Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
What can I do to boost my chances and “make my own luck” when searching for a job?
Tad Mayer* explains how well-prepared job seekers often seem lucky - and shares how you can achieve the same results.
Q. Many people tell me that they “made their own luck” to land their new job. I understand that coincidences can happen during a job search, but what does it actually mean to make your own luck? What are they talking about?
A. Many job seekers will say that they owe landing their job to luck, coincidence, or serendipity. What is usually the case is that they did a lot of background work and preparation to be able to jump quickly on opportunities when they arose. In fact, without the background work, they may have let the opportunity pass all together.
Advertisement:
A recent client of mine was at the gym one day (let’s call him Carl) and ran into a neighbor. As they talked, Carl mentioned that he was looking for a new job and explained what he was looking for and why. The neighbor quickly said, “I know the perfect person for you to speak with. She is a great friend of mine but she’s leaving for a long family vacation in three days. If you can forward me your resume and a cover letter today explaining what you just told me, I would be happy to forward them to her.” If this were just luck, Carl’s answer may have been, “I haven’t updated my resume yet and I don’t have time today, but thank you anyway.” What happened was that Carl was ready and sent his neighbor the materials later that day. Because Carl had prepared, he created his own luck and that chance encounter turned into a new job.
Advertisement:
What does it mean to make your own luck? Jason Roberts, an entrepreneur and coder, posted his thoughts on the subject in a 2010 blog post, asserting that, “…you can directly control the amount of luck you receive… you make your own luck.” He even created a formula: Luck = Doing * Telling. In short, the more you do and tell, the more luck you will have (or make).
When I consult with clients, we focus on preparation and networking. “Doing” involves two parts. The first part is the experience and passion you have for what you do. As Roberts points out, “When you pour energy into a passion, you develop an expertise, and an expertise of any kind is valuable.” The second part is preparation so that when an opportunity presents itself, just like Carl, you’re ready for it. That means updating your resume or CV, revising your LinkedIn profile, developing a bio (if one is common in your field), identifying what’s important to you in your next job, and developing your experience, differentiators, and value proposition into a general cover letter. These marketing materials plus an elevator pitch to explain your experience, differentiators, and value proposition, combined with an explanation of why you want to leave your current role (or already left your most recent role), will make you ready when something comes up.
Advertisement:
As Roberts puts it, “…the more people with whom you share your passion, the more who will be pulled into your orbit.” In job seeking, that’s completely true, and if you don’t tell people that you are looking for a new opportunity, they can’t help you.
Therefore, “telling” is networking (or better said, collaborating with your connections). Almost all my clients land their new jobs via their own network (either what it starts as or what it expands into). For example, a biotech scientist kept in touch with people from his last company when he changed to another company. When he was ready to make a change, his former company created a role for him.
Most examples of my clients making their own luck involve leveraging relationships with people at companies that have open roles posted and the connection helps them get through the application clutter to be noticed and land an interview. For instance, a data scientist moved out of big tech for a stint and realized she really wanted to go back. She had kept active on an alumni social media group from her former company. When she reached out for help, she was met with many offers to forward her resume to big tech companies with open roles.
Advertisement:
To make your own luck, practice doing (preparing your job search materials) and telling (collaborating with your connections to brainstorm opportunities and new connections). You will create opportunities and be ready for them when they come your way.
* Elaine would only go on vacation if Tad Mayer covered for her.
Be civil. Be kind.
Read our full community guidelines.To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address