Job Hunting Frustration

Matthew Curry Silver
Head of Ecommerce at Lovehoney

10 November 2009 09:10am

Hi there, I could do with some advice.
I’ve been in the job market for around a year now. I know, shock horror, whilst I’m very proud of what I’ve done with www.wiltshirefarmfoods.com, I don’t intend to sell frozen meals online for the rest of my life.
However, I’m having amazing difficulty getting anywhere in my job search. I must have applied for over 30 positions over the last year, and I’ve yet to even be called for an interview. The 2 cases where I’ve been interviewed (where someone who’d met me put me forward directly for the job) turned out to short term contract stuff.
If you’ve read any of my posts on econsultancy (which I’m all over like a rash right now, it seems), then you’ll know that I know my stuff, I’m passionate, and well, I think I’m innovative. I do a lot of conferences and workshops and things, and people say “You’re brilliant, why the hell are you still working in Wiltshire?”, but so far, it hasn’t counted for much.
The worst is, when I’ve sent CV’s off to agencies & direct to apply, but haven’t even had an acknowledgement of receipt, let alone, to say yes, we’ve added you to the list of applicants. I’m starting to feel like cattle.
There must be some reason why I’m failing. At first I thought it was something superficial, like my CV wasn’t exciting enough – so I had it professionally designed(!). But no sudden interest, so it must be my experience.
www.wiltshirefarmfoods.com has been, quite frankly, my life. I’ve done every job there is in Digital Marketing on it. Because I’m the decision maker on this, and lead the parent business globally in what ecommerce can do, I get to play with some serious tech (there’s a lot more involved in selling meals than you think!). I’ve taken the online business from to nothing to something that adds millions of pounds onto our bottom line. I’ve got a crazy knowledge of analytics, behavioral modeling, usability (obviously, given my audience), and all the tech that goes with it – hosting, coding, infrastructure (where I repeatedly challenge my agencies assertions of what’s possible, because I know damn well what’s possible and how it all works), and the marketing side – you should see some of the stuff I’ve been doing with email this year, really, it’s damn cool. However this does mean I haven’t specialised, and my experience is within what’s perceived as a “unsexy” market niche – Selfridges aren’t going to be knocking on my door any time soon, for example.
I also fear, this means I’ve only ever worked for one company, and recruiters don’t like that. Does growing “organically” within one company means that my salary expectations are artificially inflated? I’ve been given so many raises as “incentives to stay” that I really worry that I’m now overpriced. If I were marketing me I’d do a time limited price promotion. In fact I have been, in some recent applications.
Is anyone else in the same situation, facing the same frustrations? This isn’t intended to be a “woe is me, why won’t you hire me” post, I’d just appreciate some advice/feedback/shoulder to cry on!
Matt
Matthew Iveson Bronze
SEO Recruiter at CV Screen Ltd

11 November 2009 13:47pm

Hi Matt,
I've read your post with interest and given the experience and knowledge that you list, I find it strange that you've not been called for interview for any of the positions. I would also say that it’s very poor practice that agencies and indeed employers haven’t had the courtesy of a response to your application – that’s just poor practice and indeed can easily damage a brand.

I’d always suggest that the first thing to look at is your CV and how it’s presented but that’s something you’ve covered.

I'm from an IT Recruitment company called CV Screen and we have a division which focuses on SEO recruitment, what I would say is that we’ve recently had an Online Marketing Manager role just outside Stoke and have had over 80 responses to the role. The quality of those responses has also been incredibly high and I guess this just illustrates how competitive is at this time.
You’re welcome to send your CV over to me just in case I can shed any light on it. I presume you’re on Linkedin and have networked with all relevant contacts?
Best of luck with your search.
Matthew Iveson
CV Screen Ltd
Matthew Curry Silver
Head of Ecommerce at Lovehoney

14 November 2009 13:41pm

Hi Matthew, thanks for the response. Was a bit caught up in the Whistles farago to realise someone had posted! It would be great to get some feedback. I'll DM you today.

Thanks again

Matt
Ashley Friedlein Staff
CEO at Econsultancy

23 November 2009 10:35am

Hi Matt

Certainly seems odd that you're not even getting interviews. The market is certainly tougher at the moment (though picked up in the last few months) so there will be stronger competition.

Agencies like to see experience across multiple brands / organisations as, agency-side, you tend to have to juggle various clients. So long experience at a single company would probably count against you.

Client-side companies will often want evidence of the ability to manage internal teams, as well as external agencies. As well as managing budgets. If you're applying for 'big brand' client-side roles then your lack of 'big company / team' experience might well count against you.

However, sounds like you would be very attractive to a start up or smaller business who needs someone to just 'make it all happen'. But perhaps that's what you're trying to move away from...?
Matthew Curry Silver
Head of Ecommerce at Lovehoney

23 November 2009 21:39pm

Cheers Ashley ( you have been busy today :-) )

Indeed, I'm trying to make the move to a larger brand. Whilst I can, very much just get things done, I'm trying to become more strategic, analytics led.

I'm wondering if I would be better of agency side. Client-side I don't think you would need someone like me full-time. It's more a case of getting it right the first time around. You might have noticed from my posts how much I despair when ecommerce (specifically ecommerce usability) is left as an afterthought over merchandising.

As you (so succinctly!) say, I'm in a weird position. You'll see from my Q&A soon, people don't see my brand as "big" as they have no visibility of it. In real life, there's a host of agencies, developers, in-house offline teams and a 70 strong network of stakeholder franchisees to take care of.

BUt then again, I use al the same tools as big brands. When I saw that ASOS used Google Analytics, that was a shocker.

Anyway, Matthew gave me some really great feedback. I think recruiters are being put off by my current salary, that I don't live in London, and yes, that I've only ever worked for 1 company.

What has worked for me so far is when people talk to me, they're enthusiastic about what I do. I think, then, it's a case of networking, getting my name out there, commenting, getting published/mentioned (something Lakey's working on now ) and meeting as many of my peers as possible.

See you at the econsultancy christmas shindig :-)

Matt
Ashley Friedlein Staff
CEO at Econsultancy

24 November 2009 09:18am

Hi Matthew

All sounds good. Sure you'll get there in the end. Yes, networking will help and Q&A should definitely help.
M Jain Bronze
Online Marketing Consultant at M Jain Consulting Inc..

02 March 2010 12:35pm

You must have planned something,,,create a flowchart for that plan and start implementing that plan step by step,,,if you haven't plan so far...just do it now and stick with it.... plan should be something like shooting a moon and then you will definitely end up among the stars..that's what i learnt and follow...all the best dude...