5 Simple Steps to Help Navigate Your Career Transition

Happy Saturday Everyone! 👋

(Read time 5 min 39 sec)

Welcome back!

We had an awesome week in the UpEmployment Accelerator.

3 more high-powered tech operators joined the community, and they’re already starting to dig in and cause a ruckus in their job hunt.

Prices will increase in June, so if you’re interested in joining before they do, let’s chat.

Click here to apply, get a free job hunt strategy review, and learn if you’re a good fit for the program.

Let’s get down to business to defeat the (job) hun(t)s!

Read on, my badass brothers and sisters, for:

• 👔 1 job hunting tip: 5 Simple Steps to Help Navigate Your Career Transition

• 🔨 2 tools to use in your job hunt:

  • 1 so you never need to take notes in a meeting again

  • 1 to help you write killer outreach emails

• 📈 10 companies hiring people like you!

👔 1 Job Hunting Tip: 5 Simple Steps to Help Navigate Your Career Transition

It was 7:45 AM as I pulled past the shipping containers and into the parking lot of my job at the global logistics company.

I turned off my windshield wipers that were swiping away the Seattle rain and pulled my headphones out of my ears.

I wore headphones while I drove because the speakers in my 11-year-old 2001 Chrysler Cirrus had blown out a long time ago.

There I was, sitting in my car, filled with anxiety about going through yet another day trying not to fall asleep at my desk while I finger-pecked numbers from shipping documents into my black and white computer screen.

I didn’t want to go into the building, so I just sat there staring.

When I joined the company two years earlier, it sounded super sexy.

Global logistics and supply chain, Fortune 500 clients, management trainee programs, multiple different departments to choose from, and a discounted company stock purchasing program.

The reality set in quickly.

This was a cubicle data entry job working with people who had been in the same job for over 10 years where you had to wear a suit and tie into work every day for no other apparent reason than to shorten the leash they already had over my meager salary.

I tried to make the most of it by getting internal certifications, training, and applying to the management trainee program.

I thought the Management Trainee program would surely be a liferaft in the sea of my depressing, uninspired work life!

But no dice.

I was rejected not once, not twice, but three times.

That was enough to slap the rose-colored glasses off my face and realize I hated my job, I needed a change, and no one was coming to save me.

But how could I transition and end this job nightmare I was living?

Most people start by immediately going to the job boards.

And that’s what I did.

I started sending cold applications to tech companies I knew in the area.

And the result…

Crickets.

But why didn’t that work?

As a hiring manager, if I see a cold application with no clear, relevant experience, I almost immediately throw it out.

The hiring managers spend a few seconds looking at each resume before approving it for a phone screen or sending the dreaded auto-rejection.

So if you want to transition industries, you must make a bigger splash and attract more attention.

To do that, you need to things outside of just using keywords in a resume.

You need to:

• Know who you are (more challenging than it sounds)

• Know what you’re good at

• Know what the people you want to work for care about

• Be able to build relationships with them

• Know what you’re willing to do to land an opportunity

• Deliver value to their doorstep

Here’s how to do that…

Here’s the exercise I followed to go from cubicle data entry to hyper-growth tech:

Step 1: Start journaling

Lots of people will tell you to start journaling, but I found it as a critical step for a couple of reasons.

1. It will help you clarify your thoughts as you grapple with what you want to do and where you see yourself.

2. It’s an amazing tool to look back on once you do land the role to identify what worked and didn’t work so you can repeat it again (this is exactly how I built the UpEmployment Accelerator)

3. It can help you diagnose what you actually like doing and what you have the best results in.

To make things easy, start with morning pages.

Step 2: Surround yourself with like-minded people

When I decided to leave my job, I told a friend at the company.

Low and behold, he also wanted to leave the company.

We spoke to a couple of our other friends at the company and… everyone wanted to leave. (Says something, doesn’t it?)

7 of us ended up meeting up in a coffee shop every week to talk about our progress.

Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

This can work in your favor if you choose wisely.

How to find the right people:

• Google “Free [INDUSTRY/ROLE TYPE] Community” (ex: Free Tech Operations Community)

• Find friends who’s career you admire and get around them

• Reach out to anyone in your network doing what you want to be doing

People on the journey will motivate you and hold you accountable.

Connecting with people already at your desired destination is the best chance you have of someone looking past the resume and seeing your true value.

Step 3: Follow the “Shut Up” test

Generic candidates want a tech job.

Standout candidates want THE tech job.

When I got my job at Uber, it was because I was obsessed with the product.

I wouldn’t shut up about it to anyone I met.

When I was able to hand out marketing palm cards in an airport parking lot to help the company, I jumped at the chance.

This is where the “what are you willing to do” comes into play.

If you’re going after roles at companies or industries you don’t “shut up” about, you will be willing to do things others without the same fire are not.

That can make a major difference.

Step 4: Get as close as possible to the action

When you plug yourself into the universe of your dream industry, trends will start to emerge.

Whether it’s San Francisco, New York, Miami, Austin, Seattle, or somewhere in between, there’s likely a hotbed where these companies are popping up.

My advice is to get to those places.

I was rejected from every role I applied for in New York while I was living in Seattle.

I made it to the final rounds with Tough Mudder, but my location and time it would take me to move to NYC killed my chances.

By being there, you can:

• Attend roundtables and fireside chats

• Visit the office

• Grab in-person coffee

• Volunteer for industry organizations

Can you do some of this by visiting or virtually?

Sure, but nothing beats in-person.

Step 5: Find ways your prior skills are useful

What I hear time and time again from people looking to transition careers or land a new role is, “I don’t know how my experience can translate.”

You know the best way to figure that out?

Ask them.

In your conversations with people in the industry, ask them about pain points in your specific areas of expertise.

That will help you uncover areas where you can help.

This also doesn’t need to be incredibly complex.

When I was moving from customs brokerage to Uber I thought I had nothing to offer.

But as I stood there sweating in the Laguardia airport taxi lot, I found out that my college job selling custom shirts to fraternities and sororities and my experience speaking with truck drivers at the logistics company was the perfect pairing to successfully sell the Uber dream to taxi drivers.

Making a career transition is hard and can feel scary.

But, following the 5 steps above are the best way I have found to be able to navigate the journey.

I want to hear from you!

What are you struggling with?

What’s an area that you’re excited about and you want me to dig into?

What company or leader do you want to learn more about?

Email your question to [email protected] or idea and you’ll likely find a complete breakdown in a future edition of the newsletter.

🔨 2 Job Hunting Tools

What’s the tool: Fireflies.ai

What does it do: It records, transcribes, and analyzes voice conversations.

Why will it help: Say goodbye to furiously scribbling notes in networking conversations and interviews. Say hello to being able to search through all your meeting transcriptions to find the information you’re looking for. Never miss a potential connection’s name, a website recommendation, or the exact language the person used when describing a problem. Focus on the other person and building a connection, not on note-taking.

Click here to check it out

What’s the tool: copy.ai

What does it do: Copy.ai is an AI email writer that saves you hours each week by generating email copy that’s designed to get results.

Why will it help: Do you ever find yourself wondering exactly what to write in a cold connection email to get the person to respond? Worry no more muchacho! While copy.ai is typically used for blogs, social media, and sales emails you can utilize it for your emails and messages too. Because interviewing is essentially selling yourself. So why not use the best ai generated sales copy out there?

Click here to check it out

📈10 Hiring Tech Companies

Click here for access to the data for 10 companies hiring people just like YOU!

There you have it, 1 job-hunting tip, 2 job-hunting tools, and 10 startups that recently raised money and are actively hiring.

Let’s become career champions together 🏆

Kyle

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

#1: Free Job Hunt Strategy Call: Request a free job hunt strategy call with me to get closer to landing your next career-accelerating tech role. On our call, I’ll walk through your vision and how to make it a reality, cover the obstacles standing in your way, and help determine the best next step for you to take based on your short-term and long-term goals. Schedule a free call today!

#2: Want to get serious about accelerating your career in tech? Discover the small selective group program for ambitious professionals looking to land their next career-accelerating tech role in less than 90 days.

#3: Follow me on LinkedIn for more job hunt systems, productivity tools, and networking templates.

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So share this newsletter with anyone you know that is currently looking for that next career-accelerating opportunity so you can win together!

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See you again next week!