​How the Seminars Started

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After a 35 year career in sales and sales management for major companies in the computer industry like IBM, CDC, DataSwitch, General Signal Networks, StorageTek and SUN, Bill Freind tried twice – unsuccessfully – to retire. The first time, Bill missed the fun of leading a group of sales professionals and went back for a “victory lap” at StorageTek. Thanks to an outstanding sales team, Bill’s district led the world in revenue percentage in 2006 and, in October 2007, Bill retired for good – or so he thought at the time. Bill had two goals: to protect his portfolio from the ravages of the financial meltdown (he did) and to significantly improve his golf game (he didn’t). And then fate stepped in.


Bill looked around at all the millions of people who were losing their jobs and thought: “Somebody ought to do something about this!” Then a little voice inside his head said, “Why not you?” Why not indeed?


Bill was uniquely qualified to help in this arena. He had spent his entire career interviewing, rejecting, hiring, training, mentoring and, sadly at times, releasing employees. He has reviewed between 5000 and 6000 resumes, conducted over 1500 interviews and has learned a number of things that can help others:


     • What works, and, more importantly, what doesn’t work in the job search process
     • How to turn a job into a career and proceed up the corporate ladder
     • How to tell when the “storm signals” are flying for your industry, your company or your position
     • The art of building an “exit strategy” long before you ever need it
     • And so much more

The result was TAG for Productivity— aimed at helping people and corporations more effectively address the problems of this terrible recession. The first offering was an Employment Seminar for folks who found themselves without a job. The response was overwhelming. Bill initially planned this as a onetime event and anticipated about 10 to 15 people attending. Instead, Bill has now conducted six seminars, having taken over 160 people through the process -- with a success rate of over 90%.


     

 

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To see Bill Freind's complete biography, please view his LinkedIn Profile HERE:

 

 

 

 

For more details on the current Unemployment Picture, click here:

 

 

 

 

 

The seminar: a disclaimer

 

When people hear the word “Seminar”, they often picture some professorial pundit in the front of the room, waxing poetic and totally entranced by the sound of his own voice. This is nothing like what you will experience at a TAG seminar. Yes, I will be in the front of the room imparting knowledge but that is where the similarity ends.

 

 

There is an old saying that goes like this:

 

 

We hear and we forget

We see and we remember

We do and we understand

 

 

 Yes, you will hear. You will also see because each of you will have a workbook that has a copy of every slide being presented. But the most important part is that you will DO!

 

 

As we finish discussion of each seminar topic, it will be followed by a workshop where you actually get to put into practice the things you've just learned. There are two types of workshops:

• Personal Workshop. You will work by yourself on a topic we just discussed. For example, when we talk about the resume, you'll learn a whole new concept of what makes a resume work for you. At the end of the discussion, you open your notebooks or your pad of paper, take a critical look at your resume, and immediately begin reconstructing your resume until it screams VALUE.

• Team Workshop. Here, you will work with a small group of attendees to improve your work. For example, after revising your resume, you will exchange your resume with several other participants and get some critical feedback on what they like and what they don't like. And the instructors will always be available to help.

 

 

It is very similar to the experience you might have had taking golf lessons, tennis lessons, or academic lessons in the past. If telling you how something should be done was the only thing the instructor did, the increase in skill would be minimal at best. A good instructor, coach, or seminar leader will follow instruction with a session where you get to put in practice the skills you just learned. The net result is that, when the seminar/workshop session ends, you will walk away with a whole new set of skills that you not only learned but also actually put into practice.

 

 

 

The seminar/workshop: Exit Level Behavior what you can expect.

 

 

A key criterion for the success of any seminar, learning session or instruction session is what your “Exit Level Behavior” is when you leave. After attending the seminar, here's what you can expect:

 

 

• You will at least double your effectiveness in the job search process, moving from well meaning amateur to a much more professional status.

• You will have a thorough understanding of the current employment picture stripped of all the hype and inaccuracies that are being presented by our TV and print media. This will significantly increase you effectiveness in the way you go about your job search activities.

• You will have a very good grasp on your skills and, more importantly, be able to communicate these skills in both a written and verbal form.

• You will arm yourself with a list of significant accomplishments that you'll be able to communicate professionally by using your new SARs technique.

• Armed with theses skills, you will rip apart your existing resume and construct a hard-hitting value-oriented one that will catch the attention and interest of your target audience.

• Using the same set of skills, you will create a LinkedIn profile that will set you apart from 95% of existing job applicants. 

• You will thoroughly understand the networking process, construct a list of potential contacts and both understand and practice the contact interview process. This skill set will at least lease double your effectiveness in networking.

• You will identify a group of people whom you will use as references and learn how to coach them so that their references will move your job search forward.

• You will understand the interview process and be much more comfortable in conducting the employment interview.

• You will understand and change your “after interview behavior” to make sure that, in a very professional but straightforward manner, you take the necessary steps to maintain and increase your “mind share” from prospective companies.

• You will learn how to negotiate salary and responsibility levels.

• You will learn how to use your newfound skills to keep you job and enhance your career.

 

In short, when you leave the session, you will have progressed from an apprentice job seeker to a journeyman, with an in-depth plan as to how to take it to the next step and become a master. 

The Seminar: What the participants say



At the beginning of each class, I tell the participants my goal is to at least double their effectiveness in the job hunt. The feedback I have received indicates that we have almost universally exceeded that goal. Below are some of the comments from class participants:


"I just wanted to thank you for donating your time to run this seminar. I think you did an outstanding job and provided a really valuable service. I found it incredibly helpful to review my resume and really work on adding value. I also felt the questions you gave in the notes were a great tool to practice with."

"Thank you so very much for all your help in my job/workshop planning. I really feel so blessed to have you as a mentor."

"Just got a job offer today and finalized salary discussions. Your seminar and our one-on-ones were extremely helpful in getting my thought process in order and getting my resume to the point where it really sizzled. Thanks!"

"I just wanted to send an enormous thanks to you and to let you know how much I appreciated your extreme efforts towards all of us. I am currently reflecting and acting upon all of your advice, and feel I'm making tremendous progress."

"Just wanted to let you know that I thought the class last week was great; I really appreciate the time you’re giving all of us. You certainly gave me lots to think about over the past few days."

"Glad my resumes were able to help and were a HIT! It was thanks to your advice and help that I was able to 'transform' the resume to where it needed to be."

Now, here are the details on the seminar:


 

 

The goal of this seminar is to help you land "The Job of your Dreams." Each of the seminars consists of two sessions a week apart.

 

This is not intended to be a "feel good," "you can do it" session but rather two full evenings of hard work aimed at vastly increasing your effectiveness in the job hunt. Having reviewed upwards of 5000 resumes and conducted over 1500 job interviews during the course of my career, I know what works and, even more importantly, what can destroy your chances in the first 2 minutes of an interview or, even worse, prevent you from ever getting to the interview stage. In addition to the classroom, we will be scheduling two one-on-one sessions with each of the participants to custom tailor a crisp, results oriented Job Search Plan. Here is a summary of what we will be covering:



First Session



 

• Welcome and event ground rules

• Your turn to talk: what would you like to accomplish?

  • Recorded on a flip chart so that we can determine how well your objectives were met

• Discussion of class objectives

• Today’s business environment – it’s not as bad as you think: companies are still hiring.

• Why is the job hunt so hard?

• The single most important aspect of the job search

  • Identifying your strengths

  • Personal Workshop: Brainstorming session to identify and prioritize your strengths

  • Discussion: where else can you go to get better clarity on your strengths?

• Identifying your most significant job accomplishments

  • Personal Workshop on your most significant job accomplishments

  • Discussion: where else can you go to get better clarity on your accomplishments?

• SARs: communicating your accomplishments in a professional effective manner. Done properly, SARs will vastly increase not ony your effectiveness in the job search but also you ability to retain your job and advance your career

• Class Workshop: building a SAR together

• Personal Workshop: Creating your first two SARs

• Team Workshop: Practice session on communicating your SARs effectively

• Bill's Short Cut Method for getting back to work in as little as 30 days

• Bragologues: how to put your "best self" forward.

• Personal Workshop: creating your "Cocktail Party Bragologue"

• How to build a great resume (yes, I know you think yours is great but 90% of the resumes I’ve reviewed are mediocre at best!)

• Personal workshop: revising your resume until it "Screams VALUE".

• Team Workshop: Resume feedback session

Second Session



• Best and worst ways to look for a job

• Networking

  • Discussion of what makes a good contact

  • Personal Workshop: creating a list of 100 names that you can use as part of your networking program

  • How to ask your contact for help: the phone call

  • How to ask your contact for help: the 15 minute face-to-face meeting

  • Personal Workshop: fine tuning your telephone and face-to-face meeting spiels

  • Team Workshop: practicing your contact spiel

• Building a “Brain Trust”

• References: "don't leave home without them"

• Social Media

  • Building a LinkedIn Profile

  • Key Point: a mediocre LinkedIn Profile is worse than no profile at all!

  • How to make yours stand out

  • Examples of award winning LinkedIn Profiles

  • Personal Workshop: creating your LinkedIn Profile

  • Team Workshop: reviewing and getting feedback on your profile with your peers

• Researching target companies: the two things you want to find out

  1. Is the company right for you?

     • Culture

     • Reputation

     • Attitudes toward people

     • Layoff history

     • Etc.

  2. In depth financial analysis of the company. Learn as much about this company as you would if you were investing your life savings with them because your career is even more important!

  • Key Point: one of the biggest problems in the job search isn't landing a job. It's getting the WRONG JOB at the WRONG COMPANY!  It's similar to that old adage about marriage: "Marry in haste, repent at leisure." Make sure you spend your time, energy and talent on the company with whom you really desire a relationship.

• The Interview:

  • 3 different kinds of interviews

  • The "Informational Interview": a dynamite tool

  • Basic attributes of the job interview

  • How to make a good first impression

  • Keys to interviewing success

  • Team workshop: practice interviews

  • Handling Objections

  • How to "close the deal": Negotiating the job offer

• After interview behavior

• "It's not the earth the meek inherit, it's the dirt": being aggressive in a professional manner

• How to deal with the “rudeness” of the job search

• Negotiating salary and responsibility levels

• How to keep your job. Yes, you read that correctly. You don't even have a job yet and we're talking about how to keep one. The simple fact is that a significant percentage of the people who are unemployed or underemployed today find themselves in that position because they failed the basic responsibility of communicating VALUE on a regular basis.

• Your detailed step-by-step job plan

 

One on Ones:  To Be Scheduled


     • Individual one-on-one practice interviews
     • Individual one-on-one counseling
     • Building a results oriented Job Search Plan

Prerequisites:

 

• Bring everything with you that can help in the job search. This will include such things as:

  • Your laptop computer. You will be using it but don't worry if you don't have one.

  • Appraisals, letters of commendations, awards - anything that shows your successes

  • Plenty of paper, pens and pencils

  • Your list of current contacts in your network.

  • The below listed books and anything else you think might help.

• Buy and begin reading a copy of "What Color is your Parachute? 2014" by Richard Bolles, the greatest book ever written on the job hunt. Bring it with you to class. You can get it at any bookstore or at Amazon.com.

• Buy and begin reading a copy of "Brag! The art of tooting your own horn without blowing it" by Peggy Klaus. You will love this book.

• Be prepared to work hard. Under the best of conditions, an effective job hunt is a difficult task – and these are definitely not the best of conditions!

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KEY POINT: If you know someone who is unemployed or underemployed, please tell him or her about the seminar. You will be doing them a huge service.
 

Price of the Seminar:     $325

To Enroll, please click on the "Buy Now" Button and follow the instructions.