5 Steps To Land High Paying Jobs In Tech

One day, I woke up and decided I didn't want to go to work. Not like the Sunday scaries or what I call the ho-hums.?

No, I wanted to quit my job and my recruiting career altogether. I tried to make a pivot, but I couldn't see what I could do with my skills or who would need them.

I was miserable every day. I would find an excuse not to work, and one day, it finally hit me — I was chasing money!!!

After being a technical recruiter for over two decades and defining myself by my commission statement, I was burned out, unmotivated, and unchallenged. I knew I needed to get to the bottom of the feeling and FAST.??

So, I rolled up my sleeves, deeply explored my strengths, and examined what I loved about my recruiting job. It wasn't matching people with employers — it was counseling women on how to tell their stories, demonstrate the impact they can make, and nail interviews with confidence. That's what filled me up!?

What I uncovered was. I was meant to be a CAREER COACH!?

All those years, I watched qualified female candidates make the same mistakes over again when itcame to networking, interviewing, leaving money on the table when negotiating, and everything in between.?

So when I became a Career Coach, I decided to use all the behind-the-scenes information I was privy to as a recruiter to help women in tech feel prepared, confident, assured, and stand out from the crowd in their career transition.

Today, I'm going to walk you through how to move from feeling stuck in your job search to identifying AND landing a tech job that you love through my 5 Actionable Steps To get to "You're Hired!" in Tech coaching methodology.?

5 ACTIONABLE STEPS TO “YOU’RE HIRED IN THE TECH ROLE OF YOUR DREAMS!”

??STEP 1 - Get clear on career direction so you can build a personal brand to bridge you there.??

By taking the time to build out your personal brand, companies will “get YOU.” They’ll see the impact you can create and your true potential!?

It’s essential that you gain clarity first.

If you can’t articulate what you want to do next, it will be too confusing for companies to know what to hire you for.

What do you want to do next, and where do you see yourself? Sometimes we have to look at the end game and reverse engineer it.?

You need to identify your career non-negotiables — just because you are good at it doesn’t mean you should keep doing it. You’re in charge!

Your Career Story

When we start to build our personal brand, we can look at all the areas in our life, past, and present. Oftentimes reflected in an Ikigai Venn diagram which we have westernized, but you get my point. First, identify common themes and interests in your life and career. Then look at the intersection of what you like to do, what you are good at, and what the world wants and is willing to pay to do.?

This is your Ikigai.

Next, look at what you LOVE doing (keep doing that), what you want to stop doing (no longer serves you), and what you would love to continue doing.

Then, look at when you felt the most alive and accomplished, your strengths and values, and areas you know need improvement or gaps that you might need to fill in your skillset.

As you unpack our past, wants, desires, and needs, use these insights as they will help you down the path of bigger decisions.

Meet Your Future Self

Write down where you want to be in 10-20 years— your future self can often help shape your career direction and the roles you want to play. I like to write an actual letter starting with, “Dear Laura, You wouldn’t believe how you got here, so settle in while I share with you a few chapters.”

Define your WHY

Literally, ask yourself WHY. You know Simon Sinek’s 5 Why’s. Getting to the root cause or driving motivation of a problem is vital for practicing self-awareness and navigating a career change. Often it can help define our big decisions or describe your non-negotiables. Why do you want to make more money? What do you want to change jobs? What do you want to change companies? Go there.

Building your dossier

Now that you have some clarity of where you want to go and why you want to go there….you need to create authentic marketing material to stand out from all the other high achievers like yourself! This is AKA your resume, LinkedIn, and 3- second ME pitch. You will need to rebrand your story to reflect your next career step.?

Good news… I do this stuff for my clients!!?

Resume

Your resume is 100% based on what role you are targeting. Your resume needs to align with the roles you are going for and reflect accomplishments, your potential, and why you are qualified.?

HARD FACT: You can not use one resume for every job you’re interested in applying for— it must be tailored to the role.?

You need a well-written resume that demonstrates your valuable experience and minimizes any risk of age bias from hiring managers.

Components include:

• Attention-grabbing headline
• Compelling professional summary
• Skills from the job description
• Your job accomplishments, not your responsibilities.

Your resume needs to be ATS-friendly (although you should be handing out your resume to a person), and you need to have all the keywords to make it SEO.??

LinkedIn

Your LinkedIn profile plays a critical role in your professional presence online. Of course, it's an excellent platform for networking and validating your experience, but according to LinkedIn, “All-Star rankings” are 40 times more likely to be found in recruiter searches.?

This is the one place you get to talk about yourself in the first person, so use it to tell your story! You need to optimize everything from your profile picture to your recommendations so recruiters and hiring leaders get YOU and want to reach out to learn more about you.?

To achieve All-Star rankings, just use the darn thing — all of it.?

1. You need an updated headshot - no selfies, and don’t be lazy and use a group picture you cropped yourself out. Your image should convey someone everyone wants to work with — approachable, happy, and dedicated.?

2. You want to be found by recruiters and hiring leaders — your about section and experience need to be loaded with keywords and phrases (hello SEO) that describe how you want to be found.?

3. You want it to tell a story and show your personality so viewers can see the impact that you have made.

I know this is A LOT, but you’re in luck!

I’ve been teaching a Masterclass on optimizing your Linkedin based on my 20+ years as a technical recruiter who used LinkedIn daily to find people like you, and I share it with my clients!

??STEP 2 -? Create and leverage your abundant networking strategy

Most people think the best way to land a dream job is to apply for 10 roles per day on LinkedIn as they did in the past. I call this strategy submit and pray. While it used to be effective, it no longer yields the desired results. You are competing with a one-touch apply button that is globally available to anyone, anywhere!!!?

Referral employees have a 28.5% of being hired, while non-referral employees only have a 2.7% chance. (Zippia)

You need to find a way to circumnavigate the application tracking system and tap into the hidden job market.?

When you start networking inside a company, you learn about technology roles that haven’t even been posted. All companies, regardless of size, receive over 20% of their hires from referrals. (Zippa)

Here are a few steps to building an abundant networking strategy.

1. Create an enticing 30-second me pitch to get you to articulate who you are and the value you bring enough to trigger a conversation.
2. Create alerts with LinkedIn, Ladders, Google Jobs, Angel.co. You want to know as soon as a job is posted, preferable before, and you need all the wheels turning in our favor.?
3. Make a list of companies you want to work for and follow them on LinkedIn, TechCrunch, Wired, Crunchbase, Owler, and other publications so you can have immediate information about the company, employees, or announcements. Use this information to have more engaging conversations.
4. Search for executive recruiters and be proactive. The more you get paid, the more they get paid, so use them to help you land a job.?

You want to be top of mind when technical recruiters get an open role and think, "Who do I know?"

1. Connect with 20 champions that would do anything for you. These are your peeps. Be of service to them, call them, take them to dinner, and have conversations. They will connect you with the right people when they see an opportunity as you would do for them. These people and your conversations together will lead to opportunities.

I give scripts for these conversations to make it super easy to grow your network.

??STEP 3 - Interview like an executive, so you get to the offer stage

You need to have a strong talk track during your interviews, know what stories you want to share, and be able to connect them to the role.

It’s the words that come out of your mouth that get you the job!?

You can’t just wing it!

How often did you think you were perfect for the job and didn’t get it?

Let me tell you a secret—you are competing with other candidates who think they are perfect for the job too!?

You need a strategy to succeed in the interview based on clarity of your experiences, communication, and preparation.?

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This is the most important step in getting to “You’re Hired!”

Sometimes it’s not about the salary but finding the right fit. Mary came to me after a long pause in her career with low confidence and uncertainty. We mock interviewed and practiced our stories with a few advanced techniques, and she was able to land within a few weeks of interviewing.

You have to be able to articulate your value proposition and concisely communicate your strengths. Explain why they matter to the employer and answer those tough behavioral questions.

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I help my clients prep, so they leave the interview knowing they nailed it!

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Research

Understand who the company is and what they stand for. Start with the company website, social media platforms, press releases, and shareholder statements. Check out Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, and learn about the competition and how they stack up against them.?

Mock Interviews

Always the Bridesmaid, never the bride? There’s a reason you didn’t advance to the next phase in the interview process— you didn’t practice!?

Don’t mock the mock interviews—they are a MUST!? Practice with friends and family in your car or the bathroom mirror. Record yourself, time yourself. You can’t make changes if you are unaware of what needs to change.

Whether it’s behavioral questions, like how have you handled a boss who asked you to do something you didn't want to do, to situational questions that start with, “tell me about a time when” you are being screened for the following seven pillars: Conflict resolution, Problem-solving, Strategic thinking, Decision making, Teamwork, Communication, and Leadership.?

You need a story for each of these areas!

I practice with my clients, record our mock sessions and adjust so we can correct course quickly.

Video Interviews

The landscape is different, my friend. Video interviews are here to stay! Now more than ever, you need to be aware of your body language. According to Mehrabian, 55% of our communication is through our body language!

Of course, we all have our home office set up but have you thought about how you look? Is your camera at the right angle, and do you know where to focus? Do you have proper lighting? What’s considered professional “office” attire?

Thank you letters

When it comes to thank you notes, the number one thing to remember is that a thank you note should be just that—a thank you, not a sales pitch. You’re done talking about yourself and your qualifications.?

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I have examples for you, so it’s done and crossed off the list.

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Do you want to interview like an executive, so you get to the offer stage?

CLICK HERE to download my Surefire Guide To Interview Like An Executive.

??STEP 4 -? Learn to have an executive presence even if you're not one

Executive presence is more than gravitas— it's a set of behaviors, and let's be real here, people are JUDGY! They will make an opinion about you within the first 30 seconds. You can't afford to not be good at this!?

Explore and learn how to convey confidence and have a professional magnetism that influences others. You will move from passivity and self-doubt to self-assurance, decisiveness, and brave decision-making.

As you begin a career transition, it’s important to reflect on how you are showing up. You can’t be a leader without being an effective communicator.?

The 3 main areas of executive presence.

1. How you speak "communication" (articulate clear, concise ideas, strengthen self-confidence, and listen with intent)
2. How you look "appearance" (body language, video set up, nonverbals, appropriate grooming, and clothes)
3. How you act "gravitas" (nurturing relationships, engagement, alignment, influence)

? STEP 5 - Feel confident negotiating a salary you deserve without leaving money on the table

Going into 2022, earn only 83 cents for every dollar a man earns; a woman must work more than 14 months to earn what a man earned in just 12 months. (compa)

Although there are many reasons for this pay disparity, the truth is that most women don’t even ask. They feel like they are being greedy or feel intimidated by the act of asking for their worth. There are some systemic issues, but the reality is that 68% of women accepted the offer they were given and did not negotiate. (Forbes)

Learn practical examples and techniques to confidently negotiate your salary like an expert with scripts for getting the desired compensation (even if it's your first time).

You have two opportunities to negotiate.

First, when you speak with the recruiter, and second when you have an offer.

You need to learn how to estimate your market value and how tech companies structure their salaries before the first call.

After following this methodology, my client Elaina received an offer for her dream role and negotiated a killer 6-figure offer + a sign-on bonus.?

Negotiating salary isn’t easy, and it can be especially difficult for women. In general, women are less likely to ask for more money when offered a job, yet 73% of employers expect candidates to negotiate during the hiring process. (HRD)

Having negotiation scripts in hand that have proven results based on some of the top salary negotiators will make you feel confident you’re not leaving money on the table.

The sooner we START working together, the sooner we can CELEBRATE!

My Clients are landing VP roles!

And receiving offers from Google and Amazon!

The 5 Actionable Steps to “You’re Hired” process works!!!?

After reading this, I hope you get the sense that this IS possible. It's not some unrealistic, grandiose dream to think you can transition into a career you love and negotiate a killer salary.?

It's simply about effectively executing a strategy.??

We spend one-third of our lives working — don’t stay stuck in a role that doesn’t bring you joy & pay you what you deserve.?

You don’t have to do this alone!

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?? ??Click here to take the FIRST step and apply for a discovery call to learn more about the 5 Steps To get to “You’re Hired!” and land in high-paying tech role. ?? ???

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#llcareercoach, #networkingtips, #salarynegotiation, #jobsearchstrategies, #interviewpreparation

Laura Leach, MPCC, RCC, is an executive career coach helping mature women in tech simplify the process of transitioning to a career with purpose and negotiate the salary they deserve.?

Visit: meredithconsultingllc.com

Contact: [email protected]