When you suddenly find yourself in the job market, your company unexpectedly shuttered or cancelled programs, downsized, it’s understandable to be rattled and emotionally crushed.  Take a few days to regroup, then get your game on to land a new role.

You’ll need to be organized, deploying your very best interpersonal and communication skills, and run your job search with integrity.

Get Organized

It’s a natural instinct to apply for every job, take every call, and in doing so, sometimes confuse activity with results.  It’s in your best instincts to get organized.

• Update your resume, your Linkedin, create a portfolio if you are in a creative or design role.  Here’s some tips on creating the best Linkedin bio:   ThePacheraGroupBlog
• Pull together a spreadsheet where you can track where you applied, who the contacts are and where you are in the process

It’s a huge turn off to recruiters to talk to a candidate who can’t recall if they interviewed or applied at a company.  The take away for us is a) you are gaming the system trying for another shot when you’ve been rejected or b) you are super disorganized.  For us, it’s a hard pass on furthering your candidacy.

If you’ve been unemployed for a while but haven’t updated your resume or portfolio, that also says something about your motivation and willingness to sell yourself.  Just because you worked at a FANG brand, doesn’t mean you will have the right background for another company’s specific job.

Polish Your Interview Skills

Interviewing is a skill in a league it’s own, it’s not how you work day to day, but it’s the tool we have.  There’s a number of online practice interviews you can and should use.  And we have a number of tips on video interviews, phone interviews, and what to expect:  ThePacheraGroupBlog

What Every Company Wants to See

Every company wants to hire employees who want to be there, are enthusiastic about the products, the team, and the approach.  Maybe you are still on the fence, evaluating how you feel about a particular job–you’d be better served to keep that to yourself and express enthusiasm.

Every company also wants people who fit into their culture.  In Silicon Valley that’s very often a respect for all people and an acceptance of all people.  The best companies will be looking for that, testing that.

And most companies shy away from arrogant, difficult people and opt for those who are a bit humble, know they don’t know everything, aren’t jerks.

Offer Negotiations

I hate the last phase of hiring, offer negotiations.  Frankly, most people suck at negotiating and have had little professional training in the art.

You have to be very, very careful in your ‘ask’.  For example, if the role is onsite, and that’s been expressed since the first conversation, you look egregious to ask to work from home at the offer stage.  The offer will likely be pulled, either you weren’t listening or you think you are an exception to the norm, a red flag.

Same with money, candidates who lay things out early, do the homework to understand what they are leaving on the table look infinitely better than the candidate who suddenly learns about their stock or bonus at the 11th hour.

Finally, know that not every offer is going to be as rich as the role you just had.  You’ll have to decide on the opportunity weighing all things.  No one wants to make less money but sometimes the learning opportunity or the chance to change industries is worth it.

Finally, get help.  Hire a resume writer, hire an interview coach, it’s critical you have the best team helping you land that next role!