Chef Shane’s New Life

I like a good success story. Not because I am a sickly sweet set your goals type, but because for some of us, and particularly me, life is a lot more complicated than that.  Life was complicated for Chef Shane too. He was stuck in a remote destination in a job he hated and had to use imagination and the internet to find a way out.  He’s done it now. He landed a post in Vietnam.  Here’s a bit of a re-cap, some lessons learned along the way and the next chapter in his story……

A while back I was an eager job hunter, using social media to supplement, and replace part of my traditional job search.

I was spending a lot of time updating my LinkedIn profile, meeting recruiters and colleagues on Twitter, and documenting my skills and interests on my blog.

I was keeping in touch with colleagues, ex-bosses and friends on SKYPE, and it was this that got me the perfect job.

I had applied for a job through an online job ad, actually got it through an agency that I had kept in touch with online, and was recommended by my old GM, who was chatting with my prospective boss on skype at the same time that I was chatting to him.

It couldn’t have happened by responding to a newspaper ad.

I was in before anyone else had a chance, and had the credibility of 10 verifiable recommendations on LinkedIn and two personal references from the Agency and the GM who knew the head of the company I applied to.

I could have been lucky, but if I hadn’t made my availability, profile and desired job type fully known, the opportunity would have bypassed me.

I accepted a position in Vietnam – a country I knew little about, and found it to be the perfect position with a great company in a fantastic city.

My employer is everything I have been looking for; well organised, far-sighted, and hospitable and making it possible to reach the full potential by providing the right tools, attitudes, support and people for success and growth.

Here’s a bit more of the story.

It took around 3 months to get a position that I felt right with.

Most advertised positions failed to call, email or respond in anyway, even when I was perfectly suited to the position.

I researched and followed a LOT of ‘resume format’, ‘recruiters want one of the two standard formats or the application gets binned’ and ‘how to make a resume’ advice. Most of them failed. Best results came when I used ‘my format’ and expressed my thoughts, personality and abilities through a creative and non-standard CV.

Many said it wouldn’t work, too ‘out there’ and ‘not what companies are looking for’ – On the contrary, my responses tripled.

I found that it was better for me to shortlist companies and interview them – rather than send out lots of applications hoping they would shortlist me.

It is overwhelming to receive many offers and weigh up the pros and cons of each position. In the end, I made the right choice. My advice? Research the one that will offer you the best lifestyle and the most day to day happiness and emotional/mental reward. I look now at the choices I could have taken and by now the honeymoon would have worn off and I’d be regretting my career choice due to the daily grind and company culture.

Be yourself. You can pretend to be the perfect candidate to get a prized job – but leopards never truly change their spots. Better to be yourself, and look for a position in a company where your personal, moral and professional values are reflected – not despised. I could have gone for a 16 hour a day, snooty, upmarket, formal, conservative position and adjusted my CV accordingly to get a high salary and better future career opportunities. But how long until I was miserable, burned out or confined by company culture and incompatibility with my new colleagues? 2 months? 1 year? 5 years? 10? Regret this piece of advice at your peril. I’m quite old now, and it is more important than any CV advice or ‘how to fool the recruiter into hiring you’ advice that is so common. Find the right match. THAT alone will give you stability, career satisfaction, and a happy rewarding life – as well as a ‘job’

There are a lot of narrow minded, old fashioned, rude, ignorant, selfish and unintuitive managers and recruiters out there. Not as many as there are unreliable, pathetic, undesirable, mean, lazy or dishonest staff – but bear it in mind.

When searching for a job, it’s easy to believe that all employers are great, and they must reply and try to give you a job.

WRONG.

They assume most applicants are the wrong one, and make it hard to get the job. Many recruiting systems and procedures are not efficient, and weed out perfect applicants as well as bad. Applicants assume that they are rubbish compared to everyone else, and start to lose confidence and faith in themselves. Use the downtime to learn new skills, get fit, change bad habits, demonstrate your abilities, start a blog, and generally be positive and useful.

This helps your chance of getting a job, makes you stand out from the crowd, and keeps your focused on moving forward.

You will see just as many bad employers as they will see bad CV’s and unsuitable applicants.

Target your search, don’t take rejections and lack of responses to heart, and try to get feedback on why you were rejected so you can improve your skills in applying, interviewing and researching.

Research the boss and the company you will work for. They will surely research you. Check their reliability, professional integrity, company culture, profitability and social morals. Make sure they are the type of people you want to work for.

Get a feel for the interviewer, and the people you will be working with. It’s important to ‘click’ with them, so that you fit in and work to the best of your potential. This was a key factor in me choosing and getting my current role.

No point in acing an interview with someone you don’t like.

Have some examples of what you do available online. These can include photos, videos, documented achievements, scans of certificates, reviews, recommendations or connections with people, companies or associations. It builds your credibility and helps employers feel comfortable about you.

Listen to professionals and surround yourself with people, attitudes and emotions that move you forward. It’s easy to be cynical, negative and point fingers at GFC, rude HR people and the like – but better to be working constructively when you are out of work, making each day count towards building your ‘personal brand’.

Ignore personal branding. It’s a myth until you are good at it. That comes from being friendly, positive, approachable, sharing your experiences and demonstrating that you are good at what you do. It doesn’t come from formulas or advice from personal branding experts.

That’s it from me.

Feel free to drop me a line, give me some feedback or ask any questions on my tumblr blog http://chefshane.tumblr.com/ and if you’d like to see what we are achieving in Vietnam, follow us on twitter @LifeDanang