Job Seekers' Catch-22

Joseph Heller coined the term in his 1961 novel Catch-22. It is now a common term to describe a paradoxical situation, similar to the chicken and the egg paradox, but much more frustrating as there is no control for the person in this situation. In the novel, Catch 22 is an unsolvable dilemma, where the soldiers could not get out of their duty by requesting for a psychological examination to show that they are insane as the act itself would prove that they are sane. 

Catch-22 is a concept that is familiar to every job seekers out there looking to get into a new area. How do you get hire for a job you don't have experience for and how do you get experience if you cannot get the job? I don't have a quick answer for you, but I can tell you what has worked for me. I would sum it up in two words: patience and persistence. 

In 1999 (yes, a decade and a half ago), I was looking for employment outside of the university with a decent pay. I had tried, unsuccessfully, the prior year and actually gave up trying. I stayed for another year at school, hoping the job market for a science-degree graduate would improve. It was then that I met a Fisher Scientific representative, Cristina, who convinced me to consider a job as a sales representative. At this point in my life, I had done many odd jobs here and there to support my college education, so sales were something I could do. I just never thought of going into sales for a biotech company. I toyed with the idea, but as it was 1999 and the computing industry was hot, I decided to focus on getting a job in the computing industry. 

I could do some basic and informal programming. Why not? I decided to shoot for it and applied to as many computing companies looking for entry-level computer programmer as I could find. My introductory email was simply that I had no formal training in computing, but that I had a biochemistry degree. The reasoning was that it meant I handled analytical thinking. I was quick to state that I was a fast learner and was eager to do a good job. It took a lot of emails and a lot of phone calls, but I finally got my shot to interview and eventually get hired with an embedded computing company in the Bay Area. Now, you would have to give credit to Paul and Michael, the owners, for giving me a chance. However, it did take a few months for this to happen and I kept at it while keeping my university job. 

Fast forward a bit, I was back to the Los Angeles area, working as a lab tech for a small biotech company. I revisited the idea of working as a biotech sales rep and restarted my conversation with my Fisher friend to look at a position there. It took four months of interviewing. Managers changed and I would interview with yet another manager. Four months and in the end, I was told I did not qualify since I did not have the sales experience. One good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it, about me, is that I don't like being told 'no'. I don't need a 'yes', just a 'maybe'. Then, perhaps I can turn a maybe into a 'yes'. Well, you could see how that could be a bad thing.... or a good thing. So, I told myself, if that were the case, I would get the sales experience. 

It took me a little while, about a year later, but I got a job selling copiers for Konica Minolta. The pay was almost $15K less that of my lab tech job and the hours were long, but it was a sales job and I needed the experience. The best thing about the company was the sales training, not just from the company's Konica University, but also from my boss at the time, Robert. He gave me the Sales 101 training that I still use today. About a year later, I got a call from a biotech recruiter for a sales/FAS position and got hired a month later with a Belgium company starting its US operation. 

So, though you might get frustrated at the conundrum of it all, I would say be patient and persistent. One way or another, you will get there. Just keep at it.

To LinkedIn Or Not To LinkedIn?

With the current state of today's job market, job seekers are encouraged to join LinkedIn and network. The question, though, is when it is appropriate to use LinkedIn and how should you use it to your advantage? The following post is my opinion only and does not reflect on you and how you are using the tool or should use the tool. 


For me, LinkedIn is a tool, a resource that can be quite advantageous for a job seeker. However, I could see some occasions when folks might consider laying low on LinkedIn. So, here's a few scenarios that would call for the DOs and DON'Ts of LinkedIn. 


1.   Research your potential employer. 


Whether it be the persons you would be interviewing with or working for or the company that you are looking to join, LinkedIn can tell you a lot about the culture of that company based on the people who are working there. A click on the company page will show you the number of employees associated with that company, you can filter out to seek the folks who have been or still is in similar position as the one you are applying for.  You can look at their length of employment. If there are a lot of short-term employees, it might be a telltale sign that something is going on there that you might have to dig deeper. 


2.   Contact former employees. 


You can find out more about the culture and the people at your potential employer from a conversation with former employees. Just an email to say you are looking to learn more about the work environment at someone's old company can get you the background story to help you with your decision. The way I see it, company can check your background and reference; why can't you do the same?


3.   Check on your future supervisor/manager. 


If you do not want your supervisor to find out that you are checking up on them, you can change your privacy setting in your profile to anonymous. This would allow you to view his/her profile without them knowing that you are the one looking at their profile. Though in some cases, you might want to let them know that. It could show that you are just as careful in choosing your future employer as they are in choosing their future employee. It's your call. You can feel out the situation and decide. When you look into your future supervisor's profile, you can sometimes get a sense of where they are coming from, their background, their past work, their education as well as how others regard them based on the recommendations on their profiles. 


4.   Let folks know you are seeking employment. 


One big debate among job seekers is whether to announce that you are seeking new employment when you are unemployed. Some folks think that you are a more attractive candidate when you are employed than when you are not. Therefore, putting it up there on your profile may hinder rather than help your chances of finding employment. My personal take is that if no one knows you are looking, how will you learn about job opportunities? At the same time, I am usually an active job seeker when I am unemployed, meaning that I would contact every recruiter, every former colleagues and friends in the industry to let them know that I am seeking employment, rather than waiting for my single announcement on LinkedIn to gain me exposure to job opportunities. I also try to find some other work to make myself useful during that time of unemployment so there would not be a gap in my employment history. 


5.   Post a professional picture. 


Some folks are camera shy. Some folks don't want to be discriminated against due to their pictures. Then, there are some folks who want to bring a little bit of personality to the profile. I understand all those possible reasons. For me, I consider LinkedIn to be your online resume, so I would recommend a professional picture that show your polished look. No, baby picture, no fishing photo, and yes, a photo, please. The difference between a profile with a photo and one without is...well, I am sure you heard of the expression, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Every employer wants to know who they are bringing into the company and in today's world of instant photos, everyone want to see a photo.


6.   List your contact information.


If you are seeking employment, make it easier for recruiters and any potential employers to contact you. You can even set up a generic account with Yahoo or Gmail to receive these types of emails. You should also consider opening up your privacy option in your settings and allow folks to find you as well as connect with you. 


7.   Check your profile viewer list daily. 


LinkedIn will allow you to see the last 5 people who viewed your profile. Consider connecting with them to expand your network. Since they viewed your profile, they may be looking for someone with your background. Take a minute to send them an invitation and ask them a few questions to find out their real motivation in looking at your profile. They are much more likely to accept your invitation. If it's just a clicked-through, at the very least, you have established a new connection and expand your network. 


8.   Update your profile regularly. 


One of the automatic triggers in LinkedIn is when you updated your profile, the system will send out a message to all folks in your network letting them know that you just updated your profile or interestingly enough that you have a new job even though you have been in that position for a long time and didn't get a chance to update it. The problem with that is if your supervisor is in your network, then an update to your profile might signal your interest to leave the company. Updating your profile when you get a job eliminate that issue since it's understandable that you would update your profile with your new job. Also, it does give your company a feeling that you are proud to be a part of their team and are looking to stay long term there. 


That's about all I got to say about LinkedIn for now. As always, please feel free to comment here or off-line. I welcome all feedback and questions. 


Bests, 


Mindy =D

Restarting my blog

Hi All,

A few months ago, I decided to shut down my blog for many reasons that I won't go into. Mostly it was due to the fact that I was starting a new job and didn't have much time to devote to the blog. Over the past few months, however, I received multiple emails from folks asking for access to the blog. I am very much encouraged to restart the blog. I do hope what I write on here will help you all gain a better understanding of the job market, the many options available to you and most important, help you find the job that you want.

Thanks, again, for all your emails.

Bests,

Mindy