Here is how to reverse-engineer what recruiters do, so that you can target your next employer.

Target Compet.i.tors

The easiest place for a recruiter to sell your skills is to a direct compet.i.tor or at least someone who is in your industry. Go to www.hoovers.com. Enter the name of the company and hit the "capsule tab." This will give you a snapshot not only of the company but also of its compet.i.tors. You can play the compet.i.tor's compet.i.tors game all day at Hoover's and never finish. Go in looking for what you need and don't waste your time playing with the technology. This is a very rich resource.

There are 2 other key organizations you can also try: www.edgar-online.com and and www.herring.com.

Obtain Referrals from a.s.sociations

The next best way to research an industry is through its a.s.sociations. The best site to find the a.s.sociation most related to your interests is the American Society of a.s.sociation Executives: www.asaenet.org. All I can say about this site is wow! I recently visited it so I could e-mail a colleague in New York a place to start her search for an accounting job. I did a keyword search on "accounting" that brought back 244 hits. By refining it to just include those in the state of New York, I received 15 hits that ranged from American a.s.sociation of Hispanic Certified Public Accountants to the Society of Insurance Accountants. Clicking on Society of Insurance Accountants gave me their address and phone number. The site runs the gambit from "Accounting" to "Youth organizations" and represents more than 300 industries. It is a great place to start.

Conduct Internet Searches

By far the best way to discover new opportunities is by doing structured search engine queries. And it is fairly easy to do. Here is how to do targeted research to find companies and the people who can hire you.

Develop a Target List of Companies

Here is an example using Google.com to search for work in advertising in New York: to search for work in advertising in New York: * When you do targeted research, generally you concentrate on an industry or a geographic preference (in this example, New York City). Use whatever city you like.* We need to find the names of all the advertising companies in New York. There are easy ways to do this using the Internet. Go to www.google.com and type the following words in the advanced option in Google: advertising, new york, directory, conference. You are instructing Google to search for a directory of advertising firms in New York or a conference on advertising held in New York. We want this information to obtain leads to companies. and type the following words in the advanced option in Google: advertising, new york, directory, conference. You are instructing Google to search for a directory of advertising firms in New York or a conference on advertising held in New York. We want this information to obtain leads to companies.

Your text needs to be filled in as shown in Figure 3.1 Figure 3.1. The results returned when you hit the search b.u.t.ton will be similar to those shown in Figure 3.2 Figure 3.2.

At the time I did this search, the first result was for a conference held in New York for the advertising industry. The next 2 hits are both for directories of advertising companies in New York, complete with Web addresses, phone numbers, profiles, and more.

Figure 3.1 Google advanced. Google advanced.

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Find People Who Can Hire You

Once you have a target list of companies, you need to find out the names of the people who can actually hire you. Go to each company's web site and gather names. If you are lucky, every web site will provide the complete identification of all their senior executives, including names and sometimes e-mail, too. Web information should be up-to-the-minute accurate, but if you have any doubts, make a phone call to confirm it.

Once you have the name of the individual who is one rung up the ladder from the job you want, you need to process the name through Google again. This time you put the first and last name in the first box and the company name in the third box. This will produce a list of press releases and news articles in which that person is mentioned, as well as conferences he or she has attended. Read an article or two and clip something memorable, so that when you send a letter, you will be able to say, "I read your article in . . . . . . about about . . . . . . which prompted me to write." Very powerful. which prompted me to write." Very powerful.

Figure 3.2 Google target directories. Google target directories.

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GUERRILLA TIPS.

* If you get too many search results, here are ways to narrow your search.* If it is outside the geographic area you are interested in, try putting in area codes instead of cities to localize the results. Area codes are a more exact means of honing in on a city.* New York City consists of several boroughs, so if you do a 212 area code you will not pick them all up: you will need to search on 718, 917, and 347 to cover the whole city. If you were to just do a city search for New York, you would probably miss 75 percent of all the jobs.

If you used Google, your computer screen would look like the one shown here: [image]

OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Other sources of information on who can hire you can be obtained by referring to annual reports, 10(K) reports, and proxy statements. You can look up the phone numbers in Standard & Poors or another large general directory, or call toll free information (800-555-1212). Annual reports provide valuable organizational information, division and subsidiary data, locations, names, t.i.tles, revenues, numbers of employees, discussions about strategy and growth plans, and sometimes even photos of employees.

10(K) reports are required by law to disclose names and t.i.tles of senior management, each executive's number of years with the company and a career summary, and his or her age. Age is relevant because shareholders have a right to know when key managers might be approaching retirement, which could materially affect the performance of the company. These reports often provide plant locations and define a company's lines of business. They must also state if anything could adversely affect the company's performance or stock price, such as a major lawsuit or pending environmental expenses.

Proxy statements are required to disclose the compensation paid to the 4 highest paid executives. Proxies also provide detailed background information on the board of directors. You can obtain hard copy of the annual report, 10(K) report, and proxy statement free by calling the company. Most companies post these reports on their web sites.

How to Have Fresh Leads Delivered to Your Inbox Daily

You can subscribe to a vast number of free services that will bring information straight to your desktop. JustSell.com, for example, delivers a list of newly funded companies complete with the contact numbers for their executives. Nearly every newspaper available on the Web has a News Alert function. Subscribe to as many as you need to cover your interests: * www.privateequityweek.com * * www.eetimes.com * * www.professional.venturewire.com GUERRILLA INTELLIGENCE.

How to Find the Best Jobs from the Hidden Job Market Simon Stapleton

The best jobs aren't advertised in the newspaper or on the Web. Much like real estate, the best of the bunch are snapped up before they ever hit advertis.e.m.e.nts. If you scour job ad sites or the back pages of a paper, then you're really looking at the jobs the top people don't want. You're not in the domain of mediocrity, are you?

The truth is that the best jobs are created or shaped to capitalize on talent that has emerged from the labor pool, that is, you. you. These jobs didn't exist before a potential employer knew you existed because top jobs are created for unique people. These jobs didn't exist before a potential employer knew you existed because top jobs are created for unique people.

The art of searching the hidden job market is to have high-impact self-marketing, providing proof and authority of your claims, making connections within organizations, working on your relationships, and then tapping these connections to seek job opportunities. How?

It starts with first knowing which organizations and departments you want to work in. So draw up your list.

Then you need to create an in-your-face, hard-to-resist profile. This is your primary sales tool. It's unthinkable nowadays to consider anything but a "social profile" using Web 2.0 technologies such as the ubiquitous LinkedIn, which is the best of the bunch for this kind of search because it's primarily for business use. Build up your profile to capture your personal and career achievements, and you should especially emphasize your uniqueness.

The next step is to market to your potential employers by building relationships and joining groups a.s.sociated with their organization. Introduce yourself and ask others what it is like working in their organization. Demonstrate curiosity in the organization's brand, culture, and values. Enter discussions and answer questions placed by its workers, to the best of your ability. Avoid going for the jugular and asking for work-that will come! Spend time building up your relationships and adjust your profile accordingly.

Once you've built quality relationships, it's time to decide which connections could become a potential sponsor in each organization. These folks will introduce you to managers in the departments you're targeting. Spend time working on these people and engage in conversations on subjects of mutual interest until you've hooked them in. You'll know when this has happened because they will begin to ask you questions about your current employment situation and about your future; you now have a sponsor. Remember, keep your profile adjusted appropriately.

Then, go all out on using these sponsors to push into your target department by using LinkedIn to ask for introductions to the hiring managers in it. Be charming, be direct, but don't be pushy.

Once you've been introduced, it's time to work the charm again and to build on these relationships that will bear the fruit of opportunity. Your profile, by this stage, should be well stocked with your unique skills and experience as well as credible points of reference and a history of engagement with employees in your target organizations; your self-marketing has the highest impact at this stage. Maintaining these relationships, and those with sponsors, is worth every second. At some point, an opening will arise or be created for you-and you'll be first in line. Like this whole method, the key is to be persistent, but not pushy. This isn't an overnight process, so you will need to keep working at it, but believe me this will pay off!

Last thought: the tools are there online, and free to use. But they become most effective when you have a process and structure to work with. By applying a bit of this know-how, you'll avoid the dross and get first sight of the very best jobs even before they exist.

Simon Stapleton is a leader and innovator in Information Technology, and he has made it his mission to help emerging IT leaders with their personal and career development. His blog is www.simonstapleton.com. He can be reached at

STRATEGIC TWISTS ON TRADITIONAL STRATEGIES

Most people use a few traditional strategies including: * Newspaper ads* Job boards* Newsgroups

Although you shouldn't ignore these avenues completely, you should think of them as pa.s.sive ways to find a job because they don't require a lot of work. The following tips will put you ahead of your compet.i.tors and at least double your odds of success.

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