1) Get the heck off Craigslist and call companies DIRECT.  Forget online ads, everybody does that (including us when we market, but not when we contact employers!).  Online classifieds are middlemen with no compassion if you get the job or not, plus hundreds of other people are competing for that same spot. Can you out-muscle a black belt former Police Commissioner for NYPD with vet status? Didn’t think so.  Make your life easier and go direct.

2) Print your business cards. You do not even need to own a business. Simply put your first name and last name on the first line, your telephone number on the second line and your specialty on the third line. Hand these cards to everyone in management at whatever facility/biz you WANT. Remember, YOU choose where to work, take some control of your life.

3) Dress and smell good.  Nobody wants to hire a stink, tacky dresser. Shop at thrift stores for great suits and shirts. Shirts cost $5 at most and blazers cost $15 at most, pants are same and shoes sometimes are free. Get it tailored and maybe read www.tsbmen.com on styling tips.  I have rarely met an unemployed stylish person.  Managers rather hire someone who looks professional and a bit smaller than a burly mountain man who is unkempt. ESPECIALLY IN SECURITY.  Looking tidy is important.  Verbal judo is enforced swifter and more direct when performed by a professionally dressed officer, not some super sloppy person with no sense of style or care for appearance.  Same with nightclub security, size is not important.  Presentation is.

4) Keep your teeth and breath fresh.  We do not need to even touch on this.

5) Pay for professional help.  This may very well make you upset and want to tweet this article, but it is what it is.  We, as professional trainers and job consultants and security specialists, have seen dozens of people get hired from playing the game the right way.  IF you do not play the game the right way, you will lose.  So why do all the work? You do not change your own tire (most of you) or operate on yourself (this ain’t a movie!).  So hire professionals while you work on how to ADVANCE once you get the job.

Remember ladies and gents, getting the job is not the end game–moving up to management and getting a decent salary is the goal! Never ever forget that.  Also, pride and success do not mix, in fact they are polar opposites.  We all had to bust tables, clean toilets and mop floors in order to pay for schooling and education and training; what you are doing is nothing new.  In fact there are some countries where a decent days pay is a single digit ($5) and that is quite enough for a good days ration (food).

We are very fortunate to live in a country where, at anytime, we can decide to become successful and change the course of our lives.  Of course we need spiritual guidance as well, but we are made, our DNA, coded with the ability to excel.  Realize your potential and unlock it and go after opportunity with a spirit of friendliness and professionalism and you will land a job!

NOW HIRING
G4S Security–>  www.g4s.us/
Sleepys corporate –> www.sleepys.com/
FJC –> www.fjc.org
McRoberts Protective –> www.mcroberts1876.com/

Major hiring. This means these companies are hiring in a lot of departments and span across state lines. Visit their website or even better, put on your business suit/attire and head down there with your resume and cover letter and APPLY.  Be sure to speak clearly, research the company and ask the number question bosses love to hear:

-What do you look for in a qualified candidate?

This question alone will raise your profile above the competition. Best of success and see you on the next blog update.

This person must be VIGILANT. RELIABLE and TRAINED to respond in emergency situations.

FIREGUARD

Because fireguards receive specialized training, many enjoy a much higher salary, preferential working hours and a more detailed patrol of site.  It is imperative you receive your fireguard license if you wish to EVER make serious money in security.  Consider your fireguard license a clearance that will enable you to take on more special assignments. You can now work in sites that folks with just their 8 hour pre assignment, 16 hour OJT (on the job training) and License cannot legally work in.  Many nightclubs in the city are actually being FINED for not having proper personnel employed at such sites.  We predict that many other sites will follow suit.

HELLO BROOKLYN

Though many applied for the position at the Barclays center, there are still tons of opportunities in the surrounding area, as well as in the Bronx, Long Island, Queens and especially Manhattan.  Someone is always LATE to work or called out one too many times. We show you how to EASILY get a job or become stand-by when these people slack off.  Site Supervisors need professionals, this is your opportunity to become a part of an industry that simply CANNOT be beat.

Give us a call today to schedule a training class. Our sessions are conducted by certified personnel and are geared to get you to ACE your fireguard exam as conducted by the Fire Department of New York. Our students have gone on to work with some of the top ENTERTAINMENT and SECURITY companies here in New York CITY.

All students receive:

• Professional fireguard prep by certified Security instructions who have actually WORKED as fireguards and with FSD
• Letter of Recommendation for FDNY- Certified, Sealed and Embossed by SMG Security Consultants, an approved NY LLC
• Fireguard Course Readiness Certificate for display to employers, managers
• Job placement Assistance professional job alerts as well as deep discounted optional resume/cover letter service by professional security job coaches and Employment recruiters.

Even entertainers need day job. Imagine if your day job did not SUCK!

So you rip catwalks, shred monologues, can rap 16′s against the bosses of bosses, can hit a higher note than Celine Dion and funnier than Rodney Dangerfield of Kevin Hart (which I doubt, sorry but they crack me up!) but everyone else seems too idiotic to recognize your talent.

I get it and yes I feel your pain. But THEY don’t and honestly, before reading this article you probably thought they did not care. But they do and here is why:

THEY (employers and recruiters) care because YOU represent the inner celebrity that is in all of us. Every show you perform at, every headshot you take and every club you gig at represents a step closer to your big break. When that agent flies you out to set and you are on first-class just sipping on an ice cold beverage while watching Netflix with your head on a silk pillow, ah, the high life of a newly made celebrity.

Such imagery can cause envy and insecurity in most people. So it is very important to select the RIGHT opportunities to pay your bills while honing and sharpening your craft.  There is no way you can be excellent at your craft if your everyday life is spent stressing out at a dead-end restaurant or stuffy office gig. You need a relief, a mental vacation away from the cold harsh world of work.

An escape is a moment away, but first a story about an entertainer I know, who is making nearly six figures and not busting tables yet not quite “made” it yet.

Lets call him Sylvio.

Firstly Sylvio is not a funny dude. Honestly, everyone else think he is, but I find his humor very annoying and not quite my lane. But he manages to get a gig or two a week at some decent places.  These gigs do not pay even a quarter of his mortgage and they certainly are not packed with Comedy Central headhunters looking for local talent in Suffolk County.

So how does he bank nearly 100k a year in HIS field?

Simple. And I heard someone else doing this from Michael Ellsberg, author of The Education of Millionaires, so it kinda surprised me that I actually knew of someone who makes a very decent living off of this.

Sylvio, the not so funny comedian banks his roll by teaching public speakers and executives how to be funny. He reserves the downstairs conference rooms of libraries and rinky dink hotel rooms and sometimes advertises on Craigslist. He fills the room with the lamest executives he can find and injects them with much needed banter, swagger and comedic arsenal. By the end of the session, emails are exchanged, golf dates are made and synergy takes place.

Slyvio basically still works in comedy, except he is now getting paid for it on a consistent basis. He found a NEED and filled the void.

You can do the same.

Model? Why not volunteer to become a product/service demonstration for small businesses? Agree to something like a measly 300 per week for a probation period and set up table and banner at malls, train stations or events. Hold a Q and A or just sit there looking good and engaging visitors. Carry a clipboard and collect emails. Those emails are LEADS. Now you have a board full of LEADS. Renegotiate to receive a commission on each lead that results in a SALE. So now, you are salary plus commission employee and still get to take pictures and promote yourself to onlookers.

Never know which editor or blogger or intern will be shopping that day.

This is not normal strategy, it is actually quite weird. BUT that is what we need to do at times to make the life we want to lead.  We need to think outside the BOX of normalcy and what everyone else is doing.

Actors and musicians can do the same. Create a jingle, something catchy and give it right to the company. Watermark it and put a price on the watermark. Guarantee you will have more business than you can handle, because the company that has jingles are pulling in MILLIONS. And that is why they have gotten the millions, from thinking outside the BOX.

Try it today and tell me how it goes!

Why is your resume on plain drab white paper with no texture?

Why does your resume contain large words that your younger, less experienced hiring manager cannot even pronounce? It’s insulting.

Is that a cover letter geared for the specific job or just a general cletter for the asses I mean masses?

Why is your shirt wrinkled?

Where is your LinkedIn profile and why are you shirtless in your Facebook profile? I looked it up by your email in your corporate profile.

You didn’t know our ytd earnings? Our new acquisition into raw goods? You must not care? Perhaps?

You didn’t ask me any questions? Including if you should carry your own malpractice insurance? Really? You are that sure you are getting the position?

You didn’t even bring up a salary, I guess you will not care that I will give you 30k less than what I intended to give to my newest employee? Awesome, and lets peek at stock options while we are at it, your severance package as well, I know you won’t care about that?

DEAR HIPPIE

Why is your portfolio on copy paper? Even at 300dpi the details on your steam punked fonts are blurry.

Why did you call me “bro” or “dude”? My name is actually Karen, and I am not a male. Even if I was, I am not your bro or dude.

Where is your suit? Are those TOMS? Is that a freaking bow tie? Really? I like them too but for an interview? Are you Orville? I see no popcorn. You mislead me.

Going bareback hiking? I am wondering why your hair is in a bun? Do you just wake up roll it up and splash water and Clinique on and call it a day? Interesting.

Your links, they led to no live websites, are all your clients simply spec work? Which one actually has contracted with you? Unless you lied, which I suspect but I will not indicate it to you because I rather reject you with no correspondence back and a thank you for applying.

Canceling already? It’s an interview not a date. Yet I feel used and taken advantage of. You seem flaky. Are you?

Why did you just email me and not call me? I get hundreds of emails a day and a few calls. I wouldn’t mind taking a break from eyeing down portfolios and talking to a human.

Is that Trajan font? Seriously?

Hippies and suits. Learn from each other.

It is time to get for real about your life. Rather you are a newly minted graduate tired of hugging Craigslist job ads and twitter-tagging, or an under worked attorney who cannot out-market the younger brasher attorneys, we all need a helping hand at times.

Especially me. That is why I surround myself with nationally recognized geniuses, so they can check me when I am not steppin’ up.

Roll with me, we are going to have some fun.