When job hunting, stay hangry

I was a sophomore in college, a total geek for every English class that taught me how to build persuasive arguments using textual evidence. Law school was the logical post-graduate plan. It would fulfill my intellectual interests, but more importantly, allow me to garner respect from my peers as we cruised to dinner in a Range Rover after a successful verdict from a 2-week trial where my objections and shiny outfits won over the judge. Dammit, Law & Order has disserviced so many of us.

Thankfully, I was nervous to commit to law school blindly. I knew I should try the industry on for size in an internship or part time job, so I went to the LinkedIn of 2001 to find connections: the phone book. I flipped through the yellow pages and called every law firm listed. Then I called them one by one. On a landline. With a cord.

I am 150-years-old.

As I made my calls, I took notes in the margins of the yellow pages, like “not hiring,” or “experience required.” My last call was answered by an actual partner. I knew how lucky I was to have landed a decision maker and went all-in:

“I’m a college student looking for legal experience and will work for free, if necessary, to get my foot in the door.”

How many times do you think he received a call like that?

24 hours later, I sat next to him at a conference table taking notes as he interviewed prospective injury clients who had been T-boned in a car accident by a drunk driver.

In that same week, he taught me how to read accident reports, screen calls for cases worth his time, and I listened to my fair share of diatribes about why insurance adjusters are the enemy. A funny beginning to what would later become a paralegal career in insurance defense. Yea, spoiler alert, I did not go to law school. It took only a few months for me to decide that I didn’t want to incur absurd law school debt for the hours, stress, liability and lifestyle I observed of the attorneys I supported. I would be Erin Brokovich instead of Ally McBeal, minus the multi-million dollar bonus.

But I did not work for free. He offered me $8/hour, above minimum wage at the time, because he admired my scrappy approach to get experience. It made him nostalgic for his start in the field.

I’ve been in recruitment for 10 years, and I’ve only had 2 people tell me they’d work for free. I’ve had less than a dozen candidates express a willingness to “do whatever it would take” to land a job. And most people barely think to research a hiring manager on LinkedIn to prepare for an interview. When you consider my “yellow pages” beginning, you can better appreciate my frustration.

Why? Why aren’t job seekers impassioned, generally?

I can personally admit that the more resources I have, the lazier I get. It’s sort of the point – technology make things easier, but does our work ethic fly out the door with the work? I may have hustled in 2001, but that’s because I had to. There were no LinkedIn notifications or career portals with dozens of jobs on display. Unfortunately, we’ve come to take these incredible resources for granted; worse, we even resent them.

Ugh, LinkedIn – it’s the Facebook for dorks.

I have to consider my online personal brand? So millennial!

I don’t have time to fill out my LinkedIn profile! I’m happily employed; why does it even matter?

I hate social media. No thanks.

For these technological naysayers, I like to propose the old-school alternative: The classified section of the newspaper where you search every day for jobs and call them one by one instead of making a one-time, 15-minute investment to complete a FREE personalized landing page so companies can contact YOU about employment opportunities over the course of your career.

As the philosopher Aristotle so eloquently said, FILL OUT YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE, DUMMY.

The other sad reason for our dispassion about job searching and interviewing is pride. No one wants to sound desperate. Most people choose self-preservation over the vulnerability of fighting for a position so they feel in control and more desirable. Ironically, this reticence can be toxic to a candidacy. Our clients often report back that an interviewee was hard to read or didn’t express enthusiasm for the company/position, so they pass.

When you interview people for a living, it gets redundant, so when we get the “I’ll do whatever it takes” candidate, we pay attention. We’re inspired. Our choice is made easy.

I don’t mean you have to work for free or take a pay cut. The example of my start in the legal field highlights the importance of pocketing your pride when you have zero experience to get your foot in the door, but my spirited approach of 2001 is relevant to any level of professional. If you have 3 candidates who all look the same on paper, you hire the hangriest one. (Hungry and ardent.)

#NotSorry

Yours truly a geek forever,

Katie McMahan