Board of Directors for your Job Search

Imagine: You are the CEO and you have an active, helpful, thoughtful board of directors without any other agenda other than helping YOU succeed in running the company.

Have a challenge with a certain department and need advice?
Take it to the board.
Could you benefit from some additional accountability in your sales efforts?
Ask the board to help you.
Need someone to pump you up before a big meeting?
Talk to the board.

For a company, a board of directors is in place to provide oversight for the senior management and to represent the best interests of the stockholders. Typical duties include:
· Establishing policies and objectives
· Review of the chief executive’s performance
· Ensuring the availability of adequate financial resources (this is true too on a non-profit board)
· Approving the budget
· Accounting to the various stakeholders for overall organizational performance

Now that you are on your job search working for YOU, Inc. why not recruit a board of directors to support and advise you?

Specifically, this board of directors can serve you in:
· Accountability – are you networking well, making calls (how many?), and putting in a full day’s work? Some job candidates may need this more than others.
· Networking Contacts – These should be people who will take a meeting with you every so often for you to practice and to get more contacts.
· Cheerleaders – Being on a job hunt is tough. Sometimes you don’t feel like you have much to offer a prospective employer. Before an interview, calling someone on your board and saying “OK, tell me how great I am” may be exactly what you need to be sure the first interview turns into a second which leads to a job offer. If you go in feeling down about your search you might approach the interview with hat-in-hand feeling like you NEED a job, which is a tougher position to be in. Remember: you have value for the right employer! Find people who will remind you of that when you need it!
· Review for resume changes – Serve as your primary sounding board to help you refine your message.
· Evaluation – Sometimes you get so focused on the tactical elements of job searching or doing the job of job hunting, that you can’t step back and look at your search from a strategic perspective. That kind of evaluation can help you identify problems and needed changes in:
o Focus – what kind of jobs are you pursuing? Are you a good fit for the jobs you are pursuing or is there a problem with the market for the jobs you are pursuing (too many candidates, not enough opportunities?)
o Clearly stating your value proposition – Don’t tell a job seeker you want “a job”; you have to tell them what kind of problem you can solve for them.
o Networking – are you out meeting new people? How can you improve there?
o Resume – maybe there is something on there that is limiting your ability to get a first interview.
o Computer skills – are you using LinkedIn and other online tools well? How can you improve?
o Interview skills – If you are getting a lot of first interviews, it means you are doing some other things well, but if it doesn’t yield second interview and eventually job offers, perhaps there is a problem? Your board can help you determine what that is.

How I would build a board of directors.
1. Evaluate my network to determine who are possible role players for my board of directors. Some of the things I would look for would be:
a. Ease of communication; if they’re on an oil platform somewhere, or very busy at work or home, you might consider someone else.
b. Variety of experience with you; Include some good friends, but try to incorporate a mentor or two or someone you admire, and people you have worked with first hand.
c. Pros; someone who has some relevant professional experience (HR person, Staffing person, Senior hiring manager, etc.)
2. Develop a plan on how you are going to “train” your board of directors. Maybe use this post to help draft a job description for your board. Just like you are going through, you need to clearly communicate what the job entails before someone can agree to serve you in that capacity. Write it out.
3. Ask them for 20 minutes in their office. If you haven’t yet done this, go have a networking meeting with them. A networking meeting is an opportunity for you to meet with someone to get input and advice about your job search. If the initial meeting goes well and you have identified them as a potential board member, ask them about serving.
4. Set clear parameters for checking in with them. Try to keep the responsibility for communication as your responsibility, but set guidelines about when you want them to contact you. If you aren’t doing what you know you are supposed to be doing, they will call. Depending on how many people serve on your board, you could have regular phone contact and less frequent in-person contact.
a. Check in with two different board members each week, so a board of four people would hear from you every other week, plus maybe a monthly meeting.
b. If you are needing increased accountability, get five board members that you check in at the end of each day with a different one, so you call Tammy on Mondays and Jim on Tuesdays, etc. to report on what you have been doing.
c. Obviously, the more frequent contact, the higher commitment required by the person you are asking to help you.
d. Maybe you are really working hard and making lots of personal connections. GREAT! You may need less accountability and more strategic support to evaluate your search. Build your board to help you where you need it.

You may have various people serving you in this capacity already; at the very least be deliberate about who is supporting you in your search. Surround yourself with good people who will support you. Train people who are willing to help you. Bless you in your search!