Leap Walking

I just sold two of my cars recently, in preparation to move to the UK. The first car was a Perodua Kelisa, a locally manufactured supermini with a 3-cylinder 1000cc engine that’s simple, affordable, and popular. The second car, a 8-year-old Alfa Romeo 146, is an Italian made sedan that looks like a hatchback, drives like a tourer, sings like a diva, and requires more TLC than your average Toyota. This is a useful case study for passion vs. pop.

The Kelisa was easy to sell, but I didn’t get my way with pricing. There were hundreds of other Kelisas waiting to be picked up. I decided to settle for a quick deal, instead of haggling over price. This was despite knowing that I would be receiving a dozen more calls over the next few days about the car.

The Alfa was different. There were a very unique set of potential buyers. Most of them were Alfa owners previously. To other buyers, I had to explain the car to them, and describe its “Alfa-ness”. The person who ended up buying it was someone who previously owned an Italian car, understood its dynamics, and set his heart on getting one. It was about waiting for the right candidate. I didn’t have to flinch on price very much.

Job searching is very often like this. I want to move from a very common job role as a software programmer to a very niche role as a usability engineer. For me to get a job as a programmer is dead simple, but I probably won’t get my way with salary or benefits. As I set my sights towards becoming a usability engineer, I know that what I’m getting into will only attract certain hiring companies, with work conditions that are suitable for the role. The only issue is preparing myself, and waiting for that opportunity.

Without divulging too much information, that opportunity came knocking on my door recently. And in a place where no one hires usability workers, my profile stuck out a mile high.

My point is this, for everything you’re trying to sell – your employability, your car, your idea… whatever – there’s a market. And there’s a strategy for that sale to take place. You just need to position yourself in the right way, in order to communicate the value of the sale.

The point I didn’t make, however, is when you’re stuck in the Dip – the point between passion and pop, as described by Seth Godin. If you know you’re in the Dip, you have two options – find your way up, or find your way out. The hard part is finding out if you’re in the Dip or not.

While I was attempting to sell both cars, I wasn’t sure if I was in the Dip. I wasn’t quite happy that I quit really soon about the Kelisa. I quit fast and settled for a price I wasn’t that comfortable with. But now I’m glad I did. I wasn’t willing to take the hassle to deal with all the other buyers who were looking for quick wins. It wasn’t going to be worth it. So I quit, and went with the first buyer.

But for the Alfa, I didn’t quit. I held on to my price, because I knew it was a good price, and that someone out there was willing to appreciate the car at that value.

Nobody’s going to remember that I sold the Kelisa for the price I did. But everyone will remember the great deal I got on the sale of the Alfa. I get to keep my story. I managed to navigate both of my dips.

Navigating your own dips are very important to achieving your goals.

How well are you navigating yours?

I got contacted very recently by someone looking for expertise in usability. He found me on LinkedIn, which makes that the third time anyone has contacted me for opportunities based on my profile. The experiences I’ve had have been really positive. I find LinkedIn to be amazing because it’s a real shortcut for both job seekers and headhunters.

Firstly, there’s transparency with LinkedIn. I get to choose what people see on my profile. It beats having to speak to headhunters who call me from a secret database of people, because they will never tell me how they got my phone number. I feel less threatened if a headhunter contacts me through LinkedIn rather than a random phone call.

Secondly, LinkedIn is like a personal career blog – headhunters read my profile like a storybook, because I put effort to make it read a certain way. I’ve found that all my new acquaintances on LinkedIn were like career conversations that sort of pick up where I left off. People who get in touch with me talk to me as though they already know me. So, I react in the same way. It really saves a lot of time, and it’s more pleasant talking to people that way, even during a first meeting. This just beats first time phone conversations, where time is wasted explaining to the headhunter my interests and goals.

Thirdly, it feels more appropriate for someone to introduce opportunities through LinkedIn than over the phone. LinkedIn is a good place to meet people. I invest quite a bit into building my presence in LinkedIn, though not very thoroughly. I got my profile to 100% completeness. I also spent time writing recommendations to people, subscribe to groups, and answering questions. Somehow I feel better when someone wants to speak to me over a network that I’ve already built an interest in, and I can view their profile too.

Fourthly, I get a better sense of what value I portray to people who want to meet me over LinkedIn. I don’t get this with headhunters who call me over the phone. To those people, I’m just a guy with 8 years of Java experience in the telecoms industry. But with LinkedIn, those who got in touch with me seem to understand me better, and it’s rewarding to know that they’re trying to match my goals, instead of just my skills, with their requirements.

I do agree to some extent with Jeff Pulver that LinkedIn isn’t as good as Facebook for social networking (if even for business), but I prefer it that way. I like how LinkedIn is really designed with that corporate no-nonsense feel. I’d be embarrassed if a potential employer read odd posts on my Facebook Wall. I prefer to keep my work and personal life a bit more separate than others. I don’t mind employers reading this blog, though.

Finally, it’s true that blogging about your career helps your personal brand. But LinkedIn is that glue that holds everything together. One guy I met mentioned that he got my contact through my blog, while he was looking through my profile. He picked up on a few articles I posted, and we had a good chat. I don’t blog about industry topics that much on my blog, but there was something authentic and consistent across the profile and the blog posts. People get a better sense of connection about that.

Resources:

• Three Ways to Use Social Media for HR Needs
• What are the Big Trends in Recruiting for 2009?
• When a Company Hires You They Endorse Your Brand
• Recruitment Agencies: A Response