Andy Thomas Productions

We here at Andy Thomas Productions LLC find time as you should to reflect and plan a strategy for your new year . Author and Career Coach Andy Thomas shares his motivational message each year and here are his thoughts :

As we enter 2012 I know this will be a remarkable year for you! You ask in disbelief how I could know that this will be the year where it comes together for you in your career. It’s because I understand the pain you have felt in your struggle to find “ The Job I Need Needs Me“or that career path that uses your strengths and passion. The good news is that there are more jobs becoming available now but you must allow yourself to look outside the box.

If you give yourself permission to take your skills and translate them to other job possibilities then I know you will have an extraordinary year.Take a sales job and try a dramatically different product that you can believe in. It doesn’t have to be what you sold before. Take a job at a coffee shop where you entertain people and soak up the positive vibes each day as you help make their day better. Start a business this year and use your past experiences to carve a better product and approach. It’s a new beginning and you need to first see yourself as a success this year! Then picture in your mind after careful research and hours of solid thought what you want to be doing. Then take the marketing techniques I teach in my book and seminars and apply them. You will have the job you need. You can have the job you love. Life in 2012 is full of possibilities so open the door and begin the walk.

If you can make it to my seminar in Charleston SC on January 18th at 6:30pm at The Calhoun Branch of the Charleston County Public Library then I will further show you how glorious a year this can be .Believe in yourself. I do!

Happy Holidays and Happy New You!

It’s the inventive things you learn to do that can make the difference in getting hired. Let me give you an example from my past. I was applying for a position in franchise sales with a wonderful South Carolina based company. I had caught their eye because of the wording I used in response to their clever Craigslist advertisement. They had been advertising for a “rainmaker” so I responded in my email by saying “rainmaker here” and of course went on to describe the benefits to them of hiring me. Later in the process after I had progressed from a phone interview to an in person interview then I came up with what really closed my employment. I actually took the time to write a script and produce a digital recording using their website material of how I could sound pitching their product. That was the “extra” no one else would have thought of doing and I was hired and working within one week from my application process. Remember you must stand out and you must show direct benefit to the potential employer. It works!

So you landed the job phone interview and the call will be tomorrow at 2pm. Is it time to relax? Absolutely not!
It’s time to Google the person interviewing you and trace anything you can about their past and the company’s successes and failures. This is really where the internet helps you so much in the process. Check LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and take notes on what you learn. Make sure you are writing down what I call the “pearl drops of wisdom” that you will use in the phone call to impress the potential employer. Have questions you want to ask also written out and ready to use because the interview really is a two way process. After all you have to decide if this is the right job for you too. The research will give you some personal information about a college or sports team or family or city that you can use to befriend the interviewer. Remember this is sales and you are trying to show that you have an interest and have taken the time to get to know the company and the interviewer. Most people won’t do this so shine as you stand out of the crowd and drop those knowledge pieces into the conversation. This will always impress.

Job seekers of today need to be so careful as the internet is full of scams and bogus opportunities. One recent example to hit here in South Carolina is a company that acts like it is hiring in public relations . When you research the “agency” (as you should!) you will find nothing on it anywhere on the net. Take that research one step closer and if you get an address then research that address on Google and all of a sudden you start to get the real picture. They are a legitimate company but “public relations” means door to door sales in neighborhoods on straight commission. So why didn’t they just come out and say that? I even know of one applicant who went for the first interview and still was not told what the “product was” but they wanted her to come back.
Here is the bottom line. If you interview with a company and ask them direct questions about their compensation process and product and they don’t clearly answer then run for the door. If you can’t find their website and they call themselves an agency then there is something wrong. If you find out that a company keeps changing its name but stays at the same address then that’s another red flag. If this company were honest it would post an advertisement for marketing door to door on behalf of xyz Windshield Company. Then you would at least know whether it’s worth your time and fit your skill set. Remember that what I preach is not to just apply to the listed jobs but to create an opening by cold calling employers that you want to work for. Companies will always hire you if show you are better than someone they have. Good companies care about their bottom line and that’s where your pitch begins. Happy hunting!

It’s easy to forget and lose sight of what we were given as talents and gifts especially when you have been unemployed for a year or more. I see so many applicants that are struggling to find themselves and get back in touch with their dreams. My Thanksgiving week message to all job seekers is to remember to be thankful for the talents you were given. Take stock of those talents and give them energy once again because they are the roadmap to your success. So many people gravitate to just a job when if we use our natural abilities the world opens up and things change for the better. If you dwell on the title of my new book The Job I Need Needs Me you can see how the focus is to benefit the employer with your skills and passion for THAT job. If you make a connection to a career that actually rewards your passion then you will soar. Get back in touch with who you are and what makes you happy. If you are an artist… paint…and then get your marketing moving so the dollars come. If being a chef is your passion then introduce yourself to some restaurant owners and demonstrate in their kitchen what you can do. Take your passion, talents and skills and expose them to the world and have the Christmas gift of a new job! Now please send me your story of how you took your talents and turned them into a great career! I’ll pass the inspiration along.

CHARLESTON, SC – July, 2011 – Andy Thomas, a syndicated radio personality turned career development expert and motivational speaker proudly announces that his new book The Job I Need, Needs Me is now available for purchase.

Based on Thomas’ copyrighted strategy for career counseling, and with the help of writer Denise K. James, The Job I Need, Needs Me not only instills hope, inspiration and motivation – but provides a real blueprint for job seekers looking to achieve personal and professional fulfillment.

“Most job seekers are going about the process backwards,” Thomas claims. “The internet should NOT be the primary job search mechanism and my book teaches what does produce quick interview success.” Continuing, he states, “I am extremely concerned about the depression and frustration I see among the unemployed today and know that it is worsened by the poor results of their job search. My book and seminar is certain to help turn misfortune into opportunity by both inspiring and educating people on how they can take control over their lives and find a fulfilling career.”

Thomas first developed his technique while providing career counseling at Good People Staffing, a subsidiary of Goodwill Industries of Lower SC. He later honed his message during a two-year tour in which thousands of unemployed Americans not only shared their stories but heard Andy’s 60-minute motivational seminar on how to search for a career and package and market oneself effectively. The Job I Need, Needs Me puts into words Andy’s unique training process and combines his formula for career success with stories from his 2009-2010 counseling and seminar road trip across the Southeast.

The Job I Need, Needs Me covers the essentials readers need to know in order to both identify and land the job that is actually “right” for them. Andy teaches that people can reinvent themselves at any age and provides instruction and insight on how everyone can prosper – even in today’s troubled economy. He truly is “The Job Guru.”

The Job I Need, Needs Me provides inspiration and hope as well as a distinctive blueprint. It can be purchased through Amazon in paperback or downloaded via Kindle and Nook. With Andy’s 2011-2012 tour set to begin soon, now is the time to purchase this book and schedule one of his motivational seminars.

About the Authors:
Andy Thomas is a nationally touring motivational speaker and career coach. His broadcast and entertainment career spanned 30 years, including work for public television in Buffalo, NY and Columbia, SC, as well hosting shows on more than 14 stations. Andy’s popular syndicated radio talk show aired in South Carolina as well parts of North Carolina and Georgia for 10 years. Prior to finding success with his motivational career seminars, Andy worked as a staffing agency manager at Good People Staffing where he developed and tested his innovative strategies for finding career fulfillment.

Denise K. James is a freelance writer and editor living in Charleston, SC. She holds a B.A. in English from Coastal Carolina University and an M.A. in English from the College of Charleston. Denise’s work appears in many Lowcountry publications and websites, such as the Post & Courier newspaper, Charleston Style & Design, MichaelMitchellCharleston.com and CharlestonResource.com. In her spare time, she’s an active member of the literary community by serving on the board of the Poetry Society of South Carolina. Read her work at WordsByDeniseK.wordpress.com.

Andy Thomas founded Andy Thomas Productions, LLC in 2009 to function as a multi-media motivational communications company. For more information, please visit www.andythomasproductions.com.

In my travels around the country doing seminars I always ask participants how well the Internet works for them. Their expressions and words  immediately tell me what I already  know to be true. The Internet application process (as a primary vehicle)  is not working for most applicants.

One of the quick reasons for poor results from the Internet application process is you have no way of knowing if a human being even saw your resume.Many companies use software to screen through the resumes and you also don’t know if it shuffled its way to the” junk mail box” instead of the “in”. The other problem with this process is you are relying on your resume( if it was seen at all)  to sell you enough to get an interview. I want you to try a very different approach that we go over in our seminars.

Where the internet DOES help is researching companies and people you want to work for. It also gives you an idea where the  immediate hiring need is. Having said that please understand that companies are always hiring. Now I know  that many of you have heard the famous “we are not hiring ” line when approaching  employers but that’s because you didn’t make a real connection with that company first. Good companies will always make changes to hire someone that they believe will improve their bottom line.Just because they are not hiring today does not mean they aren’t firing somebody else in order to create room for YOU.Remember you must make a personal connection happen to get them to see you for the talented person you are. Don’t rely on the Internet or a piece of paper to sell you. Put yourself in front of the people you want to work for. I’ll have more helpful  instruction on  that in a later blog .Believe in yourself and see  yourself as successful again. You will be !

In a recent seminar it was a flashback to the movie “Broadcast News”. There was a woman about four rows from me who had obviously been out of work for quite awhile and was definitely “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore”

 She kept allowing her anger at the world and former employer to attempt to distract me as I was talking. I finally stopped and took her need head on. I could see that the anger she still held inside was the number one problem she was having in reinventing her future. I counseled her that we all have to deal with “change” and that in order to move ahead you have to shed the past trauma . Employers will NOT hire angry people or employees with heavy anger issues towards a former boss.Just because we have had 10 years with a particular job category does not mean that is all we can do. It also is important to understand that we may need to sidestep to get back up the ladder of success . Many times what seems as a strange new path ends up being the best thing we could have done.

 At the end of the night she hugged me and thanked me for my endurance and caring. One review of my seminar says it best:” Andy gives you the medicine you need that may not taste good at first.” My job is to help you quickly gain meaningful employment…in a job you have a talent and passion for . I will never shy from using “my gifts” to help yours! I am grateful for those along the way that have done the same for me.More to come in my new book which will be released in April 2011. Please remember YOU are the most important product in the world. I wish you all you dream of! Check here frequently for my new blog entries. We are in this together !

Best wishes

Andy Thomas

I was pleased with the Senate’s decision to restore the unemployment benefits for millions of Americans in need. I know firsthand through conducting my seminars in cities all across this country how important these benefits are. I know how hard Americans are working to get past their job loss depression and forge new career beginnings. We at Andy Thomas Productions LLC are doing our part to help jobless and underemployed Americans by providing these free motivational and constructive hour career seminars. We began this mission last July and have been full throttle in our answer to Obama’s call for action.