WHY DON'T THEY CALL ME?

Tactics and encouragement for a new kind of job seeker.

Petras makes a point of addressing different types of job seekers in his book, and with good reason. These are the people who may never have been unemployed before, have been out of work for a long time, have lost not just their job but their confidence and self-esteem, or have been let go late in their careers. All of them need new job search strategies that they can put to work in a competitive environment, and that’s what Petras delivers. A professional career adviser and executive recruiter who formerly held sales-management positions, Petras tells a number of true stories, including his, to demonstrate that even good, qualified people can lose their jobs. But he doesn’t encourage wallowing in self-pity; he guides job seekers through a self-analytical objective process of “soothing the pain” and then moving on. After a bit of morale-building, Petras shares specifics for how best to conduct a job search, including “ten simple habits of highly successful job seekers” and “fourteen potent truths and myths about popular job search methods” that should open some eyes and help job seekers reorder their priorities. But he doesn’t stop there; Petras offers advice for “how to make a lasting first impression in 30 seconds” and shows, in black and white, “the power of a well written resume.” His counsel on making cold calls and breaking through the administrative screen using a technique he calls “pattern interrupt,” clearly honed during his sales days, is very useful. Petras also spends considerable time discussing how to use social networking effectively, with particular emphasis on LinkedIn, qualities that make this book particularly relevant to the modern-day job seeker. Petras may not be able to promise that a job seeker will land a position using the tactics and advice he shares here, but with this well written, straight shooting book in hand, an individual looking for a job should have a much better chance of getting that call that might lead to a job offer.

A powerful tool from a seasoned professional.