Why not getting the job offer isn't all that bad (it's fixable)

What? You didn't get that job offer you were hoping for, even though you followed all the right strategies and tactics (hopefully the ones I've previously recommended in this column)? Well, you have no control over some of the variables in the hiring process, such as the economy, the fraud examination profession and regulatory compliance that stymies job growth, among others.

Or maybe your associative model wasn't very strong in the mind of the hiring manager. (An associative model is a type of neural brain activity that links your specific expertise and unique brand with the hiring manager's awareness of it. Advertisers frequently use associative modeling to increase consumer awareness of specific product brands.)

But, it's not all bad, and here's why. Let's use a different approach to look at the situation. Rather than bemoan that you didn't get the job offer, look at it in a more positive light: You didn't get the job offer today. You can continue fortifying that associative model with hiring managers who didn't hire you today but might in the future.

So many people give up pursuing a dream job when someone else gets the job offer. But you don't have to stop promoting your expertise and interest to that hiring manager. Because you don't know if the person who was hired will work out or quit in the meantime, there's no reason to write off that opportunity — yet.

You can't assume that all employers will "keep your résumé on file." So, if the job is one you see as a great opportunity for enhancing your career, let me give you some activities you can do to strengthen the associative model in that hiring manager's mind.

1. Honestly self-assess how well you think you performed in the hiring process; what might you do differently if given the opportunity? Fortify any weak aspects of your documents or interview skills.
2. Three to four months down the road, send an email to the hiring manager expressing your hope the candidate has worked out well for the position you applied for. This email continues connecting your name with your expertise for that position.
3. A few months after that, send the hiring manager another one of the documents in your Professional Skills, Knowledge and Experience (PSKE Portfolio) using the "Trojan Horse technique" that I've written about in my blog and books. Attach a Post-it note to the document that says something like, "Hello Hiring Manager ... I just had this article published in Fraud Magazine and thought it addressed some issues of interest." Then sign your name. The Trojan Horse technique works because you really don't care whether the hiring manager reads the article reprint; you do care that he or she looks at the Post-it note (which he or she will) to see who it was from. You should have used this technique before the employer had offered a candidate the job (after it had concluded job interviews), but you can use it again here.
4. Let all of this simmer in the hiring manager's mind.

Of course, in the meantime you've been pursuing other opportunities and might have snagged a terrific job. The point here is that you don't have to stop promoting your expertise after job interviews have ended, nor after the job offer goes to another candidate. Any hiring manager is a good contact to have in your network.

Some folks might think, "I don't want to seem like a pain to hiring managers by doing this." I understand, but that's an employee attitude. The consultant's attitude continues to promote the benefits of his or her expertise without placing time limits on that effort. And, you never know who'll end up with that post-hire information you sent.

In 1993, I interviewed for a position at Motorola. I didn't get the job but I followed up with the hiring manager by sending him a copy of a peer-reviewed journal article I had published. A few months later, I sent him a copy of a column I wrote in an industry newsletter. I didn't hear back from him.

One year later, a different Motorola hiring manager contacted me to see if I was interested in a team lead position with his department. I hadn't applied for the job — in fact, I didn't even know about it — so I asked how he came upon my résumé. He told me that another hiring manager (the one I interviewed with previously) had forwarded it, along with the other documents, to his attention. I interviewed for the position and Motorola hired me.

When you embrace a consultant's attitude toward the benefits of your expertise, you'll realize communicating those benefits has no expiration date. Any particular job or position is simply a stop along your journey to a rewarding career.

How to embed your expertise in the minds of hiring managers

All hiring managers want to hire experts, and while it's relatively easy to become an expert, it does require time (the experience variable) to be exposed to a variety of situations that require your skills, knowledge and expertise to solve. Some social media (LinkedIn and Twitter in particular) help communicate that expertise to others. So, now's as good a time as any to start the process.

Briefly, here are 10 things you can do to solidify that associative model with hiring managers:

1. Write articles for peer-reviewed journals. Nothing says "expert" better than a respected journal in your profession publishing your article. I'll say it again: If you're a professional with at least seven years of experience and you haven't published in a peer-reviewed journal in your profession, you're doing your personal brand a disservice and hampering your journey to becoming an expert.
2. Give presentations/workshops at meetings and conferences. If you've had an abstract accepted for a conference, you get double points because you'll be presenting to an audience of your peers, and your paper will likely be published in the conference proceedings (a bound volume or CD of all the papers presented at the conference).
3. Use professional networks and media (LinkedIn, Twitter) to expand your circle of influence in your industry. Post often and regularly. Stick to your domain of expertise. I made the mistake early on of only posting occasionally to LinkedIn and Twitter. I wish I had a do-over because I'm trying to make up for lost time. I missed out on getting an earlier start on providing valuable content that would've helped build my brand.
4. Write a book on an issue, problem or area of opportunity in your profession/field. Low-cost publishing through CreateSpace (the publishing arm of Amazon.com) and Lightning Source allows you to publish books quickly and inexpensively. Smashwords lets you publish in all the popular e-book formats from one source file in a matter of hours once you've completed the basic formatting.
5. Teach a class at a community college or university. I taught "Fundamentals of Petroleum Exploration and Production" as a part-time adjunct faculty lecturer for several semesters at the University of Houston Downtown College. I didn't need the extra income, but including "Adjunct Faculty, Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Houston Downtown College" on my résumé was a nice touch. I initially took the part-time teaching job just for the résumé polish, but I quickly found I truly enjoyed teaching.
6. Create an attention-getting blog name/catchphrase. My catchphrase or tag line is "The One Hire Authority for Strategic Career Engagement." I've been told that "the One Hire Authority" is a funny play on words, which makes it memorable. WordPress.com, Blogger.com and Wix.com let you link your blog post to a variety of social media outlets.
7. Create a unique sign-off statement for blog entries. This should be something that captures the value of your blog entry. One financial blogger signs off all his blog posts with a last sentence that reads, "… said the financial guru."
8. Write a bio that promotes your brand rather than typical obituary format. A great professional summary on your résumé can serve as the seed for building a strongly branded bio, which should be more about what benefits you bring going forward and not what features you're dragging behind you.
9. Assign quantitative value to your accomplishments wherever possible. Always try to ferret out financial numbers for any project you've worked on that turned out to be a notable achievement. Hiring managers appreciate numbers, such as revenues generated, costs avoided, percent improvement, etc. Highlight those numbers in boldface type on your résumé to draw the hiring manager's eye when he or she scans it.
10. Join an association or organization in your field or profession and get active in the local chapter. Volunteer for the board, edit the newsletter, manage the job bank. I volunteered to be on the program committee for a large professional geological society, which brought me into contact with many of the "movers and shakers" (earthquake pun intended) in the oil and gas exploration industry.

The bottom line is that wherever you promote your expertise, be sure you're offering value as a priority; you have to give before you can receive. Only others can grant you the title of expert when you consistently offer that value.

(Some content here is from LeVie's blog at donnleviejrstrategies.wordpress.com.)

Donn LeVie Jr., a former Fortune 500 hiring manager, is the author of "Strategic Career Engagement" and "Confessions of a Hiring Manager Rev. 2.0" (winner of Para Publishing's 2012 Global eBook Award and USA Book News' 2012 International Book Award for Jobs/Careers). LeVie, a speaker at the 27th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference, gives keynote addresses and leads career strategy seminars at conferences, business and trade schools, colleges and universities, and U.S. military veterans' organizations. His Twitter handle is @donnlevie.