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. 

Preparing for the interview

During this recent bout of unemployment, I don't really get a lot of interview experience (I have only interviewed for two positions since being laid off).  This topic was suggested to me by a friend- and it's a good one.  I'm sure everyone has their own method of preparing for an interview.  Here's mine...

Research, research, research.  I research the daylights out of the company.  I go to their website, I look through their product line making notes of things I like and things I think could be added to make improvements to their line.  If possible, I go to their store and check out their product in person.  I google the company name and look at recent news articles.  If I know the names of people I'm interviewing with, I look at their profiles on LinkedIn.  I think this is where my technical side comes in- if I learned anything as a chemist, it's how to research.

Prepare interview questions.  I used to HATE that part of the interview when they ask, "Do you have any questions for us?"  I would try to wing it and then blank out when the question was asked.  "Uh... not right now..." was a common response.  Not cool.  Now, I know how to prepare for it. 

A good place to start is about.com.  I highly recommend going through the entire job searching section from this site.  I will go to this site for advice before each and every interview because every position is going to require a different approach depending on who is interviewing you, what information is readily available in the job description, or given to you ahead of time.  As I see a question I think is relevant, I write it down.

Next, I go to my "Job Search Notes" file.  You see, I save all these notes I take.  Every interview I have had I can tell you who was there, which position I was applying for, what questions I had asked, and what I wrote in the thank you note(s).  I reference this file A LOT.  I get good ideas for new questions to ask based on what I have asked other interviewers.  Any question I think is relevant I add onto my list.

Other references I use to prepare interview questions are the notes I have saved from various unemployment workshops.  Believe it or not, the unemployment office offers some very useful workshops to help the job seeker. 

I'll share with you some of my favorite questions to ask during the interview:

• Where do you see {Company X} growing in the upcoming years?  How might that equate to personal growth within the company?
• How do people at {Company X} interact and work together?
• What individual qualities and traits are most important for this position?
• Is there anything that I have not clearly explained, which you would like me to readdress?
• What would you say are the most challenging aspects of this position?
• How do you celebrate successes?  When is the last time the department celebrated and what was the occasion?
• How do you set goals at {Company X} and how are these goals evaluated?
• Describe the work culture at {Company X}?

Prepare the interview outfit.  I spend WAY too much time on this one.  They say the goal is to dress one step above the people who will be interviewing you.  But how can you portent that information?  Common sense and intuition come into play- I would follow that simple advice more than I would most of the "expert" advice out there.  For example, here's the advice for a woman from about.com: 

Women's Interview Attire

• Solid color, conservative suit
• Coordinated blouse
• Moderate shoes
• Limited jewelry
• Neat, professional hairstyle
• Tan or light hosiery
• Sparse make-up & perfume
• Manicured nails
• Portfolio or briefcase

I know that here in the Pacific Northwest, if I were to show up for an interview at a creative company, I would be labeled as stodgy and old-fashioned if I showed up to an interview wearing a conservative suit with hose.  And I would NEVER wear perfume to an interview- you never know who is going to have a sensitivity to your favorite scent. 

No matter what I ALWAYS run my outfit by a trusted loved one before I leave the house.

You may have noticed that I have not mentioned anything about preparing for the questions that may be asked to you.  That is another important step in this process, but that is a whole topic in and of itself. 

To be continued...

Tales From the Unemployment Office

My computer is broken, so I've been heading to the unemployment office on a way-too-frequent basis so I can use their computer stations for all my job searching needs.  The unemployment office is not a fun place to spend your time.  It's a lot like going to the DMV only more depressing and with more human interaction.  Oh, the stories!

The unemployment office I frequent has about twenty-five computer stations for anyone to use for their job search.  It is usually difficult to find an open station; the office is busy with job seekers.  There are one or two staffers tasked with helping those using the computers with applications, building resumes, etc.  You hear a lot.

Some people do not surprise me with their employment status, or lack thereof.  For example, the blond Barbie-doll lookalike who sat at the next computer over.  She was struggling with using the computer, and not just because of her long manicured nails.  She needed help getting set up in the system because she had just lost her job.  Simple instructions had to be explained to her again and again and again.  It's wrong to stereotype people but I was having a hard time with that.  The staffer asked her what type of work she was looking for... and she answered... "I'm a dentist."

Oddly, you hear a lot of yelling.  People yell at the computers, they yell because they are hard of hearing, they yell when they see someone they used to work with across the room, and they yell into their cell phones.  It is not unusual for people to be on their cell phones while at the unemployment office, but usually it is a phone call related to their job search.  The staff will ask people on personal calls to hang up, especially if they are being disruptive.  Most people get off their call right away.  One unusually loud exception did tell his phone mate he had to go and why... but then continued... "OH YEAH, HOW'S RAY DOING?  I HAVEN'T SEEN RAY IN SO LONG.  IS THAT SO?  WELL GOOD FOR RAY. I GOTTA GIVE HIM A CALL.  OH YEAH?  HAHAHAHA.  RAY'S ALWAYS GOOD FOR A LAUGH.  HEY DID YOU CHECK OUT THE GAME LAST NIGHT?" etc.  The collective glares of everyone in the office were not enough to get this guy off the phone.  Perhaps it would have been a good time to forgo the Oregonian politeness thing.

Another episode of yelling was both on the phone and at the computer.  The guy was trying to be nice.  He was there to help his computer-illiterate friend with his job search.  The guy using the computer was on the phone with a third guy, who for some reason was the keeper of the passwords.  Why?  I have no idea.  Anyway, the guy on the phone was relaying the password to the computer user but it wasn't working.  He kept trying and trying but the password wasn't working and eventually the system kicked him out.  This resulted in more yelling, which finally brought a staffer over to help figure out the problem.  She immediately figured out the source of the problem.  Caps Lock.

These stories only represent the first chapter in the stories I have collected during my visits to the unemployment office.  You could subtitle this chapter, "OK, I get why these people may be struggling to find a job.  But what's wrong with me?"  Sometimes it is hard to stay up-beat.