JOB HUNTING TIPS FOR A DYSFUNCTIONAL MARKET

By Brooke T. Allen

Originally published in Science Careers on February 15, 2008

Some Tips for Landing a Job

Cast a broad net. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for work and ask them to tell everyone they know. Describe your capabilities in general terms so that you seem appropriate for a wide range of jobs. Defining yourself–or your contact list–too narrowly runs the risk of foreclosing career paths due to your own lack of imagination.*

Every so often you might run across an employer who is good at finding hidden talent, but don’t count on it. So take full responsibility for getting found.

Employers use résumés to eliminate candidates–not to select them. As an employer, I might respond to your résumé if I find no imperfections, but I’ll always respond if you: 1) tell me a compelling story in two or three sentences that makes me want to know more, 2) ask a question that can’t go unanswered, or 3) itemize in a letter a few of your qualifications that fit my needs perfectly–and the letter need not cover a résumé. If I absolutely must have a résumé, I’ll ask you for one.

Don’t judge a job too early. First impressions are hard to overcome–and often wrong. You might develop a new competence out of a previous weak point. Often it isn’t the fork in the road but the entirely new road that gets you there, so you might need to tramp in the brush for a while.

Let your next employer observe you learning something. On the first interview, don’t ask about salary or benefits, ask, “How do you do things around here?” then take notes. Ask, “What do you need me to learn?” then stop at the library on the way home.

Show, don’t tell. Don’t talk about your prior work; bring a portfolio. Don’t itemize what you know; teach what you know. Don’t brag about what you’ve done; demonstrate something that makes you proud.

Try to help those who don’t hire you. There are two good reasons you won’t work somewhere: 1) you’re not a fit, 2) they’re not a fit. In either case, refer others who might work out. You’ll be remembered.

In some cases, you won’t land a job even though an objective person with full knowledge of the facts could only conclude that you are the best candidate. It happens. Forget about it.

Treat employers like people, not companies. And don’t anthropomorphize organizations. I recently met a young graduate student who was bitter about the job-hunting process. It took her 6 months to uncover an ad for “the perfect job” and send out her first résumé. She was interviewed by HR and told that a hiring manager would call her in a week. That was 2 weeks ago and now she was fuming: “I would never work for that company if they begged me.” I asked her if she knew how overwhelming it can be to hire someone while keeping a business running. She said it didn’t matter; it was “just rude. If it is their policy to treat people as they do me, I don’t want to have anything to do with them.” I don’t know what she does now or how good she is at it, but there is no way I’d hire her to do anything until she grows up a little.