Here is an excert from my Blog, "Finding Work in Tough Times" http://jobsintoughtimes.blogspot.com/
This is a pretty simple story to stress a very important point in any endeavor.
I was married in college and my wife and then one year old daughter, Jenifer, needed to find a plagh timesce to live during my senior year. I saw an ad in the paper for an apartment that offered a tremendous discount on rent for a resident who would also take on the responsibility for maintaining the grounds. It was a big complex and mowing the lawn in itself was a challenge.
But, we were poor students and I jumped at the opportunity. I did what the many other interested renters did. I called the number on the ad and told an answering service of my interest. The woman on the line politely told me that she would take my number and I should expect a call. She also mentioned that many others had called for the same reason.
When I got off the phone, I thought that I had probably already missed my chance. I was young though, 20, and I didn't over think things too much. I was more prone to act impulsively and I really wanted and needed this. So without much thought, I drove to the complex and started walking around the perimeter of the grounds. Eventually, a man saw me and came over to see just who was trespassing on his property.
I introduced myself and explained that I was very interested in the resident maintenance position and always liked to understand any job I applied for in as much detail as I could. I didn't know that I was talking to the owner until he introduced himself and told me he had received a number of calls and would make a decision by the end of the week. I said that would be great and did he mind if I could call him directly during the week if I had any questions. He somewhat reluctantly gave me his number and I ended the conversation by nervously telling him that "I want the job and will do a great job for you". I explained that my father had a true "green thumb" and I had learned to love taking care of yards as well. I confess that this was perhaps a bit of a stretch since, in my earlier years, Dad usually had all he could do to get me out of bed on Saturday mornings to help in the yard.
Despite my fears, I did call the owner everyday that week to both ask a question and tell him again how much this would mean to my family. Finally on Friday, he called me and asked me to stop by. When I approached him a little later at the complex, he had an unreadable expression on hi s face and I thought that perhaps I'd pushed too hard. He then spoke with a somewhat exasperated tone, "Son, if you work as hard at this job as you have at getting it, it's yours. I like your persistence."
The lesson is obvious and every old school sales person knows it - get in front of the "customer" and ask for the sale. You can't do this very well on the internet. In the next few entries, I'll elaborate on ways that this simple truth still applies today and can be employed in today's high-tech age.
A final bit of advice - buy an old paperback copy of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. Read a chapter or a few pages a day and when you are done, start over again, and again. . . . Getting a job is about people and how you relate to them.
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