Hello High-Gearers!
I am launching this
blog with a series I'm writing called "Reasons You Didn't Get Hired."
This is #1 and hopefully you will enjoy the content I've created. My goal is to
provide valuable information from the other side of the interview table- truths
that you wish your Recruiter or Talent Manager would share, but unfortunately
cannot. Please let me know what you think.
In the job market, it is absolutely
critical that in order to be a true contender for any given role, that you will
first have to find both the right company and the right job to satisfy your
needs. When you engage with an
organization for employment services (meaning, you are getting paid by a
company to do a job) you are agreeing that for a certain agreed-upon sum you
will provide services (including “other duties as assigned”) for a period of
time that you decide you no longer wish to do it, or until the organization
decides they no longer want you to do it. Either way, you will be required to
do work once you accept the job, so doing your homework will be a critical
factor for both you and for your future employer.
1.
Think About the Environment Where You WANT to Work.
If you are currently sitting in a
cubicle, wearing a suit, and feeling depressed then seriously think about this.
If you are surrounded by 4 gray padded walls each day and the only thing that
gets you through is conspiring with your cubicle neighbor on creating an escape
plan, then you are not thriving, my friend. You should do one thing right now:
Take in a deep breath right now, fill your lungs, expand your chest, and hold
it for a second. Now breath out a huge sigh of relief, because what I am going
to tell you may change all of that. Not just your job, but your quality of
life, how you sleep, and how you feel about yourself in general.
By doing your homework, what I mean
is that I want you to become an investigator of the company and the job you
want. I want you to find the ultimate career at a great company, and chances
are that you are not there now; otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this blog at
work. Now, you may be thinking that this all sounds fine and dandy, but you
don’t know how to find your dream job, and your dream company. That’s ok, I
will give you some tips for how to do it.
The first thing you want to focus on
is your environment. Ask yourself the following questions when you imagine
yourself doing your job, and write down your answers:
·
What are you doing?
·
Where are you doing
it?
·
What is the
environment like?
·
What are you wearing?
·
How do you feel?
You
may have just realized that the job you’d like to do is outdoors, at a gym,
30,000 feet in the air, or in a trapeze. Regardless of the environment, you can
start taking steps to get there, just start one at a time, and little-by-little
you will make your way. Chances are if you arrived at the job you got to today
and you are unhappy that you spent more time thinking about your paycheck
instead of where you’d be sitting, but you’re sitting now, so write a list.
2.
Find Your Dream
Company
We all have things that are
important to us, right? Right! In addition to my day job, I like to be involved
in fitness, nutrition, wine-tasting, speaking French, reading, hiking, and so
on. You also have interests: sports, running, gaming, pets, going to the
movies, waterslides, whatever. So, what
I want you to start thinking about is companies you like and have a personal
interest in. Maybe you’re a runner and you wear a Garmin watch, or you wear
Asics shoes. Well, the logical place to start would be to find those companies.
By finding a company with whom you share a passion, you will be starting your
day off on the right foot by making your workplace somewhere you will want to
go.
Let’s say that you follow my advice
and look up Garmin. In fact, for research purposes, I did just that. I see they
have an open position in HR (interesting) and I click on the link to
find that the position is located in Olathe, Kansas. Since I presently reside
in beautiful Northern California this is going to be a stretch, but just go
with it for a minute. While Garmin has done a great job citing reasons I would
want to move to Kansas (including awesome BBQ), come up with a list of your
own. If
you found your dream company what are the conditions you would accept to move
for work. Or, what are the benefits of moving to Kansas, in this
instance:
·
I could practice my
organic farming on my own ranch because it’s relatively inexpensive to live
there in comparison to where I presently live.
·
I could finally buy a
home, awesome.
·
I could eat BBQ all
the time.
Then
look at the other side. What would be the drawbacks to moving
to Kansas for such a job:
·
I’m overqualified for
the job, so I would take a pay cut (not happening)
·
I love wine-tasting
and I’m presently a 20 minute drive to Sonoma (negotiable)
·
My family is in
Sonoma County (preferred… sort of)
So,
personally, I’m overqualified and despite the fact that I have no children, or
significant ties to Sonoma County, it is a great place to live and my family is
here, so I decide that I don’t actually think it would be a good fit for me for
all of those reasons. Let’s say that you
are geographically tied to your location because you have children, who are in
school, and you don’t want to move them, or you have a sick parent you are
caring for. Sometimes life happens, and you have to stay put, and that’s ok,
you can still find your dream job, even if it’s not at Garmin.
Just because things didn’t work out in the situation with Garmin, what do I do?
Give up? Nope, keep searching. Look up
Asics, look up Clean Bottle, thinks of products and services you use, and find
what's interesting to you. If you are geographically tied to an area look for
companies within a commutable distance that are close to you. You can find this
information by visiting your local Chamber of Commerce or local business
journal websites, or you can also use Linked In.
Most local Business Journals have an
annual awards list for best places to work, which identify specific company
benefits. If you have a company in your area that offers incentives for
volunteering and you love to volunteer, that could be a great company for you.
3.
Find Your Dream Job
In order to find your dream job, you will need to think
about the role you have today, and the steps you need to take to get to the
role where you want to be. If you work in Accounting, and you want to become
the CFO, look over the job description of the CFO and start gaining knowledge
and experience in all of those areas. If you are already in a company you want
to grow in talk to your supervisor, apply for higher level positions, and kick
your career into high gear by going after what you want.
What if you don’t know what you want? You may be sitting in
front of your computer right now and have no idea of what kind of career could
be appealing to you. If that’s the case then start thinking about and writing down the following:
·
When you are happiest
what are you doing?
·
What do you do well?
·
What brings you joy?
·
What job do you look
at and think, that looks like a fun job?
Get
out, join a meetup group, network, meet the people who do that job, and find
out how they got started. Take them to coffee, buy their time if you have to,
and take action to move things forward.
Doing your homework is actually quite simple when you get
down to it, because when it comes to the job-hunt, there exists an opportunity
to totally reinvent your life, live in a new place, consider new opportunities,
and create new experiences. The job market is tight for good talent. Recruiters
I know everywhere are dying to meet awesome candidates because so few people we
do meet aren’t awesome at all, they are pretty hum-drum overworked, disengaged
professionals who want nothing more than more money because they think it will
make them happy—the kind of people who haven’t done their homework. But, let me
be honest with you, more money, even significantly more from what you make now,
will NOT, let me repeat WILL NOT make you more happy if you don’t enjoy your
work.
I hope you’ve
enjoyed this post. Please feel free to share and leave comments below!
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