Get a Job by Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

The news is grim. So far over four million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession. People are being ousted from their jobs at rates comparable to the depression era with some predicting a whopping 9.4% unemployment rate for 2009.

With so many people flooding the market, competition is fierce; even for jobs that don’t pay well. Getting a job today will require a new way of thinking of things. It will require you to think like an entrepreneur.

Whether you realize it or not, you are an entrepreneur. Instead of selling candles or financial services, you are selling the knowledge and skills you have developed over the years to a business that needs them. And instead of doing contracted work for multiple clients like the average freelancer, you devote the bulk of your time serving only one client for several years.

While scary at first, this change in mindset is incredibly freeing. Why? Because it opens up avenues of opportunities that you may not have otherwise seen or pursued. Sure you can look for employment at another company in the same industry. But you can also change industries altogether simply by investing in a little education. You can even convert your knowledge and skills into a home based business, something I recommend highly.

Today I’m going to show you how to think like an entrepreneur and secure a job in this crazy economy.

The first step is to sit down and think about what you want to do. Do you want to continue doing the same work you have been doing or do you want to change careers? A New York Times article suggest that some industries are contracting to a much smaller size or are going away for good.

If you are in a growing or at least stable industry and you like what you are doing then sure go ahead and look for a job in the field. However if you are in a contracting or unstable industry, I highly recommend jumping ship.

If you’ve decided to change careers, you need to make sure the skills you have developed over the years will translate well to the career you have chosen. Start by writing down all the jobs you have held. Underneath the job title write down all the technical and administrative tasks you did while in that position. If you need to, pull out your job description for help. In addition to that, list any skills you have cultivated that had nothing to do with work. For instance, if you write on the side, add that. Do illustrations for fun? Add that to the list. Did volunteer work? Write it down.

Now this next step is going to require quite a bit of thought and maybe some help. From this list you want to extract the skills involved in completing those tasks. For instance, say you were a scientist for a pharmaceutical company and your job was to perform experiments that determined the safety of a particular medication. The skills you would need to complete this job function are the ability to manage a project (set up the experiment and see it through to conclusion), organization (tracking the results), data analysis (interpreting the results) and the ability to speak, write and present ideas (explaining the outcome of the experiment so that it is understandable to others).

While the job you did may be specific to the pharmaceutical industry, the skills you acquired are the ones that need to be in sync with the job you want. Don’t worry, though, if your skills don’t measure up, you can always go back to school or look for a position that straddles the gap between what you do now and what you want to do that will train you for that dream job.

The real challenge, however, is not developing the skills for a job that you want. If you put enough time and effort into it, you can learn how to do anything. The difficulty lies in convincing the hiring agent that you are the best candidate for the job. This is especially true if you are switching from one career to another and doubly true if you are stepping down in rank (i.e. going from an upper management position to a front line position). This brings us to an entrepreneur’s greatest challenge.

Selling.

That’s right. Even though the product in your business is you, you still have to sell yourself to prospective employers; especially now when supply (employees) is greater than demand (jobs). You have to convince the hiring agent that out of all the applicants he or she will be interviewing, you are the one they want to hire.

The secret to selling yourself to prospective employers is to stop thinking about yourself. It sounds crazy I know but Zig Ziglar once said “You can only get what you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.” While the hiring agent understands that you need a job in order to save your house, they really don’t care. Seriously. All they care about is:

Are you the person who is going to bring in the sales that will keep us in business?

Are you the person who will reduce our customer complaints?

Are you the person who is going to show up to work on time every day?

Are you the person who is going to help me solve my problem?

Employers are not just looking for people to fill a position. They are looking for people to help them get what they want whatever that may be. And you, being the savvy entrepreneur that you are, will convince them that yes, you are that person who is going to help them get what they want which will, in turn, ensure that you get what you want. A Job.

First do research on the position you are applying for. Read the job description. Tap people whom you know who are already doing the type of work you are applying for. Ask them what a typical day is like. You want to make sure that you can do the job and that it is something you want to do. Use the information you get to tailor your resume to the position you are applying for.

Your next step is find out all you can about the company. Read the company’s website. Do a search for them on the internet. Read their marketing material. Network with people who work for the company so you can get inside information about their policies and processes. If you can, try to visit the business and look around. What are the employees wearing? How do they interact with each other and the customer? Are they formal and straitlaced or are they laidback and casual?

This may seem a little excessive at first. However, you cannot effectively market yourself as the person who will help them get what they want if you do not know what they want in the first place. Your research should reveal where they are doing well and where they need help.

Now that you have all of this seemingly useless information about this company, here is the first of many places where you are going to use it to sell yourself as the solution to their problems. Extract from your findings at least ten ideas that will help the business operate better. They can be ideas for increasing sales, or providing better customer service or saving money. Ideally, these ideas should relate to the position you are applying for but any you come up with should be fine as long as they are good.

What you are about to do is offer the company a taste of your skills and knowledge. Just like those in-store demonstrations where employees offer you a piece of sausage in a cup in the hopes that you will buy a package, you are going to offer the company a taste of what they will be getting if they hire you.

The place where you offer these ideas is in the cover letter to your resume. Open the letter with a brief introduction of yourself. Then in a professional and courteous tone, list two or three of the ideas you have about how they can improve their company. Do your best to quantify the results the company will get should they implement your ideas.

Do not use high pressure sales tactics or close with something crazy like “Call today for more great ideas about how to improve your business” as this will turn them completely off. All you are trying to do is get your foot in the door and offering some tangible benefit up front will definitely have them picking up the phone and calling you.

In the next article, I will discuss how to win at the interview. In the meantime, don’t despair. Hope is in the air.

Thank the editor. Buy me a coffee!

4 Responses to “Get a Job by Thinking Like an Entrepreneur”

1. Kid In The Front Row says:

   August 25, 2009 at 1:08 pm

   This is great– very motivational. I definitely think this is the best way forward, especially in these so-called troubled times..
2. ArwenTaylor says:

   August 25, 2009 at 5:01 pm

   Hi Kid in the Front Row,

   Great name for a blog.

   I agree. I think the future is going to see a dramatic shift in mentality from worker bee to freelance agent. Might as well starting thinking like that now.
3. Eric says:

   December 3, 2009 at 4:31 pm

   Arwen,

   I’ll start off by saying I’ll make this short and to the point.

   I like your blog and your website. Very inspirational and down-to-earth feelings I get from both.

   In my opinion, and I’m currently working on doing business with my blog and website and not making anything just yet, I’m happy. I’m happy because I’m doing something I enjoy doing and that make me happy.

   I believe that if you want money you will find it. One way or another. The mind is a great thing we should all learn to use a little better and the only way to do that is to learn and gain experience from making mistakes in our lives.

   Helping others is the best thing in the world as well as helping ourselves because we actually get helped “twice”.

   That’s all I will say for now. Great article by the way.
4. ArwenTaylor says:

   December 4, 2009 at 3:21 pm

   Hi Eric,

   Thank you so much for stopping by and for the wonderful compliments. I’m a pretty laid back person so I’m glad that comes across in my writings.

   I think you are absolutely right when you say that if you want money you will find it. I’m strongly believe that you can earn money with anything you do therefore why not do something you love that will bring you joy for years to come.

   Making mistakes is really a mandatory thing if you want to grow as a person. But the fact that you made a mistake is not as important as how you respond to it.

   I enjoyed my visit to your blog and will return when I have more free time to leave a few comments.