Interview Basics

Posted by admin in Job Market on November 24, 2010

This post is Part 6 in our 7 part series on how to manage your job search.

There is so much great advice out there on how to interview. But I think it’s worth reiterating some advice to drive the point home and to give other advice that I don’t believe is highlighted enough.

1. Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

Research: I’m not just talking about researching the basic information about the company. I’m talking about doing an incredible amount of work to study the company: you need to know the individuals, their business model, their successes/failures, the culture, marketing, public relations, industry trends, etc. You will be asked about them so do your homework and let yourself shine as to the depth of your insight on the company. Hopefully you are following our Jobspeaker recommended process for managing your job search and you already know several people at the company, so digging out some of this information and getting more insight should be a breeze.

Prepare Yourself: If this is THE job, then make sure you have gone through several mock interviews with friends, colleagues, counselors and even some warm-up interviews (preferably in the same industry or job specification). Doing so will enable you to rehearse some answers and judge the interviewers response or get some feedback, plus it will give you good insight as to what questions the companies are likely to ask. But above all it will get you into Interview Mode.

Interview Mode is a different state of being – you should be yourself but you have to be the positive, enthusiastic, always getting-things-done self. Some of you may say that it’s misrepresenting yourself but that’s not true – everyone has bad days, but in an interview situation you need to show your best side. So, getting into that mode takes time, takes practice and is sometimes draining especially if you are someone who is not used to talking about yourself the whole time. But when you interview, that’s what you are expected to do and do it naturally.

And a few logistics that people sometimes forget:

2. Know how long it will take to get there
I was 4 hours late for my first job interview because I missed the train (I still got hired but that was a very bad first impression).

3. Dress appropriately
Always dress above the dress code for the office. But not too much above! Showing up in a 3 piece suit at an employer where the employees wear t-shirts and jeans can be almost as bad as showing up in shorts and flip flops where they wear suits. First impressions last so be presentable: clean, neat and friendly.

4. Leave your ego at the door
There are exceptions to every rule, but most employers don’t want to hire an egotistical maniac. If you can really walk on water while spinning plates, good for you; but to most interviewers that does not go over well. Zappos, a sensation in the online clothing industry, says in order to judge the humility of their candidates they ask the driver who brings the candidate to/from the job interview how they were treated and if they were not treated with respect then they do not hire (despite how great the candidate might seem otherwise).

5. Say Thank You
Don’t forget to get the interviewer(s) contact information so that you can send a thank you note. Some say a hand-written note is best but I haven’t received a hand written note in years. It really depends on your industry, your location and the norms for that company, position or region. Most times a hand-written note is positive but sometimes a well written concise email is more appropriate.

6. Be Yourself
Hopefully by the time you interview at this company, you have networked your way in and so other people in the company know you, like you and think you’d be a good fit. So don’t try to be someone else, just be yourself.

Usually I’d say Good Luck, but luck favors those who are well prepared so do you homework.

Next:
Step 7: Congratulations – you now have an offer for a job, should you accept?

Want more?
If you liked this post, please follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Jobspeaker is a service to help job seekers manage their job search – sign up at www.jobspeaker.com.

Comments (0)

Be Present

Posted by jarlath in Job Market on July 21, 2010

I went to Starbucks the other week to grab a coffee – something I do on occasion particularly as in this case when I was driving, getting tired and everyone else in the car was asleep or likely to be soon. I chose to go through the drive-thru window to avoid waking my precious cargo.

I got to the order speaker thingy – a difficult experience at the best of times but in this case it was very clear that the person at the other end had very little time for me. Once I got to the window the experience didn’t get any better. She seemed more concerned about what was going on inside the store than just helping me. After I paid, I asked for some sugar but it seemed like I must have asked for gold sprinkles based on the reaction I got. Then to top it off she says “and have a Great Weekend”. Well, the idea was nice and said with even an ounce of sincerity I might even have believed her. But she didn’t even wait to finish the sentence before the window was closing and she was already turned around for her next super efficient task.

I’m sure you all experienced something similar at some stage but my question is: have you ever been less attentive than you should to people you have interacted with? I know my answer is unfortunately yes but for those of you in the job search it’s especially important to engage with your audience. Presidents Bush and Clinton are rumored to have that quality – people feel like they are the only person in the world to the ex-Presidents when they meet them. Can you do the same in a formal interview or in an informal networking meeting? If you are not used to it, it will take a lot of effort but if you are not engaged in the conversation people notice it and conclusions like being insincere, scattered, or unfocused might follow. You might be the most sincere, interesting and perfect job candidate on the planet but if you can’t connect with the people you are speaking with then your job search is going to be difficult.

I can share some other experiences of people in the interview process that similarly failed to connect but I’d prefer to hear your thoughts or experiences.

Comments (0)

Rework – job search lessons from entrepreneurs

Posted by jobspeaker in Business,Job Market,Technology on April 1, 2010

Recently the founders of 37signals released their second book – Rework. It explores some of the common misconceptions of starting a business and serves to deflate the bubble somewhat of what starting a real business is all about. As a founder of Jobspeaker, I read it with interest hoping to pick up some gems of wisdom from two guys who have built a very successful business. I found it to be both inspiring and challenging to some of the assumptions embedded in our own business. So, if you haven’t been following their blog and during a time of unemployment you have flirted or even started a business and are thinking about doing it again then I would recommend it!

However, most of you are here to read about how to improve your job search and there are a few nuggets of wisdom here to help you as well. The advice in the book is generally pitched at founders or business owners and it speaks to these individuals about how to approach hiring. But if you flip this advice around and think about what it means for you, the job seeker, then there is also some common job search myths displaced. Here is a quick synopsis of what those ideas are:

Resumes are ridiculous

– the authors argue that resumes are full of half-truths, exaggerations and are for lazy job seekers that “spam” employers. So in order to stand out from the pack they recommend writing a focused cover letter that shows how you are interested in THAT company

Years of irrelevance

- Years of experience in a industry or a particular function is not a good predictor of future performance so employers need to look for how good candidates are at the job. Therefore you as a candidate with or without years of experience need to focus on how well you can do the job and perhaps be prepared to demonstrate it

Formal Eduction?

- If you don’t have a formal education from a well known school don’t worry, some employers are looking for those who do not necessarily excel in the classroom. Speaking from personal experience here: some of the most talented people I have ever met never finished any college education. These employers will look for your ability to deliver and your enthusiasm for the company and role.

Managers but not delegators

- the authors urge employers to look for people who are used to managing themselves, define tasks and accomplish those tasks themselves without oversight thus freeing the employer up to do other work. They challenge employers not to hire delegators who like meetings, who clog up the system with busy work and who don’t know how or want to roll up their sleeves and get the work done. Executing an effective job search is arguably a great test for this ability!

Be a great writer/communicator

– No matter what the job function – clear, concise and effective writing is a core skill that will benefit the employer as writing (via email, sms, etc) is the main form of communication today. So as a candidate use whatever chances you have prior, during or after the job search process to show your own style, personality and communication skills through your writing.

Taking this approach requires you to know what type of company you are applying to, how they hire and whether this approach will work. It won’t work for all situations but there are certainly some that it will help you significantly (particularly smaller companies). But this is the approach that we are recommending anyways as job seekers who are looking to take control of your job search.

Tell us what you think, is this good advice?

Comments (1)

First Contact – Don’t be a Captain Kirk …

Posted by jobspeaker in Job Market on March 3, 2010

This post is Part 5 in our 7 part series on how to manage your job search.

Congratulations you’ve probably done a lot of work to get this far and now you have contact with the hiring manager within the company. In Star Trek, Captain Kirk often wandered onto a new planet without finding out much about the aliens that lived there. Kinda saying, “Hi, I’m from Earth, you’ll LOVE me!”. Well, that might have worked for him but it probably won’t work for you. Assuming you are going to talk to this company about a role then you’d better do your homework on the company and the people you are going to meet. Arguably this stage and the next (the interview) are where you need to put in the most effort.

Now that you’ve got the introduction to the hiring manager you need to put your best foot forward and to do so you need to present yourself as the perfect candidate (without making things up). You need to work the network that got you into the role in the first place in a very short period of time so that you can alter your resume and cover letter to fit the role and company. Speak with those that introduced you to the company, speak with others that you know at the company or people who used to work there to get a better understanding of the company, the individuals and more specifics on the role. Most job descriptions are not written very well and there is always more information about the role that is pertinent to your application than can be explained in the job description. This is what you are searching for – the information that once highlighted in your resume or cover letter makes the hiring manager sit up and take notice. For some great advice on resumes and more generally on job searching, check out these bloggers: Susan Ireland and Alison Doyle.

It is our opinion that you need to customize your resume and cover letter for every role. You should maintain a standard resume for the major job roles that you are applying for i.e. a version for all of the project manager roles and a version for all of the copywriter roles. Then when applying for a role you customize your application (cover letter and resume) with details that highlight your skills/experience for the role even if that means changing just a few words or a sentence or two. In other words, you need to make the resume fit the job description and bring out information that address the must haves in the job description or that you have found in your research. Now that you have a better understanding of the company and the role than anyone else in the application process (based on the homework you’ve done) – you now must use that advantage to move your application to the top. This background knowledge also serves as a great basis for the research you need to do when you move through to the next stage, the interview.

Let’s not forget that warm introduction we talked about in the last segment (Approach) – now you hand your resume and cover letter to your contact at the company and ask them to give it to the hiring manager. Of course, if you can also ask your contact to recommend you that’s even better. But either way, it is your responsibility to convince the hiring manager that you are the person for the job once they see your application.

So unlike Captain Kirk, who had more than his share of unpleasant experiences with alien species – you can increase you chances of a positive response to your application by doing a small amount of additional work.

Next:
Step 6: Interview – be prepared!

Want more?
If you liked this post, please follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Jobspeaker is a service to help job seekers manage their job search – sign up at www.jobspeaker.com.

Comments (1)

The Art of the Approach (networking to your next job)

Posted by jobspeaker in Job Market on February 16, 2010

This post is Part 4 in our 7 part series on how to manage your job search.

So I have to admit that writing this blog post took longer that I expected and I guess it reflects the difficulty of the subject matter. Making contact with colleagues, friends and other acquaintances in looking for a job is difficult, delicate and not what you would expect if you haven’t done it before. But before we get to how you go about doing this, let’s first talk about why:

According to a 2009 survey by Career Crossroads, 38% of all jobs get filled from candidates that are already known to the company. Only 8% get filled by candidates that sent their resume in without an introduction. So, are you better off sending your resume in the hopes of hearing something back or are you better off investing some time and effort to network so that your resume gets a warm introduction?

Clearly the answer is to get the warm introduction wherever possible, but how do you do that? That’s where networking comes in – it is an attempt to get that introduction through one of your existing or new contacts. In our opinion, it’s definitely an art rather than a science as it requires you to be creative, diplomatic, and delicate in how you find/approach people. You need to be able to understand the strength of your relationship with each individual and gear your approach based on that, plus other considerations such as: how badly do you need them to introduce you; how many times have they helped you before; the last time you’ve talked to them and do you have something to share with them. If you have established a pattern over the years to show that you have reciprocated any assistance given or kept in touch with people, then you’ll likely be helped. Otherwise it may take some time and effort in order to re-establish those relationships and politely ask them to help.

LinkedIn is a great tool to help you manage your professional relationships, but it too requires time and energy over a prolonged period in order to help. LinkedIn helps you understand how you are connected to companies in your Target list. Even with tools like LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook at your disposal, you’ll still have to manage it all yourself and keep track of your contacts and the result of conversations. In some cases you might already know people at the company. In others, you’ll have to carefully work your network to get to the hiring manager. In most cases though, you’re probably no more than 3 steps away from someone at that company. Start with the people you know best, but don’t expect a response from everyone – move on to the next person who will bring you one step closer to the company.

There may be cases where you’ll have to reach outside of your network altogether in order to reach someone at the company. In these circumstances we recommend understanding where people from that company might hang out. Remember face-to-face meetings are best where you can establish a personal relationship so whether it be a coffee house, a professional club or another social setting, you need to put yourself in situations where you can meet these people and where they too are more open to meeting new people.

But make sure to stay open to exploring new opportunities during these conversations as that’s the best way to uncover the hidden job market.

Next:
Step 5: You’ve made contact with the hiring manager, now what?

Want more?
If you liked this post, please follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Jobspeaker is a service to help job seekers manage their job search – sign up at www.jobspeaker.com.

Comments (1)

Using XBox Live to get your next job

Posted by jobspeaker in Job Market on January 22, 2010

Sounds unusual doesn’t it – XBox Live is an online gaming platform that allows users to play each other using the Xbox game console. It’s not usually where you would look for work, well now it can be used for exactly that!

We’ve heard many stories recently about how people have landed their new job – through an an introduction from an ex-colleague; through another parent at a child’s daycare; through a blog; via a direct contact through a recruiter on LinkedIn; etc. These are all great accomplishments and congratulations again to those involved; but the most interesting story we heard was when one job seeker told us how he found work through a gaming friend on Xbox Live.

For the purposes of protecting his identity let’s call him Brad. Brad was laid-off last April from a bank that has recently been merged with another (not an unfamiliar story). For the first couple of months of unemployment, he took the normal route with recruiters and online job boards for the with no success. Then, he decided to target specific people from his past that he knew were working at banks or similar institutions. Brad systematically identified people that might be looking for candidates and got in touch with them directly or through other colleagues. However, there were a few for whom he didn’t have contact information. He tried LinkedIn for a few contacts and that helped, but he couldn’t find one particular contact.

He knew an ex-colleague on Xbox Live that would have the target contact details so he just had to find a way to ask politely. He began to spend more time on Xbox Live in order to find his ex-colleague, and to do so “naturally” within that environment. Now, he was also able to justify why he was spending so much time gaming to his wife;-). Then when he got the chance to open up a conversation he asked for the contact information of the mutual ex-colleague. Ultimately, this led him to start work through that contact at another bank in September last year.

For Brad, this worked out perfectly; but for you Xbox Live may not be an option. Perhaps you don’t have the Xbox console already or perhaps you don’t know anyone on there anyways? Well, that’s not the point! In this job market you have to build and leverage your network – doing so within an environment where you are most comfortable gives you the unique opportunity to set yourself apart.

Please share your story on the unusual way you have built your network in the comments section below.

Want more?
If you liked this post, please follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Jobspeaker is a service to help job seekers manage their job search – sign up at www.jobspeaker.com.

Comments (0)

Why Google may not be on your ideal target company – 5 questions to ask

Posted by jobspeaker in Job Market on January 11, 2010

This post is Part 3 in our 7 part series on how to manage your job search.

In theory, building a target company list sounds simple – pick companies that you would like to work for and add them to your list. Alas, creating a good target list requires some work and is an evolving project as you learn more about the companies you are interested in, or as you learn about new companies that you hadn’t heard of before. So, while Google may be a great company for some people, it may not suit your particular requirements. Here are the 5 questions to ask as you build a target list of companies:

1) How should I start my list?

Start with 5 companies that you are interested in today. Don’t over-analyze it, just put down the 5 that come to mind initially (realizing that this list will change over-time). Be aspirational but realistic – if you want to work at Google in Mountain View, CA but live in Austin, TX don’t add them to your target list unless you are prepared to relocate.

2) Are these companies in an industry in which I would like to work?

I know Google is into a lot of things these days but if you are a bio-medical engineer looking to work in the pharmaceutical industry, Google is probably not going to work. I don’t think they have entered the drug industry as yet.

For most jobs, it’s often a pre-requisite to have several years experience in a particular industry. Remember though that experience in an industry is good but sometimes it’s not necessarily a requirement. If you are motivated to work in a specific industry you’ll be more successful in your job search because your enthusiasm will be obvious, and you’ll be willing to put in the extra effort required to work in this area.

3) What if they are not hiring?

Don’t let that stop you! Companies often hire without advertising the positions so it helps to be well-known to a company even if they are not hiring. There are 3 advantageous scenarios which can play out if you target the companies which are not actively hiring:
a. The company gets to know you and creates a role for you because you’re such an outstanding candidate.
b. The company knows you as they are thinking about hiring and therefore you have avoided the resume rush once a position opens up and have landed at the top of the prospective candidates.
c. Offering to volunteer or intern if you are early in your career and if financially viable or offering to cover some temporary position to support a specific project, puts you in an advantageous position to learn the ropes of the company/industry from the inside, get some valuable experience and be first to be considered for hire if a suitable permanent position is available.

4) How should my list evolve over time?

As you progress in your job search, your online and offline research will lead you to the discovery of more interesting companies. . After you do some preliminary research on these companies you should add them to your list and re-prioritize your list based on new information. Some companies will naturally fall off your target list as you better understand what you want. You should be actively targeting a minimum of 5 companies, but 10 interesting companies should be your goal.

5) What else should I be looking for?

Fit – find out as much as possible about how the company’s culture based on information from people working there. If Google is your target company and you prefer to work in a structured, traditional environment, then perhaps Google’s unconventional culture will not fit your requirements. Check resources like Jobnob, Glassdoor or Salary.com to find reviews on specific companies or their hiring processes. Also, remember that your experience within a company is largely determined based on your interaction with your manager and your team, so find out about the people but also the fit within the specific group/department in which you’d like to work.

A word to the wise: Don’t target your all-time favorite company first. I’ve found this out through my own embarrassing interviews after a long hiatus from the “interviewing mode”. You’ll need time to refine your pitch, and to understand and succinctly state why you are different and interesting, especially if you have been out of the job market for a while. Target your favorite companies later in your job search once you’ve had one or two of those terrible interviews where you say all the wrong things – at least then it won’t matter so much and you can be better prepared for when it really counts. More about this in an upcoming post.

So, if after answering all of these questions you still think you want to work for Google, go for it!

Next:
Step 4: How to network into your target companies

Want more?
If you liked this post, please follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Jobspeaker is a service to help job seekers manage their job search – sign up at www.jobspeaker.com.

Comments (3)

Jobspeaker: “Manage your Job Search” FREE Service now available

Posted by jobspeaker in Job Market on December 27, 2009

Jobspeaker is excited to announce the availability of our next feature: Job Management. Using our FREE service, the Jobspeaker Firefox Add-on and our Jobspeaker Website you can now manage all of your jobs in the one place online. With the New Year almost upon us and hopefully a new job market beginning to open up we want to help job seekers land their next position. Our service helps you save, rate, and track jobs from any job board (e.g. careerbuilder, biospace, hotjobs, craigslist, etc.) or jobs listed from any company (e.g. ibm, genentech, facebook, safeway, etc.) all in one place. Get started organizing your job search today: www.jobspeaker.com or download our Firefox Add-on now.

Our new service enables you as a job seeker to find the jobs just once, then save them to jobspeaker and have a permanent record of the job. Then you can rate them, track them and make notes on them as you progress in your job search. You can compare jobs directly on one page using our jobs dashboard and monitor your own progress. Spending hours everyday finding the jobs you’ve already found across many different job sites or keeping a list on computer/paper is not necessary once you start using Jobspeaker.

We are the only service that is your “personal job aggregator” – you find the jobs and we’ll help you manage the process of landing that perfect job. We’ve developed this service because we believe that it’s you, the job seeker, who knows best where your jobs might be listed. You know, better than any service, the job boards that might list the jobs that interest you, the companies that you’d like to work for and the people you’d like to work with. So, while you search for those jobs, our Jobspeaker service helps you manage all those jobs in one place.

Try it out today and let us know what you think.

Want more?
If you liked this post, please follow us on Twitter or facebook.

Comments (5)

Understanding and choosing the right Job Search Strategy(s)

Posted by jobspeaker in Job Market on December 14, 2009

This post is Part 2 in our 7 part series on how to manage your job search.

So you need to start looking for a job? Perhaps you just got laid off, you’ve just realized that you need to proactively find a new job or you just need to re-launch your job search after a break. Well, what now?

In this blog post, the second of our series on how to manage your job search, we recommend understanding the most common strategies that can be used during your search. In doing so, you can choose which strategy(s) suits your particular circumstance. Here are the most popular job search strategies today and a brief explanation of each:

Work Existing Off-Line Relationships
Whether you play bowling once a week, recently participated in a cooking class, participate in networking events, run a professional organization or are a member of your local golf club — if you have access to a member group that enables you to network to 10+ people that you haven’t talked to before then this is a good strategy to employ.

Network to New Offline Relationships
If you are now looking for work and you have exhausted your usual contacts, then it’s time for you to mine new territory. This doesn’t have to be a painful experience. Pick a group with a large enough contingent that meets on a regular basis. Look for a new subject area that you’d like to explore: a new hobby or a new professional interest area that you need to know more about. Trying to associate this potential new group with your job search makes sense, but it also needs to be fun. More than ever, employers are interested in your hobbies as a way of seeing how you pursue your interests, so go explore.

Work Existing Online Relationships
A lot of people are using professional online networking tools like Plaxo and LinkedIn, which are truly great resources if used in the right way. Assuming you have a good-sized online network then it’s time to selectively ask those contacts for help. Don’t just send them an email saying “I’m looking for work, can you hire me?” – be more selective and look for specific individuals who are properly connected to the companies that you would like to explore. If you are not already networked online, it’s time to start.

Network to New Online Relationships
This is best done in conjunction with your target company discovery. Expanding your online network during a job search in some haphazard way is not going to help. Review your target companies and then look to expand your network that gets you into or close to people in that organization (preferably the decision maker).

Work with Recruiters that you know
Recruiters are one resource that you should not neglect during your job search. Recruiter results vary significantly so hopefully you know which ones you prefer. If you have some recruiters who you like working with, make sure this strategy is one that you employ, but not exclusively. More and more employers are looking for candidates directly so you can’t rely on recruiters alone. Don’t forget to use our Recruiter Rating and Discover tool to help you rate/find recruiters you like.

Find New Recruiters
A good recruiter is a way to leverage up your resume. He or she should be able to get you into companies and roles that you are qualified for but otherwise would have had difficulty accessing. They should vet the roles for you, know what you like or dislike and not push you into a job that does not fit you (so they can earn a fee). Find recruiters who are respected, recommended and have a good track record of placing people in your industry at your level.

Use Online Job Boards
Everyone knows about the online job boards: they have been very successful in creating an image for themselves as the place to go to manage your job search. We don’t agree, however we also understand that you can’t ignore them either. So use them efficiently to make your job search more effective (see our upcoming release for tools to help you manage job boards) to understand who is hiring and what positions might be interesting, but do not make this the centerpiece of your job search.

Use Offline Job Boards
Even though the newspaper industry is now reeling from the effect of falling classified ad revenue, newspaper, magazines and other publications still have ads and in some smaller niche industries, this is still the only place to find the jobs. So if you’d like to use this strategy make sure that the jobs that you want are published offline in a publication that you are now or will receive and review on a regular basis.

Generally you should apply several of the strategies listed above – those that best apply to your situation and your industry. Today there are numerous ways that allow you to conduct your search without leaving your home but our advice is to get out and go meet people. You need to practice talking about yourself and no matter how good you are at online networking, face-to-face networking is best. Networking and learning new things can be a fun and an exhilarating experience so go out there and enjoy yourself!

A note about language – you’ll notice that we use more sales language in talking about how to deploy these strategies, that’s because it is a sales process. Like it or not when you are in a job search you are selling yourself and you’d better get good at it!

Next:
Step 3: Why Google may not be your ideal target company – 5 questions to ask

Want more?
If you liked this post, please follow us on Twitter or facebook.

Jobspeaker is a service to help job seekers manage their job search – sign up at www.jobspeaker.com.

Comments (3)

How to Define the Goal of Your Job Search

Posted by jobspeaker in Job Market on December 3, 2009

This post is Part 1 in our 7 part series on how to manage your job search.

Defining Your Goal:

Before you start out on any journey it’s important to know your destination. In this case it’s a life-long journey so it’s best to be realistic. In other words, don’t set your goal to be CEO of GE when you have only 2 years of experience. You need to set goals that are attainable, but also stretch your abilities and afford you the opportunity to learn. The approach we are suggesting is best shown by using an example:

The Subject: Jean Hughes
She wants to move from project management to product management, and ultimately product marketing. She sees herself in a VP of Marketing role within 5-10 years. She has 4 years of experience in project management and enjoys her job but would prefer to work in areas that she feels more passionate about, has more aptitude for and where some of her education might help (she has a degree in Business & Marketing). Jean has defined her goals as follows:

#	Jean’s Goal	Jean’s Notes	Jobspeaker Comment
1	Marketing Project Management	I want to get more exposure to the marketing function than in my current role, so I think I can leverage my project management experience into managing projects on the marketing side of the business.	This is a good approach, particularly in this job market. It’s not settling but it is being realistic about her experience and the job market today. While it’s similar to her current role, it’s different in a very significant way that provides her experience within or alongside the marketing function. Thus, she is leveraging both her project management experience and her education while learning more to better position herself for the next role*.
2	Consulting: Marketing Analyst	Working at a consulting firm will give me more exposure to lots of companies and their different marketing strategies. I may have to take a step back but ultimately this will benefit me long-term.	By thinking long-term, Jean has decided that taking a step back in her career may be the best thing right now, in order to position herself better for her next career move*.
3	Senior Marketing Manager	Perhaps at a smaller company my project management experience and my industry exposure combined with marketing education can be enough to propel me directly into this role.	This is Jean’s aspirational role that would make her transition into the marketing function quicker and increase her rate of learning towards her longer-term goal. Jean is also comfortable with the sink-or-swim aspect of this role – she has learned quickly before in some of her project work and so it’s likely the pros outweigh the cons. She enjoys the pressure that this enforced learning environment might require.
4	VP of Marketing	This is my long-term goal.	Keeping an eye on the long-term goal is a great idea.

The basic premise here is that you can’t afford to focus exclusively on one role and that you should employ a strategy that will give you tiered options: a role that you know you can attain based on your experience today, a role that is a stretch, a role that takes a different approach and even a role that is your dream job just to keep you focused. Then you’ll be better able to understand the pros and cons of each of the options and put them in the context of your long-term career goals.

* You’ll notice that we talk a lot about “next career move”. We do this because you can no longer rely on an employer to employ you for your career or to manage your career for you, you must do it yourself. Therefore, it is assumed that this approach to managing your career is now or is becoming THE strategy for job seekers. This is our recommended approach as it puts job seekers in the driving seat by pro-actively managing their careers and taking a step-by-step approach to learning the skills they need to get to the role they want over time.

Next:
Step 2: Understanding and choosing the right Job Search Strategy(s)

Want more?
If you liked this post, please follow us on Twitter or facebook.

Jobspeaker is a service to help job seekers manage their job search – sign up at www.jobspeaker.com.

Comments (4)

Older Posts »

Search the Jobspeaker blog