Steve’s Job Search 2012: A Blitz Works

I lost my job right before a vacation.  I took some time to send out resumes before heading out to my suddenly-even-more deserved rest, then I hit the job search like the palm of a short but charismatic Lannister.

I hit all the job boards I could.  I burned hours upon hours telling everyone in my LinkedIn directory (who would want to know) about my job search.  I told my friends.  I rechecked my recruiter list.  I probably easily put 50 hours into the search or more in the first week alone.  Maybe more – I can’t honestly remember.

It worked.  I got an insane amount of resumes out as noted, and obviously got results.

A good blitz works for several reasons:

  1. It gets you out there pure and simple.  You might not sustain it, but it does saturate the market.
  2. It lets you evaluate your opportunities.  This is kind of like career echolocation, where you send out signals and see what happens.
  3. It gets some one-time or limited tasks just the heck out of the way so you can focus – like blitzing your contact network.
  4. It gets your name out there, so the chance for “pass alongs” increases with every contact you make.

#2 is one that’s not something I’ve heard people talk about much, so I want to emphasize it.  If you do a big, insane job search blitz, then at least you get a lot of signals back to evaluate your progress.

A blitz is also good as if you get good results then you get reinforced as well.  It’s a good way to keep yourself in good spirits.  If nothing else at least you can drown your panic in activity.

If you’re blitzing the job boards, do not just do the day you start or the last few days.  Go back as far as they can go so you catch up on any posts you can find.  It’s worth it – those positions are up there for a reason, and even if the job is filled, someone may still look at your resume!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

Steve’s Job Search 2012: Networking

In my latest job search?  Yeah I did networking.

Yeah, I always emphasize networking.  What did I find out about networking in my latest job search?

Well, yes, it works.  You knew that.  Most of us know that.  I found that it works pretty well – I had several interviews due to networking, and all of them due to people reaching out to me due to past contacts.  As my job search geared up, I got lots of people helping my apply for jobs at their companies (though my results came so quick I had to let them down quick as well).

What did I do?  I took a weekend and wrote everyone I knew and told them my situation.  That took hours.  It was also worth it.

My advice:

  1. Be open about it. Tell them your situation, what you’re looking for, and where you’re looking for it.
  2. If you don’t know what you want or what you’re looking for, hold off until you do – it’ll just confuse things.
  3. Track and follow up with every person who replies, and review your conversations.
  4. When you do get a job, let people know (even if its a LinkedIn post or something).
  5. Find people who can refer you and see if they’ll refer others – after all, they may have some leads for friends of yours.

Networking’s effectiveness is, much like the use of job boards, also bounded by geographic area and connections.

There is also one, big, huge, enormous factor in Networking that I realized while doing my search, something I knew unconsciously, but now I *get* it:

The skills you develop in networking, the attitude of trying to connect, is just as important as any connections that you make.  When you interview, you’re networking, when you handle a rejection you’re networking.  You’re networking throughout the job search even if you don’t realize it.

That networking ability connects you with recruiters and interviewers.  That networking ability lets you turn a failure into a future interview.  That ability simply lets you connect.

That makes a huge difference.  I could see in my interviews that sheer connecting got me results.

So when you’re in an interview?  You’re still networking.  Remember that.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

Promoting Professional Geekery #44 – Make Your Personal Page Progeeky

(For more Promoting Professional Geekery, see this Roundup of past columns.)

If you’ve followed my writings for any time you know that having a good personal page is something I advocate very strongly (along with networking, etc.)  So, yes i’m going to emphasize it again, but for a different reason.

Kind of.

A great way to promote professional geekery is to let people see it in practice.  That’s you, the current or future progeek, by the way.  If you have a personal website, then that’s a chance to emphasizes your progeekiness in your writings, posts, identity, and more.

So why do this?

  • It shows the possibility of professional geekery – something not everyone gets.  Seeing your hobbies tied into your careers, seeing you going beyond “pro” to “progeek” shoes the possibility.  It’s something they may embrace, or understand.
  • It shows people pride in professional geekery.  They see that people can be proud of the lifestyle, and can find that pride in themselves.  They may also understand others with such pride.
  • It humanizes geeks and progeeks by showing it as part of you, a regular (more or less) human being.
  • It of course has professional and personal advantages since you’re being honest.

You’re the progeek.  Let the world see it on your web page.

Try a few things like this:

  • Emphasize this in your personal statements and content (which is pretty much what I do at https://www.stevensavage.com/).
  • Include links to your geek projects – which not only emptyasizes it but also helps people see your lifestyle and the broadness of what you do.
  • Include any specific writings and references that fit your progeekery if possible – it also means your site is a good place to put things you’re not sure where to put.
  • Don’t forget to link to interesting external resources relevant to your interests.
  • If you’re like me and like to emphasize progeekery, you can add separate sections.

You’ve got the page (or should).  Use it!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/