Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
So you’ve got all these skills and abilities and geektastic inclinations. You want to use them on the job search, and so you put them on a resume or talk about them. Let me suggest you take it a bit further.
I suggest you make your job search a way of leveraging your progeek skills and interests. In fact I suggest you try basing some of it on what you do anyway.
When Steve lost his job, he jumped into the job search and tried to apply all the advice he’d been giving – and learned a lot in the 3 weeks it took to find a job. Here’s the entire list of articles:
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/
Yes, you’re probably wondering “With a New Job, how is it that Steve has time to write this series?” First I wrote it up in my break between search and new job. Second I type fast. Third, because it’s what I do. Fourth, because this is all in my head and I want it out now.
One thing I found quickly is that a job search really is a campaign, like a marketing campaign, the installation of new software in an office, etc. A job search is a focused, multi-faceted effort that needs the right resources, the right goals, and the right navigation to get there. It’s not just sending out a few resumes and hoping.
Have Your Materials: Have your cards, resumes, portfolio, personal site, LinkedIN profile, etc. all up to date, all their data unified, and ready to go. These are how people find you, see you, and contact you.
Have Your Story Together: Make sure you have a narrative that is reflected in your interviews, in your materials, and in your head. You need a story, just as sure as a marketing campaign tells a tale.
Hit Hard – But Check Your Targets: As noted I’m all for a job search blitz, but you also need to find the best ways to get the word about you out. That’s going to require some assessments, analysis, and a few about-faces. Analyze what’s working for you and what’s not, figure which job board, recruiter, or contact yields the best results, etc. Sometimes spreading your net wide is good, and narrowing in later, sometimes not.
No Turning Back, Just Going Around: You’re in this for the duration, you don’t give up, you just redirect and reorder your efforts. It’s important to find the balance between charging on and choosing a different direction to charge into. You’ll need to find that.
Sell, Sell, Sell: Always look for opportunities, always think of new ways to get you out there, always explore options.
Tie It Together: Tie all your efforts together. Ask that person who didn’t hire you why so you can tweak your resume. Pass friends on to the recruiter who’s helping you (builds more allies). Ask that HR person you just met to pass you along. Every effort, contact, and thing you do should be maximized for results.
You do this – and adapt – until you get a job. Just the way marketing campaigns target, focus, and refocus. Just the way an educational campaign adapts to the needs of target audiences. You don’t quit, you keep going, in one big, unified effort.
It’s a campaign.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/