interview is to learn about another field of work and see how well your skills, strengths and interests align with this field. It is also a way of exposing your brand to others in these industries to see if it is valued.

Something I strongly recommend is to choose more than one industry, but no more than three. By putting your eggs in more than one basket you will increase your odds of finding an opportunity. And by focusing on three industries instead of ten you will develop some buzz around your name within those industries. In other words, as you get to know more people in a particular industry, and they get to know you, you will increase the likelihood that your name will pop up in conversations and that you will be considered for open positions.

Next, we will speak about the importance of developing your brand and the powerful impact this can have during an informational interview.