Accidental Networking

Everyone around me (here, my friends, my school, my boss) talks about networking like it’s a calculated, pre-planned formula. I always tell people I’m horrible at networking, and I am.
I’m horrible at their kind of networking. You know, where you map out an agenda of people you want to impress and follow-up with them regularly. It sounds all well and good, really, and kudos to those who can do it, but it’s hard for me. The whole idea of that kind of networking feels… wrong. Cheesy. A bit like using people. Also, a bit of an imposition – like I’d be bugging them. (While I think that sometimes people take networking too far and are impositions, most of the time, it’s perfectly fine. So, I see this as my own unfair discomfort and judgment on the practice and nothing more.)
However, to say I’ve never “networked” is probably a bit of a stretch.

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Sales versus Marketing

The question of “Sales or Marketing?” somehow defines a lot of my character and my job search, and I kind of think it will define a lot of my career, eventually.
I am a strange creature. To look at my resume (or even to meet me), one would think I was a natural salesperson, and I am pretty good at it. I just hate it. I hate sales, yet I love marketing. In my area especially, this is not understood – because most people think that sales and marketing are synonymous. In fact, most of the marketing jobs listed are really sales jobs. Some of them are just hiding their crappy jobs with the word marketing, but some of them are substantial, executive-level sales jobs (note: I am not trying to disdain salespeople, who have a very tough and challenging job and shouldn’t be disdained) that really think they are “marketing” jobs.
To me, they have always been exact opposites.
Sales: Getting rid of what you have.
Marketing: Learning to make what the customer wants.
It’s the push versus pull phenomenon.
A good salesperson can sell you a big box of nothing (and make you love it and write them a thank you note for doing so afterwards). It’s a fabulous skill. I’d say I have a good 70% mastery of it when I really try, which isn’t bad. Most of the time, of course, I never really tried to sell. (Makes me feel yucky because, like many Americans from hardworking lower-middle class families, I was raised to hate salespeople as people who cheated gullible consumers out of hard-earned money.) Instead, I tried to market.
For instance, I sold shoes. I never tried to sell someone shoes they didn’t want, though I often (as is technically required of shoe salespeople at most large department stores, so don’t berate them for doing so) brought out additional items. And they quite often bought these additional suggested items. I did not, however, bring out the “Push Shoe of the Week” very often, like management often suggested. Because these were silly, non-targeted suggestions (and to her credit, my manager actually knew this and said so) that usually didn’t work.
Instead, I brought out shoes I thought they’d actually need and like — and I was usually right, even times when other people thought I was crazy. I have a weird talent for assessing personality, which is what makes me seem like a salesperson when you meet me. (All great salespeople can do this, too — mostly without realizing it. But instead of using it to sell you what they want, they use it to sell you what they have.)
A true salesperson can sell the push shoe to anyone. A true salesperson does not feel guilty about this or see it as manipulative, ridiculous, or rude. A marketer doesn’t understand the concept of a generic push shoe, created arbitrarily (or worse, based on the fact that there are more of them left).
I was lucky never to have to work in a “truly strenuous” sales position. Yes, I worked on commission, and yes, I excelled in an area where business was often difficult. A lot of people interpret this to mean I learned how to push-sell. I didn’t. I know how to client-build, analyze, quick-analyze.
I actually think the push-sell will be almost-useless in the business-to-consumer market soon (within 30 years), and it’s certainly getting harder. As any marketer will tell you (partially because it’s their job to believe this because they like the idea of a “Marketing Era” and partially because they’re correct), consumers are getting savvier. Mostly because there are more marketers in the world. So, it’s an ironic, chicken-or-egg situation.
Business-to-business sales will have a strong element of push forever, maybe, but push-selling only works in B2B when all else is fairly equal (relationships, price, quality). Which, besides relationship, all factors usually are pretty equal, in B2B.
Anyway, I guess I am writing this because I am sick of getting offered sales jobs when I know I am far more suited to development and analysis than actual sales. Yes, I can sell, but I’d burnout so quickly, it’s not worth it. For me, it’s a skill best used in moderation. I know good salespeople are in demand, and I do respect my time in sales (as I think some sales experience should be required of anyone in a marketing or organizational management position, because it really is a key foundation), but I’ve put in at least three solid years of real sales experience. I’m done.
Unfortunately, the really interesting analysis jobs require way more experience than I have (or than any 21 year old has), and there aren’t many entry-level marketing jobs in my area. Maybe time as a copywriter/account executive at an Advertising Agency would be a good starting place, but it’d be more hours for about $5,000-10,000 less a year. Seems silly since, though it might look better, I wouldn’t actually learn any more than I do at work now. So, what to do?
I do learn a lot and get to use my skills a lot where I am, so I think I might stick it out, especially if I can swing enough funding to pay for the MBA and start next January. Sure, it’ll take three years, but it might launch me into the running for those analysis jobs I want (and know I can do).
Plus, if my company grows the way I think it will in those three years, I will have some really solid executive experience. We will probably go national in those years and open up a new location across the country, and my best bet for launching a strong career is to leave at just the right time, with all the right qualifications, and hopefully with recruiters looking for me. This is what the sales vs. marketing thing really comes down to. A marketer would know better than to leave now; a salesperson would do just as well leaving whenever.
Creating demand is a great thing (and what salespeople do), but working within natural demand will always get you better results, if you can do it right. In the meantime, I need to learn some patience. So, if patience is a virtue, perhaps that is the key lesson and growth of this time in my life. Shame there’s no rubric for things like this.

Resume Analysis

So, I am posting my resume (per comment request in my last blog, “Fears”) for viewing, so we can understand this job board thing. I do think, looking over it now, I think it’s a pretty darn good resume for a 21-year old almost-college-grad (better when you see the pretty version, of course), but I don’t know if it’s amazing or anything. I’d like there to be more on it, and I’d like to be stronger at more things (programming aspects, especially, because I think the world of publishing is moving online).
I hadn’t thought it was strong at all until I read the whole thing in its entirety today. I guess looking at pieces of it (as I add or change things in pieces — and this is based on the same resume template I’ve been using since last June, when I had a different job), I’m more likely to notice what I’m lacking than what I have.
I didn’t think anyone even read the job boards, so I didn’t think it’d matter how good my resume was. I never figured I’d be fielding 10-15 calls and e-mails a week, half of them decent, real, non-scam, non-ridiculous offers. I can also tell you that nobody has called my current boss for a reference lately, because she would tell me.
I’m very lucky in that I have a boss who wants me to stay for a little while and develop my skills and understands that I might want to eventually do larger things than what I can do with this company. So, they expose me to as many new projects as possible, let me learn, let me contribute, and help me build my resume – which is not something every employer is interested in doing, unfortunately. It’s why I’m not eager to jump unless it’s something really interesting. Someday I will, but only for the right one.
Anyway, a text version of my resume (the real one is much prettier, with table organization and tasteful graphic content) is in the extended entry. I guess it’s a good resume… if this is any indication. I do think my title bump has helped a lot. My old title kind of sucked (and didn’t adequately reflect what I did either) for the jobs I want, and this one is much better. I know they say people don’t look at your titles, but I completely disagree.
Very little else has changed on my resume, so unless the job market suddenly perked up (within the last 4 months), it affected me somewhat. I think the other thing that affected it is that my graduation is only a few weeks away now. I was working full-time anyway, but a lot of companies don’t even like to consider current students.

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Fears

It’s weird, I posted my resume on a couple of places and contacted a couple of recruiters and I’m actually getting offers/interviews. About half of them are scams (Casting Manager making $75,000 a year — company totally doesn’t check out) or ridiculous (teaching English in Korea, selling cars), but a good solid half (at least 4 so far) seem to be pretty real and reasonable. I mean, they aren’t “dream jobs” but they are good, entry level jobs. So, either I am strangely lucky, I have a better resume than I thought, the job market is on a ridiculous upswing for employees, or candidates have more success on job boards than I thought.
I was pretty much raised to believe you couldn’t get a job off of a job board or online. I never really have. I always had to call or go somewhere. I applied for a few jobs over the internet and never heard much. So, I stopped applying. I search the jobs. Every once and awhile I target a company and send my resume directly, if they have an appropriate opening. A few of them hit. Most of them don’t.
I’ve actually gotten a few offers, and I’ve turned them down. I like my job. They trust me, they rely on me, they’re good people, it’s creative on some days, I have full health care, and I get paid pretty decently.
I kind of wonder why I go on so many interviews, if I’m not going to take the job. Sometimes I go on a second interview and I already know I don’t want it. I still go through all of the motions. The thank you card (if I have an address), the nice suit, the questions. Some of the jobs are too far away. Some don’t pay enough. Some don’t have the exact right benefits. Some are just scary.
Most of all, I don’t want to get stuck in a push-sales atmosphere. I hate that part of selling. I can’t sell thin air, and I can’t convice people to buy white salmon because “it won’t go pink in the can.” Well, actually, I can, but it gives me a nagging feeling in my stomach and makes me want to call in sick. I can sell things worth selling without that, but I don’t think that’s a talent. I can’t imagine there’s anyone who can’t sell a thing that’s worth selling.
It’s hard with marketing jobs because you never know. Sometimes they make it seem like analysis and organization, and then they want you to meet quotas and sell the smoke. I don’t mind quotas, within reason. I just… I don’t want to get trapped. Is that a weird thing to think?
It comes from my mother. She’s been working the same place for 24 years, and she’s been laid off twice (and re-hired). Her plant keeps getting smaller. I have no idea what her job is, and some days, neither does she, because they shuffle her around so much. Some day, the company will lay her off and not re-hire her, and they might not even have the same great severance package they have now. She doesn’t have a degree. She’s smart and capable, but she has a very specialized market, not a great title, and no real hope of matching her current salary.
I don’t want that. I want to be a commodity. So, I think I go on interviews, even when I’m happy, because of that. That’s why I paste my resume all over these cyber walls. I’m glad people are calling. Maybe they call everyone and maybe they don’t. It’s just nice to feel like you have a net.

Escape from the Sunshine State

One of the biggest challenges for me right now is getting out of Florida. I really, really want to go somewhere where a) I can pursue better opportunities and b) I like. I love New England and NYC. I am really excited today because I just heard from a recruiter in the Boston area that I might be able to get a position with a well-known specialty retailer.
It’s a step down in title, but a step up in salary (even considering the higher cost of living there, which isn’t so bad because the area is 45 minutes outside of Boston and not that pricey – and it’s a cute, historical area, too), plus they seem to promote from within.
I haven’t even spoken to the company, so my excitement is beyond premature, bit it makes me feel good to know there is a recruiter trying to place me and who seemed so confident he could arrange a phone interview. He seemed impressed by my resume, and they’re a pretty good recruitment agency for this field. So, yay!
If it works out, and I got to move to the Boston area… I guess, I’d feel like my life was really beginning. That’s the hardest part about Florida. It feels like any relationships I forge here – professional or personal – are temporary, because I really, really, really, really, really don’t want to stay here (or even be here).
It’s hard because I’ve purposefully put myself on a career track that barely exists in Florida (because I knew it existed in the areas I liked), so it’s not like there are real opportunities here, and it’s very difficult to relocate at professional entry-level or close to it. So, a real opportunity – and speaking to a real person! – feels like a huge step.
*Fingers crossed*

It’s Just the Supply Curve Doing Its Thing

First of all, a B.A./B.S. doesn’t mean that much anymore. Too many people go to college nowadays for it to mean a lot salary-wise. And, yes, there are a lot of jobs that require a college degree and actually pay less than some jobs that don’t, but I think it has to do with more than just experience.
For instance, if I stay where I am now for a couple of years — a job that is essentially an administrative assistant job at its core and does not require a degree — I’d likely make more over those years than I would if I left for any of the jobs I’m looking at. If I got an office manager position somewhere else or a Executive Assistant to the President position somewhere larger (again, not jobs that generally require college degrees), I could easily make $10,000 more next year than I would at say an Ad Agency.
Now, if you graduate with a degree in Engineering in my area, you can make $60,000 out of the gate and a talented programmer just graduating can probably do about the same.
Again, I don’t think it’s just experience because a) I actually have a couple of years of full time work experience, and I’m in the same boat, and b) the salaries are generally pretty similar by industry in almost everything I’ve looked at. If you get hired at an entry-level, you get X pay because there are 50 people lined up outside the door who want that entry-level job that leads to better things. It’s simply economics. There aren’t as many people who want to be good secretaries, good plumbers, good electricians (my dad owns an electrical contracting company, and he pays good electricians ridiculous salaries), etc… so those jobs can often pay pretty well. It’s the Supply Curve at work.
Nowadays, you don’t go to college to make more money (or you shouldn’t, usually). You go to get into fields you can’t get into with a High School Diploma, or to get to positions you can’t reach without the degree.
I know they use those studies (“a College Graduate will make ____ more over the course of their lifetime”), but I think those are flawed based on the people, not the degrees. The people that choose to go to college are generally more ambitious and often more hard-working. Not always. Sometimes, a High School Graduate knows they want to be an electrician or whatnot, and they know they don’t need college; they might be just as hard-working and ambitious, and they’ll probably make just as much money as the average College Graduate. So, the sample is skewed, because the more driven, focused, ambitious people are in the pool, not because of the magical effects of a B.A. (or B.S.).
I think the people who use, compile, and promote those studies realize they are flawed, too, but nowadays high schools are trying to flood colleges with everybody they can try to motivate, and it’s easier to motivate a 16 year old by saying, “Do you want to be poor or not?” than actually sitting them down and seeing their aptitude and what they want out of life, so that the schools can give them real guidance on whether or not to go to college and how to approach their career.
You make great pay in any field through achievement, ambition, intelligence, and hard work. A piece of paper might get you in the door, but you can’t expect someone to hand over a reasonable salary until you’ve done a reasonable day’s work. If you’re already making more than the jobs are offering, you might have some negotiating room, but businesses also know that you need them. The only way to get more money is to show — in a practical way — why they need you more. That’s how Sales works usually. The person who needs (or seems to need) the other less wins.

A little post-interview blogging

Well, I’m 95% sure I got the job. I might have to meet one more person who was supposed to be there today, but everything else went great. The HR guy was not at all cultish or “We’re so great!” so maybe that’s only true in the retail and wholesale sales companies and the publishing world is more straightforward, I don’t know. Or maybe I’m just too cynical. Anyway, he still asked the cheesy questions, but after my whole rant about “honest interviews” I actually said some things I normally wouldn’t (about difficult people I’ve worked with) and that really worked in my favor in this case, because apparently their reservation with candidates is finding someone who can handle the stress level of dealing with some difficult characters, which I can definitely do with my experience.
Getting this part-time job would be amazing and scary. It’d be my first foot in the door at a publishing house, but it would also mean I’d be working 7 days a week, and I’d prefer to have 1 day off to run errands and such during the day. See, I can’t quit my other job because a) I’m in the middle of a huge inventory project they just paid a couple thousand dollars for, b) they give me free health insurance and the part-time job wouldn’t provide any option to even buy in for 3 months and then, it’d be expensive, and c) I can’t live on a 20-hour a week salary. I can barely live on my 32-hour a week salary without dipping into my savings. Also, I’m supposedly getting a raise at my job this week, so it’s not exactly the perfect time to leave.
So, I’d be working Monday, Wednesday (9-4, before my 4:30-6:30 classes Mon and Wed nights which ends April 24th), and Friday (9-5) at the new job, and Tuesday, Thursday (10-6), Saturday (10-5), Sunday (12-5) at the old job for at least three months before the publishing thing could become a permanent, full-time position. It’d probably be closer to 6 months.
That’s kind of scary. I’m hoping I can maybe cut back to three days a week at the old job eventually, but I’m kind of lucky they’re paying for the health care as it is because it’s technically only for full-time employees. They only offered to add me because they valued my work as much as any of their full-time people. I know they won’t be thrilled to hear about the new job, because I know they want to retain me, but it’s just not my field and it’s not something I see myself doing forever. I like them and I love learning some of the things I’ve learned, but it’s not a long-term situation.
I’m not sure if publishing is “my thing” either. I know I’d do well in advertising, marketing, publishing, something like that. If I could move up at this company and then make the leap to New York or somewhere after becoming a managing editor, I wouldn’t have to go through the terrible “no money” phase and then I could go into magazine publishing… I don’t know. Anyway, it’s a great thing to add to my resume, diversify me further, show that I can cut it at a publishing house.
So, I’m happy and terrified. And soon to be overworked. But, I actually like working, and I think I’ll like it better if it’s not a lot of days at the same place. I’m a little ADD still, so rotating days is probably a pretty good schedule for me.

“Either, Or” (and an Introduction)

To start, I’m Ally – a 21-year old “seeker” in Orlando, Florida, about to graduate this May with an English degree. And no, if you’re asking from your chair, I don’t plan to teach. Though as many English majors as there are here, y’all probably aren’t asking.
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that question, I probably wouldn’t need a job for awhile. I’m not sure why “English major” and “teacher” are so universally linked. I might someday want to go to graduate school, so I can become a professor but I definitely want to do something else as well. Write, edit, work in marketing, manage publicity, maybe start my own small publishing company… I’m not altogether sure yet, and that’s part of the “problem.”
I’ve gotten plenty of “advice” from the university, and I’ve found it pretty lackluster. Maybe some schools have great career counseling programs, but mine doesn’t seem to – or if it does, I’m not using it correctly. Maybe I’m just expecting too much. I mean, they seem to be pretty decent at helping get together a decent resume (from what you have, of course) or giving you interview advice, if you need it, but you can read most of that online anyway. They just don’t have the connections – except maybe for some of the students in the education, hospitality, and engineering programs – in the community to actually help students get a job. I think that’s the story at a lot of places.
The advice I’ve gotten from my actual departments (English and I almost completed a Marketing minor but ran out of scholarship hours first) hasn’t really helped that much either.
Advisors in the English department recommended a) grad school (almost unanimously) and b) going to Europe on a one-year work visa. I really do want to go to graduate school someday, for something, but I don’t know what yet. I’ve looked at everything from an MBA in Marketing and Accounting to an MFA in Poetry. As for Europe, I almost laughed. I’m not the kind of girl who likes to waste a year, which is most of my worry and frustration currently. I want to make every second of my professional life count. That might sound silly or very Type A personality – and it probably is a little of both – but that’s who I am. When the woman said, “get a work visa and bum around London or somewhere, even if you work a crappy waitress job – at least you’re a waitress in Europe,” all I could think was,
“What a waste of time.”
I mean, I want to go to Europe, and I’d love to live in Europe, if I could do something either professionally or personally meaningful with every moment. Especially since I won’t be in school next year, I want what I do professionally to matter for my future. You only have so much time to advance in life, and I want to do so much — but I feel like I’m so far from every goal that I have.
I think the problem I’ve come across is that everywhere I turn everyone – the English department, the business department, my parents, my friends, my boyfriend – is telling me you get one of two things in life. You either get to do what you love or you get to make money.
I just think they have the wrong conjunction in that sentence (which is an English major’s silly way of saying I hate the “or”). I mean, I don’t need to be a millionaire by the time I’m 30 or anything, but I want to make some money in my life, and I want to be happy at work. I hope that’s not too quixotic. I guess we’ll see. Eventually.
As for how, I currently make my money and spend my days, I’m an Administrative Assistant/Sales Assistant/Technical Support at a furniture design company. It’s fun, good for my resume, and the people are great, but it doesn’t have the growth potential that I’d like. (There’s plenty of potential for both salary and title growth, but not for a real increase of responsibility, since the owners are so involved in the day-to-day.) I’m almost-full-time there.
I also might be getting a second part-time job. I have a second interview on Monday. More about that later.

Now What?

I have been so busy lately I feel like I don’t know when if i’m coming or going. I have 4 internships and school and work. Lately I have and 8 freelance pieces selected by various publications for print or online use. I should be happy right??? I’m pleased but not overjoyed;maybe it’s just me??
I applied for a position writing newsletter columns for a huge cell phone company. I applied two days ago and they called me back today, which is great. The HR person gave me one of those quick telephone interviews where they asked if I could do the job and what experience I had. I told the man that I know the industry because I use to work for another cell phone company and I edit and write, intern and freelance. The guy also wanted to know what kind of compensation, I told him around 22,000 annually. I’m not pickey I want anything in my field. I told him I could submit writing samples if they wanted to get a look at my skills.
I am unsure about a lot of things, but after struggling with myself I have finally gained the confidence in my writing and editing. My fellow reporters at school frequently comment on my writing being really good. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but on this blog is really the only place I can share my victories. My family and friends don’t understand nor are they interested in writing nor do they even read what I write, so dear readers it’s just you and me.
If you are discouraged believe in yourself and don’t let that little voice in your head be your own worst enemy.

A Great Month

This month has been the greatest of my career so far. Last week I got the call to interview for a paying intern position at a local television station. I have a feeling I didn’t get the job, but that’s o.k. You can’t win them all.
I have been working overtime trying to land writing gigs and I have gotten all of the ones I have applied for. I now write for my colleges newspaper, I am a press release editor for a online magazine, I submitted some of my poetry to a publisher and they will include three of my poems in their next book on african-american poetry!! I will receive royalties. Also, I got my first writing contract from a political website. Last week I submitted an application for an intern at an adult oriented newsletter and they liked my submission so much they decided to made me the editor.
So yes I am happy for once and maybe some of my doubts will ease a bit. Or maybe not…