You, Your Career, and the World Beyond

January 9th, 2010 § 0

One increasing concern I have about careers is the importance of understanding how technological, social and political movements affect job markets in different places around the globe. It’s extremely messy, so bear with me as I try to explain myself.

The myth of ‘Us vs. Them’

The point I’m trying to make is that the concept of an “Us vs. Them” is becoming increasingly outdated – not just from a global job market perspective, but from a career perspective as well. As we become more aware of this, we will begin to exchange our services more effectively, and navigate our careers in more dimensions than before – across cultures, social levels, languages, skills and geographical spaces.

However, there are huge risks in making the transition from a conventional job mindset to a more open, radical global job mindset. This could mean shifting from one culture to another, changing the way we communicate, adapting our products or services, and so on. But it is inevitable – the world is becoming increasingly advanced, and it requires a lot of expertise, collaboration and innovation to get there. But it can only do so if the solutions are applied in its proper context.

I’ll try to illustrate this from my own work experience.

Absorbing culture in the workplace

In October 2001, I got a job as an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Kansas’ technology research arm, and they got me programming Java interfaces for a NASA-funded space project. I was a newbie, but they made sure I stuck to the best practices and I learnt a ton from that. It was partly the culture, process, and project opportunity that I absorbed from the job. I took this with me to my next job after I graduated and returned home to Malaysia, after having no luck finding a job in the US at the height of the dot-com bust.

Cultural differences can create opportunities, and take them away

It was unfortunate that my new Malaysian job resembled primordial soup in comparison with the NASA project, with very primitive software practices, spaghetti code and other monstrosities (a work practice difference). It was also my first job in a completely new culture as almost all of my colleagues spoke in fluent Chinese rather than English (a language/cultural difference). This caused considerable tension that I was mostly assigned to projects where I worked by myself – but this proved to be somewhat profitable as I was capable of solely implementing entire systems from the database to the interface, due to expertise I gained from my previous work experience.

I left after 2.5 years, after realizing there was a corporate ceiling above me. The experience I gained developing bespoke, well-designed web applications was well-received by the next company who hired me, which was more diverse in their staffing. This was also reflected in their products, as cultural compatibility was less of a concern, allowing them to handpick developers that were truly proficient in their technical trade. Thus, the company culture mostly revolved around technology itself, and it was a very positive atmosphere to work in. This was an example of cultural diversity resulting in a positive work culture.

At this point, I was experiencing how culture made a difference to my opportunities and work perspectives in the two different companies, but it was only in my next job that I felt I needed to seek a better cultural fit in my career progression.

Seeking cultural fit for career reasons

Due to an unfortunate legal battle in the “diverse” company, it downsized and I joined a multinational telecoms company for my next job. It was here that I took part in projects that spanned multiple countries like the UK, France, Netherlands, Malaysia, India and Singapore – becoming sensitive to how damaging misconceptions about another person’s culture can be. I was also increasingly frustrated and confused when I found it hard to relate more Western ideas about innovation and design to my Malaysian colleagues. And as more people misunderstood me, I felt increasingly out-of-place and isolated.

Leaving my home country of Malaysia and coming to London to pursue a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction was an attempt to find a “career common ground” – and this is the point I want to stress: I believe that the boundaries that used to mark “Us vs. Them” are dissolving because job seekers everywhere are becoming more specific about their career goals, and because of this they may journey much farther out of their comfort zones (culture, family, language, etc.) to find a right match. It may not necessarily lead one to move from one country/state to another, but the movement of employees seeking “cultural fit” in their careers is already happening.

Some of us are taught to accept whatever opportunities that are presented to us, and not to be overly idealistic about our goals. But I believe that it’s in everyone’s hearts to serve in the areas they fit in best. I feel that as we move deeper into the 21st century, there will be an increase of savvy job seekers who are willing to sacrifice their previous experiences for new ones – and in so doing create new movements in job industries everywhere.

A real life doesn’t exist on the Internet

December 19th, 2009 § 1

I haven’t been blogging for awhile, and here’s why – I’ve had a go at living a normal life. I checked my twitter messages a lot less, unsubscribed to Wired’s Top Stories and a whole bunch of other popular feeds, and instead I just… “did stuff”. I spent a bit more time cooking at home, dining out at different places around London, devoting more focused time to my day job, getting through my large stash of ebooks and audiobooks and listening to more music through some really amazing earphones I bought a few weeks ago.

Good life, slower life

I’m quite happy about the progress. Comparatively, there’s a lot more junk on the internet, and being able to consume quality experiences in a much longer duration (preparing a meal, reading a book, going out for dinner with my wife) has been more satisfying to say the least.

One thing that bugs me is the sheer amount of experiences out there I feel I ought to try. And it’s a bit scary – because it feels a bit unsafe, a bit edgy… something that demands a bit more commitment and resources than clicking buttons all day. Because I know I can read the best tutorial about designing a chair and it won’t come close to what it’s really like to build a chair (just as an example).

Today I attempted to cook fried rice again – a dish I’ve cooked countless times, but have never perfected. And although it tasted a little better, it wasn’t good enough. And, it seems I could spend more time perfecting a good fried rice, or I could go learn to cook something else… but again that’s like another lesson all over again.

More risks, more planning

The thing is – I’m at the point in my life where I am calculating more than I am taking risks. I don’t want each attempt to be wasted. Not all risks that are taken will lead to learning and success. Idiots do exist, and I don’t want to end up being one.

I’m shifting my focus away from the younger generation, a generation I learnt a lot from in previous years. Some things in life don’t change, and there’s a reason why history repeats itself. In a single lifetime, I believe it is possible to learn from our past, and make a difference a day at a time towards a better future – my future.

In a sense, I’m going to stop looking to the future in order to fix my past.

What’s wrong with being mediocre?

November 13th, 2009 § 5

I’ve been bored of the Internet lately. I’ve stopped checking my twitter messages, reading my newsfeeds, and going on sites I used to frequent just for the fun of it. I feel completely overwhelmed by information, and I feel wholly inadequate to survive the 21st century.

Everyone seems to be really upbeat. Articles are constantly talking about the next best thing. And for some reason, no one seems to want to stop. It’s really scary – everyone seems to be really getting ahead in life, and I feel really out of step – like stepping on a dance partner’s feet or something.

It’s like I’m expecting someone to tell me – “it’s okay to stop living for awhile”, “leave the laptop in the bag”, “forget about how your friends are doing”, “go to bed”, “it’s not going to make any difference whether the Palm Pixi is going to be a hit or not”, “it’s okay to do the same boring thing over and over again”.

Because in some ways, that’s what I’m doing now. And I don’t feel like I can change my circumstances very much, such that I have exciting things I absolutely needed to share with the whole world. I just don’t have anything going on at the moment that’s very exciting. And I’m thinking that’s what a lot of people call, “a mediocre life” – when folks start settling down and getting into a routine of things.

I actually believe that most people live mediocre lives 90% of the time. That they have routines that don’t change very much. Or wishes and dreams that seldom get acted upon. And conversations that don’t change very often. And time seems to just seems to drift by. And for these people, that’s just the way life is.

I actually don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, but the Internet is inherently a very explosive sort of environment – an explosion of activities. Emails. Blogs. Messages. Articles. Feeds. Comments. Streams. Votes. Tags. Notes. Clicks. If all this activity ever grinded to a halt, then the Internet would cease being the Internet.

It’s like – on the Internet – you can’t ever be someone mediocre. It’s almost like you needed to be someone with an opinion worth giving, or someone with a message worth sharing, or someone whose goals were so important that you needed to click on stuff or to read something or respond to something. You couldn’t just be “nobody” on the Internet, because everyone else is a nobody and it’s like you need to prove that you’re not because it already became so brain-numbingly easy. Just click. Or reply. Or comment. Or upload that photo. Something. Anything.

But, here I am with absolutely no motivation to check my twitter messages or read my newsfeeds and I’m telling myself it’s fine. It’s fine to be mediocre, and to just live the way some people live – without a care in the world.

Brands need to better communicate their promises

October 12th, 2009 § 0

I bought myself an £85 pair of jeans from a major high-street retailer today. I have about 4 pairs of trousers, 3 of which I wear on a regular basis, and they are starting to show signs of wear and tear despite being in use for 2 years. The £85 jeans costs the sum of those 4 trousers put together, and I’m worried that it won’t last as long the price tag says – simply because I grew up thinking that money doesn’t always buy you lasting products.

Of course, not all clothes are designed to be industrial strength. But it should at least be able to hold my keys in the pockets. The pockets of the one I bought from Gap about a year ago gave way, and I’m having to patch it because I think it’s still wear-worthy. A pair of chinos, which I bought from Dockers, also saw multiple holes in the pockets. I’ve just thrown another pair of Dockers  chinos into the trash after seeing frays at the edges of the pockets and at the rear-end.

I’m somewhat frustrated because I expect my clothes to last longer than that, and maybe I’m being too demanding. But I bought those trousers because I believed that was what the brands were promising. So I’m not frustrated that my trousers actually have holes – but I’m frustrated by the fact that the promise of the brand failed to live up to my expectations.

I expect this happens with a lot of people – they pay for the price on the tag because they believe in what the brand is promising, because it’s just too much work to go into the details of actually assessing the quality of the product to estimate the actual value of the purchase.

It would’ve been nice to know from these companies how certain types of trousers are expected to last X months/years based on certain usage. But no one seems to talk about such things, more so these companies that sell on such high promises.

Update: A good friend has just educated me on the benefits of paying for high quality denims, some of which cost almost three times what I paid for the jeans I bought today. His pair of Evisus have lasted him years, but you don’t get them for peanuts. It’s one of those rare brands that actually delivers on its promises, and they get to keep their customers for a lifetime.

Education – Don’t Take it For Granted

October 11th, 2009 § 2

I feel I’ve had a lack of education, coming from a developing nation in the Far East. I wish I had been enrolled in a school that actually taught history and geography in all its wonderful richness.

I don’t care so much about math because I feel it’s hard to screw up math because it has been made comparatively standard and agnostic from politics and subjectivity, that I assume it hadn’t been whitewashed or dumbed-down for our consumption.

And life isn’t all about numbers.

About an hour ago, I was flipping through the pages of a free, relatively unpolished ebook by Seth Godin. Despite his rough outline about blogs and how to write them, I could tell that by mere reference to specific names and his understanding of journalism and the publishing industry set him many miles apart from so-called “blog experts” that promise to sell you the secrets to blogging success (and I’m not even mentioning “social media”… ugh).

And I feel that the difference about a man or woman is brought about by his perspective of the world, and more importantly, the appreciation and critical self-assessment of that worldview.

I feel that topics like history and geography actually provide the building blocks for thinking about important issues like culture, politics, business, society, philosophy and religion. I may never know what it’s like to have that rich perspective of life without a proper understanding of these basics – because it feels like I’ve been robbed of an opportunity to learn stuff like history and geography in all its richness when I was growing up, except for those moments when my mom was actually teaching me.

The overemphasis of rote learning could’ve been the cause of this. And I remember that I was told off for asking “why” so many times, despite genuinely seeking answers. Did I surpass my superiors’ ability to thirst for answers at that young age? Heaven knows.

Wikipedia only helps so much. Don’t take your education for granted.

Yay Startups, even Boring Ones

October 7th, 2009 § 0

Startups aren’t sexy things. Sad to say, I believed all the hype when I read it. But no one talks about it anymore. They don’t say – “Oh, you work at a startup! So, do you have beanbags and free food and wear whatever you want?”… basically, no one gives a hoot – because it’s so easy to get into a startup nowadays and most people don’t even want to go there anyway because it’s crazy.

I’m one of those weird people who still think crazy things are possible, which is probably why my boss hired me. Thankfully, it’s not one of those startups that have no clue how they’re going to make money – but it’s no Google… well, not yet anyway.

And that’s the thing – you go in with a hunch. And you stay with it. Until the point where you have a good feeling that you’re really going to succeed or really going to fail – and everyone in the team makes a decision to push like crazy or run like hell.

In return, you get to experience and contribute towards the success of a company… and sometimes there’s big money involved. If it becomes a failure, you have the real-world experience of how not to run a business – and that’s very valuable experience indeed.

The worst thing that can happen is that you lose your job. And it’s better to lose your job at a place where you’re doing something you love at than at a job where you wish you were dead every morning you wake up and have to go to work. And even when you’re homeless, you don’t die immediately. It’s not like you lose the skills you had when you did have a job. And it’s not like you can’t learn new things.

Playing safe in a career is overrated. It pains me to see some people go through their working life enduring so much agony.

Doing the Interview Dance and Leaving a Lasting Impression

September 30th, 2009 § 0

23:52:37 reyhan: For me interviews are me interviewing them
23:52:51 Boon: totally
23:53:06 Boon: i so need to write a blog post about that
23:57:58 reyhan: Yes
23:58:06 reyhan: You totally should

Why do you attend interviews? Do you do it just because it’s what you need to do to get a job? Or do you see it as an opportunity to see if this company is really a right match? There’s a difference here.

Companies are Human, Yes They Are

I feel that we’ve become so accustomed to dealing with cashiers, customer service representatives, helpdesk assistants, nurses, telephone operators, salespeople, waiters – so much that we’ve lost the appreciation for understanding how businesses run and make money, and more importantly, how inherently human organizations and companies actually are.

If you strip away the branding, the corporate logos, the job descriptions, the products, and the impressions people have about companies, it’s not difficult to appreciate that managers and recruiters have lives just like anyone else. The people who get paid to hire people represent companies as much as they represent themselves – much like how you discuss with your flatmates about accepting the new guy who’s interested to come on board.

Interviews are like Dates (not the Edible Kind)

This is why Richard Nelson Bolles, author of the famous career book, “What Color is Your Parachute?“, compares interviews to dating.

Sometimes I feel that job seekers prepare for interviews with a series of answers to interview questions like “tell me about your strengths and weaknesses”, “how would you move mount Fuji” – in some kind of formulaic fashion. I think that companies who do hire people who succeed in formulaic interviews, are companies that are formulaic themselves. That’s not a bad thing, unless you’re not interested in working for a formulaic company.

Not all companies hire the same way. Some have fine-tuned the art of finding the fakes from the gems. And this process really isn’t about selecting who’s the better person – it’s just about finding the better match.

If you’re approaching an interview in the same way you did the previous interview – ask yourself, are you doing it because you’re perfecting the art of interviewing (which isn’t a bad thing), or are you really interested to find out what this company about, and take advantage of the interview time to really get to know them as real people. Maybe it’s worth tweaking your interview strategy a little, if you know you’re going to meet someone who was quite different than the last guy.

The Interview Dance

Sometimes, even though I’ve done all the research about the company and I know about the products that they sell, who their customers are, and what their company values are and all that – I still ask them the same questions to find out about the company, just to see if these people really are what they say they are on their company blog and website and stuff. I do it to satisfy my curiosity, and to probe deeper about what makes this person who is interviewing me excited about the job that they do.

I try to come up with questions that, when asked, catches them by surprise and causes them to pause in a way that I can see tiny sparkles in their eyes. And this is one of those things that doesn’t have a formula. When you’re on a date with someone, and you’re genuinely interested to know them better – do you verbalize rehearsed one-liners that you studied from a how-to book, or do you wait for a certain opportunistic moment in the conversation, when you pop interesting questions that make them smile and laugh?

There’s something magical about interviewing someone who really seems like they can understand the heartbeat of the people that work there. Researching companies will get you to a point, but taking a chance to initiate that ‘interview dance’ is really what creates the whole encounter a lot more memorable.

Why You Should Take Career Chances During a Recession

September 25th, 2009 § 5

This article on BusinessWeek inspired me to write this post.

I started my first permanent job 7 years ago, just when the dot-com bust happened. I find it strange that I’m beginning a new phase of my career now, just a year after the recession. I’ll have to say that I’ve become acquainted with recessionary careers, so much that I see opportunities rather than challenges.

Are you Normal? Shame on You.

When recessions happen, everyone wants to stay put. Almost nobody wants to make crazy career changes. Those who don’t have jobs want stable jobs as fast as they can. But because there are so many people reacting in this way, it’s hard for companies to accomodate all these needs, so it becomes really competitive and everyone gets really twitchy and nervous and unhappy about their situation – just sitting and waiting for the recession to pass. This sucks, and nobody wants that.

The people who benefit the most from this predicament are folks who work for almost nothing and have the energy to innovate a dead thing to life. That was me in 2002, when I had absolutely no clue what my market rate was and was just willing to work for a company that would allow me to do stuff I thought was cool.

Motivation + Blindness = 200% Increase in Productivity

I entered a team of engineers who were so conservative that they had to put me on projects where I was working by myself in order to keep the peace in the office. I can’t remember how many things I initiated in order to improve workflows and software implementation, and I basically left the company because no one understood what in the world I was talking about anymore.

The funny thing is, half of the innovative practices I had put in place, I learnt on the job. It wasn’t that I brought in knowledge from my previous work experience – I’d just graduated from college. A lot of the other engineers could have trumped me at any time if they had spent time doing the research, but they didn’t.

I did it because I loved it – I loved making stuff better. I wasn’t even thinking about bills and recessions and all that crap. Worrying about stuff doesn’t get you anywhere.

Taking Chances are Underrated, You Should Try It Sometime

Obviously, my next company hired me because of all this cool new stuff I picked up and implemented (pioneered, as they say) – simply because no one gave a hoot about doing it and I did (which is also why you shouldn’t aim for the best companies because there’s less to improve). This could only happen because of recession, when everyone was so scared to lose their jobs, they didn’t want to do anything crazy.

Last year when the recession came, instead of focusing 100% of my time in my studies like most others did, I sacrificed some of my time in the week to work for a startup company. A lot of students were afraid of failing, which would have led to a lower chance at getting a job during a recession, etc.

I’m glad I worked part-time while studying. I initially applied on Gumtree as a front-end web developer (hardly a glamorous job site), and by the time I had finished my course my boss turned me into the CTO because I was practically the most “technical” person in the team (granted, there were only 3 of us).

And yes, I absolutely love my job.

Recessions are a Great Place to Make Things Happen

Of course, there are things you need to avoid in a recession. I’m nowhere near a 6-figure salary. And I’m still living in a shoebox with my wife. But I am absolutely confident it doesn’t get worse from here. A recession is a good place to start for folks who are just dying to make things happen.

Wait, it’s not just good – it’s great.

A Confession: I Network Because I Have To

September 13th, 2009 § 2

The Loneliness of Enduring a Change

I met an old friend for lunch today. She was talking about making a big change in her life, and we were talking about how scary that whole process is. We talked a long time about the sort of ups and downs you go through when you make big changes like that – the fear of being alienated, of making the wrong choices, of not knowing exactly what to do, but more importantly – doing it alone.

Making these big changes in our lives, as we were brought up to value stable jobs and live comfortably, is akin to abandoning our roots, values, and partly, the security of the family community. While this isn’t ostracism, the abandonment comes from a lack of understanding – family and friends just don’t know what in the world we’re getting into and can’t give us the guidance, mentorship and support we really need. It’s not that they won’t – they just can’t.

And it’s just not about money or a place to stay. It big hurdle about surviving a change is the rite of passage that you need to go through to get started, establish yourself in a new place, and finally succeed.

Change Hurts

When I made a decision to leave a comfortable life in Malaysia, I got really depressed and my wife had to push me to get the visa done because I did not have the energy to do it myself. It was depressing selling away all the IKEA furniture that I painstakingly and lovingly bought and put together, some not even a year old. The worst was seeing the lovely Edefors oak table being draped by my wife’s grandmother with a plastic tablecloth to “protect” it – a very Asian thing.

Needless to say, it was sad to see my friends and family for the last time. I wasn’t sure how to react – how do you put on a face in front of some of your closest mates and tell them you’re leaving for good? Everything had to be done fast so I didn’t have time. What time I had, we just spent like good old days having meals and good laughs. Through all this, we had our visa turned down once and my wife and I had several arguments in the heat of anxiety. It wasn’t the best of times.

Yes, once the apartment and furniture was sold off, a big burden had lifted off. We were elated when my course acceptance came in the mail in the nick of time. We knew we had friends and relatives in London who were welcoming us with open arms. We knew and loved the city. I was excited about the course, and the possibilities. We felt God’s peace and felt that it was the right thing to do. But it was still a painful process – I have the memories of those things we went through, a testament of our journey.

I Network out of the Need to Survive

At times like these, real and authentic relationships were the only thing that got me back up and running. I could’ve said we survived on dreams and inspirations, or on the timely opportunities of job offers, or on the creature comforts like having our own accommodation. But friendships and precious encounters I’ve had from meeting like-minded people – people who share the same vision and goal – are the sorts of things that plant my feet firmly here in London: family, friends, coursemates, new friends I’ve met from the industry, colleagues.

Thinking back – these relationships didn’t just fall into my lap. Some relationships happened only because I went out and searched for it. Some took a lot more effort and time. But I knew that I needed it in order to survive. And that’s what change does to you.

Change forces you to take hold of what you need most in order to survive for the long run. It’s like being stranded on an island and re-learning the fundamentals all over again – what it really means to live. I don’t simply talk about the people I’ve met and how things “worked out” for me – as though others should try networking like it was putting on a new pair of jeans. These people mean much more to me than just opportunities.

You can tell yourself all you want about how inauthentic networking can be and how artificial that whole experience feels. Or, you can tell yourself that it sucks being alone with your ideas and that you need genuine relationships and genuine conversations over things that you really do care about.

For me, I did it because I knew no other way.

Being Real will Get You the Job, Seriously

September 5th, 2009 § 0

My Masters course is finally over. Many of my classmates are into the job search in full swing now. To them, this involves a lot of time spent poring over multiple versions of resumes and CVs, enhancing or creating portfolio websites, polishing their LinkedIn profiles, and researching companies in the industry. The response I’ve gotten so far is fairly negative: no one’s had a solid lead despite numerous attempts.

A cause of the recession? I’m not too sure about that.

The Job goes to the Good Enough and Willing

Not everyone in my same class is in the same predicament, though. Those of us who currently have job offers (such as myself) found part-time or small project opportunities with our current employers while the course was taking place. It was a case of finding the person who could fill an immediate need, and being offered better opportunities as we proved that we were capable enough to handle the job.

One of my classmates, lets call him Joe, started taking up some simple jobs as a freelancer in the middle of the course, and this immediately opened up further opportunities as time went on. In fact, he even had to turn down a job offer from a major company because of time commitments. He did regret it but it was inevitable as they needed someone to start immediately.

He’s a good student, but not the best in the class, and neither is he as good as the other freelancers in the field. He was just responding to an opportunity seeing that he could afford to give up some leisure time.

The Job goes to the One Who Currently has a Job

They say a rolling stone gathers no moss. It’s hard to hire someone when you’re unsure about their track record. But making small sacrifices to gain the relevant work experience is one of the smartest things you can do to salvage a career that’s been halted or diverted by graduate school, a family emergency, a change of fate – whatever.

Joe was contacted by recruiters after they started noticing on LinkedIn that he actually was in employment and doing real stuff that real people do in real projects. Although he has sent out CVs to companies, he hasn’t heard back from a single one: “I dont have anything promising from sending around CVs yet,” he says.

This is from a person who has gotten 4 job offers, and had to turn down 2 of them in the last week. Joe’s problem isn’t about getting a job. It’s about choosing the right one. And it wasn’t a case of sending out CVs.

The Job goes to the One Who Knows How to Network (and not just to the one who does)

Joe’s fortunate situation happened when I recommended him to a senior freelancer (let’s call him Bob), who was looking for some immediate help. That was months ago. Today, because Joe has worked on real projects (short, small, but real) with real clients, he’s met a lot of real people in the industry. People call him by name, and knows him as the guy who has filled that role in a very short period of time and did a pretty good job. But more importantly, they know him as the guy who’s worked with Bob.

Another classmate I spoke to, let’s call her Susan, is planning to put up a portfolio site and print out flyers and business cards – the usual stuff. But only because she knows what it takes to “build her business”, i.e. getting contacts to notice your previous (but real) projects. A portfolio site is as useless as a CV unless you know how to make it talk. Making it talk is the skill of one who knows how to network, and not just someone who does.

In other words, going to an event, shaking their hands and having interesting chit-chat followed by a shove of your CV to their mailboxes isn’t going to cut it.

Unfortunately, the best way networking works is when you’re telling people about existing, current projects that you’re working on. Telling someone that you’re fresh out of university doesn’t sound very well to the ears of someone who has the authority to hire, unless they’re looking for fresh talent (which, in the case that he/she is hiring, that person might be looking to know who is better than you).

The Job goes to the One Who has had Real Experience, on Real Projects, with Real Clients

The problem companies have with university degrees is that there are a gazillion and one degree holders. Because it’s so hard to filter out the good ones from the not so good ones (read: the authentic ones from the not-so-authentic ones), there is a longer line, a longer wait, and more stringent recruitment processes.

As a freelancer if they ever have to deal with this, and they’ll tell you no.

Freelancers don’t wait in lines the length of football fields to find out if they can feed themselves in the next month – they simply can’t afford to do this. They need real opportunities and they’ll pick the best one out of three. They’ve learnt to accept whatever opportunities are available and make the best out of it, and plan for the future so that the next one hopefully leads to better clients and better projects.

The job market is still very much a hirer’s market. This is because profits drive companies, who influence the recruitment process. Choosing a job now is still much better than it was 50 years ago, but don’t assume that it’ll be easy. The good news is that there are a lot more types of opportunities for job hunters to get into:

  • short-term projects,
  • volunteering opportunities,
  • contributing to real projects like open source software
  • contributing to real issues offering real insight through channels like blogs and online communities (takes awhile to get there)
  • publishing work

You don’t get to pick the one you always want, but at least you’ll have choices, and you always will.

Strategy: Aim for the Middle, Work to the Top

In a recession, there is a trend for smaller companies to hire more. Smaller companies are more nimble, and they know where to find talent as good employers start getting retrenched from larger corporations. This presents a strategic opportunity that job hunters can seize if they want to get real experience, real projects, real clients, etc.

Strategy: Fill your LinkedIn profile to 100% and include Real Experiences

Recruiters started calling me up with job offers only AFTER my LinkedIn profile was up to scratch. It’s like a trust issue. It’s got nothing to do with the underlying system that LinkedIn runs on. The person who looks more authentic, and has real experience, gets the phone call.

Strategy: Spamming Companies Inboxes with your CVs – 80% quantity, 20% quality

I landed my previous job of four years ago after I selectively applied for 40 jobs. I only had 2 companies call back. Both offered me positions, and I took the best one. Don’t waste too much time applying for “the right job” – there isn’t one. Instead, aim for good companies – polish your CV to “good enough”, then send it along with a nice touch – e.g. an authentic email, a succinct but honest cover letter, whatever. Don’t trust your CV to do the work for you, though. It’s not a living document.

Strategy: Yes, Companies do read your Blogs. And yes, it does give off an Impression

Numerous times, I’ve been contacted by people who have hiring authority (CEOs, senior managers), and they remember me as this guy who runs this blog (www.leapwalking.com). I don’t know why, but I know that everytime I get an email from them, they use the email I’ve published on this blog’s About page, even though I’ve given them my personal email address. So, if you’re posting stuff out there, make it focused, make it real.

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