Job Hunting – Desperately seeking Susan

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Job Hunting – Desperately seeking Susan

by Paul Mullan on December 8th, 2009
11 Comments

desperatelyseekingsusan1

I had a phone conversation with a colleague last week and she informed me that she had provided free services to an organisation for the previous six weeks (by the way her name is not Susan – just though the title was appropriate ). This is a crazy strategy and a perfect example of desperation – right? If you think so then you are wrong. Let me finish the story. My colleague went on to explain that she had just landed a MAJOR contract off the back of her efforts. Those six weeks of “desperation” proved her commitment but also provided an opportunity to prove her ability and she delivered.

This got me thinking about the whole voluntary work strategy for jobseekers. I believe this can be a positive strategy but is too often received negatively by jobseekers – comments include “this is desperation” or “organisations taking advantage of the economy”. Everyone is entitled to opinion and mine is firmly behind this strategy and my colleague proves why. Start looking at it from a different angle and focus on what you can achieve from this strategy. Here are some examples.

Foot in the door – This strategy provides an opportunity to get your foot in the door and demonstrate your skills. We all know people who joined organisations on temporary assignments and never left.

Expanded network – This strategy provides an opportunity to expand your network with company employees, suppliers, customers and management. This job market is all about networking.

Career insight – This strategy allows you to experience a potential career first hand to identify if it is what you want to do. It also provides valuable information before committing to training/education.

Enhanced work experience – This strategy provides an opportunity to gain experience in different sectors, roles or functions. A short spell of work can enhance your CV.

No gap on your CV – This strategy keeps you active while you try to gain permanent employment. Idleness and inactivity breeds negativity and this can cripple any job hunt.

Positive Example – This strategy highlights a positive “get up and go” attitude. It demonstrates a proactive approach and someone not sitting around waiting for what life throws at them.

No one likes to work for free BUT don’t look at it that way. Implementing this strategy can deliver any of the outlined benefits. I truly believe there is nothing “Desperately Seeking Susan” about this approach. It increases activity, can prove a creative approach to finding new employment and most importantly increases visibility and potential opportunities.

Category: HR and recruitment

Tags: Job Hunting, Job seeking, opportunities

The Author: Paul Mullan

Paul Mullan is an experienced career and outplacement professional with 14 years experience working within careers, outplacement and recruitment in the UK & Ireland. He is a former owner of Eden Recruitment and founder of career firm Measurability in 2006. Paul has delivered outplacement programmes for many leading organisations and ran graduate career workshops for leading third level institutions. He has worked with many individuals helping them define and achieve career goals through creative approaches to personal marketing and job hunting. Paul integrates traditional strategies with new Web 2.0 strategies to deliver optimum results. He is known for his up to date, creative and friendly approach to delivering career solutions. Paul is a recognised career professional regularly commenting on career related topics in the national media. He has acted as Career Doctor with Irish Independent and he is currently an online career expert with RecruitIreland. http://www.measurability.ie

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http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Paul, I know this is topic that divides opinion, but it’s an important conversation that needs to had.

Interesting post from Greg:
http://tweakyourbiz.com/peoplematters/2009/11/10/work-for-free-in-turn-for-what/

By the way, you also have a comment via FB
Anonymous

Thanks Niall

I agree. The topic is met with mixed opinion everytime I raise it.

I believe it is potentially a great strategy and not just for graduates.

The example of my friend highlights the potential gains.

Paul
Anonymous

I found myself in a similar position with working as a writer; when you’re looking to get some writing experience with an editor concerned about the quality of content and word count, there are plenty of people out there looking for someone who can provide some content for a webpage/newsletter/whatever else.

In those cases, doing a little free volunteer work can get you a few bits and pieces on your CV and some much needed experience. I have to say that whenever someone starts talking about voluntary efforts, there’s a part of me that’s skeptical, despite my own positive experiences with it. I’m not sure what that says for me, but I thought I’d add a comment to say that it’s worked out well for me in the past
http://www.efficient.ie/ Deirdre Mooney

Hi Paul,
Yes it is a good idea – but I’m afraid I believe 6 weeks is rather excessive for zero!
A nominal sum post the first 3-4 days should be negotiated, even as low as €70 a day; that just equates to slightly above minimum wage. If this minimal sum is not affordable by the employer – then they will never be in a position to employ you.
Only if the employer is a charity – would I work for free for longer than a week

Deirdre Mooney
http://www.efficient.ie
http://twitter.com/LenBrennanP2M Len Brennan

My personal experience doing this was positive. In 1995 I worked for a software company for 9 weeks free of charge. Whilst 6 of those weeks was on an agreed work placement from the college I was in – I was keen to get my foot on the job ladder. 5 weeks into the gig I walked into the MD’s office and told him that I was looking for a job and was willing to offer some additional time if he would strongly consider me for a role. I was offered a job and stayed with the company for almost 13 years.

However, at this point in my career I wouldn’t consider any engagement free of charge. Aside from the fact that I run my own business now, the main reason is that I’m confident there is a demonstrable value in my experience, my network and how that distinct perspective on things would benefit a potential employer. So, I would argue that unless you are able to bring something unique to the party AND you are able to clearly articulate it’s value (tangible or otherwise) you might consider carefully if you are better off providing some innovative means to ‘assess and impress’ a potential employer.
Anonymous

@ Mark – thanks for the comments. Glad you had some positive experiences from this approach – Adds more weight to the case. You are right that some potential employers may not value this experience. I guess as long as you take something positive from the efforts – be it increasing network, information or just getting you out of the house.

@ Deirdre – I should have clarified better in my article. It was not 6 weeks by 40 hours. My friend did about 25 hours over the 6 week period. The length you offer would really depend on situation but everyone has their own limits. Let’s say I completed an IT programming course and was trying to break into an IT programming role. If I was getting programming experience (even though unpaid) I would feel this was worthwhile even if it went on as long as 6 full weeks. Please note that I would be applying for fulltime jobs while I was working voluntarily. Going in negotiating money may not work. I do know cases where employers actually did actually give payment at the end of an assignment even though it was agreed to be voluntary work.

@ Len – Again glad this worked out for you too. Agreed – it is not for everyone or every situation and just highlighting an option. Each situation requires weighing up the pro’s and con’s.
Anonymous

I agree. I have started to put myself forward to companies offering my services free of charge for all of these reasons. I thought it may help to get my foot in the door and prove myself. I think it is a great strategy and very worth it if it pays off in the end. I am glad to hear abourt desperately seeking susan’s success. This has reaffirmed that what I am doing may just be the thing to do.
Good luck to her.
Anonymous

Thanks for the comments Una. Yes “Susan” had success as did Marc and Len who commented about the article. Best of luck with it all.

Paul
Anonymous

I think it is a good idea, given the difficult times we are in I would be willing to provide certain legal services for free in the hope it would land me a suitable role……I think it shows a willingness to put yourself out there whilst waiting for the right opportunity……….
Anonymous

Hi,

Assuming this is for not-for-profit organisations – I could not agree more with Paul. Doing something for the community will definitely go down much better with an interviewer than having to confess that most of the time waiting for a job was spent in front of the TV or battling in a virtual computer world.
Also, think about the feelgood factor which will get you into the right (positive) mood for job-interviews .
I would have serious second thoughts about providing my services for free to a company that makes money through my work.

Cheers,

Dirk
Anonymous

@Wendy – Thanks for the comments. You have a positive approach to this. Again when the word “free” when associated with the strategy assumes doing for nothing. Remember you are applying this strategy to achieve the ultimate goal – a new job or to achieve some of the benefits outlined in the article. Might be worthwhile adding URL to your linkedin profile at the bottom of your comments as there could be potential opportunities reading the post/comments. (see what I have done below)

@Dirk – Thanks for the comments. The example in my article focused on “profit” but certainly the same benefits can be achieved from “not-for-profit orgs and as you rightly point out the feel good factor applies.

Paul
http://ie.linkedin.com/in/paulmullan

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