"I'll start when I'm ready".

-–Engraved on the tombstone of every indefinite job search, every failed business, every unrealized dream

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I started working with Rachele back in April.

In July, she got TWO 6-figure UXR offers. She took the job at Microsoft.

But the road wasn't easy. Today, I want to give you a real-life example of the dos and don'ts when job searching in a competitive industry market.

3 Hard Lessons:

1. Career growth doesn't happen without commitment and intention

Rachele had everything going for her:

• Psych PhD from an R1 university
• Already working as a senior UX researcher at a financial institution
• Had a referral to interview at (ironically) Microsoft

But she didn't get this Microsoft position.

In fact, when she tried to apply for other positions in tech, she got nothing after months of applying.

It took a heavy toll on her psychology. Demoralized and frustrated, she reached out to me for coaching.

When I asked her what she had done so far, she said, "I've been spraying and praying. I realized... this requires a serious commitment."

It's not 2018 anymore. You can't half-a** your way into industry

Investing in coaching was an intentional commitment Rachele made to herself. "It got me through the darker, stormier periods of my life where I felt no career progress was happening."

We developed systems and strategies to give her clear direction, hold her accountable, and turbocharge her progress.

If you don't know where you're going, you'll never get there. We did the "Bubble Map" exercise, mapping out the areas of significance in her life and getting clear on her goals. She no longer felt lost.

You can't manage what you don't measure. We set up a daily tracker, so she could document exactly how much time she spent on each job search activity and visualize her progress week after week. She no longer felt overwhelmed.

Different goals require different strategies. Rachele wanted to break into Big Tech. So we targeted both FTEs and contractor roles to maximize the chance of getting her foot in the door. She no longer felt uncertain. With each job strategy she implemented, she saw proof of her mini-wins and grew more confident.

Success follows those who mean it

When you commit to a curriculum, when you invest in your growth, when you raise the stakes, when you get serious about success, success follows you back.

Rachele didn't wait around.

She made a commitment to her future self and hit the ground running, with a targeted, systematic, proven job search strategy.

And it paid off. Fast.

2. Avoid the one pitfall that gets your resume thrown out

If you read my letter on how to write a winning resume, you'd know the answer to this question.

We devoted two coaching sessions revising Rachele's resume and got rid of all the "academese".

Her final resume not only spoke the language of UX, but had every keyword matching the core skills demanded by the roles she was applying to.

She later received confirmation from recruiters that if they couldn't find a keyword match on a candidate's resume, they'd throw the resume right out.

3. "Once I got on the list, interviews started pouring in"

Contractor applications work very differently from FTEs. In contractor land, networking reigns supreme.

I had Rachele contact her 1st and 2nd degree connections to put her in touch with their contractor recruiters.

Once she got onto the right recruiters' lists, the recruiters brought interview opportunity after interview opportunity to her. Coupled with the right interviewing strategy, she received an offer soon after.

Want More Help?

By now, Rachele has been working at Microsoft for 7 months, a place at which she dreamed of working, an area of research that (unlike her previous job) brings her intellectual fulfillment, a job that's paying her what she deserves.

1. If you are ready to commit to your job search process and land a 6-figure industry job, join my Academic Trailblazer: Career Clear Program. It isn't pre-recorded modules. It isn't career strategies in theory. It's a live, hands-on experience that propels you to get in the ring, to take action, no matter how small it may seem each day. It's a jumping board to launch your next career, like it did for Rachele.
2. If you need in-depth help now, book a 1:1 Strategy Session. We will analyze your current situation and develop a step-by-step plan to overcome your immediate roadblock.

Want More Advice like this?

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Until next time 💕