Okay, so, now that the story of my job search has a happy ending (i.e. a fantastic job with an amazing health-based organization serving women in the province of Ontario), I can share some of my less happy moments during my job search. I write about these as cautionary tales for those of you who are anxious to make the most of the opportunities you have (in information interviews, job interviews, and so on).
First, there was the time I applied for a writer/editor position for a very interesting health-related non-profit. In my application, I made sure to emphasize as much as I could that I was detail-oriented, my editing work was meticulous, and so forth. Of course, I failed to actually exercise that meticulousness in my own application. Just as my finger was pressing the “enter” key, sending off my email to the HR manager, I realized the version of my resume that I sent actually had a small typo (something had gotten bumped down to the next line). Nooooo!
I didn’t know what to do. For about an hour, I tried my best to forget about it. But then my type-A personality went into high gear. I wrote a follow-up note to the HR director, indicating my previous resume had a typo. I reattached the cleaned up resume. The good part? I got an interview. The bad part? I made reference, at the interview, to my cover letter–but when I glanced over at the HR manager’s package of my stuff, I realized she didn’t HAVE my cover letter–only my explanatory note about the typo! I didn’t get the job (which was for the best), but I didn’t dare speculate why.
Then there was the time when I finally scored a long sought-after meeting with the executive director of a non-profit organization supporting women that was, at that point, by far my number one choice of employer. I studied the website inside and out, I made enquiries to third parties about the organization, I thought about contributions I could make. When I finally arrived at the meeting, I felt excited and prepared. But sitting down in the board room with the ED, I suddenly realized…I could smell my own nail polish. In a last dash to add some, well, polish to my look, I had slapped on a coat of quick-dry, blood red nail polish. But oooooh nooooo! The acrylic smell was radiating from me–or so I feared, in the middle of this otherwise fairly seamless conversation. (In that instance, there was no job currently on offer–the meeting was sort of a “get to know you” as a result of a mutual acquaintance passing on my resume. Still, I’ll never know if my nail polish would have lost me a job there!).
I also had a few moments in which I probably appeared to be not unlike a desparate dater out at a speed dating event. There was one particular conference that I attended for the purpose of networking–and yet I completely failed to adhere to my own advice about networking. Instead of just chatting with people, getting to know their work, and finding ways that I could help them, I actually would introduce myself to people as a job hunter. There are times when I’m convinced this is the right thing to do, but there are other times when it displays a lack of confidence. I left that event feeling like I had made few genuine contacts–the kind that actually count when you’re trying to network in an effective way.
But I do have one more anecdote that is meant to show you that, even when you do slightly inappropriate things during your job search, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doomed. I had had my eye on the organization that eventually hired me for a little while, and I was aware that they were going to be represented at a health-based trade show. I decided to get media accreditation for the trade show (thanks, blogging!) and use that as an opportunity to schmooze with the women from the organization.
So I did just that. I got my media credentials, I went to the trade show, I found the booth where this organization was stationed. Then I walked up to them and…started talking nonsense. I had not prepared in advance what I was going to say, or how I should introduce myself, or how I should actually leverage that opportunity. Instead, I just blundered in with my big ol’ personality, and left feel a little sheepish.
As it turned out, of course, it was handy to be able to mention in my cover letter, which I wrote a week or two later, that I had met the hiring manager at the trade show. Moreover, my big ol’ personality was not something that detracted from my candidacy, but actually strengthened it.
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