Page 146 - Marky Stein - Fearless Career Change_ The Fast Track to Success in a New Field (2004)

Fearless Career Change

How to Beat the Competition by
Interrupting the Hiring Cycle
In a common hiring cycle, a new job opening appears when some-
one who has the power to hire you perceives that there is a need for a
new person in a project, department, office, or organization.
This idea to hire may have arisen for a number of reasons:
someone quit, someone was fired, someone died or moved out of
the area, or someone is out because of an extended period of ill-
ness and it’s not clear if that person is going to return.
It also could mean that a higher head count is needed in the
company because there is a new product or service that needs fresh
ideas or because an executive or manager needs a second person
in charge. There are a score of other reasons.

Four Phases of the Hiring Cycle
In the fearless career change methodology, we have a way of bypass-
ing—even eliminating—the competition by interrupting what I call
the hiring cycle before it reaches the final phase. It’s important to
understand each stage to know how to interrupt it at the advanta-
geous moment.
Phase 1. While the hiring manager who sees the necessity of
bringing on someone new first has the idea in his or her mind, only
one person (namely, the person with the idea) knows that there is a
possibility of a job opening. In most cases, this decision maker has
to get permission from a higher decision maker.
Phase 2. While the decision maker and his or her superior are
discussing the potential hire (which, in larger companies, can
take up to a month or more), only two or three people know that
there is a possibility of a job opening. If the senior person
approves the hire, it will be submitted to the human resources
department.
Phase 3. In the human resources department, a job descrip-
tion, in-house announcements, advertisements, a pay scale, and
legal documents pertaining to the position are drawn up. This part
of the process can take from three to nine months, depending on
the size of the company. The opening may be announced inter-
nally, and up to 300 people may know of its existence. At this point,
the competition is somewhat higher but not insurmountable.

128