25 Days, 32 Interviews, 16 Companies

Those are the stats of my most recent job search, and I was lucky enough to find a real bonafide awesome entry-level professional job. It’s a sales job (account executive) in media/advertising, working with a publishing company, so it plays to all my strengths and also provides a pretty solid foundation for future growth, assuming I perform well within the job. I’ve always done well in a sales enviornment before, so I’m fairly optimistic. Actually, I’m downright giddy. The company has an awesome culture, a really cool mix of small and large company (it’s a small property, owned by a larger company), and excellent benefits, though those won’t kick in for the requisite 90 days.
I haven’t written in awhile because of the job search. Well, partially. I haven’t written for about two months. The first month was a month of fairly serious depression — feeling like my current job didn’t play to my strengths, allow me as great an opportunity to grow and perform, and feeling like I couldn’t do anything about it. Then, I decided to. I went from “casual” job hunting to active job hunting. It took about three solid weeks of cold calling, resume fixing, and intense interviewing.
The actual stats are 25 Days, 32 Interviews, 18 Positions, 16 Companies. Working full time still, and 12 days of antibiotics (for pnemonia and bronchitus) during the end of my search. Incidentially, I was at my sickest when I went in for the first in-person interview for the job I eventually took.

For the most part, I took every interview I got, whether I really wanted the job or not (except for the truly random and completely unsolicited — you know, the life insurance companies you’ve never heard of who send out bulk e-mails, etc). Some of them were companies I loved but jobs (data entry for a huge publishing giant with a great reputation) I really didn‚Äôt want. Some of them were for jobs that sounded fun but companies that sounded just as small and disorganized (marketing director for a small land development company that had a good track record but was facing a slowing market) as my current company.
The job I got was exactly what I was looking for — or at least I think it will be. I don’t start for another few weeks, and I’m still in the middle of my notice, helping hire my replacement, and tying up loose ends.
A few more stats:
Offers Received (in writing): 2 (including the chosen one)
Offers Received (verbal, not in writing) 1
Still Interviewing With at Time of Acceptance: 5 companies
Standard Rejection Letters (from companies I’d interviewed with): 3 e-mails, 1 card
No Call, No News: 3 Companies
Phone Calls From Recruiters to Hear the Job Was Filled: 1 Company/Position
I feel like a professional interviewer after these whirlwind weeks, but I feel pretty darn good, too. The hiring manager told me the job I’ll be doing has been open since October, and I was the first person he extended an offer to. (And this is not an obscure company.) Of course, he’s a salesperson, so he may be stretching it a bit. But I was surprised to see how many respondents are applying for my current/old job. When I was hired at my current-soon-to-be-former company, they told me over 100 people had applied and that they’d interviewed dozens before hiring me. I thought they were exaggerating, but I’m starting to see the resumes pile in and schedule the interviews.
I’m glad I didn’t realize exactly how daunting it is out there until after I found something! I really wish luck to all of you still looking. I plan on keeping my resume updated and building my network over the next few years, even though I probably won’t be looking to jump. (I pledged a one year commitment to this new job, and I plan to probably stay 2-3 years before really looking outside, if it works out.) Anyway, I have a ton of interview experiences and thoughts to share, and I’ll actually have some from the other side soon (since my boss just asked me today if I wanted to be the one to interview my replacement — and I think that sounds fun). So, I’m sure I’ll be posting more. Hopefully, all of you will find your own success stories and be as happy as I am.
The one thing I’ve learned — not just from job-hunting but from life in total — is that you have to make things happen. No matter how impossible it seems, you always can. Sounds cliche and a little bit obvious, but I actually think 80-90% of the people out there don’t bother to really make things happen, so it automatically puts you into a pretty high percentile if you can take that attitude and always go the extra mile.