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[MUSIC]

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So yeah, it's my pleasure to
welcome you to seven steps I

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recommend to be in demand
in tech with Jae Taylor.

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Jae was an office assistant,
a young dad, [INAUDIBLE] degree and

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still doesn't and
had no connections in the tech industry.

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And even with the challenges that come
with being in minority, black and Korean,

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he broke into the tech industry and has
succeeded at some of the top companies in

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the world, including Microsoft, Expedia,
Salesforce, Twitter and built two.

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Currently a group product manager for
Twitter, Jae is also a founder of

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mentorship.io, which is a mentor lead tech
education and career support community.

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And as a hiring manager and mentor,
Jae aims to share his story, clear hiring

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misconceptions, and attempt to provide
a new perspective and path of success.

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Take it away Jae.

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>> So hopefully you guys can see
my presentation the right way.

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[LAUGH] Okay, good.

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All right, sounds good.

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Well, really appreciate you guys
spending some time with me.

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I think I have a pretty compelling story.

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So for those of you that are looking for
jobs in tech,

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I'm telling you, you can do it.

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And I'm one of those examples that
regardless of where you are in life,

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whatever situations or
limitations you think you might have,

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you can still absolutely do it and
you can achieve any level that you want.

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So let's talk about specifically about my
story and then some of the things that

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I would suggest that you
do based on my experience.

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All right, so first disclaimer,
everything I say, it's just my opinion.

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Take it with a grain of salt,
I can only speak to what I experienced.

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I can't speak to what other people
experience, so kinda keep that in mind.

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So what you gonna learn?

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Why I'm in demand and
how you can replicate what I did.

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I don't apply for jobs,
but I get job offers very,

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very regularly from some of
the top companies in the world.

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And I wanna show you why.

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So this is kind of a quick overview.

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I'm gonna talk about me, talk about
the problem that I wanna help you solve,

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why I'm in demand,
seven things I want you to do.

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And then a quick special invitation and
then we'll do a Q&A.

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So a little bit about me.

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So like Guil brought out,
I was an office assistant.

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I do not have a bachelor's degree.

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Can you guys hear me okay, right?

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I hear somebody asking about sound,
just wanna check.

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Okay, great.

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So I was an office assistant.

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Again, no degree, no connections.

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I'm 100% self taught.

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I'm a GPM, right here it says staff,
but staff and

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actually group product
manager is actually the same.

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The only difference is whether or not you
manage people and I do manage people.

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So I'm at Twitter.

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I'm also founder of MentorMesh.Io.

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That's basically my way to help you.

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I'm really passionate about helping
people understand their real potential.

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When I think about times in my career
where I didn't realize that I was

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capable of what I am, I wanna help
provide the education, support,

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and community to help you do what I did.

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So like was mentioned,
I've been senior at Salesforce,

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a director of product at Salesforce.

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Senior PM at Microsoft,
engineering manager at Expedia, and

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now GPM at Twitter.

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So let's talk a little bit about my story,
and

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then I'll kind of explain more
why it matters in detail.

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So I was actually working for
Washington state government.

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I was in my mid to mid 20s,
late 20s, and I had two daughters.

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I just wanted to do more for them.

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Today I have four daughters, but back
then I was a young dad, two daughters.

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Not my first career,
just trying to make it.

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I was an office assistant,
making $12 an hour, working for

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Washington state government.

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And then when nobody,
I was trying to get a better job and

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I would try to get into tech and
I was self studying.

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And then when nobody would hire me,
they would block me on bachelor's degree.

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They say, well,
you don't have a bachelor's degree.

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And that bothered me a lot because it
was illogical, I could do the job.

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I had proven through side projects and
things that I've done that

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even in my current role as an office
assistant, I was looking for things to do.

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And I knew I could do the job and
it made no sense to me that I would

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not be considered simply because I
didn't have a bachelor's degree.

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So I went and started my own
software consulting company.

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I barely had any experience.

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Again, 100% self taught, but
I just created a website,

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started posting, and
I started doing the work.

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I hired myself.

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When nobody would hire me, I hired myself.

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I ran that consulting company for
about six years.

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I did a software startup with
another founder called VendScreen.

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We got 35 million in venture capital
funding, it was very successful.

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I learned so
many lessons by being an entrepreneur.

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Now after that, this is when the financial
crisis hit back in 2009, 2010.

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Housing market was going crazy.

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This is my start to
lose a lot of business.

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And so this is when I went to Expedia.

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Now the interesting thing about that is,

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when I first applied to Expedia,
I got rejected.

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So everyone's success story is not
a clear, uphill straight path,

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there's bumps in this road.

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But you got to remember that
just because you get rejected,

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doesn't mean you're not qualified,
not at all.

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It's not about your qualifications.

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Don't let rejection define
you because it doesn't.

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The interview process is difficult.

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So just because you failed,
does not mean you can't do the job.

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I can back, I don't know,
maybe nine months later, and I applied for

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a temporal.

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And I was able to get in.

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I had that role as a three month contract,
but I had a point to prove.

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I wanted to prove that I
deserved a seat at Expedia.

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And so, that three months contract,

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I finished in two weeks.

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And instead of asking them,
what else would you like me to do?

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I networked, I built relationships.

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I talked to people, and
I just started continuing to add value.

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I didn't have to ask permission.

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I just told them hey, I'm done with
this that you originally hired me for,

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what else can I do?

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Actually, I didn't say that.

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I didn't say what else can I do.

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Here's what I can do.

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And then I started to do all
these other projects, right?

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As I was doing that,
another hiring manager saw me and

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said, saw the great work I was doing and
offered me a full time role, and

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let me actually define
my own job description.

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They were interested in me,
not necessarily me filling a role and

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I think that's a very important
thing that I'll talk about later.

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But having that entrepreneurial attitude,
go find the problems, don't wait for

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instructions.

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Don't wait for
somebody to just tell you what to do,

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you go find the problems, right?

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So I was at Expedia for
about three years, and

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I built three different engineering
organizations while I was there.

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Built a whole subset of new
capabilities they had never had before.

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And again,
I had never done this before, right?

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Originally, they rejected me, but
I had a tremendous impact at Expedia.

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I was there for about three years and when
I felt I kind of outgrew the experiences

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there, that's when I went to Microsoft.

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I was at Microsoft for
about two and a half years.

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I was on the Power BI team and I helped
build a web engineering team there.

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Then at this point,
I was having my fourth daughter,

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I wanted better work life balance,
and so I went to Salesforce.

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Salesforce is a great company.

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I built a data cataloging and
data platform team there, product team.

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And then I was there for about two years.

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And then now I'm here at Twitter.

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I've been at Twitter for

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about seven months to build a platform
developer experience product team.

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So that's my really quick story.

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I'm gonna go through the seven
things that I want you to do, and

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just different ways to think about this.

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Cuz I want you to know that so
much about success is about your grit.

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I got this poster up here,
but I'm telling you,

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a lot of people think that you
gotta be super smart, okay?

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In sure, yeah, maybe.

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Not really, success is a choice.

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Sometimes it's about discipline,
persistence, right?

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That's what I'm gonna teach you.

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So let's talk about seven
kind of concrete things.

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Now first, let's define the problem.

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Before we even define that,
let's take a step back here.

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And let's talk about what you really want
because I think it's different than what

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people say.

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A lot of people will say,
I wanna be a data scientist or

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I wanna be a software engineer.

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But if you've never had that role,
how do you know you're gonna like it?

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I think you want something
a little bit different.

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So let's talk a little bit about that.

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Let's talk about my career goals.

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I wanna be in demand.

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Why?
Because I want stability for my family.

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I don't wanna worry about getting a job.

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I wanna make really good money.

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I wanna take my kids to Hawaii.

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I wanna take them to Disneyland.

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I don't want finance to be a problem.

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I want ultimate flexibility.

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I wanna work whenever I want,
however I want, in whatever domain I want.

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I want financial independence so
that the where I work doesn't matter.

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Now I'm willing to bet that
many of you are like me.

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Now you might pick data science,
you might pick software engineering.

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And maybe that is interesting to you.

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But at the end of the day,

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I'm willing to bet most of you just want
a good job that you feel proud to work.

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You enjoy what you're doing.

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You're recognized and given,
you feel a sense of accomplishment.

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You can care for your family.

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Sometimes it's actually that,
and you're actually guessing, and

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saying well software engineering
It makes good money.

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I think working for
Google sounds great, right?

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And so
you pick these domains cuz you're right,

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a lot of what I'm talking about,
these companies can provide, right?

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But I want you to upload with that for
a second.

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And that's kind of where I come in,
where my philosophy comes in.

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I believe you can have all of these things
because I have all of these things.

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You don't have to choose between money and
flexibility.

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You can see your family, you don't
have to work 60, 70 hours a week.

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I work a modest 40 hour work week and
I have all of these things.

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And I wanna show you how I did that.

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Now, why be in demand?

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Let's talk about that first.

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It kind of goes into a lot of what I said,
the real goals, right?

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Freedom and control, if you don't like
what you're doing, do something else.

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If you wanna make more money,
you want more flexibility in life,

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you wanna work part time,
all of that stuff it's up to you.

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I want you to skip
the application process.

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People that are in demand
don't apply online.

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I did not apply online, ever.

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I have an incredible salary and
it's a lot more than you think.

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A lot of people in tech,
they think 100,000, 200,

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300,000, I make substantially
more than that.

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And I don't work 80 hour weeks,
I work very, very modest weeks.

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I can see my kids whenever I want to.

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Even before the pandemic,

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I was working from home four
days a week because I wanted to.

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Best pay, work life balance, flexibility.

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HIA, have it all.

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My career is on autopilot,
I do not apply for jobs.

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Matter of fact,
if you guys follow me on LinkedIn,

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I have a major announcement probably,
with this week or next week.

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It's actually pretty cool.

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Financial independence,
you do not have to choose and

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you don't have to spend years and
years earning credentials.

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Now they have some value,
I'm not gonna say that they don't.

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But there are other alternatives.

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Okay, so what is the formula?

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You guys are like okay, Jay,
[LAUGH] how did you do it?

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Okay, let's do it.

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Seven Steps, I'm gonna be very specific.

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So first of all, let's be logical here.

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People always say do what you love.

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I say that's illogical, okay?

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You have to do what's in demand
if you wanna be in demand.

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Now the reason people say do what you
love is because they want you to be happy

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in your job, I totally get that.

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00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,832
But I would argue that if you
play to your strengths and

234
00:12:50,832 --> 00:12:54,760
you're good at your job,
you'll also like your job.

235
00:12:56,620 --> 00:13:00,382
But if you do what's in demand
you're more likely to be in demand.

236
00:13:00,382 --> 00:13:07,260
Like if you love to bake but everybody has
a gluten allergy, you're screwed, right?

237
00:13:07,260 --> 00:13:10,440
Who cares if you know how to I mean?

238
00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,080
Yes great, you love to bake but
nobody can eat bread.

239
00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:15,950
So you have a problem, okay?

240
00:13:15,950 --> 00:13:20,508
So my thing is play to your strengths and
there is a spot for you in tech,

241
00:13:20,508 --> 00:13:22,691
all kinds of personality types.

242
00:13:22,691 --> 00:13:25,810
Tech is synonymous with business, okay?

243
00:13:25,810 --> 00:13:26,720
So there's a place for you.

244
00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:28,550
You just need to know
what your strengths are.

245
00:13:28,550 --> 00:13:31,746
Play to your strengths,
understand what's happening in the market,

246
00:13:31,746 --> 00:13:32,870
you can be successful.

247
00:13:32,870 --> 00:13:37,544
Now what I will tell you in my experience
is that your relationship with your

248
00:13:37,544 --> 00:13:42,080
direct manager contributes to your
happiness more than anything else.

249
00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,544
You can love your role, but if your
relationship with your boss is all screwed

250
00:13:45,544 --> 00:13:47,640
up, I mean,
you're not gonna like your job.

251
00:13:48,740 --> 00:13:52,690
So I get it, you wanna be happy, but play
to your strengths and do what's in demand.

252
00:13:52,690 --> 00:13:54,840
That to me makes way more sense.

253
00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,010
I feel like you'll get way
more success that way.

254
00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,320
Okay, mindset shift,
you've got to think differently.

255
00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:08,680
This is a big one, because you've been
told certain things in your life.

256
00:14:10,090 --> 00:14:11,950
And I'm telling you that
only some of that is true.

257
00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:19,280
Here's one quick example, mindset is
more important than domain expertise.

258
00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:24,134
I got a XBox, xCloud principal
level product offer from xCloud,

259
00:14:24,134 --> 00:14:28,030
which is their new online
game streaming platform.

260
00:14:29,260 --> 00:14:30,320
Now, here's the deal.

261
00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,179
I have never done anything
professional in gaming and

262
00:14:33,179 --> 00:14:35,410
I have never done anything in streaming.

263
00:14:35,410 --> 00:14:37,726
I don't know anything about it, but

264
00:14:37,726 --> 00:14:41,610
they offered me a principal
product role at Microsoft.

265
00:14:41,610 --> 00:14:42,580
Now why would they do that?

266
00:14:42,580 --> 00:14:47,220
You would think that if I wanted that job,
I would go study streaming, right?

267
00:14:47,220 --> 00:14:50,290
I'd go study architecture,
that's what everyone would do.

268
00:14:50,290 --> 00:14:54,630
I'd study gaming platforms and
I don't know none of that.

269
00:14:55,790 --> 00:15:01,299
But they offered me a lead role to
help lead a brand new industry and

270
00:15:01,299 --> 00:15:03,310
represent Microsoft.

271
00:15:03,310 --> 00:15:04,170
Why would they do that?

272
00:15:05,180 --> 00:15:06,960
Because here's the thing about tech.

273
00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:08,440
Everything is brand new all the time.

274
00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:09,410
It's changing all the time.

275
00:15:09,410 --> 00:15:11,860
You can't find experts all the time.

276
00:15:11,860 --> 00:15:15,266
So what they're looking for
is a proven track record of being able to

277
00:15:15,266 --> 00:15:18,567
take something super ambiguous and
turn it into something real.

278
00:15:18,567 --> 00:15:23,197
I've had enough success in
my career that they just

279
00:15:23,197 --> 00:15:27,405
trusted that I can do it,
that's it, right?

280
00:15:27,405 --> 00:15:29,080
So think about that.

281
00:15:31,030 --> 00:15:33,680
It's not always about domain expertise,
okay?

282
00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,120
All right, so
let's get into some details here.

283
00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:39,560
So step 1, entrepreneurial mindset.

284
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:43,810
So I told you that I was
an entrepreneur when I started, right?

285
00:15:43,810 --> 00:15:45,170
I ran that company for about six years.

286
00:15:45,170 --> 00:15:47,130
Now what does it mean
to be an entrepreneur?

287
00:15:47,130 --> 00:15:49,970
Well, you care about value
versus looking good.

288
00:15:49,970 --> 00:15:52,873
A lot of people that work for
big companies,

289
00:15:52,873 --> 00:15:55,787
they are trained to do
what their boss says.

290
00:15:57,753 --> 00:16:02,810
But that's not how you stand out,
that's not how you become in demand.

291
00:16:02,810 --> 00:16:06,554
You always serve your customer,
you always look for impact,

292
00:16:06,554 --> 00:16:08,500
you always do what makes sense.

293
00:16:10,620 --> 00:16:14,288
So care about the value that you provide
not just about looking good to your boss.

294
00:16:14,288 --> 00:16:17,866
And you'd be surprised even now most
people still just do what their

295
00:16:17,866 --> 00:16:18,570
boss wants.

296
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,590
Listen, understand the real problem,
not just the symptom.

297
00:16:23,590 --> 00:16:27,214
When someone asks you to do something,
whether you're an engineer or a product

298
00:16:27,214 --> 00:16:31,012
lead or anything like that, ask yourself
why, ask them why, do the research why.

299
00:16:31,012 --> 00:16:35,040
Because they may be quick to give you some
solution that doesn't make any sense.

300
00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,720
Understand why, that is your benefit,
don't just do what you're told.

301
00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:44,200
Understand why, ask good questions, and
make sure you're solving the real problem.

302
00:16:46,100 --> 00:16:49,908
So again, most people are told what to do,
don't wait to be told what to do,

303
00:16:49,908 --> 00:16:51,970
you go find those problems.

304
00:16:51,970 --> 00:16:55,467
When I was at Expedia, the reason I was so
impactful is cuz I didn't wait around for

305
00:16:55,467 --> 00:16:57,540
someone to tell me what to do.

306
00:16:57,540 --> 00:17:00,950
I went around and I talked to people,
people will tell you what's wrong.

307
00:17:00,950 --> 00:17:04,795
They'll tell you the pain that they feel,
you start seeing common themes,

308
00:17:04,795 --> 00:17:08,598
common problems, you go find those
problems, you go fix those problems.

309
00:17:08,598 --> 00:17:13,540
Alleviate people's pain, serve them first,
and then they will help you later.

310
00:17:14,650 --> 00:17:18,141
Some big, big key to success is building
relationships across the company,

311
00:17:18,141 --> 00:17:21,460
especially if you're in
a big matrixed organization.

312
00:17:21,460 --> 00:17:25,760
Take the time, build relationships,
help other people.

313
00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:26,820
They will help you later.

314
00:17:28,120 --> 00:17:32,429
That is essentially how I built all of
my teams at Expedia is that I found new

315
00:17:32,429 --> 00:17:36,030
problems to fix,
I came up with some ways to fix them.

316
00:17:36,030 --> 00:17:39,852
I did quick MVPs and then I asked for
funding to do a better version of it and

317
00:17:39,852 --> 00:17:41,810
I got that funding.

318
00:17:41,810 --> 00:17:44,910
So, it's been a huge impact for me.

319
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:47,400
Go find problems, don't wait.

320
00:17:49,090 --> 00:17:53,250
Step 2, it kind of it kind of
implies a little bit with step 1,

321
00:17:53,250 --> 00:17:56,240
like learn to influence without authority.

322
00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:57,240
This is everything.

323
00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:01,096
So software is software, yes,
but it is people always.

324
00:18:01,096 --> 00:18:04,330
You don't have to always be an expert.

325
00:18:04,330 --> 00:18:10,180
But if you can get an expert to trust you,
they'll come with you on your journey.

326
00:18:10,180 --> 00:18:12,000
And it's better than you being the expert.

327
00:18:13,470 --> 00:18:17,016
So a lot of organizations
are super matrixed.

328
00:18:17,016 --> 00:18:20,770
If you work for these big companies like
right now I'm in a product management

329
00:18:20,770 --> 00:18:22,870
kind of silo you get in it's not right.

330
00:18:22,870 --> 00:18:28,200
It feels like a silo sometimes but
it's this portion of the business, right?

331
00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:34,060
So I'm in product, I own strategy I own
vision, I own customer relationships.

332
00:18:34,060 --> 00:18:37,140
But I also need to partner with
my engineering counterparts.

333
00:18:37,140 --> 00:18:39,402
I need to partner with
design counterparts,

334
00:18:39,402 --> 00:18:43,040
with communications, marketing,
legal, all these things, right?

335
00:18:44,390 --> 00:18:46,970
So nobody reports to me.

336
00:18:46,970 --> 00:18:50,030
We all have to come together in
order to execute on a project.

337
00:18:51,340 --> 00:18:52,490
But I'm nobody's boss.

338
00:18:53,850 --> 00:18:55,390
And they don't have to listen to me.

339
00:18:55,390 --> 00:19:00,780
They have their own hierarchy and
their own structure of authority.

340
00:19:00,780 --> 00:19:02,670
So how do you get people to work together?

341
00:19:02,670 --> 00:19:03,420
They don't have to.

342
00:19:03,420 --> 00:19:05,320
This is the key to everything.

343
00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,710
You bring people along with you,
you can accomplish anything.

344
00:19:08,710 --> 00:19:10,650
And so the question is, how do you do it?

345
00:19:10,650 --> 00:19:13,215
All these people they have their own
roadmaps, you've got your roadmap,

346
00:19:13,215 --> 00:19:15,270
how do you get everyone to work together?

347
00:19:15,270 --> 00:19:17,182
The answer is very simple actually.

348
00:19:17,182 --> 00:19:20,090
Emotional intelligence is
the buzzword you might hear.

349
00:19:20,090 --> 00:19:21,960
But the answer is help them first.

350
00:19:24,220 --> 00:19:26,050
You help people first they will help you.

351
00:19:27,410 --> 00:19:31,927
You care about their career,
their roadmap, their objectives, first.

352
00:19:31,927 --> 00:19:36,655
You build those relationships,
you understand where they're coming from,

353
00:19:36,655 --> 00:19:39,100
understand what keeps them up at night.

354
00:19:39,100 --> 00:19:40,436
Can you help them?

355
00:19:40,436 --> 00:19:43,950
You talk to many people,
you connect the dots.

356
00:19:43,950 --> 00:19:46,640
Eric's doing this,
Beth is doing something similar,

357
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,706
maybe you guys could work together and
do it together?

358
00:19:49,706 --> 00:19:52,908
Can you collaborate across the company,
build strong relationships, and

359
00:19:52,908 --> 00:19:54,246
help other people?

360
00:19:54,246 --> 00:19:58,486
You do that first and when it comes
to your roadmap, they'll help you.

361
00:19:59,546 --> 00:20:00,536
This is servant leadership.

362
00:20:02,340 --> 00:20:02,900
Beside you.

363
00:20:04,180 --> 00:20:06,650
All right, step three, customer focus.

364
00:20:06,650 --> 00:20:09,380
This kind of goes back to what
I was saying earlier, right?

365
00:20:09,380 --> 00:20:14,089
Deliver value to your customer, whoever
your end benefactor of your service is,

366
00:20:14,089 --> 00:20:16,493
make sure they're getting their value.

367
00:20:16,493 --> 00:20:17,940
Talk to them, know them.

368
00:20:19,250 --> 00:20:22,331
Yes, you should care about
the relationship with your boss, but

369
00:20:22,331 --> 00:20:26,770
if your boss is a good one, they also
care very much about their customer.

370
00:20:26,770 --> 00:20:28,930
And if they don't,
you might need a new boss.

371
00:20:30,610 --> 00:20:32,999
You can be aggressive without being rude.

372
00:20:32,999 --> 00:20:37,325
I'm a strong believer in showing
passion without being a jerk,

373
00:20:37,325 --> 00:20:39,819
you don't have to be a jerk, right?

374
00:20:39,819 --> 00:20:42,160
Build relationships, care about people.

375
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:48,440
You want them to understand, you make sure
they feel heard and understood first.

376
00:20:49,730 --> 00:20:51,150
If you do that, they'll trust you.

377
00:20:52,220 --> 00:20:54,980
They'll actually care
about your experience.

378
00:20:56,500 --> 00:20:58,998
Now, I put this little footnote here but
I think this is super important,

379
00:20:58,998 --> 00:21:00,790
I kind of mentioned this earlier.

380
00:21:00,790 --> 00:21:02,590
Don't pursue promotions, pursue growth.

381
00:21:04,470 --> 00:21:08,176
A lot of times, people will make
decisions because they are trying to get

382
00:21:08,176 --> 00:21:09,590
a promotion, and I get it.

383
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:16,180
But pursue value, pursue growth,
the promotions will come.

384
00:21:16,180 --> 00:21:18,181
And if they don't come, promote yourself.

385
00:21:18,181 --> 00:21:21,060
Don't be afraid to leave
the organization that you're with.

386
00:21:23,500 --> 00:21:29,955
Every time I changed positions,
I got anywhere from 15 to 30% raise,

387
00:21:29,955 --> 00:21:34,680
which for me ended up being 100k plus,
every move.

388
00:21:36,210 --> 00:21:39,657
So between Microsoft,
Salesforce, Twitter, and

389
00:21:39,657 --> 00:21:44,594
another fantastic announcement I've
got next week, my compensation has

390
00:21:44,594 --> 00:21:50,570
gone up at least $100,000 every
single time and I'm being modest.

391
00:21:50,570 --> 00:21:55,122
So the cap in tech is a lot
higher than you think.

392
00:21:55,122 --> 00:22:00,130
You can be much more successful
than you might realize.

393
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:02,730
So I'm gonna add that in there.

394
00:22:02,730 --> 00:22:06,190
So and this is not even about money,
right,

395
00:22:06,190 --> 00:22:09,980
this is about financial independence.

396
00:22:09,980 --> 00:22:13,981
it trickles down into everything in life,
from the decisions you make,

397
00:22:13,981 --> 00:22:16,801
from taking care of your family,
to the choices and

398
00:22:16,801 --> 00:22:19,508
flexibility you have in your life,
it matters.

399
00:22:21,844 --> 00:22:25,114
All right,
everybody can still hear me okay?

400
00:22:25,114 --> 00:22:26,000
Everything's good?

401
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,170
Cool, okay, power brands, man.

402
00:22:32,170 --> 00:22:34,294
Talk about the most
overlooked thing you can do.

403
00:22:34,294 --> 00:22:39,957
Your personal brand and
your company's brand impact you,

404
00:22:39,957 --> 00:22:43,590
your career more than anything else.

405
00:22:45,700 --> 00:22:48,865
I'm gonna talk a little bit about what
this means, but man, I'm telling you,

406
00:22:48,865 --> 00:22:51,210
this is talk about
the most overlooked thing.

407
00:22:51,210 --> 00:22:52,950
So first, let's talk about personal brand.

408
00:22:54,380 --> 00:22:59,320
I don't apply for jobs because recruiters
and hiring managers find me on LinkedIn.

409
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,130
I haven't applied for
job in at least eight years.

410
00:23:02,130 --> 00:23:07,087
My Twitter role,
my Microsoft offers, got call for

411
00:23:07,087 --> 00:23:11,369
LinkedIn all the time, Facebook, Google,

412
00:23:11,369 --> 00:23:16,300
Amazon, Netflix,
they contact me regularly.

413
00:23:16,300 --> 00:23:20,266
And when a recruiter or hiring manager
contacts you from LinkedIn, you're not

414
00:23:20,266 --> 00:23:24,648
applying, they've already, most of the
time, already shared your information with

415
00:23:24,648 --> 00:23:29,830
the hiring manager, or they are the hiring
manager, and you go straight to interview.

416
00:23:29,830 --> 00:23:31,930
So this is what I mean
by not applying online.

417
00:23:31,930 --> 00:23:36,758
I don't apply where 500 other people have
already applied hoping that they see my

418
00:23:36,758 --> 00:23:37,930
resume.

419
00:23:37,930 --> 00:23:42,600
They come and get me, and
that changes the conversation.

420
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:43,702
Use LinkedIn.

421
00:23:43,702 --> 00:23:49,130
800 million people are on LinkedIn,
only 1% of those people post.

422
00:23:50,460 --> 00:23:55,806
So just by posting anything,
you become part of that 1%.

423
00:23:55,806 --> 00:24:00,554
Cuz sometimes it's not about being
qualified, many people that apply for

424
00:24:00,554 --> 00:24:03,732
roles you are qualified,
you're just not seen.

425
00:24:03,732 --> 00:24:06,320
Nobody knows who you are.

426
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,696
You're 1 of 1,000 qualified candidates,
how do you stand out?

427
00:24:10,696 --> 00:24:13,383
LinkedIn is a way that you stand out,

428
00:24:13,383 --> 00:24:17,905
even though only 1% of people post,
a lot of people browse.

429
00:24:17,905 --> 00:24:20,801
A lot of the hiring managers,
teammates, and

430
00:24:20,801 --> 00:24:24,820
recruiters that you wanna work
with are on LinkedIn regularly.

431
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,730
So posts, you don't have to educate
people, just share your journey.

432
00:24:30,730 --> 00:24:32,330
Tell them how crappy your day was.

433
00:24:32,330 --> 00:24:35,762
You were coding something and
screwed something up, and

434
00:24:35,762 --> 00:24:40,720
you're just dealing with, what will
happen is people will resonate with you.

435
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,060
They'll say, you know what,
I know what that feels like.

436
00:24:43,060 --> 00:24:45,210
They'll like your posts,
they'll follow you.

437
00:24:45,210 --> 00:24:47,279
LinkedIn is not like Facebook, okay?

438
00:24:47,279 --> 00:24:49,480
LinkedIn is your online resume.

439
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,540
Who do you want to see your online resume?

440
00:24:52,540 --> 00:24:55,570
I want everyone to see mine,
so connect with everyone.

441
00:24:56,860 --> 00:24:59,220
Make sure you turn your settings on so
anyone can follow you.

442
00:24:59,220 --> 00:25:05,390
The more people that see you,
the more opportunity you potentially have.

443
00:25:05,390 --> 00:25:07,080
So create a brand on LinkedIn.

444
00:25:09,350 --> 00:25:10,270
[INAUDIBLE] The Xbox offer.

445
00:25:11,700 --> 00:25:15,050
The hiring manager saw me on LinkedIn,
he liked my posts.

446
00:25:15,050 --> 00:25:19,869
It's a way to show the hiring world
you're more than just a flat resume,

447
00:25:19,869 --> 00:25:21,138
you're a person.

448
00:25:21,138 --> 00:25:24,760
Comment on other people's posts,
talk about what you like.

449
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:28,040
If you see somebody say something that
really resonates with you, say that.

450
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,280
You're telling future teammates and
colleagues what you're all about.

451
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:36,480
It's a great way to expand
your personal brand.

452
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:37,250
Now company brand.

453
00:25:37,250 --> 00:25:40,110
This is another thing I
think is super overlooked.

454
00:25:40,110 --> 00:25:43,867
Now, working for the right company,

455
00:25:43,867 --> 00:25:47,986
even temporarily can skyrocket career.

456
00:25:47,986 --> 00:25:50,260
Now, I'll tell you why.

457
00:25:50,260 --> 00:25:51,910
Hiring is hard.

458
00:25:53,050 --> 00:25:54,470
The interview process is difficult.

459
00:25:56,260 --> 00:25:59,263
How do you determine
somebody's future value?

460
00:25:59,263 --> 00:26:02,680
By asking them a bunch of random
questions and putting them on the spot.

461
00:26:03,870 --> 00:26:06,644
Everybody is different as
far as how they handle that,

462
00:26:06,644 --> 00:26:08,950
you can't measure future success that way.

463
00:26:08,950 --> 00:26:10,650
Interviewing is hard.

464
00:26:10,650 --> 00:26:12,270
So what do big tech companies do?

465
00:26:13,290 --> 00:26:15,980
They let someone else
do the heavy lifting.

466
00:26:15,980 --> 00:26:19,681
And what that means is they hire
people from other big tech companies.

467
00:26:19,681 --> 00:26:23,370
Cuz they make the assumption that if
this person made it at Microsoft for

468
00:26:23,370 --> 00:26:27,255
a few years, or Salesforce, or
Google, they're probably pretty good.

469
00:26:29,377 --> 00:26:32,663
So, I am assuming that Microsoft
already did their due diligence, and

470
00:26:32,663 --> 00:26:35,236
Microsoft liked them, and
they seem to do pretty well,

471
00:26:35,236 --> 00:26:38,600
they're probably pretty good in my,
they'll be be good in my role too.

472
00:26:39,980 --> 00:26:43,330
Big tech companies love to hire
from other big tech companies.

473
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:46,540
So, what does that mean?

474
00:26:46,540 --> 00:26:47,995
So when I worked at Expedia,

475
00:26:47,995 --> 00:26:50,979
that was actually the door that
opened up Microsoft to me.

476
00:26:50,979 --> 00:26:55,260
Cuz Microsoft knew about Expedia,
Expedia was a brand name, so

477
00:26:55,260 --> 00:26:57,491
Microsoft was giving me a trial.

478
00:26:57,491 --> 00:27:01,120
Like, okay, Expedia is a good company,
well, maybe Jay's pretty good.

479
00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:04,030
When I got into Microsoft, all of
a sudden, everyone started looking at me.

480
00:27:04,030 --> 00:27:08,823
I started getting hit up by everyone,
I'm not even exaggerating,

481
00:27:08,823 --> 00:27:11,777
pretty regularly, especially Amazon.

482
00:27:11,777 --> 00:27:17,481
And so I was getting calls and
offers to interview monthly,

483
00:27:17,481 --> 00:27:20,682
still, and it hasn't stopped.

484
00:27:20,682 --> 00:27:22,682
Microsoft opened the door to Salesforce.

485
00:27:22,682 --> 00:27:24,399
Salesforce opened the door to Twitter.

486
00:27:24,399 --> 00:27:27,970
Twitter open the door
to any other company.

487
00:27:27,970 --> 00:27:30,659
Once your resume gets the right brands,

488
00:27:30,659 --> 00:27:35,040
everyone just assumes that
you must be pretty good.

489
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,105
I'd like to think that I'm decent, but

490
00:27:37,105 --> 00:27:41,730
they assume that all these other companies
have already done the heavy lifting.

491
00:27:41,730 --> 00:27:44,818
Jay's been successful in these places,
he must be good enough for us.

492
00:27:44,818 --> 00:27:48,435
Now, even if you don't love this,
right, you don't love working for

493
00:27:48,435 --> 00:27:51,345
a big tech company,
cuz there's pros and cons, right?

494
00:27:52,765 --> 00:27:55,995
It's still worth going for
a little while because of this effect.

495
00:27:55,995 --> 00:27:57,773
Cuz as you navigate your career and

496
00:27:57,773 --> 00:28:01,525
you kind of figure out where you really
wanna be, you get to be employed.

497
00:28:02,705 --> 00:28:04,975
You get to be in demand.

498
00:28:04,975 --> 00:28:07,290
I never have to worry about getting a job.

499
00:28:07,290 --> 00:28:10,430
I always have at least two or three people
that are interested at any given time.

500
00:28:12,910 --> 00:28:15,427
Okay, so and
this is also what I mean by autopilot,

501
00:28:15,427 --> 00:28:17,760
I don't worry about my next career move.

502
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,535
I just have to decide
where I would like to go.

503
00:28:21,535 --> 00:28:25,904
Okay, step five, learn what matters.

504
00:28:25,904 --> 00:28:29,901
Now again, this goes back to
doing what's in demand and

505
00:28:29,901 --> 00:28:34,168
catering to your strengths,
what I said earlier, right?

506
00:28:34,168 --> 00:28:36,631
Pay attention,
how do you know what companies want?

507
00:28:36,631 --> 00:28:37,736
It's actually a very simple way.

508
00:28:37,736 --> 00:28:39,289
What are they hiring for?

509
00:28:39,289 --> 00:28:40,405
Go look at job posts.

510
00:28:40,405 --> 00:28:42,850
That'll tell you what's
in demand right there.

511
00:28:42,850 --> 00:28:45,853
You can also google, I mean,
this is the age of the Internet.

512
00:28:45,853 --> 00:28:50,420
Come on, you can find out what's hot in
the industry, very, very easy, right?

513
00:28:50,420 --> 00:28:52,080
Find out what's in demand.

514
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:53,590
Make sure you understand
what's happening in the world.

515
00:28:54,730 --> 00:28:58,180
Now, again, brand over role.

516
00:28:59,460 --> 00:29:02,209
What I mean by that is sometimes if
you have an opportunity, let's say

517
00:29:02,209 --> 00:29:05,210
to go work for Microsoft, but maybe
it's not the role that you really want.

518
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:08,720
Chances are if you've
never done these roles,

519
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,780
you really don't know what you like or
you don't like, really, right?

520
00:29:11,780 --> 00:29:14,633
So sometimes,
it's okay to get in to a good brand, and

521
00:29:14,633 --> 00:29:17,480
then move around within the company.

522
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,347
I did that at Expedia,
Microsoft, and Salesforce.

523
00:29:20,347 --> 00:29:23,983
I got into a job that I was qualified for
and I liked the job.

524
00:29:23,983 --> 00:29:26,791
But then eventually as I
got to know the company,

525
00:29:26,791 --> 00:29:29,668
got to network,
meet people around the company,

526
00:29:29,668 --> 00:29:33,660
I transitioned to another position
within the company that I enjoy.

527
00:29:33,660 --> 00:29:37,980
Once you get in, it's actually very
easy to move around, talk to people,

528
00:29:37,980 --> 00:29:40,176
network, build relationships, and

529
00:29:40,176 --> 00:29:43,690
go find the job that you really want,
or go explore, right?

530
00:29:44,740 --> 00:29:48,050
Go see what you like and
what you don't like.

531
00:29:48,050 --> 00:29:50,404
So once you get in,
super easy to move around.

532
00:29:50,404 --> 00:29:53,942
If you're not sure, you're intact,
and you're not sure what to do, or

533
00:29:53,942 --> 00:29:57,410
you're not sure what to think
about as far as direction.

534
00:29:57,410 --> 00:30:01,569
Personally, I would say product and
program management are hot.

535
00:30:01,569 --> 00:30:05,836
They require a lot of communication
skills, a lot of people collaboration,

536
00:30:05,836 --> 00:30:10,237
marketing, customer service like a lot
of transferable skills and program and

537
00:30:10,237 --> 00:30:12,380
product management.

538
00:30:12,380 --> 00:30:15,822
Data is always hot regardless of
where you wanna be in the stack,

539
00:30:15,822 --> 00:30:19,967
whether you wanna be a data scientist,
data engineer, or product manager,

540
00:30:19,967 --> 00:30:22,170
product analyst, data is everywhere.

541
00:30:22,170 --> 00:30:25,820
So having fundamental knowledge
in data is super important.

542
00:30:25,820 --> 00:30:29,270
It is the lifeblood,
it is the new oil of business, right?

543
00:30:29,270 --> 00:30:30,850
Data is always awesome.

544
00:30:30,850 --> 00:30:33,504
Cloud technologies is always awesome too.

545
00:30:33,504 --> 00:30:38,833
Cloud computing, GCP, AWS,
Azure, Cloud Fundamentals,

546
00:30:38,833 --> 00:30:45,508
every company is on some type of roadmap,
a journey in their cloud strategy.

547
00:30:45,508 --> 00:30:49,450
Whether they have their own data centers
or they're adopting public cloud services,

548
00:30:49,450 --> 00:30:52,680
like the ones I mentioned,
cloud is also awesome to learn.

549
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,497
So if you're not sure, those are some
things that I think I would suggest.

550
00:30:56,497 --> 00:30:59,982
And of course, software engineering,
software engineering is awesome but

551
00:30:59,982 --> 00:31:01,703
it's not necessarily for everyone.

552
00:31:01,703 --> 00:31:06,800
So remember that you don't have to code,
I don't code and I do very well.

553
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:07,887
I'm a people person.

554
00:31:07,887 --> 00:31:11,420
So if you're a people person,
there's room and space for you too.

555
00:31:13,140 --> 00:31:16,678
Relationships are more
important than anything.

556
00:31:16,678 --> 00:31:19,297
Build relationships,
not only networking but

557
00:31:19,297 --> 00:31:24,035
also when you get a job within the job,
network, get to know people, right?

558
00:31:24,035 --> 00:31:25,469
All right.

559
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:31,260
Step 6, get the right type of experience.

560
00:31:31,260 --> 00:31:35,879
So if you're having trouble landing a job,
hire yourself.

561
00:31:35,879 --> 00:31:41,329
Go spend $100 for a business license and
go start a business.

562
00:31:43,010 --> 00:31:45,260
That is real, your experience is real.

563
00:31:45,260 --> 00:31:46,500
It is exactly what I did.

564
00:31:46,500 --> 00:31:47,919
I was not qualified.

565
00:31:47,919 --> 00:31:53,320
if I was waiting to be qualified,
that's such a subjective term.

566
00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,450
All you have to do is no more
than the person you're serving.

567
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,120
And many of you probably already do.

568
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,807
It just means that maybe
you only serve people,

569
00:32:01,807 --> 00:32:05,314
again with less knowledge than you and
that's okay, right?

570
00:32:05,314 --> 00:32:06,380
Hire yourself.

571
00:32:06,380 --> 00:32:08,630
If you wanna be a product manager,
go build a product.

572
00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,220
If you want to be a software engineer,
go build software.

573
00:32:13,220 --> 00:32:17,297
Because the cool thing about that
is you're building your experience.

574
00:32:17,297 --> 00:32:21,283
The difference between somebody that's
educated versus somebody that's

575
00:32:21,283 --> 00:32:23,150
experienced is your mistakes.

576
00:32:23,150 --> 00:32:23,837
Go fail.

577
00:32:23,837 --> 00:32:25,060
Go learn.

578
00:32:25,060 --> 00:32:26,290
Go screw up.

579
00:32:26,290 --> 00:32:27,640
Go make mistakes.

580
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:28,500
Try it again.

581
00:32:28,500 --> 00:32:29,830
Struggle through it.

582
00:32:29,830 --> 00:32:32,730
Learn all the ups and downs,
that's what experience feels like.

583
00:32:32,730 --> 00:32:33,650
Go do it.

584
00:32:33,650 --> 00:32:38,804
You have no excuse not to build
your portfolio right now.

585
00:32:38,804 --> 00:32:42,420
And even on the portfolio aspect, right?

586
00:32:42,420 --> 00:32:45,540
A lot of people will spend a lot
of time to building a portfolio.

587
00:32:45,540 --> 00:32:49,140
What's the difference between building
a portfolio and running a business?

588
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:51,970
The difference is a business license.

589
00:32:52,970 --> 00:32:57,845
Yes, go build your project, but build it
with the intent of selling something and

590
00:32:57,845 --> 00:33:00,200
go get a business license.

591
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,317
Now it's not a side project,
it is a business and

592
00:33:03,317 --> 00:33:06,530
you are the position
you designate yourself.

593
00:33:06,530 --> 00:33:09,280
That experience is real,
it counts, go do it.

594
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,150
There are no excuses not in today's world.

595
00:33:12,150 --> 00:33:16,457
With cloud computing strategies, you can
build auto scaling architectures as a one

596
00:33:16,457 --> 00:33:19,187
person if you understand how
to use the technology and

597
00:33:19,187 --> 00:33:21,790
most of that information is free.

598
00:33:21,790 --> 00:33:24,210
Or reasonably priced like Treehouse,
right?

599
00:33:24,210 --> 00:33:27,060
Like I learned JavaScript from Treehouse.

600
00:33:27,060 --> 00:33:31,160
There's so much out there, you just have
to have the determination to go learn it.

601
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:33,270
The opportunity is there.

602
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,936
And if nothing else,
let's say you just do a bunch of stuff and

603
00:33:36,936 --> 00:33:39,500
it doesn't become anything,
that's okay too.

604
00:33:39,500 --> 00:33:42,084
Because the number one in every question
that you're gonna get is tell me a time

605
00:33:42,084 --> 00:33:44,600
when you failed and
you'll have a lot to talk about.

606
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:46,500
And that's a good thing.

607
00:33:46,500 --> 00:33:50,650
If you failed, then you won't make those
same mistakes when you work for them.

608
00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:54,330
That's an experienced person, it matters.

609
00:33:55,950 --> 00:33:59,436
And like I said, if you're not seeing
the progression in your current company,

610
00:33:59,436 --> 00:34:02,000
don't be afraid to look elsewhere.

611
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,630
I told you about my growth,
lateral growth is still growth.

612
00:34:05,730 --> 00:34:07,420
Aggressively pursue growth.

613
00:34:08,870 --> 00:34:14,100
Don't look for a 40 year career,
work for ten and retire.

614
00:34:14,100 --> 00:34:15,540
And don't retire.

615
00:34:15,540 --> 00:34:18,300
Just be financially independent and
do whatever you want.

616
00:34:18,300 --> 00:34:20,597
Don't look for comfort, look for growth.

617
00:34:23,556 --> 00:34:27,675
All right, and then the last part, I hate
this, one of these days I'm gonna try to

618
00:34:27,675 --> 00:34:31,890
like disrupt tech, maybe with this but
there is a process to the interview.

619
00:34:31,890 --> 00:34:35,020
It isn't a grueling and
difficult and frustrating process.

620
00:34:36,190 --> 00:34:38,816
But the good thing is,
if you just Google it,

621
00:34:38,816 --> 00:34:42,770
you can find every question ever
asked in every typical interview.

622
00:34:42,770 --> 00:34:47,246
I've been a hiring manager for every
company that I've mentioned Microsoft,

623
00:34:47,246 --> 00:34:51,500
Salesforce, Twitter, Expedia,
we ask the same questions.

624
00:34:51,500 --> 00:34:53,205
Even the answers are researchable,

625
00:34:53,205 --> 00:34:56,070
which is why the whole process
I think is a little ridiculous.

626
00:34:56,070 --> 00:35:01,120
If you're a very studious
person you can pass this.

627
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:02,690
So go do the research.

628
00:35:02,690 --> 00:35:06,550
But I would say on top of this is not
just do the research, believe it.

629
00:35:07,620 --> 00:35:09,640
Don't just answer a question, right?

630
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,593
Like if you were a product
lead the last year,

631
00:35:12,593 --> 00:35:17,350
tell me a time when you took a product
from ideation all the way to launch.

632
00:35:18,610 --> 00:35:20,380
Don't like practice your answer.

633
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:22,787
Go do that.

634
00:35:22,787 --> 00:35:24,570
[LAUGH] Go do it.

635
00:35:24,570 --> 00:35:27,070
Go take a product from ideation to lunch.

636
00:35:27,070 --> 00:35:27,850
What did you do?

637
00:35:27,850 --> 00:35:29,630
Why did you make those choices?

638
00:35:29,630 --> 00:35:30,650
What could you have done?

639
00:35:30,650 --> 00:35:34,270
Can you connect with other
product managers on LinkedIn?

640
00:35:34,270 --> 00:35:37,661
Ask for coffee chats, don't ask for
favors, ask for coffee chats,

641
00:35:37,661 --> 00:35:39,360
get some advice from them.

642
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:40,440
What did they do?

643
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,015
Go build your product so that when you
do have that interview question you're

644
00:35:44,015 --> 00:35:45,454
talking all from experience.

645
00:35:45,454 --> 00:35:49,210
You're not answering a question
because you researched it online.

646
00:35:49,210 --> 00:35:52,460
You can talk from experience,
this is what you did do.

647
00:35:52,460 --> 00:35:56,060
This is what you would do differently,
right?

648
00:35:56,060 --> 00:36:00,050
So, understand what that process is,
it's not hard to find online.

649
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:05,770
All right, so
here's my special invitation and request.

650
00:36:05,770 --> 00:36:09,690
So please join
the MentorMesh.io community.

651
00:36:09,690 --> 00:36:14,194
We've got 1,300 people just
like you learning, self-paced,

652
00:36:14,194 --> 00:36:16,390
doing work, connecting.

653
00:36:16,390 --> 00:36:20,270
If you're a product manager and you
need software engineers, they're there.

654
00:36:20,270 --> 00:36:21,820
Go build something together.

655
00:36:21,820 --> 00:36:24,022
If you're a software engineer but
you want something to build,

656
00:36:24,022 --> 00:36:25,850
there's product managers there.

657
00:36:25,850 --> 00:36:29,320
Come find us, come chat with us,
it's all free, come check it out.

658
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,510
If you learned anything on this,
remember I told you to post on LinkedIn.

659
00:36:32,510 --> 00:36:35,200
A lot of people are like,
I don't even know what to post.

660
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,190
Well, if you learned anything
just post about that.

661
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:40,870
Just post, tag me in there.

662
00:36:40,870 --> 00:36:43,844
Say, hey, I was listening to Jae's talk,
he said this,

663
00:36:43,844 --> 00:36:47,690
this really resonated with me,
I just wanted to share.

664
00:36:47,690 --> 00:36:48,764
Why do you do that?

665
00:36:48,764 --> 00:36:51,450
To be seen, simply to be seen.

666
00:36:51,450 --> 00:36:54,490
If somebody else can benefit from
something you learned, share.

667
00:36:54,490 --> 00:36:56,520
That's what LinkedIn should be for.

668
00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:00,610
Share knowledge, help each other grow,
let's up level together, right?

669
00:37:00,610 --> 00:37:01,890
And start posting regularly.

670
00:37:01,890 --> 00:37:05,325
Just talk about what's going on in your
business journey, your career journey,

671
00:37:05,325 --> 00:37:07,970
things that you're learning, just share.

672
00:37:07,970 --> 00:37:11,340
If you share, people will care.

673
00:37:11,340 --> 00:37:15,389
They'll care about you, they'll pay
attention to you, they'll like your posts.

674
00:37:15,389 --> 00:37:18,754
If you post to me, I will,
excuse me, if you tagged me,

675
00:37:18,754 --> 00:37:22,924
I'll comment on your posts,
which means my followers will see you.

676
00:37:22,924 --> 00:37:25,160
They will also start to notice
who you are as well, right?

677
00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:28,960
Over time, if you're consistent
people will start to follow you.

678
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:33,220
Within MentorMesh I've worked with many
people, and they've gained thousands of

679
00:37:33,220 --> 00:37:36,460
followers within a few months
because of what I'm suggesting.

680
00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:41,820
I also run accelerator programs for those
of you that wanna go a little bit faster.

681
00:37:41,820 --> 00:37:45,180
I do a lot more one on one mentorship,
a lot more training.

682
00:37:45,180 --> 00:37:48,720
You guys are welcome to check that out,
MentorMesh.io.

683
00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:53,720
But #mentormesh, tag me, I'll comment,
I'll help you on that journey.

684
00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:58,640
People that know me I give a lot of time,
this is my passion.

685
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:00,220
I want you guys to succeed.

686
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,120
Okay, we are at Q&A.

687
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:12,134
I am gonna stop sharing my screen so
you guys can see my cool Grit poster.

688
00:38:12,134 --> 00:38:17,700
Okay, looks like there's a Q&A section, so
let me see what I can answer for you guys.

689
00:38:17,700 --> 00:38:19,840
I don't know how long the session is.

690
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:21,070
I think I have at least five minutes.

691
00:38:23,950 --> 00:38:29,740
Okay, so first question, any tips
moving from a small to a large company?

692
00:38:29,740 --> 00:38:32,760
So what I did was I took a contract role.

693
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:39,563
So number one thing I think you should
do is work on your personal brand.

694
00:38:39,563 --> 00:38:45,280
Your LinkedIn profile is your resume,
it is how people find you.

695
00:38:46,850 --> 00:38:49,160
It's more important than your resume.

696
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,190
So keep your LinkedIn profile updated.

697
00:38:51,190 --> 00:38:53,856
Your top three skills all your
searchable because remember,

698
00:38:53,856 --> 00:38:55,750
recruiters are searching for you.

699
00:38:55,750 --> 00:38:59,480
So make sure your keywords relate to
the type of job that you want, okay?

700
00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:04,379
Get your LinkedIn profile updated,
people will start finding you.

701
00:39:04,379 --> 00:39:07,859
Now the number one way to get to a big
company in my opinion, my experience,

702
00:39:07,859 --> 00:39:10,634
is to take a contract role if
you have the ability to do that.

703
00:39:10,634 --> 00:39:13,500
Take a three-month contract,
six-month contract.

704
00:39:13,500 --> 00:39:14,610
Why is that awesome?

705
00:39:14,610 --> 00:39:17,099
Because you get to work for
these big tech companies,

706
00:39:17,099 --> 00:39:20,874
the bar is super low because they're just
trying to hire somebody fast, right?

707
00:39:20,874 --> 00:39:23,400
It's way easier than going
through the normal route.

708
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:27,666
But it's like a try it before you buy it,
go in there kick butts,

709
00:39:27,666 --> 00:39:31,760
there's a large opportunity for
you to be hired on.

710
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:33,100
That's how I got my first gig.

711
00:39:33,100 --> 00:39:35,879
I know many,
many people have gone that way too.

712
00:39:35,879 --> 00:39:39,228
You get to network, meet people,
show them your worth.

713
00:39:39,228 --> 00:39:42,310
They have the ability to hire you.

714
00:39:42,310 --> 00:39:45,860
And a lot of these companies
it's not about money.

715
00:39:45,860 --> 00:39:47,900
Do they have money?

716
00:39:47,900 --> 00:39:48,890
Of course they have money.

717
00:39:48,890 --> 00:39:51,900
These are millions and
billion dollar company.

718
00:39:51,900 --> 00:39:53,900
They need to make you a priority though.

719
00:39:53,900 --> 00:39:58,090
How do you show your value so that they
are willing to find money for you?

720
00:39:59,732 --> 00:40:03,096
Alright, let's see here what I got.

721
00:40:06,046 --> 00:40:08,780
Talk about what skills you have
that earn you the most money.

722
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:12,967
My people, skills,
it's not my tech skills.

723
00:40:12,967 --> 00:40:15,334
And you know what's
interesting about that?

724
00:40:15,334 --> 00:40:17,970
I'm in a very technical domain.

725
00:40:17,970 --> 00:40:21,770
I'm a platform developer experience,
which means I need to work with engineers.

726
00:40:21,770 --> 00:40:23,720
My customers are the most
technical audience.

727
00:40:24,870 --> 00:40:28,060
My job is to make their life easier.

728
00:40:28,060 --> 00:40:31,210
Yet that's not where my value is.

729
00:40:31,210 --> 00:40:36,014
My value is listening, understanding their
problems, taking that information and

730
00:40:36,014 --> 00:40:39,400
sharing it with the people
that can make the impact.

731
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,512
Getting collaboration across the company,
being empathetic.

732
00:40:42,512 --> 00:40:45,310
Drawing collaboration and
correlation between teams,

733
00:40:45,310 --> 00:40:47,460
getting them to work together.

734
00:40:47,460 --> 00:40:49,260
That is everything.

735
00:40:49,260 --> 00:40:51,770
Even as a software engineer,
you might think, well,

736
00:40:51,770 --> 00:40:53,340
I need to be a fantastic coder?

737
00:40:53,340 --> 00:40:54,440
Sure, I agree with you.

738
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:57,640
If that's what you do for a living,
you should be pretty good.

739
00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:00,710
But imagine instead of just doing what
you're told, you started asking why.

740
00:41:02,290 --> 00:41:04,740
And you started building relationships.

741
00:41:04,740 --> 00:41:08,159
And not only were you building fantastic
software, you knew the business.

742
00:41:08,159 --> 00:41:10,618
You knew the people that were
requesting the change and

743
00:41:10,618 --> 00:41:12,620
you helped understand the problem.

744
00:41:12,620 --> 00:41:16,200
So that when they asked for
something unknowingly that made no sense,

745
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:20,154
you asked them intelligent questions
to get them to make the right decision.

746
00:41:20,154 --> 00:41:25,730
Or actually worked with them,
collaboratively, right?

747
00:41:25,730 --> 00:41:27,300
How much more valuable you are.

748
00:41:27,300 --> 00:41:30,750
If you ever plan on being senior or
principal, that is what you do.

749
00:41:30,750 --> 00:41:32,090
Your job is not to take orders.

750
00:41:32,090 --> 00:41:35,080
Your job is to ask questions and
make sure we're doing the right thing.

751
00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:35,940
Start that now.

752
00:41:35,940 --> 00:41:37,743
That's people [INAUDIBLE].

753
00:41:37,743 --> 00:41:42,126
All right, when starting on tech
without previous experience,

754
00:41:42,126 --> 00:41:45,720
how did you get past the online
application process?

755
00:41:46,830 --> 00:41:48,790
I didn't apply online,
I started my own company.

756
00:41:50,570 --> 00:41:54,177
So, if you don't have your first
tech job and you're looking for

757
00:41:54,177 --> 00:41:57,860
your first tech job, start a company,
go get a business license.

758
00:41:59,060 --> 00:42:00,146
What do you wanna be dig-scientist?

759
00:42:00,146 --> 00:42:02,206
Go start a dig-science company.

760
00:42:02,206 --> 00:42:03,392
Good start building models.

761
00:42:03,392 --> 00:42:07,810
Try to people to do free work for, maybe.

762
00:42:07,810 --> 00:42:10,122
Cuz this is about experience, and

763
00:42:10,122 --> 00:42:14,200
then you are now founder of your
own data analytics company.

764
00:42:17,370 --> 00:42:18,960
It is that simple.

765
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,035
And as you do more work,
maybe there's a tool you wanna build,

766
00:42:22,035 --> 00:42:25,360
go find engineers that
wanna build it with you.

767
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,170
Be one of the engineers that built it,
right?

768
00:42:28,170 --> 00:42:29,167
As you do that work,

769
00:42:29,167 --> 00:42:33,490
your experience level starts to go up
because you're gaining experience.

770
00:42:33,490 --> 00:42:35,140
You put it on your resume.

771
00:42:35,140 --> 00:42:37,729
That is what you are.

772
00:42:37,729 --> 00:42:41,662
Again, even in my early days
recruiters would find me on LinkedIn.

773
00:42:41,662 --> 00:42:45,186
So, care about your personal brand,
care about how you show up online.

774
00:42:45,186 --> 00:42:46,508
They will come to you.

775
00:42:46,508 --> 00:42:50,500
There are so many jobs there.

776
00:42:50,500 --> 00:42:55,130
At Twitter, I'm gonna hire two
to ten people, just pre-empts.

777
00:42:55,130 --> 00:42:59,500
The organization that I support,
is gonna hire like 30 to 50 engineers.

778
00:42:59,500 --> 00:43:01,989
Twitter is an example of a company
that's gonna double in size in

779
00:43:01,989 --> 00:43:03,420
the next two years.

780
00:43:03,420 --> 00:43:05,890
There are so many jobs out there.

781
00:43:05,890 --> 00:43:09,630
I agree that maybe your first one
can be your most difficult one.

782
00:43:09,630 --> 00:43:14,644
Totally get that, but this is why I
suggest starting your own company,

783
00:43:14,644 --> 00:43:19,924
work with other people, gain experience
and they'll start calling you.

784
00:43:19,924 --> 00:43:23,940
All right, let's see whatever,
any book recommendations?

785
00:43:25,850 --> 00:43:29,140
If you're into product management,
which is obviously my domain.

786
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:34,520
Insight, by Marty Kagan, is really good.

787
00:43:35,910 --> 00:43:40,717
Measure What Matters, is another book
that talks about OKRs, which is a kind of

788
00:43:40,717 --> 00:43:45,398
a measuring, kind of strategic system
that you use in a lot of big companies.

789
00:43:45,398 --> 00:43:50,192
So, OKRs, so, Measure What Matters,
is that book.

790
00:43:50,192 --> 00:43:54,020
Marty Kagan's Inspires, excuse me,
I may have said Insight.

791
00:43:55,190 --> 00:44:01,158
Those are kind of the, and then
Crucial Conversations, is another book.

792
00:44:01,158 --> 00:44:05,273
When you're talking about
dealing with conflict and

793
00:44:05,273 --> 00:44:09,948
talking to people and
being empathetic, really good book.

794
00:44:09,948 --> 00:44:16,580
How much or hard did you have to work per
week when you first began, hire yourself?

795
00:44:16,580 --> 00:44:20,405
I was burning it, both ends of the candle,
not gonna lie to you.

796
00:44:20,405 --> 00:44:22,318
When I was working that job,

797
00:44:22,318 --> 00:44:27,099
I was doing it at night while I was having
my state job until I got to a place

798
00:44:27,099 --> 00:44:32,159
where I was making enough money that I
could comfortably quit my state job.

799
00:44:32,159 --> 00:44:35,190
But there was a period where I was
burning it at both ends of the candle.

800
00:44:36,300 --> 00:44:41,438
But yeah, you wanna progress fast,
you got to put the work in.

801
00:44:41,438 --> 00:44:47,530
It is worth it cuz I got here,
and now I don't have to do that.

802
00:44:47,530 --> 00:44:49,892
And I've been here for a while, actually.

803
00:44:49,892 --> 00:44:53,198
I did that before Expedia,
but once I got to Expedia,

804
00:44:53,198 --> 00:44:57,410
I could work a regular work week and
I have ultimate flexibility.

805
00:44:57,410 --> 00:44:59,270
So, totally worth it.

806
00:44:59,270 --> 00:45:01,557
Very, very doable,
you just gotta put the work in.

807
00:45:01,557 --> 00:45:03,711
Let's see.

808
00:45:07,106 --> 00:45:11,350
What kind of soft skills do you recommend
is required to carry as a product manager?

809
00:45:12,410 --> 00:45:15,897
So, I mentioned a lot about interpersonal
stuff, right, like talking to people,

810
00:45:15,897 --> 00:45:17,740
communication, right, empathy.

811
00:45:17,740 --> 00:45:19,210
It's super important.

812
00:45:19,210 --> 00:45:20,550
But ask good questions.

813
00:45:20,550 --> 00:45:23,634
That's good, not only for
product management, but everyone,

814
00:45:23,634 --> 00:45:24,930
do your research, right?

815
00:45:24,930 --> 00:45:27,240
Don't ask blind questions where it
sounds like you're just being lazy,

816
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:28,630
because you don't want to do the research.

817
00:45:28,630 --> 00:45:29,300
That's not what I mean.

818
00:45:29,300 --> 00:45:30,820
That's just being lazy.

819
00:45:30,820 --> 00:45:31,790
Go do the research.

820
00:45:31,790 --> 00:45:35,830
know as much as you can,
ask intelligent questions.

821
00:45:35,830 --> 00:45:42,080
Ask insightful questions and don't be
afraid to ask, why are we doing this?

822
00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:43,132
That's your value.

823
00:45:43,132 --> 00:45:46,580
There's a lot of people that
can just do what they're told.

824
00:45:47,660 --> 00:45:53,998
But if you can ask questions that
provoke thinking, that's a huge value.

825
00:45:56,612 --> 00:45:57,638
All right.

826
00:45:57,638 --> 00:46:01,016
Let me see what other questions.

827
00:46:01,016 --> 00:46:01,516
Lets see.

828
00:46:07,610 --> 00:46:09,180
Why is experience so important?

829
00:46:11,770 --> 00:46:14,450
I think in general, so
think of it this way.

830
00:46:14,450 --> 00:46:15,165
As an employer,

831
00:46:15,165 --> 00:46:19,250
I wanna pay you a whole lot of money,
especially if you're in tech, right?

832
00:46:19,250 --> 00:46:21,112
I just want some assurances,

833
00:46:21,112 --> 00:46:25,940
something that makes me trust that
you can do this job well, anything.

834
00:46:25,940 --> 00:46:32,600
That's what all this stuff is, bachelor's
degrees, MBAs, experience certifications.

835
00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:34,673
We're trying to build a case to trust you,

836
00:46:34,673 --> 00:46:39,030
can I trust this person that when I hire
them, they're going to do a good job?

837
00:46:39,030 --> 00:46:42,951
Because once I hire them, there's all
these laws, depending on the countries

838
00:46:42,951 --> 00:46:46,800
that you're in, I might be stuck
with you for a little while, right?

839
00:46:46,800 --> 00:46:50,570
So as the employers,
just give me a reason to trust you, right?

840
00:46:50,570 --> 00:46:52,084
So, experience is one of those factors.

841
00:46:52,084 --> 00:46:55,796
If I can talk to the mistakes that I've
made, if I can talk to times when I've

842
00:46:55,796 --> 00:46:59,872
done things and I can give you examples,
that helps earn trust with your employer.

843
00:46:59,872 --> 00:47:03,785
They're like, okay,
this person has done this before, so

844
00:47:03,785 --> 00:47:05,790
they can probably do it for me.

845
00:47:07,530 --> 00:47:11,560
But at the same time,
experience just means, go out and do it.

846
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:14,400
Don't think that that means go like you
have to have worked for a big company.

847
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:17,390
I think Mark Zuckerberg obviously proved
that you don't even need that kind of

848
00:47:17,390 --> 00:47:18,260
experience, right?

849
00:47:18,260 --> 00:47:19,730
He built Facebook, he had no experience.

850
00:47:22,020 --> 00:47:29,160
All right, let's see Okay,

851
00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:32,341
when starting out in tech industry
without previous experience,

852
00:47:32,341 --> 00:47:33,940
how does one get past the online?

853
00:47:33,940 --> 00:47:36,824
Okay, I think I answered that already.

854
00:47:36,824 --> 00:47:41,240
Okay, do you have any insight on how to
get past the no experience barrier and

855
00:47:41,240 --> 00:47:43,799
lack of entry level or Junior depositions?

856
00:47:43,799 --> 00:47:46,135
Having a hard time
bridging from boot camp.

857
00:47:46,135 --> 00:47:47,059
Man, I tell you.

858
00:47:47,059 --> 00:47:51,582
[LAUGH] So, if you come to my community,
mention Nester

859
00:47:51,582 --> 00:47:55,878
you're gonna see a lot of boot
camp grads for the same reason.

860
00:47:55,878 --> 00:47:57,830
Because it's hard, man it's hard.

861
00:47:57,830 --> 00:47:58,799
This is what I'm telling you,

862
00:47:58,799 --> 00:48:00,790
that the number one thing you can
do is start your own business.

863
00:48:00,790 --> 00:48:04,160
It's what I did, it's what I can speak to,
its what worked for me.

864
00:48:05,220 --> 00:48:08,270
A lot of companies will
hesitate hiring you.

865
00:48:08,270 --> 00:48:10,973
Now, what I will tell you is
that every role that I have,

866
00:48:10,973 --> 00:48:14,040
if you follow me on LinkedIn,
I'm gonna try to help with this.

867
00:48:15,180 --> 00:48:18,532
Because there are millions of
mid-level jobs and senior jobs,

868
00:48:18,532 --> 00:48:20,340
just not enough entry level jobs.

869
00:48:21,350 --> 00:48:24,707
And I'm gonna try my best as I
continue to grow in my career,

870
00:48:24,707 --> 00:48:26,533
to open opportunities for you.

871
00:48:26,533 --> 00:48:29,765
There's apprenticeship programs,
there's internship programs.

872
00:48:29,765 --> 00:48:33,370
Apprenticeship is great because it's
you don't have to be an intern.

873
00:48:33,370 --> 00:48:37,403
It's basically a try before you buy kinda
deal where you work for a company for

874
00:48:37,403 --> 00:48:40,768
like a year and they have the option
of hiring you at the end of it.

875
00:48:40,768 --> 00:48:43,276
I'm gonna personally try
to do a lot of them,

876
00:48:43,276 --> 00:48:46,317
those types of programs for
every company that I work.

877
00:48:46,317 --> 00:48:47,928
So, I'm gonna try to help there.

878
00:48:47,928 --> 00:48:52,000
But my number one suggestion,
you gotta go do the work.

879
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:53,727
Just go start a company.

880
00:48:53,727 --> 00:48:58,260
[COUGH] Stop thinking you have
to create Facebook or Instagram.

881
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:02,310
Just go do anything,
that experience counts.

882
00:49:02,310 --> 00:49:05,610
You do that for a while,
try to make some money.

883
00:49:06,620 --> 00:49:10,691
It counts and it'll help you bridge
that gap between no experience and

884
00:49:10,691 --> 00:49:14,450
your first entry level
job that wants two years.

885
00:49:14,450 --> 00:49:18,290
But what I will say is that,
this is a career decision.

886
00:49:18,290 --> 00:49:23,321
If anybody tells you, learn coding
in three months and get a job, okay?

887
00:49:23,321 --> 00:49:27,965
Sometimes that happens, usually it's
because they know somebody, but for

888
00:49:27,965 --> 00:49:32,048
the most of us, it's hard work,
it's consistency, it's grit.

889
00:49:32,048 --> 00:49:33,401
You gotta keep going.

890
00:49:33,401 --> 00:49:37,503
But once you hit that first barrier and
you're able to kinda get past it,

891
00:49:37,503 --> 00:49:38,587
totally worth it.

892
00:49:38,587 --> 00:49:43,910
Job opportunities start to open up because
again, that mid level area, is full.

893
00:49:43,910 --> 00:49:45,695
We need so many people.

894
00:49:45,695 --> 00:49:48,450
But yeah, that's my suggestion.

895
00:49:48,450 --> 00:49:50,680
Take contract jobs, right?

896
00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:56,540
Keep your LinkedIn profile updated, take
contract jobs, start your own company.

897
00:49:56,540 --> 00:49:57,840
You want help and advice on that?

898
00:49:57,840 --> 00:49:59,321
Come join Mentor Master IO.

899
00:49:59,321 --> 00:50:00,980
I talk a lot about what I did.

900
00:50:02,270 --> 00:50:05,413
I can't really talk about other ways,
because I don't know those other ways.

901
00:50:05,413 --> 00:50:06,250
These are my ways.

902
00:50:06,250 --> 00:50:07,710
This is what worked for me.

903
00:50:07,710 --> 00:50:10,700
But what I can say is that I
have passed most people in tech.

904
00:50:11,810 --> 00:50:14,580
And I've gotten to a level
that most people never see.

905
00:50:14,580 --> 00:50:16,610
And these are the things that worked for
me.

906
00:50:16,610 --> 00:50:19,020
And I was an office assistant and
it was not my first job.

907
00:50:19,020 --> 00:50:23,331
I was in my late 20s when I really
started kicking butt in tech.

908
00:50:23,331 --> 00:50:24,610
So it wasn't my first job.

909
00:50:24,610 --> 00:50:27,814
I wasn't a fresh college grad,
second career.

910
00:50:32,646 --> 00:50:37,700
Okay, so
I don't know how much time I have.

911
00:50:37,700 --> 00:50:39,790
Maybe I have like five minutes or
eight minutes.

912
00:50:40,850 --> 00:50:42,105
I don't know if this was 45 minutes.

913
00:50:42,105 --> 00:50:46,436
[LAUGH]
>> Hey Dave, yeah,

914
00:50:46,436 --> 00:50:50,745
you can go ahead and answer a couple more
questions if you see some coming in.

915
00:50:50,745 --> 00:50:54,600
>> Okay, all right, I will do that.

916
00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:59,640
What was the hardest struggle in your
career and how do you overcome it?

917
00:50:59,640 --> 00:51:04,338
So I think that keep in
mind the path that I am

918
00:51:04,338 --> 00:51:09,707
talking about,
it takes a lot of perseverance.

919
00:51:09,707 --> 00:51:17,720
There's always gonna be people that
oppose you, haters if you will, always.

920
00:51:17,720 --> 00:51:21,410
Every job there's gonna be
people like who is this guy?

921
00:51:21,410 --> 00:51:23,260
This girl is not qualified.

922
00:51:23,260 --> 00:51:24,740
Why are they even here?

923
00:51:24,740 --> 00:51:32,365
Yeah, but that's what happens
when you act above average,

924
00:51:32,365 --> 00:51:36,560
average people don't like you.

925
00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:39,100
That's just the way that it is.

926
00:51:40,430 --> 00:51:45,150
But what do you do when you experienced
that type of opposition, right?

927
00:51:45,150 --> 00:51:47,476
Does imposter syndrome set in?

928
00:51:47,476 --> 00:51:48,260
Yeah, it might.

929
00:51:49,780 --> 00:51:52,260
I experience that still sometimes.

930
00:51:52,260 --> 00:51:53,740
Imposter syndrome means growth.

931
00:51:53,740 --> 00:51:55,326
So remember that if you
feel uncomfortable,

932
00:51:55,326 --> 00:51:56,960
it means that you're growing.

933
00:51:56,960 --> 00:51:58,670
Growth is uncomfortable.

934
00:51:58,670 --> 00:52:01,443
If you're comfortable,
it means you're not growing and

935
00:52:01,443 --> 00:52:03,890
those type of people get laid off.

936
00:52:03,890 --> 00:52:08,160
Those type of companies go
out of business, right?

937
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:10,760
So there's always gonna
be people that hate you.

938
00:52:10,760 --> 00:52:16,640
You may doubt yourself, but
what do you do when that happens?

939
00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:17,290
Cuz it will happen.

940
00:52:19,520 --> 00:52:24,830
Do you identify what makes you feel
insecure and take steps to feel better?

941
00:52:24,830 --> 00:52:27,242
Do you go forward anyway?

942
00:52:27,242 --> 00:52:30,165
Are you no longer afraid to fail?

943
00:52:30,165 --> 00:52:34,830
Are you okay and accept the fact that
failure is growth, but you go anyway?

944
00:52:37,060 --> 00:52:38,222
What do you do?

945
00:52:38,222 --> 00:52:40,107
That's, I think,
one of the biggest things.

946
00:52:40,107 --> 00:52:42,843
When things get difficult do you say,

947
00:52:42,843 --> 00:52:48,430
I'm never gonna get a job cuz are there
even any job, like don't do that.

948
00:52:48,430 --> 00:52:50,439
I get it, we all feel that way.

949
00:52:50,439 --> 00:52:53,530
But what I'll tell you is
it's a fantastic industry.

950
00:52:53,530 --> 00:52:56,479
There are millions of jobs and
yes you can fit.

951
00:52:56,479 --> 00:53:00,787
But you have to make the choice that
when times get difficult, cuz they will,

952
00:53:00,787 --> 00:53:02,060
what are you gonna do?

953
00:53:02,060 --> 00:53:05,830
If you feel insecure about your
technical expertise, go get technical.

954
00:53:05,830 --> 00:53:10,510
Go build relationships,
go network, go fill that void.

955
00:53:10,510 --> 00:53:13,687
If somebody says that you're not
qualified, do you just accept that?

956
00:53:16,411 --> 00:53:22,121
I'll tell you, I've worked for some of
the most top companies in the world.

957
00:53:22,121 --> 00:53:25,647
They're not all like rocket
scientists in there, not even close.

958
00:53:25,647 --> 00:53:28,551
They're all regular people.

959
00:53:28,551 --> 00:53:34,780
If you out work them,
you will be successful.

960
00:53:34,780 --> 00:53:36,760
Maybe some people get these jobs
because they are brilliant.

961
00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:41,250
They're definitely a handful
of folks that are here because

962
00:53:41,250 --> 00:53:44,868
they're brilliant, but
most people are lazy.

963
00:53:44,868 --> 00:53:46,642
Maybe you feel like you're not brilliant.

964
00:53:46,642 --> 00:53:47,967
I can never figure, yes you can.

965
00:53:47,967 --> 00:53:49,830
First off, yes you can.

966
00:53:49,830 --> 00:53:55,723
And second off,
outwork them, outwork them.

967
00:53:55,723 --> 00:53:59,429
Put the work in, do the research,
the information is free for you or

968
00:53:59,429 --> 00:54:00,280
really cheap.

969
00:54:01,520 --> 00:54:05,950
Go commit yourself,
say this is a priority for you.

970
00:54:05,950 --> 00:54:07,670
And no matter what, stay consistent.

971
00:54:09,550 --> 00:54:12,933
That is the hardest struggle, I think,
especially in the tech industry,

972
00:54:12,933 --> 00:54:16,479
I think it's easy to get frustrated
because certain things aren't explained

973
00:54:16,479 --> 00:54:17,340
really well.

974
00:54:17,340 --> 00:54:18,730
And so
you have to kind of motivate yourself.

975
00:54:19,770 --> 00:54:21,670
But this is one of the reasons
why I created Metternich.

976
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:26,066
Sometimes when you have really
difficult times like that you need

977
00:54:26,066 --> 00:54:26,930
community support.

978
00:54:26,930 --> 00:54:31,900
You need people to tell you,
remind you that you can do it, right?

979
00:54:31,900 --> 00:54:36,391
You need people to ask questions,
to bounce ideas off of.

980
00:54:36,391 --> 00:54:37,260
That's what we have.

981
00:54:38,330 --> 00:54:40,480
So definitely encourage
you to check that out.

982
00:54:42,916 --> 00:54:45,627
Let's see, I think I got time maybe for
one more question.

983
00:54:53,848 --> 00:54:57,024
Working along people with degrees,
do they give you a hard time or

984
00:54:57,024 --> 00:54:59,690
make you feel that you aren't right for
the job?

985
00:54:59,690 --> 00:55:00,800
Well, here's the interesting thing.

986
00:55:01,900 --> 00:55:02,640
They never ask.

987
00:55:03,670 --> 00:55:08,433
Most people actually just assume
that I have a bachelor's degree.

988
00:55:08,433 --> 00:55:10,760
And if it ever comes up,
they are a little shocked.

989
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:14,366
But think about this though.

990
00:55:14,366 --> 00:55:16,772
I think it says something about a person.

991
00:55:20,998 --> 00:55:25,230
Think of it this way, no matter what you
do in your career, you have to build it.

992
00:55:25,230 --> 00:55:27,800
Whether you have a degree or
not, you have to build it.

993
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:31,087
Let's say you're building a house,
let's say,

994
00:55:31,087 --> 00:55:33,930
I don't think this is a perfect analogy.

995
00:55:33,930 --> 00:55:34,770
So just bear with me.

996
00:55:34,770 --> 00:55:37,019
Let's say having a degree, credentials,

997
00:55:37,019 --> 00:55:40,502
all those things are like having
power tools when you build a house.

998
00:55:40,502 --> 00:55:42,619
It's still pretty impressive
to build that house, but

999
00:55:42,619 --> 00:55:45,080
what if I told you I built the same
house and I had no power tools?

1000
00:55:45,080 --> 00:55:47,060
I used a regular hammer.

1001
00:55:47,060 --> 00:55:49,790
And I actually had to screw
in every single nail.

1002
00:55:51,010 --> 00:55:51,870
But I built the same house.

1003
00:55:54,620 --> 00:55:59,060
Do you look at me and
say why didn't you get a power tool?

1004
00:55:59,060 --> 00:55:59,670
You might say that.

1005
00:56:00,830 --> 00:56:04,320
And I'd give you my reasons,
I couldn't make it to the store.

1006
00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:05,898
I don't know, I didn't have money maybe.

1007
00:56:05,898 --> 00:56:08,812
But aren't you a little
bit more impressed though?

1008
00:56:08,812 --> 00:56:12,356
And you kinda look at my forearms,
you're like, dang, that dude must have,

1009
00:56:12,356 --> 00:56:14,090
cuz he was, right?

1010
00:56:14,090 --> 00:56:20,760
So to me,
I wear it kind of like a badge of pride.

1011
00:56:20,760 --> 00:56:21,296
I get it,

1012
00:56:21,296 --> 00:56:26,240
there are a lot of things you can do
that will make your transition easier.

1013
00:56:26,240 --> 00:56:28,080
I am not suggesting the easiest way.

1014
00:56:29,110 --> 00:56:33,610
I am suggesting that if you put the work
in, regardless of what credentials you

1015
00:56:33,610 --> 00:56:38,060
have, number one, it's not the most
important thing to build your career.

1016
00:56:39,200 --> 00:56:40,820
But you just have to make a choice.

1017
00:56:40,820 --> 00:56:41,980
There's power in choice.

1018
00:56:43,130 --> 00:56:46,190
Power and persistence, right?

1019
00:56:46,190 --> 00:56:47,170
That's kind of my message.

1020
00:56:47,170 --> 00:56:50,202
It doesn't matter if you have a degree or
not, depending on the company you work

1021
00:56:50,202 --> 00:56:53,430
for, it may or may not matter, but the top
companies in the world don't require it.

1022
00:56:53,430 --> 00:56:54,080
And why is that?

1023
00:56:54,080 --> 00:56:56,680
Because at the end of the day,
they just need skilled people.

1024
00:56:56,680 --> 00:56:59,440
They need to be able to trust that
you're gonna do a job, do a good job.

1025
00:56:59,440 --> 00:57:03,926
There's a lot of ways to figure that out,
right?

1026
00:57:03,926 --> 00:57:07,435
But my main message is
aggressively pursue growth.

1027
00:57:07,435 --> 00:57:08,610
Success is a choice.

1028
00:57:09,990 --> 00:57:13,536
I gave you the seven steps,
love to share more with you.

1029
00:57:13,536 --> 00:57:16,640
But I think that's all my questions,
most of them anyway.

1030
00:57:16,640 --> 00:57:21,544
If you have more, feel free to hit me
up on LinkedIn, follow me on LinkedIn.

1031
00:57:21,544 --> 00:57:24,285
Love to talk to you there or
come join the community.

1032
00:57:24,285 --> 00:57:26,450
But yeah, really,
really happy to talk with you folks today.