How I Networked My Way into the US Job Market
I moved to the US over 12 years ago. I still recall my first attempts to look for a job. The economy was strong so there were plenty of jobs around. The New York Times job section was several pages long.
As I was new to the country my initial steps were not so successful. My main strategy was to apply for jobs posted in the NYT or online. I never received an answer. So a friend of a friend suggested I need to network more, but I didn’t have a network, at least not in the right industry.
What could I do?
I began to meet with friends who all happened to work in the financial industry, asking them for job search advice on how to find a job in human resources. Eventually my friends referred me to other people they knew, including their human resources representatives. After a few meetings my network of people began to grow.
None of these meetings led directly to a job, but I learned immensely about the work culture in finance, in HR and in New York. I received my best interview coaching ever from a friend working at one of the large investment banks. He advised me to write down at least 30 possible interview questions and prepare answers for each of them. Then he sat down with me and practiced my answers with me. I have never felt nervous about a job interview since.
For a Finn who had recently moved to NY, this was invaluable. The job interviews I had had in Finland were much more relaxed and indirect than the ones my friend prepared me for. I learned how to be assertive, how to talk about my successes and mistakes and what I learned from them. I was learning direct communication as opposite to the Finnish more indirect communication style.
How did I find a job?
On the advice of another friend I signed up with a staffing agency as a “temp”, that is, a temporary administrative staff member to be assigned to short term jobs. My first assignment was in HR at a large investment bank, processing data. I did well and was assigned to another assignment in the same bank, this time working in the Controllers Office processing sensitive data on initial public offerings. I stayed there for four months and was offered to stay on longer but decided to leave to pursue a job that I liked better. At that point I had US work experience and great references.
I wanted to go back to working at a university or a non-profit. So I began applying for jobs at the local universities and colleges and eventually landed an interview at Columbia University. My diligent interview preparation and great references from the investment bank helped me get a job I loved and start a career in my preferred field.
Lessons learned?
When you move to a new country, be prepared initially to adjust your expectations. I did feel my data entry job was below my expectations; I had a master’s degree after all. Consider accepting a job that you may be overqualified for, do it well and make sure your bosses support you. Doing a great job processing data and getting good references eventually opened doors to more interesting jobs later. Learn the local culture, job search strategy and interview culture. Work hard. You are competing with the locals who have home field advantage. Do not be afraid to ask for help.
The Art of Story Telling
Tell me about yourself! What is your story? Where have you been and where are you heading? How many of us have not been caught by surprise when someone we just met asks us to introduce ourselves, or stumbled at the common first question in a job interview: Tell us about yourself?
Why is the question so dreaded? Why does it take so much work to prepare the so called elevator speech or 90 / 20 second professional yet personal self introduction? After all, it is about me and who knows me better than I do?
That’s exactly the challenge. You know yourself too well. You are too intimately aware of your strengths AND your weaknesses, your achievements AND your failures. To prepare a unique and memorable self introduction you need to first step back and try to look at your self from afar. Sounds difficult? It doesn’t have to be.
One way is to look at yourself and your life as a story. Imagine that you are writing a novel about a character that’s you. What are the core traits and personal characteristics of the main character? What does he like to do? What are his interests, dreams, values and core beliefs? What is his occupation and what successes has he reached during his life?
If you can answer all these questions, you are on your way to developing a captivating life story. Because just as every person is unique, every story is unique.
Now how do we turn it into a short “elevator speech”? That dreaded introduction that is supposed to not last longer than 90 seconds.
What makes a great story or a great speech so great? The rule of three (3)! Yes, three is the magic number; it has a nice rhythm to it. Think about the great memorable speeches over time? …”and that government of the people, by the people, for the people…” the Gettysburg address by Abraham Lincoln (1863).
The same applies to story telling, a good story usually have the following structure:
1. A beginning; 2. Middle; and 3. an end. How do you apply this to your “elevator speech”?
The beginning is your past (who are you? what have you done? What is your professional identity? ); the middle or the body of your story should explain what makes you special, what are you good at, what is you area of expertise?; finally the last section of your story should include why you are here? Where are you going / or want to go? What can you do for them?
Try to follow these guidelines and you will see that it becomes easier to talk about yourself. Use the same rule of three when you prepare your interview answers. It makes your answers easier to remember both for you and the one who listens to you!
Good Luck!
Be Too Connected to Fail
In one of my workshops for expatriate spouses in the NY area we discuss networking or the concept of creating and maintaining career connections.
We usually launch the workshop by sharing what “to network” means to me, how it is defined and what the networking do’s and don’ts are in my country of origin and compare it to how networking is defined and done in the USA . In the process we also learn to better understand how culture shapes how people look for and find work.
Here are a few examples: According to a spouse from Nigeria, networking is an open secret. This means that in general everyone knows that jobs are found through networking and relatives help each other, but it is not openly talked about or recognized (as in the US). My Kenyan, Bulgarian and South Korean participants agreed. Networking for a job is semi-hidden and indirect were words they used to describe it. The Swedish and British participants agreed with it being carried out indirectly, and that friends and family play an important role. They even mentioned that contacting people you do not know well directly and openly to ask for career advice and job leads would result in losing face or making a fool of yourself.
Who is it appropriate to network with as part of your global job search, according to my workshop participants? In South Korea the school or university you attended plays an important role in defining your network together with your hometown or region. The same seems to be true for Nigeria. Family, close friends and relatives are the pillars of your network in Bulgaria, Kenya, Sweden and Britain.
So with this anecdotal story in mind, how do we create and maintain global career connections?
A. RELATIONSHIPS
1. By nurturing the friendships we have developed over the years, especially if as an expatriate we have moved several times across the globe.
2. By maintaining family ties, so important for our own mental and emotional well-being and, as the examples show, our careers.
3. By keeping in touch with alumni from schools we attended and colleagues from previous jobs we held.
B. CULTURE
1. By being open and curious about others and reaching out to fellow expatriates and locals as we arrive to a new duty station or destination. By being mindful about our own assumptions and heritage.
2. By researching the local cultural patterns through books, workshops, movies, art and with the help of a cultural informant.
3. By knowing the structure of the local job market, where to find jobs, how to identify the key players in a specific industry, organization or office, and understanding specific hiring practices.
C. TOOLS AND STRATEGY
1. Use the Internet! LinkedIN, Facebook and multiple online communities have revolutionized how we live and the nature of our relationships, intimate and distant, personal and professional.
2. Be careful about blending personal and professional online networks. You may wish to use LinkedIN for professional contacts and Facebook for personal relationships. If your personal and professional online networks are intertwined, be mindful about what information you share. How much do you want a possible future employer or colleague to know about you?
3. Create new face-to-face connections at meetings of local professional associations, your religious congregation, your gym or soccer league, or by volunteering your time or skills at a cultural, social, or academic non-profit organization.
D. NETWORKING IN THE USA (a brief intro)
1. It is OPEN and DIRECT (search Amazon, Google or your local bookstore and you find thousands or resources and handbooks).
2. It is acceptable to reach out to an acquaintance or a friend of a friend of a friend to ask for career advice (but it is advisable to have a spokesperson to introduce the two of you).
3. It is based on a WIN-WIN philosophy. If I help you now, you can help me later and so forth. This is the core idea of the American business culture. As popularized by Maria Bartiromo in her latest book The Weekend that Changed Wall Street, the banks in financial trouble were Too Connected to Fail. Your career should be the same!
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