This Is How to Get Your Next Job

AT LEAST DEMONSTRATE THE SKILLS YOU WANT TO GET PAID FOR

The president of a prestigious business who had been advertising for a salesperson told me he got an e-mail that was so generic “it could have been written to Sam’s Pawn Shop.”

So he wrote the person back asking, “What do you know about us?”

“Not much,” the applicant responded.

“This guy is applying for a position in which he’d get new clients. This job is based on understanding those clients and what they do. If he’s not willing to do that for a potential employer, how does he have the skills to do it for our company? It’s not that hard to do a half an hour of research to learn what the organization is up to and then tailor your communication.”

He adds: “People send passionless, desperate ...