Getting Your Foot in the Door When You Don't Have a Leg to Stand On [Paperback]

Rob Sullivan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2001

Looking for a job is intimidating, especially when significant experience is the main thing a job hunter is lacking. In Getting Your Leg in the Door When You Don't Have a Leg to Stand On, the author, a successful headhunter and job-hunting coach, shares insights and techniques that he learned from working with job hunters at all levels. He presents expert advice, case studies, and strategies for getting the interview, then demonstrating the qualities and skills most likely to convince an employer of one's abilities.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

A Dynamic Program for Leveraging Your Life Skills and Potential-and Landing Your Perfect Job

Forget everything you've ever been told about looking for a job. Getting Your Foot in the Door presents an effective new method for organizing and highlighting your marketable skills, convincing an employer of your potential, and getting the ideal job offer-without an advanced degree or substantial related experience!

Not a one-size-fits-all, fill-in-the-blanks "get a job" guide, this step-by-step book walks you through the entire career search process. From self-assessment exercises to nuts-and-bolts guidelines for crafting an effective resume, fielding difficult interview questions, and negotiating the best package of salary and benefits, Getting Your Foot in the Door contains concrete rules to:

o Determine your most salable skills
o Prepare an attention-grabbing cover letter
o Position yourself relative to your competition
o Prepare for-and ace-interviews
o Learn to profit from criticism
o and more!

You know you have a lot to offer. Let Getting Your Foot in the Door show you how to let employers know, with a self-assessment, self-marketing program that shows you how to get your resume noticed, handle the interview with ease, and land the job you want-with far less effort than you ever expected.

Getting Your Foot in the Door is written for all job seekers-from recent college graduates looking for their first job to mid-career professionals looking for a fresh start-who find it necessary to sell potential over actual experience. Interviews with recruiters and human resources specialists, hands-on self-assessment exercises, frontline stories from job seekers who landed their dream careers, and more formulate an innovative system for applying proven product marketing methods to yourself, drawing up an effective marketing plan, and acting as both the salesperson and the product to get the job and career you want.

Author Rob Sullivan-himself a seasoned headhunter and former frustrated job seeker-explains in engaging yet authoritative language how to:
· Highlight the two qualities that employers value most--passion and initiative
· Understand popular interviewing methods--and use them to your advantage
· Satisfy an interviewer who questions your level of education relative to other candidates
· Effectively follow up and close the deal
· Learn from criticism, rejection, and even your own mistakes
· Reposition yourself to appeal to different companies with vastly different needs

The old way of job hunting-sending fifty copies of the same resume and cover letter, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best-is inadequate and ineffective, and doesn't pack nearly the punch of a well-crafted, pinpoint-targeted sales package. Getting Your Foot in the Door presents a powerful approach for combining self-awareness with proven product marketing skills, transforming yourself into a job seeker who quickly rises out of the resume pile-and winning over prospective employers with your skills, energy, and long-term potential.

From the Back Cover

Forget everything you've ever been told about looking for a job. Getting Your Foot in the Door offers effective and engaging information for organizing and highlighting your marketable skills, convincing an employer of your potential, and getting the ideal job offer--no matter how much or how little experience you have!

Not a one-size-fits-all, fill-in-the-blanks "get a job" guide, this step-by-step book walks you through the entire career search process. From self-assessment exercises to nuts-and-bolts guidelines for crafting an effective resume, fielding difficult interview questions, and negotiating the best package of salary and benefits, Getting Your Foot in the Door contains concrete rules for a successful job search.

"It is the best work on this subject I have ever come across. I even think some of the advice is applicable for life and not just an interview." -- Al Roehl, Executive Vice President, Leo Burnett Company, Inc.

"When looking for a new career, this is one book you should not put off reading." -- Rita Emmett, author of The Procrastinator's Handbook

"[Rob] Sullivan gives us facts, but also more than that; he gives us an intuitive and shrewd approach to marketing ourselves in a Dilbert culture." -- Asa Barber, "Men" columnist, Playboy

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (October 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809223406
• ISBN-13: 978-0809223404
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No disappointment here, November 6, 2002

By 

martinquinn (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting Your Foot in the Door When You Don't Have a Leg to Stand On (Paperback)

Wayne Gretsky once said, (as quoted in Rob Sullivan's book) "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Sullivan, a one time recruiter, in his new book Getting Your Foot in the Door When you Don't have a Leg to Stand On, gives you new strategies, ideas and steps to take to make those "shots" that will eventually land you the job you want. He has concrete examples for making your cover letter and resume really work and stand out in a sea of resumes.

This book has a wealth of ideas. For example, once you have a contact or lead into a company, ask for help rather than asking for a job. Getting an "informational" interview may be much easier than getting an interview for a job that may not even exist yet. In an "informational" interview, you have the opportunity to share your strengths and show how you might help the organization. If there is still no job at that company, your new contact will know you personally and be more likely to give you other leads or recommendations.

Sullivan's chapters on resumes and cover letters, in a very clear and concise manner, will give you concrete ideas on how to be more effective in your one and only contact with either a recruiter or a company. His advice in how to establish a "clear chain of events" is excellent. A resume that leaves more questions than answers in the readers' minds may well eliminate you from the start. Sullivan says, "Unlike your resume, every word of your cover letter will probably be read." Of course, then, crafting a cover letter with punch is critical, and Sullivan's book will give you clear steps to do this.

Sullivan's self-assessment exercises and his guidelines on the interview process, like how to field tough questions, how to prepare, and how to close the deal, are all valuable tools for the job seeker. Check this one out! You will not be disappointed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting Your Hands on this Book, May 21, 2002

By 

Rosemary (Flagstaff, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting Your Foot in the Door When You Don't Have a Leg to Stand On (Paperback)

Rob Sullivan has created a wonderfully complete and enlightening source for landing your dream job. From discovering what careers and companies are right for you to negotiating the perfect salary, this book has it all. In addition to the wealth of practical knowledge contained in this volume, Rob has included numerous real life stories and quotes to lend character and authenticity to his work. I especially like the chapter on resume creation...great ideas for putting yourself on paper in a way that will definitely get you noticed. For anyone in the job market today and for anyone who will ever look for a new job in the future, get your hands on this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rising classic, February 6, 2005

By 

Malissa Kullberg (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting Your Foot in the Door When You Don't Have a Leg to Stand On (Paperback)

Every time I pick up this book I am mystified as to why it hasn't found a broader audience. Yet, perhaps it's because, as Sullivan says in the intro, "you won't find shortcuts or easy answers". Unlike the narrow, often-unsatisfactory assessments that abound on the web or in career centers (interest inventories, personality typings, etc.), Sullivan's approach requires a greater level of responsibility and engagement on the part of the reader. But those willing to put in the time will find a bonanza of sound guidance to help them identify and credibly market their strengths, and hold onto their saddles while riding the interview circuit.

Solid training in advertising plus real world experience (at ad-world giant, Leo Burnett, and as a VP and Senior consultant for an executive recruiting firm) equip Sullivan with the means to define and craft the job search in marketing terms, as well as plenty of insider knowledge of interviewing techniques. Moreover, these recommendations are market-tested: Sullivan suffered through more than 80 interviews before writing the book and leveraging its methods to attain career success.

Sullivan's comparison of the job hunt to a product launch, with potential employer as consumer, orients the job seeker early on toward a realistic and research-driven self-assessment. Subsequent chapters prod the reader through the process of harvesting and quantifying details and variously combining the elements into persuasive, job-specific resumes and covers.

With well-selected quotes, honest field reports and a long, quirky bibliography, Sullivan reveals his humanity-a creative counterbalance to the book's stolid core. Scattered with gems such as the recommendation to keep a work journal of your ideas and contributions, and advice on how to handle time gaps, lateral moves and backward steps, Getting Your Foot in the Door is well-worth its modest price.