I have been on the job market again after 3 years and I’d like to share some of things I have learned during the journey and how I approach the job market after 3 years of experience and working in different places. DISCLAIMER: This is an op-ed article and not a personal attack to anyone. I run and manage a social media platform of nearly 14k people on Instagram and my network on LinkedIn is of nearly 3k folks. I get that your views and experience doesn’t get beyond your nose, but this isn’t the case for me. So if you don’t get it or you aren’t interested, move on and peace out! Pictures, views as well as unpopular opinions are my own. Enjoy reading!
Last year, while I was in the process of relocating from Kent to Cardiff, I came across an interesting post on LinkedIn. This person decided to refuse the possibility of doing an interview only based on the reviews she read about the company on Glassdoor. She mentioned that she wasn’t going to work in a place where employees didn’t feel appreciated and were constantly overworked. I was so surprised and, frankly, I admired the courage of this girl because I was always under the impression that you should be lucky to have a job and be happy that someone is paying you money! Yeah, I know I can have toxic views too, I’m getting better tho! As I was impressed by this act of bravery, I decided to make a reel on my Instagram page Women Transforming Science.
I get that everyone can write whatever they want on social media and I (generally speaking) can decide to ruin the reputation of a place just because I had an argument with someone and this is a fair point. But the girl who wrote the email highlighted something important “I noticed a consistent trend of employees...”. As a scientist, I can rephrase this by saying, the experience of a single person is a data point and can be unreliable (sample size = n = 1 = bad science) but when you see a consistent number of people making the same comments, highlighting same issues, then sample size increases and the data set becomes more reliable. There’s no smoke without fire. To be 100% sure if stuff people say on social media are correct, you can drop a line to someone who’s currently working in a company/agency and ask some questions to get a feeling of how it’s like to work there.
I have done this myself many times, I did contact people privately to know more about a company (I still have a network of 3k people, don’t forget) and see how’s like to work there. Most often, I came to the realisation that what people say online, they say also offline. And be mindful that the things they say offline make these comments on Glassdoor look like praises rather than negative criticisms.
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This is 2023 not 1956! The mentality “you should be lucky to have a job and we pay you a salary” is toxic and very much outdated!
Pretty much everyone with a brain
Of course, I understand that doing a selection isn’t always possible, especially if you have no job experience, you just started your professional career, or you have kids and a mortgage to pay. At that point, you can compromise and evaluate pros and cons of refusing a position and keep looking. This is a risk and there’s no guarantee that you’ll be better off in your next available opportunity. But at least it’s fair to take a look at Glassdoor and see what people get to say about a potential employer. At least, you know how’s gonna be like to work there without shocking surprises.
Have you heard of the this trend called the Great Resignation?
The universe
I just want to share my personal experience: I’m becoming extremely selective about my job hunting. I have a few places in mind on where I want to work and I keep looking at their website to see if they have job openings that can match my skillset. I did the same when I decided to work my former employer. I was pleased about the commitment on diversity and inclusion and when I decided to move on for career progression, I knew that I was going there to work next. Of course, there were other places where I could apply as senior scientist but I wasn’t interested in making more money or living in the Oxbridge area. Diversity and inclusion were my core values and I wanted an employer that reflected my vision. And if I could go back to one year ago, I would still make the exact same decision.
Finally, least but not last my two cents on the “you should be lucky we pay you a salary, we’re making you a favour“, duuuude, you ain’t doing anything to me. You should be over the moon that I want to work here because I am contributing with my time, knowledge and skills to the growth and progress of the company. You ain’t doing any favour, I’m offering my services in exchange money, it’s called transactional working relationship and you better treat me with respect because the Great Resignation is a real thing. Literally since the covid pandemic, people are leaving jobs without even securing a new one. They rather be unemployed than working in places where they feel disposable, unappreciated, unsatisfied and poorly paid.
Who needs a job anymore, when you can make 7 figures by posting the coincidance on Tiktok?
Pretty much all genZ
And frankly, I think this is where the future of employment is going, it isn’t just a trend because of the pandemic. The world is changing and a lot of us, especially millennials and genZ appreciate wellbeing, diversity, inclusion and sustainable development more than making money. For example, they are likely to spend more money to buy from independent brands that have a mission and decent ethics rather than going for mass-produced items fabricated by exploiting people and the environment in a developing country. The same goes for jobs, you want to work in a place where you feel empowered, they care about you as a person and have some vision that aligns with your ethical values. Plus, literally, none of us would need a job anymore. With TikTok, Instagram and other social platforms, a lot of people are making 7 figures by the age of 30, imagine if they can work for 5. Those who hate social media prefer to be self-employed and be their own boss rather than failing another promotion because you didn’t say thanks for the feedback when a work colleagues has just treated you like shit. Sorry not sorry for the unpopular opinions.
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