I recently went through the . . . enviable process of looking for a new job. I honestly thought it would be a breeze. The economy is strong and it’s a job seeker’s market. Unemployment is breaking record lows in many ways and you hear on the news “Pretty much anyone who wants a job, has a job right now.” Job Board advertisers are saying things like “If you are looking to hire the best, you will need to take them from another company because everyone is currently employed.” Add all this to the fact that I am a web developer – a highly desirable profession – and I honestly thought that finding a job, for me, would be as easy as flipping a switch in LinkedIn.
Turns out I was wrong.
As part of my severance with my previous company, I was given the opportunity to take a 2-day job-finding course. They taught us great things about finding the right job, networking, resume writing techniques, researching potential employers, and even gave me a 30 minute 1-on-1 session with a job finding coach. I paid attention to about half of what was said and acted on even less than that. I thought to myself, “With the number of companies out there needing web developers, I won’t need any of this. Its only a matter of time before the job offers come rolling in.”
I was partially correct. I subscribed to a few job boards and filled out my desired position on LinkedIn – and the listings of open positions came pouring in. I received daily approximately 5-10 new open job positions that I could comfortably step into. Some for companies I liked, a few for companies I refused to work for, and most for companies I’ve never heard of. At the start of the process I had a goal to apply to 4 new open positions a day. I accomplished this goal for over 2 weeks. This 50+ applications resulted in approximately 5 responses that were not immediate rejections.
Another partially correct portion of this assumption was the outpouring of “support”. I intentionally use quotes here to separate this usage of the word from the typical usage. This form of “support” usually went something like this. “Hey, I hear you are looking for a job. Company X that I own/work for/know about/etc is looking for someone with your exact skills. You should apply there – I’ll make sure your resume makes it to the top of the pile.” I would get them my resume – often by handing it to them during this exact conversation (yes, I carried copies with me everywhere I went) – and that would be the end of it. I would email them a few days later, call them a week after the conversation, look at the Company X’s website and apply for the job there and send my resume that way, and generally get no response. I learned just how many people are willing to say “If there is anything I can do. . . ” and how few people are willing to actually act upon that offer.
Looking back now, there were a few moments that stood out to me. I know a highly energetic, very charismatic business owner. He would regularly greet me with a giant smile and the words “Are you ready to quit your current job and come work for me?” For more than a year, this was his greeting. Honestly, when I was let go, his name and company was the first to pop into my head as a potential new opportunity. I let him know I was looking, then weeks later had a phone conversation with him about it. Then we attempted to meet up in person to talk about how I would fit into his organization. This attempt, and the next 4, were all cancelled, bumped, and/or rescheduled. It was two weeks after I stopped trying to contact this friend, when I found out he had filled the exact position I was trying for.
The second standout moment was a company that seemed to be in need. They had a few .NET applications in production and running and had recently lost their only .NET developer. They needed someone on staff to maintain these applications before something bad happened and it all went tumbling down. I went through a phone interview and 2 in-person interviews. Things appeared to be going well, and it was strongly hinted that the choice was between me and one other. A few days later I was asked to come in for a 3rd interview and in that was told they decided to hire a team of programmers, not just one. I assumed this was a “gimme”. “If it was 50/50 before for 1 position”, I told myself “then I’m definitely on the team of positions they are hiring.” It was a week later I was finally told I wasn’t a good fit.
All of these things started to weigh on me. 90% of my blind applications got either no response, or a rejection – this was expected. The 20 or so people offering me help to break through corporate red-tape, didn’t come through. The guy who spent a year offering me a job, hired someone else. And I wasn’t a good fit for 6 positions, where I was apparently in the top 2 for a single position. There was a single common factor in all of these rejections. Me.
What was so wrong with me that people weren’t willing to keep promises of offered help? What was the reason I could make it to so many interviews but was so quickly told “no” after that? What am I doing wrong that is making others so much more desirable than me? Was my wage ask too high? Was my skillset too low? Was my hygiene or appearance repulsive? Was my personality too off-putting?
If you made it this far, let me start by saying “Wow, I thought I was bored.” Second, if you are expecting some grand conclusion to this story, some life lesson or grand enlightenment, I’m sorry. I don’t have one. I still don’t have the answer to most of the questions posed. Maybe there is no answer. Maybe the premise of the questions is somehow wrong. Maybe the results I got and the questions I asked are not even related to each other. Maybe it was all circumstances beyond my control.
Maybe it doesn’t matter. I did eventually find a job that utilizes my skill set, has some chance for upward mobility, pays what I believe I’m worth, and gives me a place where I feel I can make a meaningful contribution again. Some might say “All’s well that ends well.” And maybe THAT is the important lesson I needed to learn. Not that I am un-hirable, but things will happen when they happen, how they happen, if they happen – and that is just the way of things.