I’m a “Tech Whisperer”. The specific nuance of the name hit me as I sat with a techie in the middle of one of his three rants during our forty minute coaching conversation.  After each outburst he would calm down and compliment me on how “I really got him”.

I’ve heard rants like his hundreds of times over the course of my recruiting life.  He has an IQ of 132 and the experience with networks that is highly sought. He is frustrated to spitting about the numb nuts out there that are in charge of helping him to find a job.  The problem is that most people who are recruiting and providing people with technical jobs DO NOT HAVE AN INNER GEEK and therefore are not interested in discovering and understanding what the job requirement is all about which results in them not comprehending who the person is all about who they are trying to recruit and as many of us know, technical people are not the most patient when it comes to understanding numb nuts.

What I suggested to my friend and I will suggest to you (if you are a technical person in the same dilemma) is this:

1.) You have a brain; use it differently in this situation.  It probably won’t be too difficult to find a point or two about the person whom you are talking with to figure out where they are coming from.  Try to find the “connector” from human to human.  Trust me. They will respond to this and they will remember you out of the thousands of emails and resumes that cross their desks if you will do this.
2.) Tailor your resume to fit their job.  Keep it simple.  Use the same words they do (if/when you have this experience).  I’m sorry, but you know that many of these people are having to key word search. Help them to hire you. They need you.
3.) It is okay to check in with your recruiter once a week to remind them that you are still out there and interested.  Keep it short and simple.  Put a “smile” in your voice or in your email.  I swear it works.

By the end of our conversation, my friend had calmed down because he felt heard.  He had some tangible tasks set before him to help him to get a job.  Now we’re on to working on his interviewing skills, but that’s a whole different enchilada.  As we got up to leave our table I noticed a couple in their 30’s who had been sitting off to the side of us.  The woman looked at me as we walked by like I had just broken a wild bronco.  She seemed to be amazed by the results of our overheard conversation. 

If I had been thinking, I would have bent over their table and in my best southern drawl said to her, “Honey, this ain’t nothing special that you just witnessed it’s just because I’m a Tech Whisperer”.
(posted at www.businessleadercentral.com/businesslife with a longer version submitted to www.ezinearticles.com)