Lady Luck and the Job Search

A strange thing happened to me this week.  I got an interview.  For an entry-level job.  From a company that generally does not hire entry-level people.  A job I applied for the day before.
The job- a great job that I would be perfect for, that happens to come with a for-real actual salary and real-live benefits.

The company- a major player in the sportswear field where I have applied approximately 1,426,823 times before and never heard a single blip from. This time they replied mere hours after I hit that "submit" button on their Taleo site and scheduled the interview for the following day.

This turn of events is so strange and unnatural to me that I naturally came to the conclusion that some form of luck must be involved.

Luck has to be involved.  It just has to.  I have friends with fantastic jobs because their best friend worked at the company, or because they happened to intern at a company that was ready and willing to hire soon after the internship ended.  (One of the companies I interned with had a position come available, AND they were interested in hiring me... but... in the middle of the interview process it was announced that the company was moving out of state.)
Here's the rundown from a great article on The 8 Secrets of "Lucky" Job Seekers, and my analysis
1.  Truly believe you are a lucky person- I have not been thinking luck has been on my side, in fact quite the opposite.  But, as you know from my previous post, what I have been doing is working on believing in myself.  And I've taken steps to change my Debbie Downer mood:  I've been dressing the part, I've changed my weekly schedule for better organization (Friday is "blog day"), and I had lunch with my biggest networking supporter.  All of these things impacted my attitude in a positive way.
2.  The grass isn't greener on the other side- Oops.  I was doing this two paragraphs ago.  I enjoy supportive and loving family and friends, safe and comfortable shelter, and good health.  There are many people WITH good jobs who do not have these things.  And, as I know from experience, sometimes the circumstances of your job are detrimental to those good things.  Count your blessings.
3.  Don't be a Negative Nancy- It's true.  No one wants to be around a person shrouded in negativity, so why in the world would anyone want to hire someone who has a black cloud hanging over their head?  I'm no Negative Nancy.  I'm Kinetic Kristina!

4.  Embrace Spontaneity- This is one of my strengths, and the whole reason I applied for this job when I did.  I had gone to the unemployment WorkSource office that morning, because I had received a letter that my unemployment benefits had run out and I needed to apply for an extension.  When I explained why I was there, I was told, "We can't help you because we're not the unemployment office.  We're the WorkSource office.  Our job is to get you a job."  This prompted me to go on a little rant about how I was feeling unemployable- career change at the wrong time- no one will hire me for the old career because I clearly don't want to do that any more- no one will hire me for the new career because I don't have any experience- etc.  They were very kind in listening and letting me get it all out.  Then they directed me to telephones kiosks that are directly wired to the unemployment office. While I was on hold, I thought, "What the heck.  I'm right next to a computer kiosk.  I'll just lean over and do some job searching."  The rest is history.
5.  Be Prepared- Yeah, I still need to work on that elevator speech.  Why is that so hard?  But, as I have mentioned before, I do know how to be prepared for an interview!
6.  Strive to be a Connector- I know I've mentioned before that I'm a Myers-Briggs INFP personality type.  I can't think of another personality type least likely to be a "connector" according to this article.  Thankfully, they are only suggesting that lucky people strive to be connectors.  Every day I do just that- I strive!

7.  Always Think of the Glass as Half Full- I think this goes along with #2. 

Special note- while originally typing this blog entry about luck, rather ironically, my computer suddenly turned off and stopped working. How's that for luck?

8.   Keep Your Expectations in Check- The article ties this to patience and persistence.  "Lucky" people don't take all those setbacks and negative responses personally.  "It must not have been meant to be." and "Everything works out.  You didn't get this job because something better is waiting for you." are two sentiments I hear a lot.  However, as a longer-term job seeker (since May), it becomes harder and harder to see things this way when your opportunities seem to be fewer and farther between.  My expectations with this super job I'm interviewing for were low.  I've applied to approximately 1,426,823 of their job openings with no results.  I had no reason to believe that application number 1,426,824 would be any different.  Lesson learned- it may not seem like it but every job application has a chance of getting noticed.  With a little bit of "educated luck" (similar to an educated guess?) that one application could be your foot in the door to something fantastic.

And I have to add- what about expecting that your computer is going to keep working?  Huh?  I think my computer has been bad luck. 

Taleo- a love/hate relationship (mostly hate)

If you don't know what Taleo is, then you either haven't applied for a job in awhile, or you haven't been paying attention. Whenever you apply for a job online, say at Columbia, as soon as you hit the "apply for this job" button, the web address changes from www.columbia.com/blahblahblah to www.taleo.columbia.com/blahblahblah. Taleo is a "Talent Management Software" company, providing their customers with "...improved recruiting so you can know more about your candidates and build a high performance workforce." Their website says their customers love Taleo for many reasons, such as oodles of companies use them, they're good at implementing their software quickly ("100% implementation success"), it's cost effective ("With software as a service, there are no additional hardware or software required - just a web browser.")

The Taleo website brags that if your company uses their software for recruiting, then your "quality of hire" increases by 33%. (Off topic- what does that even mean? How did they arrive at that number? What, in their minds, is quanitifiable about "quality of hire?") Nowhere does Taleo talk about what the applicant thinks of their software. Is the applicant enjoying an increased quality of hire? This one isn't.

Here's the good part of Taleo: Job applications require rehashing all kinds of tedious information about names/addresses of previous employers, references, reasons for leaving, salaries, etc. When you sign in as an applicant for a position at Nike, you only have to enter this information once. The next time you apply for a position at Nike the information is already there. That's the ONLY thing I like about Taleo.

I have experienced three main problems while applying for jobs on Taleo sites: 1) there is no support for the applicant if you experience problems or have questions with the application process, 2) the supplemental questions often don't match with the job, and 3) once you hit the "submit application" button you are likely to never ever hear anything again about the position.

Examples:
1) A few months ago I applied for a position at Adidas. All I had to do to apply for the job was answer the supplemental questions since I was a previous applicant. I was really excited about this job so I put in extra effort to craft my answers. However, once I hit the "submit" button, an error message popped up. The message did not mention the source of the error, but it did ask me to send an email to let someone know of the problem. I drafted a nice email and sent it off. Guess what? Two seconds later I received an undeliverable email address notice. Lesson learned- always craft the answers to the supplemental questions in Word and then cut and paste them into the website. But really, what is wrong with a working phone number or email address so I can let you know that there was a problem? Do Taleo's customers worry that they might be bombarded with phone calls and emails so they don't even make it an option?

2) I run across this problem ALL THE TIME. Yesterday I applied for a job at Nike- Color Designer I- Running. I know- Color Designer!!! How awesome would that be? According to the job description, they are looking for someone with...

• Bachelor's degree in Design, Art or a related field with 1-4 years' relevant experience or an Associate's of Art degree from an accredited art school with 4 years' experience in a design environment working with colors, palette development and/or color trends
• Knowledge of the product design and development process
• Familiarity with product manufacturing processes, including materials, fabrics, plastics and pigments
• Macintosh computer experience, including Photoshop, FreeHand and/or Illustrator skills
• Knowledge of CAD programs, preferably in Mac environment
• Thorough knowledge of art and design with a clear understanding of visual design concepts including color mixing, color compatibility and color placement

(from http://www.nikebiz.com/careers/us/taleo.php?view=us_corporate)

With this in mind, imagine my surprise when I found the supplemental questions were: 1) "I have a bachelors degree in business, communications, or related field, plus a minimum 6 years digital work experience..." Yes/No. 2) "I have 3+ years of Footwear Design Experience" Yes/No

What? Where did this come from? Did the HR person select the wrong button when they set up this job? The last time I checked, "Color Theory and Economics" was not part of a standard business degree program. And where is footwear experience mentioned in the necessary qualifications? So of course I checked the No button for both of these questions. And I know that means I'm automatically kicked out of the system and will not be considered for this position.

3) I have applied for many many many jobs using different companies' Taleo application sites. I can think of only twice when I have received an email letting me know that the company "decided to move forward with other applicants." Thank you, Adidas, for at least letting me know.

This is my first blog post that required actual research on my part. As part of this research, I found someone who might hate Taleo more than me. And so I recommend that you also read the Official Taleo Sucks Blog.

Note- all non-Nike quotations from this blog post came from the Taleo website- www.taleo.com