If you dream of landing a career offer at somewhere like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Instagram, or any of the major tech companies, and an offer that is likely worth six figures, if not multiple six figures, and without knowing anybody, without pinging 100 people on LinkedIn, and most of all without years and years of experience, then this blog post (and video) is for you.
PS if this is the first time landing on Career Success Now, to introduce myself more, my name is Courtney and I’m a passionate career strategist sharing my knowledge from ten plus years in HR and recruitment to help you rise to the top of your industry.
I actually have a YouTube channel that helps professionals up-level in their career as well! Check it out here and hit that subscribe + notification bell if you were provided with good value from it!
Simply put, in this video, I provide you with five strategies that you can start using today to land yourself a sweet, high paying job in the tech sector!
I’m not going to lie, this gets me really jazzed up. Imagine one of my followers lands a job at Google or Facebook or Instagram because of the strategies I teach today. I would be so stoked. And you better leave a comment if that happens. And PS, I provide the best strategy last… as always.
So make sure you stick around until the very end. And by the way, no, I’m not going to sit here and just tell you to network, network, network your way to Google. That’s just not going to happen. We have to do more than that. We have to move beyond those strategies. So really pay attention.
Strategy #1: Make a list of all the tech industries, then companies within those industries that you’re really interested in landing a job offer for and why. I know this is going to sound really tedious and really dull and really not fun at all, but I promise you it’s going to be worth it whether you put it in Excel or just write it down in a notebook. Again, write those industries within the tech industries that you are interested in, and then the companies that fall within those industries. It’s really, really important to get clear on this and make a list.
The reason why we also do this is because there’s so many different industries within tech. Do you want to get into biotech, banking, fintech, healthcare, tech, social media, tech? What are the industries that really call to you? If you’re just one of these people that say, you know what? I don’t care, I just want to get into any tech, well, that’s not enough.
We really want you to think about what industry calls your heart. The reason why I say 15 companies, not five and not say 50, is because we want you to have enough companies, but not too many to a point where you get lost or you’re really confused which one you even want to work for. I think 15 is a great starting point to really narrow in on. By the way, if you’re having a hard time coming up with 15 even though you really shouldn’t, because I swear I just listed like eight right there. Come up with Google or type into Google a list of tech companies within X industry. Maybe that’s the social media industry or the fintech industry or the banking industry. Just type into Google list of X companies within X industry and it will do the work for you.
Strategy #2: Research and really get to know these companies. What I mean by that is get to know what challenges they’re experiencing right now. What platforms are they using? Really learn to speak their language. And I already hear what you’re saying through this camera right now. You’re saying, how am I supposed to know what challenges they’re experiencing right now? Well, where there’s a will, there’s a way that’s the point of doing research. Go on YouTube, look at their social media. What are their CEO saying? What are they podcasting about? What are they putting out there and talking about? Study these companies and speak their language. Research and really put together everything that you learn about this company.
This will really be important at the later stages in this video where I talk about how and where you will start talking to people. But for now, it’s really important to just gather as much data as you can. That’s also why I say 15 companies so that it’s not an overwhelming amount of research that you have to do. But if you only focus on a few, then that’s not enough either. So I really think 15 is that sweet spot to just write as many notes as you can and track them as much as possible so that you can get an interview, which I know you will, and start really speaking their language.
Strategy #3: Go where these tech people are found. Think about it. Where would people hang out if they worked at Facebook, Instagram, Google, Twitter, Microsoft? Where do they network? Where do they eat? Where do they hang out? What events do they attend? I really want you to put some thought into this. And again, research. Or if you can try to find even just one person in one of those companies through LinkedIn or through Hunter email, that’s a really good tip too. How can you just find even one person to give you some insight into this? Maybe Reddit has open forms on where these people hang out, their favorite local restaurant or their favorite bar. I really want you to almost be stalkerish for just a little bit of time and think about where can you find these people within this.
With strategy number three, by the way, I really want you to have your elevator pitch ready because say you find somebody at one of those networking events that Google employees hang out at or at that local bar that Twitter people are constantly hanging out at. I want you to be prepared in case they ask you, hey, who are you?What do you do? One of the most common questions. Right. So make sure you have that ready. And here’s a great format that you can use in case you don’t have a good elevator pitch.
The format that I recommend is:
1- Who are you?
2- Where are you now?
3- And what are your future goals?
(Okay, again, who are you? Where are you now? And what are your future goals?)
Here’s what this can look like.
So step one, who am I? Hey, what’s up? My name is Courtney and I’m an HR professional that has experience across various different industries, including healthcare, construction, and manufacturing. Then two, where am I now? Currently I’m an HR manager working at X company within X industry, and I’m really excited about what I do right now. Number three, future goals. I am an HR manager and my goal is to eventually become an HR director within Facebook or Instagram. I really want to break into the tech sector. So see, there’s my overall elevator pitch. Again, it’s very short and sweet. Who am I? Where am I now and where do I eventually want to be? And the last tip within this strategy number three is have a business card ready even if it’s not linked to a company, which I think it shouldn’t be linked to a company.
You should have your own brand right now, independent of a company, but always have a business card that has a phone number and an email and your overall professional title, like HR professional or software engineer. Just so that once you start having these conversations, you can easily say, hey, here’s my business card. I’d love to get in touch. Where’s your business card? Could I grab one?
It’s these little details that make a big difference. I would love if somebody handed me a professional business card that was well branded just towards them.
Strategy #4: Make it easy for the connection that you built to refer you to that company. I was talking to somebody even the other day that really wanted to get into Google and I feel like a lot of people really over complicate things. The job description that these big companies put out there, like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Instagram, these job descriptions or postings are really the keys to your success.
I mean that I think we really undervalue them. But the company is essentially putting out there what they need in a candidate and your job is to build a really clear and concise deliverable that essentially tells them that you have done a lot of the things that they’re looking for. Make it a no brainer for them. Recruiters especially. They want you to make their life easier.
I know this firsthand, I’ve been a recruiter. I do recruitment all the time. If somebody comes to me and says, hey, Courtney, I’ve done X, Y, and Z and you’re looking for X, Y, and Z, then I’m like thank you. You just made my life easier. I will now take your resume to the hiring manager and show them that we have to interview this person or else we’re fools.
Strategy #5? (Best for last): You will have to watch my YouTube video to find out, my friend!
Enjoy ?
-Courtney
