Tragically fired! A group of operators have difficulty finding jobs

It is difficult to find a job, and a number of operations managers are complaining; it is difficult to find good employees, and a number of bosses are also complaining.

The peak season of cross-border e-commerce is coming in 2023, but a group of operators were fired before the peak season came. At the same time, there are also many workers who resigned at the end of the year. Are operators who change jobs frequently not good operators? What is so great about those operators who get high salaries? The word "confused" is a true portrayal of a large number of cross-border operators. They feel confused about the cross-border e-commerce industry, confused about the work they are doing, and confused about their career planning...

Employees and companies choose and achieve each other! Judging from the feedback from people in the industry, how far operations can go is not only closely related to their own abilities, but also to the company's abilities. From the perspective of the boss, questions such as "what kind of operations are good operations" and "how to lead a team well" are also enduring topics.

"Change jobs three times a year"! A group of operators have difficulty finding jobs after leaving

Recently, a number of cross-border operators have said that it is too difficult to find a job:

Is it difficult to find a job at the end of the year? I plan to quit my job at the end of the month and will be looking for a job soon ;

It is so hard to find a job now. I interviewed several companies in one week but none of them worked out.

I was fired just before I was about to get a permanent job, and it’s so hard to find a job at the end of the year;

Many cross-border companies simply don’t have many orders this year , so they are not hiring ;

Some companies invite people for interviews just to gain experience.

…

It is understood that the sales of many cross-border e-commerce companies this year have not been as good as expected, and the highly anticipated peak season has also shown a lack of momentum. As a result, they have lowered their expectations, prepared stocks cautiously, and adopted various measures such as "layoffs" to save costs, just to survive.

Xiao Zhang (pseudonym), an operations manager , was fired by the company not long after he was hired as a full-time employee. The company clearly stated that the overall environment this year was not good and that it needed to increase revenue and cut costs. Xiao Zhang said that the remaining employees in the company were all senior, and he had some premonitions before he was laid off.

Coincidentally, Xiao Li (pseudonym), an operator, also said that he is currently in Shenzhen. Because the cross-border department of his company was laid off, he had no choice but to look for a job opportunity again. So far, he has interviewed many companies, and the feedback he received was basically that his performance was too low, he changed jobs too frequently, his operation level was average, and he said that his expected salary of 8,000 was a bit high...

Putting aside the phenomenon of forced unemployment, many people actually quit their jobs voluntarily.

Xiao Wang (pseudonym) recently resigned due to poor performance. He was overwhelmed by pressure every day when he went to the company, and his mental state was unstable. It is understood that he was working in an industrial and trade company. At the beginning, the company took too big a step and sent too many goods to Amazon warehouses at once. However, the products did not sell well. Xiao Wang has basically not received any commission since he joined the company. His main job in the second half of this year is to clear the goods. He feels powerless.

"How happy I was when I voluntarily resigned, how much I regret it now!" Xiao Liu (pseudonym) said helplessly that he had resigned two months ago. At that time, friends around him all advised him that it was the wrong time to quit and it would be difficult to find a new job. It would actually be easier to choose a job after the Spring Festival. However, the desire to quit was too strong at that time. Now thinking about it, it was indeed reckless. Until now, he has not found a suitable job.

According to job seekers’ feedback, generally speaking, cross-border companies will ask these questions during interviews: How are new products promoted ? What is the ranking of the links that were promoted well before? What is the profit point of a single product? What is the proportion of advertising costs when promoting products, and what is the ACOS? What is the proportion of product refunds? What preparations are needed before doing flash sales, and how effective are flash sales? ... Many operators think they have answered these questions very well, but they still face the situation of "no follow-up after the interview".

Are operators who change jobs frequently not good operators? Judging from market feedback, "the number of job changes of job seekers" is indeed a point of assessment for cross-border companies in recruiting. Generally speaking, operators who change jobs very frequently will face more scrutiny from cross-border companies, and are easily labeled as "unstable in work" by recruitment companies. Some companies will also think that these people just want to "get a basic salary."

The boss of a cross-border e-commerce company said that the operations position is not a position with a very high technical content, but it is a position that requires time to settle down. It is very important for operations personnel to calm down and do basic things, collect data, and analyze and think.

In reality, how often do cross-border operators change jobs? Yienjun learned that it is possible that a group of workers have stayed in the same company for many years. Overall, the turnover rate of cross-border operations positions is not low. Some operators even changed five or six jobs in just one year.

Xiao Zhou (pseudonym), who has everything slowly getting back on track this year, is one of those people who changes jobs frequently. He changed 4 jobs last year, and the longest time he stayed in one company was less than 3 months. Xiao Zhou believes that the main reason is that he was too hasty in choosing jobs and joined without much consideration. He always found that the company was different from what he thought after joining, for example, he thought it was a fine product but it was actually a fine store, or he was mainly clearing out inventory after joining the company.

Xiao Liu has 6 years of relevant cross-border e-commerce work experience. During this period, he has changed 3 companies successively. The number of job changes is not frequent. Recently, during the job search, he has increasingly felt that many companies pay more attention to operations with about 2 years of work experience.

"Experience and years are not positively correlated, and rich experience does not mean long working years." Industry insiders believe that cross-border e-commerce companies such as Amazon have undergone great changes. Some employees who have worked in this industry for a long time will have a harder time finding a new job, and the company's review of old cross-border players is obviously more stringent. In comparison, those colleagues who have just graduated will have a smoother job search, after all, they are younger, have more room for development, and relatively speaking, ask for lower salaries.

Xiao Wang has also changed three cross-border e-commerce companies. The first company was a wolf in sheep's clothing. During the interview, it claimed to be a boutique company, but in fact it was doing the work of precision laying, which was equivalent to an excel machine every day . The second company did focus on boutique products, but unfortunately the profit of the products was not high. The category it was in belonged to the red ocean category, and the hot selling products dominated the top ranking in the category. Moreover, the products were cheaper one by one. The company had no choice but to lower the prices and remove the advertising expenses. In the end, not only did it not make money, but it lost money.

Xiao Zhang has worked for four cross-border e-commerce companies in more than three years, all of which mainly produced high-quality products. The categories they worked in were not considered to be red-ocean categories. After careful calculation, the monthly performance was not very good, and the highest monthly performance was only about 50,000 US dollars. Now he has repeatedly hit a wall in finding a job. He has interviewed more than 10 companies in total, and only two of them offered him an olive branch. However, these two companies were not consistent with his career plan. His self-esteem was hit, and he was often confused. He felt that his ability was not high and he had no competitive advantage in this industry.

Judging from the recruitment software, many cross-border companies are still recruiting recently, but overall, the recruitment demand of cross-border companies is still slightly weaker than after the Spring Festival. In addition, a number of cross-border companies do not really have a need for employment, but use the guise of recruiting to understand the industry situation or gain experience from peers. In addition, HR needs to brush KPIs, so they keep job search needs posted. Some other cross-border e-commerce companies do need to recruit, but the demand for employment is not strong, and they will be more cautious in the process of selecting talents. There may be one or two hundred people submitting resumes, but in the end only a few operators can "break" through the siege and successfully join the company.

Various factors have led to operational feedback that it is too difficult to find a job at this stage. Some people have spent more than a month or even longer and have not found a suitable job. Many job seekers have helplessly cried out: "How can I pass the interview?"

Feeling confused! What are the strengths of those capable operators?

There is no doubt that "unsuccessful interview" will definitely have a certain degree of impact on the people involved, and being unemployed at home will also increase the confusion of the operators.

At the same time, a group of cross-border workers who are currently working are often also unable to avoid the attack of "confusion"!

As his years of work increased, an operator did not feel that his work ability and earning situation had improved.

The operator said that when he first started working, his base salary was only 3,500 yuan. Fortunately, after getting started, his monthly commission was quite good. For several months, the highest commission even exceeded 10,000 yuan. Every time he changed jobs, his base salary would increase. Since the middle of last year, his base salary has reached 7,500 yuan per month, but his commission has dropped significantly. "Now the number of orders placed every day is often in the single digit. Even during the big promotion period, the number of orders placed is very different from previous years. In my spare time, I often doubt my life and wonder if I am not suitable for the Amazon operation position. Should I change my career?"

The operator also said that it is now difficult to find the work passion he had when he first entered the industry. He repeats the same work every day: such as checking listings , checking whether there are follow-up sales, checking keyword rankings, searching for advertising space, checking advertisements and order volume , and repeating the morning work process after lunch, and then waiting for the end of work ...

Coincidentally, another operator also said that he was often confused. He currently works in a small cross-border e-commerce company, mainly selling low-priced products on the European site. He is fully involved in the entire process, from product selection, copywriting, uploading links, product promotion, stocking and shipping. Currently, the monthly sales are not too high, with more than 50,000 pounds in the UK market and more than 40,000 euros in other European markets. He often wonders where his current operating level is.

The editor has observed that questions about the level of operations will cause heated discussions almost every once in a while. The questions include but are not limited to "What level is an average of 100,000 US dollars per month in the Amazon industry?", "What is the difference between an operator with one or two years of work experience and an operator with about five years of work experience?", "How to judge a person's operational ability, and what are the strengths of those powerful operators?"...

It can be found that operational ability and years of work experience cannot be equated. For example, some people can launch multiple hits with only two or three years of work experience, while others have been operating for five or six years and still have mediocre performance; some people manage dozens of products at the same time and still do well, while others can't even promote two or three products. Although luck is often part of operational ability, the ability gap between operators still depends to a large extent on their own efforts. An excellent operator must have the ability to think for himself and the ability to continuously learn and improve himself.

In the view of some industry insiders, in general, Amazon's operations positions are ultimately sales positions, so the judg ment of whether an operation is good or not still depends on the performance results, one is the sales volume, and the other is whether the profit margin is OK.

In detail, a good operator has excellent logical thinking, data collection and processing capabilities . Actively and regularly collect data, process data, analyze data, extract effective information, and accumulate understanding of categories. This is very important for deepening the category. As the internal circulation and low-price spiral continues, the cross-border industry has entered a stage of fierce competition. The creation of links has become increasingly important, and operators also need to continue to strengthen their ability to design pictures and videos and write copy.

In addition, operations should also have good risk management and control capabilities and the ability to handle unexpected situations. In the course of work, it is inevitable to encounter some unexpected situations. Facing some predictable risks, an excellent operation should prepare defensive countermeasures, such as inventory risk management, and be able to respond quickly to unexpected problems and find effective solutions through trial and error.

Are all the great operators starting their own businesses? How can small companies build a team?

It is worth noting that the level of operation capabilities and monthly performance are not only linked to one's own efforts, but also inseparable from the company's resource support.

Many operations staff can relate to this. One of them previously worked for a cross-border e-commerce company where the turnover rate was very high. Basically, operations staff with only one year of work experience could be considered a long-term employee of the company. The staff of another company was much more stable, with only a few employees leaving during their two-year tenure.

"The cross-border e-commerce industry is a mixed bag, and everyone's thinking and vision are different. When faced with capable employees, many bosses will give preferential treatment, high salaries and resource support, while many bosses will often get rid of the donkey after it has done its job, and rush to kick people out as soon as the link is established. Even some cross-border companies that have already gone public cannot avoid being criticized by employees for being too narrow-minded and having too many troubles." Some cross-border operators said that whether or not they can achieve good results is indeed closely related to the company's resource situation, and the importance of capital, products and supply chain is self-evident.

On the one hand, operations staff complain that it is hard to find good jobs, and on the other hand, bosses also feel that it is hard to find good employees.

I believe that those in the industry are familiar with this saying: "The powerful operators have gone out to work alone or in partnership with others to start a business!" This statement is certainly biased, but the experience of some cross-border bosses in recruiting people gives us a glimpse of it. One of the bosses said that many job seekers now over-beautify their resumes, and their performance and experience can be faked. It is difficult to tell the true level of job seekers through simple contact such as interviews. However, the operation salary is relatively not low, and the cost of product promotion is very high, which leads to high trial and error costs for recruiting people, and also wastes time and energy.

A large number of bosses have reached a consensus that for a company, selecting people is the most important thing. Excellent operations require good comprehensive capabilities, including the rhythm of the entire promotion cycle, the execution of daily work, and the handling and feedback of problems . How to select such excellent employees?

Just as employees believe that their own performance is closely related to company resources, many cross-border bosses also believe that only when the company itself becomes bigger and stronger and provides employees with strong resource support will operations have room and space to display their capabilities; expecting to find a powerful operator to make the company better, bigger and stronger is putting the cart before the horse and is an unrealistic idea.

Apart from a very small number of short-sighted cross-border e-commerce companies, most companies still hope that the team can be stable and the turnover of personnel should not be too frequent. Implementing equity incentive plans to retain employees is one of the very important means to retain employees after listing and selling well. How can small and medium-sized cross-border e-commerce companies build an excellent team? Weibo blogger "Factory Director in the Wind" elaborated on his views in detail from the aspects of recruitment standards, probation period, training, incentives, etc.

When recruiting people, we would rather have no one than hire the wrong people. We would try to hire people from other places, with poor family conditions and decent character. They should not be too stupid, and most importantly, they should not lie down and the incentives should be effective.

During the probation period, we focus on observing the employee's enthusiasm and laziness, learning ability and sense of responsibility. Being able to actively learn work skills, product knowledge, etc. is definitely a plus.

Emphasis is placed on training, the main purpose of which is to "master skills, integrate into the group, prioritize efficiency, and output values." Improving efficiency can better build a team and liberate the boss. A team where the boss is involved in everything will definitely not be efficient.

Motivation is the core of team fighting power. According to the test, if one person works very hard to do business, earns 20 million a year and makes 2 million in profit, and hires 10 salesmen, if he makes 100 million a year, he can earn 10 million. Even if he gives out 5 million, he can still get 5 million. It is easier for people to make more money. In terms of team motivation, it is mainly to set a sales target, give extra rewards after reaching it, and then divide the money within the team.

Key people must be firmly grasped, such as the sales team leader, operations director, and human resources, who must be confidants. Core employees must be able to report problems in a timely manner, rather than only reporting good news and not bad news. A kind person cannot command an army. The management system can be humane, but as a manager, you cannot be too easy to talk to, and you must be decisive.

Do you have any good suggestions for team building? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.

In summary, whether it is a group of operators who are occasionally confused and troubled, or a group of bosses who cannot help worrying about talents, cross-border people from all walks of life have their own troubles. Finding and maintaining their own advantages is what workers need to continue to explore. Building a team and maintaining talents according to the company's positioning is also a topic that bosses should pay attention to.