New Job, Who Dis?
I’m wrapping up my first week at SafeGraph, aside from fighting off a bit of jet lag, my first week was great! So let’s reflect.
My first day at SafeGraph was Monday, January 3, 2022, exactly 2 years after my last day at my previous employer — Friday, January 3, 2020. It’s hard to wrap my head around this passage of time because it was beaten into my head that gaps on your resume were career suicide. I don’t even really consider my time a gap because over the past 2 years I was a freelance consultant, traveler, blogger, and caretaker. I registered an LLC, worked on my own projects, organized virtual events, and developed marketing campaigns. It has all been relevant experience even though it didn’t come under the traditional full-time W2 role.
So takeaway numero uno, “gaps” in your resume aren’t scary if you’re doing something purposeful. Matter of fact, I am strongly considering taking a “gap” every 3 to 5 years or so in my career to pursue whatever personal ventures I want.
I originally only planned to take a year off, 6 months of pure travel, and 6 months of job hunting but you know, the global pandemic… Aside from the pandemic though, transitioning into tech proved much more difficult than I thought. There’s a bit of an ‘Old Boys Club’ in tech that makes it difficult for people from other industries to penetrate; I did not expect that. I didn’t want to take any Bootcamp courses because I honestly believed my skills were directly transferable and I knew I didn’t want a technical role. I stubbornly powered through interviews, researched roles, and revamped my resume each time I learned something a hiring manager or recruiter liked about my experience. I remember one job offer in particular that I turned down, the entire interview process made me realize my superpower was my understanding of customers and customer-centric approaches. Once I started highlighting that on my resume, recruiters started reaching out to me!
The second takeaway is that interviewing, resume revamps, networking, and thought leadership really do help. Interviews, even bad ones can help you tell your story better. You learn what skills and experiences to highlight and which ones to let go of. You also learn what type of roles are a good fit for you beyond generic job titles.
Ironically enough, after all the application submissions and networking calls, I ended up at SafeGraph because a recruiter reached out to me on AngelList. I was steadfast in finding a fully-remote role within a tech startup. I wanted to like the people I worked with and I wanted to be in an environment that was supportive of unconventional internal career journeys. My own career journey has been a bit unusual because I’ve been so adaptable and built experiences in different functional areas and industries. SafeGraph saw this as a benefit!
The third takeaway is stolen from my mom. Go where you’re valued. It might mean turning down job offers when you have nothing else lined up, but it will feel so much better in the long run. Don’t downplay the very things that make you unique in interviews, it’s not worth it.
My onboarding experience and first week are testaments to that. I had a long list of LinkedIn requests after accepting my offer and the warmest welcome messages this week. I even got one from the CEO, startup or not, that personal touch feels good. I’m not even surprised by this because during my first round of interviews I felt that same energy from everyone I spoke with.
The last takeaway is to trust your intuition and stay true to what you want. Great things take time to realize. When you know what’s for you there’s really no need to entertain other options, just trust.
