Dear Reader,
Last week, a member of my PhD Career Clarity Program came to a group coaching meeting with what she called a “really stupid problem.”
She’d just applied for a job she considered a dream position. It had only been 48 hours, so of course she hadn’t heard anything yet.
But in the meantime, she’d received an unexpected email.
A friend knew someone who was planning to hire for a position that might interest her. That person had reached out to see whether she’d like to talk.
And her reaction?
She was freaking out!
She’d never gotten a job this way before. What was she supposed to do?
Well, first of all, congratulations! It’s nice to be thought of.
And second, this is a great example of why, ideally, your job search starts before you start formally applying for jobs.
In fact, depending on your circumstances, you might find your next job without ever applying to an advertised opening. (The dream.)
Now, that doesn’t mean you should sit around waiting for someone to offer you a job. (Please don’t.)
But it does raise an interesting question, one that I know people want the answer to, which is, How do you become someone other people think of when opportunities come up?
That’s closely related to a common question among PhD job seekers, namely, How do I access the hidden job market?
As you know, you can’t control whether someone approaches you about a job.
But you can do things that make it more likely that people will think of you.
Earlier this month, we had a workshop in my program called “Put Yourself in the Path of Opportunities.”
I was delighted when another member came to our next group coaching meeting wanting to work through how to put some of the ideas into practice.
We talked about where he could participate in conversations relevant to his interests, how he might build his visibility, and what activities would be worth his time.
Not because showing up in the right places will magically land him a job.
But because participating in industry convos, learning from folks who might be your future colleagues, and building relationships are all part of how people get to know you.
Which brings me back to the member with the unexpected email.
Her friend knew someone who was hiring. And her friend thought of her for it, enthusiastically.
That doesn’t guarantee anything will come of it. (An exploratory conversation isn’t a job offer, and it certainly isn’t an obligation to accept one.)
But it’s an opportunity she wouldn’t have found by searching job boards, because the role isn’t currently advertised anywhere.
So how do you put yourself in a position where people might think of you?
It starts with knowing yourself.
What are you good at? What do you enjoy? What matters to you? What kinds of problems interest you?
Understanding yourself helps you recognize possibilities worth exploring, and gives you something meaningful to talk about with other people.
And those people need to get to know you, too.
Not just that you have a PhD or what you studied, but what you care about, what you can contribute, and where you might want to go next.
The two things reinforce each other. You learn about yourself through conversations and experiences. And as you do, other people get a better sense of who you are and what opportunities might be a good fit.
This is a big part of the work we do inside the PhD Career Clarity Program.
Because job searching isn’t just about finding advertised positions and submitting applications.
It’s also about putting yourself in the path of opportunities you might not otherwise know existed.
And sometimes, when someone emails you out of the blue about a job, you get to have a good problem to bring to your career coach.
Cheers,
Jen
P.S. Want to explore working with me? Visit my Services page to learn about options, or reply to this email and let me know what you want my help with!
Jennifer Polk, PhD
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