Attract – Convince – Reassure, Episode 1: Attract

So you want to meet people in charge in other companies, because you would like to change jobs or find your a new one in their organization?
Whether you think you know how to do it, or you don’t have a clue, please take a little time to read the following.

Do you want to be singled out by your potential future employer talent acquisition service? Or maybe (way smarter, in my opinion) you want to approach your potential future boss directly?
There are 2 ways you can try:
– either shout louder than the crowd and hope you’ll be noticed (slim chance),
– try to show your best profile to them wherever they happen to go and be (always work in the end).

It is all about the rules of attraction: not the physics ones; the ones between human beings.
I think your approach should be inspired by the rules of courtship. From the courteous love of the Middle Ages to the Disco/Club tactics, all these situations teach us something.

Whether you want to be spotted or you want to make yourself known to somebody who until now ignored your existence, you need to make the best first impression as possible. You need to look good, you need to talk well, you need to be somewhat different from the crowd in order to stand out. All about you should impress. While implying that obviously ‘there is more than meets the eyes’, what the other party already sees should be characteristic, distinctive and interesting. And subtly so, in order not to be blunt, aggressive or too obvious.
And you don’t want to count too much on success at first try; prepare to repeat yourself. You need stamina, resilience and a serious dose of maturity so the little failures you are bound to experience do not destroy your mood and your positive mindset (because you can’t approach people as your grumpy glum normal self).

This is the reason why you need to have well-crafted and tools able to shortly qualify you, give a whiff of what you are all about (the equivalent of killer clever witty pick-up line, engaging good looks, and charming yet mysterious attitude). And when you have them you need to become a master in using them. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it is natural or spontaneous. Look at Georges Clooney before the TV Show ER… He very probably had to think a lot about his game and he surely practiced like crazy! But now he is the Nespresso poster-guy…

I have been mentoring people in this situation constantly for the last 4 years.
We have come up with 4 rules of attraction mode & tools. You must be clear, accurate, fast and positive if you want your target to give you some of their attention and free-brain time.

To attract the potential future boss and the occasional talent officer in the companies we target we spend a long time designing, refining and testing the tools that will convey our service offer. We carefully craft them for efficiency and consistency until we get a tool-box of ‘lean and mean’ tools we are not afraid of using, to deal with first contacts or speak for us in our absence.
The results are a one page cv to send ahead, a 30 second presentation pitch, a 2 minute introduction talk, social network profiles, company target lists and a 3 to 6 month communication & social presence campaign.

What do YOU do to attract your next boss?