Running the search
If you’ve gone through the work of orienting your search and have found a few opportunities which look like a match for you, then you should be ready to embark on conversations with a variety of companies that may be a fit to your own personal values. At this point you have the opportunity to decide how you want to approach the search. You can see it as one way conversation where you believe you know exactly what you want, or you can approach it as an organic process where you will be learning along the way. Even with all of the work that you’ve likely put in at this point to orient yourself, you haven’t really tested this against the world. By having conversations with people and exploring companies you’ll get a lot of active feedback that you can use to adjust what you are really looking for.
Start by updating your online presence. People will be looking for information on you as you are introduced and it helps a lot to have your LinkedIn, GitHub and other properties accurate reflect where you are in your career. Once you have done this, create a spreadsheet somewhere to track all of your conversations. This will become super helpful if you have a long search and you want to see who you’ve spoken with, what your thoughts were about the conversations and what the outcome was. If you speak with over a dozen companies (which is likely) then you’ll need a way to reconstruct and track the conversations so you can make the right decisions for yourself. I typically do this in a Google Sheet with at least the Company, who I spoke with, date of the conversation, the role, type of conversation (phone call, video call, in person etc…), duration, notes about the conversation and the outcome.
Now that you are ready to go. It’s time to get those conversations going. I create a master list of companies or people that I’m interested in working with or for. From here I look to see who I know that is at the company. This gives me a way to get a sense of what the company is like and if it is interesting to get an introduction. This introduction typically happens through an email with me, the person I know and the appropriate person within the company. Depending on the role this could be the recruiting team, the hiring manager or someone else who is relevant to the conversation.
If I don’t know anyone at the company or have a connection to the company I’ll apply directly to the role. I’ll make sure my resume is tailored directly to the company and the opportunity that is the most interesting to me. Make sure you are speaking to the opportunity and not just blanketing the world with copies of a generic resume. Companies are looking for people who can help drive their results, not just people who are looking to extract value from the company. Be conscientious about this and demonstrate an understanding of their business and how you can help to drive results for the company.
Having conversations with companies gets a feedback loop going. Don’t look at a search as a static process where you are just matching your list of wants with a company’s needs. By going through the search you will be getting feedback along the way about things that you like, things you thought you wanted but upon closer examination don’t makes sense for you. You’ll also be able to adjust the types of companies you are looking at as well as the roles you are aiming for based on that feedback.
I like to keep a list of “what I learned” from each conversation so I can keep updating my mental model of what I’m looking for and why. If I don’t capture it, I often forget what I learned or don’t internalize it very well. Make sure with this feedback you are staying honest to yourself about what you want and not just trying to seek out what employers might be trying to fit you too. If you take a role that isn’t a true yes for you, you won’t be able to give it your all and you’ll miss valuable learning opportunities that you may not be open to otherwise.
Now that you’ve had some conversations, here are a few tips for how to make sure you are being a great candidate.
1. Take the time to think through the role and the notes you got from the discussions and give a clear response on next steps. You are spending valuable time by talking to a company and make sure it is worth your time
2. Be timely in getting back to companies. Waiting a week to respond sets a bad precedent and will make the process drag out considerably. They may even find someone else for the role before you respond.
3. Set expectations clearly with the company. This allows them to know when they’ll hear from you and if you are going to be in person, when to expect you.
4. Ask good questions. Don’t just fill the time here. Know what you want to find out about the company and design your questions to find this out. You are interviewing the company just as much they are interviewing you, so don’t skip out on the opportunity to learn about what the company cares for.
5. Clear any blockers early on. This could be comp, work location, expected hours, dress code, technology stack or a host of other things. If any of these don’t line up and they will make you decline the offer, don’t waste your or the companies time by going through a full interview process without getting these resolved
6. Be clear about what you are excited about and concerns. This will allow the company to answer these directly and know why you are interested in the role. It will allow for better decisions and conversations on both sides of the table. No one wins if you aren’t clear with your concerns.
If you get declined during the process, make sure you are graceful about it and thank them for their time. After a rejection, take the time to process how you feel about it. Was it truly the right opportunity for you? Were you relieved when they declined? If so, why were you relieved? Were you not a yes to the role? This is a key moment in the learning process for you to gain insight for what you are looking for.
If you make it to the end of the process and are still excited about the role, congratulations! You’ve found a role that seems to be a good fit for you and the company. You should have learned a lot along the way and have a lot of clarity about the role and company. Make a few notes when you accept about why you want to join the company and what you hope to accomplish. This will help you anchor your thinking later down the line when you’ve been in the role for a few months.