April 1 Furlough => June 1 Job Offer

After being furloughed on April 1st, I went into the frenzy well known to all job seekers called “spray and pray” while the shame, the anxiety, the guilt, frustration and fear immediately took over as the starring role in my life. 

Again. Yes, that is correct. You heard me right. Again. ??

To be clear, I am not an expert in job searching strategies, resume writing nor LinkedIn optimization. I don’t have a silver bullet, a specific strategy, methodology or snake oil to sell.

What I have is my experience as someone who has been unemployed more times than I care to remember. And while the reasons for this has been mostly due to the volatility of startups; more risky than “reward-y” in my case, it was ultimately because I refused to have a good, long look in the mirror.

Until May 4th. ??

That was the day that I decided to stop paying people to tell me who I am or what should matter to me. I cut out a lot of the noise by unfollowing the “experts” on LinkedIn and unsubscribed from the email newsletters I never had the time to read anyway. 

Instead, I decided to become the expert on Ronni Gaun. And it was personally and professionally, a Total. Game. Changer. ??

Here is what I did first.

I forgave myself and others for the short tenures and employment gaps; there are 3 sides to every story - yours, mine and the truth. ??

I accepted that not everyone was going to understand or like me; a not so fun fact of life ??

I didn't take it personal when people did not respond to outreach; likely adjusting to the impact of COVID on their lives too ??

I was honest about what I did and did not know ??

I chose vulnerability over ego and got real about what actually matters which wasn't a title anymore. It was clearly about culture, stability and strong leadership along with the opportunity to learn at a company that would be relevant and more than a nice-to-have in the new normal, i.e. critical for businesses to survive ? ? ?

Then, I became the mirror. ???♂?

I examined my personal brand from the eyes of the beholder. On my resume, LinkedIn profile and posts, in my conversations and otherwise, was I...?

1. Making it clear that I had a very long tenure (19 years) at one company and that all of these hops, skips and jumps since weren’t indicative of my strong work ethic and loyalty?
2. Effectively articulating the trajectory of my career from media to SaaS and how being industry agnostic was a positive?
3. Showcasing my achievements both qualitatively and quantitatively? 
4. Connecting the dots between my experience and my ideal job role in customer success? 
5. Able to demonstrate my equitable skill set to prospective employers?
6. Exhibiting my true nature as a strong yet empathetic human still willing and able to learn so I can do better as I know better?

Because until I was secure in my narrative, I couldn’t possibly expect anyone else to be! ??

???? Side note: My philosophy is that you want your personal branding "materials" to give people enough information to ask questions but not so much information that they can make a definitive yes or no decision about whether you're a good fit. 

Next came the hardest part - discipline. ????

Time blocking is a miracle method for those of us who are used to octo-tasking. The below were separate, yes, separate activities that I painstakingly added to my calendar but that ultimately kept me on task!

Job boards

• Collect links to job postings and/or names of companies that are hiring to check their website careers page 
• Sign up and create job alerts as much as possible so you mainly only have to check your email 
• Think peripherally; what tasks or responsibilities did I have that my previous job titles would not represent
• Applying to specific jobs
• Typically even when I learned about a job opportunity via my network, they still want you to submit your resume through their application tracking system
• Please make sure you are using Jobscan.co or similar tool without fail

Networking

• This includes outreach to people and companies that are of interest via any/all channels; be thoughtful but upfront about why you are contacting them; there is no shame in being unemployed
• Join virtual presentations to learn and to see people who are interested in the same things you are; they could be your next colleague or manager
• Most importantly, schedule Zoom meetings with your peers who are also on the market; these connections were invaluable then and continue to be now
• Don’t assume that people outside of your ideal employer profile won’t offer value; many can enrich your heart and mind in unexpected ways

Personal and self-care

Don’t underestimate the benefits of carving time out for exercise, therapy, meditation, reading, cooking, napping; whatever you need to refuel.

You are also allowed to have days where you can't work your program and that is perfectly reasonable.

LinkedIn activities 

1. Preparing and posting original content; thoughtfully commenting; demonstrating your value, expertise, ideas & curiosity 
2. Research and follow relevant hashtags; join groups and engage there as well as on your main feed
3. Follow, connect and reach out confidently to people of interest; I wrote some masterpiece InMails, many that were never replied to and that is ok
4. Search “Hiring+City” and “Hiring+City+Job Title” for people who have included “Hiring” in their headline
5. Set yourself “Open to Opportunities” to all of LinkedIn, not just recruiters (unless you’re on a stealth job search); there is no need to #ono as this is obvious if you have the above setting

Interview preparation

• Research the company beyond their website; try @Crunchbase, a Google search, @Glassdoor, their LinkedIn company page and check out current and former employees too
• Create a table for each interview that includes columns for 1) each qualification from the job description, 2) how your experience or equitable skill relates to each qualification and 3) what you learned through research on the company that might explain why that qualification is important
• Own your narrative; if you find yourself trying to manipulate your narrative to fit the job description, step back and consider whether this is the right role for you
• You do not want to go into a new job based on a fraudulent representation of yourself

Now what? ?????♀?

I can’t promise you that you’re going to get a job by doing any or all of the things I’ve shared. In fact, I encourage you to take what you like and leave the rest.

Some days will be harder than others, be patient with yourself and with the process.

You are allowed to change. To think and be different than you ever were before.

Just stay committed to becoming the utmost expert on YOU and the rest will follow. ????