Finding Your Dream Job

Some thoughts, tips and resources for finding your dream job.

The headhunter glanced at the parking lot out of his office window, scanning the scene for the unfamiliar car. The aging bright red Dodge Neon, dust covered and with a few battle scars, catches his attention. “You are too old for startups and you have been away from public companies for so long”.? Now he looks me straight in the eye. “Basically you are unemployable. I can’t help you”.

That was 17 years ago. The impact of 9/11 had taken its toll on the economy and employment opportunities.? Apparently this old man with a wife and 4 kids and to get through college was all washed up. What if I had not taken my daughter’s car for an oil change before the meeting, would that really have made a difference???

Fast forward 16 years of continuous employment. Covid had a devastating impact on the large public company I had a significant role in. Overnight I was, once again, “unemployable”.??

Game plan

I have been told in the past to “imagine your dream job” Make this the goal and focus on achieving that.??

Ok! Dream Job -- “Being part of a team focussed on compiler and language research and development”? - Well that’s that checked off, now to focus on finding a real job.

My actual goal was much more practical

• I want to keep on managing software development.
• Continue living in the Bay Area if possible.
• Plan B - retire

Strategy ?- Go all in on finding a new role.? Search the Bay Area only for the first month, then expand search to relocation opportunities including Europe.? Research Plan B options in parallel.

Tactics - The steps to get me there

I approached this like a hiring funnel, only in reverse, more like a sales funnel.?

1. Cast a wide net
2. Be disciplined in the search
3. Measure progress
4. Enjoy the rollercoaster ride

1. Cast a wide net

My first move was to post on LinkedIn, to all of my connections, my current status, essentially asking for help.? The response was huge, 700 reactions and comments from a base of 2500 linkedIn associates. Achieving a 28% response rate, maybe I should have been talking with Survey Monkey about a PM role :) Support came in from so many areas in so many ways. From simple words of encouragement through to establishing connections for me with other companies. All hugely appreciated.

Someone offered me a free upgrade on LinkedIn.? That gave me a huge spike of connectivity early on and was extremely helpful for getting the top of the funnel filled

2. Be Disciplined - get some structure to the plan

Every day, every single day, do something in the direction of the goal.

Everyday I applied for at least one job, usually more than one.? Some jobs were long shots, some were long commutes and some were very long relocations. On days when there was nothing to apply for I would send personal emails to at least 10 people from my LinkedIn contacts list. The discipline of taking this action was if nothing else a feeling of achieving something and having a vestige of control over this process. Also everyday I connected to at least 5 more new people on linkedIn, based on LinkedIn suggestions

By the end I had reached out to 88 companies and I had created 3 very different versions of my resume emphasizing different aspects of my experience. There were also 25 different cover letters produced tailored for various opportunities.?

Don’t be discouraged by the response.

3. Measure progress

Below is a snapshot of my search funnel. My rejection rate was 98%.

From 88 opportunities applied for.

?Recruiters, it is really appreciated to know when we are rejected. It doesn’t matter what the reason, you don’t even need to give one. “We decided to not move forward with your application” is enough. It leaves a much more favorable impression of the company when this happens. Some even spent time with me 1:1 afterwards to explain the dynamics in more detail. That was very much appreciated.

The saddest rejection I got was an email asking me to take the survey on the interview process?from a large household name company. Having received these surveys from other companies I knew that meant I was rejected. To this day I am still waiting for the official rejection notice.

Also within the spreadsheet behind the above data I recorded every interaction with each company and the expected next step. It is the best way to keep track of all of the moving parts of 88 applications. If you don’t, I guarantee you will miss a follow up, forget a name, or lose track of why you were interested in the first place.

Warping time

Time moves much slower for the person looking for a job.?

“The call went so well, they really seemed to like me. They said they wanted to move fast”.??

5 days can seem like a lifetime when you are hunting. How long do you leave it before calling?? Incidentally my record for the longest time before response had previously been 3 months before a job offer.

If you have free time as you wait for responses?

• Find other opportunities
• Reach out to friends and contacts, again. They may think you landed a role.
• Study interview videos
• Practice using Google Drawing (for technical interviews)

Recruiters? - some of you understand this time warp phenomina and follow up even when the update is nothing more that it’s still in process.? This is really appreciated.

4. Enjoy the Rollercoaster ride

There will be ups and downs

For one company I had 13 interviews with different people and everyone talked positively about me in the position. Receiving a “we are not going forward with this process” was a little disappointing.

For another,?where things were seemed to be going well, concluded with “We think you have too much experience for the role”.? What does that mean? -? We are looking for someone less competent? :)

You can also find yourself, as I did, being the guinea pig as a company tries to figure out what it is really looking for in a candidate.? “For the leadership team you checked every box, however as a result we have now changed the definition of the role”.? Glad I was able to help you guys figure things out.

Discipline helps with the roller coaster

These things happen, you cannot take your foot off of the pedal of searching until a written offer is in your hand. Even if you discover the illusive “Dream Job” and things seem to be going well.

One mistake or miss spoken comment at any point can tip the scales against you.

Referrals

Make sure you know who your friends are

In the past knowing someone in the hiring company has made a big difference to getting considered for the position. This time I did not find it to be the case at all. In fact some of my referrals resulted in the fastest rejections.? A weak connection on linkedIn can do more harm than good.?

My strongest referral was from a fellow yoga teacher who had little connection with the software industry. They did though have a friend in the business. Networking is everything.

Getting that dream job

For me this above process, though a lot of work, was totally worth it.? I came full circle in my career. Compiler development was my college major, followed by 16 years as a developer and manager building compilers, run times and development environments.

The role I found, though in truth it found me, is one where I once again get to work in this rare and specialized field. After all that hard work and ups and downs I could not be more excited and happy with the result, even a year later.? All of the failed interviews turned out to be practice prep for the job I really wanted.?

The interview process? well that has changed significantly in 17 years too. How I tackled that to secure a job at Facebook is for another post perhaps.

Hoping there is some value in these ideas for you as you search for your “Dream Job”

Resources I found useful

Interview preparation - Jeff Sipe ex Google interviewer. A whole series of really great? interview prep advice

Body language on video interview? - Good ideas for the video interview sessions

Things not to say in an interview?

JobInterviewTools.com

Thirty top Interview questions and what the employer is looking for