As I regale you with the rollercoaster ride of job hunting in the startup world, you'll discover that the path to employment is anything but straight. For four long months, I've been on the hunt, and in this heartfelt exchange, you'll hear from the likes of Becca, who skillfully turned a layoff into her dream role, and Rebecca, an events maven with a revolutionary approach to the elevator pitch, leveraging AI like ChatGPT. We delve into the contentious topic of interview work assignments, their fairness, and the debate around unpaid tasks. Alongside these discussions, we share an array of anecdotes from our virtual interview experiences, where dressing 'business on top, party on the bottom' has become the unofficial uniform, and we confess to the resume entries we adore too much to erase.
The camaraderie of the Job Hunting Club, with Sarah, Rebecca, Becca, and Bina, provides a backbone of support that's as strong as it is necessary during these trying times. In this segment, the spirit of collaboration comes alive, with our Slack channel dripping with job leads, resources, and pep talks. The anticipation for our forthcoming book-inspired meetups is palpable, promising to be the launchpad for resume polishing, interview rehearsals, and an endless stream of morale boosts. So, if you're ready to join a tribe where pursuing your next career chapter becomes a collective conquest, tune in and let's navigate these job-seeking jungles together.
As I regale you with the rollercoaster ride of job hunting in the startup world, you'll discover that the path to employment is anything but straight. For four long months, I've been on the hunt, and in this heartfelt exchange, you'll hear from the likes of Becca, who skillfully turned a layoff into her dream role, and Rebecca, an events maven with a revolutionary approach to the elevator pitch, leveraging AI like ChatGPT. We delve into the contentious topic of interview work assignments, their fairness, and the debate around unpaid tasks. Alongside these discussions, we share an array of anecdotes from our virtual interview experiences, where dressing 'business on top, party on the bottom' has become the unofficial uniform, and we confess to the resume entries we adore too much to erase.
The camaraderie of the Job Hunting Club, with Sarah, Rebecca, Becca, and Bina, provides a backbone of support that's as strong as it is necessary during these trying times. In this segment, the spirit of collaboration comes alive, with our Slack channel dripping with job leads, resources, and pep talks. The anticipation for our forthcoming book-inspired meetups is palpable, promising to be the launchpad for resume polishing, interview rehearsals, and an endless stream of morale boosts. So, if you're ready to join a tribe where pursuing your next career chapter becomes a collective conquest, tune in and let's navigate these job-seeking jungles together.
Speaker 1:
Welcome back to the club Ichi Telethon. This is 12 hours of content, conversation and camaraderie. We were talking a little bit earlier about how community can really help you find your next gig. That's what we want to talk about next. We've got Star leading the conversation for us about lifting up the laid off. There's been some tough times in 2023, and we have some ideas on what might be helpful for you. Over to the team for this incredible conversation.
Speaker 2:
Hey everyone, thanks for joining our lift up the laid off session. I know for many of us it has really felt like the season of layoffs instead of the holiday season. We want to just dive right in with some rapid interview questions, follow up with some tips and tricks for your job hunt. But first I'd love to let our panel introduce themselves. I'm going to go first. Hi, my name is Star Stevenson. I'm a marketer with 15 years of experience and a love for startups. I am still very unemployed after four months of job hunting. Handing it over to Becca.
Speaker 3:
Hi everyone, I'm Becca. I was laid off in May, but I actually landed my dream job by September, so hopefully that will be an inspiration to you all.
Speaker 2:
Sarah. I think Sarah might have lost some audio, so I'm going to move over to Rebecca. Hey everybody.
Speaker 4:
My name is Rebecca Carmody and I'm a seasoned events professional with 20 years of experience, with a focus on strategy, and I am entering my second month of my job search.
Speaker 2:
Sarah, did we get you back? No, we didn't get Sarah back, so we'll keep right on going. So we're going to do some rapid interview questions. These are a mix of fun and not so fun, but I can go from everyone. If you are business on the top party in the bottom during your interviews, I'm going to let everyone go around and answer that question.
Speaker 5:
Hey, there I'm back. Oh great, I'm Sarah Cook. I'm a product marketer in a month. Seven of my job search. Usually I have a job in three weeks, so I am all about job hunting better.
Speaker 2:
Nice to meet you. Sarah, thanks for coming on. So the question is are you business on the top, party on the bottom, party on the top? All business? Let us know.
Speaker 5:
Well, I like to do a little party on the top, depending on the day, friday, you know, you can be a little bit more party than others. Always decent on the bottom, great Becca, what about you?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, definitely business on the top, leggings on the bottom, which for some people, is business. I don't know, it depends where you are, who you are, but I live in leggings. So, rebecca, what about you? We'll call it a party.
Speaker 4:
Oh, definitely party on the bottom star. I've got to rock my Costco joggers and my biotics slippers around the house.
Speaker 2:
I love it. Yeah, you won't catch me in real pants if I don't have to be, so what is one thing that you just cannot let go of on your resume? That's been there for way too long, becca. What about you?
Speaker 3:
So I have something on my resume from I don't even want to say when, but I actually, early in my career, had the good fortune of being able to plan the Saturday Night Live after after parties. It has nothing to do with what I do now, aside from, you know, telling the story of how I got into the events industry to begin with, but truthfully it should come off my resume. But it's an amazing conversation starter and you know, people just love to hear topics. They love to hear what they're doing.
Speaker 5:
Yeah, Sarah, what about you? I've always got to have something about music. And what's my music involvement in the Austin community?
Speaker 2:
I love it For me. I cannot let go of the fact that I was an intern for the Department of Defense. I felt like I was I don't know. Hot shit, I think, and I just let it go. I don't know if I'm going to get a bigger clearance and all. So this is a big one. What you know? Are you willing to do an assignment as part of the hiring process and not? We're seeing this more and more, especially lately. I'm hearing from a lot of people that they're getting asked to do real, you know projects. So I'm going to think about this.
Speaker 3:
I think it depends when, in the process of the interview timeline, you're asked to do that assignment. If it's towards the end and you're feeling really good and you know it's down to you and maybe one or two other candidates, then I think it's a really good opportunity for you to really show how you would be in the job. Then it also has the opportunity to give you a chance to be working, give you something to do besides just the day-to-day of the job hunt. It really puts you back in the mindset of having a deliverable.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I really like when companies take the time to acknowledge that it is asking you to do work and they pay you for it. I've seen a mix of unpaid paid early on in the interview and late in the interview process. I don't mind doing it, as long as I can at least be recognized for the intellectual property I'm handing over. Rebecca, do you have any ideas to freshen up your elevator pitch?
Speaker 4:
Yeah, I do. Thanks for asking. I just wondered if anybody out there is totally short-circuited and gone blank when an interviewer asked them tell me about yourself. Because being able to tell a story and engage your interviewer is where the elevator pitch really does come in.
Speaker 4:
Most recently, I discovered a secret weapon, but it's a weapon I think most of us have been hearing about lately in its AI tools like chat, gpt or BARD. I think of these tools as a personal height machine and one of the tools that can help you craft a pitch that sparks interest and not yawns. So AI, I found, can help you ditch the overall generic data dump when an interviewer asked you that question and it can help you craft a story about you with some data inputs from your resume or from you, you know, you prompting AI to help you with that. It can also help you find your voice and share your unique personality, helping you to make a lasting impression. Ai can help you by being a tool that turns the tell me about yourself and conversation starter overall and a guide to craft a unique pitch that highlights your passion and grabs attention. So I do suggest using AI tools like BARD or chat GPT to help you along that path, as well as your own inputs.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think that's great and I think, above all else, practicing it and saying it out loud gets you confident and comfortable saying it each time. Sarah, should you send a thank you note? I'm sorry, I'm going to hand it back to Rebecca. Were you raised by?
Speaker 5:
wolves. The thank you note is your opportunity to go back and tell them why you're a great fit for the position and to reconnect on topics that you discovered, whether it's kind of inside jokes that were exchanged during your interview. I'm going to go back to Rebecca and talk about the work that you discussed. I'm going to go back to Rebecca and talk about the work that you discussed during your interview. Or, if it's, maybe, shipping them a link to an article for something, a topic that you discussed. That is imperative for the success of this role, but you should take every opportunity you can to connect and to be at the top of their positions.
Speaker 2:
We're going to move on to the tips and tricks that have been working for job hunting. As Sarah mentioned, three weeks is not happening anymore. Layoffs are taking longer to bounce back from, so I'm going to hand it over to Rebecca to get us started with some new takes on job hunting.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so I mean number one tip. Well, maybe I have too tight for number one, but treat the job search like it's a full-time job. You know, be on a schedule, Get yourself on a schedule every day of the week. Yes, of course, give yourself a day off, give yourself some PTO, but treat it like a full-time job. Be on by 9 am. Schedule out your days. Don't just rely on, you know, just applying to different jobs and calling it a day. Schedule out networking calls, watch webinars, listen to podcasts, read books, and we'll have all these resources for you Helps you not only stay motivated but also to be able to work with you, and it's a great way to work with you.
Speaker 3:
And it's a great way to work with you. And it's a great way to work with you. And it just eases the transition as well, when you do get back into work full-time, to already be in that mindset of having that scheduled day and working full-time. And then, second, which I think we all agree on, is networking, networking, networking, shamelessly doing it. And so you know, according to NBC, a CNBC, 70% of jobs are never even published publicly. So that's really, that's mind-blowing, especially from how we're all kind of used to this search you know in the past. So these jobs are either posted internally, created specifically for certain candidates that recruiters are meeting through networking. So there's no better time to embrace that as a part of the process.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think networking can be really uncomfortable for a lot of folks.
Speaker 2:
So I think, not only looking at your own network, but also that secondary level of connection right, not just your first connections and then getting involved in your community there's local events we have, obviously, each is an online Slack, you know, community, all of these different things that we do, and I think that's one of the things that we've been doing and I think that's one of the things that has been meant to help, you know, get you back to work quicker, and I think getting comfortable in the uncomfortableness of shamelessly networking is really imperative. I know, for me personally, almost every interview I've had is not from applying for a job. It's from applying for the job, reaching out, connecting with people, and I think that's one of the things that we've been doing. I know that we've put in a bunch of tools and resources in the chat there's some great ones, 20 minute network meeting and some other books and resources. So please take a look at that, and then I'm going to hand it over to Sarah to mention another great resource, which is the EG job hunting club.
Speaker 5:
Well, the each job hunting club is a concept right now that Liz and I are talking about, and I am currently reading this book Never Search Alone, which is very popular right now and just seems to really be taking over. But they provide certain exercises and you know, you can learn about harnessing the power of community. In our case, the club each community and your job search. You can. It explores the candidate ということ together. Enjoy the holidays and then start getting ready for 2024.
Speaker 2:
Thank you, thank you. And then, last and final, the name of this is Lift Up the Late Off, and that's because I know a lot of us have experienced layoffs, a lot of us are going through a tough time. I'd love to tell you a little bit. We've kicked off a program called hashtag lift up the late off. It's so simple.
Speaker 2:
You can either ask, submit a form with a Amazon wish list, or, if you are on the other side of this and you'd love to give back, you can sign up to be paired with someone with a wish list, and we're just trying to give back to the community a little bit. You have, you know, kids and you're stressed about how you're going to get a present under the tree, like I know that many people have been laid off for a very long time. So we just want to give back to the community and, yeah, so click on the form to fill that out, share it if you know other people that are in this situation and we'd love to give back. So, thank you, sarah, rebecca, becca. Appreciate you guys being on. This was great, thank you so much.
Speaker 3:
Thanks, Bina. All the resources are now in the channel with links. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to any of us.
Speaker 2:
Yeah and hey, everybody go get jobs. We're going to do it. It's going to be great, no more.
Speaker 1:
Thank you so much to the team who is out there really, really helping each other, and I think that that's one of the things I love the most in the club. Each slack channel right now is all of the conversations and there's a jobs channel and people are just dropping in screenshots of LinkedIn announcements that there's openings, links to some jobs that people know that aren't for them but want to share with others. So make sure, if you are job hunting, to hop in there and, like Sarah said, we're working on putting together this job hunting club that the book has really advocated for and I think once we all finish reading the book because that has really been our hold up we're going to kick those things off. Give people a meeting together once a week or every two weeks to share ideas and help and resumes and practice interviewing.