Score:
Turk 1, Walter 0
By Walter
Hanig, President
Good news: Walter didn't get laid off in October.
Bad news: Ericsson's entire R&D effort in San Diego is closing in phases, ending in June 2003.
So, my employment at Ericsson in San Diego ends April 30, 2003. Fortunately, I have a long time to plan and execute a job search, further cushioned by an excellent severance package. I thought I'd share my job search task list in the hope that it will provide others with some hints. Except for the first item, these are only roughly prioritized.
- Keep
doing the job that Ericsson's paying me to do. From the perspective
of technical communication, the San Diego area is a small town. Not
everyone knows everyone, but the degree of separation is rarely more
than one or two. So, if I'm applying for a job where you work, if you
don't know me, you know someone who does. Because interviews take time
and effort, you'll do an informal reference check first. And if I don't
pass, I won't get an interview, regardless of my qualifications. The
best thing I can do to ensure that I pass is continue to do my current
job as well as I can. Attitude matters.
- Tell
everyone I can that I'm available. This may seem obvious, but there
used to be a tendency to view being laid off as some sort of personal
failing. When an entire R&D group is toast, it's not personal.
- Decide
what sort of job I want. Each of us has likely had multiple jobs,
even if our job titles didn't show it. At various times, you've been
a writer, information designer, desktop publisher, illustrator, editor,
or project manager. Before I update my résumés, I have
to decide which of these I want to include both in the résumé
and my search process.
- Update
my résumé. Although I customize my résumé
for every position, I start with the same baseline. It includes
every job, every task within each job, all the skills, and all the objectives.
Using hidden text, I hide those that are least relevant or most distracting
to a specific opening. Then, I save the result with a file name associated
with the opening and company. Of course, if I'm sending a Word file,
I need to delete the hidden text! When I update my resume, I need to
treat it as an audition, as a sample of my writing. So, besides checking
grammar and spelling, I ensure that I add and use styles correctly.
And I'll have someone whose opinion I value read it from a hiring perspective.
- Line
up references. Get current addresses, including e-mail, phone numbers,
and job titles. I'll tell them what sort of jobs I'm looking for and
ask them to let me know if they hear of any.
- Identify
nonspecific job Web sites, and see what's available, both in my field(s)
and related ones. Companies that are looking for programmers to
develop a product now will need writers soon. Why wait until they realize
they have the need and post an opening? I'll post my résumé
or résumés (for examples, one as a writer, another as
a project manager) online. By doing so, companies that are reluctant
to post openings can still find me.
- Identify
companies I'd like to work for. Not every company uses monster.com
or similar sites. Once I've identified these companies, I'll see if
they have openings posted. Even if they don't, they may accept résumés
for future openings. If it's a company where I already know someone,
I'll ask them if they can see that my résumé gets to the
hiring manager. There are few better references than a person already
inside the target company.
- Keep doing my job! (See first bullet.)
I'm sure that I'll think of other things between now and next March or April when I expect to send that initial résumé. And I hope that you'll provide the tips that you've found to help your job searches.
