I was in a position this year that I never expected – to be hunting for a new job less than 6 months after starting the previous one, and this painful process has provided some insights that I think are worth sharing.  Finding a new job isn’t like it used to be. It can take MANY rounds of interviews and lots of time, and it’s frustrating. Please note, this is a longer post than usual.

1. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect. Even if you don’t get along with your manager, or find the job isn’t what you thought it was, disrespect just has no place in a professional setting. Whether you’re experiencing it from your leader or your coworkers, then that isn’t the place for you.  A company without a good moral compass will demonstrate from the top down that it’s toxic, and disrespect is just one sign of toxicity. No job, regardless of pay or benefits, is worth putting up with toxicity.
2. Job hunting is hard. It will exhaust you, burn you out, make you cry, throw things, scream at the world, feel like you have nothing to offer and make you want to curl up under a blanket. Be ready for it, and know it’s not you.
3. Plan ahead. Save up as much money as you can and be ready to make a move. Try to avoid quitting your job before you have another because you don’t know how long you’ll be out of work. In 2017 the team I was on was let go as part of a company reorganizational effort. It took me 182 applications and 20 months to find a job. This time around I applied for 109 in just over 2 months before I found a new position. 
4. Make sure your resume looks really good. If you haven’t had it professionally done, consider doing so, or look for examples on the internet. You will find it helpful to have a section with skills – mine is right at the top, above experiences. I have a short professional summary followed by 9 bullets with skill keywords. Those get customized for each application to make sure AI picks out those keywords. Try to limit your experience to about 10 years, and keep the resume to 2 pages if possible. I’ve also tried to have a short description about each job, followed by one or two accomplishments in the role. 
5. Use your eyes. Are you baffled by why you aren’t getting responses to your applications, despite customizing your resume and writing cover letters?  Occam’s Razor might be the answer. I ran my cover letters through spell check in Word every time and found nothing. What I failed to do was to use my own abilities to proofread, and suddenly one day my spell and grammar check started acting up, converting itself into French and telling me the cover letter had 0 words and characters. I downloaded a free grammar program, and was horrified at the mistakes that I had let go through. Recruiters are inundated with hundreds of applications for each job. You won’t make it past the initial AI screening if you have mistakes.
6. Update your profile on LinkedIn. Reach out to every contact that you have that might be able to help with a referral. In today’s job market, networking is king. You still need a current resume and must submit applications, but you shouldn’t overlook the value of networking. You never know when a job will be posted and someone will think of you and say to themselves, “I know JUST the person for this”. The position that I accepted happened because of networking.
7. How many applicants are there? Look at the number of applicants for a job, which is a LinkedIn feature. If there are more than 25 or so, your chances of getting reviewed by the recruiter are lower than if you’re in the top 10 or so. If there are more than 100, it may not be worth applying for the job although there seem to be mixed opinions on this.
8. Is it REALLY remote? As you look through listings, you’re going to find that “remote” doesn’t always really mean remote. Some jobs will say remote but you must live in a particular city or state. You’ll have to read carefully through listings to see if you truly can live anywhere in the US for that job. I wish that recruiters and companies like Workday or Taleo who have application programs would develop different classification options of remote such as “Fully Remote” and “Limited Remote” to make it easier to search. 
9. Follow someone like Liz Ryan on LinkedIn. Liz is a career coach and has some wonderful words of advice. Lessons I’ve learned from her include things like recognizing red flags in the application and interview process, when to move on, and how to realize your own value.
10. Be ready to negotiate. I’ve learned that while a job posting may have a salary range listed, that doesn’t mean there isn’t wiggle room on it. If you’re interested and want the job, apply for it. You can always make a case for why you are worth more, but if you’re going to do that, be prepared with data and facts to support it. What are you able to bring to justify a higher salary? And if they can’t go higher, then ask for either a hiring bonus or perhaps some additional vacation time. What’s the worst that can happen? They can’t meet your requests and then you have to decide if you want the job or not.
11. Why are you leaving? This is a question you’ll probably be asked especially if you’ve been there a short time. Be ready with talking points and be careful what you say. It may not be well received to run down another company, so choose your words wisely but don’t lie either. 
12. Research the company you are considering. Glassdoor.com is a good site for that information. For example, had I done so I would have seen a company I went to was rated 2.8 out of 5 stars and had a lot of negative reviews.  I’d like to think that I would have not gone there had I remembered to do this research.
13. Prepare to be ghosted. You’re not going to hear back from a lot of your applications. There are 5 that I applied to in mid-April, and still hadn’t heard a peep from those companies as of September 3. I assume by now they have either hired someone or have put the jobs on hold but it would have been nice to at least know I’m not being considered.
14. Always write a “thank you” note to the recruiter and to anyone that interviews you. If you don’t have email addresses for the interviewers, you can always send a thank you in a Word document to the recruiter and ask them to forward it for you. You need to positively stand out in the interviewer’s mind, and a note is a good way to do that.
15. Be ready to be rejected. I have been, many, many times. I try to not take it personally but it is really difficult not to, especially if you’re desperately unhappy in your job and need to get out, or when you learn you were the top candidate but they selected someone else with just “that much more” experience or who is internal.
16. Have confidants and let them help lift you up. I’ve found support in so many places, and am grateful for it. I leaned on family and friends and they kept me sane. I knew I’d get through this, but I also must admit there were days when it felt like I wouldn’t, and couldn’t manage another day in that horrid job. Somehow, I did, and you will too.

 

Finally, not specific to job hunting but in general if you’re still in the early stages of your career, the best advice I can offer is to invest wisely now, so you’ll be ready to retire when you want to. As I have gotten closer to the end of my career, I find I have less patience for nonsense and wish I had socked away a lot more so I could just retire and walk away. Until I actually can I’ll give my best to my new (and hopefully last!) employer. 

I hope a few folks see this and find it helpful.