Frederick Musa - Seventy five days to land a new job

One of our members, Frederick Musa, has shared the story of how he secured his new job. Thank you, Frederick and congratulations on your new job.

Current role

Frederick Musa now works for Amazon as a Health and Safety Specialist in Washington State, USA. It took him 75 days to find and be offered this job.

Background

My name is Frederick Musa. I am an industrial engineer (IE). I earned my Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering (BSIE) from Louisiana Tech University in August 2021. As well, I gained employment in the woods product industry with Weyerhaeuser as a Leadership Development Professional (LDP) right after my undergraduate graduation ceremony.

As an LDP, I worked with safety, sales, human resources, quality, and engineering professionals. I had the privilege of contributing to an eclectic team of managers, leaders, and entry level individuals; however, I got laid off from my role in February 2022.

Laid off

Getting laid off was a big deal. I live in Washington (WA) State, one of the most expensive states in the US, so I knew I had to earnestly secure employment.

On the reason for being laid off, it came down to friction in my relationship with my site’s mill manager. We, my manager, human resources, and I, agreed that the best move was severance. I have no regrets, as my time at Weyerhaeuser was an expansive, growth-defined time. I would not change anything about my value-added contributions and positive work-based friendships.

Structure

I utilized my first week of unemployment for relaxation and recharge. I drove to beautiful places and enjoyed amazing food. In my second week, I modified my curriculum vitae (CV) or resumé to reflect my most recent professional experience. I sent out my first application via LinkedIn.

For more context, I have an active LinkedIn premium subscription. Also, I ended up applying for over 100 jobs. 90% of my job applications were sourced through LinkedIn and completed on the individual company websites. About 5 recruiters reached out to me indicating an interest in my LinkedIn profile, and requested Zoom video meetings, or a regular phone call. It was one of these recruiters that paved the way for my application to the Workplace Health and Safety Specialist (WHSS) role at Amazon that I applied for via amazon.jobs, interviewed for a week later, and accepted the role 2 weeks afterwards. In total, it took me 75 days to land another job.

Staying Confident in the Face of ‘No’

Prior to my eventual “yes, come work for us,” I received many “no, we cannot move forward with you for this role.” Truly, I am naturally a very industrious and confident human being, so I knew that at some point I would receive a yes. I will say that having LinkedIn Premium is a must. In my professional life, I have earned multiple job offers because LinkedIn Premium paved the way for recruiters or friends to reach out to me. I had no interest in working for Amazon, but I have always seen myself working as a certified safety professional.

Further resources

In addition to LinkedIn Premium, Richard McMunn’s YouTube channel is my go-to source for interview preparation. He has a wealth of videos with scripted, industry specific answers to the most asked interview questions like:

Tell me about yourself

How did you hear about us?

Why should we hire you?

What is/are your greatest strength(s)?

Can you tell me what is/are your greatest weakness(es)?

Describe what is/are your greatest achievement(s)?

Tell me about a time when you…….

What motivates you?

Another key resource that helped me with interview preparation was Madeline Mann. Like Richard McMunn, she has a dedicated YouTube channel that I greatly recommend to you when preparing for your interviews.

Advice

I found these nine things to be useful in my job hunt.

Explore your skills, experience, education, and interests to really identify what you are good at, what you are interested in, what industries reward you for being skilled at your “what.”

Use your LinkedIn account to reach out to professors, friends, coworkers, university alumnus, and any individual that knows your uniqueness in some way. Reaching out might give you a leg up come job application submission time.

Avoid using the “easy apply” feature on LinkedIn. You get out of your job search what you put in. Go above and beyond to “In Mail” message recruiters before even sending out your job application.

Get LinkedIn Premium, and use LinkedIn learning to supplement your interviewing, and resumé writing skills.

Avoid wordy messages in the professional scene

Remind yourself why you want the role you are applying for

If you can, avoid applying online until you have made a personal connection for that specific role.

Recruiters can be your friends, so respond to messages from recruiters wisely

Good luck

Frederick Musa – Seventy five days to land a new job