What Color Is Your Parachute? Part 8

Yes, it's clever. Yes, it's risky. Yes, it takes some work. But you're got the brains to pull it off. You've got the brains to be good at this salary negotiation game.

What if, after all the trouble you went to, this just doesn't work? At least, at that place. The employer has a ceiling they have to work with, it's below what you're asking, and you are unwilling to lower your definition of what you're worth?

Daniel Porot, job-expert from Switzerland, suggests that if you're dying to work there, but they cannot afford the salary you need and deserve, you might consider offering them part of your time.

If you need, and believe you deserve, say $50,000 annually, but they can only afford $30,000, you might consider offering them three days a week of your time for that $30,000 (30/50 = 3/5 of a five-day workweek). This leaves you free to take work elsewhere during those other two days. You will of course determine to produce so much work during those three days per week you are there, that they will be ecstatic about this bargain-won't you?

The Sixth Secret of Salary Negotiation

Know How to Bring the Salary Negotiation to a Close; Don't Leave It "Just Hanging"

Salary negotiation with this employer is not finished until you've addressed more than salary. Unless you're an independent contractor, you want to talk about so-called fringe benefits. "Fringes" such as life insurance, health benefits or health plans, vacation or holiday time, and retirement programs typically add anywhere from 15%28% to many workers' salaries. That is to say, if an employee receives $3,000 salary per week, the fringe benefits are worth another $450 to $840 per week.

So, before you walk into an interview you should decide what benefits are particularly important to you. And then, after the basic salary discussion is settled, you can go on to ask them what benefits they offer there. If you've given this any thought beforehand, you should have already decided what benefits are most important to you, and be ready to fight for those.

And when this all is done, the discussion of the job, the finding out if they like you and if you like them, the salary negotiation, and the concluding discussion of benefits, then you want to get everything they're offering summarized, in writing. Believe me you do. In writing, or typing, and signed.

Many executives unfortunately "forget" what they told you during the hiring-interview, or even deny they ever said such a thing. It shouldn't happen; but it does. Sometimes they honestly forget what they said.

Other times of course, they're playing a game. Or their successor is, who may disown any unwritten promises you claim they made to you at the time of hiring. They may respond with, "I don't know what caused them to say that to you, but they clearly exceeded their authority, and of course we can't be held to that."

I repeat: get it all in writing. And signed. It's called a letter of agreement-or employment contract. If it is a small employer (10 or fewer employees) they may not know how to draw one up. Just put the search term "sample letter of agreement between employer and employee" into your favorite search engine, and you'll get lots of free examples. I particularly like the one from Inc.com. You or the employer can write this up. Then they can sign it.

You have every right to ask for this. If they simply won't give it to you, beware.

Conclusion: If Nothing Works

Remember, job-hunting always involves luck, to some degree. But with a little bit of luck, and a lot of hard work, and determination, these instructions thus far in this book, should work for you, as they have worked for so many hundreds of thousands before you.3 But. This country is so slow to pull out of the 2008 recession. It was a doozy of a recession. It's changed many employers' hiring patterns. It's increased many employers' reluctance to hire. So, you want to know what to do if none of this works, right?

Good. That's what the rest of this book is about.

1. One job-hunter said his interviews always began with the salary question, and no matter what he answered, that ended the interview. Turned out, this job-hunter was doing all the interviewing over the phone. That was the problem. Once he went face to face, salary was no longer the first thing discussed in the interview.

2. For a directory of Internet cafes around the world, see www.cybercafes.com.

3. Here is a letter from a job-hunter who had great success: Before I read this book, I was depressed and lost in the futile job-hunt using Want Ads only. I did not receive even one phone call from any ad I answered, over a total of four months. I felt that I was the most useless person on earth. I am female, with a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, a former professor in China, with no working experience at all in the U.S. We came here seven months ago because my husband had a job offer here.

Then, on June 11th of last year, I saw your book in a local bookstore. Subsequently, I spent three weeks, ten hours a day except Sunday, reading every single word of your book and doing all of the flower petals in the Flower Exercise. After getting to know myself much better, I felt I was ready to try the job-hunt again. I used Parachute throughout as my guide, from the very beginning to the very end, namely, salary negotiation.

In just two weeks I secured (you guessed it) two job offers, one of which I am taking, as it is an excellent job, with very good pay. It is (you guessed it again) a small company, with twenty or so employees. It is also a career-change: I was a professor of English; now I am to be a controller!

I am so glad I believed your advice: there are jobs out there, and there are two types of employers out there, and truly there are! I hope you will be happy to hear my story.

It is common sense.

To take a method and try it.

If it fails, admit it frankly and try another.

But above all, try something.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt (18821945).

Chapter 6.

What to Do When Your Job-Hunt Just Isn't Working We are hoping, of course, that all the strategies I have described thus far will lead to a happy outcome for you, in finding and obtaining a wonderful job or career.

But we all know that isn't how life works.

Sometimes, anyway.

Sometimes you work hard at the task, whatever it is.

You do everything just right.

And yet it doesn't solve your problem or resolve your dilemma. You are left right where you were. Plus now, on top of that, you're really frustrated. And depressed.

We've all been there.

And, since 2008 at least, the job-hunt has gotten more frustrating than ever.

And yet, my friend, your frustrating job-hunt has lessons to teach you.

And they are the lessons of life. They don't apply just to the job-hunt.

The lessons are simple.

Learn them now, if you haven't already.

For they are the secret of a victorious life: Never give up.

If you're up against huge forces that are beyond your control, figure out what is within your control.

Try a different approach.

Be willing to work harder at this, than you have up to now.

But don't just work harder. Work harder at a different strategy, than you've been following up to now.

Use your brains. Do some hard thinking. You can solve this.

You have a good heart. Believe in yourself.

Okay, now to the task at hand: finding work, or changing a career.

When you're tackling any task, and you're not getting results, the first thing you should always do is look at the tools you're using, to see if they're the best tools for the task. If they're not, then find a different, better tool, than the one that you've been using up to now.

I'll give you an example. Suppose you bought a good-sized growing tree that you want to plant near some home: it's four to six feet tall. And the only tool you've got for digging a hole in the ground for the tree's roots is a fork. A solid steel dinner fork. Can you do it? Dig wide enough, and deep enough?

Well, maybe. The fork wasn't made for this job, but maybe with enough time (Days! Weeks!) and determination, you can dig the hole with it, and plant the tree.

But the hard truth is: it's not really the right tool, for that job. You need a shovel, at the very least. If the choice is between a fork or a shovel (for this task), always choose the shovel.

So it is, with any task: what tool you use makes a difference.

This is especially true in the job-hunt. If your job-hunt just isn't working, you need to consider if there's a better tool available than the one that you've been using up to now.

"Tool" may have many meanings in everyday conversation. It may mean an instrument, or an implement, or a utensil, or an appliance, or something regarded as essential to the performance of your occupation. I mean it here in the last sense, where your occupation and preoccupation is finding work.

The Two Job-Hunting Tools

It turns out there are basically two tools you can use with your job-hunt. One is the one used by most job-hunters. We call that tool The Traditional Approach, or TA for short. The newer one is a tool we call The Creative Approach, or CA.

The primary difference between the two, lies in how you go about identifying which organizations to approach.

With the first, you a.n.a.lyze the needs of the job-market to target where you might work, and then wait until a target organization in that field announces it has a vacancy. At which point you then approach them through a piece of paper, virtual or real-your resume.

With the second, you begin by doing a careful inventory of yourself in order to decide what organizations match you. And then you do not wait until they announce they have a vacancy. You approach them anyway, this time through a person, specifically a bridge person-someone who knows them and also knows you.

Here is a detailed comparison of the two tools, the two approaches to finding work.

To download a printable PDF of this image, please visit http://rhlink.com/para14006 So, which tool should you use, when you're looking for work? That's the question.

And the answer? It's your call.

Typically we choose the first tool-TA-The Traditional Approach. Most of us know how to use it, or can quickly learn. It doesn't demand much time. Slap together a resume. Post it. Wait to see if you get any responses. Look at the ads online and off for vacancies. Approach those companies via your resume. Send out bushel baskets of resumes. If that doesn't turn up any job offer, send out another 500 to 1,000 more of your resumes. Or, since 2008 at least, post it online. Everywhere.

If this works, great! But then, if it always did, you wouldn't be reading this chapter.

If your job-hunt just isn't working, the first strategy you need to consider is switching tools. If you've been using TA-The Traditional Approach-and it just isn't working this time, then you need to try using the other tool, CA-The Creative Approach-which was outlined in the right-hand column of the chart we just saw.

It's harder to use this tool, this approach.

It requires more of you.

It's more work.

It takes longer.

It asks you to do some hard thinking and reflecting on who you are, and where you're going with your life.

But that is precisely its value. It's not just about work. It forces you to think about your whole life, and what you want out of life.

Does This Tool Really Work?

This all sounds just fine. In theory. But does it actually work? I mean, does it actually help us find a job when all else has failed, up to now?

Yes, it does. Impressively. Most of the time. Not just a job but work we really are looking for.

Here are the comparative statistics for all twelve job-hunting methods, starting with the method that is most effective, and working down from there. As it happens, this means our listing begins with this tool, The Creative Approach. It is the best.

THE BEST AND WORST WAYS TO LOOK FOR A JOB.

1. The Creative Approach. This method works 86% of the time. That means that out of every 100 job-hunters or career-changers who use this job-hunting method, 86 will get lucky and find a job thereby; 14 job-hunters out of the 100 will not-if they use only this method. You have a twelve times better chance of finding work using this method, than if you had just sent out your resume. I described this method in the comparison chart.

2. Job Clubs That Meet Five Days a Week from 9-5. This method works 70% of the time. That's ten times the success rate of sending out resumes. In this method, invented by the late Nathan Azrin, you meet with other job-hunters five days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.-using the hours 912 noon each day to work on the inventory of yourself, to research companies that interest you, and to contact them; then from 15 p.m. you go out into the community, town, or city, and actually visit places, doing informational interviews, or keeping appointments you've set up, to interview about a job.

During the morning sessions you work with a partner, and each partner takes turns listening to the other on the phone (usually by using an extension phone), and gives them feedback after they hang up. Then, prior to the afternoon, before you go out, each of you shares with the rest of the group what kind of job you are looking for. That means, you have other eyes out there looking for any leads (rhymes with needs) that might help you. And you of course do the same for them.