There's an old marketing maxim I live by when advising job seekers. It dates back to the 1930s and comes from Robert Collier, one of the best writers of sales letters who ever lived. It goes like this: To create successful advertising, the writer must enter the conversation already going on in mind of the reader. Because everybody is thinking about something. If you can tap into a person’s thoughts with your message, they...

You can find great job-hunting ideas by reading publications that have nothing ostensible to do with job hunting. Example: “The Sticking Point Solution,” a business book by marketing visionary, Jay Abraham.What, you may ask, does a book for entrepreneurs and marketing/sales professionals have to do with your job search?Nothing. And a whole lot.You’ll find nothing in it if you’re content with ordinary job-search tactics. The...

If you’re looking for a job, here’s a strange question: How much fun are you having?Not much? Well, you might want to change that.That’s the advice of former Minnesota Viking Fran Tarkenton, who suggests you try to find the fun in every task: “If it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right,” he says.Wouldn’t it be nice if you were as motivated to write your resume tomorrow as you were to play Little League or skip rope as a chi...

I’ve written before that you can learn more about finding a job by emulating marketing experts than by reading every employment book in the library.And I still believe that’s true.To illustrate, here’s a tactic from Bob Bly, publisher of The Direct Response Letter (www.bly.com) and author of more than 70 books on advertising, copywriting, and other topics.Bly suggests the following for publishers of email newsletters (e-zin...

Can Twitter help you find a job?Yes. But only if you use it right.It can be a huge challenge sorting the wheat from the chaff on Twitter, where millions of updates appear daily, only a few of which contain useful job-search information.Let’s start at the beginning, then explore two case studies.Twitter is the micro-blogging service that lets users send updates (“tweets”) of 140 characters or less to people in their network....

You think it’s tough to find a job now?It’s been tougher.Like in the Great Depression of the 1930s, for example.Try to imagine a world without Twitter or Facebook, when the unemployment rate ranged from 14.3% to 24.9% (1931 to 1938).Would you be interested in learning two ways to find that worked back then -- and still work now?Here they are...1) Appeal to the self-interest of the employerIn the book, "Pick Your Job And Lan...

Looking for a job?Raise your hand if you love networking.I thought so.And why don’t you get a thrill out of talking to friends and family about your job search?For many folks, it’s a problem of how to start. There’s really no way to ask, “Know anyone who’s hiring?” without feeling awkward.To fix that, here are two ways to open your next networking conversation that are proven to produce job leads -- and won’t make you feel...

I recently reviewed several hundred emails from job seekers across the country.As you might imagine, many things are bugging many job seekers in this economy.But I boiled their frustrations down to four common ones.Here they are, with suggested solutions.Which of them apply to you?Frustration #1: “I submit my resume for a posted job and never hear back from employers. Did they even read my resume?”Solution: Here are three w...

Networking -- everyone will tell you it’s a great way to connect with employers.Yet, I get more questions and complaints from readers about networking than almost any other employment topic.Why is that?Here’s an example. Russ, in Minneapolis, writes:I am looking for a job. The problem is that I have not the foggiest idea where to network. I am looking for a management position, possibly in manufacturing, but I don’t know wh...

I got an email recently from a man that read: “I followed all your advice but I have not gotten any job interviews. Do you have any other suggestions?"I took a look at his LinkedIn profile and found that he hasn't followed all of the advice I gave him.In fact, as near as I can tell, he’s not doing anything I suggested.And, yet, he wants more ideas from me.So, here's my advice to him and anyone else struggling to find a job:...