About us
The authors of SMARTer Job Hunting have collectively hired thousands of employees for job categories from video and print production, computer programming, videogame production, international marketing, VR/AR/XR design, and many others.
With their backgrounds in business, motivation psychology, program management, and global marketing, the authors researched the current job market from both sides: what employers are looking for and how job seekers describe their skills, their objectives, and themselves. They explored dozens of existing books on job hunting and found these to be hard to understand and even harder to take advantage of.
The net result is SMARTer Job Hunting, a book and workbook covering a step-by-step approach to identifying what workers really want and need, methods to recognize and describe their skills, how to uncover and get jobs that are often not publicly posted, and a plan that condenses the many months that job searches now take. In other words, creating winning job hunting strategies that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
The Authors
Janet Ahlgren
M.Ed.
Janet Ahlgren held senior positions in diverse industries, including multimedia, marketing, corporate training, healthcare, advocacy, and high technology, in which she holds several patents. She has led teams writing multimedia scripts, corporate proposals, investor collateral, blogs, websites, and corporate marketing materials. Many of those she mentored and coached not only became leaders in their fields, but found joy in careers that meet their personal, professional, and financial needs. Her former employees and students achieved great success in film and video programming, communications, design, healthcare, high technology, and non-profits. Ms. Ahlgren holds a Masters Degree in Education.
Dr. Christopher Harz
Ed.D., MBA
Dr. Christopher Harz has an extensive background at executive and front-line levels in research, marketing, and productization of technology-based products and services. He has managed and educated many teams and created strategies to win over $550 million in contracts. Dr. Harz worked for the RAND Corporation, DARPA, NASA, DHS, and US military (all three services and Special Forces) and intelligence agencies; with major corporations including Boeing, Northrop, Lockheed, IBM, and NTT; as well as for Allied government agencies on five continents. His knowledge of human psychology and motivation guided his hiring of very diverse global groups to work together as proud and successful teams on tight schedules. He has Doctor of Educational Technology (Ed.D., Magna Cum Laude), Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor’s in Psychology (B.A.) degrees.
Stuart Rudolph
CEO of ScaleUp Executives
Stuart Rudolph is a serial entrepreneur and inventor. He has hired and managed large cohorts of employees for domestic and international companies. He was awarded multiple patents on collaborative technology and methodologies. His companies created groundbreaking collaborative software and platforms for both major civilian firms such as IBM as well as the Department of Homeland Security, and the Defense Departments of the US and Allied countries. At the beginning of his career, he had positions with significant salaries, but work that was unsatisfying in every other dimension. His insights from these personal job experiences, and from mentoring and coaching people throughout his career, have shaped and informed this book. His goal is that those who follow the guidelines in the book and pursue opportunities that meet their personal, professional, and financial needs, will land a job they will forever treasure.