Information with Value
I have now been writing my blog for almost three years, which coincided with the publishing of my handbook meant for the individual job seeker. For the person without a champion, as someone in their corner, advising and coaching them along in competition with scores of others while trying to be the one selected to receive a job offer. When you are competing for a job along with other people with a similar intent, there is no prize for second place – only one person gets the job offer. Shouldn’t that person be you? My aim has been to assist individuals, people who are navigating the obstacle course that is the jobs market and interview process. There are many people I’ve helped who have benefitted and a few have expressed as much on my LinkedIn profile (if there are any doubts).
But there is another indicator that provides me with validation, that what I know and share is impactful and has value to those who choose to be different and innovate on their own behalf, for their own sake to set themselves apart and indeed above others. Often I am contacted by professional recruiters, many of whom read my blog and others who’ve purchased my handbook. I am not shy and confidently claim, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that I am a keeper of lost knowledge as it relates to the task of looking for a job and then, more important, interviewing for a particular job.
Within the niche that is the recruiting market, those who work for recruiting agencies or firms, or are in-house recruiters or HR professionals, or anyone else for that matter tasked with recruitment and hiring of employees; the manner by which they conduct their work has shifted the last 20 years to primarily online functions and processes. This is fine for many kinds of positions for which companies hire. But when it comes to more difficult and harder to fill positions, for jobs that require special skills, or when an organization wants to attract hard to get people – they are also taking advantage of what I share. The same advice I provide to job seekers is also very instructive when turned around and capitalized on by HR pros and hiring managers.
As with any skills that take years to develop, if you don’t use them, you lose them. Besides active and direct recruiting done the old-fashioned way, I also provide different kinds of consultation and advisory that has involved training for teams of in-house company recruiters. Regardless of whether it is two or a team of 10, it improves the abilities and success ratios for the employers. It’s rewarding work and I’m happy to share the skills I’ve been developing for 23 years – and counting. But I always come back to what is my passion, to help the individual job seekers who feel somewhat at a disadvantage in the hiring process, hoping to level the playing field in their favor.
If recruiters and HR professionals find value in the advice I give then, clearly, individuals would be well served to take advantage of it. For more than 5 years I have been lecturing University students who have no such practice, much less experience looking for and interviewing for jobs after graduation. Recently I’ve begun conducting seminars for professionals who want to better prepare themselves for when they will need to find a new job, now or in the future. Often people have shared with me they’ve used what I’ve taught them when also competing for promotions and discussions pertaining to seeking pay raises.
For those of you who read my blog or have wisely purchased my handbook, whether you work for companies, or for academic institutions who have interest and could benefit, I will consider going almost anywhere to deliver content that involves two-days, 4 hours each (with breaks, of course) for those with interest. For more information, I can be contacted at: m.mayher@michaelmayher.com
I will be conducting my next seminar in Prague on the 26th and 27th of this month. If you are near my location and you or someone you know might benefit from learning skills most people increasingly do not possess, in order to optimize your job search and better odds of interview success, you can find registration info here: http://aauseminar.eventzilla.net
Over the course of my career I have well- learned and observed that people can change their circumstances for the better, anytime they choose, to make an effort to make a difference.
