“Looking for a job? Time to get personal” |
| Looking for a job? Time to get personal Posted: 19 Dec 2010 05:05 PM PST Mason reached some quick conclusions during his Michigan Works speech. "There were people that had been out of work for one to two years," Mason said. "This is an unprecedented time in history for the economy, to say the least. People have to look at different ways to not only supplement their income, but possibly regain a foothold on a new career." Helping people break through those barriers is a passion for Mason, who has spent 20 years in career counseling, cultural assessment, recruiting and relationship management. His latest venture in that direction is Getting Real Now, which he started in 2009. As Mason acknowledges, one of the biggest hurdles facing any applicant is the impersonality of the process. With an estimated five applicants per job, the personal touch goes by the wayside - requiring a different approach from past searches, he said. "I think you have to be proactive and almost go back to knocking on doors," Mason said. "Some third-party recruiters are overwhelmed with millions of resumes." Not surprisingly, such difficulties can lead to depression, which can sap job seekers' spirits before they start, Mason said. "Stay optimistic, and don't let the holidays get you down. If you rest, you rust - it's a fight," he said. Such advice is characteristic of a man who spent time in the pro football trenches as an offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, who drafted him right out of UCLA in 1981. But the Cowboys soon released him, leading to stints with two U.S. Football League teams, the Arizona Wranglers and the New Jersey Generals. Eventually, Mason decided his true calling lay elsewhere. One of his first post-football jobs came with PACE - Professional Athletes Career Enterprises - a recruiting and consulting firm designed to help athletes find life after professional sports. Unfortunately, the San Diego, Calif.-based company, which was founded by former star baseball pitcher Steve Garvey, went bankrupt in 1991, but Mason is convinced that a similar venture is needed. "It's a great idea, and something that should be mandatory. There needs to be an athletic charm school," he said. For Mason, breaking through the impersonality of job searches begins with working the Internet. "Google that person, Facebook that person," Mason said. "Do what they're eventually going to do when they interview you: Conduct some research on people that you're going to contact. Find some common links. If they're from Southwestern Michigan originally, that's something you might want to lead with when you call them." Mason has found jobs by researching the company's human resources directors, then finding where they went to school. One person that Mason called was a Western Michigan University alumnus, which gave the chance to bring up his Berrien County roots. "That was the common bond, and she remembered me," Mason said. "She was actually a recruiter for country clubs, of all things - her husband worked at Point O'Woods. If you can nurture - and cultivate - those types of relationships you are head and shoulders above the competition." 'Elevator speech' updated However, reaching that one-on-one point won't do any good if the applicant cannot explain what makes him or her a good fit for the employer, he said. Mason hit on this realization during a job fair at Purdue University, where he was overseeing college recruiting efforts for another St. Louis-based employer, Clayco Construction. "These kids were walking around like sheep, and they had no idea how to engage myself or any of the other employers," he said. So Mason sat down with one especially flustered graduate and coached him how to say 26 words about himself and his career goals. Mason recalled what happened. "The kid leaves, and comes back: 'I've got five interviews.' "That's when the light bulb hit me, and I thought, 'This could be a value to a lot of kids.' And that's when Getting Real Now started," he said. In one crucial way, Mason said, this approach differs from the so-called "elevator speeches" that many applicants are encouraged to give. "The problem with these pitches to anybody is that the content should change every day, because the world's changing every day," Mason said. "It always changes, because of the constant stream of technology." Above all else, all job seekers - middle-aged or not - shouldn't panic if life doesn't follow a straight line, said Mason, again offering himself as an example. "I paint nurseries. I wanted to be an artist, all my life," Mason said. "Never worked out that way. I'm a member of the (Arts) Guild here in Berrien County. Things change every day with the economy. It's frightening for a lot of people. But you can't dwell on what's happened. You have to look toward what could happen." 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