Would you rather have the right job at the wrong company, or the wrong job at the right company?
I’ll take the wrong job at the right company every time.
Recently, I’ve seen and talked to quite a few people who are caught up in various layoffs and RIFs. Normally when someone gets laid off, they dust off their resume, make sure their LinkedIn profile is updated, check the job boards, apply to a bunch of different places, reach out to friends and colleagues to “keep their eyes open for any opportunities.” It can take time and be agonizingly slow.
If you find yourself in this position where it feels like there’s just nothing out there as you wait for responses to applications and resumes, try this instead:
--> Pick 5 companies.
Five companies that you like and want to work for. If any of these companies offered you a job, you wouldn’t really care what the role was, you just want to work for that company. Maybe you like the location, the people and the reputation that they have, maybe you like their vision or purpose, maybe the prestige or something else. But rather than a company choosing you, which company would you choose?
Once you have that list of five, start figuring out how to get in. They likely have external job postings. Obviously you should familiarize yourself with those. Who do you know at the company? It’s time to check out those 2nd and 3rd degree connections on LinkedIn. What else can you find to get your foot in the door and a conversation started? Get creative. How can you get a conversation started?
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Years ago I was having a hard time finding my next gig. I found a company that I really liked and a particular VP who had a bio that looked really interesting. We had several similar touch points and things in common but had never met. I planned to call her office number at 9pm one night and leave a well rehearsed message politely introducing myself with what I thought were enough reasons to justify a return call and conversation.
As the phone rang a little after 9pm and I prepared to give my well rehearsed speech, she answered the phone. Although I had all the right words, I was so thrown that she was in the office and answered that I barely made it through what I wanted to say. We talked for 10 minutes and I had an interview a few days later.
I didn’t end up working for that company but actually got to know that VP fairly well over the following years. She commented on how nice it was to actually have someone self select because they really wanted to work at that company, rather than digging through a pile of resumes.
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In today’s world of AI resume screeners and resume writers, the noise level has gone way up and standing out isn’t nearly as easy as it once was. So pick where you would want to work and pursue it. Focus on picking the company and not necessarily the job as your primary criteria. The role is far easier to change than the company that you’re working for.
Arena Partners #Layoffs
CISOinTraining/ Advisor/ NIST & DoD RMF problem solver
6moNoticed post. Spray n Pray has always part of my search strategy. Worse case scenario is for exposure to upload resume for future recruiter searches. You can't always prioritize things like direct outreach, leveraging contacts, follow-up as they don't always work in your favor. At most you just include it somewhere in the process/plan. For most it is basically down to the typical application process. Just some of my "in the trenches" posts to include web references for further research. No sales, coaching, affiliations, or referrals. Just FREE. [ TOPIC - CAREER - Do you have a Transition Plan? ]