Dude, I took four pages of notes at @lizmrush's talk last night. She is a hilarious and engaging speaker, and I really enjoyed her talk. Please enjoy this more concise and heavily bulleted summary:
Find out how other people with your experience are describing themselves. Then research how people who already have the job you want are telling their stories.
- Check LinkedIn, resumes, and job boards.
- Go to meetups and find people who have the job you want.
- Ask questions! Do they like their jobs? Why? (Why not?)
- Dig into Glassdoor and Salary.com comments to learn more about the company culture.
- Keep track of what you're doing and what you've learned!
What are your values? What do you really want out of this job? Think about it. Write it down!
- What do you have that other candidates don't?
- Do you have any deal breakers, anything you just can't stand in the workplace?
- Does the company align with your values?
- Trust your gut feeling!
- What media or activity do you consume en masse when you want to feel stoked?
- Stretching, listening to your favorite song, running around the block while flailing and screaming all the while... what makes you feel great?
- Do that before interviews!
- Set boundaries on your time!
- Give clear timelines if you can't do something by the time requested.
- It's okay to push back and say no!
Ask your friends for advice. Reach out to your network: try to find someone who will give you more critical feedback. Find a group. Meetups are great for finding small groups and making short pitches! Practice anything that feels uncomfortable to you.
Practice:
- Saying what you want.
- Saying no!
- Feeling uncomfortable.
- Talking about money.
- Letting the silence hang.
- Redirecting the conversation back to you / what you've done that's awesome.
- Telling your story.
- Have a short version (<60 seconds), but be prepared to offer more details.
- Asking for more -- more money, more benefits, more information.
- Ask to see where you'll be working, to meet your future coworkers.
- Go to conferences.
- Beginners can speak at conferences, too!
- If you can't afford the tickets, ask about scholarships or volunteer.
- Take risks!
- Experiment.
- Post something different.
- Ask for more.
- Share your personality!
- Don't talk trash.
- Even on reddit.
- Nobody likes jerks!
--[@DrVonnJerryXLII][dt], Stardate 2015/3/27 [dt]: https://twitter.com/drvonnjerryxlii/ "Tweeeeeeeeeet!"