Get That Job! » success stories

Brian Williams shares how he got his big break

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:20:15 +0000

Chances are you’ve seen Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News. Yet, like many of us in job search, he, too, had to face some tremendous obstacles, both financial and in career. At one time he had maxed out his credit cards, and he, like many of us, experienced periods of underemployment. More after the jump.

This video from mediabistro is the first in a series called “My First Big Break“, and I’m so glad I get to share it with you.

Brian Williams: My First Big Break

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The Pursuit of Happyness

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:39:05 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Few movies have moved me on such a visceral level like “The Pursuit of Happyness” starring Will Smith. The movie is based on real-life events of Chris Gardner.

I recommend seeing it. Again.

This scene is his interview for his internship.

The Pursuit of Happyness – Job Interview

In this scene, it’s his last day of his unpaid internship. A truly inspiring one.

Best scene of Pursuit of Happyness

Your Job Searching Success Story – with a Prescription

A pink slip or a blank page?

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:54:33 +0000

Getting laid off and losing a job doesn’t have to be the end of the world. It can be the best time to reinvent yourself. As one person in Lemonade: The Movie said, it’s not a pink slip – it’s a blank page.

Share the Show!

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:41:48 +0000

I just set up a Share the Show page at How I Got My Job. Here’s one of the badges you can add to your site:

Posted using ShareThis

Jots :: jobhunt

Workshops, HARO, and Lowball Job Offers

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:56:33 +0000

It’s so great to be amazingly busy, and if you follow me on Twitter, you probably already know what I’m up to. Still, I know you like to have some good stuff to read from time to time. With that in mind, here are some things I’ve been looking forward to sharing with you.

Maximizing Your Job Search Workshop, Crossroads Community Church, Cincinnati, Ohio

: Image by danieljohnsonjr via Flickr

In February I gave a talk in front of about 150 job seekers about the How I Got My Job project, entitled “Real People. Real Job-hunting Success Stories.” Last night I gave another talk to about 50 job seekers entitled “The Emotional Side of the Job Search” (links to slides coming soon). In addition to the photo on this page, there are some more photos from Maximizing Your Job Search Workshops held in Cincinnati, Ohio on Flickr.

Job-hunting success stories wanted

I recently submitted a request to Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter for individuals to interview for How I Got My Job. So far the response has been great. A lot of real people have genuinely interesting stories to share. If you would like to share one of your job-hunting success stories, please get in touch to set up a phone interview: successstories AT howigotmyjob DOT com. Please keep in mind that it can be any job that you’ve landed; I have collected stories from over 15 years ago!

Evaluating job offers

One of the questions I ask during the How I Got My Job interviews is how people have evaluated job offers. I believe advice on how to do this effectively is sorely needed, especially in the current job market. Check out this working guide for evaluating lowball salary offers from Liz Ryan.

When the Job Search Gets Too Frustrating (usnews.com)
TwitterJobSearch: Find a Better Job Today (blippitt.com)
Ideas to help you stay upbeat for your job hunt (halliecrawford.typepad.com)

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Promise Me Something

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:26:03 +0000

: Image by paul+photos=moody via Flickr

I know you’re hurting.

When I was unemployed and underemployed in 2003-2004, those were very dark times for me. The stress of not being able to provide for my family overwhelmed me to the point where I became seriously depressed. Seriously depressed. The pain I felt was nearly unbearable. I found a psychiatrist and therapist and took some medicine and talked with other people. I was involved in a church community.

Depression clouds everything

Still, there were times I thought about ending it all. Yes, there were rare times of what they call “suicidal ideation“. I was open about those thoughts and feelings. I made myself accountable to others who would ask me:

“Are you taking your medicine?”
“Are you going to your appointments?”
“How are you really doing today?”

Depression clouds everything, especially in a job search. When you’re depressed you don’t feel like you have anything to offer anyone. Maybe this hits us guys more than the ladies because we get so much of our identity from what we do for a living. When that is taken away from us, we feel like part of our soul has been ripped out.

There are days you don’t even want to wake up. You want the pain to go away.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Stay in the battle

Promise me something. No matter how bad it gets – don’t give up. Stay in the battle. Look at yourself in the mirror – no, STARE DOWN the person in the mirror – and repeat these two statements of fact:

You are better than you think you are.
You can do more than you think you can.

The biggest reason I created the How I Got My Job project is for times like this. Surround yourself with success. Just hearing that someone else got a job can give you hope. Listen to these stories over and over again. Let them sink into your consciousness as you begin to believe in yourself again.

Read this excellent article from Christopher S. Penn about How Your iPod Can Protect Your Mind.

Get help

Finally, get help. No man is an island. We were made to be social creatures, and we need to get and stay connected with others. We live in an age now where connecting online is so easy. Even more importantly, though, get connected to people in-person. You need to find people to meet up and network with. Find people who will inspire and encourage you, people who are not afraid to tell it like it is. Heck, feel free to get in touch with me. I try to make myself as approachable as possible. Get some therapy if needed.

To share this post on Twitter, please copy and paste the following text:

RT @danieljohnsonjr: (via Get That Job!) Promise Me Something: http://bit.ly/promise-me

Respond to Depression (articlesbase.com)
Six Great Ways to Vent Your Frustrations (lifehack.org)

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Job-hunting success – with music, too!

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:27:02 +0000

Thanks to Ed Ovett for sharing this:

SUCCESS STORY: New media

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Image by aloshbennett via Flickr

Saw this tidbit in the collection of draft posts I’ve had for quite awhile – July 19, 2007, in fact! I bet there are lots of stories like this around now:

Donna Papacosta on Twitter: “@chrisbrogan: People have found me, and hired me, because of my blog and podcast.”

Check out How I Got My Job! for information on an upcoming project I’ve been working on.

Any success in getting jobs through Craigslist?

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:51:00 +0000

Have any of you reading this blog had any experience using Craigslist to get a job? I know that the posts show an email address with which you can reply, but it’s a Craigslist email address. Usually company names are omitted in these postings.

I did see that you can subscribe to an RSS feed of search results in Google Reader or some other feed reader, which is pretty cool.

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I encourage you to check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

How I Got My Job!

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:23:00 +0000

Maybe you’re currently out of work, underemployed, or are simply looking for some guidance on how you can improve your situation. Chances are you’ve struggled with losing hope. You may even be depressed. I know I have been.

That is why one of my favorite topics/labels on this blog has been success stories. These stories have encouraged and inspired me to have a fresh outlook and have even given hope when it has been lost.

Throughout 2008 I am aggressively looking for more success stories to share with others. To that end, I’m launching a new project entitled “How I Got My Job“, in which I record 15-20 minute phone interviews where my guests share how they got one of their jobs and release them to the internet as a podcast. Think of it as Inside the Actor’s Studio, but for job searching instead of acting.

Here’s the basic premise: If you are currently employed or have ever been employed, you have been successful in getting a job. Just as there are certain common threads to each job hunting success story, there are bound to be some unique aspects as well. I look forward to capturing both kinds.

I will most probably record the calls via one of the live conferencing tools that are available and will give out the phone number and other information prior to the set time and date of the interviews. Because the guest will share about one job only, each episode will last about 20 minutes. If it looks like this idea creates an audience, I may look at doing a live show where I take calls. Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, as they say.

I hope that these interviews will encourage and inspire those who may have lost hope or need a fresh outlook. Maybe something heard during one of these interviews will help someone else in their own search.

So, what do you say? I know you’ve got some stories. Please email me so we can set up a time for one of your interviews: danieljohnsonjr [at] gmail [dot] com

I (and many others) look forward to hearing from you.

Make it a great day!

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

Share the Show!

Baby Steps to a New Job

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:31:00 +0000

… at Google.

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Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Journey Inside My Mind Blog
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

One Week Job

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:00:00 +0000

Have you heard that you’ll have many jobs during your worklife? This guy’s working on one different job every week for a year: One Week Job

Hat tip to Shea Gunther via Twitter

SUCCESS STORY – Getting a job despite your efforts not to

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:06:00 +0000

Sometimes the need is just so great that the company will jump through hoops to get and retain you, despite efforts you might make to the contrary.

I talked with a woman today who does Accounts Receivables about how she got her current job. She did that work for a group of doctor’s offices before she went on maternity leave. She wound up finishing her Accounting degree before she came off leave, so she opted to look for a full-time job outside of her job with the doctor’s offices.

She said she applied everywhere and doesn’t remember when she was contacted by the recruiter who was hiring for her current position. Then when it came time for the interview, she had to reschedule a couple of times.

While on the job for awhile, the company came in and eliminated half of the department. Thinking her own job was in jeopardy, she found another one and put in her notice. The VP of Operations begged her to stay and sent a message to her boss demanding that she give the accountant a raise.

Please share your own job-hunting success stories here so everyone can know they too can Get That Job!

Blog your way to your next job

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:24:00 +0000

Thanks to Bryan from Monster Careers, I now point you to this article that describes How Blogging Can Help You Get A New Job.

Develop and nurture your online presence. It may lead to your next job.

Twitter got her a job!

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:33:00 +0000

“Twitter got me a freelance job.” — Karina Longworth

Karina Longworth, who writes on her blog Vidiocy, sent that message to folks following her on Twitter. Read more about the details at her blog post: Vidiocy >> Twitter Got Me A Job

Job-hunting success story – right out of college

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 20:07:00 +0000

Schneider Quad on the University of Cincinnati main campus. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am very proud of how I landed my first job out of college, which seems like ages ago in internet time. I had spent lots of time at the library, researching the hidden job market and looking for leads. I had posted a resume at the University of Cincinnati’s Career Development and Placement office, and I guess they made a database available to recruiters.

My sister had recommended a book entitled 300 New Ways to Get a Better Job by Eleanor Baldwin. I found that very useful and would recommend it to any graduate or especially students in an online degree program, since they don’t have access to a career center.

One summer day in 1994, Mark, the Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager for a company that manufactured decorative items for homes, called me. What was meant as an initial screening call turned into a full-fledged telephone interview. When I hung up, I had made an appointment for an in-person interview. Not having a car of my own, I was able to borrow a friend’s. I spent the next days before the interview at the library, researching all I could on the company.

At the interview my enthusiasm for the position as an Environmental Engineer was strengthened, especially as I convinced Mark to take me on a quick tour of the plant. I made sure to share some of the information I had found from my own research, which seemed to impress Mark and Jim, the HR Manager who also attended the interview. At the end of the interview, I asked what more I could do to qualify for the job, conveying my strong interest.

Immediately when I returned home, I typed up a thank you note to both Mark and the HR Manager who also interviewed me. Then I both faxed and mailed it.

Within a week Mark called me to offer me the job. I accepted it and wound up moving an hour north to Dayton, Ohio, where I lived for ten years.

The Internet has certainly changed the way we can look for jobs and how employers can find us. This worked for me back in 1994.

Do you have a job-hunting success story you’d like to share? Please send it to me at daniel [at] getthatjobonline [dot] com.

Note: I’ve updated this post to include some additional links to affiliates and others that I recommend you check out.

Job-hunting success stories uncovered during lunch

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:07:00 +0000

It appears to be so easy for the coworkers in my department to eat their lunches at their desks. We work on a floor below most of the company, and I’ve made an effort recently to head upstairs to the break room to eat my lunch with other people.

I have also spent time asking some of my fellow employees about their work. This is probably made easier to do because these individuals were all recently hired. I like to ask about their work backgrounds, and how they found out about the job they have now.

I’m finding that people are so much more interesting as you get to know them than they initially appear on the surface. Isn’t that so true?

Here are some recent examples how some of these people got that job:

J. worked for a worker’s compensation managed care group that our company has used. Her boss knows our VP of Operations personally, since they regularly eat business lunches together, etc. When that company recently downsized, J. was left unemployed. That afternoon, her boss ate lunch with our VP of Operations, who also knew of her work, and, since we had a position to fill, hired her on the spot. So she was unemployed for 1 whole hour!
S. had worked for over 20 years for the LA Times circulation group before retiring in 2001. Needing to supplement her income, she worked as a temp for a payroll processing company in California. Friends in Ohio begged her to move here, and she did so last fall. Having heard about our company while at her previous job, she stopped by the office, having seen the sign from the highway. She went in and asked for a job, for which, the company indeed did have an opening.

Got That Job!

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:21:00 +0000

Hey! I am writing to inform you of my recent success at landing a job. That’s right. Uh huh. (pardon me, while I do a happy dance.):

Before I say anything else here, I need to be clear that the opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of any employer, past or present.

On Tuesday, January 2, 2006, I’ll be going back to work full-time. I’d like to tell you some of the things I feel helped me secure this job.

First, I’d worked with the company before as a full-time employee, and, although laid off in August, I’d made what I felt was a very valuable contribution to the company. Even after that time, I’d done some independent contracting work for them, further adding value to them.

I kept a good relationship with former coworkers and supervisors, often chatting with them at least once a week. They even offered to reach into their own networks to help me out.

Fast forward a couple months, and I get offered to come back. Now, since I’d had time to do some market research, I’d found out that I had been getting paid below the market rate for others with the same skills and experience.

I also began to seek the advice of others whose opinions I trust. When approached with an initial offer, I didn’t just accept it. I opted to look at other things, such as a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether it would be better to stay an independent contractor versus being a full-time employee. Some of these valuable people in my network helped me work this out.

I also feel it was valuable that I didn’t try to negotiate from a position, but instead on factual principles. What does that mean? I meant that in everything, as I presented my concerns and questions, I relied on facts – number of miles to be driven, mileage reimbursement rates, etc.

It was a nerve-wracking experience, but one I’m glad I went through. I’m really glad to be going back to work.

What that means for this blog is that posts may become more erratic. But stay subscribed to the feed, and you’ll know when I do update.

Varied Work Background

Your Job Searching Success Story – with a Prescription

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 01:32:00 +0000

One thing I love about maintaining this blog is to present job-hunting success stories. They inspire us all, and we need the encouragement to know that success is available for us.

Instead of sharing one right here, I offer a prescription in bold, capital letters: GO SEE “THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS“.

Here’s a direct quotation from the IMDB User Comments page for the movie:

Chris is shown running throughout the movie. Remember the title of the movie: “The PURSUIT of Happiness.” Chris places emphasis on “pursuit.” Jefferson, when he penned the Declaration of Independence, did not promise Americans happiness, but only the right to pursue it. Chris says, at one point in the movie, paraphrase, “I am happy right now. It is a fleeting moment.” We experience happiness in eyeblinks. The rest of the time we, like Chris, are chasing after it.

There will be some heart-wrenching moments that might make you feel uncomfortable, because of how real the circumstances are portrayed. But I think it behooves any job seeker to see this movie. Maybe even more than once.

FeedRaider and Other Ways to Consume This Content

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:11:00 +0000

Four years ago when I started blogging, I had no clue about RSS feeds and syndication. I’d just go through my blogroll and manually check to see if someone posted something new.

Now there are so many ways to aggregate the “stuff” you want to consume on the internet, saving time from having to visit each website to see if new content is available. I used Amphetadesk for awhile, and I’ve been using Bloglines for the longest time. Over the past 16 months, I’ve used Juice as my primary podcast receiver.

While going through the visitor logs, I saw a referral from FeedRaider, so I decided to check out that service. I like you can show items from several feeds on one page and set up multiple pages as a way to categorize your content.

To that end, let me tell you about two feeds I’ve set up for this website:

The second item, via Feed2Podcast, uses text-to-speech to create an mp3 of the posts you read here. So, whether you want to read or listen to the content, it’s up to you. And, of course, you can always come here directly to see all the Get That Job! goodness.

Speaking of the goodness, I’m always looking for job-searching success stories to share here, so if you have something you’d like to share, please contact me at danimal0416+gtj [at] gmail [dot] com

Update: I just realized that some of you might be interested in what I’m consuming, so here’s the link to my FeedRaider web presence.

As you were.

Get That Job! » success stories

Brian Williams shares how he got his big break

The Pursuit of Happyness

A pink slip or a blank page?

Share the Show!

Workshops, HARO, and Lowball Job Offers

Maximizing Your Job Search Workshop, Crossroads Community Church, Cincinnati, Ohio

Job-hunting success stories wanted

Evaluating job offers

Possible related articles by Zemanta

Promise Me Something

Depression clouds everything

Stay in the battle

Get help

Related articles by Zemanta

Job-hunting success – with music, too!

SUCCESS STORY: New media

Any success in getting jobs through Craigslist?

How I Got My Job!

Baby Steps to a New Job

One Week Job

SUCCESS STORY – Getting a job despite your efforts not to

Blog your way to your next job

Twitter got her a job!

Job-hunting success story – right out of college

Job-hunting success stories uncovered during lunch

Got That Job!

Your Job Searching Success Story – with a Prescription

FeedRaider and Other Ways to Consume This Content