I’ve been actively applying for jobs in the action sports industry for just shy of two years now, and about a year ago, I went pro. (i.e. was laid off my job, for more about that see my bio.)  And while I realize that what I’m attempting is a very difficult task, (switch-careers-in-the-worst-economy-since-the-great-depression-into-a-notoriously-competive-industry) after applying for position after position and not so much as even being acknowledged by the company you were applying to, you start to feel a bit downtrodden, dare I say, on-sale and I start to wonder, is anyone buying what I’m selling?

I’m sure many a business person has pondered this question, and in this case what I’m selling is me.  Although some may think this involves a mini skirt and a pair of stilettos, it’s actually just a ton of cover letters and follow up.  I’m aware that, right now, companies with open positions receive literally hundreds of resumes a day and having been on the other side of the hiring coin, I don’t blame them for not responding to everyone, but still it can make you question your skills.

So, in my endless quest to improve my product, I attended the Action Sports Innovators Panel held by The University of San Diego’s Entrepreneurs Club on Monday night.  There, the point was made that no matter how amazing your product, if you’re lacking a distribution channel, you have nothing.  All my work experience, passion, thought and spell checking are just a .doc file on my computer if they’re not in the hands of the right person.  Now, more than ever, this is the essence of job searching.  Setting up as many contacts as you can, building relationships and exhausting every contact you have.  Even your brothers, girlfriends, dog-sitters, cousin who works for that big surf apparel company can be a help if you’ve played your cards right.  Talk to anyone and everyone, volunteer, intern and ask tons of questions, so when that rare job opportunity arrives, you have your network in place and you can get your product where it needs to go.

I really believe that if you’re hard working, passionate, determined and patient you can end up with a job you love.  It happened to me once, and it can happen again.  So every time I send off a well thought out, well loved cover letter, I try to keep in mind that it’s not personal and I still let myself get excited every time my phone rings with an unknown number, because I know that’s all it could take to put me in a great new position and end my pro job searching career.