Who’s Risk Averse?
Job searches involve sticking out one’s neck
Any number of recruiters will tell you that most HR people are famously risk-averse. That said, they are most likely to choose the candidate that presents the least amount of risk to the company (and to them personally.)
So how can you turn this to your advantage?
There’s an opportunity there
The hard part is that you need to be somewhat creative and a whole lot proactive. Assuming that you have some qualifications for the position in question, make them an offer.
You will be willing to work on a project for them. They will get the opportunity to see how well you perform with no commitment (or risk) on their part. They don’t have to take a chance on you as a full-time employee and they can examine the real-world fruits of your labor.
This works especially well if the particular project can be done remotely. You don’t have to be there and you can do the work on your own time from the safety and security of your home. Doing it on site has it’s own advantages. You get to learn the company (and its culture) from the inside out. You get to meet the people with whom you’ll be working and knowing them may unearth other job leads which otherwise would go unnoticed.
A caveat: it’s important to determine – up front and in detail – the parameters of the project and the expected outcomes. Without them, it would be too easy to be sucked into something that’s way over your head or grossly time consuming. The other part of that is to determine what compensation would be involved. Depending on the job and your level of desperation, you might want to offer to complete the project without pay or at a substantial discount. Most companies, however, are willing to pay; if it’s a non-profit organization however, maybe not. If you are paid, don’t forget you’ll need to report that income on your taxes come next April.
In the end, you’ll gain valuable insights; you’ll have something to occupy your time; and you’ll have a work sample which you can leverage in your search.
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