Lifestyle

60 seconds with Steve Dalton

How is it possible to find a job in two hours?

“The 2-Hour Job Search” is what I would do if I had to find a job right now. Two hours is sufficient to create a list of targets, prioritize them using quantitative data and initiate your outreach.

What should people know about hiring managers?

That they’re not incen-tivized to find a perfect candidate slowly, but to find a good-enough candidate quickly. If they post a job online, they’ll get inundated with resumes, and the only fair way to look at all of them is to not look at any. They’ll ask for internal referrals.

I’m trying to give you a framework for acquiring those internal referrals. That starts with creating a list of employers, prioritizing them and taking a methodical approach where you accept that it’s a numbers game and that some people are predisposed to help you while others are not.

What technology and Web sites are a must for a job search?

What are the Web tools jobs seekers should use?

It starts with Excel. You’ll use a spreadsheet to vet a list of targets and narrow them down. To determine which companies to reach out to will involve LinkedIn.

Google is an underappre-ciated tool in the job search. Use it to find contact and ice-breaking information. Then you need calendar management, like Outlook.

Then it’s down to the phone — how well you make relationships with people.

How should you approach people?

I split contacts into three segments. There are some that are never going to get back to you. Then there are people who feel obligated to respond but don’t want to do anything. People need to focus on what I call “boosters” — those who are intrinsically motivated to help. You need to demonstrate to those contacts that you’re interested in their insight, their advice. It gets you away from, “Here is my background.” That’s not relevant yet. They don’t care about that until they like you.

How do you establish likability?

It starts with curiosity. Once you get that inform-ational interview, if you exercise genuine curiosity about that person, they will feel obligated to learn more about you. Execute the advice you’re given and follow up with them a month later to say, “Thank you very much for taking the time out. Per your advice, I’ve taken these steps and earned these benefits. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions.” They’ll probably feel encouraged to give further advice.

— Brian Moore