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Posts Tagged ‘Realize Your Dreams’

Be a Sexy Job Seeker and Increase your Odds of Getting the Perfect Job

June 6th, 2010 Matt Baril 11 comments

 

All my life, I've been extremely lucky in my job hunts and career opportunities. Unfortunately, I have many friends who are not so lucky and are currently looking for a job, it actually seems like most of my friends are looking for jobs in the Vancouver area right now. Luck, determination and hard work have been the main factors of my career opportunities, but I think everybody works hard and is determined, but there are ways to put odds on your side and increase your luck. I thought I would share resources and tricks that have helped me and some of my friends to put odds on our side.
 
 
1. Be resourceful. There are some really nice tools out there that can keep you on top of things really easily without much effort. Use them! The first thing you need is a good way to know about the relevant jobs available in your area, and in 2010 there are 3 websites you cannot leave without for job hunting:

These 3 websites are what we call aggregators (read this post to understand why you should love them) and a search will fetch and provide you with results from many different websites. If you're looking for tech jobs in Vancouver for example, they will go on many job boards in Vancouver and do a search based on the keywords and the area you entered. That means you don't have to do and redo all these searches on all these website everyday. You can also save your searches and subscribe to the RSS feed, so you don't even have to go back on the website at all, the job postings are just delivered to your RSS feed reader. If you don't have an RSS feed reader, I would recommend Google Reader. You can even make the RSS feeds to be emailed to you on a regular basis with free services such as feedmyinbox. For instance, you could get up in the morning, open up your email client and apply on all the relevant jobs posted within the last 24 hours while having your breakfast. Cool eh?

If you're more into technology, you can use Yahoo! Pipes. That's like the Lamborghini of all the tools you can possibly have. It lets you make your own feed instead of using on of the web sites mentioned above. You can aggregate your own feeds, search, filter, sort, etc. That’s the tool I use for my job posting on this blog which displays the 150 most recent tech jobs in Vancouver in real-time. Yahoo! Pipes is free.
 
 
2.     2. Use LinkedIn. LinkedIn is just the most awesome social networking tool for jobs. I know many people who complain about it, but I think they just don't know how to use it. I've had 3 job offers since January through LinkedIn. Jobs I did not ask for, the companies came forward and offered me a job or an interview. There are also a lot of jobs available on LinkedIn (you can find them through simplyhired.ca as well) and now you can follow companies (brand new of a few days). So if you're interested by one company you can follow them, and when they open a position or when someone leaves, you can apply on the job even before the company advertises for the job. Having a complete profile on LinkedIn also adds credibility to your application, especially if you can get a few recommendations. Anyways, my point is that LinkedIn is just great! If you decide to join, add me: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/mattbaril.
 
 
3.     3. Own and use your dot com. This might be pushing it a bit, but having a website helps as well. My website is a blog and there is quite a bit of content, which means that potential employers can surf through it and read bits and pieces to see my English proficiency, my capacity to write, think and how disciplined I am to keep the blog up-to-date. It helps in two ways: an employer can find you through your blog, but it can also add credibility to your application. In my interview at Elastic Path, a company I worked for during the Olympics, the HR person kept talking about my blog and she asked me only one interview question, the rest of the 45 minutes were spent talking about my blog which she pulled up on her screen. But, a personal blog is a lot of work and I know people who have used their website differently and have had some success as well. I went to school with this guy called Cody Watson and I like what he has done with his dot com. It's pretty simple, it takes few hours to put together, but it looks really professional and helps for the first impression.
 
 
4.     4. Always apply on all jobs, even those you’re not too fond of. This is probably the most important mistake people make, not applying on all kind of jobs. Don’t be picky, you don’t have a job for god sake, just apply on everything you think is related to your area even though it’s not the dream job. There are many reasons to do so:
  • You can practice your interview skills and will not have the pressure you would usually have if you really wanted the job.
  • You will have feedback on your resume and the experience you have that is most appreciated by employers. If you don’t get the job you can even ask why and know where you’re falling short.
  • And most importantly, you’re much sexier when you have a job. People are people and hiring someone who doesn’t have a job seems like a risk. If that person was that great he or she would have a job right? Right… so get a job to make yourself more attractive. It also shows you are motivated, ambitious and driven. Once you have a job, you can say things such as: “I love working for company ABC, they have provided me with XYZ kind of experience and treat their employees very well. However, I feel that with my background and experience I could add more value and be more useful to a company like yours by doing ABC. As you can see from my resume I have already worked on projects similar in scope and have had great success.” Well now you are lot sexier than by saying: “I’ve been spending the last 2 months looking for a job, but couldn’t find the right fit.”
5.     5. Spend 8 hours a day looking for jobs. Finding a full time job is a full time job. You should set targets for yourself such as sending 10 resumes a day. Once you have the right tools set up for you, you can easily get 100 jobs per day into your inbox or RSS feed reader. Pick the 10 most interesting and apply. Make a couple of cover letters for different kind of roles you are interested in and tweak them to make it sound personal. It will take you less than 10 minutes to apply on a job with a “personal” cover letter. Count about 3 hours to do so and applying on 50 jobs per week should get you anywhere between 1 and 5 interviews per week. You can then spend the next 5 hours of your day for sharpening your interview skills (free job centre resources), having real interviews, tweaking your website, making new connections on LinkedIn, joining new groups on LinkedIn, networking at different events, blogging, volunteering, taking courses/classes/certifications. Every single hour should be an investment in your career and a step forward, something that will lead you to a job or will enrich your resume.
 
 
There is definitely a big part of chance in the process, but you can improve your odds of finding a great job if you do the above. You will also need someone to support you, a wife, a husband, a friend, a parent for the times when everything goes wrong. The week you will have sent 50 resumes and went to 3 interviews and get nothing in return will be a tough week, but it’s not the end of it. Keep working at it and you’re putting the odds in your favor and sharpening the saw.
 
 
What are your tricks and tips to become a sexy job seeker and increase your odds of getting the perfect jobs? What do you think doesn't work versus what really works?
 
 
Good luck all!
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Don’t Let the Caveman Keep You Away from your Dreams

January 23rd, 2010 Matt Baril 4 comments

 

How many times have you had that great new project idea that would change your life or even the world? Now, how many times have you actually gone ahead with that idea or project? The fact is that we all have these ideas or projects or dreams and only few people actually achieve them. A few years ago, I decided I would realize my dreams/projects/ideas and changed my thinking and my decision making process. I've been achieving many more projects and dreams than ever before. In a 5 years time span, I lived in England for a year, did a 2 month Euro trip, got promoted at my job, obtained a Comp. Sc. diploma from Laval University, moved to Vancouver, learned English, obtained a BBA from SFU, became VP for a student association, got married, got involved for the Olympics, represented SFU at one International and one local Business Case Competitions, and now I'm in the planning stage for an internship to India. It seems like everything is working out and this has started to happen only when I changed the way I was thinking. I've had my fair share of failures, actually a lot of them before that 5 year period, but now things have shifted and things seem to be good.

Some people think realizing your dreams and your projects is difficult and that you need luck or a high IQ or a lot of money. That hasn't been the case for me as I'm not rich, have an average IQ and I'm no more lucky than anyone else. Sure bad luck (death, disease, etc.) can be problematic, but as long as you're average in terms of luck, there is no reasons not to go ahead with your dreams.

 

Here I mapped the way I used to see and manage my personal projects and dreams:

 

 

I think this flow represents well how most people manage their personal dreams and projects and I do think this model is an inheritance from our cavemen ancestors. It seems to me that this thinking process offered some strong advantages for our ancestors and could explain in part why we're bad at realizing our dreams and projects. First, it offers the advantage of improving group cohesion as other people are included in the decision making process. Cohesion was essential for the survival of every member of the tribe as the power of the number could fight most natural enemies and overcome natural disasters. Second, the final decision as to whether or not go ahead with a project is based on fear, a deep rooted emotion that has kept us safe from predators for millenniums. The fear to be excluded of the group and therefore die (remember we're back in prehistory time), fear to use too much time on something that will not work while we could have been stocking food, etc. Third, if status quo works, then stick with status quo as you're almost certain to survive as did all your ancestors before you.

Take this caveman made up story as an example of how the decision process works.

A caveman in a spark of genius has the great idea [New Project Idea] of making a weapon that would allow him to throw stones. He gets all excited [excitement] about it and starts wondering how it could be done. He starts asking himself many questions [Questions], some technical such as what should it be made of, what should it look like, etc. Others more practical: would it be useful, would he use it at all, etc. All these questions led our caveman to start doubting [doubt] the weapon could be made at all, maybe it was just one of these silly ideas after all. Our caveman, not so sure about his idea anymore decided to seek for other peoples' opinion in the tribe about this little project [Seeking Recomfort] and see what they thought of the weapon. People were very skeptical, no one had thought of such a thing, and come on throwing stones? You could do it barehanded, no need for a weapon. Our poor caveman was now pretty convinced it could not be done [more doubts] and now was scared to look like a fool and lose the tribe's respect if he were to go ahead with his "stone thrower" [Fear of Failure]. After all, if it was such a great idea someone would have thought of it already [Rationalization]? This stupid idea finally died out to never be considered again [Drop Project].

Now, the outcome is definitely not optimal as a tool to throw stones would have been useful for the tribe. But that's the nature of evolution, you don't have to be perfect to survive, you have to adapt. When it becomes impossible to hunt without a tool to throw stones, then only those who can invent it and adapt will survive. For now, the cohesion has been kept among the group and the time saved by not working on such a tool can be spent on hunting and berry picking which directly increases the chances of surviving. While this decision process will keep you alive in the wild, I hope you agree with me that it's not so well adapted to our current lives. 

 

The first step to fight this internal instinct is to be aware of this natural tendency and to understand its weaknesses. For instance, it seems we're relying to much on our emotions (fear and doubt) and on other peoples' opinion which leads to killing the project or the dream without giving it a fair chance. What can we do to change this? Here's a mapping of the thinking model I'm using right now:

 

 

There are three main key concepts in this chart:

  1. Emotions are not the basis of decision making, even though they are considered and included all along
  2. Other people's opinion are excluded from the decision making process per se, but considered nonetheless
  3. It's an endless cycle, not a straight flow
  4. It's all about you (I know I said 3 key concepts, but that one is a freebee)

So now we have an internal thinking and decision making process with two external elements: data and noise. That means you are in control of what decision you'll make as external factors are considered, but do not impact your decision directly as it was the case before. The trick here is to use people and emotions (e.g. doubt and fear) as a question generator. Instead of letting emotions and people control your dreams and the outcome of your project, use them to come up with relevant questions to the project. Questions are meant to make sure you've planned out everything and lead you closer to your ultimate objective.

We shouldn't think of projects as straight forward as they really are cyclical. As a matter of fact, most things are cyclical and this is no different. If someone comes up with strong arguments of why your dream doesn't make sense, look at it as one iteration and not as a make or break kind of situation. If really your dream does not benefit you in the long run though, make sure you exit that project as soon as possible.

The strength of this model is that now you're not asking yourself "is this possible", you're asking yourself "Is this good for me in the long run" which totally shifts the way you perceive things. The question generation followed by the research of information will tell you whether it's possible or not. When you have all the information at hand, then it becomes extremely easy to make a decision. You literally need a few minutes or even seconds to make your decision even though the project will have tremendous impact on your life. Your decision making is driven by facts and by what's good for you.

So how would our caveman do with the new cycle? Well, he would still go ask people what they think about his idea. Obviously people would find it ridiculous since you can throw stones barehanded, no need for a weapon. Moreover hunting is more important than wasting time building wooden toys, they told him. However, our caveman would think about what the advantages of using such a tool would be: possibility to reach preys far away, more speed in the stone means a more deadly weapon, etc. Would that be good for him in the long run? Sure, he could kill more small preys and stock more food. That gets him excited as he's going for a walk and tinkering two pieces of wood in a "Y" shape.

 

When we're building an online community, we're building a tribe as Seth Godin said. It's important to understand our tribe and help them reach their goals and realize their dreams. Tribes are not about surviving anymore, they're about meaningful relationships based on trust. People want to connect with other people like themselves and they want to realize their dreams more than anything else. You can use Social Media to empower your tribe by connecting them to key people, giving them the right resources, pointing them in the right direction, etc. Help them generating relevant questions to their project and provide them with the data they need to figure out these questions. Encourage them to engage in a cyclical process so they can reach their goals and make their dreams come true.

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