HELLO! By some miracle, I’m actually sending SOAR out on a Tuesday (when I’d ideally like to). I know doing so doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things (which is why it’s often late) and yet, this is such a personal win - YAY!
Anyway, I wrote last week about the less-measurable-but-invaluable things that friends do. This week, I'm covering the opposite - the tangible things friends do in the context of a job hunt. But before I do, a few updates:
I had mentioned that I was waiting to hear about an offer; to make a 4-month-story short, the role went to an internal candidate and I honestly feel really good about how things played out. What I really appreciate about this company is how pleasant and professional the interview process was, down to the transparency and positive feedback that the hiring manager gave me when sharing the news. (If you’re a hiring manager, please remember that there are so many ways to make the process feel human. Maybe I’ll get into this some other time.)
On the day I found out, I let myself feel whatever I wanted, including nervous about the job hunt. But I then just let sleep do its thing and woke up feeling strong because I committed to this journey and am here for it, all of it. As dreamy as it sounds, I really believe that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, and my trip to CA only helped reaffirm that.
Separate to this news, I've gotten a few comments lately from people who think that I'm getting approached left and right about job leads (which, btw, wtf is a real 'lead' anyway?!), so before getting into the tangible things friends do, I'm going to spend a little time demystifying perception.
The tedious scroll…
I don't have a recruiter (and also don't say this with pride); if there are recruiters out there who get what I'm going after, amazing, but the reality is that I'm not a great ROI for them. Additionally, I've personally found working with recruiters to be tricky for two reasons: (1) I'm a level shy of the VP/CMO level where recruiters typically focus; and/or (2) recruiters tend to be industry-specific, which isn't a problem for most, but less relevant for me.
Instead, I mostly live a life of scrolling via the following:
Indeed emails: I get five different email alerts from Indeed everyday and diligently check every single freakin' day…it’s the absolute best and worst. The reason I get five is because the search criteria is just different enough for me to get a handful of new results, and every listing counts. What I love about Indeed emails is that they list every job result in the body of the email; I don't get a partial list and then have to hop into a different window (which I absolutely despise). What I dislike about Indeed emails is that they're annoyingly sent at 10PM, which means I'm going to bed actively thinking about my job hunt, but hey…I guess I should be thinking about it anyway.
LinkedIn emails: While I do get LinkedIn email alerts, I couldn't tell you how many because they come at random times of the day and many of the results are oddly irrelevant. Also, there’s a limit to the number of jobs listed before they force you to go into the platform for the complete list - an experience I find utterly excruciating.
LinkedIn's job page: The results on their job page are far more relevant, but I've noticed that Indeed usually covers most of what I see (with a better interface, no less), so I probably only check this page about once a week.
LinkedIn’s Homepage feed: Before last November, LinkedIn would be lucky to get me on the platform once every two weeks. Now, between network requests and jobs that people kindly post about, I'm on it several times a day.
Since I’ve been recruiting for a few months, I’ll get emails from recruiters every so often from companies I’ve spoken to in the past or people I’ve networked with, but the reality is that my job search mainly starts with Indeed emails, the LinkedIn feed, and my dear friends. I'll see or be sent a posting, try to find anyone who might know something about the company and/or job, and then see what happens from there. There's nothing sexy or secretive about what I do (and you telling yourself that about me or anyone else doesn’t help).
What friends are really for
Okay, now that you know I'm all sappy and shit about my friends, I hope you take what I'm about to say with the right tone because my simple pleasures are sparkling water and sarcasm. Also, consider this a quick reminder - if you're on a job hunt, the best thing I think you can do is tell your friends, for these and other reasons:
Friends force me to get my shit together: There's a moment in the job hunt when I (and everyone else I’ve spoken to) go from the mindset of a 'casual conversation' to 'interview mode.’ In other words, I stop trying to just catch a vibe and start having my stories organized, structured, and ready. For me, my friends consistently help me show up as my best because they make intros to people I'm trying to talk to and ultimately put their reputation the line when they do so. Since there's no way that I'd ever try to make them look bad, I prep like crazy, which serves both of us well.
Friends help me find out if that job is filled: A few months ago, I came across a job that aligned with my food dreams and was introduced to someone who I later found out was on the interview panel(!). She was excited to recommend me, but followed up the next day saying that there might be someone already pretty far down the interview process; the problem was that she wasn't sure. I happened to randomly tell a separate friend about this job and he said that he knew the CMO well enough to write an email asking about the status. A day later, he confirmed that they had recently filled the role.
Whenever I share this story, a lot of people give me this "SIGH…sorry, Cat" reaction, but I honestly don't feel that way at all. As much as I wanted to learn more about the role, knowing that the job had been filled saved me from wasting any additional mental and physical energy accordingly, and as I mentioned last week, I think about life first as increments of energy. Energy conservation is the key to a job hunt and I truly believe that you'll burn out if you indulge in the emotional rollercoaster before anything is set in stone.
Friends force you to negotiate your offer: One of my friends is four years out of college and was scared as hell to negotiate her salary; as much as I empathize with that feeling, I was absolutely relentless about figuring out all of the ways that would convince her that she had to. (Truth be told, I didn't have someone like this earlier in my career and wish I did.) Since I'm several years ahead of her, I asked around to figure out what she should be getting and we worked through all of the scenarios re: what would make her content, happy, and elated based on base, equity, and start date. The result after (what she describes as) a terrifying 10-min conversation: a raise in her base salary (which landed her at $5K less than the max), an additional 20% equity, and the later start date.
Interestingly enough, she texted me as I was writing this post and had this to say:
[Negotiating was] so worth it, not just for the money but also for how I feel - (1) proud that I fought for myself (although mostly you fighting for me); (2) feeling like [company x] takes me seriously because I didn't just say yes; and (3) good for a company to think you're worth it 😊
There's been a lot of tennis talk lately because of the French Open (which I’d love to get into re: mental health), and it reminds me of a Billie Jean King quote - Pressure is a privilege. I don't think this quote applies to all circumstances, but when it comes to the job hunt right now, I fully believe this. Week after week, I win some and lose some, but at least I’m making space for what I really believe in - myself and this journey. The pressure I feel to step up and show up on the daily is truly out of the kindness of friends who have equally done so along the way. In exchange, they also know what I'm good for - good food!
On that note, eat well (and for nourishment!), friends, xx.