On his blog, Seth Godin talked about outdated career advice. Advice geared towards getting a job in a Fortune 500 company. The same advice that’s been circulating for decades and geared toward the same companies responsible for a net loss of jobs over the last twenty years.
The job market is changing. Not only are Fortune 500 companies no longer creating jobs, the standards they use to hire and to promote are no longer relevant in the current job market.
LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman and entrepreneur Ben Casnocha believe the key to thriving in this new market is to stop relying on outdated career advice and to start treating your career the same way entrepreneurs treat their young businesses.
To succeed today, they believe you need to treat your career like a start-up.
The Start-Up of You
Hoffman and Casnocha — authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Start-Up of You — are hosting a live, hour-long Q&A where they will discuss how you can accelerate your career by employing the same business tactics entrepreneur’s use.
And as a CAREEREALISM reader, your career questions will be given top priority!
About the Webinar
What: Live Q&A with LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman & entrepreneur/author Ben Casnocha to discuss career strategies in today’s market
In The Start-Up of You, Hoffman and Casnocha write by utilizing entrepreneurial tactics, you can ensure you are as marketable as possible, and that your career skills are honed for the modern business market. Tactics like:
Taking intelligent and bold risks to accomplish something great
Building a network of alliances to help with intelligence, resources and collective action
Pivoting to a breakout opportunity
Register now to attend this live webcast, then leave your career questions for Hoffman and Casnocha in the comment section below. Use the hashtag #startQ to make sure your question gets priority.
Want a free copy of their book, The Start-Up of You? Enter to win one of two free copies of The Start-Up of You on the Working for Wonka blog. You can enter multiple ways and multiple times. Drawing will take place April 1. Details on the blog.
So if you’re looking for a job, if you want to change jobs, or you just want to stay top of the heap at your current job, you should forget what the big companies of the world expect from you. To get ahead today, start thinking like an entrepreneur and launch your career.
About “The Start-Up of You” Webinar Hosts
Reid Hoffman is a world-renowned entrepreneur and investor. He is co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with 100+ million members. He is also a partner at Greylock, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He is an early investor in over 100 technology companies, including Facebook and Zynga.
Ben Casnocha is an award-winning entrepreneur and author. He has written for Newsweek and public radio’s Marketplace and appeared on CNN, the CBS Early Show, and CNBC. BusinessWeek has named him one of “America’s best young entrepreneurs." He has spoken to more than ten thousand students and businesspeople in countries around the world.
Kathy Ver Eecke, founder of Working for Wonka, is a former marketing executive who now works as a writer and speaker on the topic of surviving the start-up environment and working for an entrepreneur.Outdated career advice image from Shutterstock
The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and that familiar chill is in the air. You think it's the perfect time to look for a job, and it is! But are your job search fears preventing you from making that leap?
It's not uncommon to feel lost when embarking on your job search journey. After all, school teaches us everything except how to get a job. What should you put on your resume? What questions should you ask in an interview? How can you stand out in the hiring process when there's so much competition?
Are you feeling spooked yet?
Believe it or not, there's no need to be afraid of the job search process! You can land your dream job with the right tools and strategy. You can find a job that won't give you nightmares. Here are three spooky secrets every job seeker should know as they look for a job this fall.
1. An Effective Job Search Starts With An Interview Bucket List
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Despite your fears, you've decided to take the plunge and look for a new job. You might be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" The answer is simple: start by creating an interview bucket list.
An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's products or services? Do you feel connected to its mission? Can you relate to its values and beliefs as an organization? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, that company probably belongs on your interview bucket list.
Once you create an interview bucket list, you'll be able to conduct a targeted job search, one with direction and a foundation upon which everything else will be built. An interview bucket list helps you focus your job search and networking strategies on the right opportunities, making it easier to get your foot in the door at one of your dream companies.
2. Your Job Application Needs To Disrupt Hiring Managers
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In order to stand out in the hiring process, you need to disrupt recruiters and hiring managers. You accomplish this by doing two things: optimizing your resume and writing a disruptive cover letter.
A well-optimized resume includes keywords from the job description. This ensures your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the hiring manager. Once it's in front of the hiring manager, it needs to grab and keep their attention. Quantifying your work experience—adding numbers to your bullet points—will make you stand out from other applicants. Hiring managers will want to know more about you and your accomplishments, and that's how you land a phone interview.
Before that, though, a hiring manager will read your cover letter. To disrupt them, you need to write a disruptive cover letter (obviously!). A disruptive cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell a story about why you feel connected to the company you're applying for. It's that storytelling aspect that will stand out to hiring managers and compel them to pick up the phone and give you a call.
3. Employers Hire You Based On 3 Things
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You can't get hired unless you know what employers are assessing you on in the interview process. While your skills and expertise matter, companies actually hire for three things: personality, aptitude, and experience (in that order).
Most job seekers don't realize how important it is to demonstrate their personality, aptitude, and experience in an interview. You could have the right experience for a job, but if the hiring manager doesn't think your personality is a good fit for the company culture, you probably won't get a job offer.
Make sure you demonstrate your soft skills and learn how to answer behavioral interview questions to prove you're the best candidate for the job you're applying for, not just the most qualified.
Want To Learn More Job Search Secrets?
As you look for a job this fall, it might be helpful to know some more spooky secrets so you can get over your job search fears and finally take control of your career.
We know the job search process can be scary. However, it's important to get clear on what you want to do next and focus on conducting a strategic job search, or what we refer to at Work It DAILY as job shopping. This is the only way to effectively market yourself to employers. If they can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing the job.
The competition is fierce, and there are a lot of factors that are out of your control. But the one factor you can control is your job search strategy, the tools and tactics you use to land a job.
If you want to learn the secrets to conducting a strategic job search, sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp, a two-hour, on-demand video workshop that comes with a free workbook.
In this video workshop, you'll learn:
How to use backchanneling to get directly to hiring managers.
The secret to using a connection story to stand out against the competition.
How social media can be your secret weapon to get job interviews.
The resume format that is getting job seekers more job interviews.
On his blog, Seth Godin talked about outdated career advice. Advice geared towards getting a job in a Fortune 500 company. The same advice that’s been circulating for decades and geared toward the same companies responsible for a net loss of jobs over the last twenty years.
The job market is changing. Not only are Fortune 500 companies no longer creating jobs, the standards they use to hire and to promote are no longer relevant in the current job market.
LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman and entrepreneur Ben Casnocha believe the key to thriving in this new market is to stop relying on outdated career advice and to start treating your career the same way entrepreneurs treat their young businesses.
To succeed today, they believe you need to treat your career like a start-up.
