Weeks Five, Six, Seven, Eight
Me a month and a half ago: “sharing my job search publicly will help keep me accountable!”
Me today, speaking to my past self: “ohhh what a sweet, naive child you were.”
I clearly fell off the reporting bandwagon here. I wish I could say it was because I was just sooo busy with interviews and companies knocking down my door that I couldn’t possibly keep up with writing, but alas. That is not the reason. I was indeed busy with networking and job search-related things - I have hardly been idle - but they started taking up more of my energy, and updating this blog was the easiest thing to cut.
Accomplishments:
I went to an in-person event with Google Developers Group in Boulder. It was definitely tech-heavy, but I still got some great insights from the speakers. It was the first time most of us had been to an in-person event like that since before the pandemic, and I bonded with many people over how we don’t know how to behave in a sort of professional networking situation anymore.
I made a portfolio. This isn’t necessary for most of the roles I’m applying to, but I am applying to some instructional designer/curriculum roles where highlighting projects I’ve done could give my application an edge. This article/website was super helpful when it came to how I approached building an engaging portfolio as someone without many visuals to share from my work.
I’ve had a lot of great conversations with people; my weeks have been full of catch-ups with my existing network and meetings with new people. This has generated new ideas, new company leads, and helpful feedback that is shaping how I approach my search.
I’ve applied to a bunch of roles, and have been doing my best to follow up with key people at those companies and/or find connections through my network.
I now have two, and possibly soon to be three, job search buddies. Let me tell ya, the more the merrier! I can’t emphasize enough how helpful it is to search with other people - having someone to bounce ideas off of, get feedback from, and sometimes just vent to is incredibly valuable.
Not professional, but an accomplishment nonetheless: Lee and I signed a lease for a place here in Boulder! Living in a new city, looking for a new job, trying to find a new place to live, while making new friends has been a little emotionally overwhelming. Lots of “new” things are happening at once after a year of constant newness and discomfort, so I’m craving some stability. We don’t move in for another month, so it will be a while before we’re settled, but I think having our own space with our things in it will bring at least a little of the familiarity I’m lacking.
Week of 3/27 priorities:
So far, I haven’t done much cold outreach, except at companies I’m applying to. I’m grateful for my incredible network that has been so supportive in connecting me to new people. I certainly haven’t exhausted my network, but there are several companies that I’m super excited about that aren’t currently hiring, and I just haven’t managed to get a warm intro at any of them. It’s time to do some cold outreach so I can learn more about them and potential future opportunities. In some of these cases, I might end up pitching myself/a role to them, but ideally I want to learn more about the company before I do that.
I have some conversations scheduled for this week, and a few jobs in my queue that I need to submit applications for.
I’ve had a few connections reach out for career coaching, so I think it’s time I formalize that. I have expertise that is valuable and that people are willing to pay for! Lots to do to get this up and running, so I’ll chip away at that this week.
Otherwise, I am going to try to be more balanced with how I spend my days/time. Devoting 40 hours/week to the job search is burning me out, and frankly most of that effort isn’t yielding results. Remember in my How to Get a Job post I said, “Assess your schedule ~monthly. Note what’s working and what isn’t. Adjust accordingly. Try new things.”? Yeah, time for me to take my own advice.
Tl;dr and pro-tips:
I’ve cut down the amount of time I spend on LinkedIn, and I might recommend you do, too. I’m still on it every day, using it to find people and jobs, exchange messages, and skim what’s happening in my network, but I’m spending very little time on the home page. Golly, that place is depressing, and only about a third of my feed is from people in my network. There is nothing less motivating than seeing post after post after post by people explaining how they got laid off months ago, are on the verge of losing their home, have kids they need to take care of, etc. I know I sound callous - I am glad that people are seeking and hopefully getting help, I’m grateful that my situation is not that dire, and I appreciate that many of those posts get crazy reach. So please know I don’t mean it as a snub towards people who are struggling and being vulnerable in the hopes that the right person sees them. It’s just 80% of my feed, and it’s hard enough to stay motivated in a job search without constantly seeing how much everyone is struggling in theirs. If you are in my network and you’re struggling, please reach out! I’m always looking for more accountability buddies and have found connecting with other searchers to be both cathartic and helpful.
Another knock against LinkedIn: you know how job postings will show how many people have applied? I was suspicious of how they tracked that number, and I was right to be - apparently, that’s the number of people who just click “apply” on LinkedIn, which usually takes you to the company website. I saw this post on Reddit (so take with a grain of salt) from someone who looked at applications on the back end vs. what LinkedIn said, and they didn’t match up at all. So if you’re like me and have been paling at those application stats, don’t invest too much energy into them! Also, if you have premium, I recommend just ignoring the “how you compare” section at the bottom of job postings. It’s not helpful information, and it probably won’t make you feel good.
That said, the age-old job searching advice applies now more than ever: network. Especially if you’re in a field that has been hit hard by layoffs. Not just because it’s a competitive market, but because a lot of companies are informally freezing hiring even if they have roles posted, and talking to someone at the company can help set your expectations. I also found a job recently that I thought would be a good fit, and I even have a close former colleague who is on the team I’d be applying to. “Slam dunk!” I thought. But after speaking with them, it became clear that the role would not be a good fit, and that the team is a bit of a mess right now. While this is obviously not the outcome I had hoped for our conversation, I’d rather know that now instead of wasting my time and energy applying for something that won’t work out.
How I’m feeling:
I’m feeling a bit of everything right now. I continue to have fantastic conversations with new and old connections that energize and inspire me. I’m finding companies and jobs that excite me and align with my goals. And I have spoken to a couple people about two potential opportunities, one of which I’m super excited about, but I’m waiting on more information so it feels premature to get emotionally invested - I should know more in the coming weeks.
On the other hand, I’m doing everything right in my search - going through my network, reaching out to people at the companies I’m applying to, following up on applications, seeking new connections, putting myself out there, tailoring my applications - and I’m just not getting any responses. I’ve had some people refer me internally after I’ve applied to positions, and still nothing. Maybe companies are moving slow, maybe I’m not a good enough fit even with a referral, maybe they have someone else already in mind and the roles are just posted as a formality. There are a hundred variables that affect whether/how a company would consider me, and most of those have nothing to do with me as a candidate. But despite knowing this, I can’t help but feel like I’m doing something seriously wrong.
This is another reason why I’m so appreciative of my job searching buddies. Everyone sucks at taking their own advice, but I swear I am the embodiment of it. I’ll give my friend job search advice on something, then turn to her an hour later and ask her for help on the same exact thing. She’ll feed my own advice back to me and I’ll reply with, “ok cool thanks!” like I hadn’t just said the same thing to her. If I didn’t have partners in this process to keep me grounded, I think I’d drive myself crazy with self-doubt.
All that to say, the energy I started my search with ~two months ago has waned, and it’s taking a lot of effort to get up every day and do the things I know I have to do. I know many of you have been at this way longer than I have, and you’re exhausted. It sucks, but we just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Adjust your schedule to allow more mental breaks - I started bullet journaling as a creative outlet. Get outside - I took the photo for this post on a bike ride a week ago. And spend time with people who energize you - Lee goes back to work next week, so I’m really trying to be present when we’re spending time together vs letting my brain dwell on all the “should”s swirling around up there. We never know when things will turn the corner, so let’s keep at it.
