Be heard, be kind
Over the course of a career, we often have no choice but to navigate a brand-new organisation. It can be intimidating, unnerving even, as we try to establish ourselves amongst a new team, win over new colleagues and deliver against new challenges.
Yet, in amongst the nerves and anxiety is something truly great – at least I think so: making new connections and unlocking new potential within. As someone who has moved roles, functions and industries – albeit with a common thread of telling stories and bringing stakeholders together – I actually tend to relish this moment, and I find myself leaning into the awkwardness.
I’d base this on my upbringing: I was always a nosy child, wanting to know more about everyone else. Whilst my siblings were off playing, I’d wonder about other people’s lives. It’s something I still do today, in understanding the community around me. Through my degree in Documentary Photography, my experience in hosting a podcast, as well as from my time spent knocking on doors in elections, I’ve arrived at one universal truth: we all just want to be heard.
People just want to be heard.
It’s that important that it's worth repeating, especially as I continue to look for my new role. I remind myself of this. Why? Because for every application I’m spending hours finessing, I know a recruitment team are having to navigate countless more and make quick, instinctive judgements on which CVs to progress with, and which didn’t make the cut this time.
It’s ruthless, but perhaps it always has been ruthless. I remember a story from an MP’s office (not an MP I worked with, fortunately) where, on recruiting for a role in the late-1990s to early-2000s, they had been inundated with applications. This was in the days of physical CVs and cover letters, and so the MP in question took the top half of the pile of applications and put them straight into the bin. His response when questioned? “In life you have to be lucky, and that half weren’t lucky this time.”
Yet at the moment, as a candidate, I know that it certainly feels like a difficult market for any jobseeker. Not only does it appear that there are fewer roles as businesses adjust to a less stable world, but it’s also easier than ever for anyone to apply to any role too.
That’s why, more than ever, personal connections matter in order to get cut through (a struggle that’s familiar to many a comms professional). This isn’t to say we should be egotistical and arrogant, and connect with everyone – who has the time or energy for that? – but to use opportunities to connect in a considered and strategic fashion in order to get through that crucial first-stage CV-sift.
At the core of this is the practice of mapping stakeholders and identifying key people that you can approach for informal conversations, advice and counsel. It could be someone with a job title you aspire to, or someone working at a company you respect. It could be a leader in the field whose content you’ve engaged with, or someone at an industry-related agency.
Short, respectful introductions and an invitation for a call can land well, and I often reflect that if I’m nice, kind and honest to others, they’ll return the favour. I have been amazed at some of the conversations I’ve had as a jobseeker, the time they’ve made to have a chat, the directions they’ve pointed me in that I’d not considered, and the introductions they’ve made.
And these gestures are, I believe, part of the human condition: people genuinely want to help. Can you tell I’m an optimist?
That said, at the same time, we mustn’t become fixated on individuals responding to us. Frankly, if we can take a lesson from online dating, no answer is an answer. We don’t know what someone else is going through at that moment in time, and as we’re effectively cold calling, they owe us nothing. It isn’t a reflection on us, nor on them, but more the reality that – like ships in the night – this time we weren’t meant to connect.
This isn’t a reason to not try, though – you lose all of the shots you don’t take, yet it’s important not to dwell and linger.
So, at the heart of looking for a new role, you should be proactive, inquisitive and keen to make connections. You should reach out to your existing network and beyond, to arrange coffee chats and casual conversations – you’d be amazed at the direction this can put you in. And most importantly, you should be kind to yourself and to others – it’s a tough world out there, let’s not make it any tougher.
What’s the biggest learning you’ve taken from being a jobseeker? What piece of advice would you share with others going through this process?