Thanksgiving
After the Holiday Party
December 01, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Thanksgiving Weekend kicked off the holiday rush to shopping malls, boutique stores, and online retailers. For some, holiday shopping is not only a tradition, it’s a pastime.
Another holiday tradition is the holiday party. For job seekers, the holiday party is not only a tradition, it’s a crucial opportunity to network.
The follow-up letter after the party will be a critical factor for the job seeker. In some cases, the letter may actually be a cover letter for a job opening discovered during a holiday party conversation. In either case, skillful writing becomes more than an evergreen necessity – it can make the difference between the letter and accompanying résumé going into the circular file or to a decision maker’s desk for consideration.
Sharon Mahn, a leading recruiter for the legal industry and the founder of Mahn Consulting, advises clients to strongly consider language, tone, and goal, when writing letters as job candidates.
You are a brand. The letter must sell your skill set as matching a need for the potential employer. Don’t talk about irrelevant matters. Tell the reader exactly what you want to do and why you’re the right fit. Ideally, the letter will highlight specific acts rather than regurgitate the résumé. In addition, remember the basics – spelling, grammar, accurate address.
Verbiage is a distraction. You want attention, not a distraction. So choose your words carefully. A common mistake is an abundance of loquaciousness. Example: “I am writing this letter to tell you why I’m interested in the job. My graphic arts career started in finger painting in Kindergarten.
Don’t be colloquial, cute, or clever. Everything in the letter represents who you are and why you will add value to the potential employer. Also, you want to end with a line indicating a follow-through approach. “Thank you for taking the time to review my candidacy. I look forward to speaking with you soon. I will follow up with your office next week.
While shoppers hunt for bargains during this holiday season, job seekers will hunt for opportunities – freelance, part-time, full-time, or project. Ms. Mahn’s advice will be a valuable asset during the follow-through phase that occurs after the clinking, drinking, and thinking – clinking of glasses, drinking of egg nog, and thinking about how to get back on the road to prosperity in the job marketplace.
Or at least an on-ramp.
david@davidkrell.com
Thanksgiving Weekend kicked off the holiday rush to shopping malls, boutique stores, and online retailers. For some, holiday shopping is not only a tradition, it’s a pastime.
Another holiday tradition is the holiday party. For job seekers, the holiday party is not only a tradition, it’s a crucial opportunity to network.
The follow-up letter after the party will be a critical factor for the job seeker. In some cases, the letter may actually be a cover letter for a job opening discovered during a holiday party conversation. In either case, skillful writing becomes more than an evergreen necessity – it can make the difference between the letter and accompanying résumé going into the circular file or to a decision maker’s desk for consideration.
Sharon Mahn, a leading recruiter for the legal industry and the founder of Mahn Consulting, advises clients to strongly consider language, tone, and goal, when writing letters as job candidates.
You are a brand. The letter must sell your skill set as matching a need for the potential employer. Don’t talk about irrelevant matters. Tell the reader exactly what you want to do and why you’re the right fit. Ideally, the letter will highlight specific acts rather than regurgitate the résumé. In addition, remember the basics – spelling, grammar, accurate address.
Verbiage is a distraction. You want attention, not a distraction. So choose your words carefully. A common mistake is an abundance of loquaciousness. Example: “I am writing this letter to tell you why I’m interested in the job. My graphic arts career started in finger painting in Kindergarten.
Don’t be colloquial, cute, or clever. Everything in the letter represents who you are and why you will add value to the potential employer. Also, you want to end with a line indicating a follow-through approach. “Thank you for taking the time to review my candidacy. I look forward to speaking with you soon. I will follow up with your office next week.
While shoppers hunt for bargains during this holiday season, job seekers will hunt for opportunities – freelance, part-time, full-time, or project. Ms. Mahn’s advice will be a valuable asset during the follow-through phase that occurs after the clinking, drinking, and thinking – clinking of glasses, drinking of egg nog, and thinking about how to get back on the road to prosperity in the job marketplace.
Or at least an on-ramp.
Networking with Holiday Cards
November 08, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
At lunches, cocktail parties, and networking events, I hear a lot of contrarian talk concerning an annual December custom – holiday cards.
Some people are proudly refraining from sending holiday cards because their firms and companies are going green. Electronic greeting cards via email attachments will be their norm rather than paper cards
I also read a blog entry written by a business development expert urging us to send Thanksgiving cards instead of holiday cards. After all, if we’re sending a card to a client at the end of the year to thank him or her for business, Thanksgiving is an appropriate time to show thanks. Plus, we’ll stand out from the pack of cards that the recipient will receive in December.
Both are viable alternatives for client development. On this subject, though, I suggest following tradition, but early. Think where you will be in a month. Office holiday parties. Juggling the vacation schedules of co-workers and subordinates. Conducting end-of-the-year office cleaning – purging files, shredding duplicate documents, getting things in order so you can start 2011 with a clean desk.
An electronic greeting card will get lost in the plethora of email messages from clients, partners, and associates, not to mention the junk mail, unnecessary email threads, and your college roommate’s jokes that stopped being funny in 1997.
A Thanksgiving card is a nice idea, but its effectiveness sounds better on paper than reality. During Thanksgiving week, in my experience, people are consumed with travel plans, dinner hosting plans, or family plans. By December 1st, your card will be old news. No longer will it proudly sit upon your client’s desk, file cabinet, or other office furniture.
If you want to stand out, here’s a suggestion. Start writing your holiday cards now with a little note in each card – “Best wishes to you and your family during the holiday season and throughout 2011.” Send the cards on December 1st. Your card will most likely be the first received by your client.
And in his or her office it will sit throughout the month of December. Not in an email box with 1256 other messages that nobody else can see. Not for a few timely days at the end of November.
Start doing this for a couple of years and you’ll become as much a holiday fixture in the lives of your clients as Christmas trees, menorahs, and It’s A Wonderful Life.
david@davidkrell.com
At lunches, cocktail parties, and networking events, I hear a lot of contrarian talk concerning an annual December custom – holiday cards.
Some people are proudly refraining from sending holiday cards because their firms and companies are going green. Electronic greeting cards via email attachments will be their norm rather than paper cards
I also read a blog entry written by a business development expert urging us to send Thanksgiving cards instead of holiday cards. After all, if we’re sending a card to a client at the end of the year to thank him or her for business, Thanksgiving is an appropriate time to show thanks. Plus, we’ll stand out from the pack of cards that the recipient will receive in December.
Both are viable alternatives for client development. On this subject, though, I suggest following tradition, but early. Think where you will be in a month. Office holiday parties. Juggling the vacation schedules of co-workers and subordinates. Conducting end-of-the-year office cleaning – purging files, shredding duplicate documents, getting things in order so you can start 2011 with a clean desk.
An electronic greeting card will get lost in the plethora of email messages from clients, partners, and associates, not to mention the junk mail, unnecessary email threads, and your college roommate’s jokes that stopped being funny in 1997.
A Thanksgiving card is a nice idea, but its effectiveness sounds better on paper than reality. During Thanksgiving week, in my experience, people are consumed with travel plans, dinner hosting plans, or family plans. By December 1st, your card will be old news. No longer will it proudly sit upon your client’s desk, file cabinet, or other office furniture.
If you want to stand out, here’s a suggestion. Start writing your holiday cards now with a little note in each card – “Best wishes to you and your family during the holiday season and throughout 2011.” Send the cards on December 1st. Your card will most likely be the first received by your client.
And in his or her office it will sit throughout the month of December. Not in an email box with 1256 other messages that nobody else can see. Not for a few timely days at the end of November.
Start doing this for a couple of years and you’ll become as much a holiday fixture in the lives of your clients as Christmas trees, menorahs, and It’s A Wonderful Life.
Eye on the Tiger
December 14, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Tiger Woods is taking an indefinite break from the game he loves, represents, and dominates.
It was an inevitable decision given the searing of the Tiger Woods brand caused by a white-hot media spotlight during the past two weeks.
But the spotlight shines because Woods broke a cardinal rule of crisis and reputation management. Tell the truth with specifics. Tell it fast. Tell it briefly.
After Woods crashed his vehicle on Thanksgiving Night, his words indicated a careful selection from the dictionary, not a desire to be completely honest with fans, sponsors, and the media.
Woods said he committed transgressions, but who really uses that word in every day conversation? Why not just be honest and say that you’ve had multiple affairs? The media will find out anyway. Sometimes people talk to cash in, sometimes they talk to be a part of the story.
Woods refused to meet with police on three separate occasions after the accident. Why the refusal? His attorney claimed that he had no legal requirement to meet with them. Well, that may be true. But the court of public opinion is not the court of law. The refusal to meet inspired the question -- What is he hiding about the cause of the accident?
Woods said he was involved in a single-car accident. That is a phrase used by police. And why does he need to indicate that it was a single-car accident? Is he emphasizing that no one else was injured or that his actions did not cause anyone to be injured. We still do not have an official report with a blood sample that states whether or not Woods was under the influence of prescription drugs and/or alcohol when he got behind the wheel on Thanksgiving Night.
Had Woods told the truth with specifics quickly and briefly, he would still dominate the headlines. His ‘tigresses’ would still be coming out of the ‘woodswork’ to tell their stories.
But by getting out in front of the story, he could have controlled it. Avoiding specifics is teasing the media. And those who live by the media can be destroyed by it. Indeed, the pen is mightier than the sword. Or in this case, a five-iron.
david@davidkrell.com
Tiger Woods is taking an indefinite break from the game he loves, represents, and dominates.
It was an inevitable decision given the searing of the Tiger Woods brand caused by a white-hot media spotlight during the past two weeks.
But the spotlight shines because Woods broke a cardinal rule of crisis and reputation management. Tell the truth with specifics. Tell it fast. Tell it briefly.
After Woods crashed his vehicle on Thanksgiving Night, his words indicated a careful selection from the dictionary, not a desire to be completely honest with fans, sponsors, and the media.
Woods said he committed transgressions, but who really uses that word in every day conversation? Why not just be honest and say that you’ve had multiple affairs? The media will find out anyway. Sometimes people talk to cash in, sometimes they talk to be a part of the story.
Woods refused to meet with police on three separate occasions after the accident. Why the refusal? His attorney claimed that he had no legal requirement to meet with them. Well, that may be true. But the court of public opinion is not the court of law. The refusal to meet inspired the question -- What is he hiding about the cause of the accident?
Woods said he was involved in a single-car accident. That is a phrase used by police. And why does he need to indicate that it was a single-car accident? Is he emphasizing that no one else was injured or that his actions did not cause anyone to be injured. We still do not have an official report with a blood sample that states whether or not Woods was under the influence of prescription drugs and/or alcohol when he got behind the wheel on Thanksgiving Night.
Had Woods told the truth with specifics quickly and briefly, he would still dominate the headlines. His ‘tigresses’ would still be coming out of the ‘woodswork’ to tell their stories.
But by getting out in front of the story, he could have controlled it. Avoiding specifics is teasing the media. And those who live by the media can be destroyed by it. Indeed, the pen is mightier than the sword. Or in this case, a five-iron.