Unemployment: The Full-Time Sales Job

by Allyson Schultz

It would’ve been easy for a friend popping into my home office a month ago to think that I’d switched jobs rather than left my job to become unemployed. With a color-coded web of contacts tacked to my wall, file folders filled with different versions of my resume lining my desk, and an Inbox chirping at me regularly, I certainly didn’t feel unemployed. And yet I was—and really for the first time, which was pretty intimidating. More pressure came from accepting that the only way I was going to get a job was to start selling myself—my skills, knowledge and personality, both to people I knew and to complete strangers.

It should be said that I have a strong aversion to pushy salespeople and a high regard for modesty and letting accomplishments speak for themselves. On the job hunt, however—especially in a tight economy—modesty doesn’t get you very far and accomplishments aren’t apparent unless you call specific attention to them. I therefore adopted what I saw as a compromise approach to selling myself: rather than e-mailing hundreds of “you need me”/”hire me” cover letters and resumes to people I’d never met, I tried to connect with as many different people as possible, as often as possible. First, I made my way through local social groups and friends, expanding then to business contacts and eventually trade groups such as PubClub. In these informal conversations and informational interviews—key preparatory measures, in my view, for landing a job—I tried to positively and confidently share as much information about myself as I could, and equally, absorb all that I could—experiences, recommendations and/or contacts—from the person who’d so graciously offered me his or her time.

Of course I went about classic job search efforts as well—postings on Monster.com and “cold call” e-mails to targeted companies, but these interactions are largely not one-sided. Alternatively, by “hunting” through engagement with other professionals I felt that I was growing professionally in spite of my temporary existence outside of the professional world. Further, these experiences gave me material to pull from in conversation, left me with a feeling of progress in my search, and rendered me more comfortable in the interview setting. Most important given my search in the communications field, through them I was utilizing skills that would be valued by my future employer. Surprising too, given how busy people are in difficult economic times, I found that people were receptive and even eager to learn about and help me. Many asked for names of specific companies I wanted to work for and descriptions of my ideal job. Others wanted to hear about my career experiences and specific skills. Developing clear, intelligent-sounding responses took time certainly, but I was grateful for the practice upon arrival at the interview which got me the job I have today. That day, seated in a tiny room with six pairs of eyes focused on me, my future boss sat back in his chair and said, “Tell me about you.” Leaning comfortably on my experience networking, I’m happy to say I sat up, smiled, handed each of the three colleagues a copy of my resume and self-made business card, and talked my way into the job.