The Job of Getting the Job ...

I actually started this post out as "Frustrated, Inc." -- which is a very catchy pre-chorus from a song called Misery by good ol' Soul Asylum.  However, it's probably a bit extreme for how I'm feeling right now, since I think I'm laying out a good new direction for myself (more on that soon), but a few weeks back it was pretty spot on.

So though there is still some freelance going on, it's been a fair amount of time between "real" jobs, and while I do see the mishmash "bit o' everything" as my long-term destination, I had felt for the next several years it would still greatly benefit me both professionally and personally to have a proper full-time gig. Lots of reasons for that, including of course ease of living in a place like Singapore, but this latest round of meetings and discussions reminds me that even despite spending 20 years in the communications field, there are still some areas I'd like to sharpen up on. And while reading and researching and discussing are very helpful, ain't nothin' like the real thing sometimes -- meaning working with people on high-level, complex projects that force you to grow, develop and think in new ways.

Unfortunately, another such opportunity has recently passed me by (*update since this blog was drafted but before posting -- add another to the list), and it did suck a bit of the wind out of my sails (or just suck in general). No complaints, as I do understand the decision, and hey, it's business, not personal, but at the same time, I'm finding fewer and fewer potential great fits out there, and this seemed like one. So it's more than just not getting it -- that happens a lot more than it doesn't in this scene -- but it's the feeling that there won't be many more of those great fits out there. 

So, in a fit of pique, or at least morbid curiosity, I started to add up my experience on the job market to date. I'm approaching this a bit dispassionately -- not to try to say I have it so bad, because I don't -- but just to try to understand exactly how much effort sometimes goes into getting a job. And to be that much more appreciative when I do finally land something.

So, here goes ... since the end of last year, I've either seriously put in for or been in the running for 60 jobs, all of which have been senior manager or director roles in the public relations, marketing, digital or media/advertising realms (or their in-house equivalents), virtually all based in Singapore. Meaning real jobs that I'm qualified for based on my experience in the PR/comms fields, and often roles that either recruiters have brought to me. Meaning, no "Astronaut, NASA" type of jobs that I decided to send a CV in for and see what happened. This includes 23 jobs via LinkedIn or industry sites, 10 jobs on corporate websites and the like and 37 jobs promoted to me via headhunters or people I know. From this I have had:

• 17 initial stage interviews with a total of 20 persons. These are with headhunters or agents about specific roles, usually a 15-30 minute conversation about the job and how they plan to put me forward for it.
• 15 first stage interviews, also with a total of 20 people. These are with the potential employers themselves, where we talk a bit more philosophically and see if we seem like we might be good dance partners. Some of these have been with very high-level people, but they have still been fairly informal. Probably about 45 minutes on average, some longer, some shorter.
• 7 second-level interviews with 10 people total. These are the more serious, make-or-break discussions, where we are actually having a job interview and I'm being asked detailed questions designed to help them make a decision at that moment about me. These can sometimes be several per firm, because maybe I would meet the managing director, have a phone call with a practice or department lead who's in a different location, and maybe meet with a peer or subordinate. So for one recent job opportunity, this totalled four -- the local country manager, a global person based in Singapore, a peer in Hong Kong, a practice chief in the U.S. Almost always more than an hour.
• 7 third- and fourth-level interviews with a total of 9 people. Now we're really getting down to the very end of the race and you have as good a shot to win as anyone.
• 6 final group results. Meaning, they're down to just a few candidates for the job and I'm one of them. Often it's tough to know exactly how many of us there are, but usually it's 4 or fewer. Kind of like the Olympics but with one more space on the podium (perhaps the fourth place medal is made of old copper gone a bit green?). I think my medal count has been, in order: Bronze, Silver, that green copper, Silver, Bronze, Silver.

And that doesn't count the 11 meetings or calls with new headhunters, meaning ones I never knew before but were referred to my by others, as "get to know you" exercises (17 people, FYI, in case you are counting), catch-ups with people in my network or people who are connected to my network (again, usually quite informal -- oh, and 16 times for the record) or just drinks and chats with former work mates and the like for updates, ideas and just sanity checks / encouragement (these don't get counted in this data). As near as I can figure, I've met with or spoken on the phone / Skype with 139 people, though a few were "repeat meeters" or whatever the term would be. Still quite a few.

I guess in looking it all over, the part that has gotten to me lately -- in addition to the recent disappointment, which I'll process and learn from in due course -- is that throughout all this, no one's actually offered me a job of any real significance. Which is I think what's been the most difficult part of it. Lots of great conversations (and so-so ones as well), and lots of activity, but even the jobs I thought I was quite qualified for and might think about turning down if they had been actually offered didn't come through. That's been the most difficult part of the process. I guess that's part of the game -- not getting to chewed up or worked up by that -- but a simple "we want you" would be nice to hear at this point. Cheap Trick summed it up well as I recall.

Being out of a job is by far not nearly the worst thing in the world, and I am actually very fortunate in many ways -- I work in an industry (communications) that is still fairly strong, I have very good experience in the field, I'm in a country where the economy is doing well, I have a lot of good contacts and people willing to help, I even have a loving partner and family that has my back ... and I came from a family that was able to send me to college in the first place, which put me in a situation where I would actually be able to compete for these kinds of jobs in my career. So none of this is to imply that I'm suffering, sniffling, sniveling or the rest. I have it good -- very good. It's just a lot more work to get things sorted than I would have thought when I began this journey. Lesson learned, or being learned. Thanks, universe.

Okay, enough of the analysis about it. Time to get back at it ... Charlie and Craig, take us out please.

Funny you should mention …

I’ve always been a big fan of comedy – in fact, having a laugh is a big part of who I am and how I try to look at life. I’m often quick with a line or observation, and am usually one of the funny ones in the group. To be fair, my “group” at times has actually included TWO Ringling Brothers circus clowns, so of course there were plenty of times they had the (ahem) last laugh instead of me.

Over the years, my comedy interests have evolved – from bad 70s sitcoms to Steve Martin and Richard Pryor (apparently the camp counselors at Twin Lakes had a wide variety of tastes), to Monty Python and British-based humo(u)r, including my college favorites The Young Ones, then SNL and National Lampoon and just plain goofy jokes, then to surreal and deadpan types and then darker, deeper and more sarcastic humorists, including my all-time favorite George Carlin and my new darling Stewart Lee (HT to Jacco). And I was able to dissect and recount many of their acts, jokes and approaches to humor, which was nominally interesting, but of course quite different than being a part of it.

However, over the past 8 months, I’ve started to put a little more skin in the game. On a whim, I contacted a local live improv show called Fight Comic, which is more or less a Mock the Week-type show in Singapore with elimination rounds, and mentioned that I had once upon a time taken a few ComedySportz improv classes (but never performed with the troupe, as I was only in the practice squad for a while). Well, next thing you know, I’m onstage throwing out one-liners, dealing with surprise confessions and photos projected behind me and even having to put down hecklers. And despite some rough moments, surviving through it all, getting some laughs and even putting together some half-decent mini-routines for parts of the show.

So that’s the groundwork – which has led to a few really nice experiences, including getting to know the local comics in Singapore. Who are really a very welcoming, supportive and inclusive bunch, perhaps because the scene is so small they kind of have to be. But whatever the reason, I’ve really appreciated getting to know them and even working with a number of them. I’ve also gotten to meet some others in the industry, including some folks from Comedy Central and especially a New Zealand comic Andre King, who was not only kind enough to give us a workshop based on his decade-plus of making a living at all of this, but also even spent the time with me working through and refining a bunch of very rough ideas into a good usable 90 seconds of actual stand-up worthy material. Great guy – and hope I can return the favor someday.

Next up – putting myself a bit more out there by going onstage for Comedy Masala, a weekly open mic led by a guy named Umar. Five minutes total. Got a minute and half in the bag, so a bit more writing, a bit of verve to fill the gaps and off I will go. Hopefully in the next few weeks. In the meantime, just to have blog things to do, I will start randomly explaining either comedy ideas or talk about comedians I happen to like. So, as comedy tends to do, be prepared to be slightly offended in the posts to come. But all in the name of humor …

Okay, Moving On ...

So this blog has been EXTREMELY dormant, and that's going to have to change. Yes, it was a good first post, and it still holds true, but many other things have happened in the interim, so let's move on ...

Perspective ... on Perspective

It all starts with a college student in his late teens, in a kitchen in New Jersey. Frustrated, tears welling up, wanting to understand "it."  What's "it" all about?  How does one figure "it" out?  And looking at the person across the table from him, a longtime family friend, and asking her "why can't I be more like YOU?  You have IT all figured out."

And the person across the table ... almost 42 years old, who (the college student doesn't realize) is watching her marriage end, who misses her good friend dearly (my mom, who had passed away only a year before), who is raising a pre-teen among all this clamor, who feels the strain of holding it all together ... bursts out laughing.  Hys-TER-ically.  Just at the disconnect in perspectives.  And at the fact that this young man has put "it" all up on such a pedestal.

The laugh still resonates for me.  It's there for me, sometimes comforting, sometimes embarrassing, as I occasionally twist and turn and wonder about life.  Actually, it usually makes me smile, because the family friend is still a family friend, and if any good were to come out of my mother not being around anymore it's the development of that relationship.  Which has only strengthened and become worth its weight in gold over time.

But that quest for "it," for perfection, continues, sometimes stronger, sometimes completely unabated, sometimes tempered, sometimes like an animal in a cage waiting to get out.  And sometimes in remission, maybe denoting my increasing belief in my oft-repeated glib statement that life's imperfection IS its perfection.

And "it" continues ... across years and miles and spaces and faces.  And the emphasis on perfection never fully goes away.  But it does get better.  And it does make more sense, despite every so often, another reminder of the unattainable ideal.  And another minor crisis.  And another resolution.  And so it goes.

In some ways, this is the story of my personal growth, and maybe the reason for blogging.  I see other people, I see other sites, I see the things I think I want to be.  I see the things that make me say, "Ah, that's what I SHOULD have done."  But I don't always see the things I already am.  And I don't always realize that I can't fast-forward to the end, that going through the process is necessary.  And not really perfect at all.  Yet at the very same time, perfect in its own way.

So as I now sit on the other side of the (then-) age of that old family friend, who's always laughing in my mind, and I start to see myself on the other side of that kitchen table in New Jersey, maybe it's time to give some thanks to imperfection.  And to that family friend, who's as perfect as anyone in my life.