47: Job searching is selling

How could they not give me a job? Job search is sales. Something that I learned very quickly and I was humbled in this process is that it takes time. It is not always easy to get the exact person that you need to meet with you two days from now. You might be an amazing product, but if the employers don't know that you exist, it's not enough. Welcome to the Career Diet podcast. Holes to you by me and I believe a world-recognized career coach and LinkedIn learning instructor who has helped thousands of professionals discover and land their dream career. This podcast is for ambitious professionals like you, looking to create a career that supports your personal goals, growth and lifestyle. Not the one that requires you to sacrifice them. My mission is to help you see the power you hold in your career and help you become the star candidate and every employer is searching for. Think of this podcast as a personal career strategy in your pocket and leave it up to me to provide you with the tools, tips and resources. You need to make job search fun and turn your dream career into your reality. Thank you for tuning in today. Can't wait to see how your career and life shift. Today's episode is something I believe every job seeker needs to hear, especially if you're job searching right now. I truly believe that the approach to job search, the way to think about job search that I'm going to talk about in this episode is so important for you to implement and really implement today so that you are successful in your job search. In landing that offer, in two to four months, which is my goal for you, so that job search really isn't a problem again, because of how you think about it. I have noticed over the years that when it comes to job search, we kind of tend to believe that it should just happen because we went to school, because we got this degree, because maybe you've had big jobs, maybe you've worked with big clients, big names on your resume. Maybe you have led very big visibility, important, very well known in your industry projects. Maybe you have had a big title. And what we have been taught, the belief that most of us have is that, well, this is what all of this is for. How could I not get a job? How could I struggle? How could this not happen? It has to, it has to work out. Right? I have all of this value. It's natural that I should get a job. I've even seen conversations online where people say, well, I am capable. I have the experience. I want to work. It shouldn't be this hard, which by the way, I did an episode on this shouldn't be this hard a few weeks ago. So it is episode, I believe 45. So if you haven't listened to it, make sure that you do. So there is this belief that how could they not? Right? It should just happen for us. But the reality is, it's just not how this works. And I want to share a story with you. I have talked on the podcast before that job searching is going for a big sale, a big deal, a million dollar deal. Not just this one offer that you get, but everything that the employer puts into you and ideally you stay there for a few years. So it is a big deal that you offer. I think about this as sales. And let me just kind of walk you through it. So for a number of years, I actually worked in enterprise sales. And specifically, what I sold was recruitment services. My job was to go after enterprise level clients. So think trying to sign companies like Google or General Motors or Royal Bank of Canada for them to recruit from us. And to sign a client of that size, it is a massive sale. And it's probably ideally a multimillion dollar client a year. But either way, it is a massive sale. And trust me when I say that that type of level of sale does not happen in a day in a couple of weeks, it sure does not happen by me putting together a PDF, a deck with, hey, here, here's how we work. Here are the clients that we worked with in the past and sending that to them. Then magically they respond and they say, great, let's have a meeting. And then we sit down for a couple of conversations and boom, I signed Google or I signed Royal Bank of Canada. That is just not how it works. And if you look at any business, you don't sign a new client that pays you 200k every single year by doing only that. So realistically, what I actually had to do was, hey, I was knocking on a lot of doors. Every single week I would sit down and look through my list of target companies that I was trying to sign. I would look at the org chart that I was mapping within each of those companies. I would look at the people that have already met, people that I'm trying to connect with, some of the leads that I have, some of the people that promised me an introduction and I would call them. I would leave a voice message if they don't pick up. I would try and my goal was always to get them on the phone. And when I say this, I want for you to know that I am naturally very shy. I am an introvert. And none of that came to me as easy as natural. I actually had to psych myself up to do that. I was so nervous. If you don't know, English is my second language. So I've been building my career abroad, calling these executives on the phone, cold calling, speaking a foreign language every single day. So I had this fear that I would just forget English. I don't have this fear anymore. But just with cold calling, it's scary. Even if you do it every couple of days, consistently, week after week, it is scary. So I would actually have my script in front of me just in case I forget what to say or I fumble or say something silly. So I would really try to get them on the phone. I would use email. I would use LinkedIn. I would go to events. I would try to identify who are the decision makers to sign a client of that size. And to give you some perspective, if I'm going for a large client like that, I need to know people in procurement because they are the ones who decide to sign new clients. And they know when a new contract is going to be looked at, I needed to know hiring managers because at the end of the day, I need hiring managers who actually have the projects, the hiring managers that I would be hiring for. I need their support. And I really need to understand what kind of projects they have, what kind of talents they would be looking for. I would also be targeting human resources, recruitment teams because they work sometimes not always depends on the organization, but they can be potentially working closely with these external recruitment agencies that I was representing. Every single day, every single week, I was looking at who are those people? Who do I need to know? Who do I need to follow up with? Who have I met with already that I need to go back to and schedule another meeting? Something that I learned very quickly and that I was humbled by very quickly in this process is that it takes time. That a sale of that size, signing a bit client takes time. And that it takes oftentimes, months and oftentimes realistically years because you need to come into a cycle. They don't just typically sign a new contractor and you supplier. They typically have cycles. And companies like that have what's called an RFP process or request for proposal where it's kind of public, sometimes actually public, not always. Sometimes you need to know which again, which is where networking and that insider intel and support that I was trying to get was so helpful is knowing that, oh, a year and a half from now, we are doing a tender. So we're going to put out a request for proposal where you can bid to be invited to come in and pitch and then work with us. I have built relationships because everyone else who is bidding probably can do the job and probably will be successful. And they would hire me and my company because they like me because I have put in the work ahead of time. And here's the thing. Sometimes these requests for proposal, these tenders would be public information and you can just find it online and you can submit your application. And I promise you, if you are just in agency and you just see it online and you put together a deck, a PDF, right, and you just send over that trust me just because you submitted it, you're not getting an invite into the room to pitch in person to Google General Motors or Royal Bank of Canada. The only reason you get in the room is because they already know you and they already probably decided that you are one of the top three that they want to look at closer. And oftentimes that RFP was not even public. So with all of that in mind, by the time I am invited into the room, by the time they put together this, okay, they're in their cycle. Like every three years, every five years, they look at their list of suppliers and they go through the process. Again, if I come in as an outsider to pitch, let's say somehow, without any insider knowledge, I put together this PDF, I sent it over and somehow I got the meeting. If I'm coming in completely blind and I haven't done the work of understanding the kind of projects that they're now working on, the kind of talent they're looking to hire. So I can't really tailor my pitch. But I'm telling them about my experience and my company and the expertise that we bring. I can't tailor it because I don't really know exactly specifically what they're looking for. The information that I have is very generic. So my pitch is not going to be as good as someone else's pitch. So companies who have done this work, who have this insider intel. And then finally, the other component here is they already know me. They already like me. If I have done this work, if I have met with those people before, over the course of months, probably years. So I'm telling you the story to put into perspective what a big deal, right? A big multi-six figure million dollar deal on a recurrent basis, which your offer is, the kind of offer that you're after. What it really looks like for the employer. So this idea that it should just happen, right? Because I have this expertise, how could it not that the offer will just come to me because I put my hand up and I said, I'm available. I want to do this. Or because you spent a couple of hours preparing for an interview. So that's an equivalent of me preparing for that pitch the night before for two hours. I promise you I'm not landing that deal. And another thing I want you to tell you with a specific example is that it was really freaking hard to meet with those people because every time, even if I get someone on the phone, even if I get procurement on the phone, all they would tell me is, oh, we're not looking for new suppliers. We're good now. So it was my job to know how to overcome that objection so that they still meet with me. So that they like me like, oh, I really, I really like Dana. So that now the sea is planted. That oh, okay. Okay. And I is now on their radar and my company is now on their radar. It's the same for you with networking and with job searching. It does take and I keep reminding that to my clients every single week. Yes. You followed up three times. Let's follow up another time. In fact, I'll share an example that I shared with my clients this week. And one of my clients was saying that so she is targeting marketing roles with companies like Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble and she's been networking actually quite successfully because that networking has led to right now so far three interviews and she's actually pivoting into the CPG space. So it's kind of a good step up for her. And she's also shared an example where she knew people on the inside. She didn't know the hiring manager, but she knew people on the inside. And they were kind of helping her trying to help her get an each review and she's been trying to follow up with the hiring manager that they introduced her to and the hiring manager just didn't respond. And she was very frustrated. So this is the example that I shared with my clients. So when I was in recruitment sales, a big part of my job was talking to hiring managers. So those are usually VPs, sometimes directors, but typically I was going for VPs who had a big team, who had big projects so that I know that, oh, this is a new project that's coming down the pipeline next quarter so that now that they have met me and they know me and they like me, they can hire for me. So a big part of my job was knocking on doors, virtual doors and trying to meet with those people. Now, here's an example. There was a VP that was responsible for a very specific group with a big bank that I was hiring for and I knew that I really, really needed to meet with him. One of the key decision makers that I needed to have a relationship with if I wanted to work with that group and I knew that there were a lot of roles within that group. So it is actually someone that we have worked with before that my company that I worked for has hired for it before because I could see all of that communication in our CRM. I knew that this VP has hired from us. This person doesn't know who I am because I was new to that count. No one introduced me directly but I knew that in the past he has worked with us. He knows us. So I knew there was that connection. So I tried to use this as a way to connect with him. So it was cold but there was a little bit of connection there. So I tried everything. I tried calling. I tried leaving voice messages. I tried email. I tried LinkedIn over the course of multiple months kept following up over and over again. And zero response. And then I was talking about it with my team and then a recruiter on my team says, what's his name? And I shared the name and she says, oh, that's my husband. And I go, what? Help me get in touch with him. She says, don't worry. I'll talk to him tonight. She did. Guess what? He never responded to me. I never heard back from him. So she did say, hey, listen, there's a lot going on with their team right now. He has been very busy. Another thing to keep in mind here is that it was in her interest for me to work with her husband because if I get roles from her husband and then my recruitment team finds candidates, those candidates get hired for his team, I get a commission and the recruiter gets a commission. So it was in her direct interest to connect us. She was not necessarily doing me a big favor. It was in her interest yet never heard from him. So anything I'm teaching you, anything that I'm doing, I'm doing it. I'm pushing my clients to do with follow-ups, with networking, with those conversations, with relationships is not something I haven't done hundreds of times. Now I'm telling you the story to show you that to sign a deal of that size, right? For you to sign this offer, 200K offer where you'll pay that every single year, it's a big deal. And no, it doesn't have to take years, but just think big picture in a business. To get a client that size, it doesn't happen by you just sending a PDF or a pitch deck and then getting a meeting and then boom, two conversations later you signed. Everyone else also worked with big clients and has big names on their resume. So it's not enough. Similar to how when I was trying to lend those clients, those enterprise level clients, other recruitment agencies were doing the exact same thing. The reason I'm so good at job search, the reason I'm so good at teaching job search, the reason I'm really good at networking, positioning, communication, negotiation, getting into the needy greedy, the nuance, the very specifics of how we approach those conversations, how we reach out to someone, how we get into the introduction, the referral, ask for the path forward, how do we position ourselves when we get those meetings, when we get those interviews, when we get to the negotiation, my background in sales and specifically in recruitment sales. And it is really easy for me when I'm working with my clients, it is really easy for me to help my clients think through communicating with those executives. Through that outreach, through the follow up, it's easy for me to think how to structure this, how to frame the meeting, it's easy for me to do that because I've spent years and sales. And that is because job search is sales. A lot of people feel like I don't like sales. I don't want to do sales. I'm not a salesperson. I'm a marketing executive or I do product management, project management. I'm a chief of staff, insert the kind of role that you're after. And job seekers tell me that I am not a salesperson. I don't want to sell. I don't want to sell myself. I hate sales. But job search is sales. Think back to the example that I shared with the enterprise sales, right? In order for me to sign that client, all of those things had to happen. So in order for you to sign this big deal, all of these things in terms of you getting in front of the right people, learning how to do that, learning how to book those meetings, how to frame those meetings, how to lead those meetings, how to get referrals, how to get advocates, how to then. Once you actually get in the room and get invited for an intro, if you have to position yourself, all of that is sales. And I'm going to put it in a different way for you. So I am personally into skincare. Love skincare. It's something that I enjoy. I enjoy researching. I care about. I spend a lot of time on just reading about it, understanding different ingredients. And the sequence of when to use them, how to use them, different time of year, really being in tune with how my skin feels. Like it's just something that I really enjoy. There are so many skincare products out there. And it's actually quite overwhelming. And I am sure that there are amazing products. products that I have never heard of and haven't used and probably will never use. Why? Well, just because being that good product, good formula, good, you know, in fact, that that product provides just being the good product is not enough because that product needs to get in front of the consumer. The consumer needs to know that the product exists and once the consumer knows that the product exists, you need to make sure to sell the product to them because just know him and seeing it on the shelf and seeing that this brand or this product exists is not going to make them buy it. They need to be sold. They need to know what this product is going to do for them, how amazing this product is. The only reason you buy a specific product is because you've been sold this product, not because it exists. Right? So the customer, even though the product is on the shelf, the customer needs to believe that this product will work for me, for my skin, for my specific issue. And another way to think about it here is that there are amazing skincare products that will never work for me, even though there are amazing and they will work for someone else. So if you think about this and translate this to job search, right? You might be amazing. You are amazing at what you do. You have the skills you have experienced. You have done cool things, but if no one knows that you exist, it doesn't matter how amazing you are. So back to this idea that we started with in the beginning, that it should just happen because I'm so good. I just want to do great work. Well, no one knows that you exist. You might be an amazing product. But if the employers, IE the decision makers, if they don't know that you exist, it's not enough. Once those decision makers know that you exist, they need to know what you can do for them. It's similar to, okay, I know that the skincare product is great, but do I know that it's great for me, that it's going to work for me? You need to demonstrate that you're good. What you have done, why it matters to them? What it's going to do for them, that is selling. Job searching is selling because the market does not reward potential. The market does not reward what you have done before. The market does not reward your skills and experience. The market rewards demonstrated value. You don't get paid for how smart you are, how talented you are, how much experience you have. But what you have done, you get paid, you get hired for how well you can show, communicate and deliver results for the employer. This is why two people with similar skills can earn wildly different amounts. You'll have to face the fact that you'll be sitting on the shelf and maybe here and there, someone will buy that product just because they saw it on the shelf. Here and there, you will get an offer. Is it going to be an offer that you want? Is it going to be the type of offer that you're after? Are you going to grow in your career? Continue to grow in your career? No, because job searching is selling. I offer to hear this idea that, "Why do I have to learn to do this? Why do I have to learn networking? Why do I have to learn interview frameworks? Why do I have to learn how to follow up strategically?" It's all made up. It's all just, I have the experience. It makes sense. You're looking to hire someone. Let's just work together. Think back to a product. There are a lot of products. Whether it's skincare, whether it's makeup, whether it's soda, healthy soda, you don't have to learn how to sell yourself. You don't have to learn how to job search. You can stick with this idea that, "Why should I? It should work, right? It should be easier. How could they not? I have the volume." You can do that and stay stuck. It's kind of really plateau in your career, but you're selling a high value product. You, and even a good product doesn't sell itself. Think about it. Big companies, they have branding teams and marketing teams and sales teams, and then the higher marketing agency to help them sell. Companies know that even if we build the best product in the world, we need to sell it. But somehow, you've been taught with job search that you just need to be here. They will find you. You've got the experience, you'll get the job. That isn't saying. You have to sell yourself. Job search is sales. You've got to learn all of these skills, networking positioning, communication. Those are skills. You're supposed to learn them. All right. I hope that you are now looking at job search. Maybe a little bit different. And maybe you're starting to see that it's a whole other set of skills that I do need to learn to be successful in my career. That my professional skills are not enough. I need job searching skills. I need selling skills. Okay. If you want to actually master those skills in a matter of a few months because you have proven frameworks, proven strategy, proven scripts, you have tools and support and plan and goals and coaching and feedback. Join us. Join my coaching program. The Star Canada. That's exactly what would teach you inside. And I hope to see you there. That's it for today. If you found this episode helpful, I would be grateful if you could leave a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify. It really does help me put out more free resources just like this to support you on your journey. And if you aren't already following me on social media, you can find even more content to help you build your dream career. Follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok @thecarrereadiet or head to my website, thecareerdiet.com. I am thrilled to have you here with me and I can't wait to connect with you in the next episode.