Introduction: Why I Had to Write This Book There were two reasons. Reason #1: I couldn't stand listening to myself yell at the radio any longer. I don't know about you, but I hate listening to myself yell--no matter what. But particularly when I'm alone and the point I'm yelling about will not make a lick of difference since no one but my dog and two cats can hear it. In this case, I was getting ready for the day. Across the room I could hear the radio with a news report about jobs and unemployment. An unemployed woman in Kansas was talking about how she sent out her resume with the same cover letter to 150 employers. "And I didn't get a single response," she exclaimed. "Don't do that!" I yelled. The interviewer asked a man in Florida what kind of work he'd like to do. He replied, "I'm looking for something where I can use my skills with people and maybe with computers." "Don't say that!" I shouted. When asked what she wanted, a young woman who had been trying to get work for a year said, "Well, ya know, I'm like a, well, I wanna be like a English and communications major. But I can't find a job in it." Yes, I yelled again: "Don't do that!" Reason #2: I wanted to know if my husband was crazy. For more than six months I had watched him try to find an employee for his small business. He'd come home complaining about what potential employees were saying and doing in e-mails and during interviews he'd held at Starbucks, over lunch, in his office, and by phone. Then one night he said, "That's it. End of story. No more. I give up." He was genuinely sad and discouraged about the whole thing. Was it him? Was he right? I started talking to employers at small, medium, and large companies to find out. All over the country, they were experiencing the same thing. They had job openings, but said they couldn't find good people to fill them. They also told me what candidates were doing that led them to that conclusion. Turns out there was a complete mismatch of priorities and expectations. If only workers could hear this. With the job market thick with fear and so much desperation among workers and misunderstanding between them and employers, I thought, perhaps I could bridge the gap a bit. Most job hunters tell me their goal is to "stand out" to get noticed and hired--and how hard that is. Employers agree it's important to stand out. But, they say, it's not that hard. It's a matter of not doing what everybody else is doing. Before you delve into those specifics, which are in my "don't do that/do this" advice (Chapters 3 through 6), it's key that you read Chapters 1 and 2. Because to apply the Don'ts and Do's effectively, you'll need to understand: - How employers think today - How to stand out among the millions you're competing with - Why employers may not be hiring you - What employers are looking for and why they'd hire you - How you want to come across to employers - How to show employers who you really are - How to show employers you've got the skills the job calls for and are the type of person they want - How to reinforce the impression you want to make before, during, and after an interview That and more is what I cover in the first two chapters and will refer back to again and again in later chapters. Excerpted from This Is How to Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want by Andrea Kay All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.