Retooling

Since I will just next week be transitioning out of my current job, I have been reviewing what I'd been most recently doing to prepare for my next adventure out in our industry.

I am both reviewing what I HAVE been doing but thinking about what I will next do to continue this effort. I know a lot of you out there have been doing the same.

LinkedIn: Tops for Jobs/Employees/Consultants - Really?

In reading some of the hiring tips that are out there, plus speaking with people who are looking for resources, I just happened to be reading that LinkedIn is the ultimate place for job seekers to attract employers, as well as a great place for employers.

Considering all the noise in LinkedIn, I would say it becomes increasingly difficult to stand out. Is this really the ultimate place we should all compete in? That is possibly true in some areas but I would start by telling anyone considering this that anything you do in here is going to take a lot more work than you might realize.

If you are in a large area with a strong professional group that matches your industry interests, that would be the number one place I'd be if I could find one and would be my suggestion to you.

For me, as much as readers might think all I do is sit in LinkedIn making posts, I do outside activities as much as I can, as well.

As a different suggestion, I know people who completely focus on applying to jobs only off the web-site of the companies. They believe that since that's more work, probably fewer people with do it, possibly there's a greater chance of a response.

Reading

Since being notified of my upcoming layoff, have finally gotten to the following:

Call Newport: Some of you have heard me say that "I don't work for technology, I make technology work for me" when you question why I don't have one particular digital habit or another. Here in Newport's books, I find a kindred spirit, someone who proposes that we not be slaves to technology, but to use it to our advantage.

Charles Duhigg: He wrote the book "Supercommunicators" which illustrates what it means to be just that and how people get to that level. However, he also has other useful books that are written to involve a variety of stories that help make his points. I didn't think I cared to read his "Smarter Faster Better" book, but that was actually the best one. The stories he used to make his points were more interesting to read than some of the non-fiction I'd been reading.

"Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver: this is a modern retake of David Copperfield. For those of us who had been in our biotech book groups at our employers, many of us have read books such as "Pain Killer" by Barry Meier and "Empire of Pain" by Patrick Raddon Keefe, all books that cover the modern painkiller issues. In "Demon Copperhead," instead of focusing on the old-fashioned illnesses, this novel brings a graphic and horrible view of how these issues affects individuals and communities. Even though this is a novel, I'll warn even those of you used to reading some of the gruesome details that this goes past merely reading about lots of hypodermic needles. Just be warned. On the other hand, it brings life to the issues better than the books that merely report the problem that we would more commonly read.

I've read a few others, as well, but those are the highlights.

No Nonprofits

My idea during this slow time was that, if I'd been working to save people and cure them, maybe I could use my available time to find ways to save lives or keep people safe in other ways. In addition, I should try to volunteer some of my time to organizations related to the work I do in case I might hear about other jobs or consulting work.

However, just as a warning, I think the nonprofits are probably overwhelmed with those of us being laid-off with probably similar ideas. As of right now, I have applied to a variety of spots in various organizations. It's not just that I haven't landed one, not only that I haven't been interviewed. The issue is that the applications seem to go right into never-neverland - no-one seems to read or respond.

While I won't complain about helping out at a few blood drives and a variety of other tasks, I've begun to visualize a long line of people trying to get the more ongoing roles.

Back to the Usual

So, what does work, then? Well, I'm not going to claim I walk out here and just land consulting roles or jobs by doing any of this, but I return to my usual habits and at least I get more information about what's going on in our world.

I'm back writing my LinkedIn newsletter, which causes people to reach out to talk to me. Not many with jobs, some with potential consulting work, most just wanting to catch-up or tell me about what they're doing.

Marketing

This newsletter is my Marketing tool. I have built my network and readership enough that people eventually notice that I'm out "doing something." Some then want to find out what that "something" is.

Here I am now back to looking to return to management consulting, working with companies beginning a huge change (growing or splitting companies), temporarily taking on roles for companies who have lost or cannot seem to hire people for roles that keep the work moving forward.

And even if this were to help me land a W-2 job, it's still worth the effort.

Yet, going back to my statements about LinkedIn not really being quite so straightforward a place to connect with potential employers, Marketing in and of itself is not completely straightforward, to begin with. Do you start giving an opinion in laboratory informatics and suddenly become an "influencer"? Probably not. In fact, if you succeeded, we'd call you a "thought leader."

My Point

Reading that LinkedIn is really the place for us to find work came in a week when I was already reviewing what I've been doing, myself. I gave a few examples but we each approach this in our own ways.

You can't really do just one thing or expect one tool to be the answer. You will always read about a person here or there who was so lucky the world spun an extra time for them by some of this but, for most of us, we just have to work hard at the effort, sometimes seeing little to no return. These days, let's be honest, it's usually no return that we see. And that's why it really is more challenging. If we're creating any ripple, we can't see it. Then, we're afraid to stop doing it not knowing if we're having any impact.

In my case, I've done much of this long-enough to know that it can take a long time, I will have to adjust along the way, and that it's not always the obvious places where we find anything.