One of the job seekers I know and think the world of applied for her dream job several months ago. Based on the job description and what she could learn of the organization, it wasn't only an ideal role from her perspective: She also had the skills and experience the employer requested. A perfect match--or so it seemed.
Only she never heard from them. Ever.
How did she feel? I don't even need to tell you.
She followed up with an e-mail. And she learned why they didn't contact her--and wouldn't be: The organization she applied to put the search on hold.
The reason she wasn't interviewed had nothing to do with her. It was outside her locus of control. And if she hadn't followed up with them, she would never have known it. She could have spent months with her head down thinking, "they're just not into me." Or days stuck inside her head thinking negative thoughts.
How often do you let the job search process go like that for you? And if you follow up with an e-mail and it doesn't break your way, what's your coping strategy? I'll share a suggestion or two in my next post.
I wear several hats on the social web, including serving as the "New Grads" columnist for Job-Hunt.org, one of my favorite resources on the web.
My latest column on Job-Hunt is about why you should never click the apply button on a job, before you've hit the pause button to prepare. You can read the post, 5 Ways to Jump Start the Job Search on Job-Hunt.org.
Let me know if you have comments or questions here!
Do you have a wide circle of friends, colleagues, and peers but only want to share everything about your job search with a hand-picked inner "circle of trust"?
Enter StartWire, a new private online community. StartWire is a platform that allows you to accelerate your job search through social collaboration with a trusted network of friends, colleagues, and experts.
StartWire is free for job seekers and is currently in open beta. Through StartWire, you can
Quickly and easily create updates on where you’ve applied, the status of your applications, and the companies & jobs you like.
Share these updates with a trusted network of colleagues and friends from your address book (You can also import contacts through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Gmail)
Get advice, targeted jobs, and networking recommendations from StartWire experts based on your actual job search activity.
Quickly identify which of 7,000+ job boards you should post your resume on -- and post it with a click. (Yes, employers and recruiters till search for candidates this way)
Ask for advice on your job search
The beta version of StartWire launches today, here are early reviews from Human Resource Executives Online and the ERE.net recruiting community online. (My favorite features of StartWire include the ability to ask any question on job search, tools for recording your job search activity, and the "auto" update that goes out to your network on a regular basis--thus eliminating the need to remember to e-mail, phone or text your friends whenever you need to keep them in the loop.)
I've been working as a consultant for StartWire since early December. I first learned of their work through one of my own trusted colleagues, Monica Wilson, acting Co-Director of Career Services at Dartmouth College. When I learned more, I was intrigued. StartWire was created by Chris Forman and Tim McKegney, the former CEO and Executive Vice President of AIRS--a recruiting technology training company that has designed products used by 70% of the Fortune 500. I signed on to help with the launch.
If you're actively looking for a job or want a new tool to manage your own career, sign up through the StartWire website. Take a look around and let me know what you think!
To Your Success,
Chandlee
P.S. If you are a career coach, work in the career management industry or want to help a job seekers in your life, stop by the StartWire website and watch the video to learn more. If you'd like to learn more about how you can use it with your clients, contact us.
I'm pleased to be a member of Career Collective, a community of bloggers that provides perspective on job search related topics on a monthly basis. Up this month, trends that will affect your career this year! Here's my take:
We waved off the Google Wave and avoided getting stung by Google Buzz. (Under the terms of the Google Buzz settlement, Google will pay $8.5 million to fund organizations focused on Internet privacy or privacy education.)
We spent more time on Facebook then on Google. At year’s end, Facebook beat out Google for traffic as the most visited site in 2010.
Employers are having a love-hate relationship with social media. While it has become a great force in finding candidates, it’s also enough to make a senior level compliance officer and corporate attorneys suffer panic attacks: In October, a former recruiter won a court case after she was sued by her former employer for taking a proprietary database. Her contention? She could learn just as much from information available in social media (and LinkedIn in particular) as she could from the database…The courts agreed.
MUST-DOS FOR 2011
Manage Your Online Presence
Whether you are a job seeker—or a working professional—monitoring and building a strong online presence that showcases your strengths and expertise is an essential ingredient for managing your own career.
Protect Yourself: Follow Best Practices in Using Social Media
While a proactive strategy for building a professional presence is required, I also think it’s important to protect yourself from the potential wrath of an angry past, present or potential employer. I anticipate further employer scrutiny of social media use by employees. Every lawyer I’ve spoken with recently says they speak to clients or potential clients at least once a week about an issue related to social media misuse, abuse, or discomfort. I expect to see more policy development, more education, and more employer issued guidelines around how employees should use social media and what they can—and can’t take with them when they leave. Want to stay out of trouble? Check out Kodak’s Social Media Tips Guide, paying special attention to their employee-developed policies for using social media.
Social Media Accounts and Work: Keep ‘Em Separated
If you haven’t done so already, use a personal e-mail—not a work account—for all of your social networking. You don’t want to leave a job and lose access to your LinkedIn account as well, do you? Keeping your access and login information separate is a best practice, just as only working on your resume with your own computer—and in off hours—is. Why invite problems?
Share Carefully
Did you read of status updates that led to firing in 2010? Avoid a similar fate.
Remember the elusive “Circle of Trust” in Meet the Parents? You need your own Circle of Trust for your job search—a handful of trusted advisors, mentors, friends and colleagues who you can count on to “have your back” and share leads and information. I can hear the ringing of my mother’s voice as I type, “There’s no need to share everything with everyone." Especially if 84% of Americans are searching for a job in 11.
Go Forth
And with that, I’m pleased to announce the opportunity to put all these strategies in action in ‘11!
I’m working with StartWire, a new platform that allows professionals to accelerate job search through social collaboration with a trusted, private network of friends, colleagues and experts. If you’re a job seeker and want to check out StartWire, sign up for an invitation to take a test drive here. We’d love to have you take a look around.
To Your Success in 2011,
Chandlee
Here are posts from my friends at the Career Collective:
One thing that's always, like, been a difference between, like, the performing arts, and being a painter, you know. A painter does a painting, and he paints it, and that's it, you know. He has the joy of creating it, it hangs on a wall, and somebody buys it, and maybe somebody buys it again, or maybe nobody buys it and it sits up in a loft somewhere until he dies. But he never, you know, nobody ever, nobody ever said to Van Gogh, 'Paint a Starry Night again, man!' You know? He painted it and that was it.
- Joni Mitchell, Miles of Aisles
Unlike painters, singer-songwriters, comedians, and many professionals share a common challenge: You get known for something you are good at, and then people want you to do it--everyday. But your interests change over time. And when your interests change not everyone accepts or supports what you want to do--especially if your desired change requires an investm ent in time, money, or reinvention. Or if your change requires patience and an open mind from others--who've grown to expect you to be "as seen before." Ever had this happen to you? It happened to Steve Martin in New York in December at the 92nd Street Y, during a program billed as "A Conversation with Steve Martin." Many audience members complained and got full refunds after expressing their disappointment with Martin's topic of conversation: His crime? He talked about his latest book, An Object of Beauty and art.
Over the course of his career, Martin has dazzled many with physical humor, wry wit, and knack for comedy. But on the side, he's written plays, a novella (Shopgirl), non-fiction essays for The New Yorker, and is an avid banjo player. As he once said of his own career, "Stand-up comedy was just an accident. I was figuring out a way to get on stage." He has always been a guy with diverse interests.
But the audience wanted to see this side of Steve Martin.
Those who were there--and close-captioned viewers--sent e-mails and notes to the hosts, asking for a change in tone. Martin was asked--before any q & a period--to switch the course of conversation to his career instead. The conversation flatlined.
Now let me try to answer the question you might be asking yourself at this point: was I boring? Yes, I might have been...I have no doubt that, in time, and with some cooperation from the audience, we would have achieved ignition. I have been performing a long time, and I can tell when the audience’s attention is straying. I do not need a note. My mind was already churning like a weather front; at that moment, if I could have sung my novel to a Broadway beat I would have.
But I can’t help wondering what we might have said if we hadn’t been stopped. Maybe we were just around the corner from something thrilling. Isn’t that the nature of a live conversation? It halts, it stutters, it doubles back, it soars. We might have found a small nugget, something off topic or unexpected, that wouldn’t have warranted the refund that was offered.
If the e-mailers could have lived with “I am unamused” for just a little longer, or had given us some understanding based on past performance, or even a little old-fashioned respect, something worthwhile, unusual or calamitous might have emerged. Who knows, maybe I would have ended up singing my novel.
Does anyone like being interrupted? Especially in pursuit of an interest? As Langston Hughes wrote "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Maybe it just sags with a heavy load..."
My wish for you in 2011: That you find the space and support you need to explore your interests and pursue your career goals--even and especially if they are different from what others want or expect.
May you find mentors to seek out for advice, trusted peers who can help you navigate transitions, and friends and family who can serve as your cheerleaders along the way. And if you don't need it for yourself, may you be able to provide it for someone else...
Cross-posted on Career Hub. Photo by Sebastiano Pitruzzello.
Chandlee Bryan
Want to stand out in the applicant pool, fit in with the new crowd, and land a job you love?
Contact former recruiter and Ivy League Career Services Director Chandlee Bryan and learn how to put your "best fit forward."
