Career
Finding a job
Excerpts from this awesome tweet (or X)
- Create a prioritization criteria
- Explore the job landscape and have clarity on what you're looking for next.
- Is it impact? Culture? More stability? Learning opportunities? More compensation? Better life-work alignment?
- Tier your options and identify your "Reach", "Target", and "Safety" options, with clear timelines.
- Once you've identified what's important, take action.
- Openly share your goals
- It takes vulnerability to share that you're looking for work. But once you do, you'll open up a bunch of doors.
- Catch up with old connections to get inspired and get a different perspective.
- Ask: "What would you do if you were me?"
- Optimize your inbound
- Increase inbound volume by signing up for emails and alerts to get opportunities in your inbox.
- e.g. Newsletters (Jobs by Ali Rohde, Skiplevel's newsletter), Talent Collectives (Andrew, Packy, Lenny, Sahil).
- Start by casting a wide net, but over time reduce noise by unsubscribing to irrelevant content.
- Connect with Super-Connectors
- You don't need to know everyone, you just need to know the ten people that know everyone.
- These are not always the Recruiters, and Hiring Managers, but the VC (Venture Capitalists) and Investors, Head of Communities, and Community Builders.
- Investors are incentivized to find talent for their portfolio companies, and community builders are motivated to connect the people in their community.
- Identify the super-connectors in your industry and build a relationship with them.
- Engage with your communities
- Professional communities provide you with access, knowledge, and support. i.e. knowledge on open roles, access to referrals, and support on networking and interviewing.
- Identify the communities you may already be a part of (alumni networks, cultural associations, etc.) and relevant new professional networks (product, engineering communities, etc.)
- Leverage these points of connection to build new relationships.
- Evolve your professional CRM
- Track all your contacts in a "CRM" (Customer Relationship Management" system.
- This will remind you of specific details of your relationship.
- Master the art of the follow-up.
- With new connections, be persistent but respectful. With existing relationships, be consistent, but genuine.
- After you've reached out, remember to thank them.
- Step into the arena
- Ensure your resume, Linkedin, and other professional assets are optimized.
- When someone reads your resume, how do you want them to perceive you?
- Prepare your story and elevator pitch. What are the three key messages you want to get across?