Coloring Outside the Lines - Job Hunting as a Generalist

Applying to jobs directly just doesn't cut it, especially for those who may have "squiggly" career paths like mine. Recruiters and ATS' have an overwhelming amount of applications to sift through, so for those who may not have a linear path, we are much less likely to get through the initial door. But here's the thing; for generalists, multipods, octopus', "O" types, or whatever word you want to describe for someone who can work in multiple swim lanes, connect dots that aren't always obvious and become glue cross-functionally, do we really want a job the "traditional" route? We seek challenges and the need to solve complex problems, so why would the job hunt be any different??

I recently had an application asking what my math score was in high school?! Apologies to all those high school math teachers out there, but those classes are where dreams die. I love data and making meaning out of numbers, but when I was in high school I was a circle trying to fit into a square. My learning style was different from how we were being taught and university was no different. How many of you did horribly at multiple choice? I would spend so much time thinking about every possible scenario that I ended up changing my responses or running out of time. I couldn't concentrate in lecture halls, I would fixate on someone clicking their pen or shaking their knee. So, in order to get through the next few years of school, I had to teach myself how to learn and study that worked for me. I had to become resourceful, self-motivated, and think critically about almost everything.

Fast forward to today and reflecting on my career path, thinking differently has allowed me to work in and support almost every department there is. How? I focused on building a breadth of experience rather than depth and worked on positioning myself to get as much exposure to the business from multiple different angles as possible. I did this through curiosity, strategic questioning and raising my hard for pretty much everything! It was never about title, I certainly never colored inside the lines of my job descriptions, it was about becoming well-rounded with an operational mindset; I seek constant improvement, I emphasize efficiency and I believe that best way to solve problems is from a holistic approach. For some companies, this way of working and mindset doesn't always align and I'm ok with that!

So, what skills do I look for in roles?

• Strategic Planning and Execution
• Operational Improvement & Efficiency
• Leadership and Driving Team Productivity
• Financial Acumen and Data Analysis
• Change Management

What do I look for in a company and Leadership?

• Transparency
• Diversity
• Accountability
• Innovation
• No Ego

If anything I said resonated with you please reach out, comment, share, etc.

PS: A few tips I can offer for those who are on the job hunt:

• Send a book recommendation or quote from a book to the hiring manager and state why it relates to your experience/role. One of my faves is "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" by David Epstein.
• If you receive a response that you don't have enough experience, respond back on how your skills/projects align with the job, make them view who and how they are hiring critically. I once read this LinkedIn article and it completely shifted my mindset on how experience doesn't always mean proficiency.
• Find people in a role you want and ask them for a coffee to hear how they got to where they are now. They may become your mentor or make an introduction for you.
• Work on your sales pitch. No matter how unnerving it can be, for people with a career path like mine, you have to be able to sell yourself. What's the special sauce that you have that others interviewing won't have?
• This may be an obvious one, but prepare well thought out questions for the hiring manager (even if you have to read off a piece of paper or screen, it shows you took time to write them out). Questions that have worked for me are:

1. Is there anything that I answered that you still have questions about?
2. Is there anything that I said that would make me not a good fit for this role?
3. Pre-step: Ask the recruiter what projects or problems the hiring manager or team is working on and what results they are trying to drive. Then in the interview ask how they are driving XYZ. Most likely the hiring manager is currently trying to solve these problems (there's a reason why they're hiring), you then have another opening to tell them how you worked on something similar to drive XYZ results. If you feel like you didn't have enough time during the interview, this is one last chance to try to showcase why you're a good fit!

• Lastly, surround yourself with people you respect. I'm lucky to have a couple of badass leaders in my corner that have given me the courage to step out of the box and take risks! Thank you Pamela Hampel , Marjolene Dallaire , Jessica Riad-Wallace CPHR, RPR ??? ? , Cerys Goodall .