Ask The Headhunter®: Library Vacation 2

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The Library Vacation™
By Nick Corcodilos

Part 2

In Part 1 of this article, we discussed the importance of exploring the terrain to find a path that's right for you. Now we start blazing a new trail.

Mix it up with the natives.
Now we're going to give you some technology: a phone. Sitting on that island, who are you going to reach out to for advice and help? (No one can get you off the island, but they can advise you on how to survive.)

Get that list of names you compiled from your research. You're going to call each of those people and talk to them or to their assistants. You're going to ask them for more insight about their business, their company, their products, their technologies; and for advice about how you can prepare yourself to work in that business.

Don't worry if you're not good at making cold calls: write a little script for yourself and use it until the words start to come naturally. For example,

"I was reading about your company in Widget magazine and about how you've been involved in building the newest widget. What gave you the idea to add a hannenframmis to the old version? Has anyone taken a look at how customers are reacting to the new features?"
"I've been considering a move into the widget industry, and I want to learn more about it. What books or articles have you found helpful in your work?"
"Before I let you go, can you tell me who, in your opinion, are the shining lights in the business -- the folks who make the industry successful?"

This phone call should have nothing to do with asking for a job. Make it a casual but intelligent discussion with an expert who can educate you. This is a great way to make insider contacts. I know it's not easy to make such calls, but if you're asking for advice and insight rather than a job, you'll find that people will talk to you for a few minutes. Why? Because people love to talk about their work with others who are interested. When you demonstrate your willingness to invest time and effort to learn about their business, you're not likely to be shrugged off as another desperate job hunter. (For more about developing friendly inside contacts, and about what to say when you call them, read A Good Network is a Circle of Friends.)

Finally, don't waste the person's time; remember to say thanks; and learn something. You will have made a contact who will likely help you again later.

Now, stop and recognize what you have accomplished. You have developed inside contacts that your job-hunting competitors don't have. Every person you've met in the course of doing your research is an insider. These people make it potentially unnecessary for you to ever use a resume or to rely on want ads. They can open doors for you.

Make a choice: commit to the path or find a new one.
Meanwhile, as you do your research maintain a critical attitude. Now that you have learned so much about this business, does it still seem right for you? Are you still motivated to continue down this path? If you are, keep studying and talking to people. If you're not, move on to another. (You are allowed to change your mind.)

As you develop knowledge and insight (and possibly expertise) through your research, you will become more attractive to the companies and people you call. They will regard you as a sophisticated novice rather than as a confused job hunter, and they will be more likely to advise you, and possibly invite you to come interview.

You may find that the work you want to do requires more study and education. You must decide whether you're motivated enough to make that investment. If you are, take the bucks you would have spent on counseling and invest them in training, where they will really pay off. But, don't just grab a degree. Ask the people you want to work with what specific education and training you should get, and how best to spread it out.

In your explorations, you will sometimes get off a path early. Sometimes you will leave a path after you've committed a lot to it, and that will be painful. Learn from each experience, but don't be afraid to move on. You will make a few mistakes, but remember that you need only one right path. Don't despair. If living well were easy, everyone would be doing it. Keep choosing; keep moving.

To change paths you must change yourself.
People are not limited by their skills, because skills can be learned as necessary. In fact, some skills can be developed quickly because they are really just variations on the basic skills a person already has.

People who want to change careers are usually limited by their knowledge of the day-to-day tasks and functions of the new career they want.

The point of The Library Vacation is to ignore your skills long enough to actively pursue a deeper understanding of the businesses (and work) that excite you. By learning in detail what a business needs, you can decide whether it's what you want to do. Only then can you start preparing yourself to do it.

Wander first, then choose.
Devote yourself to understanding your target.
Prepare yourself to meet the challenges it presents.
Only then should you make your approach. That will give you the knowledge and confidence you need to demonstrate how you will profitably contribute to the business.

The Library Vacation is not career counseling.
Career counseling is, to a large extent, a method of introspection; a way to look at what your skills and capabilities are. Traditional counseling tools (like interest inventories and personality assessments) compare your interests and characteristics to those of people in various careers. When you find a correlation of interests, counseling suggests that you ought to pursue a career among people who share your interests. To me, that's armchair adventure. It keeps you safely within limits. Worse, it can lead you to make the same mistakes that others have made.

The Library Vacation starts in the armchair and launches you into the unknown. It brings you face to face not with who you are, but with the work you want to do and with the people who do it. This approach doesn't limit you to careers that you are "suited" for. It challenges you to break out of your cohort. It puts you at risk by choppering you into unknown territory and leaving you to mix it up with people who work in the businesses that excite you.

There is no faster way into the job you want than through the people who are already doing it.

The Library Vacation is a way to meet them.

Drive.
The Library Vacation is simply the best, most responsible (and least expensive) way I know to stop, think and explore the industries, businesses, products and jobs that might be right for you. It's fun, it's challenging and it's a vacation from the "find a job" nonsense that leads people to career disasters. It's incredibly motivating because every choice along the way is yours. Choices will abound and nothing is off limits.

The only rule is that you must drive your interest until it dies, or until it gets you to your destination.

That takes a lot of hard work, and it requires that along the way you talk to the people who do the work you want to do. So, take a vacation. Drive. That's how you'll find the work you want to do, and it's how you'll arrive at a new career. All courtesy of your public library.

NOTE: The Library Vacation is a trademark of North Bridge Group, Inc.

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