Jobworksaz.com - Job Seeker Tips

How a Third Person Can Aid a Difficult Job Search
By Joyce Lain Kennedy

Dear Joyce: I'm 62, have an MBA earned in the 1970s and am unable to find employment despite using a wide range of job-hunting techniques. Suggestions? -- K.L.

Dear K.L.: Alan (not his real name) is a 55-year-old biochemistry Ph.D. in St. Louis who's been working at a casino for five years. Despite Alan's previous biochemistry accomplishments at a big-name company, Alan was downsized in a merger after 25 years. His family obligations prevented relocation and there were no comparable jobs in his area of expertise.

Being financially secure, but too young to waste talent at 50, Alan decided to get a "fun" job in gaming, working his way up from a blackjack and craps dealer to pit supervisor. The gaming gig has paled and Alan, now free to relocate, wanted to return to the scientific world.

Fat chance of that happening -- after five years out of his profession -- until Paul Hawkinson, executing an annual hands-on exercise, snatched victory from the jaws of ageism. Fortunately for Alan, Hawkinson, publisher of The Fordyce Letter, the premier training newsletter for the employment industry, is a 25-year veteran of the placement-and-search industry.

The details of how Hawkinson solved Alan's job-finding challenge and returned Alan to his professional field are revealed in the October issue of "The Fordyce Letter." But one overriding strategy made it work: Hawkinson became an agent for Alan in a placement effort that shows the power of injecting a third person into a difficult job hunt.

I asked Hawkinson if he believed Alan's candidacy picked up steam because of a third person's participation and he said yes:

"I was probably able, as an agent, to paint a word picture that the candidate couldn't have done. Tooting one's own horn is much harder than having a professional toot it for you. Your viability as a candidate takes on more credence and credibility when others present you."

Here is the formula Hawkinson used and a synopsis of how the hunt played out:

A "targeted broadcast" letter, based on Internet research, generated leads. The letter was addressed not to staffers in the human resources department, but to executives with an overall corporate vision who could create a spot for Alan, rather than just considering him as someone to fill an existing slot -- CEOs and COOs. The letter, with a condensed résumé, was sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, and aimed at small- to medium-sized firms where the top people are not so overly protected by legions of gatekeepers.

Hawkinson harvested positives from Alan's five-year casino job: a boost in Alan's people, administrative and computer skills, building an analysis that made him more than just another "white coat." The resulting letter to carefully selected target companies valued Alan's well-rounded skills package:

"His unique and extensive background and outgoing personality would make him an ideal candidate for a position as a scientific right hand for a busy top manager such as yourself ..."

The letter, under 200 words, mentioned that Alan would be on vacation at the end of summer, a fact aimed at creating a sense of urgency.

Five days after mailing the letter, inquiries began coming in a slow but steady stream. Hawkinson spoke with inquiring employers, praising Alan with "word pictures."

After seven weeks, Alan was hired as acting CEO while a small pharmaceutical company's owner is on a year's sabbatical.

Must you find a recruiter or placement professional to act as your agent? Not necessarily. Hawkinson says a group of business people between jobs in St. Louis are functioning as each other's unpaid job agents.

Note: Anyone who accepts a fee-for-job agenting should first check state licensing requirements. Just as celebrities benefit from agents, so do prime-time people who can't seem to catch a break.

E-mail questions for this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at jlk@sunfeatures.com.