[patio11]

I think this is largely good advice. You could expand it to thinks much more concrete than "improve your job-getting skill": make yourself a portfolio website if you don't already have one. Make decisionmaker-specific pages on your portfolio website targeting the exact interests of the people who you want to hire you.

(Hypothetically assuming I wanted to apply to Google, Big Japanese Megacorp, and Cool Valley Startup, I'd be pitching myself in a very different way in the cover letters and resumes... why show them all the same portfolio? I mean, theoretically I'm supposed to be pretty good at this whole "Build a web page to sell stuff" thing -- if I can't build a web page to sell me, why should they hire me?)

If you don't already have a blog and social proof of value which you can quote to people, start building them. For example: you put a recommendation on your resume in the hope someone calls them, they agree to talk, and then they praise you, right? That's an awful lot of opportunities for the recommendation to not pan out well. Instead, when you ask for a recommendation, ask for a testimonial, too, which you will prominently quote in your Hire Me salesletter. And write the testimonial for them. "Hey boss, can I quote you on '$NAME_HERE is one of the best developers I've ever had the pleasure of working with. He has done things with $PROJECT that we never thought were possible. I'd hire him in a second.'?" (This presumes you have, actually, made a good impression on your boss. If not, then just write down their phone number and pray that no one calls it, because that is apparently what everyone else does.)

Networking is, obviously, another opportunity for improvement. Rather than spending time waiting for someone to call you back, it is (well past) time to start reacquainting yourself with friends and business associates (and mentioning, hey, you're on the market now) and making new friends/business associates.

[btilly]

The one point I disagree with is giving people the suggested testimonial. This may vary by culture and person, but there is no better way to guarantee my non-cooperation than telling me what you want me to put my reputation on the line as having said. No matter how good an impression I had before, I'd have a bad one after that interaction.

Otherwise I agree with your advice.

[nagrom]

I think this is fairly common. I've had two people agree to give me a recommendation on the basis that I write it for them, allow them to see it and change anything that they don't like, and then sign it. As I see it, if you're willing to help me out then I wouldn't want to take up your time unnecessarily. If you want to write the whole thing yourself, then great! But if you're willing to do it but are time-constrained, I'll help you.

[nostrademons]

Different people have wildly different expectations. When my mom wrote a book, she was dumbfounded that she was supposed to write all the back-flap testimonials herself, and then the person they were attributed to just had to sign off on them and put their name on it. All but one of the people said, "Ah great, I don't have to do any work, this is awesome." One person said "WTF is this?" and wrote her own testimonial.

In my limited sample size, I tend to trust & respect the people who say "WTF? It's my name, I'll write it myself" more. Unfortunately, they seem to be in the minority.

[btilly]

If they ask, that is one thing. If you offer out of the blue, that is another.