Job Hunt Again

Having just had a good interview, I know the excitement and confidence it can create and then the fall which can come afterwards.

The best antidote is also the best practice anyway: don't rest on your laurels.

You can never be certain you will get an offer. It is not just other external candidates, but internal shifts and budgeting which can fill the position or actually reduce it from the head count.

One thing that is certain, with two offers you have an even stronger position to bargain your "end game".

So the steps to take are: get feed back on how it went : asking general open questions before getting to the crux of the matter: how do I stand against other candidates? A knowledge of the time span they are doing first or second interview-round you are in is vital: it is best to not let them off the hook with "we have many candidates yet to see". An initial call to the personnel person present, or the recruiting consulant is worth while because they will see you are keen. Also if you are long off the mark they may well tell you then and there.So then you can get on with job hunting with a little bit of humility if you were trying to stretch yourself, or if you were over competant then you can adjust  your sights upwards or undersell yourself a little next time.

When it comes to end phase in interviews, then is the time to ring your prospective manager back. Then you have them in a corner: they have seen everyone, they have come out with an impression on both paper of competance and in person of sociability. Now you have the chance to influence the decision making process.

You should be able to find out your short comings in an objective way. what challenges do you think I would have in the position, or any actual difficulties? DO you think I would fit in socially ? How much better qualified and experienced are other candidates. Be prepared to intersperse these questions with general ones, like how the interview with you had gone, what information may they like to support this , is the start date and so on.

At this stage then you may get a little "puff of smoke" that shows where any shortcomings or mismatches come from. Think quickly: pause and then ask a qualifying, open question followed then by one short closed question. Breathe, then offer a counter point and get agreement to send evidence to back this up.

From this conversation you will get useful feedback from many managers and a feel for your standing at least with managers who go into major avoidance: if they do this then they are covering up for choosing the girl with the biggest bazoongas ! They may just be indecisive or like this situation badly: believe me though, that type of manager is in the minority as in today's flat structured management trees, they didn't get there without being objective and discussing personnel related issues with people.

Move on: do any follow up, and then adjust  your CV if you see the need. Be prepared to adjust your whole approach: be more up beat and up sell yourself, or the converse (as here) be coy and undersell yourself. Also if they really doubt you can do the job, then you should talk around with other people to see if this is just one opinion or in fact, you need to aim slightly lower on an experience making job.

Finally you want them to agree to giving you brief feed back in the telephone if you don't get the job. For some managers this in fact can be enough motivation to give you the job when they cannot otherwise see a clear winner.

Churn jobs to avoid ?

In different countries there are wildly different rates of churn in the job market: attrition, or put mathematically: Delta jobs created - jobs destroyed per year.

You do have to exclude that horrid London phenomenon of perpetual contracts from the uk market, and instead think about looking that gift horse of a job offer well and truly in the orthodontic fashion.

The key question is ' am I accepting a job which is purely project perishable'? Further, will the job be downsized soon regardless of your goal scoring?

I have had four jobs in fact which were invented if you like for me. Two were fortuitous project related. One was a 'minister without portfolio' while yet another was more or less an act of charity. Adding working to fill in or cover at friends companies and half my cv is littered with fairly perisable 'suck it and see' job scenarios.

Coupled to outright project work and companies going bust, then more than half of my time in the labour market has been spent in shakey positions or looking for work. I'm not abnormal for the uk at all, just a higher threshold for risk than most.

The one greatest weakness I have had is not recognising I am in a perishable or untenable job soon enough and doing something to G.T:F:O. to a job which is more permanent or is a hard lead to a stable career.

Another side to this I hear you say in retort, is that if I had really performed in the job I would have 'gotten on'. Become part of the family. You know yeah. My heart is just not IN working for a-holes. So this makes me doubly expendable.

I write this as a wry cautionary autotale because you have to be careful with employers in the recovery period we are perhaps entering. The permanent pick up jobs will be grabbed fast. So by all means take a temp or wing-and-a-prayer position, but from day minus one, look hard and actively market yourself for more permanent opportunities.

More on Job Hunting in the Recession

We are in a recession, and no calling it just a credit crunch or liquidity speed bump will make that economic fact go away. Growth is just about to be dealt a huge blow in the EU, with Great Britain in particular slashing public budgets, and with the anticipated atvist-republican swing in both congress and the US senate.

So now you are really up against the wall as a recent graduate of the 2009-10 MSc Marketing at strathclyde, while if you are underway on the 10-11 course then at least you have some time to gather your forces for the post graduation struggle to get on the career ladder.

Enough dwelling on the negative, companies need marketing: so how to get some action job hunting in a recession


1) Find sectors which are growing

2) Find "Gazelle" and "Mini/ Baby Gazelle " companies

3) Follow Entrepreneurs in New Industries

4) Follow any "chicken runs"


In detail

1) Find sectors which are growing

Some sectors are growing faster than the average economy, either in spite of the recession or actually because of the recession. For the former, you can see that environmental products and indeed services such as ISO 14000 or home-energy certifisication are areas with growth. Certain biotech areas, within proteomics for example, are growing strongly. And of course internet marketing is growing having both surpassed traditional "above the line" spend on advertising while also displacing many budgets and even entire companies to this channel. Social media and related monitoring is also growing, as will internet services such as web page call centres, where you get to skype a human or set up a call-me now.

One thing companies in these sectors have is a pile of clever, well qualified candidates who have not only come across them but can demonstrate a real involvement in their market.

Getting more granular then you can not only find sectors, but also individual high growth companiesor high potential start ups. viz

2) Find Gazelle Companies

Gazelles and baby gazelles, are young companies which outperform indexes to a set of economic parameters currently defined by Dun and Bradsteet. Many gazelles are of course in the growth sectors of the economies, or within niches of growth, while others are purely bucking the trend and capturing market share in otherwise languishing sectors.

"Mini" or "Baby" gazelles are those which are small now but could become a gazelle, or conform to high growth but on a smaller scale.

Whether small or larger, these are companies with the most hiring requirement, especially relative to the average well established company in a recession, who are likely to be dropping head-count.

3) Tracking Entrepreneurs As Individuals. Gazelle companies are often started by experienced entrepreneurs, and they are the type to see opportunities during a recession, or those actually CAUSED by the down turn.

This may just be a casual internet tracking, and you discover they have set up something new. Alternatively it may be that they are US based (in particular) and wanting to expand into the EU. On a local scale, say for the West of Scotland, you may want to actually contact some successful entrepreneurs who are marketing oriented. Certainly you should track these people.

Areas which are actually growth opportunities presented by a recession are things like anything which is cheaper on the high street or internet, especially for families, and rented accomodation. Maybe an entrepreneur is starting a new web mediated flat rental company or servicing rented appartments.

A slight extention to this route would be to track successful Venture Capital firms, higher risk investment hot shops or new business incubators to find out who is going to expand, or if they are looking for (cheap) staff.


4) Chicken Runs: Ambulance Chasing. This often afflicts marketing services companies when a group of employees, en masse, get up and leave to either start their own company or follow the leader to a different work place. Also some companies show dire signs of financial death in any sector. There can be an obvious chicken run as middle managers with good CVs move on like rats leaving the maybe sinking ship. Okay, they may go bust but you have a rung on the ladder and a good excuse to call recruitment consultants.

Read about new agencies, new internet developers/marketing companies- where have the people just come from? Or look for news on companies with large marketing departments who are facing very tough times. Usually it is mid management who go first, but most often the public symptom is seeking a new marketing director, as he/she has boo-gerred off before the fertiliser is inducted into the air conditioning..


Footnote:

From the above you will see a common thread: "nimble" companies and people. Even in the last option, the quick brown fox has leapt out of the company leaving space for you.

On the last throw away point, you will be "cheap" most likely in order to get a foot in the door at a high growth company. Once in, don't under sell yourself: if you are asked to take on extra responsibility, then it should come with promotion: if you are asked to work extra hours, then it should come with a pay rise. When I say cheap, not much over minimum wage and maybe a months work practice. If on the other hand, the actually have a solid position then don't offer to sell yourself cheap: just let them stipulate the pay and don't complain if it is going to be valuable experience.

Also as I have said often before, MOVE for the right career step. It need not be London, but even then you may get cheap board with a fellow employee or a relocations package if you are lucky. It is really about finding a growing company which

Show me the Money! Job offers in the Credit Crunch

...or the importance of getting a good deal before you accept the job offer

I haev ignored this three times in the last ten years and it is well worth your effort in NOT accepting a low offer despite your circumstances. Look the gift horse in the mouth! Make an informed decision and play some poker!

I cannot stress enough, I will not say too many times and I dare not shout too low that you must get what you need from a first (or second ) job before you accept the offer. Usually this boils down to money, and YOU MUST be happy with the balance between training, projects and salary, because that is all you are going to get while in the job.

Work experience per se is meanginless if you accept a "marketing assistant" job blindly or the nice tasks are only 10% of the time and maybe telesales, database admin, photocopying etc are 90% of the actual job. I wasted a crucial year in such a job! I managed to play catch up with a heck of a lot of hard work in my next job though. It is in fact much better to be paid virtually nothing on a 2 month work experience project where you actually conduct quality marketing tasks than the department GOFER for 12 months.

You need to avoid this by negotiating before you start. Negotiating is always a subtle play of information, and probing for a little bit more and then using it as a little bit more lever, while giving only a little bit out which gives a poorer lever to the other side. This is how you win, you subtlely win tip the balance in your favour while accepting some sort of concession compromise: a few prawns fall but you put them in check-mate.

But firstly, back to green-backs: Companies will palm you off with " we can't afford" or " we have current wage frameworks". This is rubbish, they want to screw you especially in a recession. " If you want people to work harder, pay them less" ...this is true in bum jobs or non graduate jobs......but how effective this stressed, undervalued work period is for both parties is quesitonable. The cost between a market going rate ( admittedly low -I know in the credit crunch hangover period) and a lower offer boils down to a few hundred pounds per month, maybe £70 quid per week for you as a graduate. Can't afford? they could save this by using a better travel agent for business flights, or missing one useless client dinner a month.

Facts are bosses like to screw you over and say they got you cheap, it makes them look good.

So what is on the table to get your information war going in your favour
1) salary
2) training
3) projects and defined responsibilities
4) relocation expenses
5) a 50 to 80% job so you get time to look for something better
6) promotion prospects and turn over in the firm/sector
7) external prospects when you have a year experience
8) the company brand name for your CV ( or client brand names !)
9) start date
7) legnth of trial period
8) Legnth or termination period
9) possible contract engagement only

How can you bargain? Well your only chip is to withdraw your offer of labour. If you are on benefits, this is high risk - you can get them stopped for refusing a job. But given the job is high risk and has financial implications ( expense of rented property). But it is still a poker game and you can't show your hand too soon

How do you bet this chip then, play this card?

Well first of all, you should from outset know what the "wage framework" would be for this position, and know that you as an MSc Marketer have five years of uni to offer and a very good marketing masters under you belt. This should NOT be turned back on to your expectation: some jobs have been 18K outside london for a while. Play dumb, say you have only started looking for work and have expectations to work hard and get on over money: what would they suggest as for me in this job? Don't push too hard, but do revisit the wage BEFORE you bother to go to final interview. Also don't go to employers who dont refund expenses and prefably choose those who book everything for you: if they do this, then put on a bloody good show as they will look after you as an employee!

Now when you get a disappointing offer in an interview, you need to not look too disappointed. It is more likely you will get this on the phone, same here , move quickly on from the money to the responsibilities. Now between this and the eventual decision you must buy time and get concrete DECISIONS not just information, but agreements on tasks, training and projects you will get. You need this in writing to refer to if y our job starts going down the pan soon in.

The important thing with a low offer and poorly defined work responsibilities is to stall in an assertive, positive looking way. Comms mus tbe very positive but not fully committed.

The pieces then come in the list come to play: low pay versus excellent experience or low pay because it is a crap job a graduate in medieval history could do. What tasks, repsonsibilities are up for grabs? Remember you have an MSc, they have not made their minds quite up, so help point them away from the photocopier and mail list towards the high valuie customer satisfaction survey, the social media PR campaign, monitoring competitors, the effective review of the marketing budget and so on....What training courses are internal, who will be your mentor, what courses do they offer externally, will they support your time and materials in doing the CIM courses?

The next thing is of course relocation expenses. These were , a while ago, tax deductable for employers but funnily enough NOT employee personal tax. Employers will put new senior managers up in penthouse suites with hired 4x4 executive wheels! But they will try it on with you as a new graduate in need of work experience. Don't let them if the salary stinks. If it just an average salary, negotiate even a lower salary for the first six months relocation on the back that they find you afirst a hotel and then pay rented accomodation. I have not done this on one notable occiasion and really got stung for the outlay when the job didn't work out ( they put a directors daughter in my job) As a graduate you will have enough debts.

So now you have the balance of information: if the job now sounds poorly paid, poorly trained, low level tasks without relocation, then you may as well ask for say 20k and tell the m you have an offer at that level: never tell them where ( esp recruitment consultants, they are desperate for leads and to close deals! )

Now given the pay is low, but there is relocation and training, you need to find out more about career prospects. Suggest a day's visit to meet the team and finalise the contract. This is a positive thing for the employer. Ask other employees how often people leave - is there a turn over- ask why the job is vacant from your prospective coworkers . Ask how your coworkers started out in the firm. Ask what they studied.

One thing too, what type of cars are in the car park? This is a very clear indication of salary prospects later. Audis, beamers, volvos, 4x4s good...., old fords and citroens very bad...a subsidised canteen is nothing much really as a benefit but a gymn, studio , pool? .

Now you have enough information to make a decision: take it only with more pay, reject it outright, ask for silly money as above or there is another option: shape something new based upon your own needs: a more focused project 3 days a week or for just three months on say expenses only as a work trial. Or a 60% position covering only relevant, higher value marketing tasks. Or they pay for your CIM proffessional development and two triaing courses of your choice within industry average cost of courses.

In negotiating you need to push them to the wire: stall as long as you possibly can if the wage is low: get as much information out of them while remaining positive, but non committal verbally amnd on paper. Then if you have managed say two weeks stalling for a job where there are lots of questiona and a final visit to meet the team, then you can pull your card out and say the offer is not attractive enough and thank you but no thanks

Then you can let them do the talking and you should not let them bully you, just repeat the pay is very low, you have a better offer, or you have interviews for better paid jobs.

If you have been looking for a job or working temp for a long time, up to 8 months say, and you feel forced into accepting a job, then a final end game is to stall and ask for a later starting date. Use the time and security of something to do anyway to look hard for other jobs. The fall-back and interview-offer experience will be good. When you get a better offer you will only have a months termination, which may be even before your start date or you can turn up to work with an offer, see what tasks and training you will actually get and then demand them or you will just call it all off.

Once again you could ask for a 60% position focusing on the real marketing tasks and thus avoiding being given rubbish to do. You could probably expand it to 100% if it goes well or at least have two days a week to look for other work.