In her book Job Quest: How to Become the Insider Who Gets Hired, Sheila Markin Nielsen spells out what so many of us already suspected, that people with personal connections, the insiders, have a tremendous advantage when it comes to landing jobs. It's not that daddy pulls the strings. Instead, it is a personal relationship that the job seeker has created with someone known and trusted by the workplace that opens the doors. In this book she tells everyone how to develop the insider advantage for their job searches through a process of rapid relationship and trust building.

Ms. Nielsen illuminates the often murky experience that is a relationship-building job search by breaking the process down into a series of concrete, easy-to-follow steps. She uses a game approach and an analogy to a medieval quest to help the reader understand what to look for and how to move forward in the search. She explains what luck has to do with it (and how to create your own), how to prepare for the quest, how to get around the resume-blocking gatekeepers (the dragons who guard the hiring managers), how to find key people to connect with (your knights and wizards), what to say once you connect with them, how to continue building your connections, how to interview, when to start using the word "job," when to go for the close, and how to give back to your connections. She also provides a summary of the four overarching quest concepts, the common pitfalls, a narrative of a successful quest, and appendices with exercises to support the quest.

Her advice is direct, practical, and wise, based on over 25 years of professional counseling experience. Job seekers in all stages of their careers will benefit from reading this book.

C O N T E N T S

About the Author
Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Surprising Epiphany about How People Really Get Jobs

Part I: The Basics
Chapter One: The Insider Advantage
Chapter Two: What Does Luck Have to Do with It?
Chapter Three: Fortune Favors the Prepared Mind
Chapter Four: Blueprint for the Quest

Part II: Preparation
Chapter Five: How to Prepare for Your Quest

Part III: Launch Your Quest
Chapter Six: Finding the Key People to Connect With
Chapter Seven: How to Get Knights and Wizards to Meet with You
Chapter Eight: What Happens in Meetings with Knights and Wizards
Chapter Nine: Friendship Lite
Chapter Ten: Interviews
Chapter Eleven: The Tipping Point and the Campaign Phase

Part IV: Concepts to Utilize as You Work Your Quest
Chapter Twelve: Four Overarching Concepts
Chapter Thirteen: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Chapter Fourteen: A Model Quest
Chapter Fifteen: Concluding Remarks

Appendices
Appendix A: AIMS Assessment
Appendix B: AILS Assessment
Appendix C: Essential Elements Assessment
Appendix D: Skills-based Résumé
Appendix E: Master List of People and Places
Appendix F: Checklist and Guide for Your Job Quest