Common Myths

A professional knows how to look for a job?
Most professionals know how to work their own personal network of contacts. 20-20 Foresight believes that if your job search is limited to your own personal network you are not accessing the wide world of opportunities that are out there for you. Therefore, most professionals don't know how to look for a job.

A targeted job search is the best way to search for a job?
We believe in a targeted job search but again, if it is too targeted you may limit yourself. If you target 100 firms, then you know what's out there for you. And it may take a while to find something. If you target 2,000 firms, you would be surprised as to what is out there for you. And you will find something you like much quicker.

Professional resume writers?
We believe resume writing is a skill that can be best performed by a person who has specific industry expertise and knows how to write a resume. The standard resume that declares "increased company profitability by 300% over the past 2 years" is cliche and commonplace. We see this on 100 resumes or more everyday. 20-20 Foresight are experts at making your resume standout.

Functional resumes?
In our opinion functional resumes don't work. Why? We get the feeling that a candidate is hiding something, it takes to long to get to the part where we can find out where the candidate has been (by then the hiring authority loses attention), a candidate's assessment of their skills is usually greatly inflated on functional resumes, a resume should grab the hiring authority attention within 10 seconds or they just move on to the next resume.

Emailed resumes vs. Mailed resumes?
Now the company or person doing the emailing has to have the skill to get through spam filters. We believe that emailed resumes appropriately done and introduced are much more powerful. Why? Emailed resumes have a much longer shelf life and are easily forwarded (communication), filed and retrieved. Now I know mailed resumes can get scanned and filed but many times a mailed resume is lost in the shuffle.

Cover Letters?
On an emailed resume, never. On a mailed resume, keep them as short as possible. Busy hiring authorities don't have time or the inclination to read them. The only thing they care about is if your resume fits the position they have open.

A generalist job finding firm can do the same job as an industry specialist?
We think, not. A generalist firm after considerable research may know all the common places to look for jobs, but does not know where the "hidden" or "behind the scenes" opportunities are located. Also it is difficult, if almost impossible for a generalist firm to evaluate a professional's qualifications if they are not familiar with the industry. Can a generalist job finding firm give a professional meaningful feedback when they don't understand the industry? We think, not.

Why do some job finding searches drag on for 9 months to a year, or longer?
This answer is simple; the job finding firm and/or the professional may not be doing any number of the following things:

• The necessary work to complete the search. In today's job market to obtain three quality opportunities it may take 400 to 600 to 2,000 calls/contacts. Finding your next opportunity takes work!
• The job finding firm not being an industry specialist may have the wrong approach, or just simply bad advice because they don't understand the professionals industry or background.
• The job finding firm may not have the resources to help the professional. As we have mentioned previously in "Why Choose Us" it's the DATABASE! If the Job Finding firm does not have an extensive database of companies and contacts in the industries that the professional wants to work then what are they offering. By the way, off the shelf databases (i.e., S&P, D&B) are rarely more than 50% correct, usually don't have email addresses and seldom have the company coverage of 20-20 Foresight Job Finding database. 20-20 Foresight Executive Marketing & Job Finding's database is 90% correct and has 95% company coverage with email addresses.

What is the success rate of executive marketing & job finding firms?
Industry publications put the success rate of job finding firms at anywhere between 30% to 35%. This means that only 30% to 35% of their clients end up with a job. 20-20 Foresight's success rate has been 90%. Why so high? Not everyone is admitted into the program, we are industry specialists and we have an extensive hiring contact database. Simply put, we do the work, have the experience, and have the database.

What should be accomplished on the first interview?
A detailed history of your career? No way. First interviews should be used to give a brief description of your experience and personality but more importantly should be used to make sure the interviewer likes you. Show energy, intellect and image. The only thing positive about a first interview is to get a second interview where you can get to know the company and start articulating your story.

Career or Job Finding Companies that offer or infer there is a "magic bullet"?
Steer clear of these firms because there is no "magic bullet". Firms that claim to know where the jobs are, or that they can reduce the search time are not being forth right. The truth is some searches take one month and some take nine months and there is usually no way of determining with any degree of certainty how long it will take. Even the most targeted of searches take time to go through in some cases over 2,000 companies.

Where are all the jobs?
75% of the available jobs are unadvertised. 95% of upper level jobs are unadvertised. Go with the company that can get you to these quickly. The company with the database.

What does it take to find a great job?
Great raw material, great advice on where to go, great resume presentation, great interview presentation, great marketing and a great database of contacts. By the way, the "raw material" is you.

Most people know what they want in a job or career?
Candidly, most people think they know what they want but in reality about 20% are really in touch with themselves enough to actually know. Only an expert in your industry, with broad experience can get you to understand and soul search enough to determine what you want.

Embrace Rejection?
Yes you heard me, embrace rejection. If you are looking for your next position in the right way and proactively you will be experiencing 98% rejection. Remember, we love you and the 2% of the companies we contact for you love you. And if you love you, we are on our way to a great job!