Job-Hunting while Employed: the other perspective

In the PF-blogging world, they tell you never to let an employer know you have another job offer/possibility unless you’re serious about leaving. This is because you’ll essentially be telling your employers you’re hunting and they’ll assume you’re not that committed to your current position. Makes sense, right? I’ve planned to follow this advice, should the situation every come up where I needed to.

But something I haven’t read a lot about in PF blogs, and something that I’ve not planned a response for, is the flip side of this circumstance: what it’s like to be the manager who finds out your employee is hunting.

Remember my employee-survey idea and how it gave me clues as to what my employees were thinking? As a result, I fought hard to get someone promoted, and my employee was thrilled to take our offer.

So you can imagine my surprise, then, when this same employee told me last week, just days before the transition to full-time (and its accompanying pay increase) took effect, that there was another job possibility now on the table–a job possibility that would be better than ours.

This isn’t an issue of pay, or of work responsibilities, or work environment, or anything that I can control. In fact, it’s a simple issue of the-other-job-is-more-line-with-desires. Less money, but different perks, potentially more prestigious ones.

I’m glad when someone pursues his or her dreams, but I have to admit it’s hard not to resent the way this has panned out. Now, we’re understaffed for the next few weeks until I can find another part-timer to fill in the hours my newly FTer would have been working. Plus, I have a only-somewhat-committed staffer who could up-and-leave at any point.

Times like these, I remind myself that these are the growing pains of experience. There’s a lot you can plan and prepare for, a lot you can do to motivate and encourage. But when push comes to shove, you’re not in control of other people or their motivations/desires.

You do the best you can, and you come out wiser for it. For now, I’m preparing for the worst, hoping for the best, hiring again (ugh) and making new plans, albeit penciled ones. I think that’s all you can do.

photo by ~Prescott

New Grad: 5 Things I Wish I’d Known

I finished grad school just a year ago, so I remember really well what it was like to search for The Job that would correspond with your major. I also remember that it was a little scary.

So Grads, this is for you. Here are five things I wish I’d known then that I know now. (And, congratulations!)

1) It’s OK if you don’t have your job lined up in March.
There are always those people who land their future jobs months ahead of graduation. If that happens for you, great. If it doesn’t, don’t stress. A lot of smaller, good companies will hire when they need people, not ahead of time. You aren’t out of options. Finish school strong and focus on growing your skills/accomplishments.

2) Your situation will be unique.
No matter what anyone, including I, tell you, know that your situation will be unique in a lot of ways. I remember thinking that my job-hunting process should go a certain way. Here’s a secret: yours will be its own, from timing to interactions to your own perceived success rate.

3) Use every resource, and trust the process.
Think creatively about what resources are available to you, and use all of them. Does your school have a career center? Do you have friends/contacts in either HR (advice, resume tips) or your industry (networking)? What/how many job-hunting resources are you using? Have you made an online portfolio? Whatever you’re doing, look for additional ideas.

4) It helps to have an outlet.
Personally, I got into PF blogging during the whole job-hunting phase of my life. It was nice to have an anonymous outlet to write about interviews, job offers, decisions, etc. I also talked with my family frequently (but I’m pretty sure they got sick of it after all while!). So have you thought about PF blogging? It’s a great distraction.

5) When The Job comes (and it will), don’t forget the people who helped you.
The professors, your friends, the contacts/professionals who did something (however small or large) to help… thank them. Even if their particular advice didn’t get you your job, thank them. Connections are invaluable.

Facebook: To Do or Not To Do?

My friend tells me this story of a guy who went into a job interview, well-prepared and all charm, only to have the hiring manager turn around his computer screen and show the guy’s Facebook profile to him.

“I’m going to tell you right now,” the boss-man said, “You’re not getting this job, and here’s why. But let’s go ahead and do the interview. It’ll be good practice for you.”

This really happened, she swears. Within the last few months. To someone I almost know.

Do you Facebook? And if so, have you thought about the potential viewers of your page, including future employers? I know that when I was hiring for assistants, I looked them up on Facebook. I don’t know what I was looking for really, but I did do it. And I also know, just from enough casual conversations with random people, that almost everyone looks almost everyone else up.

So. I do have a FB, and I do use it regularly, but I have it set on private.

I have other concerns with FB, besides what strangers are viewing it or what they’ll be thinking. I hate the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses mentality it creates. At any point, morning, noon or night, I can click to see who’s updated what last–who’s engaged, who’s having a baby, who just got a new car and has created an entire slide show of photos.

I can’t tell you the time I’ve wasted looking at every detail of someone’s vacation, even though I barely know the person and might not say hello to them on the street. This, I’m pretty sure, is not healthy.

It’s no secret to me that my heart, deep inside, is an ugly one. And sometimes, I’ll just tell you this too, I get jealous. I feel like I’m falling behind everyone else. That everyone else (note the “everyone”) is getting better jobs, cooler apartments, prettier friends/boyfriends/spouses/children/pets/etc. Instead of being happy for them, like their friend (FB or not) should be, I’ll envy them.

Yet every time I think I should delete my account, I remember the roommates, good friends, long-lost coworkers that I wouldn’t keep in touch with otherwise. So I don’t delete, and the cycle continues.

I know the solution is bigger than deleting my FB, bigger than avoiding the slide shows or updates. I know the only thing (or One) capable of quelling my green heart is the One who made it. I need to live for His approval, not the Joneses, or anyone else’s, for that matter.

Wow. Amazing how a thought about Facebook leads to a reminder of worldviews and eternal relationships.

That’s my take. What say you?

Networking: LinkedIn!

I was reluctant to set up a LinkedIn profile, for a lot of reasons. It’s another site to join, another thing to keep up with. I didn’t really know what benefit it would be or how many people would be on it.

But this week I set up a profile, and then I used my e-mail address book to locate contacts. The next day, an old professor contacted me about speaking to his undergrad writing class. My alma mater will pay an honorarium of $175.

LinkedIn is already working!

What about you? Do you use LinkedIn?

Tips for job-searching writers

Blogger SF Gal and I were discussing writerly job prospects and best ways to land jobs in the writing/editing field. In my opinion, finding a job is part hard work, part determination, part timing and part providential. Nonetheless, I can tell you what job-searching strategies worked for me:

Preliminary
Created an online portfolio: If you can make a blog, you can make a portfolio. I used wordpress and my name as the url. I created pages for my professional bio, writing samples (you can upload them to the site), interests, skills and taken college courses and made them all linkable through the front page. You can adjust these titles to fit your needs, obviously. This url got added (and bolded/enlarged) on my resume, and I mentioned it in every cover letter.
**Side benefit: I put a sitemeter on the portfolio, which allowed me to tell who was viewing it. This was HUGE in follow-up. If I knew Company X looked at it this morning, I knew they were at least a little interested, and I’d contact them.

Updated my resume: I crafted it to the best of my ability and then made an appointment with my school’s career center for more advice. The person I met with gave me practical, tangible ways to improve my info, including a set of examples and an e-mail address to use for follow-up questions. If you’re still in school, take advantage of your school’s free service!

Put the word out: I was always looking to talk about the job hunt—people I met who were in the field, people who worked in HR, friends who’d found jobs, etc. You never know who’s going to be interested.

Day-to-Day
Searched online: I had a list of maybe a dozen or so sites that I bookmarked with writer/editor searches, and I went through them every morning. Anything that looked good, I applied for.

Kept track of applications: In an Excel spreadsheet, I listed the company name, the position, the date applied, the source and what response I got.
**FYI: I applied for 60 jobs. With the spreadsheet, I was able to tell what my success-rate (company call-back) was: 20%.

Cold-called via e-mail/letter/e-mail: This was the brainchild of one Friday night, staying up too late, desperate for more ideas. I’d been rejected for a job I really wanted at a local college, so I got this idea to contact all other schools in the area. I e-mailed HR/Communications departments, telling them to expect a packet. Then I mailed manilla folders with cover letters, resumes, writing samples and a promise to follow-up. I e-mailed them a second time, about a week later. All but one wrote back to me: no positions were available at the time. A few days later, though, one school wrote again, asking me to apply for a position.

For me, getting interviews has always been the hardest part of the job-search. If you can get them to bring you in, it’s much easier to explain your qualifications and get an offer.

I’m by no means an expert at this, and I’ve learned mostly by trial-and-error and some OCD record-keeping. If you do have any other questions though, feel free to ask. If I can help, I will!

Job-search: OVER!!!

I got the job: the one I was hoping for—the one close by, with great opportunity for growth, doing writing and editing, managing freelancers. It’s everything I wanted, and at way more money than I’d expected.

SERIOUSLY!!

My grad degree was worth it, my job-search paid off, and God graciously provided for me. This is very, very big news!

I told the company owner I’d give him a def. yes or no Friday, but just between us: it’s a big YES!!

***UPDATE: I start Monday, at (# removed for the sake of privacy). The money was so much better than I expected, I just couldn’t ask for more. I did try negotiating for more vacation, and we sort of compromised: he said he’ll let me manipulate my schedule to leave early on long weekends because I’ll have assistants I can put in place while I’m gone. He also said he’d work with me, as in: if I needed to go somewhere, I could take unpaid vacation. That’s cool with me.

the Third Interview

I’ll say this for third interviews: by the time you’ve gone to the company three times, with your good clothes and fresh resumes, and have three times found the office, greeted the secretary, signed in; three times walked 1-2 miles; and three times ridden the train round-trip, you get to feel pretty comfortable with the place.

HR apologized for the drawn-out process, which they’d planned to be short, and they gave me a gift and offered to reimburse me for my train/bus rides for this and previous interviews (yes, I’m taking them up on it: $23.50). They also promised this would be the final interview and that next time I hear from them, it will be good news/a job offer.

Right now, the only question remaining is salary. This morning, the third VP I met with asked what kind of pay scale I’m expecting—he wanted to know what other offers I’d be comparing this to.

I could’ve given him a specific number, but, truthfully, I want to know what they think I should be paid. “I’m sure I’d consider any reasonable offer,” I told him. He tried again, but I wouldn’t budge. I said that it’d be too hard to give one range, since I’m applying for such diverse positions: all sorts of factors come into play—city vs. suburbs, big vs. small organization, industry, etc. Thankfully, this reasoning worked.

Also: I took the bus from Union Station and found that was FAR easier than walking—especially on a hot day. I think, if I caught an express train and took the bus, I could shave my one-way commute down to one hour.

Now I just have to wait and see what they offer.

***UPDATE: Just a few hours after I left their office, the company called and made me an offer. An extremely low offer: $31,000 (after promising they “pay really well”). I told HR Guy I’d think about it and respond by Friday. Unfortunately, according to my calculations, this would not at all justify the time and effort involved in the position. This is good, though: at least the decision is easy.

Persistence

I had a great interview this morning (not to be confused with the third interview I’ll have tomorrow). Today’s potential job involved a 20-minute commute; a business-minded, laid-back boss; and here’s the best part: an opportunity to start a new writing department at the company, from the ground up.

As in: I’d hire writers to work for me. I’d manage the company’s entire content. I’d have flexible hours, benefits, autonomy.

The company owner, who interviewed me, posted a listing on Craigslist almost two weeks ago. He said he received more responses than he could read (!). Why did he call me back? I e-mailed him twice. (Thank goodness I did!)

He’s interviewing a total of four people, and he’s still considering what salary to offer. Fingers crossed!

Personality-Type Job-Searching

A woman I know was telling me yesterday that her daughter is rethinking her career plans. Daughter had wanted to be a physical therapist and was two years into her BS, with plans to transfer to a more prestigious school (PS) in the fall. Then PS rejected a chunk of her credits, meaning she’d be at least a semester behind. She’s decided, for now, to stay at her current school, but new career options—the police force—are being tossed around.

“She loves her summers at the police station,” the mom was telling me. “And it’s so important to do something you love. I mean, she could finish this degree and then hate her job… I don’t want that for her. Like her dad—he hates his job.”

Her MIT-graduate husband makes upwards of 100K in his IT-related profession. But Wife told me: “He travels all the time, he has to deliver what the Sales department promises… it’s a lot of conflict.”

This recent article, on what makes for the most satisfying career, echoes that point. It cites people-serving professions as the most rewarding and asserts finding a job that fits your personality type is key.

I guess I agree with that. A few days ago, my younger brother (a business major) and I were talking about how hard it would be for us to stick with a job we hated, one that didn’t fit our personalities. Reason? We grew up in a home where our dad loved his career.  He owns his own business: he calls the shots, he sets his hours, he makes the money. I’m sure no job is perfect, but, growing up, I really didn’t hear him complain about his work; he was satisfied and successful.

A lot of my friends have taken jobs they ended up hating: usually cubicle-ones. Please don’t misunderstand me: I’m not knocking office life (I’ve been there; hated it, but been there.) But the difference between me and my friends was this: they thought they had to hate their job; it was just what people do. I, on the other hand, had this picture of my happy, healthy father in my mind: loving his life and still paying all his bills.

I guess I’d just like to think that’s possible for everyone. I’d like to think there’s a right fit for every personality, every skill set. And I’d like to think I’ll find my fit soon.

The cost of commuting

As I mentioned in the last post, I have a third interview Wednesday with a company downtown, WA, which contacted me through my school’s e-recruiting site. Though this is the third interview, I have not had the courage to bring up specific salary expectations, and I’m largely only going to this (I hope) last meeting to find out what they offer.

The office is located in Chicago, south of the Loop. I’d have to take a train from the ‘burbs, then take a bus or walk the additional mile to the company. The position’s 40-hour work week then stretches into an easy 60 hours away from home, not counting what-I’m-sure-is-required overtime.

Today I did a rough breakdown of costs, assuming a $40,000/year salary. (I have no idea if it will be more or less.)

Commuting costs:
Monthly Metra pass: $116.10
+ Daily bus fares for an average 22 days/month: $88.00
= Total monthly cost: $204.10
Total yearly cost: $2449.20

Time costs:
Work hours: 40/week (+5 for lunches)
+ Commuting: 15/week
+ Overtime: variable
= Total monthly cost: average: 60 hours
Total yearly hours: more than 3,180/year

If I divide the yearly hours into the yearly salary (less commuting costs), I arrive at my average hourly rate, assuming no extensive overtime: $11.80. Less than I’ve made for temp-ing, and less than I’d make proofreading from my house.

Maybe this would be worth it if the job were something I’d dreamed of having. But it isn’t. It’s an industry I’m not interested in. It’s a company that likes required social activities—Christmas formal, family picnic (all of which I’d be planning). And mostly, it only sometimes involves writing; largely, it’s a HR-marketing-personal assistant role. If it were closer, if it didn’t require so much time… maybe. But as it is? I’m pretty sure it’s not worth it.

I’m still going to the interview Wednesday, just because I’d always wonder. I’m not especially optimistic.