Leap Walking

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.

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.

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.

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.