We occasionally hear from ecommerce professionals who are job hunting, and this year we’ve heard many reports of long periods of searching after submitting their resume with little to no communication from potential employers.
To ask the question, we once again reached out to Harry Joyner, an e-commerce recruiter with 20 years of experience who has a seasoned perspective on jobseekers and the companies that hire them.
The full audio of our recent conversation with Joyner is embedded below. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Kelly Murdoch: January, You called The e-commerce employment landscape is fragmented. What does it look like now?
Harry Joyner: That still holds true today. There are 31 different types of candidates for Baskin Robbins: part-time, full-time, remote, temporary, project, etc. It’s crazy.
Remote roles are more unstable than onsite roles. It is easier for companies to phase out remote roles because employees in remote roles will likely bounce back faster. This is an observation based on my personal experience.
Overall, it seems like companies are hiring people for incremental improvements in sales or operations for example, but not for high impact strategic roles. In my opinion, nothing beats a full time, on-site role where an executive manages the entire e-commerce P&L.
Murdoch: What is a vulnerable role?
Joiner: These are positions that are at high risk of being lost, such as project-based positions. People in unstable roles have to think about how to increase their value to the company. They need to study how the company makes money and creates value for its customers, and figure out what will increase their usefulness.
Murdoch: We hear from experienced ecommerce professionals looking for work that they send out 50 or 100 resumes and never hear back from employers. What advice do you have for them?
Joiner: A lot of this has to do with candidates not being conscious of who they are sending their resumes to. I touched on this issue in a recent LinkedIn post:10 ways to speed up your job search.“
At a high level, candidates need to do a lot: optimize their resume, optimize their LinkedIn profile, network, use job alerts, and more, all in addition to consulting a job coach or mentor. There is a right and wrong way to manage e-commerce candidates. We see very talented people coming to the top of the search funnel and getting a phone interview opportunity. But they’re not converting that call into a second round interview.
It’s not because LinkedIn profiles and resumes weren’t helpful: their purpose is to get you a phone interview. But once you get the phone interview, your job is to explain how you will make money for the company. Many people can’t do that. That’s where coaching and mentoring comes in.
I do that type of coaching just like anyone else. It’s all learnable. It starts with finding out what the company is looking for and aligning what the position will cost the company with what they’ll get in return for the candidate.
Murdoch: Have you ever worked a job that wasn’t through LinkedIn?
Joiner: I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I’ve only done three searches without LinkedIn. Two of those were first-time searches. About five years ago, we had a search that was won by a candidate who didn’t come from LinkedIn. The candidate refused to be on the platform. But everyone else, yes, you should be on LinkedIn.
Murdoch: We’ve all read the headlines about e-commerce growth slowing, even though it will change direction. What are you hearing from employers?
Joiner: The e-commerce industry is maturing. Not decreasingMy business partner, Alan Seibert, recently told me that he hasn’t seen many new job openings this year, but rather has been looking to replace people who have left the company. New Position By the way, this is born out of artificial intelligence technology.
Murdoch: What does the lack of new positions mean for candidates?
Joiner: For job seekers, this is a competitive market. It is very important for job seekers to be in the right frame of mind: stay healthy, don’t drink too much, watch what you eat, etc. Candidates need to think very carefully about what they have done right in their career so far, their successes. What achievements and organizational changes did they bring about? Candidates need to get a better idea of all the things they have done right, so that these will be reflected in how they sell themselves and how they engage with the hiring committee.
We’ve covered other tips in our LinkedIn post: Start by practicing and preparing for your interview. Do mock interviews and record your own. There are no shortcuts to researching the company’s culture, business model, and understanding how they make money. Find out about the company’s online products and their sales strategy. Who is buying them? Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. It will help you prepare better questions for the interview. It will also demonstrate your interest and fit with the company.
Next Mental statusI mentioned this earlier, but we’re seeing job seekers feel job-hunting fatigue this year. I would say to them, be organized and proactive: establish regular follow-ups, reevaluate and adjust your strategy, take online courses, join professional communities, stay connected with people, and find alternative ways to approach your job search. Be as proactive and positive as possible.
Murdoch: Tell us again how people can follow you and get in touch.
Joiner: Our website is E-commerce Jobs. Harry Joyner It resolves to my LinkedIn profile, where I post regularly.
