When you pause to reflect – professionally and/or personally – what do you learn? Wait…you DO pause and reflect, right?
Sometimes I think we overlook the obvious. Okay, maybe I’m just talking about me; but, I doubt it.
Okay, this is going to make some people, more than one, upset. I’m not calling you out here, but asking you to think.
I know it was a joke. And, yes, it was innocent enough. And, believe me, anyone who knows me will tell you that I love a good joke and even a good prank. But, it got me wondering.
So, I’ve been here before. You know, on the job quest where I am looking for a great product management role out there with a company who gets it and understands the value of the discipline of product management. And, along my journey I’ve come to realize that there are two types of folks to network with – those in transition, and those with jobs.
The first group are those like you, who are in transition and are sympathetic to your cause, able to meet most any time, willing to share their network with you.
The second group are those people with jobs and these people tend to be somewhat less sympathetic to your situation, have tighter time commitments and some may hesitate to share their network with you.
Who should you network with? I guess some of each type. Those in transition can help to expand your network quickly. But, they really are not in any sort of position to hire you.
How do you interest an employed person to open their network to you? Be flexible and ask them “what can I do for YOU?” Think this way. Even if you get some time with the employed person, they are likely to forget about you within a week. How do you stay in the forefront of their mind? Send them links to articles that may be of interest to them, that perhaps they haven’t had time to read. Open your network to them. Ask them who they’d like to meet and do some leg work on their behalf. Think of it as planting seeds for the future. Some day they too will be in transition and will remember the model behavior that you set for them.
Looking in from the outside-in, or in this case looking out from the inside, the policy of “Pay it Forward” is the one in which I believe. Try it and watch the effect.
Today is my first “official” day of being unemployed. While I was informed last week, when I wrote the introduction to this series, it takes effect today, with the start of a new pay cycle.
And life moves on.
So, what did I do in the first week? Like everyone else who first hears the news, I checked in on other friends at my now former company, to learn what I could. I have to admit that while the reduction was a surprise, me being on the list was not. Though I do find it ironic that a company that charges – and receives – BIG money for talking about best practices eliminated the product management function. But, c’est la vie. We move on.
I started this new quest by letting a few strategically placed allies know I was back in the market. My friends Steve Johnson and Rich Nutinsky at Pragmatic Marketing are great, and since they are in the field every day, every week, they hear loads. Now, while getting them to pass on what they hear may be a little harder, I remain optimistic that they will remember me.
I also told a few other leaders in the Product Management field. Jim Holland and Tom Grant also are incredible resources. And, by pinging them on a regular basis, maybe something will set off a bell.
And, like everyone else, I updated my resumes on the job boards. I’ve been asked what I think of boards like monster.com and careerbuilder.com. To be honest, I think they are necessary evils in the job search process. While I have in the past received calls from applications submitted on those sites, these positions tend to be more “practice” for me than anything else. But, with practice comes refinement, and with refinement comes success. So apply I must, and apply I shall.
I did have one example of how to make your network work for you, the way we all want it to work. My spouse received an e-mail from a local geographic networking group which mentioned as company. I looked on LinkedIn, found a person with a Director of PM title and found I was connected to him through a connection. Using my connection, I requested a meeting, and it was scheduled. The whole networking thin took 40 minutes from start to schedule. While my new connection didn’t know about the specific openings, he took the time to explain more about the company and how they viewed Product Management as a discipline. 30 minutes well spent.
And, of course, I stayed on top of my reading. I am proud to be well-versed in the news of the day, and my product management blogs are finally caught up. I find it humorous that today The Cranky PM is featuring a guest blogger who is talking about his job hunt. He is approaching this at a different level, but it didn’t make me feel better hearing from yet another voice competing with me right now.
Tomorrow? Well, this week it’s all about getting my job quest plan in manageable shape. I need to remember my own writing, and treat my quest as a product. What are the market demands/needs? Where are they? How do you size them? How do you identify the buyer (hiring manager)? And, how do you market yourself in a way that resonates to that buyer?
In the meantime, I keep writing. (And cooking great dinners, and reading books that have been on my sidetable for months, and catching up with friends on Facebook, and …)
From the outside-in view, I’m now on the inside-view out. I’m optimistic, but not happy about being here.
What do you think I need to do? What would you do next?
