Doug’s Job Blog: The Trials and Tribulations of a TWEENER, 9/11 edition

Doug’s Job Blog: The Trials and Tribulations of a TWEENER, 9/11 edition

Are you a Tweener? Do you know what one is? In the world of job search it can mean two things. First, a Tweener can be in between jobs. Work limbo if you will. But I am talking about the second kind of employment Tweeners that are looking for work, but find themselves either over, or under, qualified for opportunities they are interested in. Wikipedia calls a Tweener “one whose skills and physical attributes do not precisely fit any one position”. Either way, I would guess that half of the 20% of US population that is either looking for work, or under employed, are Tweeners!

So if you are a Tweener, how is it going? Are you finding yourself over/under qualified for a lot of the jobs that are available out there? Do you find yourself having most of what a company is looking for, but in a different industry? Are you having a hard time marketing yourself to those roles? Do you find yourself unfairly judged before you get to tell your side of the story? I imagine you do. Most of my clients are/were in that boat. So what do you do in that situation to minimize the negatives and maximize the positives of a Tweener in today’s job market?

First we can talk about being under qualified. I see a lot of people that are afraid to apply for a job because they are missing some of the qualifications. You have senior level experience, but you’re not a manager. You have healthcare sales, but not hospital sales. You have recruited software engineers but not mechanical engineers. Your programming skills are a version or two from the current release. Let me tell you, if you feel that you can do a good job at the role you are looking at, and can document how you did a related role successfully for someone else, Go For It! Do not let certifications, education, and nitty gritty specifics get in your way. Especially if you were doing this for one of the companies competitors, or their customers. There is a right way, and wrong way to sell yourself and that is where a good career coach can come into play (shameless plug). But what I can tell you is that you need to get away from email and on line applications and do it in person (or over the phone).

Now what if you are over qualified? There are a lot of senior and mid level executives that have been escorted to the door in the last few years, and they are having a harder time finding work than the lower level candidates. So what do they do if they see a role that looks very interesting, but is a lower level, pays less and would be considered a “step down”? First, you need to lower you compensation expectations and determine if you would be really happy in this position. If so, you need to be able to talk to that and set that expectation with the employer up front. This is critical because most employers that look at over qualified candidates think that if they hire them, they will quit as soon as they find a higher paying job. And they have good reason to think that, because a lot do! So you have a harder job convincing that gate keeper, or decision maker, that you would be a good fit. The same applies if you are looking at roles that are related to your background, but are in different verticals. As indicated above, the best way to do this is in person.

In either case, you need to remember that “people buy from people” and weather you like it or not, you are selling yourself. Email is a poor way to show anyone what kind of personality you have, or how you can overcome obvious Tweener obstacles. It can be done, and it is done every day. You can do it!

by Doug Brogdon Principal at CHANGE in PLAN Career Services, llc
http://www.changeinplan.com, office – 919-539-4905, LI Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougbrogdon