Some thoughts on what I've done for the last few weeks:
1) I mentioned the Group Health interview in my last post. My one thought since then is that I failed to give them a reason to hire me. Yes, the interview went well and yes, they liked me, but using sales terminology, I basically failed to close the deal.
2) I've made some progress at Expedia. A couple of weeks ago, I sent out a bunch of LinkedIn connection requests to PM types there, and based on that, I got one phone call, which I believe turned into a fairly meaningful connection. This woman was great! We got along really, really well. The conversation was actually engaging and she told me that she would pass along my resume and help me out in various ways. Now, I just need to duplicate that like 30 times and I'll have a job.
3) Using what worked with Expedia, I sent out a number of requests to both Starbucks and Razorfish, two other companies I'm really, really interested in. I still need to follow-up with the contacts I generated from those requests. Ideally, I would get a sit-down meeting with at least one of those people.
4) Reached out to a recruiter at Amazon and got her to submit my resume for a position over there, but the hiring manager said no. Following this exercise, it occurred to me that without some kind of relationship between me and the recruiter, there's really no basis for her to advocate on my behalf. All I am to her is a LinkedIn connection that she probably doesn't want to alienate, which is why she forwarded on my resume, but without some basic understanding of who I am and what I'm really about, i.e. without ever having "engaged" with me, she doesn't have any reason to sell me to the hiring manager.
5) Met up for Happy Hour with two people from my PMP study group. DG has a lot of ideas about how to help me out and the plan right now is to meet with her on Sunday.
6) Failed to set up meetings with Lori L. I need to pick up that thread and get it going again. She is with Bridge Consulting, and they are a legitimate option for me.
7) Supposedly, a recruiter from Ciber is contacting me tomorrow (Saturday), although it could very well happen on Monday. The PM I mentioned in my last post is pretty keen to get me hired. There must be a lot going on over there, which would be awesome in so many ways.
8) The SharePoint TAP seems to be DOA or at least hibernating. I haven't heard a peep from either Vega or Projectline in the last two weeks.
9) Talked to the recruiter from OpenMarket this week. I'm not a fit for the role there, as they need someone that is basically more of an Architect-level developer to write specs for REST API's. That's so totally outside my expertise it's not even funny. However, I did write a very good email to the recruiter explaining my expertise and strengths, which I need to build on. Here is what it said:
I appreciate that you guys are trying to be very thorough. My primary function recently has been as a Release Manager, managing process and making sure that everything is in line to hit a date. While I was at Medio, that line got blurred to some degree, as it is a small company and people tend to take things on. Still, I can't really say that I've designed full-fledged functional specs on my own. I've done some gathering of requirements and I've worked very closely with technical teams, but wouldn't consider myself extremely technical. I do have an interest in going in that direction and developing that skillset, but I can't say it's something I've done so far.
As a PM, I try first of all to do a few simple things well. When I set up a meeting, I make sure there is an agenda, and when the meeting is over I send out notes and action items. I communicate well; when I send out emails describing a situation or business problem, I strive to be as clear as possible and eliminate any ambiguity in my use of the language so that the right people understand the current status, including any blocking issues. I exercise strong interpersonal skills and demonstrate personal leadership where I can, and I try not to sweat the small stuff.
Fundamentally, I believe my greatest strength is the ability to think in an interdisciplinary fashion. I believe the very best PMs try to both maintain focus on their projects and also understand the larger business from an holistic, systems-wide perspective. That means understanding, for instance, not just the end user that will use the product, but the more immediate customer/partner that is trying to sell it. I think it's important, even for a PM in a somewhat narrow product-development role, to have an understanding of the rest of the business, to know how marketing and sales work, to understand how customer support happens, and to understand the agendas of various stakeholders in the enterprise. Having this sort of broader understanding of the business allows the PM to anticipate problems and to think strategically about prioritization and resource tradeoffs, and also to serve as a bridge between the product team and the rest of the company.
I hope this clears things up. When we spoke on the phone, I indicated to you that I had never failed due to not being technical enough. I still believe this was a true statement. I am not the most technical PM out there, but I've worked closely with technical teams in the past and I do believe I have the ability to comprehend web services at an architectural level. However, at the very least, I want to make sure you have an accurate understanding of how I view my own strengths as a PM, and if this particular role isn't a good fit, I sincerely hope that OpenMarket will keep me in mind for future opportunities.
Now that's a pretty damn good email! I need to take elements of it and turn it into an email.
10) This week, I need to send out emails to the Projectline people and get that ball rolling again. I also need to send out LinkedIn invites to people at Group Health, Amazon, Marchex, Zillow, and maybe Revel Consulting. Not so sure about Revel or Slalom, mostly because the people there won't have any real stake in their companies. It's kind of the nature of the consulting world.
11) Hopefully, extended unemployment benefits come through this week. Otherwise, I'll need to start selling stuff.
Some quick notes to record what happened this week.
1) Interviewed at Group Health on Monday - didn't get the job but the interview went well, so that is forward progress at least
2) Attended two PMI-sponsored networking events - connected with a PM at Ciber that was pretty sure she could get me hired - they apparently have lots of open reqs. Also connected with a recruiter from Greythorn that is just a massively cool dude. At the same event, I met a recruiter from Experis that I am interested in getting to know personally, and you never know - maybe she can get me a job too.
3) Applied for a few different positions online: 1) Cobalt Group/ADP, 2) OpenMarket, 3) e-dialog.
4) Called the unemployment telecenter and got my claim reopened so I can start drawing benefits again.
I have a phone screen tomorrow. Since I blew the interview the other day, I need to make sure I don't mess this up. It would be nice to get to the next stage in the process.
So, I thought I would take a few minutes here and put down some thoughts about what it is that I need to convey.
Some things about this company to note:
1) People seem to like working there. The reviews on Glassdoor.com are generally positive and salaries seem to be competitive, which makes me think that they don't have a lot of turnover there.
2) There are also a couple of interview comments on Glassdoor.com for people that have interviewed for PM positions. These comments suggest that relationship building is especially important. One individual was advised to prepare a PowerPoint Presentation on relationship building and managing projects. An interview question that is noted there was "how would you handle a difficult team member?" so I definitely need to be prepared for that.
So, what do we think of when we think about Project Management? Forget PMI, what does a hiring manager value?
1) People Skills
2) Ability to communicate
3) Critical Thinking Ability
4) Ability to prioritize and think strategically
What do I like about Lean/Agile software development?
1) Emphasis on self-organization/respect for people, which also leads to higher levels of productivity
2) Cuts bureaucracy
3) Fast Releases and Course Corrections/Reduces Waste and improves feedback into the system
What is a good problem-solving process?
1) Clarify the problem and assess current status. Is the problem contained? Do we need a temporary fix?
2) break the problem down into smaller issues and define scope of the problem
3) Set target to improvement
4) Analyze root cause
5) Develop Countermeasures
6) See countermeasures through
7) Evaluate results and process - was this an effective countermeasure?
8) Standardize Success/Learn from failures
I interviewed with this company today and I'm pretty sure I blew it. I wasn't prepared and I got flustered. The questions were pretty straightforward and I should have had answers ready. They were throwing me softballs. No excuse.
I have a real problem with personal branding, especially in interview situations. What I like to tell people is that I have a problem talking about myself, which is true to an extent. But the underlying problem, I think is that I'm not super-confident about my own background and my own value.
My career, such as it is, has been less than ideal. If I'm being honest, this is true. When I got out of High School, I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I joined the Marine Corps. When that was over, I went to college, which was the right thing to do, but was also delaying the inevitable. If I could do it over again, I would get a degree in Business or Computer Science and I would have made sure to do multiple internships. Instead, I got a degree in Political Science and didn't do a single internship.
Now that I look back at things, it's pretty clear that I am some sort of crazy, manic procrastinator. I put stuff off, and by "stuff" I mean pretty much everything, and now I'm in a position where it's going to be really hard for me to get what I want, if I even know what that is. I'm pretty sure that my lack of preparation for this interview is just another form of procrastination. Basically, I'm putting off life. It may be that I'm afraid to prepare because if I put real effort into it and don't get it, then that will hurt. That sounds simplistic, but I think it's true. I'm protecting my reality.
So, I need to stop procrastinating. That's kind of the bottom line here.
I've finally made some progress on my resume and my LinkedIn profile. I don't know why these tasks are taking so long, why I have such resistance to getting them done, but there you have it. The upside is that I'm pretty sure I've learned my lesson. Going forward, I will make it a very high priority to document the business results of my work.
One remaining task on the LinkedIn profile is to complete the summary section. This is my opportunity to really explain what it is that I am about, which is a difficult task for me. One thought I have is to enhance whatever it is that I put up there with a blog, which I can then import to my LinkedIn profile. Three or four insightful pieces should do wonders to make me look like I really know my shit, which as a matter of fact I do. Upgrading to a paid account and then actually getting the PMP cert should lock things up and put me solidly over the 100K mark, at least for contract roles. So, that's pretty much what I need to do.
I have too much going on right now and the big problem with this is that I am procrastinating on the one thing that I really, really need to get done, which is my resume and the rest of my LinkedIn profile. With a more fully optimized resume that reflects who I really am and what I'm about, I should be able to get a job of some sort here in the next few weeks. Once I get a job and some stability, then I can start focusing on the long-term strategic approach. But for now, I am going tactical, which means I need to get myself in the running for some contracts, and do so pronto.
Here is my to-do list in order of priority:
1. Resume/LinkedIn
2. PMP Application
3. Boot Camp Assignments
I need to get some thoughts down on my job search strategy and hopefully sort out some of the overwhelmingness (not a word) that I'm feeling right now.
I'm working on three main threads right now, listed as follows:
1) Prolango Boot Camp
2) PMP Certification
3) Public Speaking Skills/Sales/Personal Branding
Prolango Boot Camp
Pending Items:
1) Update Resume
- Add achievement language to statements
- Read "Resumes for Dummies"
2) Career Search Marketing Plan
- Last Position Exit Statement
- Personal Branding Statement
- LinkedIn Profile
- Follow Up Email Templates
- Business Cards
3) Company Research - Top 10 Companies
- Identify Top 10 Companies for FTE slots
- Identify Consulting firms for backup plan (i.e. MS vendor work)
PMP Certification
- Application Process (3 hrs)
- Thursday Study Group
- Flash Cards
- Review Cost, Scheduling, and Risk Management
- Take Exam (May)
Public Speaking Skills/Sales/Personal Branding
- Attend Toastmasters Meetings on Tuesday Nights
- Join Chamber Club
- Give Icebreaker Speech (June)
- Sales Training (August)
- Develop Personal Branding Statement
- Storytelling/Interview
Other Action Items- Get printer working
- Purchase a small desk from Ikea
- Deposit check
- complete taxes
- work out 4 days each week
- maintain diet - drop 10 pounds in April and May
Plan for week of 4.18.111) Get Printer working (update: purchased new one but not set up yet)2) Update Resume3) Review "Resumes for Dummies"4) Cold Call 5 recruiters5) Try to set up 5 coffee or drink meetings for the next week6) Attend Sip and Social on 4/19 (conflicts with Toastmasters)7) Develop Personal Branding Statement - 1st draft8) Complete LinkedIn Profile9) Order business cards from Vista Print10) Attend Prolango Bootcamp Monday morning11) Attend Prolango sub-group meeting on Friday morning12) Take Friday afternoon off so that I can mow the lawn, work out, etc.
13) Attend Study group on thursday14) Attend Linked:Seattle on Wednesday15) Complete Top 10 Companies ListOngoing Tasks1) Add contacts to LinkedIn2) Work outOther:Going out is a low priority next weekend. If I can get all of the action items above done this week, I will have made solid progress towards my goals.
