reneecnewman

Too Many Interviews but the End is in Sight

I have now extended my 20 days to find a job by another 14 Days. Over the past few weeks, I have had the unique problem of having a high number of interviews with a peak of 11 interviews. If you are a job seeker, you dream of these types of weeks because it feels like you have finally landed on Boardwalk when you already own Park Place. It is a sweet success after a tremendous effort of moving through the game of job hunting.

Somehow too many interviews have become my “problem” due to the time required to prepare for each interview plus the increase in follow up activities which result in less time to apply for new roles and market yourself online via LinkedIn.

The next challenge I have encountered is the staggering number of interviews it takes to secure a role and the interview pace.

Most of the roles that I am currently under consideration for have had a minimum of 6 interviews and I am still not through the process with an offer or rejection.

By the time, I finish it may take up to 8-10 interviews which have now become the new standard based on a corporation’s belief that multiple feedback from many different functional areas and levels in the business will guarantee them a successful hire. I joked with one of the lead recruiters and asked if I could interview to be the CEO because I bet that is a shorter interview cycle.

Interview pace presents another challenge in the process. No matter how business sexy I think I am or how magnetic my personality may be, big corporations have many competing priorities. So, I have found that I have been that “it girl” for a couple weeks then I have been discarded for something more important. The hard part is knowing when I have truly been dumped for good or I am just not a priority.

What I have learned and ideas on how to tackle…

High Quantity of Interviews

At every interview ask “what is the next step in the process” … this will keep you grounded with the expectations and demonstrate your ability to close.
Ask the purpose and focus of the next meeting … leadership skills, organizational skills, behavioral or situation, etc. …this will help you prepare your stories for this meeting
Brainstorm on how you could eliminate any of these interviews…if your old boss/co-worker is part of this organization then they may not need to interview you. If you can interview with a Panel (multiple individuals) this may eliminate some of the interviews.
If you have a recruiter, leverage him/her to help decrease the number of interviews. Remember they are seen as a business advisor to the company and have an influence on hiring.

Uneven Interview pace

How about the hurry up and wait approach for interviewing … The best way to manage the pace is to keep driving it by always asking what is the next step(s), make sure you know why this position is open, did someone leave? (Urgency) or is it an expansion (Sloth speed). Do your best to create urgency around both scenarios…ask questions to understand if the responsibilities of their role are still expected even though there is no headcount. Or if they are expanding, is the expectation coming from leadership.
Do your research and use this as a reason to communicate with the recruiter/hiring business team. i.e. Top CEO ranking from Glassdoor, Press releases like the Acquisitions of new businesses.

Communicate with key contacts using different communications…text, mobile, phone, email, LinkedIn message. Varied types of contact connections do not feel pushy like (5) emails in a day.

The good news is if you can endure the challenge of the interview process it will eventually end. I feel I am around the corner to job offers and I am hoping that my new problem will be to figure out which one to accept. Oh, and your guess is as good as mine as to which offers and the role I will accept. It still feels like a roll on the dice…

10 Days

10 Business days are logged in the books and I am embarking on the final 10 days to go. I find myself halfway to the finish line and I still have no idea where the yellow finish line will be. I am trying to embrace this concept like a wonderful surprise and put on rose-colored glasses to see the glass half full.

I have had lots of activity with recruiters, interviews and a virtual career day (yup, that is a thing, #fairygodboss) during the last 5 days which resulted in 6 scheduled interviews for the start of week 3. If I was selling and I had that many pre-scheduled meetings lined up for the week I would be a goddess. The only problem is that it can take 5, 6, 7 or more interviews with one company to land a role. The entire process feels endless…it keeps going and going and going.

Figuring out how to cope with the rigorous process is the key. I have embraced the usual suspects like running, coffee, gardening, organizing, any project and being insanely focused. Even with all my activity I find staying in the present moment is difficult. I am as guilty as the next person to rewind a job interview and wish I could erase some words and add others to re-write my script. If I am not looking at the past then I am foretelling the future. Hit the fast forward button and step on for a crazy ride of free fall. I never get a job because I am missing some random skill, that 3 people on the planet have, that some employer deemed as the most critical requirement. Flashing lights go off and they say, “YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SELECTED”, after 7 interviews. UGH.

I find myself feeling frustrated, exhausted, disappointed, discouraged and my skin crawling with self-doubt. I have now learned to allow myself to live these moments. It is important to embrace the crap sometimes because you don’t need to pick yourself up 24/7 and cheer yourself on every moment. Why not just let the defeat wash all over you…no need to fight
it, it just feels crappy. For me this is HUGE to allow myself a moment that isn’t all glammed up like Susie Sunshine and it feels real.

What I remember is that there is a gift after today’s crappy day and that is tomorrow. Tomorrow feels like hope. It is a fresh start, new beginning, almost like New’s Years day except it comes every 24 hours. Even better! Tomorrow I can wake up and hit the reset button, get a new start at this job hunt and cheer myself on! Yeah, me!

LESSONS LEARNED

Stay Mindful

Don’t become stuck in the past at what you could have or should have done or said in an interview
Don’t project the future and have visions of never getting a job and being broke
STAY IN THE PRESENT and accept it. Whatever your circumstances are, no matter if it is good, bad or even if it is ugly- embrace it.

MOTIVATION

Network-Network-Network

Connect with personal friends, business colleagues, teammates, social media acquaintances, school connections…just connect and let them know you are looking for a new job. Most importantly, ask for help. Trust me, there is nothing more humankind wants to do then help others.

Be fearless

Embrace something new and put yourself out in the universe to get a new role. One thing I have done is to attend a Meetup! (www.meetup.com) Take a look online and find something that interests you like technology, business networking or makes you uncomfortable, like public speaking. Say yes and go!

20days2getajob

Week 1

I have sentenced myself to 20 days to get a job (20days2getajob). You can be the judge if I am being reasonable or not but I thought I would have had a job already after 4 months. I have been solidly looking and I have a clear strategy to connect with personal colleagues, friends, identify target technology sectors, update my business social profile status (LinkedIn) and APPLY, APPLY, APPLY. A “warm” application is better but sometimes I go for the “cold” application in hopes that I will be the resume picked out of the 546 applications on the one job site (BTW- there are multiple job sites). So basically, I am trying to win the lottery.

To provide a quick rewind, I have had solid sales career contributing and managing teams in the communications field for over 20 years. Basically, you know the deal, multiple Presidents clubs and other awards for over achieving. For those of you who wonder what I mean by communications, the translation is that I have been selling network services to large international company’s, things like fiber (in the ground) that can deliver internet, data and voice connections to connect you to other offices, clients and applications. Bottom-line, the companies I have worked for are the foundation for all your calls, internet and email, etc.

Since January, I have looked to re-invent my career and sell something different then where I have been. It could be research services, conferencing services, data centers, software, consulting…the list keeps going. TBH- I think the odds would be better if I decided to run for President. (Kidding, you can keep that job:)) A career pivot, is definitely the hardest dance move I have ever tried to do for those of you contemplating one. Oh, for the record I can tap dance so I do speak from experience here.

At the close of Week 1, the good news is that I had (4) Interviews, (1) Meet Up for RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and (1) network meeting. It sounds good, right? The interviews are all over the map with questions and assessment of my candidacy. My favorite interview during last week was specific to a software role where I explained that I have never sold that specific software to those type of decision makers. Just like that I was informed that they would pay me significantly less and they would need to inform their management of my Achilles’ Heal in my candidacy. So, I was thinking, oh crap, if I keep talking I might owe them money by the end of the call! Ugh.

Well, I am positive as I enter Week Two, because I have some good things on the horizon…

(4) Companies…currently engaged in the interview cycle- talking to the in-house recruiter and now speaking to the business teams
(3) Companies… submitted resume (warm leads) and pending interview
(2) Consultants… discussions scheduled to provide guidance (warm leads)
(1) Virtual career day… interviews via video conferencing with 6 companies! (No clue what this will be like but it will be a good story for my Blog!

INSPIRATIONAL TIP…

I have no idea where the week will take me but I wanted to share my weekly strategy to inspire those of you who are in this process or thinking about jumping in the overcrowded water with me.

Below is my GINORMOUS Post It Board in my office that I put up every week to keep me going…

Promote your WEEKLY SUCCESS and INVEST in self training,

upgrade yourself SOCIALLY, CONNECT and POST content!

And APPLY, APPLY, APPLY!

If you are out there and like me, give it whirl, hey, you never know.