The Insider Guide to Careers
Insider information, secrets and tips about getting hired and building careers. For employees and job candidates.
One of the readers asked me a question I will try to answer today. Recent layoffs have not been easy. Companies are showing record profits on the back of increasing revenue per-employee ratios. The easiest way to improve this metric is to freeze hiring, fire as many employees as possible and pass on the work to the remaining employees. The people who remain employed are too scared to complain lest they lose their jobs. Since few companies are hiring and many laid-off employees are in the market, finding jobs has become more complex than ever before.
When being laid off, one must understand whether it is because of performance reasons or restructuring beyond the individual’s control. From an HR perspective, performance issues should never be handled by layoffs, and PIP is the only way to handle them. Layoffs are solely connected to restructuring efforts. However, there needs to be more clarity in this current wave of layoffs, and management has mixed these two categories wilfully. Hence, do ask for feedback when getting laid off. Do not get emotional. Be honest and seek ways to improve yourself for the next job. Some managers will stick out their heads and give you a list of performance issues. Do not blame the messenger, and ask yourself how you will become better at these issues from now on. When you face interviews, interviewers will spot these problems and will prove you. Be ready with a new strategy to answer questions about your weaknesses.
When you search for jobs, do not be apologetic or defensive. Try not to have a gap in your resume for more than three months. Volunteer at a nearby organization, work on a startup idea or do pro bono work with a startup. The idea is not to be idle and descend into self-pity. Confidence in interviews is important, and there is no faking it. Practice some meditation techniques like Zen and Dhyana Yoga and target taking control of your future.
Regarding job search, remember that companies still need good talent. There are still jobs, though the numbers are smaller. With too many applicants, companies are struggling more than ever to find the right fit. I recommend that one focus on, at most, the top 10 companies in your wishlist. Please do not apply to hundreds of job postings using the same resume; it is guaranteed failure. Instead, aim for quality over quantity. Network using LinkedIn, search for open job positions, message recruiters and connect with leaders in your target company. Only 5 to 10% of people will ever respond to messages but do not give up hope. Remember you only need one job. Hence, you are equally successful whether you get one or 100 offers. You can only join one.
1) Always get a referral to your target company. If you have done your homework and customized your resume and cover letter, your chances of getting an interview through a referral are 40%. This number is much higher than the 1-2% chance if you apply directly on the career website.
2) Read the job description of the role you are applying for, highlight the skills the company wants and rewrite your resume based on the skills required by the company. If you find that the skills the company wants are different from what you have, there is no meaning in applying for that company. You will never face the imposter syndrome if you do the skill gap analysis correctly.
3) Customize your cover letter and resume for the company.
4) Finally, prepare in advance for interviews using the STAR method based on the skills in the JD. The more you practice, the more likely you will clear the interviews.
Hence, the way to get into any company is still the same: analyze, network, customize and practice. Rinse and repeat this cycle to success.
Regarding whether one will face an imposter syndrome when returning to work, there are two perspectives here.
1) One is that imposter syndrome carries no meaning for an enthusiastic person who loves the field. They are always looking for things to do more of, and a more significant role is always welcome. They are comfortable with any role in the sector they like. Any new opportunity is a way to do more. People who hate their jobs are more likely to dread doing things they do not like. Hence, there is worry and fear of imposter syndrome.
2) Secondly, everyone starts as an imposter in a new job or promotion. When you start your career, it is called a first job because you have never done it before. You have to start with a feeling that you will learn over time and thus master the job. When you get a promotion, there will always be things you do not know. That is called learning, and it does not mean being an imposter. One does not become an imposter suddenly. You are an imposter throughout your life. If you never want to be an imposter, the only way out is to stick around in your first job throughout your working life.
Finally, look at the labour market as a marathon race. You will only know who finishes a marathon successfully in the last lap. Likewise, it is in the late 50s and early 60s when one can truly judge professional success. In between, there will be a lot of drama – winners will trail, losers will lead, many pitstops and so on. No one can win a marathon without decelerating to grab fluids and refresh themselves. If anyone keeps running forever without stopping to refresh, they will collapse and die. The Greek messenger Phidippides, who ran the first marathon, died because of not taking a break. This incident reminds you to take as many pitstops and refreshments as you need in your career marathon.
Let me add some philosophical thoughts here, which both students and business leaders alike have found useful.
Zen or Yoga teaches you that life is your race, entirely personal. There are no winners and losers. While a marathon is won in the last lap, those times are also the fag end of your lives. By your seventies and eighties, there are few opportunities to live your dream life. You may have all the wealth and time in the world, but your health may be terrible. When you are young, you are healthy and have a lot of time but no wealth. Life is all about compromises. Somewhere in mid-life, you have enough money, time and wealth, but you will never spot it. Instead, people are happy to sacrifice the fading golden years of their youth at the altar of promotions and salaries. As some age, their enthusiasm and zest for life diminish until they transform into the sad, forlorn, and cantankerous Uncle Scrooge they always despised as children.
One way to rekindle hope is to do what you always wanted. If you have taken a sabbatical, you are blessed. In a work life where you are supposed to work non-stop from ages 22 to 65, a layoff means you can take some precious time off. Live in the moment, relish the freedom and forget the world of jobs when you are free from the manacles of capitalism. Later, when you decide to return to work, focus on getting a job only at that point. Do not spoil the present; thinking of the future.
When experienced people are scared of jobs, I sometimes laugh. As undergrads with zero skills, the same people were way more courageous in the job market than they are now. The delusions of youth give you the fathomless and often illogical courage to face any adversity. As age weathers, people, instead of becoming more confident with every year of work experience, become even more fearful than ever before. Recognize this paradox, and you will realize how illogical the mind is. Think of a sabbatical as a new opportunity to rewrite your destiny. Most people never get that chance and keep coasting for eternity in an ocean of inertia. Since these people never take control of their fate. Ultimately, it is left to death to come and relieve people from the eternal misery they walked into and from which there is no escape. Never be that person.
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