1. Identify and Prospect
   1. Research
      1. internal Research
         1. #1 What are my super powers and why should people pay for them?
         2. Strengths
         3. Things I hate doing.
         4. My perfect job(s) is
      2. External Research
         1. These are the roles that fit my strengths
         2. These are companies that have these roles
   2. Build my contact list
      1. Collect data, lots and lots of data
         1. Companies
         2. Hiring managers
         3. Company org stucture
      2. Get the names
         1. LinkedIN
         2. Networking events
      3. Get the titles
2. Qualify
   1. What the need their trying to fill?
      1. This isn't "We have an open head count" if that's all their doing, keep this blog post handy you're going to need again in a few months.
      2. What busines need are they thinking about?
         1. If a company is hiring Business Analysts, why is that, and what's the real need for the role
            1. For example, a company in St. Louis is hiring BA's with analytical backgrounds to support their consumer package good business.
            2. They need to improve this space because their competition is kicking their ass at shelf and their customers aren't thinking brands are important any more. How do I know that? All over the press baby. What they're doing from their SEC Filings, strategies are outlined in the annual reports, and Glassdoor is littered with postings for web developers and analytics folks. They're telling you EXACTLY what they're doing, you just have to be able to read it from the tea leaves.
   2. Of the companies you've identified who's great at the role you want? Who isnt'?
      1. I want to learn how to be better/further my expertise at what i do? Lean toward good at
      2. I want to have impact and change the world? Lead towards Not so good at
   3. How committed are these companies to the role?
      1. The actually have the role on their books, a title and an office waiting?
         1. Great, you're on your way
      2. They really need this role.
         1. Uphill battle, winable but will take effort. This is the "I'm going to write my own job description" role. Works better for roles higher in the organization.
   4. They pay what I want
      1. #1- What DO you want?
         1. Understanding your salary requirements are crtical before you go
         2. Keeping in mind, salary per se, a combination of enjoyable work, benefits and actual pay.
            1. Only you know how to balance this. but it's probably a good idea that do balance this early on.
   5. Work Culture
      1. Culture is SO important to mental well being.
         1. Check out Glassdoor- see what the employees are saying.
         2. Network around
         3. Check out linked in- how long have people been in position? With the company?
   6. When you've done these steps correclty you will have..
      1. A qualified list of companies where you want to work.
      2. A list of contacts in and around those companies you can start to research and contact to get introduced and make inroads with.
      3. Perhaps a list of jobs that you're going to apply for.
      4. A clear set of objectives in your head about what you want to do, how much you want to get paid and if your expectations are realistic.
      5. The start of a focused search plan.
3. Propose
   1. I'm goign to fill out, contact and apply for a role that's open and waiting for me (the traditional method)
   2. Subtopic 2
4. Present
   1. This is the interview.
      1. Prepare for the interview, if you've done your homework in Qualify, you're going to be ready to for the interview.
         1. Knowing the position you want and are interviewing about.
         2. Knowing something about the company and what they do
            1. How's their business?
            2. How's the financial pictures
            3. What's the in the press about them?
            4. What are their products?
            5. What do you think you're going to bring to their party?
            6. How does you Superpower apply to their business needs?
      2. Have a plan to talk about YOU.
         1. Why are you the answer to their problems?
5. Negotiate
   1. Now comes the difficult part that I've talked about here before.
      1. Glassdoor can help you understand the pay scales and culture at the company.
      2. You're negotiating a compensation package not a salary. once again, for goodness sake to negotiate in piece parts and don't undersell yourself. Remember the lesson of the car dealer, they come at you with four things to discuss; monthly payments, trade in value, extended warranty and off the lot price of the car. This isn't because they're all that complicated, they do this because human beings can't keep track of more than two things at once. You're going to feel great about the deal you negotiated at $500 under dealer price, they're going really be upset, but you know it's the end of the month and they like you. You'll be so happy you'll totally forget that you sold them your car on trade in at $800 below market value and that you've agreed to a 60 month loan that will double the interest you'll pay on the car.
      3. Salary is just a piece of the total compensation package. You've got vacation in there, education allowance, sabbaticals (yes in the Silcon Valley they're pretty common, famliy leave, medical and dental, car/transportation/parking. THere's plenty of things to negotiate.
6. Close
   1. Make your pitch.
      1. If you've done everyting correctly on the previous steps, you're ready to close the deal
         1. Here's why i'm the best candidate out there for what you're looking for.
         2. Here's why you'd be remiss in not hiring me
            1. I'm smart enough
            2. I know all about it this role
            3. I work hard.
            4. And darn it, people like me.
            5. That's the very line of thinking that propelled Al Franken to the US Senate. Just say'n.