expressing myself through the language of design
Techcrunch offers a good perspective of the power of simplicity in functional design, and some examples of who does it well and why.
And it’s important to realize that even with our economy, product innovation is the key to tomorrow’s top successful companies.
Test of 3D ‘personal environment’ for work.
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Test didn’t work. WordPress apparently does not allow for media embeds (Livejournal does!). Disappointed.
Here are the thoughts, strategies, and mindsets that I found invaluable in my job search. I’ve been laid off before, but the market and job-searching techniques were remarkably different from the economic and technological environment we are currently in. Gone are the days of monster.com, dice.com, hotjobs.com, and dances with head hunters. Here is my personal take of the best way to maneuver and strategize your path in today’s market, based off of my recent experiences.
What to do when you find yourself unemployed.
1) Give yourself a day off to enjoy your newfound freedom. Do something cultural (museum), active (run, bike ride, something outdoors and invigorating), indulgent (go out to your favorite restaurant – one meal won’t kill your newly-restricted budget), and/or social (spend some quality time with your closest friend(s) or even better, those who have been laid off the same week as you – you’ll enjoy blowing off steam and commiserating). The important thing is to keep things light and optimistic. You’re getting yourself ready – mentally and psychologically – for the days ahead. This is the first new page of your next chapter in life, and you want it to be a good one!
2) Hit the ground running. This is the single motivational statement that my bf drilled into me over and over again. It was key. It got my brain working on overdrive, my black book filled with activities, my presence known to the general community, and provided impetus to maintain a steady stream of action. And it’s key in this economy, when there are so many talented people out there, and you want to make your best impression before there’s potentially even more to compete with.
3) Make a list of things to do for your job search. See the following steps to see what your list will comprise of. Choose and perform those applicable to your industry/interests. The only non-negotiable one is the networking one (obviously).
4) Strategize how you want to sell yourself, who you’re selling yourself to, and how to best get what you want out of both 1) your “spare” time between jobs and 2) your next job. Which, as I like to see it, is your next career evolution, not just a “job”. Everyone’s looking for a job. Everyone will try to fit their individualistic polygon shape into a round hole to fit the job’s needs. That won’t work – there’s too many people doing the same thing, and if anything, it only smells like desperation. Just like dating. 
You want to really focus on the potential career opportunities that speak to your key, unique expertise(s) and that you are truly excited and passionate about. Why? It’ll be immediately obvious to the people you’re talking to, whether it’s a hiring manager or a friend, and they’ll be able to better steer you in the direction you want to go. Some of my best mentoring conversations have come from hiring managers – complete strangers over a phone interview – who were looking for a different skill set than I offered, but gave me invaluable advice and networks of others to reach out to.
Selling Yourself
5) Update Resume: Update it and get several friends (both recruiters and those in the professional field you are aiming for) to critique it. This resume will be submitted for job openings and also posted immediately on your LinkedIn profile (for each job, job title(s) + 1-3 bullet points about responsibilities/results).
6) Get LinkedIn recommendations: Once your resume is uploaded, ask former co-workers to write recommendations for you. If you get recommendations unsolicited, kudos! Return the favor! (I have to follow my own advice here – have been slacking, my apologies.) The more recommendations the better, but one speaker said to aim for at least five recommendations.
7) Update LinkedIn status: Update your previous job status to be complete so that all of your work experience is in the “Past” category. Your “Present” plans should be blank. This will alert company-internal recruiters that you may be available. They ARE searching, and they will contact you. I got five phone/in-person interviews from internal recruiters. These are the people you want to attract to your profile, and to contact you (fish and reel in!). But just like dating and reverse psychology, the recruiters want to feel like they found you. There’s something far more alluring to them in thinking that they found “hidden treasure” in you, rather than you as the over-eager (and desperate) job-seeker soliciting them. As ridiculous as it may seem, you want to simultaneously give off vibes of being “available to talk” but not “searching”. Sound like flirting? You bet. It’s a game, gotta play it. 
8 ) (Do not) Populate LinkedIn update: Honestly, I would leave this blank. Status updates are extraneous social material for Twitter and Facebook. If you automatically populate LinkedIn with the same updates, you run the risk of looking unprofessional or negative (if you post news of the weak economy and ever-rising job loss rate) to recruiters who surf past your profile. And as a humorous note of the importance of being cognizant of what you post online: one person who got a job at Cisco posted on Twitter, “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.” Word got back to the hiring manager with typical internet speed, and the offer was revoked.
9) Populate LinkedIn photo and applications/links: If you wish, put up a flattering, professional-looking headshot of yourself. Make sure that this is the same photo you use across networking and professional platforms to promote a consistent, recognizable image of yourself. LinkedIn is a great way for people to see a much fuller, richer picture of you than a resume. Work it. Set up a wordpress blog in which you post and discuss anything relevant to your desired industry (in my case, design and creativity). Also, check the BlogLink application to make sure that your personal blog(s) have not been automatically associated to your LinkedIn profile. The last thing you want is your party/nightlife/dating blog to be one easy click away for interested parties. That is, unless you’re applying for a gossip column position at Cosmopolitan or GQ. Lastly, if you have a website or portfolio that showcases your abilities well, make sure to hyperlink them on LinkedIn, and rename the text link to reflect the content (don’t keep it “My Website”).
10) Import Contacts Into LinkedIn: Grab all of your social, family, and random webmail contacts, and import into LinkedIn. Likely, you have a random assortment of work acquaintances in your LinkedIn network. Now is the time to expand that network and with it, your visibility and industry maneuverability. And more importantly, this is your opportunity to send out a mass message of everyone saying something to the effect of having moved on from your previous position, your current desire to look for position [x] with [y] characteristics in [z] industry, your hopes of keeping in touch with them (include your contact info – email, phone), and your appreciation of any tips or thoughts they may have in your job search. Here, and always, keep your tone positive!!! This outreach will get you back in touch with valuable contacts, give people something to keep in the back of their mind in case they come across the perfect opportunity for you, and exponentially expand your network. And in the best-case scenario, your newly-refound friend will glance at your updated profile and write “hey, such-and-such at my company is looking for someone like you”… and they’ll follow up with a recommendation/intro to the hiring manager for you! I’ve had several wonderful people do that for me, and I was 1) touched by the generosity and support shown and 2) amazed at the influence and respect that my friends have achieved in their respective careers. It has been truly eye-opening and inspiring for me to realize this.
11) Update your Facebook account and all other social/networking platform profile pages to reflect your professional and (appropriate) personal interests. You’ll be getting out there and doing a LOT of schmoozing, so you want your profile information to be coherent and comprehensive for your new contacts. Also, join the fan/group pages of companies that you want to work for. Companies aren’t posting jobs to the job search engines as much because that takes $$$. Recruiters are setting up company Facebook pages and posting there, as well as on LinkedIn. Search regularly on both sites!
12) Get a black book for your schedule. Or iPhone or Blackberry, but I’m old-skool and enjoy having a monthly/weekly view of my schedule, as well as assorted notes and contact information. I highly recommend moleskine books for their portability, robust but elegant design, and various schedule layouts. You’ll have a lot to keep track of – interviews, research for interview preparation, conferences, conventions, presentations, one-on-one meetings and informational interviews, etc., and this will be invaluable. Plus, you never have to recharge it!
Launching Yourself
13) Attend all of the SOCIAL networking events you can possibly handle. I know you’re thinking “social”? “I’ve got better networking things to do than attending the latest happy hour or singles event.” Guess what though? If you can present yourself compellingly (have a 20 second elevator pitch about your key points, business cards to hand out with your contact points and a personal quote/design to distinguish yourself, and can find a common bonding point of interest between yourself and your fellow conversationalist), it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are. You’ll meet quality contacts everywhere; be on the lookout for them and don’t be afraid to ask those in the know about the social ‘weather’ and to identify the individuals you’ll want to ‘bump into’. I could write a whole other post on social networking and what works for me, but you should test and identify your winning combination. Never-fail tips: dress comfortably but stylishly (to look put-together and to stand out in a good way), smile a lot, have a warm and confident handshake, be sincerely interested in the people you’re meeting and don’t worry about promoting yourself immediately – you’ll get the chance eventually, exude a positive attitude, and enjoy the moment. It also helps to have a conversational prop. For me, those were naturally my dSLR (almost always with me) and my zazzle/moo profile cards. These were convenient because the moo cards represented my photography interest and personal philosophy and the zazzle card (ejector) is a physical example of my design abilities. Although this was unique to my circumstances, you’ll want to design a card that specifically reflects you. It is a personal statement and one of the first impressions you’ll make on someone. And in a world where it takes approximately 50 impressions to get a concept/brand to stick, you want to make every one of your impressions count.
So a little more about the social events and why they are absolutely crucial to your job search success. You already know the saying “it’s all about the connections”. In a job environment where managers regularly get 500-1000+ resumes for a job opening, you NEED that personal connection to get you in touch with the hiring manager. His/her best friend, trusted accountant, ex-coworker, or business school classmate. And you never know who you meet who will be that key connection.
Not only do I owe the majority of my job interviews to social connections, both established and newly-found, I owe my next career step to a fairly-new friend who I recently got to talk to at a happy hour. I had already been recommended to the hiring manager by a close friend and applied for the position a month ago. But I didn’t hear anything back, and I had given up hope. That is, until my friend mentioned he worked with the manager and played hockey with him regularly. He made the intro, I had a phone interview the next day, a 4-hour in-person interview the day after that, and a job offer the next morning. Wow! After having gone through sessions of 5-6 rounds of interviews spanning just as many weeks, this was an adrenaline-inducing gust of wind spinning me away like a giddy kite. So from this, I can honestly say that you cannot predict where your break will come from, and you have to make yourself available for all possibilities.
14) Keep Learning. Look for and attend all of the talks, conferences, discussions, and groups in your geographical area that deal with the industry you’re interested in. There are a surprisingly large number of free events always going on; you want to find the email and online networks to get wind of all of them. Not only will these events expand your knowledge of your industry, but you’ll get to see the latest technologies and start-ups and update your technical jargon, as well as meet all the key players that you want to get in front of. Listen well to the VP of design at a panel or the keynote speaker at a conference, and approach him/her afterwards to communicate your appreciation of his/her talk, as well as share some thoughts about the talk. After a few minutes of intelligent conversing, it’s almost guaranteed that the speaker will ask who you are. Time for your elevator pitch, with lots of optimism and energy, and absolutely no desperation/”I need a job” vibes!
15) Use alumni connections. This may seem obvious in places like the CA bay area, where everyone has an impressive educational track record and alumni club events and email listings are a part of everyday life, but you want to make sure you’re signed up on all the active local email lists and subscribing to alumni job postings. I’ve also noticed recently that universities are stepping up their professional educational/job-hunting resources for record numbers of seeking alumni; check out relevant websites. And on a similar note…
16) Attend local reputable university career fairs. It’s springtime, and that means career fair time! Search your local university website (career development center?) for upcoming career fairs. Career fairs are aimed at current undergrad/grad students, but are generally open to the public. Take the opportunity to make an in-person impression! It is less likely that you will meet a technical (vs HR) rep for a larger company, but at a startup booth, you may very well meet the VP of Product Management and hit it off so well that you become friends! (as I did with the VP of Product at brightroll.com, the world’s largest video advertising company) For local people, the Stanford spring career fair is April 15-16.
17) Search creatively for jobs online. I’m talking about Craigslist. You can find cheap stuff for sale, lost connections, and rooms for rent. You can also find great, esoteric local job openings. Again, remember that companies are cutting back on costs, including recruiting costs. They’ll post anywhere that’s free, so that’s where you should be looking!
18) Have a mental list of “dream job” companies to reference to friends. Casually rattle them off when people ask you. They may have a connection they can put you in touch with. If they offer to, ask them very nicely to make an introduction and prepare to ask for an informational interview.
19) Compile a presentable collection of your work. For designers, this is a portfolio of graphical, product design, rendering, and/or UI work (mine is at http://www.issuu.com/lauriel/docs/portfolio). For others, it may be an example spec, example MS Project schedule, excel spreadsheet, etc. In the course of my interviews, I was asked to write specs for FB apps, create wire frames, do concept mock-ups, and preliminary competitive research. On one hand, you could see it as free labor for the company. But those exercises were great for me to demonstrate my thought processes, and were invaluable references for other companies as samples of my (non proprietary) work. Which brings me to another key point: no matter how many hoops companies make you jump through (and they will because they can be that picky), stay optimistic about it and see it as a learning opportunity to show your best abilities. Heck, you could even call it independent consulting for these companies, which it is, particularly the brainstorm sessions I performed with one such company, the logo redesign I created for another, and the detailed wire frames I provided to yet another.
That’s everything I’ve learned in the past two months. Granted, the interview process is the clincher and all I’ve mentioned here are the opening steps. But in a chaotic environment where pessimism, jadedness, frustration, desperation, apathy, and a sense of self-loss abound, I certainly hope that these tips help to keep these at bay.
Believe in yourself, establish your valuable traits and promote them, keep yourself busy (between getting yourself out there socially and professionally and volunteering if you have time, you should be more than booked on the weekdays), and stay positive!!! Everyone you meet, from company reps to strangers on the street, will pick up on your personal tone and you want to focus on making a great first impression on anyone you interact with. Plus, it’ll be fantastic for keeping up your emotional well-being.
Good luck, and please feel free to forward this to anyone who may benefit from it! I’ve learned quite a bit from my experiences and others’ wisdom and imparted advice, and want to help anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation.
