My position was eliminated on November 11, 2022. I got my job offer on February 9, 2023! I am super grateful that it happened so fast. I wanted to share my job search lessons learned with other job seekers. So, if you are ever in the horrible situation of getting laid off, you can pivot and recover quickly. Or, if you’ve observed too many red flags with your current employer and you want a new job. Or if you’re considering your next challenge. I want to help.
Lessons Learned: Before the Search.
My first job search lessons learned start while you are currently employed. Don’t get too complacent. Don’t wait until you are laid off. Don’t wait until you figure out you have a toxic boss. Don’t wait until you are forced to make a career change to get out of a difficult situation. Get ready now so your future job hunting is easier.
1. Keep your resume updated.
You should also have an updated resume. Just in case! A recruiter may reach out. A friend or family member may stumble across a cool opportunity. Or you get laid off. You don’t want to have to scramble. You don’t want to rush through writing the most important document of the hiring process. Here are a few tips to help you:
Review the original job description. Find the original job posting for the job you have now. Hopefully, you saved it when you originally applied. This can help feed the description of your current position and list the tasks.
Write out the real-life details. Before you start trying to write out your bullet points, do some introspection. Write out the details of your job and the stories behind your work tasks. Don’t worry about grammar and sentence structure yet. Just write stream of consciousness.
Add a new skill or technology. Ideally, if you’ve been in your job for a while, you have a list of new skills. Or maybe you are now an expert in a software program or technology. Don’t forget these for your resume.
Revisit past status reports. Maybe you have a weekly 1:1 with your boss. Revisit those docs to see the list of awesome projects you worked on and add those to your document to write more detail later.
Big projects. Think about the biggest projects you worked on. Find the original strategy documents and timelines so you can reference those when you start writing.
Special committees. Think outside your job. Were you invited to be on a special cross-department task force? Maybe you beta-tested a new technology? Or were on a company-wide fund-raising committee. These are great for your resume.
What are you proud of? If someone asked you in an interview, what is a project you are most proud of? What would it be? Make sure you include that on your resume.
When you get laid off, you want to spring into action as quickly as possible to find a new job. Luckily, my resume was 95% updated when I found out my position was eliminated so I could immediately start applying for jobs.
2. Update your LinkedIn Profile.
This will be easy once you have updated your resume. If you are worried that people at work might see you updating LinkedIn, follow these steps to turn off notifications.
Go to LinkedIn. On the far right, you will see your tiny little picture. Click on the arrow, to the right of “Me”
Then click on “Settings and Privacy” in the pull-down menu
On the far left you will see a list under “Settings” click Visibility
Scroll down to the second section “Visibility of your LinkedIn activity”
Make sure “Share profile updates with your network” is toggled OFF.
I see many people only show their title and company on LinkedIn with no job detail. I think this limits you from being found by recruiters. Give yourself the best chance to be found by expanding the detail and using keywords and skills that recruiters may search for.
3. Save work samples.
While you are gainfully employed, you want to remember to save samples of your work for future reference. Printed pieces, PPT presentations, analyses you wrote, strategy documents, status reports, etc. As a marketer, I frequently saved samples of direct mail pieces, brochures, campaign summaries, and analyses.
You may have prospective employers ask you for samples during the interview process. Or you can include them in your “thank you” email follow-up to make a good impression and reinforce why you are a good match.
DISCLAIMER: If you signed an employment contract, you must follow those guidelines on what work you can keep or share. You never want to share any proprietary information from your employer so you must respect those boundaries.
4. Save recognition.
If someone recognizes your work in an email, save it! If your boss sends you an email that says thank you for an awesome job doing blobbity blob, save it. Early in my career as a marketing manager, I saved emails from the field VPS when they told me I did a great job via email. I used these with my boss at review time and printed them out when I interviewed for my next job.
5. Take calls with recruiters.
Anytime a recruiter reaches out, take the call even if you are not interested in leaving your current job, yet. In my experience, they reach out via LinkedIn Inmail. I respond with a note that I am not actively looking for new opportunities but I would be happy to talk to them in case I know someone in my network.
We get blindsided by layoffs. But you can also be surprised by new opportunities. You owe it to yourself to be open to something new. I had turned down a recruiter a month before I was laid off. The first thing I did was contact her to let her know my situation had changed. It turned out that the position was still open so I immediately scheduled an interview! That did wonders for my stress level.
You never know! Take the call and connect with the recruiter. You may be comfortable in your current role but this may be the universe calling you to something better. Not to sound alarming, but today you have a job, and tomorrow it could be eliminated. You have to look out for yourself.
Lessons Learned: During the Search
I need to warn you that the job search process is an emotional roller coaster. So buckle up! You will see job listings that get you really excited and then you won’t hear a thing. You will have a great interview and then get ghosted. You will connect with your interviewers and start envisioning them as your future coworkers and then get the “thank you but no” email.
Hopefully, these tips will help you get organized, stay focused and positive, and help you conduct a successful job search.
6. Get organized.
I applied for 164 jobs online across multiple sites during my most recent job hunt. You have to stay organized. You never know when you will get a random text, email, or phone call to schedule an interview. You want to be able to quickly prepare.
Track each application, title, and link to the job description. I used a spreadsheet and tracked each application by date, title, and platform. I also included a link to the job post so I could review it before an interview.
Track each cover letter/resume. I saved each custom file with the name of the company, along with my name “Company Name Chris Scherting Resume 2023.” If I used a generic resume, I noted that in my spreadsheet.
For fun (yes I am a nerd), I tracked the day I applied and the date I received an interview request or the “no” email. Responses could come within an hour or several weeks later. Or never! Many companies just ghost you if they don’t plan to interview you.
7. Consider sending a custom cover letter.
I had three recruiters tell me to skip the cover letter. This really surprised me! I am old school. An elder Gen Xer and I 100% believe in custom cover letters. Especially, in marketing or any field that requires writing skills. This is your chance to tell your unique story to the human hiring manager who is reading all the job applications.
The key here is that the cover letter has to be good. Recruiters and HR professionals are saying they don’t have time to read the cover letter. You can’t use the same cover letter for every job. I think they need to be shorter, get to the point, be easy to scan, call out attributes not included on your resume, and highlight items directly related to the job, company, or industry.
I modified my process. I used custom cover letters for the best jobs where I was a perfect fit and I was super excited about the company. I used the cover letter to draw a 1:1 comparison between 3-4 key items in the job description and my exact background. I formatted using bold keywords and bullets to make it easy to scan and to quickly see that I am the right fit.
If you don’t have the time or energy to create a custom cover letter for each job, then definitely skip it. Save time.
Almost all of my interviews came from applications where I wrote a custom cover letter. But I sent plenty of applications without a cover letter as well.
8. Ask for help.
Ultimately, the job I accepted came through my network via word-of-mouth. I sent over 160 applications via online job listings on sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Zip Recruiter. So, one of the biggest lessons learned is to let people know you are looking and ask for help.
One of the good things about social media is that it provides multiple platforms where you can communicate with hundreds of people with a single post. Take advantage of this support system if you have been laid off. People want to help! If you are privately looking for a new job while employed, you need to be more discreet.
Anyone you know might hear of a job that is perfect for you.
Your friends and family can act as sounding boards so you can privately vent about how tough the process is.
Ask a close friend to help you practice your answers in a mock interview.
All of the private messages, texts, and notes of support do wonders for your mental health.
9. Dig deep to stay positive.
This is a tough one. You know you are awesome and a great catch for any future employer. But the rejection and ghosting can really wear on you. The grueling search will probably take longer than you want it to. It will take work to keep a positive attitude while looking for your next job opportunities.
Believe in yourself, practice gratitude, take a deep breath, repeat affirmations, and more. I offer a bunch of other ideas on how to stay positive during your job search in this blog.
10. Get ready for the “Tell me about yourself” question.
One of the most common questions I heard during the interview process was “Tell me about yourself.” Some people may refer to this as your elevator pitch. Most of my interviews began with some variation of this question. You have to be prepared!
Think about what makes you different from all the other candidates with the same bachelor’s degree, or similar GPA, internships, and work experience. What is your story? What makes you unique? Why are you a good fit? Then tie these things to the skills and attributes they are looking for that you see in the job description.
You might type up a draft that you use as your base answer and then mildly customize it for each person. This can be a great opportunity to include a story that is not on your resume. Even something from your childhood or grade school that set you on this career path. Were you the treasurer in student council? You can tie that to your love of finance.
Here is how I outline my response.
First, thank them for their time and express your enthusiasm for the position and company.
Tell your story, talk about your purposeful career development, and highlight experiences tied to the job.
Wrap it up with a statement like “What sets me apart from other candidates…”
11. Beware of professional predators.
As soon as I uploaded my resume to the various job search sites, I began receiving emails and phone calls from people who sounded like they wanted to help but something sounded shady.
Franchise counselors and insurance salespeople will try to recruit you.
Career coaches and professional resume writers will try to convince you to hire them.
LinkedIn invitations from recruiters who want you to pay for their services.
I am sure some of these people offer legitimate services. They may be good people to add to your professional network. I think of myself as a career coach but I am giving lots of advice for free! Just be careful and be sure to research and vet someone before you agree to pay thousands of dollars.
12. LinkedIn is a gold mine!
Every day during my job search I saw reports of layoffs. I also saw people rally to help. Your LinkedIn connections are valuable for support, advice, and ideas. People posted jobs, interview tips, job search advice, and even emotional support. Follow hashtags like #jobhunting, #careeradvice, #jobsearch, etc.
I paid for LinkedIn premium and took advantage of LinkedIn Learning to watch courses on marketing topics in my new-founded free time. I could incorporate key learnings into my interview answers.
LinkedIn premium also gives you metrics on other job applicants. Before you apply for a job, it will show you metrics like:
You are in the top 25% of applicants.
You have 10 out of 10 most common skills among all other applicants.
34% have a Master of Business Administration, 54% have a Bachelor's Degree.
I used this data to help me decide whether or not I wanted to apply. The skills section also highlighted terms I could add to my resume.
This last job search was tough. While there are hundreds of remote jobs, you now have to compete with candidates across the country. Maybe even the world. So, hang in there!
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