On a job searching mission - Margarita reporting live from Athens

As global technology redundancies and multinational re-orgs recently came knocking on my door, it was time for me to polish up that rusty CV of mine sitting in some forgotten OneDrive folder. I had to lay out my plan for how I was going to go out there, to position and market myself in the wild wild west of recruitment and really nail it.

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I have written many business articles (published here on LinkedIn) and the one that especially came to mind given my new situation was actually the most commented-on article, where I talk about generalists vs. specialists. I had basically written that a generalist (like myself) has many advantages when looking for new roles within the company he/she is already employed because the spectrum of options is much wider in combination with the fact that a multi-departmental profile is typically valued for a tried and tested existing employee. But when seeking for a job externally, well that's a whole different story. What label do you give yourself? A sales strategist, a marketing expert, an ex-Finance business planning excel freak?

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And so it is MY TIME to search for a new job out there in the wide open ocean.

This is my real-time story.

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I'm stuck. I'm nearly 50 years old, I have been working for 26 years and I need to come to terms with the fact that I don't have any grand titles on my CV. I mean, I am no 'Director' or 'Partner' or 'Super Senior Kick Ass Manager'. One doesn't grab my CV and automatically go WOW, that's impressive. First of all, let me state the obvious…We don't all get to become Managing Directors or General Managers. The hierarchical pyramid is narrow at the top and we don't all fit. We don't all have the profile, the skills (or the guts) to reach that high. For others, it may have been a very conscious choice. But that's not the point here. What I am saying is that, yes...it's obviously a strong and very worthy CV, but it just doesn't automatically sell itself.

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My 'humble' non-Director profile is one of a generalist with experience across multiple disciplines, so I decided to baptise myself a 'seasoned generalist'.? It took a while for me to conclude on the word seasoned (and no, I did not use ChatGPT). My initial word of choice was 'mature' but because of my age, I am by default mature so that didn’t quite do it for me. I was looking more for a word that would represent something like a metaphor for an ageing fine wine. Anyway, 'seasoned' it was. Next, I decided to intentionally use the word 'generalist' to describe who/what I am because it's something I decided I should not hide from, it's not a handicap...in fact I will intentionally highlight the fact that I am a generalist and turn it to my advantage.? By using this word intentionally, I hope it will trigger a conversation specifically around this topic.

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But in continuing to review and revamp my dusty CV, again I was stuck. How the hell do you sum up who you are professionally but also (and perhaps just as important) who you are in general as a person? How do you write a short summary of yourself in such a way as to best attract positive attention and maximum interest. I tried and in my first attempts, I failed. The language I used was not the standard corporate language everyone expects to see. I was talking outside the corporate norm.

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Let me give you an example. I wrote (and I have often used this phrase) "I bring clarity and structure to chaos"…Yes, I used the word 'chaos'…Can you imagine the reactions to that? I intentionally used the word chaos to emphasise my point…And you know what? I am DAMN GOOD at bringing structure and clarity where neither exist, but in fact using the word chaos was an #epicfail. One executive search company who had reached out to me, never called me back! And a high-level executive in a consulting firm basically insinuated in a polite way that I GO BACK and re-write the whole damn thing.

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So I went back to the drawing board and started again. Chaos is now out of my summary (but just in case you are reading this…let me stress again that I am DAMN GOOD at bringing structure and clarity to chaos! ??..haha). Moving on, I wanted to offer a glimpse into my personality because I don't want to be just another long set of bullet points outlining my past work experiences nor a boring list of skills.? So I wrote in the 'Other interests' section of my CV that I am 'mad about football' ??. And for those who know me, know that I am indeed MAD ABOUT FOOTBALL! I am! What can I do? But hey man…writing that in a professional CV? Really? So I downplayed the word mad to 'I love football'!! I cannot bring myself to take it out completely or downplay it even more. It's such a core part of my life and who I am!

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Anyway, I could go on, but let me sum up quickly here. So to conclude on my recent CV-fixing iterations, I wasn't feeling very good about myself and I felt like I hadn't really achieved much after all.

But I am now (real-time) changing this negative mindset to a more growth mindset that typically is what best represents me. I just have to accept that I am one of those 'candidates' that may not shine as much on the outside (i.e. through grand job titles) but can prove my worth when you invite me to talk.

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It all boils down to getting that 'foot in the door' i.e. managing to arrange that intro call, that first interview which allows you to talk about yourself and elaborate on all the great things that you've done and what a perfect fit you are for the role in discussion. Networking (another topic for another day) plays a PIVOTAL role here.

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Over the years, these 2 simple questions have helped me conclude on what/who I am professionally:

1. What excites you? - This is all about what gives you high and positive energy at work and therefore what you are naturally super good at (for me this is bringing structure and clarity to chaos …oops…no…Did I say chaos? No! Not allowed to say chaos remember???)
2. What do you want to be remembered for? - I would like to be remembered for being damn good at what I did, delivering with the highest quality ?? but more importantly, I would like to be remembered as the work colleague who was engaging and energizing to work with, the colleague from whom others had something to learn and who was supportive, helping in the success of others. Something along those lines anyway!

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I wish I could write these 2 questions and my answers to them in my CV, but that is WAY TOO UNCOMFORMIST and I am sure the feedback would be 'go back to the drawing board…again'. You don't show up as professional or senior enough' (I feel like those school kids who have to write the sentence "I will never do it again" 100 times).

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Lastly, I have decided to start my interviews by talking about ME. Not my skills, not my list of past work experiences but about me. Shouldn't they know what character, what type of person they are hiring? Of course you should hire for a combination of both skills/experience and character. But skills can be acquired. Characters are difficult to change or adapt.

Be confident. Be genuine. Be authentic. Be you ??

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Margarita reporting live from Athens, Greece.

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One last note…sort of related to above…but more related to interviews…I think that we are in an new era where we as interviewees should also be asking many more questions during our interviews. It's not just about do I fit their requirements, but do they meet my standards. Does their work culture fit our notion of an ethical and humane workplace.? If I am telling you why you should hire me, how about you telling me why I should come to work for you. In Greece, it is very likely that such an approach may potentially be perceived as aggressive and/or arrogant and could be thus taken the wrong way, but where plausible, I say go for it.

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Oh! And one last last note. Now that I no longer work for an American company, I can go back to BRITISH SPELLING. I cannot emphasiSe enough and how long it took me to accept that emphasiZe is written with a 'Z'!!!