You’ve Got it up There, Now Snap it Off. The Looking to Offer pipeline.

One of my favorite lines from the show 30 Rock is when at a critical juncture of a business pitch Jack, the boss, whispers to Kenneth, the intern, “You’ve got it up there, now snap it off!” If I had to describe the process of going from initial looking to the ink drying on that onboarding paperwork in just two steps, those are the two I’d use: queuing up potential opportunities (getting it up there) and turning those potential opportunities into offers (snapping it off). Let’s take a closer look.

Getting it up there

This half of the process involves queuing up opportunities for yourself. I intend to dive deeper into each of these in future posts, but here’s a high-level overview.

1.      Cause: Your current job sucks. Graduation is looming. You’re ready for something new. You’d like to be making more money. Whatever the reason, you’re motivated to start the job hunt.

2.      Feelers & Research: It’s time to start looking. You start chatting to old coworkers and bosses, reaching out to your network, browsing LinkedIn, hitting up careers pages, seeing what’s available.

3.      Materials: If you don’t already have an updated resume, boilerplate cover letter, and LinkedIn profile (which you should always have handy anyways), now is the time to get those into good shape.

4.      Filling the pipeline: Start getting those applications out there. Schedule those phone calls with contacts.

Snapping it off

You’ve put yourself out there. Your calendar is full of interviews and conversations. It’s time to seal the deal and turn those leads into your next job.

5.      Get Talking: HR phone screens, panel interviews, on-sites, it’s time to start talking to everyone who was interested from step 4 in the previous section.

6.      The Chips Fall: This step is more on who you talk to than you, but wait and see who wants to move forward, and who does not. This step and step 5 iterate until you have offers and rejections.

7.      Evaluating Opportunities: Your wish list for your next job should probably not be “anyone who will take me”. Based on your criteria, decide which of your offers you’d like the most.

8.      Negotiate That Salary: Required? Technically not. Encouraged? Strongly.

9.      Close It: Accept the offer. Submit the background check. Start preparing for your new opportunity.

Which step do you struggle with the most? Which would you like to read more about? Let me know at YourSTEMMentorBlog@gmail.com!