Q&A: A job in 30 days within 30 miles?

NORFOLK

Neil P. McNulty offered a couple dozen people leaving the military some happy news last week:

"I know that within 30 days you can find or be placed in an opportunity within 30 miles of where you most desire to live."

McNulty detailed his can-do approach, endorsed by syndicated career columnist Joyce Lain Kennedy, in his book published this year, "The Quick 30/30 Job Solution: Smart Job Search Tips for Surviving Today's New Economy."

McNulty, 53, spent five years in the Marine Corps and has been in the job-placement business for the past 25 years. He is president of McNulty Management Group in Virginia Beach.

During his talk Wednesday at the Fleet & Family Support Center at Norfolk Naval Base, he offered a smattering of often-unorthodox job-hunting tips:

• Try to make your first contact with the CEO. "The human resources department is the last place you want to go."
• Sidestep concerns raised by an interviewer unless they're mentioned twice.
• Avoid negotiating if you receive a decent job offer. "If the offer meets your needs and most of your nice-to-haves, you'd be well served to take it," McNulty said.

Afterward, he sat down for a half-hour interview, covering topics ranging from how early to get to an interview to whether to send letters to CEOs at their homes. These are excerpts.

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You say your success rate is between 75 and 80 percent to get a job within 30 days and 30 miles. Isn't that a bit rosy, given today's economy?

I would say no. It's all about creating a position where no position exists. When a business owner says, "We're not hiring because our sales are down; the economy is horrible," if somebody were to present to that person a way to increase sales, that business leader would say, "Let me listen to this." And they may hire them or engage them as a contractor. It's identifying needs and hitting those hot buttons with solutions. Even in a bad economy, it works.

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You talked today about sometimes starting with a lifeboat job. Can you define that term?

The name itself implies a lousy job. But a lifeboat job is really a B-level job which pays the needs, the mortgage, keeps you in your house. A lifeboat job is a good place to wait out the storm until the economy gets better and you can get back on your career track. It's not a lousy job, and sometimes it can lead to a great job.

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You advocate aggressive tactics such as writing a letter to the CEO at his home address. Won't this come off as too pushy?

Not if it's done correctly. You say, "I hope you don't mind me writing you at home. I'm doing so for two reasons. No. 1, I know you'll actually receive this letter, and it won't be screened out by your able assistants. No. 2, you'll know that I'm a creative and resourceful individual who will take reasonable risks to achieve worthy objectives." I've never had anybody get in trouble with this, never.

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What are the most common mistakes job-seekers make?

The biggest mistake they make is they go into an interview cautious and reserved, instead of "This is a job I want." Even in a good job market, people hire people who show a desire to go to work for their companies. The second-biggest mistake is going in without doing your research. Today anyone with the most rudimentary research skills can find out a lot about a lot of people.

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You wrote that online job applications don't often result in offers. Is it still worth filling them out?

Yes. As a last resort.

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Do you agree that most job offers come from networking and who you know?

This is job-hunting blasphemy: I think networking is overrated. Networking is good, but what's more powerful is doing what's in my book, sitting down and identifying people that you don't know and finding out what their problems are and solving them. Most people can get through their entire network in a few hours. And where do they go from there?

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You talked today about breaking the rules. For instance, it's OK, even desirable, to make your initial contact with an employer by voice mail. You also said the best way to send a thank you after an interview is by e-mail. Why in both cases?

Because all the other folks are not doing that. The way you get hired is you stand out, and you stand out in a positive way.

In the e-mail, you pick out something personal. They say, "Hey, this guy really pays attention." And that scores a little point there. And you do it quickly. You want to influence the decision. Hiring is made on impulse.

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What about voice mail? I think a lot of people think it's a dead end, that you really need to get the live connection.

Why would they think it's a dead end?

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Because people would just erase it. It goes nowhere.

If you leave 75 voice mails, 65 of them are going to go nowhere. Delete, delete, delete. If 10 of them result in a callback, and of those 10, six interview you, you're getting hired. It's the fastest way to get an interview. But it's the least used, because people are afraid to use it. Also, you can use voice mail after hours.

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In the book you even talk about the preferred day of the week for an interview: Thursday. And you say Monday is the worst. Explain this one.

A. Because Monday people are trying to get their minds back on their business. By midweek and later, they're starting to look forward to the weekend. They're starting to get in a better mood. And most offers are done on Friday, and that's based on thousands of placements.

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What rules should you follow?

The basic things. Wear a suit. But here's another piece of bum information: How many times have you read, dress the way a company dresses? No. Always go to a first interview dressed up. That's a rule you should never break.

Another rule you should never break, absolutely, positively: Don't be early and don't be late. So many people say, "Be 20 minutes early to an interview." That's the worst thing you can possibly do. The moment you walk in and the interviewer knows it, they go, "OK, I've got to hustle with what I'm doing." No. You be in the neighborhood 20 minutes early.

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And when do you walk in the door?

Five minutes before game time.

You follow the basic things that have stood the test of time. The rules I'm talking about breaking are for acquiring interviews. The person who gets interviewed and hired is the person who bypassed all the other people.

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Any final advice for job-seekers in Hampton Roads?

The market here, it's not booming, but it's better than most places in the country. It's a good market because of the defense industry. It's a good market for people getting out of the military, because they can find a defense contractor position somewhere. For nondefense, for manufacturing, it's getting tough. As far as overall, the landscape across America is very tough.

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com