Alumna and staffing expert Jaime Diglio shares insider secrets of what recruiters want
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PHOTO COURTESY OF JAIME DIGLIO |
Jaime Diglio, president of New York City-area recruiting company SomethingNew, says life is too long to be in a job you hate.
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By Becky Monk
Jaime Diglio says life is too long to be in a job you hate.
It’s one of the reasons she’s made it her life’s work to help companies and workers find the best match. The president of metro New York City-based recruiting company SomethingNew knows what it’s like to have Microsoft as part of her resume. She worked for the company in New York, leading one of the sales teams for Microsoft’s financial services division.
Now she’s helping high-growth companies change the way they recruit and getting the right people in the right jobs. Because she also does some career coaching, she’s happy to share some insider tips to fellow alumni who may be looking for the next chapter in their career post-Microsoft.
That includes taking time to find the right next move, avoiding mistakes that a lot of people make, and knowing how to best position the unique skills that they acquired while at Microsoft.
Jaime says the first thing before making any move is to do some soul searching and have a strategy for making that next career choice.
“We want to make sure you are not just jumping into an open job somewhere,” she said, “but that you’re really reflecting on what it is you really want to do and then constituting that.”
That means take some time and make a list of your prior jobs, what you liked and disliked about each. Then, research companies and jobs that can give you more of what you liked. For example, you may learn that you want to work at a big company, or that you are more interested in working at a fast-growing startup.
The next step is to understand how to showcase all of your talents so that you make the best impression to recruiters at the company. Jaime says that means talking to someone – whether that’s a career coach or someone who knows you well – who can help you cut through all of the noise in your head and help you identify those things in an objective way.
“People naturally don’t see the things they are good at because you can’t see the picture when you’re in the frame,” she said.
An objective third party can help you clarify your brand and think through your strategy, and people shouldn’t discount the value of that.
“You have a person for everything in your life,” Jaime said, noting that people turn to others for dry cleaning to dentists, but often balk at needing someone to help with their career. “You need someone to bring out the special gifts you have. You have a unique career path that you’ve been on. All of us have unique qualities and a different composition of things…so find someone who can pull that out of you so you can sell it.”
Yes. Sell it, she said.
People need to be able to reframe what they’ve done in their previous jobs to explain the reasons that they are valued in the marketplace – specifically to their potential new boss. Essentially, she says, it’s about selling yourself.
“A lot of people frown about sales, but at the end of the day, every single conversation is a sales conversation,” she said. “Not to have a way to think about selling yourself puts you at a disadvantage when you’re out on the job market. I don’t care what kind of a job it is, whether it’s in sales or engineering, you need to know how to talk to people.”
When doing that talking, Jaime reminds fellow alumni to avoid the jargon, acronyms, and other shorthand that’s second nature to Microsoft alumni when talking to people for a job interview.
It’s a badge of pride to learn how to speak Microsoft, she says, but when you’re applying for a job, you need to speak English again because the people you are interviewing don’t know the language.
She also notes that you should find a person to practice your interview skills with. Everyone thinks they are good at talking about themselves, but it’s not always the case. It’s important to get that objective opinion and make sure you are coming across in your best light.
Part of that practice is learning how to best position your time at Microsoft.
She cautions that not everyone views Microsoft experience the same way.
“When you see a Microsoft or an IBM or any big company, there’s a brand halo,” she explained. “There’s a preexisting impression of what the culture is like and what the people who work there are like.”
In some cases, the brand halo shines. In others, it’s tarnished.
That’s why she suggests when creating a resume or communicating with potential employers that alumni not fall into the trap of talking about a group they worked with, talk about the specific technology area and specific projects and concerns that you took care of in your role, how you worked in teams, and examples of how you solved problems.
One of the biggest selling points about working at Microsoft that people forget to tout is that they’ve worked in an organization that has gone through massive disruption in good times.
“Even though it’s a big company, you’ve had to pivot and reconstitute and learn all new skills at the drop of a dime,” she said. “You’ve gone through journeys that most companies are going through now and you can work in an agile environment. I think that’s a really big selling point.”
She also says don’t be afraid to tout the diverse community and culture of Microsoft. Showing you know how to navigate that and appreciate the “learn it all culture” or that you have a growth mindset because it’s drilled into you is something that good employers will appreciate, she said.
The final piece of advice Jaime offers is to remember to use your network in your job search.
She notes that many Microsoft alumni forget to update their LinkedIn profiles or do research on social media platforms when they’re beginning their job search.
“Every alum wants to be that person who is getting referred by the people in their network,” she said.
People should use their networks to identify people with whom they’ve worked and with whom they’ve had really strong relationships. Don’t be afraid to ask the people you’ve been in the trenches with for recommendation.
“They’ll either want to hire you themselves or they may know other people who may be hiring and will refer you,” she said.