I have just landed a new job! (Super-happy about that and I’ll write a separate post on it later).
But that means that I leave one of the heavier periods in my working life - looking for a job in early 2025. I’m not kidding - there’s been tears and a few screams of frustration, self-doubt and generally low-watermarks of Marcus.
I wanted to write a few words for anyone else that is in the situation, share a few tips and advice that I wish I had. And in some case, had taken, because I heard some of these but didn’t apply them.
I’m very sorry to say that Scling didn’t really work out as we expected and in December 2024 we decided to close it down and I started to see if I could find a gig as a freelance contractor. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do and also looked into other veins (like teaching and even musician).
Turns out, looking for a job these days is been really hard. For a long time I was expecting that my email didn’t work. Then that I was too old or that my CV was crappy (in content and … presentation). I was confused as to why, since I have 25+ years experience in a variety of roles.
Instead of bringing you with me in the loop-of-desperation I wanted to write a few advice, that could have helped me:
-
Share in the your network that you are looking for a job. That is the number one tip for me. No other channel gave me anything near the same attention, and hit-rate, as writing a post that told everyone I know that I was looking for a job. No site with job listings, no “let us help you to find your job”-service, was even close to the - attention, number of leads and most importantly number of real interviews - this post gave me.
-
Share with your network that you are looking for a job. Share outside your digital network too. Tell everyone that you are looking for a job. There’s nothing to be ashamed of and the people in your network is the best marketing for you, since they know you and what you do better than any CV.
-
Speaking of CVs; make several versions of you CV that highlights different aspects of you. I got turned down 3 times since “your CV doesn’t show that you have been coding”, before I changed it. In my roles I am rarely hired as a programmer, but I just about always end up coding or architect-ing before long. That you have been, in effect, a technical team lead, might not come across if the role is called Agile Coach.
-
Ensure that your stuff is updated and looks as you want it too. Update LinkedIn profiles, blogs (yes, I have one), social media presence etc. Anywhere you can be seen - ensure that they find a current and good version of you.
- Make a structure for each day. After a few weeks, and months, it gets very hard to see the fruit of your work looking for a job. Looking for a job is a tough job. At the end of the day or week I was exhausted, but nothing had improved. Making a structure for the days was good for me, and I could at least say that I had done that work. My plan (that rarely played out) looked like this:
- 2 h applying for jobs, or responding to job ads
- 2 h working on CVs, social media presence or writing a blog posts
- 2 h learning new things that engage you (hey - that’s a blog post right there)
- 2 h slack time to ensure that I could always take interviews and calls
- And finally - you are not a bad person for not having a job. You are still worth what you were worth before. What you do at work is not you. If the things you know is not in demand right now, use what you know and learn new things. You didn’t start out knowing everything you know now. So learn new things - that took you here.
Ha! That last one would NOT have reached me even if I said it to myself. But I still would have wanted to hear it. And I had people that told me, and after 300+ times it started to dawn on me that it might be true.
And if you can, help someone that is looking for a job, by sharing, tipping them on opportunities, connecting people etc. That was what in the end helped me.
Just a few friendly tips, in a week or so I’ll share the news about my new job.
Now I’m going to unsubscribe to about 15 different freelance sites.