18 min

Change Your Job Search by Applying Strategically, with Alfredo Moreno Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job

    • Careers

If you're a mid-career professional looking to make a career change, you’re likely to face obstacles as you try to find the best possible position. Since finding that next job can take a while, you need to use that time to hone in on your unique strengths and talents. On this episode of Find Your Dream Job, Alfredo Moreno (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfredovmoreno/) shares how refining his elevator pitch helped him to see the things he valued most, as a professional and as a person. Alfredo also shares how goal setting and accountability helped him keep his focus, even during a months-long job search. Learn more about Alfredo’s career history below in this installment of our Success Stories series (https://www.macslist.org/articles/success-stories).
What do you do for a career? Who do you work for?
I’m the community relations manager at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus (https://www.pcc.edu/about/locations/rock-creek/) in Washington County.
How long did it take you to find this job?
It was a long process, but with different stages of intensity. I had my periscope up for about 16 months overall, but I was particularly intentional, strategic, and intense about it for the final nine months.
How did you find your job? What resources did you use? What tool or tactic helped the most?
I found the job the standard, not-particularly-efficient way — discovered it on a job listing website (Indeed.com, I believe) and applied online. Obviously it was one of many I applied for during the long search, but was one of the few that really resonated with me right away.
It wasn’t just an intriguing opportunity, it was a role that I knew I could do at a high level and felt very confident that it would maximize both my person passions and professional skill set. I’d say it was a rare opportunity in that regard to hit that sweet spot.
So, I put a good amount of time and energy into my resume and, particularly, my cover letter. My resume changed shapes over time throughout my search thanks to input I received from peers and, particularly, an agency rep I worked with. I didn’t get any job opportunities through them, but the feedback on my resume was invaluable.
Also (and honestly I have no idea if this moved the needle at all) I printed off physical copies of my resume and cover letter and mailed them in a manilla envelope to the person I thought was the hiring manager for this role. Turned out, she wasn’t (it’s a little unique here), but maybe that resonated a bit with the hiring committee. At minimum, it didn’t seem to hurt me.
Finally, even after I had done my initial interview, I kept networking and through some additional LinkedIn exploration I discovered that one of my PCC counterparts in this role was connected to a friend of mine. I asked for an introduction and set up a lunch meeting with my PCC counterpart a week or two before my final interview that was incredibly valuable. She wasn’t on the hiring committee, but gave me some great insight into the role and, most importantly, a real confidence boost heading into the final round.
What was the most difficult part of your job search? How did you overcome this challenge?
There were several large challenges in my search. The first was simply how long it took. While the end result was absolutely rewarding, having “job hunting” take over as my top extra-curricular activity for 8-9 months was draining to say the least.
I will also say, it was pretty disheartening to experience the shabby way many organizations treat applicants. I’ve been on the hiring side of this process as well and know that it’s no picnic, but I was disappointed with how many companies failed to follow-up in a timely fashion, even when they promised to do so after an interview stage. The organizations that were sincerely appreciative of the great time and effort applicants put forth, and communicated clearly throughout the process, stood apart from the rest.
Finally,

If you're a mid-career professional looking to make a career change, you’re likely to face obstacles as you try to find the best possible position. Since finding that next job can take a while, you need to use that time to hone in on your unique strengths and talents. On this episode of Find Your Dream Job, Alfredo Moreno (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfredovmoreno/) shares how refining his elevator pitch helped him to see the things he valued most, as a professional and as a person. Alfredo also shares how goal setting and accountability helped him keep his focus, even during a months-long job search. Learn more about Alfredo’s career history below in this installment of our Success Stories series (https://www.macslist.org/articles/success-stories).
What do you do for a career? Who do you work for?
I’m the community relations manager at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus (https://www.pcc.edu/about/locations/rock-creek/) in Washington County.
How long did it take you to find this job?
It was a long process, but with different stages of intensity. I had my periscope up for about 16 months overall, but I was particularly intentional, strategic, and intense about it for the final nine months.
How did you find your job? What resources did you use? What tool or tactic helped the most?
I found the job the standard, not-particularly-efficient way — discovered it on a job listing website (Indeed.com, I believe) and applied online. Obviously it was one of many I applied for during the long search, but was one of the few that really resonated with me right away.
It wasn’t just an intriguing opportunity, it was a role that I knew I could do at a high level and felt very confident that it would maximize both my person passions and professional skill set. I’d say it was a rare opportunity in that regard to hit that sweet spot.
So, I put a good amount of time and energy into my resume and, particularly, my cover letter. My resume changed shapes over time throughout my search thanks to input I received from peers and, particularly, an agency rep I worked with. I didn’t get any job opportunities through them, but the feedback on my resume was invaluable.
Also (and honestly I have no idea if this moved the needle at all) I printed off physical copies of my resume and cover letter and mailed them in a manilla envelope to the person I thought was the hiring manager for this role. Turned out, she wasn’t (it’s a little unique here), but maybe that resonated a bit with the hiring committee. At minimum, it didn’t seem to hurt me.
Finally, even after I had done my initial interview, I kept networking and through some additional LinkedIn exploration I discovered that one of my PCC counterparts in this role was connected to a friend of mine. I asked for an introduction and set up a lunch meeting with my PCC counterpart a week or two before my final interview that was incredibly valuable. She wasn’t on the hiring committee, but gave me some great insight into the role and, most importantly, a real confidence boost heading into the final round.
What was the most difficult part of your job search? How did you overcome this challenge?
There were several large challenges in my search. The first was simply how long it took. While the end result was absolutely rewarding, having “job hunting” take over as my top extra-curricular activity for 8-9 months was draining to say the least.
I will also say, it was pretty disheartening to experience the shabby way many organizations treat applicants. I’ve been on the hiring side of this process as well and know that it’s no picnic, but I was disappointed with how many companies failed to follow-up in a timely fashion, even when they promised to do so after an interview stage. The organizations that were sincerely appreciative of the great time and effort applicants put forth, and communicated clearly throughout the process, stood apart from the rest.
Finally,

18 min