What Recruiters REALLY want from Candidates

**Special Guest Post from Professional Recruiter Carmel Napolitano

Top 5 Job Candidate Traits I look for:

1) Quiet confidence - there is a difference between brashness
and a good sense of self. While clients in other industries may
want an overbearing personality I've never had a client ask for
that;

2)Self -Disclosure - I realize that people today are terrified
that any slip of any weakness or complicated situation can
derail their search, but if you have been a stay at home Mom, or
took a year off to care for a sick relative, or even took a year
off to travel the world you need to tell me or I may think you
are in the Federal Witness Protection program or worse that you
are hiding something;

3) Consistent Experience - For me to even follow up with someone
they need to have not been a job hopper - if you have had ten
years of two year stints that is not a good thing - unless, see
#2 - you may have been a trailing spouse, etc - you need to
explain;

4) Don't worry about anyone but yourself - It is not a good
thing for candidates to constantly ask about the competition -
how many are in the search? What is may rank in the final
group? You have to be in the search because you want the job
and not to beat out the other candidates. It is really none of
your business how many people are in the search.

5)Don't hedge your bets or try to game the process - Don't play
with the idea that you may want a new job. If you find that you
are at the point where you are going to meet with the client be
in it to get the job. I've had clients go all through the
process receive an offer and then decide to through out an
important deal breaker. If you absolutely must work from home
one day a week you need to tell the recruiter in the beginning
of the search.

Carmel Napolitano, CGN Advisory. Professional Recruiter

Carmel does retained recruiting for the nonprofit and philantropic sectors.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/carmelnapolitano

Trisha Torrey Speaking at Women Ties

Trisha Torrey and Laura Allen at Women Ties, originally uploaded by laura15secondpitch.

Went to a GREAT presentation today by author Trisha Torrey. She's created an AMAZING niche for herself. She is an patient's advocate. Her presentation today was, "You Really Are The Expert! Creating Profit from Your Experience." She was funny, engaging and had some excellent tips for the standing room only group of women entrepreneurs. Women Ties is one of my favorite local (central new york) networking groups.

If You Don't Ask, You Don't Sell

If you don’t ASK, you don’t SELL.

(And why you should DEFINTELY go to the Women Ties Retreat, if you are anywhere near upstate, New York this Thurs. October 15th)

Let’s be honest here for a moment. I decided to go speak for Women Ties in Fayetteville, NY (which is near Syracuse, NY) for two main reasons. 1.) I wanted my Mom to be able to come see me speak in all of my glory since she lives in the area and

2.) I thought Tracy Higginbotham was a firecracker when I met her one year ago at a Women Ties lunch and I decided right then and there that if she ever asked me to speak, I’d say yes. So, I did.

Then I had a few colleagues in New York ask WHY I was going. Wasn’t upstate, NY really far away? Wouldn’t it take me away from my clients? And what they were REALLY thinking, “C’mon, you’re not going to get any business up there and with times being what they are, shouldn’t you be focused right here in the Good Ol’ Big Apple, where there are PLENTY of prospects? Let me answer those in order: No, Upstate, NY is not that far away, it’s 45 minutes on JetBlue, (sure it takes longer to get TO the airport from my apartment, but still a 45 minute flight IS compelling!) Yes, it would take me away from my clients, but I had planned the trip several months in advance so all of my face-to-face clients knew I was going and I arranged to do all of my client sessions with them before I left. I could work with my phone clients over the phone, like I always did. And, No, I probably would not be getting any new clients from this event.

But I remembered what I always tell *MY* clients when I am coaching them to sell more effectively. I tell them, “If you don’t ASK, you don’t SELL.” So I stayed up late the night before my Women Ties presentation watching my Mom painstakingly print out 60 full color flyers that advertised my most popular sales coaching program. (She said she’d be happy to do this so that I could spend my time worrying about what was really important—whether I was wearing the pant suit or skirt suit the next day. I choose the pant suit, because it was kind of chilly!)

The next day I was delighted as Tracy Higginbotham announced it was a SOLD OUT event! Now, the heat was on for me to DELIVER a lot of value to this most excellent group of women. I crammed as much of my 90 minute “Create the Perfect 15SecondPitch” presentation into that 30 minutes as I possibly could!! I was truly amazed at how willing the women were to jump right up and try out their newly crafted pitches. It was an amazing day and I’m so glad that my Mom was there to see me in action. (She also got to pitch her venture, which I’m going to devote a future blog post to talking about, because it’s a BRILLIANT idea and people love it.)

At the end of the Women Ties lunch, Tracy invited me up to give a quick pitch about my services. I let everyone know about my “Professional Pitch Package” and that there was a special offer just for them and all of the information was on the flyers. Imagine my surprise and delight as not one, not two, but THREE women came up to me after my presentation and said they wanted to work with me!! AND that they would FLY OUT TO NEW YORK CITY to work with me face to face.

I have to admit, I did dance a little jig right there in front of everyone as I spoke to these three incredible women. I thought that if I had the flyers ready and the offer was compelling enough that MAYBE one or two women would say yes to working with me over the phone. Never in my wildest dreams did I think they’d want to fly out to the city to work with me in person!! AMAZING!! So, it just goes to show you, if I would not have printed those flyers out and let the women know about my special offer, I doubt I would have made any sales that day. So, if you are on the fence about going to the Women Ties retreat on Thurs. October 15^th, please allow me to gently push you off the fence and into the game. I can’t tell you for sure that you’re going to get new business at the retreat. However, I can tell you absolutely that you’ll meet amazing, inspiring, NICE professional women that you’ll want to work with. And I can tell you for certain, that you’ll never know, if you don’t go.

P.S. I’d be going to the retreat myself, however, I have client presentation that day. I’ll definitely be going to Women Ties lunches in the future when I’m visiting my Mom though!!

3 experts talk sales strategies for ANY economy!

Sales Success Strategies for EVERY Economy: Top Tips From Three Professionals

Free Teleseminar: Wednesday, Oct 7th, 12N - 1PM (EST)

Email Adrian for dial-in information amiller@adrianmiller.com

Join Laura Allen, Sydney Barrows and Adrian Miller in a fast paced, high energy program in which they delve into the good, the bad and the ugly of sales and customer experience.

Laura, Sydney and Adrian are experienced speakers, authors and trainers with a range of hands-on experience and practical information that will help you to transform your business development, client retention AND your bottom line.

This one-hour program will include time for your questions and thoughts.

Be prepared to come away with:

--Actionable tactics to help you sell more successfully

--Learn the 4 key steps to creating a clear, concise and compelling 15SecondPitch

Having a great 15SecondPitch can help you prospect more effectively. Whether you are making new connections face to face, online or over the phone, it’s important to be able to explain, who you are and what you do. If you don’t grab their attention in the first 15 seconds, you’ll lose them for good.

--Best of class practices to build your business in a way that enables you to stand apart from the competition. Consumers are weary of generic buying experiences and more and more are seeking to have a meaningful, memorable, fun, interesting and/or exciting Experience during the selection and buying process. Prospects and customers are hoping to have an EXPERIENCE that makes them feel pleased about making the purchase AND makes them feel good about making the purchase from YOU!

--Cost-effective and time efficient touch point management so that you can always stay on the grid. Let's face it, you spend a lot of time networking and developing leads and prospects. If you don't stay on the grid through what might be a lengthy sales cycle, you cannot recognize any ROI from your selling efforts.

Use your 15SecondPitch to get a job!!

I was interviewed by reporter Asa Aarons earlier in the week about how to use your 15SecondPitch to land a great job! You can see the interview here on the NY1 website:

http://tinyurl.com/NY1Asa

Penelope Trunk

Penelope Trunk, originally uploaded by laura15secondpitch.

Was great to see Penelope Trunk speak at the 2009 Sales & Marketing Symposium. I have to admit, her talk did give me a little bit of heartburn though. Seems that Gen Y workers don't want to do crap jobs, will simply move home with their (loving) parents if they don't like what they are doing and are constantly in need of being part of a TEAM.

As a Gen X-er who couldn't wait to move out on my own, would do the crappiest jobs that I needed to do to pay the rent and used to have the motto, "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to get the job done." This was a bit hard for me to understand. But I'm meditating right now and pondering the MASSIVE generation gap that exists between me and Gen Y.

Why I LOVE what I do! People send me cookies!!

Today I got the most LOVELY gift from one of my clients. Cookies from ONE GIRL COOKIES! They were packaged so beautifully, I didn't want to open it!! HOWEVER, there were COOKIES inside, so I had to open it! And yes, they are just as delicious as they look! Thanks, Judi!!

You can't discount your way to prosperity

This was the sign I saw in a handbag store today on trendy 57th st. in NYC. It makes me wonder what this shop will do NEXT WEEK as a way to encourage women to come in and buy. (They'd have to GIVE THEM AWAY as you can't discount any more than 90% and still make a profit. And if you can, your purses are marked up far to high to begin with!) As you can see, the shop owner was watching me take this photo--in her EMPTY store. This is while large clusters of tourists walked up and down the street and shopped all the other stores. The 90% off is clearly not bringing customers in.

Do Something keynote

Do Something keynote, originally uploaded by laura15secondpitch.

I got to do the Keynote for an incredible non-profit called www.DoSomething.org on November 15, 2008. This was a GREAT opportunity to meet over 100 teens and young adults who are building their own non-profit organizations. I have news for you, these young people are driven, determined, passionate, and they can pitch better than most people twice their age! I wish we would have gotten some photos of the group too!! Maybe I can find someone there who got a few of those. What a great day and inspiring group of people!

Pins in my Moi Meme jacket

Pins in my Moi Meme jacket, originally uploaded by laura15secondpitch.

Okay, I took the plunge and bought my first custom suit. Yes, in a Recession. Probably not the smartest thing. But as I looked in my closet, I notice so many pairs of pants that just didn't fit. Usually I'm all about getting a bargain, however, there are moments when you want that extra advantage of having a really beautiful suit. So here, I am with my Kid Rock hair, and my custom rock star suit from http://www.Moi-Meme.com

15SecondPitch Workshop Jan. 19th, 6:30-8:00pm NYC

Get More Sales NOW using your 15SecondPitch!

Workshop with Laura Allen, co-founder of 15SecondPitch.com

**Co-Ed Workshop** Men welcome!!

6:30-8:00pm

In Good Company Workplaces

16 W. 23rd Street (4th Floor)
New York, NY

Do you need to get more sales now? Are you worried about how the current economy is going to impact your business? Join Laura Allen, co-founder of 15SecondPitch.com for a fun, interactive, highly informative 90 minute workshop where she will teach you how to get more sales now using her unique 15SecondPitch System.

Even if you absolutely hate to sell, this workshop can still help you make more sales!

What you’ll learn:

*What the 15SecondPitch is

*Why the 15SecondPitch works so well

*How to create your 15SecondPitch

*How to use your 15SecondPitch to get more sales now.

Laura’s last workshop at IGC was a huge success and here is what a few of the attendees had to say about it:

“I feel like I've done a pretty good job of building my business and my brand over the past 10 years, however, Laura gave me some new ideas to make my business even bigger and better. I'd highly recommend this workshop to any woman who wants to increase sales and grow her business.”

-Erica Ecker, owner, http://www.TheSpacialist.com

New York Magazine’s choice for best space organizer in 2008

“The first thing that struck me about Laura Allen was her sense of humor and strait-forward attitude. As someone whose business it is to facilitate stress reduction, and who finds the most stressful thing selling my services, I was drawn to Laura and her work because she put me at ease immediately. Working with Laura continues to be a vital piece in developing my business and me as the spokes-person. I encourage anyone who is serious and passionate about what they do to attend a workshop with Laura!”
-Jennifer Edwards MFA, RYT http://www.relaxationonthego.net

This workshop is: $40. To attend, you must RSVP to Laura@15SecondPitch.com with the following information: full name, email address, and name of your company, if any. Limited to 15. (payment in advance required to hold your spot, I’ll email you paypal information.)

Please bring a notebook and be prepared to take lots of notes and bring plenty of business cards too!

Check out the 15SecondPitch Pitch Widget

We are very excited to announce the NEW 15SecondPitch Pitch Widget!! You can check it out by scrolling down slightly and looking to the right of this page.

Would love to hear your comments!

:)

laura

p.s. Please let me know if you put the Pitch Widget on your blog or website!

ARE YOU READY FOR SUCCESS? Join me on December 5th

If you had just one wish for the New Year, what would it be?

Would you get a new job? Would you take your business to the next level? Would you focus on creating substantial wealth so that you can have the freedom to do what you want? I keep hearing about how tough the economy is, and I know that it’s dire for a lot of people right now, and to be honest, it’s been a challenge for some of my clients too. However, it’s important to remember that people get new jobs, start businesses and make millions in EVERY economy—even this one.

I notice when I go to networking and social events, I’m drawn to the outgoing, positive, big thinkers. That’s just how I am. Maybe because I grew up as an extremely shy only child. (Yes, hard to imagine for anyone who knows me!!)

FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY TO ENSURE SUCCESS IN 2009

1.Support the People (And Organizations) You Believe In.

This holiday season, if you are going to buy a few gifts for the important people in your life, think about buying a necklace from a local jewelry designer. That $80. purchase will make a huge difference to her this year and the person receiving will get a unique gift that they won’t get from anyone else.

2.Ask For The Sale

Yes, I know that this is a radical suggestion. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret. My clients are making sales right now, today, in this economy. Why? Because they have excellent products and services and they are asking for the sale. There are a lot of people who are going to “wait it out” until January to start pitching for their business. That means there is an opportunity for those who are pitching today.

3.Get Out of The House

The networking events I’ve been going to recently are PACKED!! Just getting up out of the house is a step in the right direction. You never know who you might meet. Make a point of talking about the possibilities that you see in the future and don’t waste time focusing on the economic crisis. We all know what’s going on. No need to rehash it.

4.Create a Budget:

Yes, I know. Most people would rather get a root canal than to think about creating a budget. And I’m at the top of that list. Here’s the empowering part though. I went through and looked at what I was spending and was able to eliminate $250. A MONTH in non-essential expenses. I’m actually embarrassed to admit that, however, I’m doing it because it might inspire you to take a look at your finances and see where you can reallocate some of your hard earned cash. I feel so much better knowing that money is now being invested in building my business!

5.Hire An Expert to Help you Achieve Your Goals.

There are a lot of super talented resume writers, business coaches, and web designers who are offering excellent deals right now. With part of the $250. I saved per month, I hired people to help me do the things that I’m not great at or never seem to get around to doing. It sounds counter intuitive, however, the small amount that I pay to a virtual assistant, (I use a company called http://www.LongerDays.com) pays huge returns because I can use that time to focus on working with my clients and growing my business.

For More Ways to Succeed in 2009

If you are in NYC, come to a fre* event that I’m co-hosting with two of my colleagues on the morning of December 5^th. RSVP instructions are on this fabulous flyer below. (And yes, we chipped in and paid an incredible graphic designer to create it!)

Meet at the NY Times event on Monday!

Last year I had a blast at the NY Times Small Business Summit, so I'm going again this year! Let me know if you will be there and we can meet-up!

http://nytsmallbusinessummit.com/

I'm proud to be a coach on Coachology

I'm very excited to be one of the featured coaches on Penelope Trunk's Coacholgy. Click here to see my profile and I'll also put up links to my posts soon!

http://www.brazencareerist.com/coachology/laura-allen/

Visionwiz: 15SecondPitch.com

Visionwiz: 15SecondPitch.com

ASJA panel gives LOTS of great advice!!

I had the honor of speaking at the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) over the weekend and had an absolute blast! The panel was moderated by best-selling author Victoria Moran (http://www.VictoriaMoran.com) (that's her first, l. to r.).
















Martin Rowe, publisher of Lantern Books (http://www.lanternbooks.com/), Daylle Deanna Schwartz (http://www.Daylle.com), Tom B. Martin (http://www.tommartinmedia.com), and Karen Kelly http://www.karenkellywriter.com/
were also on the panel!

We got rave reviews from many conference attendees and I'll post some of those as soon as I get the okay to do so!

"I am David Paterson and I am the Governor of New York State"

That was what an anchor on NY1 news coined the "money soundbite" of the speech.

It sent chills down my spine. Of course there were a lot of other great elements to his speech, not the least of which is that he had no notes and no teleprompter, and less than one week to prepare.

"I am David Paterson and I am the Governor of New York State." His words were clear, concise and compelling.

Now that we know David, WHO are YOU?

He's 20-something and his company has already been ACQUIRED, read HOW

Find out what it's like to drive cross country interviewing a bunch of interesting people and then get acquired by a company that's literally in your own back yard. Here's my interview with Brett Farmiloe founder of http://pursuethepassion.com/



Laura Allen: How did you come up with the idea for Pursue the Passion?

Brett Farmiloe: It was a combination of things. One was a discovery that I really liked to interview people, which I found out by interviewing for jobs during my senior year at the University of Arizona. I then was staring at my last summer before diving into the corporate world, and I wanted to make the most of my last few months of freedom. Plus, I was feeling lots of self-induced skepticism for going into a career as an auditor. So I wrote down the things I wanted to do in my last summer. I wanted to travel. I wanted to learn. I wanted to improve. I combined all of those "wants" with what I liked to do, and eventually came to the conclusion that I should hit the road with a couple buddies and interview people that had found a passion in their work.

LA: Did people ever tell you that you were crazy and should get a REAL job?

BRETT: Hell yeah. Who wouldn't think that traveling around the country in a RV to interview people at no pay isn't crazy. I think I'm crazy. But you know what? You have to be a little bit crazy to take risks. And its those risks that put you on a whole different level than those that remain complacent.

LA: What was the biggest challenge in getting PTP off the ground?

BRETT: Getting others to believe in your idea the way you do. I could see so clearly as to why Pursue the Passion would be beneficial to a company, how it would impact students, and where it could potentially lead if I had just one believer with some capital. But not too many saw it the way I did, and to tell you the truth, I don't think our title sponsor Jobing.com did either. I like to think they invested in my "passion" for the idea, and trusted that I could make this thing work.

LA: What was the most surprising thing you learned about yourself during your cross country trips with PTP?

BRETT:That I was previously living in a very constrained, small world. I guess that's what travel does to you. It opens your eyes to the other things life has to offer. It exposes you to the lifestyles people lead. And then it causes you to look at your life and say, "Hey, wait a minute. Why am I not living as freely as I can be?"

LA:How did you learn about Jobing?

BRETT: Jobing.com is everywhere in Phoenix. They have naming rights to a stadium. They have a fleet of wrapped cars that employees drive around with their logo on it. They have billboards, adopt-a-highway signs, huge career expos. Plus, they were headquartered a block away from my house. So here my buddy and I were frantically submitting proposals to corporations and companies across the United States, when really, all we had to do was look in our backyard to find an opportunity.

LA: What's it like to have your first company get acquired?

BRETT:I suppose its like the mothers nest syndrome. You know its best for your child to go on and grow in the world, but part of you wants to hold on. Its tough to let go of the baby that you put the life into and created, but exciting at the same time because of all the things that will transpire.

Hopeful entrepreneurs often dream of making big money and retiring. Does this acquisition allow you to retire or give you the freedom to not have to work for someone else?

Nope... I'm still a hopeful. But what this move does do is it allows me to operate with lots of autonomy and with lots of resources available. And that's sexy.

LA:Did you handle all aspects of the deal with Jobing or did you have lawyers and advisors to help?

BRETT:It was pretty straightforward stuff because there had been such a trusting relationship that we had established over six months. So it was just me.

LA: Did you ever think PTP would get acquired?

BRETT:Nope.

LA:Have you read The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss? What do you think of this book? He seems like a guy who would like what PTP stands for.

I have heard so much about the 4 hour work week book. I haven't read it. I'm working on Atlas Shrugged right now, written by Ayn Rand. It's an undertaking considering I've never read a book over 1,000 pages, but I'm enjoying it.

LA: When is your book scheduled to come out?

BRETT:It hasn't been announced yet, but I am hoping June 23rd of this summer. I'm also hoping that the book will bring us back out on the road to do some promo speaking around the country. We'll have to see.

LA:What's next for you and PTP?

BRETT:I have to have the first draft of the book done in sixty days. Yikes. Zach Hubbell, who came along on the trip and is working with PTP right now, will be the documentarian responsible for compiling an award worthy film to go along with the book. We will also be speaking to tons of high schools, colleges, and companies about what we found on the road. Then we'll see where the journey takes us next.

I'll be speaking on a webinar panel this Thursday at 2:30 pm. You can join it by going here:


http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/12907

You will need to download the Talkshoe application in order to join in. Talkshoe is an interesting platform that allows you to create an internet radio show, record it, turn it into a podcast and also intereact with others via phone, Skype, etc.

Learn from a panel of experts how to use technology and content to get visitors to your website to become actual paying customers. We cover strategies from start to finish, for beginners to experienced site owners,

Moderator: Anita Campbell is the CEO of her own business, Small Business Trends LLC, a media and information company.

Panelists include: Douglas Shuman Senior Vice President, Customer Marketing, Register.com, Shawn Holt, VP of Biz Dev for SitePal , and me!