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5 things I wish job hunters knew

5 things I wish job hunters knew
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com / Unsplash

I have spent almost 20 years hiring people. I have been a career coach for the last 5 and here are the top things that I wish job hunters knew.

  1. Layoffs, terminations and big companies scaling back will ALWAYS get the headlines. No one is writing about the small and mid sized companies who are growing, adding to their team and building. That doesn't provoke the same feeling. I know it can be hard but ignore the noise. Noise works for publishing articles but it is not a reflective of the job market at large.
  2. The "hidden job market" or the jobs that are not posted on LinkedIn and other job boards account for 80% of jobs. It is even higher for senior level roles. When I work with coaching clients I tell them they need to be spending 70% of their time networking, reaching out to people on LinkedIn, contacting employers directly and only 30% of time applying online.
  3. Women need different types of networks. I am regularly angry that women are told they need to find a mentor. While a mentor is nice to have a network is ESSENTIAL. If you are currently employed and want to make sure you are well positioned if that could change - all of your time and effort should be put into growing that network. It is why we created the Moms at Work Collective.
  4. Your application is not done until you have made 4 points of contact. What does this mean? Applying into a portal and just crossing your fingers is not - I repeat - not enough. You have spent hours doing your resume, filling out their questionnaire and writing a cover letter - why would you just leave it there? You need to reach out to the company, find a contact on LinkedIn, email the hiring manager and see if you can get an introduction from someone in your network. Only then are you done.
  5. I am expecting you to negotiate. As a hiring manager we make offers expecting there to be negotiation. If you are moving into management or leadership I am actually waiting for you to start so I can see that I have made the right decision. I want to see that you are capable of asking for more, having uncomfortable conversations and that you will be a person who goes after more for their team. Salary negotiation is something that you only do a few times in your life but when you do it it can change your life. (Yes negotiating 15K a year more means you will make 150K more over the next 10 years. That is a lot of money).

I know this feels hard and overwhelming but Moms at Work is here to help - whether you work with one of our career coaches, join our Collective or follow us on social media we want you to land a great job, make more money and build a professional community.

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Allison Venditti is a Career Coach, Founder of Moms at Work, mom of 3, winter bike rider, lover of star wars, HR expert and advocate for working moms and pay transparency. (I am also a hyper connector and get excited at the possibility of adding you to my network.)

Allison was named The Globe and Mail Report on Business Top 50 Changemakers 2022 and is a regular speaker and media expert with over 100 interviews in 2022. Find out more about how you can work with us and create change for working women everywhere by sending us an email at admin@thisismomsatwork.com

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