I’m staring at a package on my bed right now, afraid to open it as if it will self-destruct five seconds after opening Mission Impossible styles. The envelope contains my offer of employment. Yes, that’s right, as soon as I sign the dotted line I’m no longer funemployed. I’ll be saying bye-bye to my high flying fauxcialite life, waking up at noon, going to the gym for hours at a time and saying hello to leaving the house when it’s dark outside and returning when it’s as dark as it was when I left. But I’m running into the welcoming arms of full benefits and after work drinks (with real meaning that aren’t just drinks at 5 pm).
I’m working for an advertising agency; and it’s located north of Bloor. I’m scared of the world north of Bloor, but I’m willing to make the commute. I’m afraid to open the envelope because opening the envelope means after all the interviews I’ll have to actually start proving myself above and beyond my fantastic references. I’ll be working in accounts, and the Don Draper (Creative Director) of the firm already thinks I’ll get promoted quickly. Hot damn, I’m not going to climb this ladder, but Charleston my way up Pete Campbell styles.
But what about this blog? I wrote this particular entry while I was lamenting my lack of job prospects. Now that I’m signing a dotted line I know I’m not some kind of job search guru, but I will impart my timeless knowledge of recessionary job hunting anyway – because I can.
How to get a job in a recession Sarah Chan style:
1. Find amazing mentors
I owe a lot to my mentors; they’re there when I make frantic calls while walking to an interview when I have to ask when an appropriate time to discuss salary is. They answer my questions how to best answer those “weakness” questions that inevitably come up in an interview. They keep you down to earth when you get starry eyed at the prospect of too many job offers (because those tend not to happen). How do you find such great people? It’s much easier to build on a pre-existing relationship that you have, because the person knows you all the better. Look to experienced people in your own field so that they can tailor their advice to you. And look for people who you are comfortable getting advice from because when it comes to picking yourself off the ground and starting over, sometimes it isn’t the easiest to swallow.
2. Get off your ass and get ideas
Get up, get out of bed. You won’t find a job in bed (it would be a very different job then) so you need to get out there and be seen, how else will they find out how great you are? I struggled with this for sure. I have a lot of pride and not working was a huge blow to my ego, I started withdrawing socially and not leaving the house because I felt I would always have to explain myself. Finally, at the advice of my mentor, I went out to an alumni event thrown my by alma mater where I ended up talking to an MBA grad who asked me what I thought I wanted to do. He asked if I belonged to any professional associations and I said it would be hard to since I wasn’t exactly a professional. (See what I mean by not taking advice well?) He said it would be beneficial to keep on top of the hot topics that were going on in the field I was interested in. This is what brought me to volunteering with the Canadian Marketing Association.
3. Volunteer and schmooze your way into everyone loving you
When I was in university I used to volunteer until my fingers pretty much bled. Then I started working the 9-5 accompanied with some erratic after work meetings and my volunteering pretty much got shot to hell because I wasn’t able to make a year-long commitment. I forgot about how much I loved volunteering. Plus it was also another way to stave off boredom and get myself out of the house. You make a much bigger impression on people when you volunteer in their office. And you really can only do this when you aren’t working, so why not? I worked two days a week for the AIDS Committee of Toronto and recently bumped into their Development Finance Officer on the subway platform recently and told him about my new job, he said that I could definitely put him down as a reference for the future. Score.
My work with the Canadian Marketing Association was a little less altruistic, I wanted to attend a conference, but damn those conference fees are expensive. So instead I asked if I could volunteer. Half an hour of doing registration got me in to see all the speakers and eat all the food. Hell, I’m still a student who does pretty much anything for free food. I originally intended to stalk erm…get the contact information of the lunch keynote speaker who is the CEO of Credit Valley Hospital, but before lunch started I took a chance and changed my seat to find some new people to talk to. It’s hard enough explaining to your friends why you have to pull out of a social engagement for lack of funds, it is worse still explaining to executive business women why there isn’t a company attached to your nametag at this conference. I ended up being passed a card from the Managing Director of the company I am now going to work for.
4. Follow up, follow up, follow up
When someone hands you a business card you should do the following things: read it, flip it over just to see if there’s anything and the back and then put it somewhere where it won’t get crushed. Don’t just shove it in your pocket without looking, it demonstrates disinterest. But then don’t just let it sit in your wallet/portfolio/card holder/pocket; you need to act on it. Most people don’t just hand their cards out to anyone, unless they’re complete tools, and especially when you don’t have a card to trade back, the ball is in your court buddy. Do something with it or else it is your missed opportunity, your fault.
5. It’s the little things
I love mail. I love getting postcards from my friends’ travels from around the world and every now and again a letter from a dear friend who has taken the time to write. I do own a pretty kick-ass assortment of thank you cards. I send out a thank you card to everyone who takes the time to meet with me whether for an information interview or a first interview. I think it just goes the extra mile, substantially further than an email. Joan Holloway would agree, but she’d probably send scotch too. Sometimes I get a little sad when the card isn’t acknowledged right away, but when you emailed that person later on, they will always reply that it’s good to hear from you and thank you for your note. Point – you. Send holiday cards to your contacts, I know it might sound trite and maybe a bit silly, but the holidays are the one point of contact you can have without asking for anything. You remind them you're alive and kicking and they know that you're keeping them in mind too. Keep it simple, silly!
6. Lather, rinse, and hopefully not need to repeat
After all that schmaltzing hopefully you have the skills to back you up and the confidence to state why your science degree is more useful to this company than the normal commerce/marketing degrees they look for. And you will likely have to explain one more time why you aren’t going to be a gym teacher, ever. Let’s rip the envelope open.
See you on the 9-5.
P.S. Count the “Mad Men” references!
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