Welcome to The Hire Target™ Blog

Aligning Military Associates and Civilian Senior Management with Business Continuity

Coach Tom Stein

Certified Career Management Professional

www.thehiretarget.org or www.greyhawkaviationsafety.com or www.thehirechallenge.com

As a career coach I view the present work environment as a constant atmosphere of change and challenges. When asked for an opinion about opportunities I have pointed a few qualified career seekers to the field of Business Continuity Planning, BCP. Understandably, it is dependent upon their background and capabilities.

I target military members and experienced corporate management because it is a field these hard chargers are have experienced when contingency plans were implemented.

As a mission commander in the Marine Corps, contingency planning was never a second thought. Your mission always addressed contingencies plans whether they were for emergency evacuations or full-blown operational maneuvers. When I transitioned out of the military, I found BCP as a perfect avenue and environment where I could leverage my skills and expertise to provide a value to companies who needed guidance in developing a solid and realistic ‘playbook’ if their work environment was ever challenged.

What is BCP?

BCP stands for Business Continuity Planning meaning what are you going to do when your company or employer experiences a business-threating issue. Most folks automatically think of terrorism, but that is just one threat.

As defined by the Disaster Recovery Journal, Business Continuity Management, BCM “Holistic management process that identifies potential threats to an organization and the impacts to business operations those threats, if realized, might cause, and which provides a framework for building organizational resilience with the capability of an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value-creating activities.” (https://www.drj.com/resources/tools/glossary-2.html)

The Best Methodology has Already Been Built for You

You need guidance and, a game plan. And the best methodology out there has been developed by Virtual Corporation. Why is it the best? Because it addresses and eliminates the confusion on how to address BCP within any business, profit or non-profit, and allows the planner and manager to develop a solid and cohesive plan.

The methodology is called the Business Continuity Maturity Model^SM (BCMM^SM). The documentation is straightforward and easily digestible. What I find tremendously valuable is how Virtual addresses and defines the maturity levels of a solid BCP program.

Did I mention the documentation is free for review? Now that is a great deal. Click here to review. (http://virtual-corp.net/Home/Services/BusinessContinuityMaturityModel.aspx)

Employment Statistics for This Field

I see BC Management, Inc. as the best source for employment statistics and a good point of contact to address occupational questions and research. For the past fourteen years they have published compensation reports that detail the financial rewards you have the opportunity to attain in the BCP field.

This organization has the best track record for keeping a pulse on the BCP field. I have yet to find anything close to their statistical research. http://www.bcmanagement.com.

The Big Picture

I have posted an in-depth presentation for your review of what I envision BCP. As an adjunct professor for Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, I always take the opportunity to incorporate the material into my students’ coursework. You will see it emcompasses much of the information I have mentioned as well as the approach and processes entailed in developing a solid BCP environment.

This is a great career opportunity for those transitioning out of the military and those experienced associates researching new career fields.

To view a presentation , contact us at:

www.greyhawkaviationsafety.com

or

www.thehiretarget.org

MMOA State Report Article 22 Feb 2016

Should I Stay or should I go Jan 2016

Tom Stein & Greg Wood

Certified Career Management Professionals

www.thehiretarget.org

 PART 2 – Taking Control

Things have changed, times have changed, and times are tough. Since the recession began, most of the new jobs added in our “recovery” each month are low paying service and retail related positions, not the higher paying jobs we saw before the recession. Bottom line: the competition for higher paying jobs is extremely fierce. This means you have to change your mind set. You have to take control.

How do you take control?

Start by reordering your priorities. Stop spending all your time chasing posted jobs on Internet job boards. If you’re relying on playing the Internet Lottery to find your next job you’ve got a “Monster” of a problem. Limit your “Career Builder” playing time to 15-20%. “Indeed,” you may get lucky by rolling the “Dice,” paying to climb “Ladders,” all the while looking for those “Hot Jobs.”  Who knows, eventually you may end up “Simply Hired.” But there’s a better way to land the job you really want.

STOP WORRYING ABOUT FINDING A “JOB” AND START THINKING ABOUT YOUR EMPLOYABILITY!

Here are 6 Tactics for a Successful Job Search in the New Economy:

Tactic #1: Fire Your Resume

Your resume is a necessary evil. You have to have one because that’s how the game is played. But it’s doing a lousy job of getting you in front of the hiring manager – the one person who can truly appreciate the value you bring to the table.

Tactic #2: Target Companies, Not Jobs

This is the BIG shift you need to make in your thinking! Instead of chasing posted jobs, start thinking about the kinds of companies you’d like to go to work for.

Tactic #3: Define Your Value

What is it that makes you employable to your targeted companies, moving forward? It’s a lot more than static information on your resume. Your resume is old news! Companies don’t hire you for your past; they hire you for their future, Your value is a blend of your skills, experience, expertise and style that may uniquely fit your targeted  organization and be instrumental in helping them increase profitability.

Tactic #4 – Target the Hiring Manager

Sending your resume into targeted companies where you’d like to go to work and where you know you would bring added value is not enough; you need to identify the hiring manager. How do you find the names of hiring managers in your targeted companies? This is where your professional network comes in, particularly the people you’re connected with if you’re on the business-oriented social media site LinkedIn.

Tactic #5 – Get Referred to the Hiring Manager

Without a doubt, the best way to get an interview is to be referred to the hiring manager by someone he or she trusts.  Again, this is where LinkedIn can help.

Tactic #6 – Broadcast Your Value… Not Your Resume

Educate the business community (hiring managers) about who you are, and the potential value you offer, WITHOUT using your resume as an initial means of introduction. This is where your Biography comes into play.

For more information on these tactics and samples of a biography and associated cover letters, please don’t hesitate to email me.

Are you willing to finally take control of your job search?

Your Job Search:  From C*R*A*P … to CONTROL

 Part 1 of 2

Tom Stein

Certified Career Management Professional

www.thehiretactics.com

Many of us in the military environment need a bit of bitter truth so I offer the below message to you all!

 PART 1 – Stop with the C*R*A*P

If you still believe your “powerful resume” and “knock ‘em dead cover letter” will get you in the door and in front of the hiring manager, good luck. The traditional system of finding employment has turned to C*R*A*P:

Clicking on a job title

Reviewing the job description

Applying for the job

Praying the phone will ring for an interview

Here’s some advice to those of you who remain stubborn, still engaged in mass resume distribution and waiting for the phone to ring: TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR JOB SEARCH! Stop waiting for opportunity and start creating opportunity. Be willing to change your mindset. You need to conduct a strategic vs. traditional job search that focuses on broadcasting your VALUE to the business community, not your resume. Your biggest challenge in job search is differentiation. Right now, how do YOU stand out from the millions in a highly competitive job market?

Think your resume makes you stand out from the crowd? Think again. You’ve probably tweaked your resume to death since you began your job search, and now you think you resume is one in a million. Well guess what….it is. It’s one of millions. Regardless of how much you paid someone to prepare your resume, no matter how professional your resume may look, how stunning your experience and accomplishments may be, or how impressive your education is, at the end of the day your resume is a resume, is a resume, etc. Therefore you look like everyone else. Get the picture?

Like everyone else’s resume, yours will inevitably end up in Human Resources – sitting in a stack a foot high or entered into some massive database.  And there sits some overworked personnel jockey who, if you’ve been lucky enough to get past the screening software, will glance over your “powerful resume” for no more than 15 to 30 seconds.  Do you really want that personnel jockey deciding if you’re valuable enough to put in front of the hiring manager for an interview, or do you want the hiring manager making that decision?

Don’t misunderstand me; you need to have a professional resume. It’s what I call a “necessary evil.” Your resume is a critical component of your job search. But use it as backup, as reinforcement, and provide it only when specifically requested by a hiring manager. If you must submit your resume when responding to a posted position, understand that it will end up in Human Resources. HR is what I call “Hiring Resistance” because the whole process starts with rejection. How good are you at handling rejection time after time while you wait for something to happen. Remember Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. You need to stop being REACTIVE in your job search and start being PROACTIVE. That starts with taking control.

Stay tuned for Part 2…