John Lands a job as principal engineer at Axonix in Billerica after only 9 mos. Hear how he did it.

From the Acton Networkers Group

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Friends -



After only 9 months, I finally landed a job as Principal Engineer,
Product Qualification and Test, at Azonix Corp. in Billerica. I say
"only," since even though it seemed like an eternity to me – especially
after 24 years of continuous work – I know it is relatively short
compared to what many of my friends in the Acton Networking Group have
had to endure.



I must say that I feel very lucky that this position found me more than I
found it. Immediately upon learning of my position being moved out of
state, an ex-boss recommended that I reach out to our ex-HR rep, for no
other reason than she had many LinkedIn contacts. She is now the HR
director at Azonix and had a few openings at the time, though none for
me specifically, but I shared these leads with others in the same boat
as me. Fast forward 7 months (through many networking meetings, one
failed landing attempt, no other prospects, and anxiety over the UI
extension vote), when out of the blue the HR director broadcast a
general email looking for several engineers. One position particularly
stuck out, I interviewed, and now I start in a few weeks.



The moral of the story, folks, is networking! I certainly would not be
writing this today if not for the connections I had made. So here are
some points that resonated with me and I hope they do for you as well.



(1) It didn't hurt that the president at my new job is the
brother-in-law of my ex-boss. However, the true point here is that the
job was still mine to win (not lose), that I had to prove that I was who
they had been looking for. My connections only got me noticed out of
the pile of resumes, but that was all it did. I had to do the rest.



(2) Learn all you can about the company you pursue. If you don't
familiarize yourself with their products or services, then you won't
come off as having any interest.



(3) In fact, bring up an interesting fact, unprompted, that you learned
through their website or contacts, and then compliment them on it.
Nothing makes an impression like a good compliment.



(4) Though my contacts at the Acton Networking Group did not
specifically get me the job, the pointers and tricks I learned through
the group were extremely valuable and gave me the self-confidence I
needed to prove my worth in interviews. I was a second-place finalist at
another opportunity, but I used that experienced to my advantage, and
it was the networking group that helped with that.



(5) Challenge yourself and reach for more than they are seeking. I had
been branding myself as a project manager, but the particular position I
interviewed for was slightly lower level than that. So I used my
project management background to indicate I came with more value than
they were originally looking for, and I ended up negotiating a higher
title.



(6) Maintain your sense of humor. Acton Networking alum Howie Lyhte had a
great line whenever he "just missed" an opportunity. He would scream at
the top of his lungs, "NEXT!!!" Besides the feeling we adopt of being
in a deli line with many others to compete against, I'm sure Howie would
say the emotional release makes you feel good. But my interpretation is
that it's time to move on to the next great opportunity. And there WILL
be one!



(7) Finally, let EVERYONE know you are still looking. Be subtle about
it, but if people haven't seen you for 4 months, they may assume you've
found a job by now – and you will lose those people (and more
importantly their contacts) from your network.



Good luck to you all. I'll still be around to help you any way I can.



Regards!

John