Day 21 - back at it full steam...

First thing this morning, I got a call from my recruiter on the position I have been interviewing for.

She let me know that the company had in fact decided that I was the top candidate. We are working through the details of the offer now and I am hopeful a decision can be made this week.

While it all sounds good, I am not willing to simply wait for the ink to dry - anything can happen. I am a firm believer in keeping all options open and moving forward on those options until the point I have been offered and have accepted a position.

As I have said before, the companies have back-up plans; we as candidates should as well. This does two things:

It puts me in a stronger position for all negotiations which will show in interviews. I never want to go into a negotiation of any kind feeling weak.

It prevents time from being lost. If something goes off the rails in the final negotiation, I will not have lost valuable time to setting up the next interview. If I were to sit on my hands, and this drags out for two weeks then falls apart, I may have just missed that "other opportunity".

So, after the call from my recruiter I hit the ground running. Of course, I went through the usual routine of:

• Check job posting alerts (and apply for any matches)
• Check e-mail
• Catch up on tweets, LinkedIn and Facebook
• Update blog

I had two solid leads to follow up on so I tweaked my resume and cover letters and got them ready to send out.

On one of the leads, all I had was the company name and the job description. I contacted my recruiter and she had a few contacts and is working on getting the door cracked open for me. It is better to wait for a personal point of contact than to just send a resume "into the pile" with the others.

As I investigated this lead further I discovered it was actually a better fit for a former colleague and good friend. I reached out to him. He actually had already heard of the position and it had peaked his interest. I had found a path to a couple of contacts into the company, so I shared them with him. I have not taken this position off my radar by any means and do intend to pursue it further.

With the other, I actually had a contact at the company; she is the one who alerted me to the oppoertunity to start with. She got my resume directly to the HR lead today. I will follow up on this and make sure I stay near the top of the pile of resumes.

I also found a third potential lead. I will review the company and position further tomorrow and try to find a way to "get my foot in the door".

I do not want this to sound like I never send out a resume without someone walking it over to HR for me -- that would be optimal, but it is sometimes not reasonable. I have a good resume and cover letter, sometimes you have to pull the trigger and let those documents stand on their own as the first impression.

I will keep you posted on where these go.

Tomorrow I am going to take a bit of a break. I have a tee time at 9:00; kind of late for this heat, but I can stand to lose a couple of pounds anyway...

I will still follow up on things, and run through my daily routines; I will of course have my cell and be that annoying guy yabbering away while you are trying to make a 12 foot down hill put with a cross grain.

The club I am playing at will also give me an opportunity to network in person outside of my comfort zone of contacts. You never know who you will meet when you hook one into the wrong fairway or at the bar after 18...

I look at it like this: Until I am Gainfully Employed, I am marketing myself every time I walk out the door. I always take my business cards and dress a little better than the typical "day at the lake" appearance I love so much.

All in all, a good day....