"Now is the best of times, now is the worst of times..." said Ethan Chazin, career coach and founder of The Chazin Group. Chazin spoke at FDU's first Summer Career Series lecture on Wednesday, July 22. The Chazin Group provides career transition consulting services to job seekers from all backgrounds and experience levels. A wide variety of people - from current student, to FDU graduates, to individuals who have been out of work for nearly two years - listened as Chazin spoke about creating a "Brand New YOU."
As an individual who was downsized nine times in 23 years, Chazin said, “I’m uniquely qualified to talk.” Though Chazin has had some bad luck during his career, he has also successfully assisted over 9,000 others in finding temporary, contract and permanent employment opportunities. He instructed the packed classroom to “Do what I say, not what I did.”
He began by stating the obvious that in times like these, one needs to take a different approach. “You need to think of yourself as a product or unique selling proposition (USP),” Chazin said. In his PowerPoint presentation, he broke down the Five Ps of the Marketing Mix:
Product: You as the Best Candidate
Packaging: Best Impression
Price: Know Your Worth
Place: Meet with the Right People
Promotion: You Can’t Sell What You Don’t Know: Why Should Someone Hire You?
Chazin stressed the importance of having a rehearsed (but not sounding rehearsed) “elevator pitch” in which you can sell yourself in two minutes to family, friends, job fair employers or networking colleagues. With networking, you have to “get yourself in front of the right people” and have a “personal networking plan.” Chazin emphasized that “it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.”
To use a tough economic situation as a positive motivator, Chazin suggested taking the transition time between employment as a period to define your life goals and determine exactly what lifestyle you are seeking. He suggested developing your own personal mission statement using a four-step process, or road map:
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Identify past successes
- Identify core values
- Identify contributions
- Identify goals
This self-reflection will help in finding a successful new career.
But this certainly won’t be easy. Chazin said in the current economy, job seekers should be spending 60 to 80 hours a week on networking and job hunting since “that’s how long it really takes.” And the traditional cover letter and resume aren’t good enough anymore. He shared some secrets and tips on getting interviews. “Write a job description for one that doesn’t exist (since lots of jobs are not advertised anyway) and show the employer that you would be able to find a solution to a problem that you know they are currently facing. This way, you will be ahead of the curve.” John Rechenberg, an IT professional who heard about the presentation through a friend at FDU, stated that Chazin “had unusual suggestions and job search strategies,” and he found it interesting how you really have to “attempt to be different.”
Chazin also said that every bullet point on a resume should reflect “CAR,” or “cognitive thinking, actions, and results” (i.e., challenges you faced and how you solved them). He used the example of a recent position for which an employer received 800 resumes in 2 days. Chazin advised “you need to make yourself stand out from the crowd in these tough economic times.” Raghu Kanakasabha Rajendran, MBA student at FDU’s Metropolitan Campus, found Chazin’s presentation to be “refreshing.” He is looking to work in the financial industry, and said the seminar provided him with “some new ideas to fine tune his cover letter and resume.”
The next event in the Summer Career Series at FDU, “An Overview of Social Networking,” will be held on Tuesday, August 11 at 6:30 pm in Dickinson Hall on the Metropolitan Campus. For more information, or to register, call 201-692-7013.