A Winning Strategy

A New Job in 5 Simple Steps

Putting My Strategy to the Test

I spent a long time looking for a job in 2019. After leading eCommerce and corporate innovation for 22 years at a top global travel company, I accepted a package in lieu of relocating from New Jersey to Florida as part of a headquarters move. I was confident in my ability to secure my next job opportunity quickly. Having been out of the job market for so long though, I found myself woefully unprepared for the challenges that I would face.

I immediately did everything I thought you’re supposed to do when you start looking for a new job. I had never let my resume get out of date so at least that was checked off the list from the beginning. I contacted a few recruiters to let them know I was available. I upgraded my LinkedIn account to Premium and started searching the job listings. For months I wrote cover letters, submitted resumes, and got NO WHERE. After about 7 months I figured out what I was doing wrong and I started my new position at RB just 6 weeks later. I published my job search strategy to help people in my network and got to work.

At the end of November 2020, after 13 months at RB I once again decided to seek out a new opportunity, wanting to bring myself back into a digital native workstream or something with a direct to consumer presence. After a year of trying to help others land jobs with a very basic strategy, would I be able to put my money where my mouth is? Did I truly learn anything in my 2019 job search or was I just falling victim to my own confirmation bias? Did my strategy actually work or had I falsely attributed causation to a mere correlation after the fact? I dove in head first in an effort to find out.

How I Did It in 2019

1. The Resume. You can’t have just one resume. You need to tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for. Yes. Unfortunately, stuffing the resume with specific words and phrases from the job description can make a big difference if you’re just trying to blindly submit online. In the end, I had about 12 different versions of my resume which I would then individually tailor for the job specifics. Examples include resumes focusing on Strategy, Innovation, Product Management, Analytics, Customer Experience, and others. I simply took a base version and then entirely slanted it toward different aspects of the work I had done. Do this but be honest. DO NOT LIE on your resume. You will waste a lot of time. Know that people in recruiting definitely talk to each other so a bad reputation will stick.
2. The Job Search. In my experience, most job boards have most of the same job listings. I think LinkedIn was probably the best but I also had accounts and alerts set up on Indeed and ZipRecruiter. The alert mechanisms were pretty iffy and I would say about 95% of the roles recommended were irrelevant. However, you need to sift through a lot of misses if you want to ensure you know about the truly great role when it comes along.
3. The Network. I’d heard people say over and over again that you will get your next job through your network but I never understood what that meant until so late in my 2019 job search. I thought it meant that when you are looking for a job, just reach out to your contacts and let them know you’re available. This is wrong. I did that for a long time and there were definitely some extremely helpful people in my network. However, the reality is that they can’t help you if there’s no job available. This is the lazy approach to using your network because it asks your contacts to do all of the work for you.

Here are the 5 specific steps I endorsed and committed to using again for any future job searches:

1. Identify a job that you want.
2. Search for employees at the target company with similar titles or responsibilities.
3. Identify connections. Use 1st if there are any and ask for introductions to any 2nd level connections from someone you share in common. Note: THIS IS WHAT LINKEDIN WAS DESIGNED FOR.
4. Once you have established a connection you can discuss the role and ask for a recruiting referral. Many companies offer incentives to employees that refer new hires, so getting a yes is not far fetched at all.
5. Apply for the job only after your referral contact tells you to. Sometimes your contact will actually apply for you. If you apply earlier, the incentive is removed as you can no longer be considered a referral and you’re less likely to receive further assistance.

My assertion was that by paying attention to these specific things, you would both be on the fast path to your next new role. Instead of wasting a lot of time and energy on applications that go no where, focusing the energy into the highest probability opportunities would maximize the likelihood of success.

Did My Advice Hold Up Leading Into 2021?

I can confidently tell you that following the steps above has indeed led to the quick turnaround I forecast one year ago.

Within the same 6 week period it took me to START my new role at RB in 2019, I have secured a new position and start date. Of course, I don’t want to make it seem so easy. It still took a tremendous amount of effort and I can’t stress that enough. Even following the steps above, it took a lot of hard work to make it happen. I took one on one meetings just to network in case they might turn into something. I had interviews that didn’t work out. I was generous with my time and skills to those in my network to remain visible. I took rigorous notes on all of my interactions so I knew who to follow up with and when. I created and followed a system every day until the goal was reached.

An Extra Bit of Advice for 2021

I do want to add one bit of personal advice based on a change to the typical job search and professional networking in 2020. So many people were out of work due to the pandemic that LinkedIn actually created a profile picture frame for it. You have likely seen or have used the #opentowork border around many photos at this point. While this definitely was a well intentioned move by LinkedIn, my personal opinion is that you shouldn’t use this frame to advertise your situation. Ask yourself,

What am I signaling to the world by enabling the #opentowork photo frame? Does it make me a more or a less desirable candidate?

I believe that this is a last resort. It says “please pick me” without actually asking anyone to pick you. It’s the “lazy networking” I mentioned earlier where you’re asking your contacts to do all of the work for you. Instead, if you put in the effort to actually pick yourself for the roles you want and then establish contact with people relevant to those opportunities, you won’t need to hang that digital sign around your neck.

Conclusion

Not only am I looking forward to my exciting new role, I have strengthened the confidence I have in the strategy I shared. I have proven to myself that it wasn’t just a coincidence. The technique not only works, it’s a must do. Your network will be your biggest asset so nurture it, grow it, and keep it strong all year long.

I am seeing more “I’m looking to hire a blank” posts in the last month than I can ever remember. If you put the work in now, I am certain that things will pay off soon.

Good luck in 2021 as you look for your next role!