Afleveringen
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No one ever said the job market was fair. That’s even more true in the current economy which has been plagued with layoff after layoff.
Now, in this race for a new job, some candidates are clearly driving race cars, while others are struggling to make it around the job search track with an underpowered engine or even a flat tire.
Why is that?
Let me play with this metaphor for a bit, starting with the diagram below. Note: I go into a lot more detail in the podcast recording. So, scroll up, hit play, and listen.
You can think of “Capability” as the engine of the race car. It includes:
* Talent
* Skills
* Knowledge
* Experience
“Drive” is one of the tires. It includes:
* Grit
* Determination
* Persistence
* Confidence
* Consistency
“Reputation” is the second tire. It includes:
* Your professional brand
* What people say about you
* What you’re known for
* Your proof
“Interview” is the third tire. It includes:
* Your job interview process
* Your interviewing skills
* Communication skills
* Presentation skills
* Questions asked
* Follow up
Finally, “Champion” is the last tire. It includes:
* Your inside champion
* Inside connections
* Inside influencers
Lighting it all up to get hired
Three of my clients and community members recently landed new jobs:
* One leveraged networking, finding an inside champion, and my 1-on-1 coaching to create a new role that hadn’t existed before. They also negotiated a higher level and a lot more compensation!
* Another used networking, my coaching, and my Career Accelerator to land a job with a former colleague that was in the “hidden job market.”
* Finally, the last person used my Career Accelerator, some of my coaching, and an inside champion to land a great new job in Silicon Valley.
Weak engine of Capability
Sometimes, your engine is underpowered for the role you’re seeking. I always encourage people to stretch themselves, but do so within reason.
Flat tire of Reputation
You may have everything else going for you, but people know you’re a pain to manage and worth with. The industry is always smaller than you think, and people talk. However, you can repair your reputation and get back in the game.
Flat tire of Drive
Grit and determination will often carry the day. But, if you lack confidence, don’t consistently put in the work, and give up too soon, you’ll find it hard to land jobs that others do.
Flat tire of the Champion
I frequently talk about the power of having an inside champion. Champions, influencers, and insiders can tip the balance of a job interview in your favor. Just ask my clients who leveraged them to land great jobs quickly! But, if your Champion tire is flat, be prepared for a long, slow crawl in the job search race.
Flat tire of the Interview
You could have everything else set up, but still bomb the interview. No champion can save you if you don’t prepare well enough. Your capabilities and reputation won’t matter if you can’t demonstrate your knowledge, experience, and wisdom while speaking with the interviewers. I don’t care how much drive you have. It won’t help if you can’t communicate well, present well, and generally interview strongly.
Winning the job search race
Light up your engine, and all four tires, and you’ll be well on your way to speeding around the track and landing your next great job!
As I said earlier, most of the content of this article is in the podcast audio. So, scroll up and hit play if you want to hear it.
I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who works with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you become a more "Invincible You" so you can live your life on your terms instead of being controlled by someone else's rules. I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
In this podcast episode, I share a sneak peek at my recent Invincible Career Job Search workshop I hosted on April 1st.
In the previous podcast episode, when I shared a preview of the workshop, I talked quite a bit about the Connecting strategy.
In this episode, I discuss positioning (e.g., LinkedIn, resume, cover letter) a little more and then dive into the Broadcasting strategy. If you want opportunities to come your way, the professional world has to know you exist.
Enjoy!
I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who works with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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In this episode, I share an overview of the presentation materials to give you a sense of the 2-hour workshop I’ll be hosting on April 1st. So, make sure to play the audio since I’m not including 2 hours of text material in this newsletter article.
➡️ “Find a Better Job Using 3 Essential Job Search Strategies”
The price for the workshop goes up again next week. So, if you're interested in joining us, grab a ticket now. Or, use the advice I share in this episode for free!
⏰ This is the last time I will host my Invincible Career Job Search workshop this year. I won't offer it again until 2025! So, join us now or wait until then.
Note: I record video of myself and the presentation, which I share with all the attendees after the workshop. So, if the time doesn’t work for you to join us live, you will have the homework document and the video material to use later, just like a course.
The Workshop Agenda
* Who is this Larry Cornett person?
* What’s going wrong — with your job or job search?
* Breakout discussion 💬
* My 3 essential invincible job search strategies
* All about you (so you can sell yourself for your ideal job)
* Defining your ideal job
* Defining your ideal employer
* Defining your ideal boss
* Breakout discussion 💬
* The Connecting strategy
* The Broadcasting strategy
* Breakout discussion 💬
* The Targeting strategy
* Q & A for the last 20 minutes
Play the audio for this newsletter and podcast episode to hear my description of each part of the agenda.
Win a Free Coaching Session!
Refer your friends to join you in this workshop, and you could win a FREE coaching session. Share the link to the workshop with your friends and ask them to provide your name when they register.
Winners will be determined by the total number of referrals.
* First place wins a free 1-hour coaching call worth over $300!
* Second place wins a free 45-min coaching call worth over $240
* Third place wins a free 30-min coaching call worth over $150
I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
This is one of the worst job markets I’ve experienced in quite some time. It seems like new layoffs are being announced every day.
In this podcast episode, I talk more about what’s going on, how to tell if a layoff might be coming, what to do about it, and how to get back into the game after one happens.
I’ve linked some of my past articles you might find useful if you’re concerned about a layoff or recently went through one.
Have you ever considered starting a business to escape the stress of worrying about layoffs?
I know that sounds strange, but that’s exactly why I launched my first solopreneur business. I had just lost my job, needed to support my young family, and wanted more stability. So, I put my trust in myself instead of leaving it in the hands of a fickle employer.
If that sounds interesting to you, I'm hosting my next live workshop on how to build a lifestyle business on Feb 26th!
"Build a Lifestyle Business to Escape Your 9-5 Job"
I'll record the workshop and share the video with you later. So, if the time doesn't work for you, you'll have the workbook exercises and video to use just like a course.
Grab your ticket now, because the price goes up next week.
Would love to see you there!
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
The most successful people in your industry and profession may not be better than you. They also may not be more intelligent, talented, or hardworking than you.
However, I bet they are great at something most of us usually are not:
Promoting themselves.
Of course, self-promotion isn’t enough. You do need a baseline of competence in your job.
However, I think we’ve all noticed that management will promote someone who is good enough at their job — and great at getting noticed — more often than someone who might be even better at their job, but no one is aware of them or what they do.
How did things turn out for you last year with your performance review?
* Did your boss notice and appreciate your hard work?
* Did they promote you?
* Did you receive a significant raise?
* Are you happy with the recognition you’ve received?
Or did you get passed over for a promotion this cycle? Are you frustrated with working hard and doing all the right things but don’t seem to get ahead at work?
Well, that’s why I write this newsletter and share my career advice. If you work hard and are good at what you do, you deserve to be treated well at work. That should be recognized and reflected in your compensation. I want you to be successful and happy, so I will share some advice to help you get ahead this year.
Here are five things successful people tend to do better than most. Note that 3-5 tap into the self-promotion skill.
* Focusing
* They focus passionately on being great at something.
* Helping
* They help others and generate a lot of goodwill, which encourages reciprocity.
* Networking
* They network intelligently and consistently.
* Marketing
* They’re good at capturing attention and converting it into opportunity.
* Selling
* They understand that selling is all about building relationships and solving people’s problems.
Let’s dive into each one of these in a little more detail.
Focusing
If you’re a jack-of-all-trades, becoming an expert at anything is challenging. Yes, our jobs require a wide range of knowledge, skills, and tasks, but there should always be a primary focus.
The folks who rise to the top know how to focus their time and energy on what matters the most for their job. They do everything they can to improve at that one thing (e.g., sales, writing clean code, elegant design, strategic thinking, relationship building, persuasion, writing, playing guitar, statistical analysis, research, etc.).
What is the one thing that represents excellence in your profession?
Note: this will change as you climb the career ladder. What got you to your current level will not take you to the next level.
For example, I started my tech career as a designer. Doing great design work efficiently and effectively got me promoted to more senior levels as an individual contributor.
However, as I moved into design management, my design skills were no longer what made me stand out. Effective leadership was much more important than my ability to design interfaces.
Now, this doesn’t mean you can drop the ball on the many requirements of your job beyond the “one thing.” But don’t ever prioritize those over your most important focus area. I’ve seen people do that (e.g., an engineering manager writing great code but doing a poor job of managing the team), and then they wonder why they’re no longer getting promoted.
Helping
The most successful people help other people succeed. It creates a virtuous cycle.
Rising to the top of your career ladder by climbing over the bodies of your fallen colleagues isn’t a smart strategy. I think we all know some people who have done that. But, eventually, those chickens come home to roost, and these people fail.
Industries are small, and people talk. The selfish folks soon find that no one wants to hire or work with them.
Be generous with your time and advice. Obviously, don’t overdo this to the point where your work or personal life suffers. But help when and where you can.
For example, I spent about ten years helping people with their career issues and connecting them with potential employers for free. Friends, old colleagues, and connections in my network would reach out, and we’d meet over coffee or lunch to discuss their career goals.
Fast forward ten years, and I started a career coaching business to help even more people and make it my primary focus. Many of my first clients were the same people I’d helped in the past. Many of those people referred more potential clients to me.
People like to help people! And the most successful people make it part of their lives.
Networking
Intelligent networking creates opportunities. You shouldn’t only do it when you need a new job. Thanks to my network:
* I landed every single one of my tech jobs.
* I’ve been invited to speak at events (some were paid engagements).
* I’ve been invited to participate in panels and speak on podcasts.
* People reached out to hire me for consulting engagements.
* I found talented people to hire for my teams.
* Founders and CEOs asked me to sit on their boards.
* People hired me to be their career or business coach.
* I’ve made some amazing and ambitious friends who help me grow my business.
Your network is one of your most valuable resources if you build it wisely, protect it, and nurture it. Nurturing your network means keeping it fresh with consistent contact.
* Send people interesting articles.
* Pull folks into the right conversations.
* Support each other on social media (e.g., like, comment, share).
* Send job opportunities to your acquaintances.
* Refer business to your solopreneur friends.
* Reach out to catch up over Zoom, coffee, or lunch.
* Check-in to see what folks have been up to.
The most successful people treat their network well. They balance giving and taking. They introduce good people to good people. They build communities and engage with other communities.
Marketing
Marketing did not come naturally to me, and I still struggle with it as an introvert. Most modern marketing means spending time on social media, creating videos, and writing content.
Lots and lots of content.
However, writing is the one thing I do enjoy (hence this newsletter). And it has helped me grow my business and find new clients.
The most successful people are great at marketing. They know how to capture attention and convert it into a useful opportunity. They pay attention to psychology and learn what people like. What gets clicks. What turns attention into conversion.
People in the broader industry should know who you are, what you do, and how amazing you are — beyond the walls of your employer. I always talk about how important that is. If you want to become an opportunity magnet for the best things in life, people need to be aware of your existence!
But marketing also applies inside the corporate walls. People inside your company need to know who you are, too. I know it’s hard to talk about yourself and promote yourself. It feels icky for many of us. So, don’t! Instead, talk about the work, the team, and the mission of what you’re doing.
When you promote the great work you and your colleagues are doing, the spotlight also shines on you. Smart leadership will recognize that you’re behind the work, and you’ll get a chance to show people how you think.
Promotions happen when you’re great at what you do, and the right leaders know about you. Don’t be shy!
Selling
“Oh, but I don’t work in Sales.”
Yeah, I used to think that, too. I was a designer and wanted to be left alone to do my job. I didn’t need to learn anything about sales, right?
Besides, the idea of “selling” made me feel dirty. When I was younger, I briefly held telemarketing jobs and did door-to-door sales.
I hated it.
So, for most of my early career, I deliberately avoided anything that felt like sales or marketing. What I learned later — and wished I had fully understood earlier — is that many things in life require being good at sales.
* Interviewing for a new job.
* Negotiating your job offer.
* Asking for a raise.
* Asking for a promotion.
* Selling your cool idea to management.
* Persuading coworkers that you’re right about something.
* Convincing others about a mutually beneficial opportunity.
* Launching a new business and finding your ideal customers.
The most successful people in life are pretty damn good at sales. They know what they want, they know that persuading other people is a necessary part of life and getting what they want, and they know how to do it well so everyone feels good about it.
Sales doesn’t have to be a dirty word.
What are you going to do?
If any of this sounds like something you need to work on, the question is:
What are you going to do about it?
What will you change this year to get better at these five things so you can be more successful in your career and life? It’s time to set a goal and make a plan to make it happen.
On that note, my goals workshop Achieve Success with the Invincible Goals System is coming up in less than 2 weeks! The first 25 people who use this coupon code get 25% off: N468OA
Hope to see you there!
I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
This year, I spent hundreds of hours researching and writing newsletter articles — and recording podcast episodes — to share with you. I listed the top 10 below.
If you found my advice and articles helpful this year and would like to support my continued writing and podcasting next year, please consider upgrading to a premium membership that also grants you access to:
* My private Invincible Career community of ambitious professionals (from entry-level to executives). Note: I now offer a lifetime community membership option for folks who aren’t crazy about subscriptions. Pay once, and I’ll invite you into my private Slack community, where you can stay for as long as you want!
* Live 1-hour workshops throughout the year. This is a value of more than $500!
* Weekly exercises delivered to your inbox to support the new monthly workshops.
* Exclusive office hours every Monday with the other premium subscribers and me.
🌲 Take advantage of my Holiday Special and save 50% when you join us before the year ends! ☃️
Your support means a lot to me. Thank you! 😊
Welcome to my December wrap-up that summarizes everything I published this calendar year.
When people ask for my advice on a career, work, leadership, or entrepreneurial topic, I can usually point them to a specific article that I’ve written on that very issue over the last four years. You may already be a loyal subscriber, but I know that it’s easy to miss something over a year.
So, enjoy this recap, and feel free to share it with friends who might find some of the advice helpful!
My Top 10 Articles
I reviewed the stats for my articles, newsletters, and podcast episodes. These ten rose to the top for the year.
* How to Create an Intentional Career Path Instead of Letting Others Determine Your Future
* How to Stop Competing and Truly Start Collaborating
* How to Get Ahead in Any Job
* Succeeding as an Introvert - Tim Yeo, Founder of The Quiet Achiever
* Find a Job by Hunting, Trapping, and Planting
* Do People Forget About You?
* Career Questions (and My Answers) that We Discussed in My Last Fireside Chat
* Are You Underpaid?
* Invincible Tip - No Unpaid Work
* Invincible Tip - How to Regain Your Confidence
You can always access my full archive of 500+ articles online and use the search feature to find topics of specific interest.
By the way, this year I shared my book chapters on my other newsletter and podcast, Invincible Life. Also, for the folks who are interested in entrepreneurship, I publish a newsletter and podcast called Invincible Solopreneurs.
Your support helps!
I’m looking forward to writing more articles, interviewing new guests, and recording new podcast episodes for you next year. If you have suggestions for topics that you’d like me to cover, please leave a comment below or send me a message.
BTW, I have no employees, interns, or even an assistant. The newsletters and podcasts are a one-person labor of love. This is my passion and how I earn a living as a solopreneur to support my family.
If you’ve found my advice helpful, and you’d like to help support my efforts to produce it, please consider subscribing to the premium weekly newsletter. Take advantage of my Holiday Special and save 50% when you join us before the year ends!
Again, this gives you access to:
* My private Invincible Career community for ongoing advice, feedback, and support. As an option, I also offer a lifetime community membership if you don’t want the monthly subscription free.
* Live 1-hour workshops throughout the year (a value of more than $500).
* Weekly exercises delivered to your inbox to prepare for the new monthly workshops.
* Exclusive office hours every Monday with the other premium subscribers and me.
Thank you for being a loyal reader this year. I appreciate your support. Enjoy your holidays!
I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
Why do some people hear about opportunities before you do?
* Are they that much smarter than you?
* Are they liked more than you?
* Are they better than you?
Before you get angry with me, let me say it’s probably none of the above. When this happens, it’s usually because:
* More people know who they are.
* More people see their work.
* People think about them.
But why are more people thinking of them more often? Well, the answer lies in a lesson about how memory works. The big “neural network” of your personal connections behaves much like the smaller neural network in our brains.
Two things are at work:
* Long-term potentiation
* The Priming Effect
People who are receiving more consideration and opportunities are lighting up and frequently strengthening connections between nodes in their network. Let me be nerdy for a minute and remind you of the neuroscience you probably learned in high school.
Long-term potentiation
Long-term potentiation boosts neural pathways to facilitate the transmission of signals and the creation of long-term memories. This occurs when more activity between neurons boosts neurotransmitter production, increases receptor formation, and builds stronger synaptic connections. Yes, that is a simplified explanation, so don’t come at me if you’re a neuroscientist. 🤣
A low-frequency event triggers a weak response (e.g., posting something once in a while that someone rarely sees in their feed). This may create a short-term memory for someone, but it won’t result in a long-term memory. For example, they’ll briefly wonder what you’ve been up to but get on with the rest of their day and forget what you posted by tomorrow.
However, when high-frequency events trigger a stronger response, it changes how the memory is formed. This can happen when you consistently post content or reconnect with someone over Zoom, coffee, or lunch. In other words, someone will remember you, what you do, and what you’re seeking for a longer period of time. Several months later, they will think of you when a relevant opportunity presents itself.
So, at the individual level, interacting more frequently and deeply with the people in your network can lead to stronger memories of you. You are triggering changes in their brains.
What’s kind of cool and exciting—if you’re a nerd like me—is what then happens at a higher level across the broader network of people. You can think of each person as a neuron within a human web of connections that behaves like a neural network.
You are more strongly connected to some people than others. The intensity of that connection matters, of course. You have a deeper bond with your close friends and family than with your coworkers (I hope!). The frequency of interaction affects the connections, too. You will forge a stronger relationship with people you work with every day vs. an old college roommate you haven’t talked with in over 20 years.
Stimulating activity in one person (e.g., mentioning that you’re looking for a new job during a coffee chat with a friend) can pass that information through their network to more nodes (i.e., people). The more frequently people are thinking and talking about you, the more often your name will come up when exciting opportunities arise.
For example, Susan tells Bob that she’s struggling to find a great design manager for her team. Bob says, “Oh really? I know a talented manager who might be looking for a role like that. Let me send you their LinkedIn profile and tell me what you think. I can make an introduction later if you like.”
The more you interact with people, the more powerful your network becomes. Relationships grow stronger and more valuable. More people light up in that web of connections, and those people have their own networks that now link to yours.
Conversely, when you let your network connections go stale, people forget about you. I know this can happen when you’re busy with work and life. But it has an undesirable impact on your career and future potential.
You will not be in the consideration set when someone is looking for:
* Someone to hire into their organization.
* A person to recommend for a friend’s new role.
* A speaker for an event or panel.
* A partner to help them with a workshop.
* A service provider for a potential client.
This might be upsetting, but you can’t really blame anyone. We are all busy with hectic lives at work and at home. If you haven’t been doing anything to stay fresh and relevant in someone’s mind, it’s no wonder they remember someone else who has been keeping more active.
If you want people to think about you, periodically strengthen connections with folks in your existing network. Make a list of folks to reach out to every week and month. Schedule a bit of time to make sure it happens.
Be authentic and make a genuine effort to reconnect. Don’t be that person who only reaches out when you need a favor. Don’t lead with, “Hey good buddy, how ya doing? I’m looking for a new job. Do you know anyone who is hiring?”
One great way to strengthen your relationships with people is to express gratitude (Happy Thanksgiving, by the way!). I know I’ve talked about this before, but how often do you do it? For example:
* Let a past colleague know you were thinking about them and remember how much you enjoyed working together at company ABC.
* Tell a coworker that you remember how much they helped you with Project XYZ and that you still appreciate that.
* Reconnect with an old boss who looked out for you (e.g., “Hey, I don’t think I ever thanked you for being such a great boss. You really took care of us, and I learned a lot from you. Just wanted to say thanks!”).
* Reach out to someone you met at a conference who made an impression on you with their talk.
Build new connections so thoughts of you transmit more readily throughout the broader network. Your close friends and colleagues probably have a lot of overlap with your network. So, if you want to expand and meet new people, you have to seek out folks you don’t see all the time.
However, there is another factor at work when people think of someone’s name when an opportunity comes up. It’s almost as if they’ve been primed to remember them…
Priming Effect
I want you to visualize chopped carrots, fresh peas, diced potatoes, and cubed chicken. Now, fill in the blank letter in this word:
S O _ P
What word did you complete? You most likely came up with SOUP instead of SOAP unless you use a very strange kind of soap for your showers.
Scientists have described priming effects as “a sort of rational bias, where the mind interprets ambiguous new perceptual information in a way that is consistent with information it has recently perceived.”
You can use this psychological bias to your advantage. When you frequently prime others with your name, who you are, and what you know and do well, it can stimulate faster recall of you later when appropriate opportunities arise.
* Who is the best mobile app designer you know?
* Who knows sales better than anyone else?
* Who should I talk to about the future of AI?
* Our marketing is not going so well. Who could help us?
* I need help to find a new job. Do you know someone who can coach me?
For example, I’ve worked hard for the past seven years to write hundreds of articles and thousands of posts on social media to build awareness of my coaching. So, I’ve had people tell me they think of my name when someone says they need “career coaching.” And now people are thinking of me when they hear the term “lifestyle business.”
Great! That is intentional.
I didn’t accidentally create this priming effect between my name and coaching. I deliberately built it with a consistent habit of writing about careers, leadership, job searching, and solopreneurship. Every week, I add more content to the internet to strengthen the word associations I want.
The more specific your niche is, the better your chances are for dominating it. For example, I don’t even try to be known for general coaching, leadership, or entrepreneurship. There are way too many players already in those spaces and people with bigger names than mine. Instead, I’ve focused on making a name around helping tech professionals create invincible careers. I’m also building a name for helping mid-to-late career folks design sustainable lifestyle businesses when they’re frustrated with their jobs and ready to escape the 9-5.
So…
* What do you want to be known for?
* What do you actively do to strengthen that association with your name?
* How do you reinforce that priming effect every day?
* How many people think of you that way?
* How many people talk about you when those words come up in a conversation?
You can—and should—intentionally invest time and energy in linking your identity to the roles you desire, skills you’ve mastered, and outcomes you want to be known for producing. It’s great if your inner circle of peers, coworkers, and managers knows all about you. But, one day, you’ll be in the job market, and you will want people to seek you out because you are known for what they need.
Leverage that priming effect so your name comes up in those conversations.
By the way, do you want to expand your professional network? Check out my career community!
I’m Larry Cornett, a success coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
“Staying employed at the same company for over two years on average is going to make you earn less over your lifetime by about 50% or more.” — Cameron Keng
You may be underpaid if you’ve stayed with your current employer for longer than two years. Consider the following chart. On average, people who change jobs see bigger increases in their income.
Haven’t you noticed this in your career? When you took a new job, you probably enjoyed a nice bump in title and compensation (you negotiated, right?). But, the longer you stayed with an employer, you noticed the annual raises weren’t nearly as impressive.
Luckily, I experienced this early in my career, and it influenced how I thought about changing jobs for the next ~15 years. I was working for a pretty amazing company that was, unfortunately, going through some hard times. So, even though I was told I was performing well, I received a tiny raise during the review cycle.
A couple of weeks later, I was approached by a startup, thanks to my network. I decided it never hurts to talk and interview to see what they had to say. They gave me a sweet offer that was more than a 50% bump to my compensation. I accepted and put my lifetime earning potential on a new trajectory. It was a valuable lesson that I never forgot, and now I share it with all of my clients.
Your biggest bumps in level and compensation will most likely happen when you start a new job.
I was a manager and leader inside some of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley. Many of my friends became leaders, as well. We talked about this issue. Once an employee is “inside the machine,” it’s hard to compensate them more than HR policies will allow. There’s only so much you can do, and exceptions are extremely hard to get approved. We often ended up in a terrible situation where we would make a job offer to a candidate with much better compensation than an equivalent internal employee was currently being paid.
It’s pretty messed up!
So, I know that intelligent job hopping can increase your lifetime earning potential. But let me be clear about something. You should not change jobs just to change jobs. By all means, if you’re in a good situation, stay!
* If you’re receiving promotions every year or so, stay and climb the ladder as long as you can.
* If you’re receiving big raises every year or so (way above the cost of living increases), stay.
* If your compensation is much better than you’d receive from a prospective employer, stay. How do you find out about this? Always be interviewing!
* If you love your job, boss, and coworkers and you don’t care about making more money or getting promoted, stay in your comfort zone. Some people prefer that.
However, a big problem with not making more money is inflation is still pretty high in the U.S. That means you’re essentially taking a pay cut if your compensation doesn’t stay ahead of inflation. Your dollar is weaker than it was before.
The current annual inflation rate for the 12 months ending this September is 3.7%. It’s lower than 2022, which is kind of surprising given how much the cost of goods has exploded. Have you been grocery shopping lately?
So, if your income isn’t increasing to keep pace with inflation and the growing cost of living, you’re falling behind. Today’s dollar is worth less than it was a year ago.
If you aren’t receiving a sizable raise that exceeds inflation, you’re actually making less money every year because the dollar isn’t as valuable. It’s as if your annual salary was reduced by thousands. And, due to the rising costs of almost everything, it is getting harder to make ends meet.
You should ask for a promotion or raise
Of course, you should always have a household budget and strive to reduce your expenses. You know I’m an advocate for living more simply and curbing extravagant spending. That’s one reason I left the Bay Area of California.
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t maximize your earning potential at the same time. If you want to get ahead and live a better life, you must ask your employer for the compensation you deserve.
Some people are comfortable requesting raises and promotions every year (Note: You shouldn’t expect a promotion every single year). I had a few employees like that. But most folks don’t like to push or pitch themselves. Instead, they hope their hard work will speak for itself and their manager will do the right thing.
But I’m here to tell you that waiting and hoping is a risky strategy. Not every employer looks out for their employees. Not every boss is going to fight for you.
Many employers try to keep their expenses down, and, for most businesses, salaries are the most significant expense. If an employer has many employees, reducing raises by a few percentage points can translate to millions in savings.
I want you to get comfortable with having a conversation with your manager about your performance every year before the employee review process begins. For many companies, this happens in late Q4 and early Q1. If you wait until the decisions have been made, it is too late.
I also want you to feel good about asking for a promotion (and the associated raise) when you know you are performing at the next level and deserve it. I want you to feel confident asking for the raise you should receive every year to keep pace with inflation and cost of living increases.
* Be professional.
* Be prepared.
* Don’t feel shy.
* Don’t be nervous.
* Don’t feel “greedy.”
When you are providing value to your employer, you deserve commensurate compensation in return. And, if your employer doesn’t understand that, it’s time to find a new job with an employer who will pay you fairly.
Caveat
The current job market isn’t that great. So, be respectful about this process, and don’t risk losing your job. You should always be looking for your next opportunity. It’s easier to push for a raise or promotion when you know you could easily land a new job quickly. But if you have doubts about that, tread carefully.
Prepare for the conversation
Here we are in Q4, and the Fall weather reminds us that winter is coming. It is also a reminder that something else will be happening soon.
Your annual performance review.
Now, not every company has its annual performance reviews at the end of the year or the beginning of the next one. However, I know many do.
I also know most people put off writing their personal performance reviews until the last minute. Then, they scramble to gather information, ask people for input, and remember everything they did during the year.
Don’t be that person.
Start capturing information and notes for your review now. Doing this gives you plenty of time to prepare by spending a few minutes on the task each day.
Go back through your calendar for the year. Review the meetings that you attended. Doing this will jog your memory for a few activities and accomplishments that you may have forgotten.
Similarly, review your email inbox and other messages. Quickly scroll through starting at the beginning of the year, or search for key phrases. Most of the messages won’t be that useful or will look familiar. However, a few will jump out at you and remind you of projects, achievements, and other work you did during the year.
As you start writing your review, gaps will appear and help you create a to-do list of information you need to gather and conversations with people you may need to have. That’s normal. It sure is better to start this process now vs. waiting until it is too late.
A performance review is your opportunity to ask for that raise or promotion. So, capture as much quantitative data as possible to support your case (e.g., that project you worked on increased sales by 23%).
* Know your internal value (e.g., prepare several quantitative examples of how you’re helping the company succeed).
* Know your market value (i.e., what your compensation could be with a new employer).
You also need to understand what the expectations are for the level above you. Please tell me that your department has a levels and expectations document (e.g., a senior individual contributor is expected to demonstrate ABC and do XYZ).
Hopefully, you’ve been focused on clearly performing at that level this year. It’s also essential to demonstrate proof that you are operating at that level.
It’s hard to justify a significant raise if no one is aware of what you are doing. Don’t expect your manager to take your word for it either. Have proof.
However, I stand by my belief that you still deserve a raise that keeps pace with inflation if your performance is meeting expectations. Don’t settle for less.
Of course, some of your accomplishments will have to be qualitative. That’s OK, too. It helps to gather feedback from your coworkers. A few positive quotes always improve your review (e.g., “Susan saved our project from disaster. We couldn’t have finished on time without her help!”).
As I’ve mentioned in the past, bosses often forget all of the details of what you have accomplished. They don’t remember all of the work you did during the year. Writing your detailed review may make all the difference between a small raise and a much more significant raise or promotion.
I often talk with my clients about maximizing their earning potential during their long-term careers. To successfully negotiate raises and promotions — and you should be prepared to negotiate — you have to demonstrate that your value to the organization is continuously increasing.
In other words, if you continue to do the work you’ve always done at the level of contribution expected for your current level, that is not enough. That is called “meeting expectations.” You may get a minimal raise as a cost-of-living increase (e.g., 2–3%), or you may receive nothing (which means your compensation is actually decreasing).
The business of your career
I wish I had known earlier in my career how important it is to treat your career like a business. This is what I recommend to all of my clients.
You can’t just put your head down and work hard within the walls of your company, hoping that a good boss will always recognize your contribution and value and commensurately reward you. You have to market yourself, just as a business markets its products.
The world needs to know that you exist!
I work with so many talented people who have virtually no presence online or at real-world events either. They are so busy working hard — and living their lives — that they haven’t bothered to put themselves out there. They haven’t spent much time networking, public speaking, or writing.
Like any business that wants to succeed, you need to market the “business of you.” Find ways to demonstrate your expertise and talent outside of the office. Show the world what you know and how you think.
This boosts your perceived value, generates inbound interest from potential employers (or clients), and shows your current employer that they have competition for your talent.
Be visible
Being more visible is hard for many people, especially those of us who are a bit introverted. It requires that you find a way to share your knowledge and insights publicly.
You can create blog posts, write on sites like Medium, get interviewed on podcasts (or create your own), share your thoughts on social media, create videos (e.g., on Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo), etc.
Creating this content generates inbound interest in you. Being in demand is one way to always know your value and have negotiating power.
Some of my most talented employees, who were also good at marketing themselves, received unsolicited job offers every week. They didn’t have to hunt for work.
Jobs came to them, and they always knew their value. They weren’t shy about asking for raises and promotions because they knew they had options.
Note, I am not saying they used job offers as leverage to threaten me. I highly recommend that you never use that approach with your manager.
Instead, we would honestly discuss and evaluate job offers they had received. We’d talk about the pros and cons of taking the offer vs. staying. Sometimes, I had insight into that company and who their potential boss and colleagues would be.
If it genuinely seemed like a fantastic opportunity with no hidden gotchas, who was I to stand between them and a great chance to advance their career much more quickly than they could with me?
Be in demand
Asking for a raise or promotion is so much easier when you know that you are clearly delivering value above and beyond your current level.
You’re not asking for special treatment with a chance to prove yourself later. You have already proven that you are worth that investment.
When you are known and in demand, you are constantly receiving data that confirms your value. Putting yourself out there allows the right people to be aware of you and find you.
Sooner or later, someone will want to talk with you about an opportunity. There is nothing wrong with having conversations with people who are interested in hiring you.
It’s good practice to interview with the few that are of particular interest. If your current job, compensation, and career path all still seem great in comparison to something new, then, by all means, stick with your current job!
However, if your current manager and company don’t recognize and compensate you appropriately for your value — and a new company will — then it’s time to seriously consider an offer from that company. My most significant jumps in earning potential always happened when I took a new job.
But don’t be hasty
The grass isn’t always greener, so take the time to evaluate any new opportunity deeply. You don’t want to be hasty and jump ship only to regret it later. It’s also more challenging to find a new job in this market. The layoffs are continuing.
I have always used a spreadsheet to compare different opportunities on dozens of factors quantitatively (comment to let me know if you’re interested in this spreadsheet). It helps me remain a bit more objective, although emotion can’t help but play a role too. Sometimes, you are really excited about a new opportunity or really upset about something going on in your current job.
Regardless of whether you decide to stay in your current job or pursue something new, you should be compensated appropriately for the value you bring to an organization.
When you know that you are delivering above and beyond your current job level, have an honest conversation about your expectations and ambitions with your manager. If you never ask for something, you may never receive it!
My Invincible Career community can help
Members of my community have used our advice and support to find better jobs and receive promotions. For example, one person received a 10x return on his investment when he landed a new job with a much higher salary.
We all want to be compensated as much as possible for our time and effort. We all want to find work that we enjoy.
However, we sometimes get stuck and find ourselves blocked without a clear path ahead. When this happens, it’s easy to get tunnel vision and feel like there’s no way to escape a bad job or get paid what we are worth.
That’s why it helps to join a friendly and supportive community of people who have been there and done that. We can help you explore options, prepare for your job search, practice job interviews, and hold you accountable for making progress.
“After a year of receiving poor advice from recruiters and design professionals, it wasn't until I joined Larry's group where my career started to head in the right direction. The advice I received from Larry and other professionals in his community was instrumental in improving my resume, portfolio, increased my results in interviews, and even got me into writing. I have been very fortunate to have Larry as a mentor, and I can't recommend joining his Invincible Career community enough.”
— Christopher Schutt
The weekly check-ins and the accountability to the group have helped many people overcome obstacles. More importantly, it encourages you to invest in yourself and your happiness and fulfillment.
If you are feeling stuck and nothing is working, lean on us and let the community help you break free.
➡️ Learn more about my community…
⬆️ Scroll to the top if you want to listen to my more detailed reading of this article🎧
I’m Larry Cornett, a success coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
Let me start by saying I’m using a metaphor here. I haven’t hunted since I was a teenager in the Midwest. I love animals, so please don’t take my talk of “hunting” literally and miss the advice I’m trying to share in this article.
Human beings have been acquiring food to survive for millions of years. We’ve used a combination of active/direct and passive/indirect methods to find the animals and plants we eat.
* Actively hunting, scavenging, and gathering food in the moment.
* Building traps, nets, etc,. to capture animals and recover them later.
* Planting crops to harvest much later.
Many modern-day humans have transitioned to a very different model of acquiring the meals we need. We work in jobs, get paid, and use that money to purchase food in grocery stores.
However, oddly enough, we can still leverage the three methods of hunting, trapping, and planting to gain what we now need to survive: a job. We even use the phrase “job hunt” to describe this process, which is rather telling.
Many job seekers focus almost exclusively on the hunt. They do everything necessary to hunt for a job actively (e.g., applying online and sending resumes). But they ignore the other two powerful methods of capturing and harvesting opportunities for the future.
This is a mistake you don’t want to make.
Only hunting for a job when you desperately need one is a risky move. People often make hasty decisions when the clock is ticking. You’ll be more empowered, less stressed, and more successful if you also trap potential opportunities and plant seeds that will yield an evergreen harvest of interest in you. You should always be looking for new and better opportunities, and methods 2 and 3 are much better suited for that.
When I work with clients who need a new job immediately, I recommend combining all three strategies with an emphasis on 1 and 2. But when a client is still employed and seeking a better job, I prefer emphasizing 2 and 3 with a careful use of 1.
1. Hunting
Humans fed themselves and their tribes by hunting and gathering, dating as far back as 2 million years ago. They actively searched for whatever they could find to survive. They couldn’t passively wait around and hope food would land in their laps. Instead, they sought an immediate fulfillment of their needs.
Hunting is a valuable strategy when you need a quick solution to an urgent problem. You need a job ASAP!
However, I recommend a targeted approach vs. the clumsy “spray and pray” I see many job seekers using now. I’ve read more than one account of people applying for hundreds of jobs online and blasting their resumes to everyone they can find. Big surprise, it doesn’t work. One person lamented, “I applied to a hundred jobs and didn’t get a single request for an interview.”
Instead, I ask my clients to be laser-focused on the job they want and the employers they find most interesting.
* What is your ideal next role?
* Who is your ideal next employer?
* Who is your ideal next boss?
You should have only 1-3 roles in mind for your next job. For example, you may ideally want a job as a Lead Designer, but you’d also accept a Senior Designer role if you were really excited about the opportunity.
Be clear about the job you want and focus your sales pitch on selling yourself as the ideal candidate. If you have a dozen roles in mind, your resume and LinkedIn will be all over the place and won’t appeal to hiring managers and recruiters.
Focus!
Similarly, you should have perhaps 3-10 employers in mind for your next job. Be picky with the hunting strategy. Create a list of ideal employers, start tracking down the potential hiring managers, and find a way to get a warm introduction.
The market isn’t great for job seekers right now. Employers have their pick of thousands and thousands of candidates. Stack the deck in your favor and get introduced to hiring managers and recruiters. Find your inside champion, who will help shepherd you through the interview process. This makes all the difference in the world! It certainly helped me land all the jobs I had during my tech career.
Now, it’s time to move on to one of my favorite ways of lighting up your network to help find you a job.
2. Trapping
About 9,000 years ago, humans began building traps to capture prey. Instead of actively hunting, we used these more sophisticated traps and nets to serve as an extension of our capabilities.
Think of it as an early creation of systems to automate food procurement. Now, instead of being limited to what you and your tribe could actively hunt during waking hours, you could deploy traps to work for you 24x7 in a more scalable way.
Similarly, you can deploy “nets” to attract and secure interest in you and your capabilities 24x7 in a more scalable way than panicking and scrambling to find a job at the last minute. When you activate key helpers in your network, each expands your reach and ability to trap new opportunities.
They’ll help you capture things you never could on your own. But the activity is still targeted. Your friends know who you are and what you are seeking. Contrast this with people who indiscriminately toss their net to the four corners of the earth. Their net gets stretched thin and tangled up in everything that comes by while a prime catch slips past.
I ask my clients to reengage and reactivate their networks, which I’ll recommend to you, too. It’s essential to do this from a place of honestly wanting to reconnect, since you shouldn’t only reach out to people when you need them for something. You can’t just contact people when you want to use them for an introduction or a job. No one likes that.
Resist the urge to add, “Oh, by the way. Can you also do me a favor and introduce me to Susan, the hiring manager for an open position at the company?”
Of course, during the conversation, your friend may naturally ask you, “So, what are you up to these days?”
If they do, you can mention what you’re doing now and what your plans are (e.g., “I’m working at company ABC. But, I’m actually considering my next move. It’s time for a change.”)
When you light up your network, you now have dozens of people recognizing opportunities for you, bringing your name up when someone is hiring, and keeping their eyes open for a job that seems like a good fit for what you are seeking. These “nets” are capturing and sending you jobs to pursue. Sometimes, they’ll be able to make the warm introduction you need.
This brings us to one of the most powerful methods, which is a gift that keeps on giving for years and years and years.
3. Planting
Besides hunting and trapping, humans also discovered the power and scale of agriculture. But farming requires more patience. Planning, investment, and work upfront to plant crops will only yield a bountiful harvest later (i.e., not tomorrow or even next week).
When you plant an apple tree, for example, it can take around five years to mature. But it will then provide you with fruit for several years, thanks to that initial investment.
Content creation and marketing is the last strategy I recommend for my career coaching clients and even job seekers. Planting the seeds from your excellent mind won’t land you a job immediately, but it will provide examples of your knowledge, expertise, way of thinking, and point of view on things relevant to your profession.
More importantly, as you create and publish hundreds of articles over the years, your harvest will yield evergreen inbound interest in you.
* I’ve written 493 newsletters for Invincible Career.
* I’ve published 92 episodes of my podcast.
* I’ve written 228 articles on Medium.
* I’ve tweeted over 18,000 times.
* I’ve created over 170 videos.
It’s pretty amazing when a potential new client reaches out to me after reading an article I wrote seven years ago. I spent a couple of hours planting that “little seed” seven years ago, and it continues to bear fruit and attract people even today.
When you consistently put yourself out there day after day, month after month, and year after year, your harvest may come long after you’ve forgotten that you planted the seeds. But this is how you create an invincible career.
You want everyone to know who you are and how great you are. You want to become an opportunity magnet through trapping and—especially—planting, so you don’t feel forced to scramble and hunt for your next job.
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
Have you ever worked for a showboat?
That’s the kind of leader who wants all the attention. They lead from the top down and expect everyone to get in line behind their vision of the future. They’re not usually open to hearing new ideas from the organization below them.
Showboat leaders are incredibly charismatic figures. So, it’s not surprising that they rise to the top.
* They have a grand vision.
* They speak well.
* They are great on stage.
But it’s all about them.
They tend to use the company as a stepping stone to a higher platform. Over the decades of my experience in the corporate world, I’ve watched more than a few showboat leaders move up and on into politics.
Even becoming a CEO does not satisfy their ambition. They want a larger stage, more power, and more people hanging on their every word.
As long as your showboat leader has the right vision and strategy, your organization can succeed—if you and your team execute well. We can all think of a few companies with visionary genius CEOs who are more than happy to take all the credit for the company’s success. However, we also know it wouldn’t have been possible without the thousands of employees making that vision a reality.
There is an enormous risk with this type of leader. They leave a hollow organization behind when they walk away. They build nothing that lasts without their presence because they’ve never allowed their team to flex their own “vision muscles.”
Of course, there is a time and a place for visionary leadership. Startups and small companies need a strong leader at the top to chart the course and focus everything around a singular vision.
But, as companies mature and grow, they need a different type of leadership. You want a robust, diverse organization full of leaders who enable their teams to grow, thrive, and reach their full potential. You need managers who lift the entire team, not just themselves.
Why would you ever want to encourage a fragile organizational system that collapses when the showboat leader vanishes?
I once received feedback that I think was intended to be criticism. The person essentially said:
“You focus too much on getting the best out of your people. You seem really good at identifying and nurturing talent, but I want more vision from you.”
Oh boy, that sounds terrible. How dare I focus on the incredible intelligence and talent within my team so that over 100 people were operating at 100% of their potential? Yes, I should have focused on myself and tried to become the next Steve Jobs. 🙄
I’ve heard variations of this type of comment before.
* “We need a Steve Jobs type.”
* “We need a visionary leader.”
* “Focus on the strategy. Let the team take care of itself.”
For the record, I do enjoy vision work. I did it for my startup, and I do it for my companies now. But I have to be passionate about the company and the product. If I’m not (which is often the case when you work for some employer), I’m happy to step aside and let my creative, innovative people come up with spectacular visions of the future for the product and company.
Why not nurture that?
Why not support people who have that passion?
My point of view on leadership and vision has changed a bit over the years. Being a grand visionary and a great people leader and manager is impossible. Each of these roles is a full-time job.
* Creating, selling, and nurturing a big vision and strategic plan is a full-time job.
* It is a full-time job to lead your team, knock down barriers, shield them, enable them, coach them, and nurture their careers.
People who say they can successfully do it all are full of crap. I know some of these people. Most of them altogether drop the ball on taking care of their teams. They are too busy being visionary, speaking, standing in the spotlight, and driving their own ambitious careers.
One of my friends told me they had only one 1-on-1 meeting with their manager each year. One damn meeting in 365 days! Their boss didn’t give a crap about my friend’s career.
If you’re in a position to decide what kind of leaders you want to promote and hire, think hard about the culture you want to build. Think hard about the type of leader you want to be, too.
The best leaders have:
* Self-awareness and a desire to learn and grow (professionally and personally)
* Control over their emotions and an ability to mediate the conflict of others
* Compassion and a constructive drive to help others grow and succeed
* A desire to create healthy cultures and treat all with respect
* Dependability, reliability, and open and honest communication
* The courage to champion others and the conviction to champion a mission
* The ability to see the big picture, prioritize goals, and enable success for all
* The skill to keep “the plates spinning” to deliver on time (without burnout)
Here’s my unpopular opinion:
My recommendation to avoid the risk of showboat leaders?
* Guide your most visionary, innovative, and creative people up the IC ladder to greatness. Don’t harness them to a “management plow.”
* Guide your most compassionate, operational, and reliable champions up the management ladder to greatness. Don’t punish them for lack of vision.
Thank you for reading Invincible Career®. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
My guest for this episode is Tim Yeo (@timyeo on Twitter). Tim coaches introverts to have impact and influence without pretending to be extroverts at The Quiet Achiever.
He is currently Design Director @ IBM, helping Enterprise clients transform their businesses with enterprise scale at startup speed. In IBM, Tim focuses on DesignOps for the Customer Transformation design practice in Australia.
Previously, Tim was the first UX and Design leader at fintech startups @Finder, @OFX and @Prospa where he hired, established and scaled design teams from scratch.
Best known for saying complex things simply. He's also a keynote speaker, bookbinder and currently living the nomad life with no permanent address in Adelaide, Australia with his partner and the fluffiest Old English Sheepdog ever.
We talk about
* Introversion and job searching, job interviews, and getting noticed
* How to be an introvert and still get ahead in your career
* The kind of coaching Tim does with introverts.
* The workshops Tim teaches
Where to find Tim
* The Quiet Achiever
* Twitter
* LinkedIn
Thank you for reading Invincible Career®. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
My next live fireside chat with Q&A will be on Monday, June 26th. Join us to talk about careers, job searches, job interviews, offer negotiation, professional growth, and more!
I want to thank the folks who gave me feedback about how to keep improving this newsletter. I’ve already incorporated some of it and made changes.
One excellent piece of feedback from Michelle was to be more inclusive with my career advice and not always talk about tech jobs, for example. Many folks work hourly 9-5 jobs (i.e., not on salary) and blue-collar jobs. They also want to leverage their skills to land better-paying jobs, get promoted, etc.
I spent many years of my life working in jobs like that before I ended up in tech. The good news is some strategies will help you get ahead in any job in any industry (e.g., IT, retail, restaurant, construction, manufacturing, health care, etc.).
During my previous non-tech career, I found ways to get promoted and land better jobs. I also sat on the other side of the table as a supervisor and leader, so I know who performed well and got ahead vs. those who did not (and occasionally got fired).
Here is an overview of my twisting career path and various jobs. It doesn’t include every job, believe it or not.
* As a child, I had a paper route, operated a lemonade stand, mowed lawns, sold magazines door to door, and did farm work.
* During high school, I worked at a grocery store (e.g., stocking shelves and bagging groceries), mowed lawns and other yard work, and did some farm work on the side.
* I joined the military to help pay for my college education, went through Army Basic Training in Fort Knox, and ended up in the National Guard for many years, first as a tank gunner and then as an ambulance medic.
* I also worked at fast-food restaurants, was an engraver at a trophy shop, worked in receiving and stocking at Kmart, held a temporary job at a road construction company, and became a night security guard.
* While I was finishing up college, I ended up working almost full-time as a police dispatcher.
When I worked in a job long enough, I often received promotions. Looking back, some lessons I took away helped me with the rest of my career. I hope some of this advice will be useful for you, too.
Be good at what you do
I know this advice sounds obvious. But I’ve encountered many folks who expect raises and promotions when they’re still not very good at their jobs. Some people think that time on the job is all that matters, which is not true. Other people think they should get raises simply because they need the money. Sorry, business doesn’t work that way, either.
* “Hey, I’ve been working here for a year. Isn’t it time for a promotion?”
* “My rent went up, so I need a raise.”
If you demand more money when you’re not that good at your job yet, don’t be surprised if your employer replaces you with someone else.
You must be competent and provide solid value if you want a raise. You want your employer to worry about losing you.
You must perform better than your current position if you want a promotion. I’ve mentioned this before. No employer wants to promote someone and hope they’ll be able to handle the new responsibilities. It doesn’t end well if it doesn’t work out. That’s how folks get demoted or fired.
I once worked for a company that provided awards, medals, trophies, plaques, etc. I started as a trophy assembler. Exciting, huh? But I was fast, competent, and showed up for work on time. Plus, I didn’t break trophies and damage expensive materials like some folks did (e.g., when they drank too many “complimentary beers” from the fridge). One day, my boss asked if I was willing to learn how to run a computerized engraving machine. I said, “Yes,” and demonstrated that I was a fast learner. That resulted in a promotion and raise.
Keep learning and growing
If you’re ok with a job just being a job, then you may not worry too much about your professional development. Maybe your job just pays the bills, and you focus your energy and passion on something outside of work (e.g., writing books, making art, playing in a band).
However, if you are ambitious and want to move up, you must always seek opportunities to acquire new skills, knowledge, and experience. Some employers will have programs to support this growth and invest in you. For example, one of my employers was a university, and I could take courses at a discounted rate. Take advantage of perks like this!
If your employer doesn’t provide learning and training programs, invest in yourself. Set a career goal, make a plan (see below), and find ways to educate yourself.
I had a guest on my podcast a few years ago who did just that. Sam Sycamore was a landscape carpenter worried about his future financial security and physical health. So, he taught himself web development every night after work. He eventually landed some gigs and changed his career forever. He’s now a developer relations engineer, making much more money than before, and he’s much happier.
Be reliable
Reliability is one of those things you think should go without saying. Of course, you should be a reliable and dependable employee. We instilled this in our children as they entered the working world.
It was funny to see them being appreciated by their managers and kept on board even as the companies let other employees go. It was true during my previous jobs, as well. I often got promoted simply because I was one of the few who always showed up for their shifts. I also lasted longer in many of my jobs than those who kept quitting every few months.
For example, I was “promoted” to squad leader during Army basic training, mostly because I wasn’t a screw-up.
* I listened and paid attention.
* I executed orders.
* They could trust me to get work done without a lot of oversight.
Later, during my service in the National Guard, they promoted me to platoon sergeant for similar reasons.
* I showed up for duty, and I showed up on time.
* I didn’t show up drunk or high (or fail drug tests).
* I worked hard and got things done without trying to get out of tasks, sneak off to take a nap, or disappear before a job was done.
This strategy seems obvious, but you’d be surprised by the number of employees who fail at the following. If you want to get ahead at work, your boss should be able to count on you to:
* Show up for the shifts you’re scheduled to work.
* Show up to work on time.
* Do the work you’re supposed to do.
* Complete your work on time with quality.
* Tell people if you’ll miss work (e.g., sick) or show up late.
Don’t be a pain
We’ve all worked with people who were a thorn in the manager’s side. I’ve worked in a variety of industries for all kinds of employers. I’ve seen some pretty crazy stuff.
For example:
* We had a random drug test once, and some guys were freaking out and trying to leave. Apparently, they were at a party the night before and had snorted a lot of cocaine. Yeah, that didn’t end well.
* Another person I worked with would bring a tumbler of coffee to work daily, which was heavily laced with scotch (we all could smell it).
* A couple of people I worked with would take an afternoon break to drink beers in the parking lot. They returned to work feeling pretty good and often accidentally broke lots of stuff (e.g., materials, tools). They eventually got fired.
* One coworker loved to argue with the boss about every little thing in front of everyone else. Pro tip: Bosses hate that.
If you’re more trouble than you’re worth (i.e., not providing enough value for the stress you create), you’re certainly not going to receive promotions or raises. Sooner or later, you’ll most likely end up losing your job.
Note: I’m not saying you should kiss your manager’s butt or endure mistreatment. It’s ok to ask questions, push back on unreasonable requests, and expect fair treatment. But do so professionally. And it’s usually a good idea to have challenging conversations with your boss in private, not in a team meeting or in front of other employees.
Have a plan
Where do you want to end up in your career?
What are your life goals?
What’s next for you?
Sometimes, career growth isn’t very likely with your current employer. There may not be much internal mobility. Or, it may take a very long time to move up in the company.
A friend of mine knew he would be stuck in a dead-end job if he stayed with his current employer. So, he looked for opportunities to get promoted by taking a job with a new company that had a position open for a supervisor.
Another friend was in a similar situation but had bigger plans to open his own business one day. He saved money, networked with the right people, and created a business plan. He launched it many years ago and turned it into a very successful business, never returning to his old profession and low hourly pay.
You must establish goals and create a plan if you care about getting ahead, making more money, and moving up the career ladder. When you know what you want, it’s easier to make the right moves to set you up for success later.
Connect and network
When I was a security guard, I got to know the local police officers and dispatchers pretty well. We developed a friendly relationship since I always showed up for work, did a good job, and became a supervisor (being reliable and sticking around helped me get promoted).
One dispatcher and a couple of the younger officers talked me into applying to become a dispatcher. It was a full-time role with much better pay and benefits.
I’m an introvert, so I’ve often put my head down and focused on my work. But, building relationships will open the door to new opportunities.
Networking outside your workplace is also a great way to learn about events, meetups, potential new employers, and job opportunities you might not otherwise discover.
* Your local gym. One of my gyms was an excellent place for networking. Members were always connecting people with potential clients, customers, and employers. Friends like to help friends.
* Local meetups. I’ve attended local meetups with ambitious professionals and business owners. It’s great for referrals and introductions.
* Local business events and parties. One year, one of my friends invited me to his office holiday party. Usually, I wouldn’t want to attend something like that. But, I discovered it was a good way to expand my professional network. I’ve talked about the power of “weak ties” before.
* Local town celebrations, volunteer work, and outdoor recreation events. Your network is your most valuable asset for advancing your career. You are limiting yourself if you only connect with people you see daily at work or in your personal life. Get out there and meet new people!
* Trade associations and labor unions. I’m not as familiar with these, but some friends speak highly of them for getting the support you need to advance your career.
If you have a plan for where you want to go, try to network with people already in the profession, industry, or business you’re interested in pursuing. Build bridges now to open doors later. Yes, I’m mixing my metaphors. 🤣
Step up
“Not my job.” — People who don’t get promoted
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard someone say that. They’d be asked to take care of something, and they’d say, “Nah, that’s not my job.”
I was always the person to step up and say, “I’ll take care of it.” And I actually did.
I can remember many times during my past jobs and military experience when someone would ask for a volunteer to take on some task. If no one immediately raised a hand to do it, I would. More often than not, being bold and accepting more responsibility lead to good things for my career.
People who get ahead are the ones who will occasionally step up and do more, often without being asked, because they know it needs to get done.
* Going beyond what was asked.
* Noticing a problem and proactively fixing it.
* Taking care of a task when someone else drops the ball.
* Taking responsibility and making things right.
* Being brave and taking chances.
* Making suggestions for improvements.
Now, I’m not saying you do this all the time and forever. It’s not acceptable for an employer to get the work of three employees out of you for the price of one (and that does happen).
When you do go above and beyond, make sure it's noticed. Document what you’ve done and use it as supporting evidence for raises and promotions later. If your employer takes advantage of your hard work and never rewards you, it’s time to look for a new job.
Seriously.
Move up or move on. You deserve to be compensated when you’re one of the great ones at work.
Know your value
Much of this advice may have come across as a one-way street with the balance of power in the hands of employers. It can feel that way if you don’t know your worth and stay active in the job market.
If you do great work for your employer, you deserve to be compensated appropriately. When you go above and beyond (e.g., work harder and smarter than others), you should expect raises and promotions when the time is right.
The working relationship goes both ways. If an employer doesn’t recognize your value, treat you well, and honor your professional requests for raises and promotions, it’s time to move on. That’s why you should always be actively looking for your next great job, interviewing, and ready to go when necessary.
For example, one of my previous employers did not live up to a promise regarding my work schedule. They refused to make it right, so I quit on the spot. At another employer, I found out that a new, inexperienced employee was hired at a higher hourly rate than I was receiving.
I asked my supervisor about it, and he said, “Oh, you’re a college boy. I pay you less because you probably won’t stick around.”
I laughed and responded, “Well, you’re right about that. I quit.” I left that day and didn’t go back.
I tell everyone I coach, “Always be looking for your next opportunity.” You never know when your situation might change (e.g., an unfortunate re-org, layoffs, or company troubles).
When you’re prepared, you can move on to something better quickly.
P.S. Don’t forget to save your seat and add my live fireside chat event to your calendar!
Thank you for reading Invincible Career®. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
I hosted another live fireside chat via Zoom last month. In this podcast episode, I share some of the questions and answers we discussed.
As usual, people sent me questions ahead of time. But in this session, we also covered questions raised during the Zoom.
For example:
* “What is there to write about (related to my profession)?”
* “Do I even want a career anymore? Do I want to do something for myself?”
* “I changed careers and industries… how can I best adapt to a new job and collaborate with my new boss?”
* “How do I find a great product leadership job in this challenging economy?”
I recorded the call and uploaded it for this newsletter’s podcast episode. Scroll up, hit play, and enjoy!
By the way, if you’d like to attend the next fireside chat, I’m hosting it on May 30th. Sign up here to save a seat.
I’ll be sharing feedback on LinkedIn profiles and answering other questions you submit using the form on the event page. There’s still time to send me yours!
This week’s professional development challenge
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I currently live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
I hosted a live fireside chat via Zoom last month, and I’ve already shared the first half of the Q&A. This is part 2.
People sent me questions ahead of time; then I shared my answers with the attendees. We had some more detailed discussions later.
For example:
* “How to adjust to a new controlling boss?”
* “How do I persuade my colleagues to take action on one of my initiatives?”
* “What questions can I ask in an interview to make sure my manager is one of the good ones?"
* “What questions can I ask in an interview to make sure the company is healthy and it's not a toxic environment?”
I recorded the call and uploaded it for this newsletter’s podcast episode. Scroll up, hit play, and enjoy!
By the way, if you’d like to attend the next fireside chat, I’m hosting it on April 24th. Sign up here to save a seat.
I’ll be sharing feedback on LinkedIn profiles and answering other questions you submit using the form on the event page. There’s still time to send me yours!
This week’s professional development challenge
⭐ Cross-publish Your Writing This week, your Invincible Career exercise is to take one of your previously written articles (e.g., on your blog or Medium) and cross-publish it to LinkedIn. If you aren’t already aware of this, LinkedIn has a native article format that gets pretty good engagement. They also have a newsletter feature if you’re interested in trying it out.
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I currently live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
I hosted a live fireside chat via Zoom last month. People sent me questions ahead of time, then I shared my answers with the attendees. We had some more detailed discussions later.
For example:
* “What can I do to stand out amongst hundreds of other applicants?”
* “Should I change my resume?”
* “What are some strategies to network more effectively with professionals at my level or higher and what are some ways to maintain those relationships long-term?”
I recorded the call and uploaded it for this newsletter’s podcast episode. Scroll up, hit play, and enjoy!
By the way, if you’d like to attend the next fireside chat, I’m hosting it on March 27th. Sign up here to save a seat.
I’ll be sharing feedback on LinkedIn profiles and answering other questions you submit using the form on the event page. There’s still time to send me yours!
This week’s professional development challenge
⭐ Design or Redesign Your Website This week, your Invincible Career exercise is to settle on a host (if you don’t already have one) and start designing and building your website. If you already have a website, this is an excellent opportunity to review it to make sure you’re still happy with what you created. But if you’re like most of us, your website is probably due for an update and refresh.
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I currently live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane. It’s been quite rainy and foggy lately.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
Invincible Career® is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
He frowned and said, "That's a stupid idea. It will never work."
"How do you know? We haven't even tested it yet!"
He leaned back in his chair with a slightly smug look on his face. "I've been working on this product for five years. We've tested hundreds of concepts, and we tested something like this a couple of years ago. It failed."
She was frustrated. "This isn't the same, and timing matters. It tested well in the lab, so I want to get more data from an A/B test."
He shook his head. "I disagree. That's a waste of resources."
"Well," she said. "Looks like we're at an impasse. I guess it's time to escalate this."
I lost count of how many meetings I attended like this when I worked in tech. You know, the ones that were supposed to be "collaboration sessions" but turned into debates?
We seem to have lost our way with team meetings. Too many arguments. Too many show-offs trying to prove how smart they are. Too many people trying to "win" instead of actually working together to reach a great outcome.
Unfortunately, this type of exchange isn't uncommon in the working world. Even when we say we're going to collaborate, brainstorm, and discuss an issue in a meeting, it's actually not very collaborative. Everyone has an opinion, emotions run high, and people get stuck on their pet theories. It becomes a debate to see who can persuade the other that they are right — or force them to back down through intimidation tactics.
It's probably true in every profession and industry, but boy oh boy, do we ever love to argue in Silicon Valley! Almost every meeting felt like a debate with one or two literal geniuses in the room (just to make sure you felt like an inferior little monkey). So many of us love to argue, demonstrate how smart we are, and crush our competitors in debates.
I'm not saying I was above it all. I competed in debate and persuasive speaking when I was younger. As my wife will tell you, I kind of enjoy arguing. I don't take it personally. It's strangely fun for me.
However, as much as some of us might enjoy these confrontational discussions, it's not the most effective way for teams to work together toward a common goal. When everyone is trying to win, the team often loses.
Even in the healthiest of collaborative sessions, the full cognitive horsepower isn't fully aligned to drive the process forward in the same direction at the same time.
* One person proposes a creative idea.
* Another person starts shooting it down.
* Someone else tries to share useful data they think might help the discussion.
* Yet another person says the idea doesn't "feel right."
* And, someone else in the room is already at the whiteboard trying to share a completely different idea.
What if everyone's thinking process was aligned so the team was rowing in the same direction at the same time? What if people stopped viewing each other as opponents and competitors sitting across the debate table? What if we joined each other side by side and felt like partners working together on an issue?
Not us vs. them. Instead, it becomes us vs. the problem.
With parallel thinking, you don't stop and debate every point as it is made (unlike traditional meetings). It reminds me a bit of writing. It's a slow, laborious process when people try to write and edit at the same time. They barely get any work done. But, if you separate the two activities, you can get into a creative flow state. Write and let the ideas stream onto the screen with no judgment, no editing, no stopping to fix misspellings or grammatical mistakes. Then, once your writing session is finished, return to the document later to edit and revise it.
Imagine working together to be creative at the same time, positive at the same time, and look for issues at the same time. No more competing across the table for things you want vs what they want.
I worked in traditional 9-5 hourly jobs with the usual bosses and coworkers for about 10 years before I entered graduate school (and everything changed). For the most part, these jobs were not high-stress jobs, although there were some tense moments as a police dispatcher.
Most of the folks I worked with treated a job as a job, not a career. People worked just hard enough. I even had veteran employees tell me to, “Slow down and take it easy. You still get paid the same. Don't make anyone else look bad.”
There wasn't much competition at all, and promotions were kind of rare. In my experience, you got promoted simply by sticking around long enough. Staff turnover was incredibly frequent. I became "Delta 47” when I stayed long enough to become the shift supervisor. We were all friends and working in the trenches together.
The salaried corporate world was so very different. When I joined that experience about 30 years ago, I discovered it was much more competitive.
* So many arguments about who was right or wrong.
* Trying to persuade others to your point of view.
* People deliberately withholding information as a power play.
It seems like the spirit of true collaboration was missing. It was more like coopetition. We cooperated enough to get work done, but no one could forget the underlying competition for:
* Resources
* Power
* Visibility
* Credit
* Bonuses
* Raises
* Promotions
The higher purpose of what we were doing was lost, too. If individuals, teams, and organizations are all competing on some level and to some degree, what an unfortunate loss of energy and focus that is. Energy that could be aligned to do amazing things for customers and humanity.
I'm going to use two different metaphors to describe what the true spirit of collaboration might look like for your teams and companies (i.e., tables and hats). This is inspired by two sources that have stuck in my mind ever since I encountered them:
* Sitting on the Same Side of The Table: The Art of Collaborative Selling by Michael Levin.
* Six Thinking Hats by Dr. Edward de Bono (my affiliate link).
I’m going to start with the “table concept” because it’s a simple mindset shift and approach. I should say simple to understand, but not always simple to do, of course.
1. Sit on the same side of the table
I think I first heard the phrase "Sit on the same side of the table" many years ago from Jason Calacanis, an angel investor. Since then, I've learned that there's a great book on sales written by Michael Levin called Sitting on the Same Side of The Table: The Art of Collaborative Selling. The idea is to shift from a hardcore negotiation style (i.e., facing each other across the table) to sitting side-by-side with your customer while you work out solutions that are good for both of you.
The current world of Zoom meetings forces us into meetings where it appears as if we are across from one another. But, think back to the last meetings you had in a physical room. If it was a confrontational meeting and you expected some debate and argument, you probably sat in chairs across the table from the folks on the other side of the issue. I know that most of my tense meetings were like that. We certainly didn't sit next to each other.
However, I remember deliberately experimenting with this seating arrangement in one critical meeting with the head of product from another organization. There had been some tension between our teams, and disagreement about the direction our products were going and how they interacted.
I wanted the meeting to be a collaborative session instead of combative. So, when I entered the conference room, I sat next to them on the side of the table by the whiteboard. It was funny. They pulled back a little and looked at me with surprise. But I said, "I want to sketch some concepts on the whiteboard and show you a prototype on my laptop."
I was completely transparent about the goals. I wanted the solution to be something we agreed upon and would end up being a win for both of us — with the ultimate win being for the company if it worked for both of our products. The session was pretty amazing, and it changed the nature of our relationship from that day forward.
No, we didn't become best friends. But I like to think there was mutual respect, and they actually went out of their way to meet with me many months later and share some helpful advice.
There is incredible power in solving a problem together vs. being opponents facing each other on opposing sides of the table. Literally, in person. Figuratively, online.
2. Wear the “same hat”
I learned about this collaboration and decision-making model in Dr. Edward de Bono's book. Thank you for introducing me to this book, Justin!
"The main difficulty of thinking is confusion. We try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope, and creativity all crowd in on us. It is like juggling with too many balls."- Edward de Bono
It’s all about being in the same thinking mode at the same time vs. the typical opposing mindset of disagreement and argument. You all are creative at the same time. You all look for flaws at the same time. Stay in that mode together until it's time to switch.
* White hat: neutral and objective, concerned with facts and figures.
* Red hat: the emotional view.
* Black hat: careful and cautious, the "devil's advocate" hat.
* Yellow hat: sunny and positive.
* Green hat: associated with fertile growth, creativity, and new ideas.
* Blue hat: cool, the color of the sky, above everything else - the organizing hat.
Now, some people love this concept, and some are not fans. If everyone isn't fully on board with the process, it won't work. If psychological safety is absent in the organization, it won't work.
"Team psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that it's OK to take risks, to express their ideas and concerns, to speak up with questions, and to admit mistakes - all without fear of negative consequences." (source)
The power of the "Thinking Hats" approach is to make sure everyone is collaborating on a problem in the same mode at the same time. Instead of arguing, debating, and defending your ideas or point of view against your colleagues, you talk about the problem in a collaborative way as you view it from the same perspective at the same time.
Imagine viewing a large, complex building from the outside. If each person is on a different side of the building, what you think you’re seeing and how you would describe it is very different from everyone else. But, if you all come together and visit each side of the house at the same time, you now have a shared perspective and can have a great conversation about what it is.
This is referred to as “parallel thinking” in the book. It’s constructive collaborative thinking vs. adversarial thinking. It’s sharing everything together in the most open and honest way possible to ensure everyone has all of the information required to produce the best possible outcome.
You don’t withhold information that could help simply because you’re “trying to win” and don’t want to share relevant data that might help your opponent. Parallel thinking aligns the team fully with one thinking approach at the same time, viewing the problem from the same perspective simultaneously.
You are not opponents. It is not you vs. them. It is all of you vs. the problem. The colored hats are quick cues to move into a specific mode of thinking, communicating, and sharing. De Bono makes the point that the language we usually use to talk about emotions, negative consequences, creativity, etc. is insufficient and has some baggage (e.g., people are reluctant to fully share their personal feelings about an issue with their boss).
The hats make the exercise more objective and not about the individual. For example, you’re not being negative. You’re simply sharing Black Hat thinking and objectively pointing out things that might go wrong with a proposed course of action.
I’ll briefly summarize each of the hats. But, this barely covers what is available in his book.
Blue hat mode
Usually, the group assigns one person to act as the "blue hat." They play the role of facilitator/moderator:
* They set the stage for the discussion (e.g., state the purpose of the meeting, identify the issue or problem, describe the desired outcome for the session).
* They share the proposed agenda with the sequence of using some or all of the hats as they work on an issue (e.g., “Let’s start with some red hat to get everyone’s feelings on the issue. Then, we’ll move into white hat and share all of the data and information we have. After that, I’d like to move into green hat and start generating some new ideas for how we might solve the problems.”).
* They will remind participants to stay in a specific mode of thinking (e.g., “Tom, that’s black hat thinking and we’re still in the yellow hat part of the discussion. Save that for later, ok?”).
* At the end, the blue hat asks for the outcome and talks about next steps (e.g., “So, we all agreed that this is the best course of action. Next steps, lets loop in the rest of the team to start planning the work on this new strategy.”).
White hat mode
In white hat mode, you share the information and data you have with your colleagues, but without any emotional interpretation or bias. What is actually happening? Not what you imagine is happening. Not how you feel about it.
Everyone puts all the facts on the table together, while striving to be neutral and objective. Unlike most meetings, everyone should share every bit of information and data they are aware of, even if it doesn’t support their personal agenda.
* No emotional reactions.
* No arguing about the data.
* No debating a piece of information.
* No judgment of the facts.
* Think "Mr. Spock."
Red hat mode
In typical business discussions, you’re not supposed to allow your emotions to cloud your judgment. You try to avoid becoming heated during a debate. The first person to lose their cool loses the argument, right?
Well, believe me, emotions do run high in business meetings. But, it’s often not a shared experience and it’s rarely constructive. It’s hard to feel safe and creative when an executive is cursing, shouting at you, and threatening you. Ask my friend how it felt to have a laptop tossed at them…
The red hat mode allows everyone in the meeting to safely express feelings, emotions, and intuition. There is no need to explain or justify feelings. What people sense or feel is always valid while in this mode of thinking and sharing.
Note: this part of the session doesn’t take very long. It’s a “gut check” moment and gives people a chance to express things without the dispassionate sharing of data (white hat), a demand for positivity (yellow hat), etc.
Black hat mode
Black hat mode is going to feel very familiar. It seems to be the go-to activity for many people in meetings. I’m sure you’ve worked with several folks who almost immediately shoot down any idea and are happy to explain why something will never work. I sure have!
It is a valid and useful thinking activity (just ask your Legal team), but it is so much more effective when everyone agrees to be in that mode at the same time vs. debating and arguing throughout the entire meeting.
* The black hat is about caution and survival.
* You can identify things that might be unprofitable, unethical, destructive, dangerous, illegal, etc.
* Discuss the potential downside, risks, flaws, weaknesses, and concerns.
* What could go wrong?
* How will we react if something goes wrong?
Black hat is incredibly useful for planning and coming up with contingency plans, too. But, the magic of the process is that you engage in this type of thinking together and at the right time in the meeting, instead of constantly derailing a productive discussion.
Yellow hat mode
The optimistic mode of the yellow hat is kind of fun. It is especially enjoyable to watch one of your colleagues — who is usually quite negative about everything — suddenly start sharing positive examples of potential benefits, value, and opportunities.
Again, the magic is that everyone in the room is engaging in positive thinking at the same time. When is the last time you experienced that?
It’s a good idea to consider probabilities and reality even in this mode. Sure, it would be nice if a knight rode up on a unicorn and handed your team a billion-dollar budget, but it’s highly unlikely.
Some examples:
* What is our vision of the future?
* What are the opportunities ahead of us?
* What does success look like?
* How does the future change if we succeed?
* What are the ways this could work out well for us?
* How will this change people’s lives for the better?
* How could we improve this even more?
Green hat mode
If you’ve ever attended a brainstorming session, you’re familiar with wearing the green hat. If you had an excellent facilitator, they ensured that everyone stayed in the mode of generating new ideas before debating, arguing, or trying to interrupt someone’s creative flow.
* What is possible?
* How can we disrupt the industry?
* How far can we push things?
* What new ideas do we have?
* What is your wildest suggestion?
* What are the alternatives?
* How can you build on someone else’s idea?
* What course of action could we take to make this happen?
Note: I want to point out that not everyone can be put on the spot in a meeting and immediately let loose with creative ideas. Some of us — myself included — need time to be alone, think, and let things flow and simmer a bit.
I recommend you give your colleagues time to prepare for a proposed brainstorming meeting, know the agenda, review the data and information available, and generate some ideas on their own before coming to a green hat session to share and develop them together.
I know this was a lot to digest! Check out the book (Six Thinking Hats ) if you’d like to learn more about how to apply this methodology to your own team discussions.
Becoming allies, not competitors
First, let me be clear about something. You need a reasonably healthy culture — both company and organization — and psychological safety to open up and embrace the Six Thinking Hats methodology. You will fail if others refuse to commit to the process. You will fail if you don’t feel safe being completely honest and transparent with the information you have. It’s hard to be open and vulnerable if your colleagues simply take advantage of it to go for the kill and take the win.
However, if your team really does want to find a better way to collaborate, work together, and make decisions, there is hope. Introduce them to the book and the process. Start experimenting with it in your meetings. Take note of how it, hopefully, improves the quality of your discussions and outcomes.
Work can feel pretty amazing when your coworkers are genuinely your partners seeking the best outcomes (i.e., you’re on the same side of the table). I’ve had this experience in small startups. It feels magical to be aligned with a common goal and no hidden agendas.
Have you tried this approach in your organization before? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments!
This week’s professional development challenge
⭐ Define Your Professional Brand This exercise is about defining your professional brand. What do you want people to remember about your work reputation? What do you wish people would say about you when you’re not in the room? Capture a list of attributes you believe define who you are and how you want people to see you.
Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I currently live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane. I still believe I might grow up to be a beautiful butterfly one day.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
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"It used to be so easy for me to get a new job. I didn't even have to look or try. People came to me! But, now? Now I'm struggling to get to the final round and I haven't received any offers in over a year? Something has changed…" — My new client
My coaching client was pretty unhappy about this twist of fate. That wonderful well of endless jobs had surprisingly dried up.
Many smart and talented people have this experience. Getting a job in their 20s was easy. Almost too easy.
It was so easy that they never bothered to think about a career plan or create an intentional career path. Employers were plentiful and the job market was bountiful. Heck, jobs were falling out of the sky and landing in their laps It would always be like this, right?
Wrong.
The wild ride will come to an end, sooner for some people than others. If you haven't mapped out a plan, put yourself in the driver's seat, and controlled your path and destiny, you might find yourself kicked to the curb.
Ageism is real, folks. Age discrimination is illegal, but it's incredibly difficult to prove. You'll simply notice that people are no longer actively seeking you out and trying to recruit you for roles.
Sitting back and waiting to see what happens in your career isn’t a great strategy. Do you see yourself as more of a driver or passenger on your journey?
* Are you just along for the ride in your career?
* Do you feel like your career happened to you serendipitously?
Most people let their careers "just happen." They don't give much thought to planning their career path, looking for the best employers, and controlling their future until something goes wrong.
Suddenly, they notice that:
* They're being passed over for promotions.
* It's taking longer to find new jobs.
* Their career growth is slowing down.
* Their raises have flatlined.
* They're feeling unhappy, stressed, anxious, worried, and unfulfilled.
Eventually, they ask themselves:
"Is this really what I should be doing with my life?What's going wrong?How do I get back on a good path?"
Create an intentional path
Where do you want your life to be in 20 years?
Can you get there more quickly?
Let me stop for a moment and make something clear. I am not suggesting that you create a rigid 30-year career path and follow it from the start to the bitter end. We don't do that anymore, right?
If you are thoughtful and intentional during your journey, you will learn more about who you are and what you really want from life. You will change your mind, and that’s ok.
It seems like I change my career plans and path about every 10 years. While the thought of changing professions and careers may make some people feel stressed out, I find it exciting.
Rather than selecting a point in the future that’s attached to a specific profession or financial outcome (e.g., I must be a CEO, a billionaire, or a famous author), I prefer to ask people to envision a life they would find interesting, exciting, delightful, and fulfilling.
* Where do they live?
* How do they spend their days working?
* How do they spend time playing?
* Who are they spending their life with?
When you have a plan in mind, you’ll notice more opportunities that can help you with your journey.
I created a 91-page Invincible Career Manual for my clients that we collaboratively complete and review. It’s meant to evolve with you and be updated as your career grows and changes.
* If you’re already one of my clients, ping me to make sure you find your customized copy of the manual in our shared Google Drive folder.
* If you’re a member of my Career Accelerator, I’ll share a link to get your free copy of the manual in our private Slack channel.
* If you’re a premium subscriber to this newsletter, I’ll share a link to get your free copy of the manual in our Office Hours channel on Slack.
If you subscribe to the free version of this newsletter, use this link to get 20% off and download your own copy of the Invincible Career Manual! You can start using it right away to plan what you want for your career this year and beyond.
Design your ideal lifestyle
One way to create a better career path is to focus on life design first. Design your lifestyle and then find a career that enables it.
I'm not talking about the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. Don't be a silly child and say, "I want to own a private island with a jet and a yacht. Therefore I need a career that makes me a billionaire!"
It’s great to be ambitious. But, try to be somewhat realistic, too.
* How do you want to spend your days?
* How do you want to structure your weeks?
* With whom do you spend most of your time?
* Where do you live?
* How do you keep yourself happy, healthy, and fulfilled?
Craft your ideal job
Job crafting is the practice of changing your job to make it more engaging and meaningful. I also love to have my clients write their ideal job description as one way to pursue a role that would give them what they want for their career and life. We focus on the job, the employer/company, and their direct manager/boss.
Ideal job
Design your ideal job that is the right next step for your career.
* How would you define your ideal role?
* What do you want to do more of in your next job?
* What do you want to eliminate in your next role?
Ideal employer
Defining your ideal employer sometimes feels like a scene from Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You've probably had enough jobs that you know what you want more of from an ideal employer and what you want to avoid.
* This corporation is too large.
* This startup is too small.
* I don’t want to work for a company that’s dependent on ad revenue.
* I don't enjoy working on enterprise software.
* I enjoy companies that sell direct to consumer.
Ideal boss
Think back and remember what you’ve appreciated about your past bosses. Also capture the toxic traits of your bad managers.
* What does a great boss look like for you?
* What are your red flag issues to avoid?
* How do wish your future boss would behave and treat you?
Ideal independent business (if necessary)
Sometimes the best job is the one you literally create from scratch. I reached that point in my career.
I was tired of trying to fit myself into companies, organizations, and leadership cultures that weren’t a good match for my personality, values, and ambitions. So, I left the corporate scene and built my own business.
If that’s something you’re interested in doing one day, check out my Invincible Solopreneurs newsletter. I’m also planning a live workshop to help folks define and design a business based on their existing talents, skills, knowledge, and experience.
Why bother with a plan?
For most people, staying in a job for too long has diminishing returns. On average, being employed at the same company for over two years will make you earn less over your lifetime — by about 50% or more.
If you’re not planning your promotion path and taking control of making it happen, you may not have a manager who will look out for you and ensure you get promoted when you deserve it.
If you know you need to move on to a better job to keep growing your career and maximizing your lifetime earning potential, having a plan ensures you make a smart move. Too many people end up jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire of an even worse situation.
A plan helps you do your homework and make a move to a great company, manager, and job.
* The right boss can accelerate your career.
* The wrong boss can damage it and set you back for years (or forever).
* The right company can set you up for the rest of your career.
* The wrong company can waste years of your time and lower your lifetime earning potential.
* The right company culture will let you have a great personal life.
* The wrong company culture will chew you up and spit you out.
A plan also helps you identify faster paths to your ideal end state. If you don't know where you want to go, it's kind of impossible to even notice or look for shortcuts. I found a shortcut and got the life I want decades ahead of where my traditional career was taking me. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life!
Drivers get what they want
Drivers get what they want out of life. Passengers end up where someone else decides to drop them off.
Those people who seem happier and more successful than you aren't better than you. They're just more confident, know what they want, and pursue it with a vengeance.
They are in the driver's seat, controlling where their careers and lives are going.
You don't have to be a passenger. Don't let anyone stop you from climbing into the driver's seat of your career and life.
It's not like you'll get a second chance to play this game. You get one life. Chart a course to end up where you want to go.
Invincible Career Workshop
I'm considering creating a workshop on "How to Create an Intentional Career Path." Let me know your thoughts by voting on this poll.
Larry Cornett is a Personal Coach who can help you optimize your career, life, and business. If you’re interested in starting a business or side hustle someday (or accelerating an existing one), check out his “Employee to Solopreneur” workshop (coming soon).
Larry lives in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with his wife and a gigantic Great Dane. He does his best to share advice to help others take complete control of their work and life. He’s also on Mastodon.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
This year, I spent hundreds of hours researching and writing newsletter articles — and recording podcast episodes — to share with you. I listed the top 10 below, and I’ve also categorized most of the other articles and episodes for easier browsing.
If you found my advice and articles helpful this year and would like to support my continued writing and podcasting next year, please consider upgrading to a premium membership that also grants you access to:
* My private Invincible Career community of over 130 ambitious professionals (from entry-level to executives).
* Weekly professional development challenges and exercises delivered to your inbox.
* Exclusive office hours every Monday with the other premium subscribers and me.
Your support means a lot to me. Thank you! 😊
Welcome to my December wrap-up that summarizes and categorizes everything I published this calendar year.
When people ask for my advice on a career, work, leadership, or entrepreneurial topic, I can usually point them to a specific article that I’ve written on that very issue. You may already be a loyal subscriber, but I know that it’s easy to miss something over a year. I certainly do with the newsletters I follow.
So, enjoy this recap, and feel free to share the summary article with friends who might find some of the advice helpful!
My Top 10 Articles
I reviewed the stats for my articles, newsletters, and podcast episodes. These 10 rose to the top for the year.
* Use Your Purpose to Manage Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
* Community chat - What are your wins this week?
* Invincible Tip - Instantly Make Twitter Better
* Invincible Tip - Follow the Money
* Landing Jobs by Building Relationships in a Remote World
* Introduce Yourself!
* 5 Things You Should Do Every Night
* Doing Work You Love - Interview with Chris Cornett, Surgeon
* Create Your Own Career Ladder
* Invincible Tip - Always Be Looking
By the way, I made some big changes to the newsletter and podcast this year (and launched two new newsletters and podcasts), which I announced here.
Articles organized by category
I thought it might help to organize all of my articles and podcast episodes into categories that you would find most useful. Enjoy!
My book chapters
* My Book - Reclaiming Your Power, Freedom, and Future
* Book Chapter - Becoming Invincible
* Book Chapter - Assessing Your Current Situation
* Book Chapter - Defining Your Vision of the Future
* Book Chapter - Identifying Your Blocks and Barriers
* Book Chapter - Embracing the Best You
* Book Chapter - Identifying Your Audacious Goals
* Book Chapter - Creating Your Winning Strategies
* Book Chapter - Making Your Achievable Plans
* Note: I shifted my book chapter articles and podcast episodes to my new Invincible Life newsletter starting in June, so seven additional chapters are there.
Career planning and performance
* Doing Work You Love - Interview with Chris Cornett, Surgeon
* Create Your Own Career Ladder
* You Can Follow Your Purpose as an Employee
* Your Future is Unpredictable
* Q&A from the Community
Job search, interviews, and negotiation
* Landing Jobs by Building Relationships in a Remote World
* Invincible Tip - Follow the Money
* Invincible Tip - Always Be Looking
* How to Safely Job Hunt Today While You're Still Employed — So You Don't Get Fired Later
* Be loyal to yourself, first!
* The Job Market Has Flipped — Again
Success
* Doing Work You Love - Interview with Chris Cornett
* Create Your Own Career Ladder
* Burn Your To-Do Lists in 2022
* How to Build Good Relationships in a New Job
* Remote Work and Power Dynamics
* How to Market Yourself to Get the Attention You Want and Deserve
Living your best life
* Use Your Purpose to Manage Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
* 5 Things You Should Do Every Night
* Your Future is Unpredictable
* You Deserve Better
* Remote Work Has Saved Me $150,000
Solopreneurship and entrepreneurship
* This year, I launched a brand new newsletter just for people interested in solopreneurship and entrepreneurship: Invincible Solopreneurs. So, you can read all the articles there (subscribe to that newsletter if you’re interested).
Life lessons
* Use Your Purpose to Manage Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
* The Gift of Rejection
* Losing Your Career Ambition
* This year, I also launched a brand new newsletter for people more interested in personal development: Invincible Life. It’s all about living your best life, life planning, self-confidence, empowerment, freedom, health, and happiness. You can read all the articles there (subscribe to that newsletter if you’re interested).
Personal and professional development
* Create Your Own Career Ladder
* What Do People Say About You?
* Your Account Has Been Suspended
* 5 Ways to Build Your Executive Presence
Networking
* Landing Jobs by Building Relationships in a Remote World
* Invincible Tip - Instantly Make Twitter Better
* Introduce Yourself!
* Invincible Tip - Always Be Looking
* How to Build Good Relationships in a New Job
* Seth Rogen's Take on Networking
* How to Market Yourself to Get the Attention You Want and Deserve
Invincible Tips
* Stand Up
* Follow the Money
* Check your face
* A Career Double-Dip
* Message One Person
* Follow Your School on LinkedIn
* Instantly Make Twitter Better
* The Business of Your Career
* Know When to Bounce
* Quote Tweet Someone
* Instantly Feel More Confident
* How to Build a Lifestyle Business in 30 Days for Less Than $30
* Always Be Looking
Office hours and professional development challenges and exercises (for premium subscribers)
* What Are Your Goals This Year?
* Break Your Big Goals into Subgoals
* Create a Plan to Achieve Your Goals
* Leverage Your Calendar
* Write the Story of You
* Create Your Elevator Pitch Intro
* Document Your Strengths and Weaknesses
* Define Your Professional Brand
* Why You Need a Website
* Find a Domain for Your Website
* Design Your Website
* Publish Content on Your Website
* Share Your Website
* Post to Your Personal Blog
* Publish on Medium
* Cross-publish Your Writing
* Learn about Self-publishing
* Research Newsletter Platforms
* Choose a Newsletter Platform
* Want to try Substack? Use my referral link to check it out.
* Identify Your Writing Focus
* Build Your Audience
* Professionally Leverage Social Media
* Get More out of LinkedIn
* Join the Creator Economy
* Share Your Portfolio
* Audit Your Professional Brand
* Assess the Progress of Your Plan
* Review Your Metrics
* Learn More About Google Analytics
* Adjust Your Plan
* How to Build a Powerful Network
* Nurture and Reignite Your Network
* Connect with New People
* Find Your Communities
* Upgrade Your Public Speaking Skills
* How to Find Speaking Events
* How to Host a Workshop
* How to Sit on a Panel
* Networking to Practice Your Communication Skills
* How to Be a Guest on a Podcast
* Planning Your Own Podcast
* Comparing Podcasting Solutions
* Record a Test Podcast Episode
* Choosing a Video Platform
* Choosing a Central Theme
* Record, Edit, and Publish a Video
* How to Grow Your Video Audience
* Are You Ready for Your Final Push for 2022?
* Capture Your Achievements for the Year
* Write Your Self-review
* Reflect on the Year
Whew! That’s it for the year. I hope this summary makes it easier for you to find a useful article to read (or reread). Share this with a friend who might be interested!
Your support helps!
I’m looking forward to writing more articles, interviewing new guests, and recording new podcast episodes for you next year. If you have suggestions for topics that you’d like me to cover, please leave a comment below or send me a message.
BTW, I have no employees, interns, or even an assistant. The newsletters and podcasts are a one-person labor of love. This is my passion and how I earn a living as a solopreneur to support my family.
If you’ve found my advice helpful, and you’d like to help support my efforts to produce it, please consider subscribing to the premium weekly newsletter. Take advantage of my Holiday Special and save 50% when you join us before the year ends!
This gives you access to:
* My private career community for ongoing advice, feedback, and support.
* Weekly professional development challenges and exercises delivered to your inbox every Monday.
* Exclusive office hours every Monday with me and the other premium community members.
Thank you for being a loyal reader this year. I appreciate your support!
Larry Cornett is a Personal Coach who can help you optimize your career, life, and business. If you’re interested in starting a business or side hustle someday (or accelerating an existing one), check out his “Employee to Solopreneur” workshops (coming soon).
Larry lives in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with his wife and a gigantic Great Dane. He does his best to share advice to help others take complete control of their work and life. He’s also on Mastodon (it’s better than Twitter!).
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
Do you have a colleague or friend who might be interested in the advice I publish in this newsletter? Feel free to share it with them!
Did you know the average American hasn’t made a new friend in five years?
As we grow older, we make fewer friends than we did as children and young adults during school, college, etc. It’s probably not surprising that many of our friends come from our work experiences.
I used to work at eBay many years ago, and I recently attended an alumni event in the Bay Area of California. It’s a long drive to get there from where I live now, so I initially hesitated when I saw the invitation. Also, I’m an introvert and rarely enjoy social events like that. But it was a great opportunity to catch up with some old friends I haven’t seen in a very long time. So, off I went!
The wave of nostalgia and fondness I felt for these people surprised me. Even for those I had not particularly felt close to when I worked there. We’re older, wiser, and kinder now. The passage of time has sanded down the harsh edges of the memories of the intense workload, stressful projects, and confrontational arguments.
We had been through a shared experience, bringing us closer together. As one friend put it, after we hugged:
"We have a trauma bond."
Unfortunately, there is a price to pay for forging such deep relationships with coworkers. Leaving the company feels like losing most of your friends. And it's never the same again.
Also, every step that brings you closer to your coworkers is a step that takes you further away from your family and friends outside of work. That was simply the reality of employment for most of our lives. We spent way more time with our colleagues than with our loved ones. It was certainly true for me.
However, the last few years changed everything. People began working remotely and staying home. The pandemic lasted longer than we expected it would. When we could finally come out of our homes and back into the workplace, employers discovered that most of their employees did not want to return.
* People enjoy the flexibility of working when and where they desire.
* Many of us have found we can focus better without interruptions from coworkers.
* They are saving money by working at home (I’ve saved about $150K over the past 12 years).
* The time savings are significant when you no longer have to commute to an office (I spent 750 hours/year on the freeway).
* Some people have moved to a better location for their financial and emotional well-being.
* They have rebuilt stronger relationships with their loved ones.
* They are exercising again, eating healthy meals, and sleeping more.
This year, Buffer published its 2022 State Of Remote Work. They surveyed 2,118 people from 16 different countries to get their input on remote work and its impact on their work and personal lives.
Here are a few more highlights:
* 97% would like to work remotely, at least some of the time, for the rest of their careers.
* 90% described their experience with remote work as either very positive or somewhat positive.
* But, 45% think that career growth is more difficult for remote workers to achieve.
However, even I will admit that our enhanced lifestyle from remote work has come at the cost of work relationships. Now, some leaders are desperately promoting a return to office (RTO). They claim that collaboration and innovation can only thrive when people share physical space and time.
They're not completely right about this, but they're also not totally wrong. As much as I love remote work — and I have built friendships and working relationships with people I've never met in person — the bond isn't the same as it is with people who worked with me in the trenches. Like my friends at eBay.
* We worked side by side every day.
* We saw each other at our best and worst.
* We shared meals and drinks.
* We laughed and cried.
* We supported each other.
However, the answer must be somewhere in the middle. As with many things, the truth is in between polarized opinions.
People must stop denying that dedicating most of our waking hours to our employers damages our personal relationships. How could it not? I have friends who regret missing out on their children’s lives. I have friends whose marriages fell apart because they were never home.
But we also can't deny that 100% remote work isn’t the best for working relationships. It doesn’t have to be a choice of always working remotely vs. always working in an office. For example, Automattic has a great remote work model, but they regularly schedule team gatherings in person (more on this in a future newsletter).
The office environment is not the best for everyone at all times.
* Power dynamics are heightened, which makes people defer to authority too often.
* As I know all too well, introverts can't do their best work when surrounded by noise and constant interruptions.
* People with disabilities often struggle in the workplace, and some can’t take part at all if we forced them to travel to an office.
* Creativity is stifled inside corporate walls.
Sometimes work is best done outside the office. And there are many types of work that do not need to take place sitting alone in a cubicle.
However, there are also types of work we should perform together in person. For example, collaborative riffing on a physical whiteboard can never be replaced by the poor substitute of virtual whiteboards.
The nuance of human expressions, tone of voice, and body language get lost in laggy digital proxies like Zoom meetings, where you only see someone's talking head. Plus, people don't behave naturally on camera. We’ve been doing this for years, yet video meetings still feel clumsy and awkward compared to in-person meetings.
Where am I going with all of this?
Well, if you’re trying to find a new job or work more effectively with colleagues in your current job, you need the best of both worlds. We’ll never put the remote work genie back in the office bottle. So, you need to make the best of virtual relationships and interactions. But I’m also going to encourage you to tap back into the power of face-to-face conversations and meetups.
Connecting with people, building relationships, and bonding will always be easier in person. So, find ways to start making that happen again.
Finding a remote job in this economy
In this newsletter, I'm going to start with how you can find a job in this crazy economy and wild world of remote employment. In a future newsletter, I'll dive into part 2 of how you can work better with your colleagues once you land a job (or if you're still employed).
As a coach, I’ve talked with enough job seekers over the years to know that no one wants to hear that finding a job takes time and requires building relationships. So many people want to “spray and pray” their job applications and resumes to hundreds of companies and hope it works out.
It rarely does. Or, I should say, it rarely yields a “great job.” You may end up with an ok job. Maybe…
However, if you want to find a great job in a great company that is a great fit for you, here are some steps you can take to increase your odds of success.
* Connect
* Communicate
* Bond
* Give help
* Receive help
* Collaborate
1. Connect
I’m sure you’ve been reading about the thousands and thousands of people being laid off over the past few weeks. In addition, many companies have frozen hiring. All of this means that competition is heating up for the remaining roles that are available.
If you submit your resume and job application online, you’re being dumped into the same pool as hundreds of other candidates. You might be okay if you have a top 1% resume. If not, good luck standing out.
You may be tired of hearing me beat this drum, but your network is your most valuable asset during a job search. If you already have a powerful one, you can start reaching out to people. If you don’t, it’s time to connect with more people to strengthen yours.
* Build relationships with people online.
* Connect with folks via their posts.
* Be present and make intelligent comments.
* Reach out to people in companies of interest.
* Attend online meetups.
However, I think we’ve all noticed an increase in meetups in the physical world, too. Heck, I just hosted a breakfast meetup a few weeks ago!
So, don’t overlook the opportunity to network and meet some people in the real world. Meetup.com is still a useful resource for finding local events. It is easier to connect more deeply with someone when you are face-to-face instead of staring into a laptop screen.
2. Communicate
When you’re looking for a job, and it’s taking longer than expected, it’s time to tap into your network and get a little positive energy back out of it. One of the first things I recommend to my job-seeking clients is that they download their LinkedIn connections and create a basic relationship management spreadsheet.
Make a note of the following:
* People you’d like to work with again.
* Leaders you’d like to work for again.
* People who always have their finger on the pulse of what’s going on.
* Colleagues who are connected to people and companies of interest.
Then, start reaching out to these folks to let them know that you’re starting to explore your next opportunity. Depending on the notes you made for each person, you’ll structure the conversation accordingly. You’re essentially letting your trusted connections know that you’re in play, would love to know of relevant opportunities, or might want to be introduced to someone.
Make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for (e.g., industry, type of employer, role), so you can clearly answer the first question people will ask: “So, what are you looking for?”
Of course, you can do most of this online (e.g., send a message on LinkedIn). But, when possible and for the most important contacts, try to schedule a Zoom meeting so you can see each other and talk live.
I will also encourage you to use the ol’ tried-and-true meeting over coffee or lunch when you want to talk with someone local. It’s still much easier to connect with someone and bond over shared food and drinks when you’re asking for a favor. By the way, you should pay for their coffee or meal.
3. Bond
I often have strangers contact me for help with their job search. They want to talk and get some free advice (note: I’ve written and shared tons of free advice). They want me to tell them who is hiring for the positions they’re seeking. Or they ask for an introduction to a hiring manager in a company.
Folks, I’m sorry, but you just can’t ask strangers for favors like this. You must build relationships and gain trust. You have to provide value to receive value (more on this in the next section). No one wants to introduce a stranger to people in their network, which is an amazingly valuable — yet fragile — resource.
That’s one reason I built my career community (to which my premium subscribers have access). It gives people a chance to bond and build relationships over time. That’s how you gain people’s trust and increase your odds of receiving a favor.
So, if you want to find a great job (instead of just any old job), take the time to build real relationships with the people in your broader network.
* Comment on posts (like the ones I share on Invincible Career).
* Attend meetups.
* Have coffee and lunches with people.
* Join video chats.
* Talk with people in the community.
* Share useful information.
* Let people see the real you.
* Give people a chance to see your talents, skills, personality, and how you think.
4. Give help
People want to be surrounded by what Adam Grant calls “givers” and “matchers.” We all try to avoid “takers.” I’m sure you’ve encountered them in your life and workplace. These people don’t seem to understand the concept of reciprocity.
Don’t be a taker.
Now, I can understand if you’re thinking, “If I’m out of work and looking for a job, I don’t have a lot of time for giving and helping everyone else. I’m not a charity!”
But giving doesn’t require spending endless hours of your time helping others. It can be accomplished with something as simple as what Adam Rifkin calls the “5-minute favor.”
I noticed this phenomenon when I moved to the Bay Area in California and started working in tech. One of Silicon Valley's competitive advantages is that almost everyone is willing to help others with quick little favors.
* Answering questions over email.
* Having a coffee chat at a local Starbucks.
* Introducing talented people to each other.
* Taking a phone call to give quick advice.
* Giving feedback on an issue over a Zoom call.
* Being a reference for someone during their job search.
* Sharing a few names when a manager is looking for talent.
* Forwarding job openings to people.
“My students at Wharton often describe the five-minute favor as life-changing. It challenges their assumption they have to choose between helping others and their own success, allowing them to find ways of giving to others that don’t demand enormous acts of sacrifice.” — Adam Grant
The magic of this type of favor is that it doesn’t take long for the giver, but it can change the recipient’s life. Five minutes can truly change the course of someone’s career and life. It reminds me of the short phone call my advisor made that connected me with my first job in Silicon Valley and set me on the path of my tech career. It changed my life forever.
But, if you’re a taker who never gives to this system of reciprocity, people remember. No one will go out of their way to help you. They may even try to avoid you.
Be a giver and feed positive value into your network. People will notice and remember that. So, if you’re seeking a job and people know you’re looking, they will:
* Send opportunities your way.
* Introduce you to good hiring managers and recruiters.
* Tell you about jobs that are buried deep in the hidden job market.
Again, doing some of this giving in person will strengthen your connection with the recipient. When I left my last corporate job, I had coffee and lunch meetings almost every day for the first six months. People wanted advice, help with a job search, introductions to an investor, feedback on their startup idea, etc.
5. Receive help
So, yes, it’s good to be a giver. But, sometimes, we need help, too. The problem is most folks are too busy with their own jobs and lives to dedicate a serious amount of time to help you land a new job.
That’s where a career coach like me comes in. Obviously, I can’t help everyone since my time is limited. And I’m not always the right fit for some folks, either. But, if you’re struggling to find a job, interview well, and receive job offers, please find someone who can help you with things like:
* Getting crystal clear about what you want next for your career.
* Identifying the right employers who are the best for who you are and what you do.
* Finding the right opportunities in this job market.
* Learning how to position and sell yourself well.
* Preparing your LinkedIn, website, portfolio, social media, resume, and cover letters.
* Writing and practicing your elevator pitch.
* Preparing and rehearsing your answers to the dozens of interview questions you should expect.
* Negotiating your job offers to get the best outcome possible.
Sometimes people think they should naturally be good at interviewing and negotiating offers. But we all get rusty without practice. If it’s been a few years since you’ve interviewed, work with someone to strengthen and sharpen your skills.
The time and money you invest will more than pay for itself when you land a job more quickly and get the best offer possible. Or… you could keep waiting, struggling, and not getting paid for weeks and weeks — or months and months.
6. Collaborate
“The new form of networking is not about climbing a ladder to success; it’s about collaboration, co-creation, partnerships, and long-term values-based relationships.” — Porter Gale
Finally, a great way to build and strengthen relationships is to collaborate with others. This is why you develop such strong bonds with your coworkers. Shared work towards a common goal brings people closer.
I hope you have interests outside of work. It’s important to make time for things that light you up. Many of us also dedicate ourselves to activities that help others and improve the world, in some way.
When you collaborate with other people on projects outside of work, you expand your network in new ways. I’ve talked about the power of “weak ties” before. They open up opportunities you may never discover through your traditional professional network.
Working with people gives them a chance to see how you think, your talent and skills in action, and what you are capable of doing. It builds trust in a way casual conversations never can.
You can do this virtually, like when two friends and I recorded a weekly podcast together. Lots of people collaborate on projects remotely now (e.g., the open-source software community).
However, I also encourage you to look for opportunities to collaborate in person. For example, I recently reconnected with an old friend and colleague in person. Over drinks, we discussed some business ideas, and now we’re moving forward with a plan. We’re going to meet again in person for a working session.
The funny thing is, we’ve always just been a phone call away from each other. But meeting in person sparked a renewed desire to build a new business in a way that occasional emails and texts never did.
So, reach out to someone you’d like to connect with and catch up over coffee, lunch, or drinks. See if there’s an opportunity to collaborate on something simple while looking for your next job.
You’ll probably discover that it opens all new doors for you!
Speaking of building relationships…
I hope you see why your network and relationships are essential for a successful job search. But they are also so important for your professional development and career growth, too.
So, with that, I’m going to challenge you to take advantage of a network and a relationship only a few of you have leveraged.
Hi there! I’m Larry Cornett, the author of this newsletter and a leadership and career coach. I like to think that I’m pretty approachable, and I do want to see you succeed in your work and be fulfilled in your life.
There are 4 easy ways to connect with my community of friendly, ambitious professionals and me:
* Ask a question or leave a comment on this newsletter article.
* Schedule a free coaching call with me.
* Upgrade your newsletter subscription, and I’ll invite you to my private community.
* Book a private call or coaching engagement if you’re ready to work with me on your job search, career plan, leadership development, etc.
Simple, right? 😉
Larry Cornett is a Personal Coach who can help you optimize your career, life, and business. If you’re interested in starting a business or side hustle someday (or accelerating an existing one), check out his “Employee to Solopreneur” course (launching soon).
Larry lives in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with his wife and a gigantic Great Dane. He does his best to share advice to help others take complete control of their work and life. He’s also on Mastodon.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsletter.invinciblecareer.com/subscribe -
A storm is coming…
* The economy is not in great shape, and we are probably entering a recession.
* Companies have been instituting hiring freezes since the summer.
* Startups and larger corporations have been laying off thousands of people this year.
The last few years have been an employee’s market. Hiring was booming, especially after the recovery from the quarantine months of the pandemic. It seemed like companies couldn’t recruit fast enough to replace the millions of workers quitting during the Great Resignation.
Working from home reached all new heights, and the time recovered from daily commutes gave people more time to reflect on work and life. People decided they wanted more. They wanted something better.
* Better jobs.
* Better working conditions.
* Better work-life balance.
* Better compensation.
* Better career development opportunities.
The growth of remote work also opened up global opportunities that never existed before. You can now work for any company in the world and not be forced to relocate. Many of my friends and clients have accepted jobs in other countries that would never have been possible before.
However, what goes up must come down, and all good things come to an end. The job market has recently flipped back to an employer's market, and the hiring frenzy has cooled. Job seekers are feeling the strain of tightening corporate budgets and wondering why they’re getting ghosted more often by recruiters and hiring managers.
* Some of my clients who are managers lost their open reqs.
* My job-seeking clients apply for an open position but are then informed that the role is suddenly closed.
* People are discovering that it’s taking much longer to find a new job.
So, welcome to the pending recession and a tighter job market! It’s time to change your strategies to adapt to this new reality. How you manage an employer's market depends on your current situation. What best describes you right now?
* You have a stable job, and you aren’t worried.
* You have a job, but you fear a layoff is coming.
* You've recently been laid off.
* You've been unemployed for a while.
* You're the one doing the layoffs.
* You run your own business.
I’m going to touch on each of these cases below. But first, I want to share some clues that may indicate a layoff is coming to your company.
When a layoff might be brewing
I’ve had a long working career — over 30 years at this point. I spent about 20 years of that in Silicon Valley, so I experienced my fair share of layoffs as an employee and a manager. I’ve been a career coach for over 6 years now, which means I frequently work with people who are getting laid off or managing a layoff.
After you’ve been through several of these experiences, you recognize recurring patterns of behavior. You see the all-too-familiar signs that a layoff is coming. Trust your gut because your instincts are usually right.
Here are a few of the precursors I’ve witnessed or heard about from my clients. Some of these start happening months in advance, but others are a sign that a layoff will be executed within the next 24 hours.
* Are you back to working in an office? If so, you may notice the free food and drinks tapering off and disappearing, or the quality has dropped dramatically. I still remember the first time I experienced this at a startup. The snack supply slowly but surely dwindled, and they weren’t replaced despite our requests. The leadership team provided vague explanations, but the reality was the startup was failing, and we shut down shortly after that.
* Regularly scheduled long-term planning activities are suddenly postponed, often with no explanation. This behavior is typical when a significant layoff is coming, especially one that will cause a re-org and a change in the key players. It is challenging to make long-term plans that require critical decisions when the decision-makers are going to be changing seats soon.
* Hiring is frozen, and open reqs are put on hold or closed. Yikes! I know this is already true in many companies right now. This often happens a few months before a layoff. So, managers not only lose their open reqs but they won’t be allowed to backfill those positions either.
* It’s usually a sign that the company is going to specifically lay you off when senior management postpones a meeting with you they normally would have accepted. Or you stop receiving invitations to meetings for long-term planning or where confidential and strategic information will be discussed. As much as people would prefer not to telegraph your termination, they really can’t have you in critical meetings once they know you’ll be leaving the company.
* Entire teams are suddenly reassigned to new management when it doesn’t seem to make sense. I know this move all too well. Sometimes senior management will move a team to a more junior manager to pass on the unpleasant task of the layoff. Thanks, boss.
* Numerous meetings are scheduled with management and HR reps at the same time on the same day. If you’ve developed a great relationship with your HR partner (as I recommend you do), you’ll find out about this before anyone else. Otherwise, you may hear rumors about it from your colleagues. Some companies have even conducted mass layoffs over Zoom. That’s a nasty move.
* You may be on the layoff list if you’re scheduled for a surprise meeting with your manager and HR, and they won’t tell you what the agenda is. It depends on the size of your organization and its policies. At one company, my manager met with everyone, even if they were staying. When she showed up at my office door (yes, we had offices back then!), I thought I had lost my job. But instead, she told me I was not being let go.
* All management is suddenly pulled into a series of meetings across a 2-day period. Now, this occasionally happens when something massive is going down, like an acquisition or change of top leadership. But, they are probably planning a layoff when your manager finds it difficult to answer you when asked what is going on.
* People are told to attend a mandatory meeting even if they’re supposed to have the day off or be out on vacation. Managers will say that everyone needs to show up and can’t be off work that day. Thus, you've either identified a layoff day or a massive announcement (e.g., a re-org or acquisition is happening).
* Your corporate VPN suddenly stops working, thanks to IT staff that pulled the trigger too soon. I wish I were kidding about this one. But I can remember at least two different occasions when an employee called me to ask why they couldn’t VPN into the network anymore.
Layoffs are an inevitable fact of working life, but no one likes an unpleasant surprise. It’s good to recognize the signs, be prepared, and brace yourself for the moment you pop into a meeting and see the smiling faces of HR and your manager.
Ok, let’s move on to the scenarios I listed earlier. What will help you get through this next year of uncertainty?
1. Ride out the storm
Now is not the time to be making a move. I’m guessing the Great Resignation is behind us now. I don’t know anyone who is quitting their job without having something lined up first. In this market, it’s not a good idea to quit suddenly and hope you’ll find a great job later.
So, if you already have a decent job in a decent company, sit tight. Focus on your performance, delivering value, and meeting or exceeding expectations. As much as it pains me to say this, don’t rock the boat.
Hey, you know I’m a big believer in pushing hard to get what you want and deserve from your employer. And that’s great when the market is hot, and you know you’re in demand. Unfortunately, it’s risky when companies are cutting budgets, reducing headcount, and freezing hiring.
Even if you have a stable job and think you could never lose your job, it doesn’t hurt to strengthen your position in the company. The things you can do to ensure your job security are also great for preparing for a promotion.
2. Boost your job security
I’ve been an employee, manager, leader, and business owner during my career. I’ve been involved in all aspects of the layoff process.
* I was at IBM as a young employee when it conducted its first layoffs in the company's history (I kept my job).
* I was at Apple as a junior designer during multiple rounds of layoffs and learned why they spared me when more experienced employees were let go.
* I worked at a startup that was acquired (😁 Yay!), but then the parent company eliminated all of our jobs (😢 Boo).
* Unfortunately, I had to conduct my own layoffs when I was leading teams at Yahoo. That sucked.
So, who tends to stay off the list? How did I determine who would remain? Managers like to keep people who fit into one or more of these ten categories.
* Employees performing in the top 20%.
* Employees in critical roles working on strategic projects.
* People with the knowledge, skills, and experience for the company’s future.
* Employees who keep essential products and services running.
* Those few employees whom the boss can’t live without.
* Employees who bring in more revenue.
* Those who consistently save the company money.
* People who reliably add value to the organization.
* Those employees with a highly positive benefit-cost ratio.
* People who aren’t a pain in the ass to manage.
So, how do you put your name into one or more of these categories? This is how…
1. Be damn good at what you do
I’ve never witnessed managers put people on their layoff lists if they were high performers in the top 20% of the organization. Those employees were simply too valuable to lose.
How do you become a high performer?
* Always deliver results with high quality and on time.
* Get things done with minimal oversight.
* Understand the big picture.
* Go above and beyond.
* Ask to take on more responsibility.
* Be a great team player when required.
* Help everyone get better at their jobs.
* Engage in continuous learning and improvement.
2. Work on strategic projects
It can be fun to work on exciting and quirky projects. We all want some time for our pet projects too.
However, it is risky to be assigned to nonessential projects when your manager is creating a layoff list. During a time of economic crisis, entire projects, product lines, and businesses are often eliminated too.
If your project gets killed, your job may disappear along with it. Do everything you can to get assigned to a strategic project that is important to the company.
It is smart to work on strategic projects anyway. Successfully delivering results on a crucial project is also an excellent way to set yourself up for a promotion later.
3. Position yourself for the future
Layoffs occurred a few times while I was at Apple. During one particularly stressful layoff, the managers went door to door to talk with every employee in their offices.
Yes, believe it or not, we had private offices! Crazy, right? That was the last time I had an office during my 20+ year career.
The managers asked us various questions about our past work experience and skills. Little did I know that my familiarity with Unix (thank you, IBM) would save my job that day. It positioned me for working on the new Mac OS X, after Apple’s strategic acquisition of NeXT.
Pay attention to your company’s big plans and business strategy. Make sure that your skillset is well aligned with where the company is going so that your manager sees you as a valuable asset.
I know that sounds cold and calculating. An asset? But, these layoff decisions aren’t warm and fuzzy.
4. Keep the lights on
The company can’t afford to lose the crucial employees who keep their essential products and services up and running. If you want to stick around and can’t get assigned to one of the big strategic projects, then make sure you are working on the essential “bread and butter” projects, services, etc.
I remember one layoff discussion with the leaders of the various organizations in the company. Someone mentioned an employee’s name as a potential candidate for the layoff list.
His manager laughed and said, “He’s the only one who understands the code for XYZ. He wrote the whole thing, it’s not documented well, and no one else could keep it running. If we get rid of him, we’re screwed.”
5. Be indispensable
There are other ways to become indispensable to an organization too. Make your manager’s life easier. Be that employee that he or she can’t live without.
I remember one employee who always went above and beyond to take work off of his manager’s plate. He intentionally guided the manager to delegate things to him over the years. He made his boss’s life easier.
When that manager had to layoff 20% of the organization, do you think he selected that employee who was taking on so much of his workload? No way.
He knew that all of that work would get dumped back onto him if he lost that employee.
6. Bring in more revenue
Companies are famous for never putting anyone from the Sales organization on a layoff list. I remember a CEO answering a question about that very issue.
Someone asked, “Why didn’t the Sales org have to give up 20% of their team as we did?”
The CEO stared at her and said, “Because they bring in revenue. We lose them; we lose revenue. That’s not something we can afford right now.”
Demonstrate how you are directly responsible for bringing money into the company. If you are not directly accountable, then you have some homework to do.
Find ways to tie your work and achievements to activities that generate revenue for the business. The product managers I used to work with were very good at this. They would create models and calculate how their enhancements to the product drove improvements in key metrics and how those metrics drove increased revenue.
7. Save more money
If you are consistently finding ways to save the company money, your salary pays for itself many times over. Firing you would mean that the company loses more money than it would save by recovering your position’s compensation.
Again, you may have to get creative with your research and homework to show how your actions result in saving money for the business. Or, you may start looking for ways to cut costs (e.g., more efficient processes, cheaper software licenses, more affordable vendors, etc.).
8. Add more value to the organization
I remember some employees who were retained because they contributed to the company in qualitative ways. They weren’t directly increasing revenue or reducing costs, but everyone knew that the organization would suffer without them.
* You help keep everyone’s morale up.
* You’re the one who onboards new employees.
* You provide training that is crucial for the team.
* You do research that everyone else needs to perform their jobs.
* You are always finding ways to improve processes and make things more efficient.
* You keep everyone aware of the latest industry trends and developments.
Basically, people are glad that you are around, and they can’t imagine the office without you. Losing you would feel like a massive hit to the team’s morale. Your boss couldn’t afford to eliminate your position.
9. Maintain a highly positive benefit-cost ratio
A benefit-cost ratio is used in a cost-benefit analysis to measure the overall relationship between the relative costs and benefits of proposed investments, projects, and initiatives.
Yes, you are an investment for the company (e.g., a $200K/year fully-loaded cost for the average software engineer). They invest money and benefits into you as an employee with the hope that you yield even more value for the company.
Are you consistently delivering much more value than the cost of keeping you? Note, that cost goes beyond your total financial compensation.
We all know that some employees are more “challenging” to work with than others. However, we often put up with their behavior when they are one of the top performers in the company.
10. Don’t be a pain in the ass
Some employees are such a pain to manage that their managers dream about them leaving the company. Those people’s jobs are often hanging by a thread. The employee provides just enough value to make them worth keeping on the team.
However, when managers are required to create a layoff list, guess which names they immediately write down? Yes, the PITA employees.
This may not apply to you, but I know that someone somewhere is a challenging employee to worth with and manage. They frequently complain, make demands, and are generally high maintenance.
You don’t have to be a “Pollyanna,” but you should have a generally positive attitude. Collaborate well with your colleagues, contribute positively to meetings, provide constructive feedback, and be that person that people enjoy working with.
Surprisingly, a big corporation may not be the safe haven most people think they are. Many companies have over-hired over the past couple of years. The tight labor market may have contributed to it, as they were desperate to fill seats.
However, these companies are now shedding talent. This chart shows that layoffs have skyrocketed since May of this year. 146,102 employees across 964 companies have lost their jobs in 2022.
* Peloton has had four rounds of layoffs this year.
* Microsoft just announced layoffs across multiple divisions.
* Snap had a 20% reduction in its workforce.
* Flipboard cut 21% of its staff.
* Meta froze hiring and is planning additional cost-cutting measures.
* Tesla laid off 200 autopilot employees.
* TikTok has started laying off US workers.
* Coinbase cut over 1,000 jobs.
* Netflix has had multiple rounds of layoffs.
* Twitter cut 30% of its talent acquisition team.
Startups have long been considered a risky place to work. But a well-funded profitable startup may be the best place to be for the next couple of years. If you do get hit with a layoff, it might be time to start shopping on AngelList for your next job.
3. Find your next job
If you’ve recently been laid off, try to avoid some of the most common mistakes people make:
* Not taking time to deal with the job loss emotionally.
* Immediately jumping into a job search that day or week.
* Asking connections for help without a clear idea of what you want next for your career.
* Setting up an interview before you have your confidence back.
* Saying negative things about your past employer and manager.
* Hiding the layoff from your friends and loved ones.
* Going into isolation and avoiding your support network.
The day of a layoff is traumatizing. It doesn’t matter if you expected it, wanted it, or feel relieved. It is still an upsetting event, and you need time to let things sink in.
You may feel a sense of urgency to begin your job search, but your head isn’t in the right place. Don’t pressure yourself to be productive yet.
The day after the layoff, treat yourself well. Take some “me time” and enjoy things that you usually don’t have time to do.
Don’t feel guilty about taking a day off. You don’t need to start looking for a new job immediately. That would be a mistake, anyway. You’re not ready to bring your A-game to the process.
Then, take a day to reflect on what you want most for your career and life. You’ve probably been so focused on work and everyday routines that you haven’t taken any time for serious career planning.
What are your big goals? Where do you want to be in 5, 10, or 20 years? What does the ideal end state look like for you? Based on that, what’s the next step for you in your career?
Spend the rest of this day:
* Updating your resume the right way.
* Updating your LinkedIn profile.
* Creating a draft template for a cover letter that sells you.
* Refreshing your personal website.
* Adding work to your online portfolio if you need one (e.g., you’re a designer).
Join an alumni group to stay in touch with your past colleagues. Your professional network of previous coworkers and bosses is one of your most valuable resources for any future job search.
Every single one of my jobs during my Silicon Valley tech career was due to my network, warm introductions to hiring managers, and having an inside champion.
Get straight on what you want for your next job and how to position yourself to pursue it.
* Do you want to stay within the same domain and industry?
* Do you still want to keep doing the same work you performed for your previous employer?
* Are you seeking a lateral move, or are you ready to push for the next level?
* This “job hop” may end up being a great way to get promoted.
Start capturing ideas for where you’d like to work, who you’d like to work for and with, and the kind of role you want next in your career. You may need to work on acquiring additional skills and knowledge to land the job that you want most.
Some other housekeeping tasks to consider:
* You may want to file for unemployment. Many states are making it easier to do so right now.
* Look into your options for health insurance (e.g., COBRA in the U.S.).
* Review your finances to determine changes you might need to make to your budget while you are searching for your next job.
Do not let a layoff define you. When a massive economic event like this happens, layoffs are an unfortunate consequence. You did nothing wrong, and there is no stigma attached to losing a job right now.
Own your story. Be confident. Go into your job search with feelings of hope, pride, and ambition.
Write your elevator pitch and the story of how you want to describe and sell yourself. Update your social media bios to align with your professional positioning.
Be prepared for that inevitable question, “So, tell me about yourself.”
If you are struggling to find a new role that meets your expectations, then I encourage you to cast a wider net. For example, some people write off the opportunity to work for a startup because they never have before. Don’t reject something if you haven’t at least had a conversation with the hiring manager first.
Be open to remote roles. I know some people prefer to work in an office and be around coworkers. But you’ll find more opportunities if you’re working for a company in another city, state, or even a different country. As I mentioned, I have some friends and clients who took jobs with international companies, and it’s worked out quite well for them.
If you have a big enough financial cushion, you have some time to shop around. Hopefully, you have enough emergency funds to cover six months (best case, a year). If not, you may need to take more drastic measures to get income flowing in quickly.
4. Execute your backup plan
Hey, if you've been looking for a job for a long time, your strategy might not be working. Are you ready to try something new? Are you willing to do something more radical?
Do you need help with finding great jobs, practicing your job interview skills, and selling yourself? That’s where a career coach like me can help. You can schedule a free coaching call and talk with me about what your needs are right now.
Getting income flowing back in is your top priority. So, it might be time to take a job that you normally wouldn’t consider. It doesn’t have to be something you’d want to put on your LinkedIn profile later.
One quick tip: Add a new current position to your LinkedIn profile as a placeholder for your “consulting business.” This will prevent a gap in your employment and cover the time you may have to work at a job you’d rather not list there (e.g., working at the local hardware store).
I often recommend that people have an ongoing consulting business position on their LinkedIn, anyway. You’re always vulnerable if you only have one source of income from a single employer. A side hustle consulting business helps, especially in situations like this.
5. Take care of your people and yourself
Unless you're one of the heartless corporate drone managers, laying people off is going to impact your mental and emotional health. It's painful to let people go, especially this close to the holidays, and when you know the market is cold.
Screw what your company policy says. Find a way to take care of your team — the people who are staying and the people you let go. Help them connect with recruiters and hiring managers. Just don’t use your corporate email or laptop to do so. Work behind the scenes to help people.
Layoffs are hard on the employees who stay, too. It’s sad to lose coworkers and friends. It creates so much anxiety when you fear that your job might be next.
Talk with your team, address their concerns, and answer their questions. Don’t make false promises, though. You can never guarantee that someone’s job is 100% secure.
Take care of yourself, too. It's been over a decade since I had to lay people off when I was a corporate leader. I still think about it. I still picture those days and can see the expressions on their faces when I shared the bad news.
It will bother me forever.
The company won't pay for your therapy years later when you're no longer its employee. But you still have to live with you. So, do what you need to make peace with what you have to do.
Obviously, be careful! Don't blatantly violate your company policies or employment agreement — unless you're ready to leave and work somewhere better. Or maybe you now know it’s time to leave this chaos and start your own business. Speaking of…
6. Evaluate your business resilience
This last scenario only applies to you business owners out there. How is your business performing during this economic dip? Is your business good even when the economy is "bad"?
This is a good time to evaluate your resilience. What can you do to make your business more robust under conditions like this? Are there ways to tweak your model or offer new services or goods that will thrive now?
Starting and operating a successful business is never easy. But it sure is a lot easier in a good economy vs. a bad one! Times like this are when you find out how solid your business plan is.
It’s an opportunity to learn about the power of diversification. I just wrote about this for my solopreneur newsletter. If you’re interested, check it out:
We will get through this
You’ll get through this. It won’t be fun, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Markets always go through up and down cycles. We faced it in the Dot Com Crash of 2000. We ran into it during the Great Recession between 2007-2009.
You’re not alone. Many of us are worried, and some people are already struggling. Don’t isolate yourself. Talk with your friends and advisors.
Check in with your network and see how other people are doing, too. Keeping your network fresh and active is always a good idea. But it’s even more important now.
Times like these are one of the reasons I created my Invincible Career community. When you join, you will connect with an experienced career coach and ambitious peers who want more out of work and life! Get the advice, feedback, and support you need to get ahead in your career!
By the way, there is a great way you can support my work without spending any money on a premium subscription:
📣 Recommending my newsletter on social media!
It only takes a few seconds, and it helps grow my business so I can continue making time to write it.
I’ll even provide some copy and paste text to make it easy to share on Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Thanks in advance!
I've been enjoying the Invincible Career newsletter by Larry Cornett (@cornett). If you want to get ahead at work and be happier in your job, but you aren’t subscribed yet, you’re missing out. https://newsletter.invinciblecareer.com
Larry Cornett is a Personal Coach who can help you optimize your career, life, and business. If you’re interested in starting a business or side hustle someday (or accelerating an existing one), check out his “Employee to Solopreneur” course (launching later this year).
Larry lives in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with his wife and children, and a gigantic Great Dane. He does his best to share advice to help others take complete control of their work and life. He’s also on Twitter @cornett.
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