— career roadmap, job search plan, stand out in crowd, keeping focused

Speaker: Mahmood Khan, President G-ESI
Meeting Date: Thursday, April 1, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm Networking; 6:30 pm Management Forum/Guided Networking; 7:00 pm dinner; 7:30 pm Presentation
Location: Ramada Sunnyvale

Summary:
Management Forum / Guided Networking: Bring Your Management Challenge; Arrive by 6:30 PM to join this exciting Management Forum. Following informal networking is a guided discussion typically related to the topic of the evening’s after dinner talk, or of general Technology Management interest.
Light Dinner: This month we’re continuing with our light dinner format — typically sandwiches, salad, drinks, and cookie or similar light dinner.

Presentation: How to Perform a Successful Job Search in Today’s Environment
To be prepared for a Job in this new economy with lack of jobs and many excellent resources, you need more than Resumes and Cover Letters. You need a complete program, “a full-time job”, to keep you focused and energized.

A quick “acid test” below will reveal if you are doing the right things.

Q1. Do you have your job search collateral ready (elevator speech, professional objectives, brand,
    target industry and employers, resumes, cover letters, campaign plan)?
Q2. Do you have your job search plan and execute your job search campaign?
Q4. Have you created your Career Roadmap and are in executing phase?
Q5. Have you identified your best values for the employers which make you stand out from the crowd?

If you answered no to any of the above, here is a five step program, 30 Day Job Search-Creation Program, to get you on the right track.

#1 – Job Search Preparation:
      – Self Assessment and Discovery
      – Define your A-B-C jobs descriptions
      – Discover companies with target A-B-C jobs
      – Analyze the A-B-C Job descriptions – exhaustive analysis to prepare resume,
         cover letter and your job application submission
      – Search insiders and target companies
      – Prepare for phone screening, interviews, Q&A
      – Practice Interviewing – video interviewing (if possible)
      – Post interview follow-up, planning and keeping it “warm” techniques
      – Negotiation with BATNA (Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement)
      – Settling in your New Job
      – Bullet proofing your career future – continuous improvement roadmap and building
      – Techniques for building your network and brand
      – Many others … too many to list here

#2 – Job Search Plan
      – Personalized Job Search Program
      – Technology based plan (XLS, MS Project, SharePoint)
      – Status and reporting

#3 One-on-one coaching and mentoring:
      – Discovery
      – Preparation of personalized Job Search Plan
      – Execution
      – Interview prep
      – Creating BATNA
      – Monitoring
      – Reviews throughout the job search program

#4 – Daily “Drop-In”
      – Ad hoc help to execute the job search program
      – Search for hidden jobs
      – Use of LinkedIn
      – Other job search aids
      – Interviewing techniques
      – Mock Interviews
      – Many others

#5 – Hands-On Skills Honing/Training
      – Skills training for the current markets place, e.g. Microsoft Windows 7,
         Office Suite, Project, Project Server, SharePoint,
         IT infrastructure installation and network setup,
         Web portal technologies, Databases,
         Programming tools and SDLC techniques, and many more.
      – Small setting/groups, with hands-on projects to maximize skills transfer.

Bio:
Mahmood Khan, MBA, PMP, President of G-ESI, an IT consulting and Program/Project implementation services corporation. He is an Entrepreneur, a coach and a public speaker on the subject of Job Search. During the past eighteen years Mahmood has been in the roles of Program/Project Director and a Principal Consultant managing large programs/projects at Hewlett Packard, IBM GS, and a Bay Area start-up. He has been involved in community development for the past 9 years is a board member of San Jose Conservation Corp. and Charter school and a member of the Advisory Committee at Foothill-DeAnza College.