Serenity and Handling Rejection with Grace

One of my hobbies is taking pictures of nature.  I love to watch birds and photograph them. I have several bird feeders in my back yard and I am always amazed when a yellow finch sits on the thistle feeder.  They are so bright and vibrant.  How can a bird be that colorful?  A couple of weeks ago Jim and I went to Fort Harrison state park in Indianapolis.  I brought the camera and on our way I saw this bird sitting on the shore on a dead tree.  The colors are gorgeous, it is hard to see in this small picture but he (I am assuming it is a he as most male birds are the colorful ones, my apologies to the bird if it is a she) is actually almost turquoise.  Every now and then he would squawk and elongate his neck. 

This is how I want to react when I get rejected for a job.  However, I know better so I thought I would share some of my tactics when I get rejected.  I do try to learn something from everything, but learning from rejection is hard.  Your first reaction is to say a few choice words, get the blood pressure up and toss a few things around the room.  I am not saying that is what I do, just saying that is what some people do!  

Research will tell you that the best thing you can do is ask why you were not selected to move forward.  This can be hard, but if you want to learn and grow that is what you should do.  So, I have asked that question when companies have actually gotten back to me.  Interestingly, most state that I have wonderful qualifications, experience, etc, but that I don't have the industry experience that they were looking for. Well, that is interesting because on my most recent rejections I was contacted by the recruiters because of my experience they felt I was a perfect fit for the positions (their words not mine).  

What do I take from that? Well, I could be cynical and say that they needed a female in the mix to satisfy affirmative action requirements and they knew all along I wouldn't go any further. I was probably a good candidate, but not a great one. 

So what is a girl to do?  In retrospect, one of the positions was a stretch, and maybe I should have turned the recruiter down from the get-go.  But if you don't take a risk or stretch yourself how do you grow?  You don't, so toss that thought out the window.  What you do is keep on moving on, keep on looking for that great job that is out there, you and the company just have to find each other.  If there are things that are mentioned that you can work on, for example if they state that you don't have enough excel experience - take a class.  Do internet research and when you are done make sure you add it to  your resume!

Morale of the story:  When you want to squawk like a green heron because things aren't going your way make sure that you are in a enclosed room where no one can hear you.  Then walk out and join the rest of the world who is looking for a position, refreshed and ready to move on!

Cabernet and the Cover Letter

I hope you are all seeing my theme here. I love wine so I am trying to weave my love of wine into my job search.  The past couple of evenings Jim and I have been sipping some nice light Cabernet, as it is still warm out I am not into the  heavy reds yet. On Sunday I opened a bottle of Raven's Wood 2011 Cabernet.  This wine has a very nice aroma and has hints of blackberry in it and it is very reasonably priced.

Okay, on to the job search. I will share some of my stats (remember I am anal and track everything!) Today I am 2 Months unemployed.  I have applied to 20 positions of which I have had no response from 13 of them, to be fair some of them I have applied to  recently.  I have been contacted by 7 recruiters for positions and 4 of them are still very active.

To date I have discussed the resume and how to use LinkedIn.  Today I will discuss the cover letter and what my research has told me is successful.  If you look up "cover letters" on the internet you will find lots of resources, so many in fact that it can be overwhelming.  I was looking for help in writing a cover letter that showed I was sincere in my job search and that I had researched the company and wanted the job.  Why those things? Because that is what I looked for when I was hiring staff members.  The resume tells a hiring manager about the person's experience, but the cover letter tells them why they are applying.

Based  on what site you go on and what type of position you are applying for you will find all kinds of variation in what the cover letter should say and what it should look like.  The best advice I have received from a recruiter was to not sell myself in the cover letter but to offer solutions to how I can help the company achieve their goals.  Not an easy task and when you write it the first time it kind of sounds like you are selling yourself.  The difference lies in how you phrase the sentences.  Remember, your resume outlines everything you have done, you don't have to say it again in the cover letter.

Here are some examples:
Selling yourself:

• I have 25 years in the healthcare industry
• I have managed 10 direct reports
• I reduced supply expenses by $10  million

Offering solutions:

• I can help XYZ company become a leader in the industry by using my network to bring talented staff in
• I will work to reduce your expenses by implementing successful strategies I have used in the past. For example, if you currently use xyz strategy, then I would work to covert it to ABC, which has been discussed recently in the news as the most cost effective way to manage this strategy. 
• I will mentor my direct reports in XYZ  company to become skilled in ABC which makes the company stronger.

Before you write your cover do some research and find out about the company you are applying to.  This is where you get to be a detective!  You want to find out the hiring managers name if possible.  One way to find this out is to see if the job description says who the position reports to.  If so, then go to the company website and look for a page that lists the leaders in the company.  I have actually found organizational charts on company websites.  If you get lucky that way, find out the name and address your cover letter directly to them.  Also, see if you can figure out the email address of the hiring manager and send them your cover letter and resume directly.  If you do this, you should also apply the way the company specifies, but state in the cover letter that you are sending this to them as well as through the website (or however you will be applying) so you are sure that they see your qualifications.  

If you can't find out who the hiring manager is, go to LinkedIn and search for the company.  See if there is anyone in your network that works for that company and ask them about the position and who the hiring manager is.  You can also find the email address this way.  If you can send your cover letter and resume directly to the hiring manager you have a better chance of it being seen!

I have actually been called directly by the  hiring manager using this technique.

So now that you have some resources for cover letters make sure you do your homework. Never send a resume in without a cover letter. Even if you apply online and there is no way to upload a cover letter use this trick.  If it appears that you can only upload one file here's what to do:

1. Create your cover letter
2. Open up your resume file and paste the cover letter at the beginning of the resume
3. Make sure there is a page break between your cover letter and resume
4. Name this new file: Yourlastname_companyname_combo.doc.  That way you know that this is a customized cover letter resume for that company.

Enough for today on cover letters.  A quick update on my job search.  I have 4 positions that I am actively involved with, all of them are from recruiters who have called me!  I hope to have something finalized in the next couple of weeks.  Keep your fingers crossed.