Easy when you know *who*: 4 top tips when finding a new role
When looking for a job, the old adage of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” could not be truer.
I quit my old job back in January. It wasn’t working out for me for a number of reasons, so I left without a role to go to.
It was a bold move, if a little scary, but it was the right decision.
I had every intention of keeping myself busy with personal projects (like writing and spinning up a side project) and I also wanted to get back into the world of work, but I also needed some time off.
I pretty quickly had some approaches from friends of friends who’d heard that I’d left my old role and even had an early interview through a recruitment consultant that looked promising at first but wasn’t right for me.
After a few weeks, I decided to apply for jobs through LinkedIn and directly with companies who were hiring.
Nightmare.
I didn’t realise how problematic applying directly would be — call me naive, but the last time I flung my CV/resume out to find a role, I was 22 and went through a recruitment agency who landed me my first role at the first attempt. After that, it was all headhunters and being poached by former colleagues.
This new world of applying via a portal and having your CV/resume ‘read’ by an algorithm or bot is fraught with problems.
I have some pretty good top-level Internal Communication experience, working for large FTSE50 companies, building and leading high-performing teams, delivering complex programmes of communications, and doing everything from advising managing directors and C-suite executives to writing newsletters, recording podcasts and hosting large events. Over 15 years, there isn’t much I haven’t done.
Yet a bot has excluded me from application after application without a human being getting close to me.
The power of the network
I’m pleased to say that those 15 years have resulted in some really great friendships, strong contacts and a pretty solid reputation.
I’m also pleased that I’ve treated people well in my 20-odd-year career in various roles and I’m still in contact with a huge number of people in my network.
For without that network, I’d be scrabbling around for anything and everything to make some money.
After a post on LinkedIn saying that I was looking for a new role, I was contacted by a number of people — either directly from old colleagues or via mutual contacts — and within four weeks, I’d been offered two roles, one of which I took up in April (and I’m pleased to say it’s going well so far).
So what advice would I have given myself in January?
1. Don’t feel embarrassed about leaving a role without a new one
You may feel like you’ve failed, given up too soon, not given the role a fair chance or been ‘beaten’ by the pressure or whatever it was that made you leave.
But it’s not true.
Quitting a job for whatever reason — the right reason — is actually liberating.
It has traditionally been seen as a negative to walk out of a job; the ‘job for life’ and having that 40-year anniversary with hoards of admiring colleagues was seen as a huge achievement in life. But it’s no longer the case.
If you’re unhappy, unfulfilled, undervalued or whatever else, vote with your feet.
Sure, I would’ve preferred to have a role to go to to avoid burning through savings and having the additional stress of finding a new role, but I’ve heard recent stories of friends being so unhappy at work that they don’t want to get out of bed or they break down in tears at the very thought of going into the office.
I’d rather be unemployed and looking for work than being in that situation.
2. Don’t be afraid to pull on your network
When I left the job in January, I felt a little bit ashamed or embarrassed, if I’m completely honest.
There was a tinge of a sense of failure too, having been unable to make it work.
(Also: is there a stigma around being unemployed these days? Probably not — but that certainly came into it a little.)
BUT the overwhelming support I got from friends, friends of friends, former colleagues, etc., was so encouraging.
And, as I mentioned, the strength and depth of my network was what landed me this role without a shadow of a doubt.
3. Connect with recruitment consultants
I’ve been placed three times by a recruitment consultant and they’re worth their weight. I’ve hired great people through them too.
LinkedIn and companies who use CV-screening bots are missing out on potentially great candidates because of an algorithm problem.
Don’t tell me my CV isn’t written ‘in the right way’ for bots to advance me to the interview stage: fix the bot.
Or remove it altogether and get actual humans to read CVs.
The main advantage of recruitment consultants is that they actually speak to you and get to know you as a human being so they can refer you to the client more effectively.
When you speak to them, they conduct a pre-screening interview to bring your CV to life and understand more about who you are, what you’ve done in your career and whether your experience matches the roles on their desk (or in the future).
They also tell you the salary/day rate of the role when so many job adverts omit that crucial detail.
4. Get active on LinkedIn
Speaking of algorithms, you need to learn how to work the LinkedIn one too.
If you’re posting and commenting, sharing and liking, and generally being all over LinkedIn, your network gets to see more of what you’re up to.
And if you know anything about your professional expertise, which I hope you do, you should be able to raise your profile as an expert and get noticed.
After about ten weeks of unemployment, I’m glad to be getting back into the workplace — and I hope that this role works out for me (although it’s with a company I know and love from a previous employment there so I’m confident it’ll be fine).
If you’re in a work situation that is untenable, I hope you have the courage to do something about it and quit, preferably with a role to go to.
And if you’re looking for a job and are feeling the pressure, I hope this blog has been useful in some way.
And to the recruitment consultants out there and those in my network, thank you for your support and for getting me back into gainful employment!
If you’d consider following me, that would be awfully kind of you </British>
