Writing a New Chapter: Chris Lydgate’s Job Search Success Story

Every career has its twists and turns. After experiencing a layoff, writer Chris Lydgate took an active approach to his job search and focused on local opportunities, landing a new role with the City of Portland. Here’s how he successfully turned the page to his next chapter.

What do you do for a career? Who do you work for? 

I’m a writer, editor, journalist, and content strategist. For many years, I was a reporter and editor for newspapers and magazines, then transitioned into content creation for Reed College and OHSU. Last year OHSU found itself in a budget crisis and had to cut 500 positions, one of which was mine. A tough time for everyone. I spent 6 months looking for a new job and just got hired as a writer/content creator for the City of Portland, which I love.

What do you like best about your career? 

I like sharing authentic stories that equip people with information and inspire them to take action. I enjoy doing the research – going out and seeing things for myself. I like the challenge of learning about new subjects, be it astrophysics or zebrafish. Most of all, I get a kick out of crafting stories for maximum impact and obsessing over headlines and captions.

What resources ​have helped you in your career and your job searches? Are there specific tools or tactics that have contributed to your success? 

Mac’s List is absolutely indispensable. Nothing else comes close, at least in my field. It’s an incredible asset to the jobseeker community.

• First up: the job listings. I signed up to get them in my inbox and made a point of trawling the website at least twice a week. 
• I also love the Mac’s List blog, which is full of great tips for job seekers. For example, I learned that “To Whom It May Concern” is a lousy way to start a cover letter.
• ML sponsors seminars and networking events that helped me get creative, stay focused, and stay positive.

I spent many (too many?) hours writing and rewriting my resume until something dawned on me. Ideally, a resume isn’t just a list of stuff you did. It’s more like a rundown of your strengths, skills, and experience, what you accomplished, and how you helped your former employers. So instead of “wrote about healthcare” I put “established the Daily Bugle as a key source for healthcare news.” That sort of thing.

I kept my LinkedIn profile sharp. I gave recommendations for colleagues and asked for theirs in return. I thought broadly about the skills I’ve developed in my career and emphasized the ones that are most relevant in today’s workplace. (I’m guessing employers are more interested in teamwork than in proofreading.)

I also kept showing up. I went to a journalism conference, I went to a photography workshop, I went to meet-and-greets. I went to events where I didn’t know a single person and didn’t make a single connection. No matter. You never know when lightning will strike. 

Throughout your career, what obstacles have you encountered when doing a job search, and how did you overcome them? 

If you ask me, many job listings on national boards are ghost jobs. They don’t really exist. They were filled months ago, and are reposted as clickbait. So one obstacle is finding real, relevant listings. I focused on Mac’s List,  Governmentjobs.com, and the state of Oregon’s list. I also asked friends and colleagues for opportunities they’d heard about.

The advent of hybrid work has also made things more complicated for job seekers. An employer in Boston might post an opening that says “Remote,” so it pops up in my LinkedIn feed in Portland. I applied for scores of remote jobs based in New York, Boston, LA, the Bay area, and seldom got traction. To save myself grief, I decided to focus my search on local opportunities.

I’m a seasoned worker with many decades of experience and I worried about coming across as too old or overqualified. I shortened my resume and removed my graduation year to blur the lines a little.

Job boards have made it possible to apply for a job just by clicking a button. At first blush that sounds great, but the problem is that hiring managers get swamped by a tidal wave of applications. Once they get overwhelmed, it’s really hard for your application to get noticed — they may never dig themselves out. So when I spotted a promising job, I tried to apply as fast as I could, ideally within 72 hours. I just don’t think hiring managers are really paying attention to apps that come across on Day 31. 

What piece of advice would you give to job seekers or professionals trying to advance in their careers? 

• Network. You’re not between jobs, you’re looking for work. Tell people you’re on the hunt. Ask them to send you leads.
• Raise your profile. Post things. Join things. Make yourself visible.
• Rethink your resume. Take a class or work with a consultant. It’s worth it.
• Always take the time to write a great cover letter.

Everyone’s job search story is different, but each individual story can inspire and empower others who are on their own unique path. We love to hear how our readers have found rewarding careers in Portland, and we want to share these stories with you to inspire you in your job search and to help us all better understand the local job market.