My 21-Day Job Offer Story
A Guide For Doing Work That Matters
Have you ever gotten a job offer in 30 days or less?
Me either.
That is until recently.
There are thousands of job boards, meet-up groups, and conferences that you can leverage to speed up your job search progress.
However…
You’ve probably applied online, only to hear crickets.
You tried the “networking thing”, but your imposter syndrome was like “NAH”.
You’ve even gone to a Meet-Up, only to leave feeling worse than when you arrived.
With so many confusing options and ways to utterly fail, where do you start?
Today you’ll learn…
- Why getting to know yourself is the step you can’t skip.
- How being of service to others will dictate your speed.
- Plus the exact process I followed to land an offer in 21 days.
Before we dive in, here are two mindset shifts that are paramount for success.
☝🏽Transitions Are Necessary
Friday, March 8th I came into work like any normal day.
By 1 PM I’m having a conversation about March 8th being my last day.
This was a major transition that I didn’t see coming so soon.
These 👇 stats made me feel better about myself.
A Harvard Business Review study of leaders with ~18+ years of professional experience found that…
“The typical leader has been promoted 4.1 times and joined a new company 3.5 times. On average, leaders experience 13.5 major transitions or one major change every 1.3 years” — Michael D. Watkins
Although unexpected, I came to grips with the simple fact that the only constant is CHANGE itself.
With the disruption and speed of technology, we all must EXPECT CHANGE.
However, we must also be mindful about creating our own luck.
To create our luck we must constantly check in on our goals and core values.
If not, we can fall into jobs, relationships, and projects that just don’t align with our growth. To avoid this, we must protect our time and energy.
Bottom line: Don’t stay in spaces where you feel unappreciated.
Dr. Mae Jemison, the first Woman of Color Astronaut for NASA said it best…
“Don’t be limited by other people’s limited imagination’s.”
✌🏽Be | Of | Service
Most of us know the saying…
“It’s better to give than to receive.”
For the most part, we all agree with this.
But GIVING is difficult when you’re in need of receiving (i.e. looking for a job).
So how do we make this advice more tangible?
Jim Rohn famously stated,
“Giving Starts The Receiving Process.”
If you’re going to do anything of significance quickly, you’re going to need others. Whether it’s finding a job or traveling to Mars, WE NEED THE HELP OF OTHERS.
So constantly give back to others and consistently do your best work. You never know who’s watching.
Exhibit A:
March 8th 2019: My last day as Head of Partnerships @ Outco
March 29th 2019: Job Offer for Manager of Talent Acquisition at Woebot
This speed wouldn’t have been possible without a network of individuals that I had “BEEN OF SERVICE” to.
These people had my back when I said, “Hey, I need your help.”.
Skip this step at your own peril.
Skip this step and you can kiss speed goodbye.
Special shout out to all the individuals who gave me referrals, reviewed my resume, and supported me through my transition.
YOU. KNOW. WHO. YOU. ARE!
Now to talk about how I pulled it off.
The Process
I call this first step, the BIG DOMINO.
The first thing you’ve got to do is set your GPS.
Your internal GPS. Your “self-worth” GPS.
If you skip this step you can fall into a job that doesn’t fulfill you.
Here are the 5 questions you’ll need to ask yourself.
What work energizes me?
What contributions inspire me?
What work culture do I thrive in?
What strengths do I enjoy exercising?
What are my other requirements and deal-breakers?
After asking myself these questions I discovered I have 4 Super Powers (currently).
- Recruiting
- Coaching
- Marketing
- Business Development
With my GPS set, I could filter every role, opportunity, and interview with these criteria and QUICKLY decide whether it was worth my time.
When making a transition, especially unexpected ones, it’s best to take time to REALLY get to know yourself and define what makes you happy.
Much of our self-worth and identity are directly connected to what we do for a living. So it’s important to convince ourselves that we’re worthy and deserving of GREATNESS.
Whether leaving a job unexpectedly, facing micro-aggressions in the workplace, or are being overlooked for promotions, we must still make a DECISION to be GREAT. This decision is fully within our control, not others.
WE. ARE. MORE. THAN. OUR. JOBS.
There’s really no quick fix or silver bullet for becoming resilient.
But what we can control is our perspective, how we respond to obstacles and what we chose to think about on a daily basis.
Reflection, words of affirmation, and meditation all help.
However, sometimes we also need a good Netflix binge paired with pizza, ice cream, and tears if necessary.
Point is, The BIG DOMINO is important, but even more important is giving our mental and physical well-being space to decompress then re-committing to our GREATNESS.
Skip this step and all the following steps will be much more difficult.
The Strategy
I used a 60 / 20 / 20 job searching strategy.
Spend 60% of your time Networking and getting referrals.
Spend 20% of your time on Resume SEO and applying online.
Spend 20% of your time proactively getting in touch with hiring managers.
Lou Adler taught me this. Click here to learn more about his wizardry.
Everyone will spend their time differently based on their specific job-hunting scenario and experience. But this is a good starting point whether you’re a New Grad or a more seasoned professional.
The 60%: Networking
Recruiters spend an average of 6 seconds on a single resume. Futhermore, you’re 20 times more likely to get hired with a referral.
Above are the only two stats you need to know if you’re looking for your next opportunity. THAT’S. IT.
Spend 60% of your time getting referrals from your first-degree connections.
Some of these people you can text now. Others might require an email.
They’re the people in your life that you trust and can vouch for you.
You know PLENTY of these folks.
If you’ve consistently done good work in the past, you’ll have a plethora of people to chose from. The stronger your relationships the better.
These individuals in your network will advocate for you and can speed up your job search process DRAMATICALLY.
This is why you can’t skip the “Be Of Service” step.
After completing your BIG DOMINO, you’ll have an idea (maybe fuzzy) for the type of work/roles/environments where you’ll do your best work.
This will make for productive conversations with your network.
The 20%: Resume SEO
The purpose of your resume…
Be FOUND.
Be READ.
Be CALLED.
That’s it!
Your resume is a marketing tool, not your life story.
With a little technical wizardry and the help of Google, you can make your resume FINDABLE.
Enter BOOLEAN SEARCH:
Type the above string into Google and it will return REAL RESUMES of Software Engineers with the above-listed skills.
It takes a little trial and error, but with this technique, you can ensure you have the keywords and phrases associated with your particular niche.
Want to get into Advertising?
You better have terms like CPC, ROA, and SEO on your resume.
Transitioning to Software Engineering?
You better talk about how clean and readable your code is, in addition to visual proof of problems you’ve solved with specific technologies.
Point is, even if you’re very “junior”, use the keywords in your industry. Furthermore, talk about the problems you’ve solved, obstacles you’ve overcome and accomplishments you’re most proud of.
The Last 20%: Creative Outreach
80% of jobs aren’t posted online. Shoot your best shot. Opportunities come to those who are proactive!
Spend 20% of your time proactively getting in touch with hiring managers.
Start proactively contacting people at the companies you’re most aligned with. Notice I didn’t say the companies that have JOB OPENINGS.
First target companies you’re most interested and aligned with.
Again, the BIG DOMINO step will act as your filter here.
NEXT, slowly make your way to companies that have openings AND also align with your superpowers.
Theory vs. Reality: My Timeline
March 8th 2019: My last day as Head of Partnerships @ Outco
March 29th 2019: Verbal Offer for Manager of Talent Acquisition at Woebot
Initially, I didn’t think I could pull this off in 30 days or less.
TO BE CLEAR, these results are not typical. There was a bit of luck involved with my situation.
But a lot of that luck came from relationships I’ve been building over the last 2–3 years. This is why the “Be Of Service” step cannot be skipped.
Week by week, here’s what mattered the most:
72 Hours After My Last Day:
- I took the weekend to decompress. And when I say decompress I mean I slept a lot and ate tons of junk food for 48 hours.
-More importantly, I reflected for hours about who I wanted to be, the impact I wanted to make, and what environments I’d do my best work in.
Week 1:
- I Informed my strongest connections that 3/8 was my last day. Didn’t ask them for anything 😄.
- Then I defined my BIG DOMINO & completed the 1st draft of my new resume.
- With my BIG DOMINO complete I knew I wanted a role where I could combine all 4 of my superpowers. Which meant although I’m qualified to be a Technical Recruiter, I felt I was well positioned for a BIGGER ROLE.
- I needed a new resume, but I also wanted to create something more meaningful. I recorded 3 testimonial videos with people I’d helped & coached in the past.
- At the end of week 1, I felt less defeated. But I still hadn’t secured a single interview so ya boy was stressing 😢.
Week 2:
- I secured feedback from multiple sources on how to improve my resume.
- Through a referral, I scheduled my 1st interview with BetterUp, another company I was considering that aligned with my BIG DOMINO.
- This week my traction started to pick up since 60% of week 1 was spent on Networking.
- Next, I secured 1:1 advice from mentors and colleagues about opportunities that aligned with my BIG DOMINO. This alone gave me dozens of people interested in interviewing me.
- 1st Woebot interview: Originally my goal was to work with Woebot on a consulting basis, not as a full-time employee.
- I walked away excited to potentially work with Woebot because their CEO, Alison Darcy, wasn’t pushy about working with me. She spoke more about mutual opportunities for growth rather than just pitching me a JOB. Silicon Valley TAKE NOTES!
Week 3:
- 2nd Woebot interview: After our conversations, Woebot expands their initial job scope to a new role centered around their needs and MY BIG DOMINO.
- Initially, the team only wanted to hire a recruiter. Through a series of conversations with me, they agree that they need a Manager of Talent Acquisition.
- 1st BetterUp interview: for Recruiting Operations Manager role
- Rejection from BetterUp (3 days after my interview). On paper, I didn’t have the years of experience BetterUp wanted, but by no means was this a failure. I can still keep in touch with my referrals and interviewers to see how I can be of service. This could be helpful in future job searches!
- Woebot: Official Verbal Offer (3/29)
This is a clear example of how Your Network = Your Net Worth.
Furthermore, many roles and opportunities are negotiable.
The vision for my next role is to build teams with diversity & representation as our North Star. I’m excited about this next transition!
So you see…
A 21- Day Job Offer is absolutely possible…
But before making a move we must embrace change, consistently be of service to others, get to know ourselves, and take a disciplined approach to how we find opportunities.
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