TRUST THE PROCESS
I was speaking with an acquaintance named Phil, who I have gotten to know well from the job search support group structure of which I am a part of here in New Jersey where I live. Phil has been part of the job search groups for about 3 to 4 years now when his full-time job was moved out of state. During that time Phil has had work, often as a contractor for 6 to 12 months at a time. Certainly he would like to land a full-time permanent position. That opportunity has not come along for him yet, but I must say, it is NOT FROM FAILURE TO WORK THE JOB SEARCH PROCESS. In fact, quite the opposite. I admire Phil for the way he has taken the lessons he has learned at the groups he has attended and put them into action.
As I write this, Phil is about to start another contracting role with a company where he had been working as a contractor up to a few weeks ago. The previous contract was ending. However, in his time as a contractor with the company Phil took advantage of some of the opportunities afforded him. The company had two locations near each other. There was no desk space available at the location where Phil was assigned to work with a unit. He was asked to set up his desk in the other building, and work remotely with his unit, (his work involves a good deal of independent analysis work), or occasionally come on site to meet with his team members.
Given the opportunity to be in the other building, Phil took advantage of what was in front of him. He got to know the individuals seated around him. He asked them questions about the type of work they did, and in turn explained to them what his work was about. A relationship developed. The area where Phil sat near has several contract openings. Although the work is not exactly what Phil has done during his career, he has many of the skill sets that someone in the unit needs. One of the supervisors caught onto that fact. Hearing that Phil was leaving, he asked his Manager if he could interview Phil and see if he was a fit for the job. Indeed he was, and next Monday he has a whole new contract with that unit.
This is not the first time Phil has “worked the process.” During his attending of job search support groups Phil learned the importance of keeping active with different networks. One such networking group he joined was Toastmasters International, which also helped him with his ability to present himself verbally. Phil noticed that Toastmasters had a chapter that allowed attendees from other Toastmaster chapters to attend their meetings at a corporate office for where he had worked a 1 year contract in 2017. Phil began attending meetings there. After meetings, he would reconnect with employees he had met there to stay on their radar screen. While it has not directly led to an offer, they have encouraged him to continue to come back and check in with him.
Phil has also written several Linked In pieces about things he has learned in the job search process. Several other Linked In members have commented on how helpful they have been to them. He diversifies his networking between the job search support groups, alumni groups, professional associations, etc, to have a diversified set of contacts. When Phil had indicated to me he had some targeted companies on his radar screen of which he would like to learn more about, I suggested to him to tap into his Linked In network, (it has about 600 connections). See who works at some of these target companies. If not any immediate connections, see who they may be connected to that works at those companies and seek an introduction to that individual. Phil is going to take me up on my suggestion.
The point of all this is, in job search support groups and working with a coach we will often utter the phrase “Trust the Process.” The process does work. It may not work immediately. Sometimes promising leads dry up. But, other times, opportunities not expected emerge when you least expect them. Phil is an example of that. He was on the last day of his contract a month ago, ready to move out the door, when he got the request for the interview for the position to which he will now be moving. However, that opportunity did not just present itself that day. It presented itself from all the ground work Phil had laid in his time with the company and from the lessons he had learned as part of the search process.
