Land your dream job faster with focus

In this article I’ll cover:

1. Why you feel lost in your job search or career pivot
2. How to narrow your focus to get job offers faster
   • Tech Career Quiz - Find the Tech career for you
3. Steps to take toward your goal

But first…

BETTER TOGETHER 🤝

Community!

I’m getting a ton of great questions from many of you in response to this newsletter!

Here’s a nice email I received this week from a reader.

MAIN TOPIC 🤝

Land your dream job faster, with focus

“I want to break into Tech, where do I start?”

“Which tech skills should I learn?”

“I’m applying to many different types of jobs to increase my chances.”

“I’m going to learn as many technical skills as possible!”

These are questions and statements I’ve recently received from readers of our newsletter.

If you try to juggle 2-3 balls in the air, you can probably do it. But if you try juggling 10 balls at the same time, you end up juggling none because they all end up on the ground!

It’s the same when you’re pursuing a new job or career.

You may think that if you widen your search to 10 different types of jobs and learn as many skills as possible that you’ll have a better chance of landing a great job.

The reality is you’re hurting yourself more than helping.

When you try to pursue too many different roles and learn too many different skills you’re more likely to get overwhelmed and burnout than you are to get to your goal (the job offer). What’s worse, is you’re confusing employers when they see your lack of direction reflected on your resume and LinkedIn profile.

There are hundreds of different roles in Tech and thousands of variations of them. And the universe of technology is MASSIVE - trying to learn everything out there is arguably harder than actually ‘boiling the ocean’.

Here is a small sample of Tech roles:

(for a longer list, ask ChatGPT: “List 200 different roles/job types that exist in enterprise software companies”)

Even though it may be counterintuitive - narrowing your focus will be much more effective in getting you to your dream job.

Yes, you will need to explore, try a few things out, and conduct research to figure out what you want to pursue. But you will want to quickly decide on 1-2 similar types of roles* and go all-in on learning everything you can that is relevant to those roles.

Because to land the job you want, it's essential to promote yourself effectively to hiring managers and recruiters. Your story, pitch, resume, and LinkedIn profile should be tailored specifically to your desired position. To do that, you’ll need to get focused. Let’s dive into how you can do just that…

*(Similar roles example: Project Manager and an Implementation Consultant - where there is a lot of overlap in required skills. Dissimilar roles example: Programmer and Sales Rep - these roles require way different skill sets that would pull you in opposite directions)

Get Focused. Get Results.

If you don’t know what type of role(s) to go after start writing out the following (otherwise skip to the next section)…

What have you done?

• List out your experience, skills, and accomplishments (this will help you determine what could be transferrable to your target role)
• List work activities you enjoy doing and also those that you don’t enjoy doing

What do you want?

• Describe a future you in 2-3 years
• What do you want in a work environment? (flexibility, high earnings, working with people, etc.)
• Prioritize your ‘wants’ because you may not be able to have it all, yet

Based on the above, research and explore roles and industries that could be a fit.

💡 Not sure which Tech career is right for you? I created a short Quiz to help you determine the Tech career path that could be a fit for you. Note, it only includes a sample of customer-facing roles in B2B Tech companies. You’ll still want to research other roles that are out there.

Where are you headed?

• Identify up to 3 similar roles to pursue
• Understand the common titles used for each
  • For example, common titles for a tech sales rep are Sales Development Rep, Business Development Rep, Market Development Rep, etc.
• Determine the skills and knowledge needed for the roles, especially where there is an overlap
  • Review 20 job descriptions for the skills, technology, and experience typically required for the role

Now that you know where you’re going, get after it! 🏃‍♂️

Go all-in!

Learn everything you can related to your target role(s).

Start with:

• Free / Cheap Courses (Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning)
  • This will help you reaffirm your interest in developing these skills required for your target roles and help you bolster your resume quickly
• NETWORKING! Follow and connect with people on LinkedIn who are in the roles that you’re pursuing
  • Comment on threads, contribute to discussions
  • Reach out to people and set up virtual coffee chats
• Join a Professional Community - There is a community for almost every role that exists SDR, PreSales, CSM, Marketing, Developers, Product Managers, etc. Communities provide a wealth of resources and ways to network with people in a specific field. Many also provide training and workshops that can help you in your journey.

You can also choose to invest in role-specific programs, boot camps, or certifications. These options aren’t necessary for many career paths but may help you get into your target career faster.

Now you’re ready to go!

You don’t have to wait until you’ve learned everything before you start going after jobs. Learning is an ongoing journey and you’ll continue developing your skills as you apply and interview for jobs.

As you build skills around your target role, you’ll incorporate what you learn into every aspect of your career move:

• Marketing/branding yourself
• Value creation - how you’ll contribute to your future team
• Applying to jobs
• Interviewing
• Landing the job!

We’ll dive deeper into each of these topics in future editions of this newsletter. But now that you have clarity and focus, you’re well on your way toward taking your career to the next level.

Keep pushing forward. I’m rooting for you!

Yuji

If you could use help landing your next AE or SE role, we can help! Apply to work with us 1-on-1. We'll personally reach out to chat about how we can help you accelerate your job search.