The subtitle of How To Hire The Perfect Employer by Jim Beqaj is "Finding the Job and Career That Fit You Through a Powerful Personal Infomercial". Beqaj says his overall message for everyone reading the book is: "You can find your fit and love what you do."
In his book Beqaj says: "I want to help you determine:
* What you enjoy doing most (this will reveal what you're good at)
* Who you work best with, and why (this will reveal your wiring, or personality type)
* Your preferred method of resolving conflicts
* Your Target Rich EnvironmentTM (TRE)TM - the types of employers who fit you and your goals - companies where you should therefore concentrate your search
Armed with this information, you can then script and present a powerful Personal InfomercialTM".
Beqaj says: "You're going to pitch your infomercial to employers who need what you have to offer. More than that, you will learn how to use your infomercial to find out whether companies that need you also want you - you with your personality, your preferred style of working, and your goals. You will tell them in a few choice sentences what you're good at, who you work best with, and how you can add value."
He says: "You may feel a bit squeamish about the word `infomercial', but like it or not, you have one now. We all do. If you ask people how they see you, their response will reflect your current infomercial."
He continues: "The point of having a powerful Personal Infomercial is simply this: Either you design how the world sees you or you let the world see you how it wishes."
In the introduction to the book, Beqaj says: "The truth is, if you are going to find your best fit, you must take responsibility, going forward, for knowing yourself, defining yourself, and creating a clear and accurate perception of you."
"I learned the importance of taking responsibility for myself and finding the right fit the hard way. The dramatic rise and fall I experienced in the first twenty-five years of my career forced me to take my life apart and put it back together again. This book is the result of what I learned. I believe the process I forged out of my experience will prove to be of great value to you."
The book is quite concise and most chapters include exercises for the reader to complete for example, a Personal Balance SheetTM which helps the reader find the common denominators in the things they enjoy the most and least, are good at and not good and provide evidence that demonstrates their three strongest "good ats". Beqaj uses his personal version of the completed exercises as a teaching template for the reader.
In fact, Beqaj uses himself as an example throughout the book and he is beyond candid which is what I have always loved about him....he is a straight talker which I find incredibly rare and personally very charming, particularly in the corporate world. In a chapter titled "A Rude Awakening" he says: "The loss of three major jobs in five years was a major hit not only to my ego but also to my wallet. I have never experienced stress and pressure like this. I had to find a job, and fast. I had an ex-wife, a new wife, and six kids - one of whom was very ill. I had no time to absorb the shock, take a hard look at myself, and make strategic decisions. I begged people for a job, in any capacity. I was like a falling market that was constantly testing for new los. I kept wondering, Is this rock bottom?"
It took a lot of courage to share the learning gained from some profoundly challenging life lessons and Beqaj has it in spades. The concepts presented are straightforward and simple, in fact, once you have read the book and worked through the examples you might think the approach quite obvious. On the contrary, I think this is his gift to the reader. He explains these concepts in simple terms, using simple exercises which once completed offer rich data and a powerful means of communicating to the world who you are by way of your Personal Infomercial.
The wisdom in this book was hard won and has been generously shared by a veteran of the financial services industry and I applaud him for doing so!!
I encourage you to read the book and complete the exercises and come up with your own Personal Infomercial.
