Steve’s Comments (group member since May 05, 2012)

Steve’s comments from the Q&A with Steve Dalton, author of "The 2-Hour Job Search" group.

I'm often asked whether Duke was supportive of my effort to write this book, and they most certainly have been. It's been a virtuous cycle -- the work I do at school informed the work I put into the book, and vice versa. That said, it's been a lot like working two jobs at once for the last few years, with both jobs being almost exactly the same!

My mind works a bit differently than most. I'm very, very efficiency minded. Tim Ferriss (of "The 4-Hour Work Week" and "The 4-Hour Body") has been an influence, as have Dan Ariely ("Predictably Irrational"), Malcolm Gladwell ("Outliers"), and Chip & Dan Heath ("Switch"). Their common interest is efficiency, especially with an eye on outperforming one's competition through being better informed.

Trying to write in addition to keeping a full-time job (which I still hold and still adore) required an emphasis on efficiency in its own right. It's hard to switch between writing and non-writing tasks, so I negotiated this by making Mondays "writing days", giving myself a full weekend to clear my head of work tasks like spreadsheets and team meetings before engaging in the more qualitative work of creative writing.

I improved with practice, but grouping similar tasks together was a helpful guiding principle!

Welcome to the discussion! Please introduce yourself and tell me about the perspective and experience you or your loved one is bringing to the job search.

It wasn't until after I had graduated from two different universities (getting a chemical engineering degree from one and an MBA from the other) that I realized I had no idea how to find a job when there was no career center bringing employers to me. I was truly lost.

Career centers have historically focused on skills needed for an on-campus job search since those aspects are easier to teach -- things like resumes, interviewing skills, and cover letters. However, job seekers' greatest source of anxiety tends not be what to do in an interview, but how to get an interview in the first place! My book attempts to break that overwhelming process down into its smallest logical pieces, making each as efficient and effective as possible.

Please say hello, and I look forward to answering your questions!

Do you wonder why things were done a certain way in "The 2-Hour Job Search"? Or do you still have questions after reading the book about how to perform a particular step? Please ask here!

After reading "The 2-Hour Job Search," what customizations did you make to the process to make it work better for you?

I was recently asked about whether alumni might be turned off by seeing an e-mail subject line like "Alumnus from seeking advice." Here was my response:

That subject line is perfectly appropriate since it will not alienate Boosters. It may alienate some Curmudgeons (who weren't going to write back anyway) and Obligates (who aren't our target audience because they can be very fickle about their likes & dislikes.

Spending an hour trying to come up with a more clever subject line likely won't have a very large (if any) incremental benefit, so best to save your time and put it towards informational interviews or activities that better correlate to improved job search success.

Has anyone found a subject line that has proven successful that differs from the above? If so, please share! A lot of innovations from "The 2-Hour Job Search" came from my early users, so it's very possible your suggestion may make the next edition of the book!