10 Job Hunt Tips, from a Guy Who Landed His Ideal Job through This Community
Kristan Polley, former founder and expert generalist, has been a member of our Operate with Purpose community for over a year now and he recently landed a job he’s been very excited about: Team Coordinator at The Portfolio Collective. I’m a founding member of TPC, and an investor, so I was delighted to put in a good word.
Kristan very kindly attended the last members’ drop-in session to share his job hunting insights with his peers, which he’s even more kindly written up for me to share with the wider community today! If you’d like to benefit from monthly group calls, exclusive job opportunities and introductions to hiring managers, consider becoming a paying or founding member of the community – details at the link below.
Kristan’s Top 10 Tips for Job Hunters
1. Find your niche
My CV was so tailored to my niche I didn’t need to edit it for each application. This helped reduce my workload for job applications, so I could focus my efforts on any application questions or cover letters.
2. Never stop tweaking your CV
I made sure to stay on top of this, editing my CV any time I saw a new CV tip, finished a course or completed a noteworthy piece of work.
3. Keep your LinkedIn profile updated
This will need tweaking to your personal preference of how CV-y you want your LinkedIn profile to be. Your headline is so important – I got a couple of calls with recruiters purely from my updated headline outlining exactly who I am and my value.
4. Network now… and always!
I didn’t network soon enough. I am more on it now, and it will continue to be a slow build – but it is building. Paul’s recommendation helped me secure my new job and that would never have happened if I hadn’t improved my network by chatting with him and joining this community. Start by getting back in touch with old colleagues you liked and work up from there, moving onto ‘colder’ LinkedIn networking and in-person events. Just get yourself out there! It may feel uncomfortable at first to reach out but 99% of the time the other person is more than happy to chat.
5. Find and join relevant communities
For me, because I'm in operations, Operations Nation was a game changer. So many of the jobs that progressed far were from their jobs board. It really helps that you can immediately message the hiring manager to find out more and stand out a bit.
6. Again, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there!
Accept that virtual coffee chat with an interesting stranger or network acquaintance, join that webinar and attend that event. I personally need to get better at in-person events but, to my point, I feel that anywhere slightly out of your comfort zone is where you need to put yourself in order to build your confidence and progress your search.
7. Pay it forward
For example, I was actually able to help someone in my network land an interview – it felt amazing! Getting those small wins for other people helped me keep going, and you never know when they’ll pay back the favour… although this shouldn’t be the primary reason to do it.
8. Have a plan B
I was lucky I had a trade to lean on. I’m a trained sound engineer and, as I had built a few good connections in that industry, I could pick up freelance work to tide me over. However, this was an untested path until I needed it – thankfully it worked! This is one reason why a portfolio career is desirable, as you always have that side hustle or other skill to lean on if needed. That’s definitely my plan moving forward, keeping those ‘other’ skills and networks warm – just in case!
This is another example of 1) a strong network and 2) doing a good job. I only got those jobs because I’m good at the job, I work hard, I’m friendly and great with clients, and I’m reliable. I was also flexible in taking work that I didn’t always want, but it built up more money to pay the bills, whilst also showing I was willing to get stuck in to help out when needed.
I didn’t realise at the time this was building my network – if you maintain great feedback and reviews from each job by doing your best, you’ll always have those people you know professionally who will answer your message every time.
9. Have a goal, but also have a life
Have a clear goal for your job hunt but don’t let it consume you. I knew the role that I wanted and what I’m good at, so I didn’t relent. I allowed myself to wallow when I didn’t land something, but jumped back up as soon as I was ready and went again. I became somewhat numb to it, in a healthy way. This is because I lived my life with the job search not being front and centre, it was just one element I had to deal with. My health and loved ones have always been front and centre, and they remained so throughout my search. This helped me handle all the rejections and setbacks, and deal with stuff with a calm head.
10. Be resilient
Think about the 3 main pillars of resilience: finding meaning, adaptability and staying realistic. I found meaning as I knew why I wanted the job and how it would benefit me and my career (beyond just money!) I adapted and learnt from setbacks, constantly improving my approach to my CV, job applications and networking. It even came down to being efficient with my time and picking the right opportunities to go after.
And it’s vital to stay realistic. I kept my salary expectations reasonable (without short-changing myself), went for jobs I knew I could land and thrive in, and expected not to hear back about most opportunities. That might sound a bit pessimistic, but being realistic about how often the recruitment process is a poor experience – it helped me handle it without losing hope.
Well done, Kristan! 🙇♂️
We’re pleased for you and we appreciate your insights. If you’d like to connect with, Kristan, he’s happy for you to do so – either via LinkedIn or The Portfolio Collective.
If you’re still job hunting – take a leaf out of his book and keep going!
If you’re a community member, I hope to see you on the next drop-in call.
Cheers,
Paul