General Career Observations

Post By Katherine McNamara

While there are multiple ways to get to the same destination and different ways to be successful, we would like to share some observations that has worked for us or others:

• Location may matter – If you are in a more rural area and far away from larger metro areas with little-to-no experience in a given industry, it may be harder to get positions that allow you to move up in career paths. For example, if you are looking to work in tech, it would be my recommendation to move to a metro area where there would be more opportunities for entry-level positions for that career path.

• You can make it without certification, degrees, and training classes but it depends on the industry but it may be a tougher – There are going to be HR filters and middle management working against you depending on the industry. It might take longer than your peers who do have those things but it is not impossible either. One person I knew had some sage advice on why he works so hard for degrees and his other pieces of paper even with years of experience under his belt: “Getting a job and staying competitive in the job market is like going to war. I want to have all the ammo I can have to be the most effective and those degrees and certifications are just more bullets and ammunition for me.” This is true. If two candidates are applying for the same job with comparable experience, but one has a degree or a certification and the other does not, who do you think will probably get the job if all other things are equal? More than that, who do you think will have better leverage for salary negotiation? Keep this in mind as you move through your career.

• Your certifications, education, and degrees are for you and your career, don’t let other people discourage you from advancing – Another trend I see is people worried about their coworkers/family generally being discouraging when it comes to education, self-study, and the amount of time it takes. While there is no “silver bullet” in terms of career or education, it is important to remember that you are responsible for your career and advancement – not the people who are discouraging you. There might be jealousy in play, maybe they’ve never moved up in their careers, maybe the industry was different when they started, or it may be something else. Every situation is different but if you get discouraged by the people you work with, don’t let it stop you from pursuing your goals. Build a tribe of people who will encourage you.

• Depending on the field, sometimes the type of degree doesn’t matter if you already have one – An example of this is if if you’re switching to tech and you have a music/liberal arts/history/philosophy degree, my recommendation would NOT be to restart college and get another degree in tech. You would be better served probably going for certifications at that point. There might be some return-on-investment on the technology-specific degree if your starting point is no degree at all but not enough to put yourself in more debt after you already have a degree.

• Be prepared to sacrifice a lot to get to where you want to be – Depending on what your goals are, it will take more than just getting that first job.  Even with that first job, you might need to study, self-fund your own training, and/or continue your education in other ways since many employers put the onus on the employee to move to that next level in their career. On-the-job training is nice but it is not often a given in most industries and my recommendation is not to rely on it for your own advancement.

• Use career/industry forums and other public places to see what the most successful people in your field have done – Listening to the advice that people give is free. Apply it to yourself when you can. Also, be sure to consider the source when you get advice on forums. Is this person just working in the same role for the last 10 years or are they someone who’s moved up quickly? Are they a hiring manager? Are they in a senior role? Do they have the job you want? I can absolutely say without a doubt that I was able to avoid huge career missteps thanks to just listening to my seniors on forums.

• Try to build a strong support system/build a tribe – Make sure that the people in your life who matter support you and understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. It’ll make it easier if you have people encouraging you and understanding why you need to hide in your room for 5 hours a night while you try to better yourself. This might not be your workers or your family. It could be people you meet through a Meetup career group or online forums. Motivation and ambition can be contagious when you surround yourself with like-minded people.

• What is listed under requirements for a job is often a wishlist on a job posting – I’ve never met ALL the job requirements listed for every job I had but that hasn’t stopped me from applying and getting the job.  That being said, be realistic about where you apply too. For example, don’t apply for a senior role and 0 years of experience but don’t be afraid to apply for all the entry level positions in the world even if you don’t meet a bullet point or three.

• Give your resume a makeover –  Whether it’s posting it on this forum to ask for advice or you hire a professional to write it for you but make sure it’s structured well, obvious grammar issues aren’t present, etc. These days there are apps like Grammarly that can check for obvious errors.

• Clean up your resume often – When I went to college, I had to earn a lot of of certifications as part of my degree and I most certainly have forgotten many of those skills. While I could still list them on my resume, it would just be embarrassing for me. For example, if anyone were to ask me to write a Java app during an interview, I would just freeze. Just because you learned a skill at once point at one point does not mean you should continue to have it on your resume until the end of time if it really doesn’t apply anymore.

• Watch the word soup on your resume – If you write down skills and keywords to help people search for your resume, make sure you put down technologies and skills you feel comfortable talking about for 5-10 minutes. This will prevent awkward interview moments.

• How you present yourself is more than just what’s on your resume –  Make sure your hygiene is good, you don’t look sloppy, your hair is combed, don’t shower yourself in cologne, etc. Essentially, don’t look like you rolled out of bed.

• Soft skills are important for surviving the interview and the job –  If you have a good friend or know someone in management, it might be good to do some mock interviews so you don’t seem overly nervous and you get comfortable answering hard questions in front of people. This will be uncomfortable at first but how you sell yourself in interviews personality-wise and getting along with the hiring manager is important. You can have all the skills in the world and be the most technical guy and still not be hired if you have a toxic personality in the interview. Practice introducing yourself and how you’ll answer common interview questions (i.e. “What would you say your greatest weakness is?”) with your peer until it becomes second nature.

• Don’t be afraid to dress up for interviews –  Maybe some random weird company is going to dock you points if you wear a suit but that would be a deviation from the norm. You should be dressing to impress UNLESS they asked you to dress down. This is a no-brainer yet it seems to confuse so many people and there are endless threads on forums where people are constantly asking about what to wear in an interview.

• Make an interview battlecard – This is a good trick to prepare for an important interview. A career battlecard is where you highlight your own skills, what extra benefits you think you can bring to the table beyond what the position calls for, and how your skills map to the position you’re about to interview for. This acts as a cheatsheet to study before the interview to sell yourself better during the interview process.

• Do some research on the company before you go for the interview – This might be for later in your career but one good thing that can help depending on the position is to understand the business, how they make money, and any current news/events related to the company. That’s a good way to impress an interviewer if you appear that you are invested in learning about the company you want to work for.

• Do some research on the environment and culture of the company –  While every review on Glassdoor might not be correct or accurate, if the company has 50+ reviews from ex-employees and they’re all 1-star, that should raise some red flags.

• Do some research into salary – I typically like to ask about salary ranges upfront. Do your research into what is fair for that role, with your experience, and the location. Depending on the state you live in, they might also have to legally post the salary range too. This is a great time saver. It’s a lot harder to take large leaps in salaries after you accept a role than it is to ask for what you’re worth upfront.

•  Don’t make it a hard and fast rule that you will not disclose your previous salary – I used to say no to doing this but in hindsight, I realized that almost every company I worked for would have me sign a background check that would authorize them to contact my previous employer to verify employment and salary.

• Don’t be afraid to negotiate – Check sites like Glassdoor, Salary.com, etc to get comps on salary for the role you are applying for and the experience you bring to the table. Going of what I just said, if you made $80K at your last job and you’re applying for a role that should pay your $120K based on your experience and skillset and you just happen to get someone in HR who thinks it’s ok to offer $90K because that’s a sizable bump from your last job – push back. Explain why you’re worth more and fight for it. You can easily explain that there were a multitude of reasons you took the previous job at a lower pay rate because you didn’t have ABC certifications, you had 2 years less experience, etc but after your last role, you have experience doing Z projects, earned X certifications, and gained a couple years of experience so based on that added value, so you know you are worth $120K based on market research and other offers you are getting. If they continue to lowball you, walk. They’ll end up either having to hire someone at a higher rate later or they’ll have a revolving door on that position because no one was loyal to the company when they’re getting underpaid.

• If you can’t answer a technical question on the interview, be honest about it – There’s nothing worse than someone trying to fumble through an answer  when it is clear to both parties that they do not now. It is better to state it outright and divert to a more core strength than to dig yourself into a hole in the middle of an interview. That being said, take a note of the question you didn’t know and when you go home later, find the answer and email it to the people who were interviewing you. You may not be strong on that particular domain but you’re demonstrating that you’re willing to research and find the answer even for one questions asked during an interview.

• Send a thank you email as a follow-up – If you really want the job, sending an email to thank them for your time keeps you fresh in their mind. Always try to followup in a few days after that if they haven’t contacted you back. Even if they’ve decided not to hire you, ask for their input and take it with an open mind and without bitterness because it might help you get that next amazing new job.

• Take interview feedback seriously and attack your weaker points for future interviews – If you keep failing to get a job because you lack a particular skill, then make it your life mission to make it a core strength instead of avoiding it and trying to find a job that won’t make you learn it. It’s possible to find that job but if you keep getting the same feedback over and over again, the most direct path is going to be to conquer it.

• There are good and bad recruiters but they shouldn’t be dismissed just because they’re not direct hire – Early in my career, I got half my jobs because I took a risk and started as a contractor first. Sometimes some companies won’t hire direct because it’s less legal risk to them if the employee doesn’t work out. There’s advantages to the “try before you buy” approach for employers and you can’t really blame then given the litigious society we live in. Also they might not have the budget for a permanent expense but they might have one for a contractor in the meantime or be contracting for just a single project which will still get you good experience.

• Just because the company’s website advertises the job doesn’t mean it exists – This is going off of the last bullet point. I’ve seen the advice given that people should hang up on recruiters and apply directly to the company. This might work in some cases but one thing to keep in mind is that you might never get a call back if you see a similar opening on the company’s direct site. Why? They might have a full time role for an engineer that they intend of filling with a current contractor but some states legally require that they post the job ad for X amount of weeks before they onboard to give other people a chance. The management already has their person picked but they have to comply with the law. If that’s the case, this might not be the role that the recruiter was calling you about. I’m not saying to not apply directly with the company if you can but I’m saying not to burn any bridges with the recruiters since that might be the only way to get your foot in the door at your dream job.

• Stop rushing to get the piece of paper and make sure you’re learning something – This comes up in career forums over and over again where people want to rush to get a certification hoping it opens doors into the prospective field but they don’t slow down to lab, commit and truly learn the content. Then when they start their first job, they have no idea how to implement anything they received a certification for. Don’t be this person.

• Do something you enjoy and you’re passionate about – I find the people who go the furthest in terms of career and certifications do so because they actually enjoy it – not because they’re just chasing the thing that will make them the most money. It is much easier to burn out of a career before you ever achieve success if you don’t enjoy any aspect of what you are doing.

• Generalize early, specialize later – Being a jack of all trades, master of none is great starting out because you’ll learn the foundations of multiple skills and even if you specialize later, it’s good to have those foundations.

• Getting your foot in the door is hard but don’t let your mouth write a check your skills can’t cash – It’s better to get hired on your passion, explaining what you’re doing to teach yourself and that fact that you’re quick to learn.  Trust me, it’s relieving for anyone interviewing you to see someone who loves what they do and just wants the chance to learn and thrive. It may not be every company out there that likes this but knock on enough doors, you’ll find plenty of opportunities.

• Volunteer for any project once you get into the field you want –  A good way I got ahead in my career was taking on a lot of the horrible projects no one else wanted. As I progressed and management saw that I was willing to take on more, I was given more responsibility. This was also a great way to get backend on-the-job training.

• A good hard worker might not warrant a promotion in the same company – This might sound like I’m contradicting myself from the above but it’s actually mostly applicable in entry-level positions or some companies out there. You should be looking to escape these positions ASAP.

• There are no cheat codes, short cuts, or silver bullets in life – You’re not going to be able to get XYZ combo of certifications/degrees to make $100,000. If you cheat on your exams/certifications, you will likely be found out in a technical interview or once you are expected to put those skills to use in your career.

• Don’t lie about your experience or skills – It’s bad karma but on top of that, let’s say you nailed the interview and the background check starts. There are so many ways to get caught.

• The higher you go, the more you will run into people again as you move jobs – There are tons and tons of entry level employees out there. In any given field, there aren’t as many intermediate or senior folks. It’s easier to burn bridges early on as a junior, not so much later in your career without it affecting you.

•  Force yourself to be uncomfortable – If you aren’t in your dream role/job title and you haven’t moved up in 2 years, don’t be afraid to jump ship to get to that next jump in pay/responsibilities. If you’ve been at your job for a couple years and you’re getting paid nicely but you have nothing more to learn, jump ship or transfer to another team. Staying is how people become siloed and they lose their different skill sets. Being good at only ONE task might make you great at that one job but if they ever automate your job away and you don’t have any fresh skills to offer the job force, you’re effectively starting from scratch. Play chess with your career: May risky but smart moves. Even when they make you uncomfortable.

• Network with people –  Jump on meetup.com and find people with similar interest or careers. Start attending user groups. Go to conferences, vendor events, free training courses, etc. Bring business cards – even if you have to print your own out and get your name out there. Having these connections could help you find your next job. Even better, you might get a great mentor out of it.

• As you progress in your career, keep notes about accomplishments –  I wish I had followed this early on in my career. If you make employee of the month, write it down in a file and save it. If you get a company-wide congratulations on a job well-done from the CEO, forward it to a personal email and save it in a folder. If you complete a large project, make a note of it. These are things to add to your Linkedin or resume later or to articulate in an interview. This is something I wish I did earlier because it’s easy to forget.

• Build an online portfolio later in your career – As you move up with your skills, build an online portfolio of your accomplishments. Of course, make sure you strip out any proprietary or client-revealing information and not breaking any NDA when you do so.

• Don’t be afraid to do things to get your name out there and give back to the community – Form study groups, free training, a blog, etc. Don’t be embarrassed or afraid to put yourself out there. Sometimes I cringe when I look back on early attempts but there’s still a lot I learned out of it and I don’t regret it at all. At the end of the day, it helps you get your name out there and it’s just good karma.

• Always be learning – Even if you’ve progressed to a point in your career that you feel that certifications don’t matter to you anymore, remember that technology is always changing. To stay relevant, you should be reading whitepapers, keep your eyes on changes and trends in the industry, architectural trends, etc.

• Don’t turn into the grumpy old man who wants the kids to get off your lawn. This kind of goes off my previous point. It’s easy to get comfortable and stick with what you know. Things change and you should have an open mind to change because you might get passed by if you don’t or you might be doing a disservice to your environment if you’re making the best choice based on familiarity instead of what’s best to your business.

• Be mindful of your social media and Google yourself often – You have the freedom of speech, not a freedom from consequences from it. We all have personal lives and people understand this. However, utilize your privacy settings on things about your personal life that should be kept private. You may feel particularly polarized in terms of politics, religion, etc but if you get the wrong set of folks seeing that, they may dismiss your resume on worries about your publicly perceived professionalism – especially if you’re in a client-facing position and they decide to Google you or look you up on Facebook. Also, Linkedin is for business. BUSINESS. Not the sharing of your favorite jokes, math problems that only 5% of people will get right, political messages, religious speak, etc.

Is there a resource we are missing? Please email us at info@unsilenced.org so we may add it.