How to Get Hired In Cannabis

How to Get Hired In Cannabis

As a PE/VC partner in cannabis, I have gotten more questions and coffee date requests (that often to turn into brain picking sessions) than I can manage. All have one goal in mind, how do I get into this fast-paced cannabis industry? How do I get a gig? Get a board seat? Start a company? Get clients in cannabis?

I did two calls on this last week and realized, wow, it doesn’t need to be that damn hard. Here’s how I got into the industry and how you can too if you so choose.

This is my attempt to answer. This is an excerpt from my Get Hired in Cannabis guide in it’s full form here where we donate to minorities and vets.

Why?

CANNABIS IS BOOMING: They call this… “America’s hidden job boom.”

• Jobs are plentiful - Cannabis is projected to hit a job-creation rate of 110% in just three years from 2017 to 2020.
• You are paid more – 11% higher mean salary than average broad-based industry
• Opportunities are growing – 44,000 jobs created in 2019 – 35% increase YOY (In a major downturn of a market FYI)
• Cannabis spending grew globally to $17 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $31.6 billion in 2022.

All this growth means services, jobs, and opportunities will flourish.

So, let me tell you how I did it, how I recommend doing it, and why.

The truth is that you don’t need a filler or a connection to get your foot in the door with cannabis; you need this guide.

If you follow this (and are one of the few who actually take action), you WILL get interviews, you will get responses, board seats, advisory shares, and offers. Period. And the rest of us get someone else out there who is contributing to our world and this massively talent-starved industry. Ain’t that beautiful?

So, hello there, you good-looking and soon to be engaged in cannabis human!

30 second background: I’m Codie. I am a partner at one of the largest Private Equity/Venture Capital firms in cannabis, Entourage Effect Capital. We and our portfolio companies have hired thousands of people both inside and outside of this industry. I’ve also been on both the searching and the hiring side of dream job hunting, as well as for board and advisory seat hunting. Neither are much fun. They involve an insane amount of email reading, CV perusing and LinkedIn searching. But you make a lot of money, and impact, by doing both things well. However – I noticed something as I started hiring more frequently and as I started banging my own head against the wall with higher job searches.

What is that?

We all are pretty terrible at having the confidence (and plan) to change industries. We are even worse at communicating why to hire or work with us. We generally SUCK at writing job or partnership emails. AND we are even worse at follow-up.

Thus, opportunity hunting turns into torture. Why?

1. Opportunity postings get an insane amount of replies (especially in cannabis)
2. 99.9% of replies sound identical… aka sleep inducing to employers or executives
3. The few who don’t sound this way; they get results AND they follow a formula

Once I realized this, I started looking through the 100s of messages I’ve been sent asking for jobs and advice on how to gain entry into cannabis. Then, I started looking for all of the jobs that had been sent to me through LinkedIn messages and email. It took me about 200 messages to find the few gems within, and voila! It all starts with two simple methods for opportunity hunting via email; methods that are easy, powerful, and truly work. ESPECIALLY if you use the follow-up procedures. Once I started sharing these with job inquirers and our portfolio companies, I realized how many people don’t have a road map for getting hired and sharing their talents with the world.

Thus, this is a selfish pursuit, me writing this guide. I WANT YOU smart and driven humans in my industry of cannabis. We need you to take this to where it needs to go. The reason I make you pay for this is twofold:

1. It is a great excuse to fundraise for charities supporting veterans who need access to cannabis, which was why I got into the industry. (I donate all the proceeds).
2. Humans do not value what they do not pay for.

Thus, you need to pay for it so you will actually USE it. As much as I love sitting for hours on the weekends writing my lessons (spoiler alert I don’t), this is only worthwhile if you read it and use it.

So, help a sister out and do that, eh?

If you use these methods, you will:

1. Start making $$$ faster – The average unemployment period for an American is 20 weeks, that’s 5 months without a paycheck. We’re saving you $23,585 if you were paid the US average salary. That’s a lot of dinero.
2. Shorten your opportunity search – The numbers are horrifying for those of us who make money. Experts say it takes you a month to find a new job for every $10k in your salary. Sweet lord that’s a lot of months! Hypothetical: if you make $100k, that means set aside 10 months, even if you do it while working, to find your next six-figure salary. The same goes for clients or consulting gigs.
3. Get better at getting whatever you want – While this might sound a bit overreaching, you are learning how to gain attention and close in your emails and messages. This will help you in everything: from sales, to dates, to promotions, to passive income, to board seats, to advisory arrangements, to arguments with your kids.

Money isn’t the only goal here. The goal is to work where you want, when you want, on what you want… and get paid what you want. 

Warning: I would not recommend skipping over the Why behind the What. I’ve outlined the psychology behind copywriting and follow-up closing that’s solid gold. Make sure to also think about your unique skills, your reason for getting into this industry, and why you are making these changes. BUT, I’m all about free-will, if you just want the proven templates, the reach out calendar, advisory/board seat recommendations, and the cannabis hiring resources, scroll to the segment you desire below.

Sections:

1. Intro: Why Cannabis
2. How An Opportunity Search Actually Works
3. Breaking into Cannabis
4. Cannabis Hiring & Industry Stats
5. Get Smart on Cannabis Fast Plan

THESE ABOVE ARE ALL INCLUDED IN THIS POST -> FULL GUIDE HERE including the sections below.

1. Cannabis Recruiting Resources (List of top recruiters, sites and companies)
2. Become an Expert in Cannabis
3. Get a Board Seat or Advisory Shares in A Cannabis Startup
4. Average Emails Will Kill You
5. Them Not You (TNY) Method
6. Scratch THEIR Itch
7. AIDA Formula – Write to Excited
8. Write like you speak
9. The Templates
10. Water Wears Down Rocks – LinkedIn Follow-Up Process
11. Drip Campaign Calendar

The last section(s) may actually be the MOST important. Why?

Most people go after opportunities the traditional way which DOESN’T work.

They want to get paid, get rich, and get noticed, but they do it wildly inefficiently. If you want to be in a certain industry: you interview at companies that are related, you major in a related field at college or university, you talk to people about how to get into the industry, or you go get specialized degrees that cost you thousands (aka our giant college debt problem in the US).

Let me show you why you are working much harder than you need to. If you want more than just a job, and you want to be an executive, consultant, or advisor, make sure to read this entire report until then end. This is where I’ll tell you how instead of going after jobs; you can make the jobs/opportunities come to you. How do you do that? You become an expert in your space.

You get paid to be an expert. This is not a get rich quick idea, this is you leveraging your unique skill and passion to a profitable and sustainable end. Think you don't have what it takes? In this section I give you the five steps you can take right now to know more in one week than 99.9% of the population knows on your subject matter. 

How An Opportunity Search Actually Works

It’s Competitive:

The average posting gets over 250+ email responses, and if it is an executive role, typically add a few hundred to that. The CEO search we did at Arcview received 1,200 applicants. Seriously. The recruiter gets the first resume within 200 seconds. Oh, and remember Monster, well 427,000 of your fellow job seekers post their resumes there weekly. Terrible odds if you ask me.

Not to mention sadly, most jobs and RFPs for consultants are filled before they are posted. In fact, many consultants or advisors write their own search! Dirty little secret. Your only chance is to be exceptional and keep being exceptional until they have a vacancy. Otherwise, you fall into a PC void of “thank you for applying” never to be heard from again. Like this real-life email below, which I got 12 different versions of when I first started my job search.

Wow – there’s a titillating response to my perfectly crafted cover letter. Shoot me.

Here’s the thing to remember: Employers are Terrified of Getting it Wrong.

Jobs are left unfilled because the risk of taking on a bad hire is 30% of a new hire’s salary. That is tens of thousands of dollars and they add up fast. This why managers make you go through all those ridiculous questions about “your greatest weakness”. Also, it’s why it’s a giant game of chicken vs the egg. You have to be a Vice President of Cannabis Sales to get a job as a Vice President of Cannabis Sales. You have to have been on an existing Cannabis Company Board to get a board seat.

Does this sound familiar? “Come back when you have more experience.”

So now you see what you are up against. But the best and worst part about this is that when you don’t hear back from a recruiter or hirer, it really typically has little to do with your credentials or whether you were the best applicant. It’s that via email, you are boring and give up too easy. You are boring because like most people, you’re terrible at selling yourself via email. You give up too easily because you don’t have a great follow-up process.

Remember the process you’re up against:

1. Overworked hiring manager/recruiter posts job
2. They get 250-1200 responses in a day
3. This is just one opportunity they need filled so they skim them and pick the best 5-10 people that jump out to them (cannabis is one of the fastest growing industries, hiring 10k+ people a month)
4. Those 5-10 people chosen aren’t typically special; they just sold themselves better while everyone else died in obscurity

For every round of 10 phone interviews and in-person interviews, 1 candidate is selected

Now, I can’t help you not be awkward in the meeting via an e-guide. But what I can do is get you in the top 5-10 who get the phone call, AND I can make sure that the company considers you for their next job opening even if you don’t get this one.

Before I get into the communication magic, let’s break down some cannabis specifics.

BREAKING INTO CANNABIS & WHY YOU SHOULD:

They call cannabis, “America’s hidden job boom”, and for good reason; with some 300,000 people shadow employed in the industry, there is a starvation for talent that you my friend, can fill. If I have learned one thing throughout my career, it’s that the bigger the pond, the bigger you can grow, and the easier it is. You see, most people think about their careers in a vertical manner, i.e. I work in finance and thus what jobs can I get in finance and how do I climb as high as possible and make as much money as possible in this sector.

THAT IS DEAD WRONG.

What you should be doing is thinking, what skills do I have? What do I like to do? Where is my time, interest and pocketbook most rewarded for those skills? I like to think about it from a sales perspective. Let’s say that you are a salesperson and you have two options: sell wearable smart devices or sell fax machines. If you have two brain cells to rub together you probably choose smart devices right? Why?

This graph shows you fax machine creation, then usage, then subsequent drop off.

This graph shows you total sales and usage for wearable devices.

Now I’m no mathematician, but I imagine it would be much easier selling a device, starting a company, growing in my career, and making more money in an industry that had a graph like last one and not the first. Yet, most don’t think like that. If you are reading this guide than you do, so congrats.

Here’s to bigger ponds and fatter fish to catch.

THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START

1. Funny rules: Cannabis is one of the few industries where you might have to a) be licensed b) the requirements differ from state to state c) you usually have to pass a background check. Thus here is your cheat sheet guide to what you need state by state. California is actually one of the most open for employees (and terrible for employers) for example, but usually each state has a regulatory entity that is worth looking at their website.
2. Salaries: Forewarned is forearmed. If you know what the industry pays, you will know what to ask for and which jobs to not waste your time on. The fallacy that we print greenbacks in cannabis, is just that, fake news. For more specifics download the salary guide here.

New Jobs Entirely: The industry is full of jobs that are not mainstream and draw parallels from industries ranging from alcohol, to tobacco, to agriculture broadly, to finance and beyond. Here are some of the hottest jobs.

Fun Facts: Cannabis Industry Statistics

The industry is growing rapidly, and you have the chance to take advantage of it. Just as in any boom cycle, there are going to be winners and losers. However, one look at Silicon Valley shows the benefits of getting into tech early or even post ‘99 crash. One look at cannabis shows you the same thing.

• Cannabis is projected to hit a job-creation rate of 110% in just the three years from 2017 to 2020[HL1] 
• Industry added 44,000 jobs last year — a 44% increase — and is expected to create another 20,000 jobs this year in California and Florida alone (in fact, given so many people are leaving California, if you like to surf and eat avocado toast this might be the industry for you!)
• Median salary is 11% higher than the general US market
• Economic impact of the industry will range from $39.2 billion to $48 billion in 2019–a 35% increase over 2018
• Legal cannabis sales increased more than 43% in 2019
• An estimated 211,000 full-time employees make up the legal cannabis industry
• With nine states adding medical and/or adult-use cannabis to their 2020 ballot initiatives, industry predicts another 20-30% increase
• CBD oil market predicted to $3.86 billion by 2025, from $270 million in 2018,
• CBD growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 39.5%
• 13% of Americans identify as “current users.” 22.1% of Americans ages 18–25 and 7.9% over 26 have used cannabis in the past month

Get Smart on Cannabis Fast Plan

This segment is all about how to not sound like an amateur in your interviews, pitches, and board meetings. First, I believe in conscious immersion as the best way to learn. So, when you are implementing this plan spend one weekend, just one, reading the below resources, signing up for the newsletters, and planning out a few events to attend. Then jump on in. Do not let procrastination and mental masturbation stop you from actually taking action.

ARE YOU READY??? We’re going green.

Top Books to Read:

Pick 2-3, that’s enough. You do NOT want to fall into the trap of preparation as procrastination. The best thing about career changes into new industries is... they pay you to learn.

• Cannabis Manifesto – Great primer on the history of cannabis from Steve DeAngelo founder of Harborside
• Cannabis Pharmacy – Deeper dive into the medicinal side of the plant
• Women’s Guide to Cannabis – To dispel your stoner notions
• Marijuana Grower's Handbook – For those of you with a green thumb
• Edibles: Small Bites for the Modern Cannabis Kitchen – To understand the edibles market (and maybe make some goodies)

Conferences to Attend:

This was my very first step into cannabis, I went and spoke to a group of 25,000 attendees at MJBizCon. I leveraged my unique skillset of speaking, finance, and startups to add value to a conference. This let me jump into the deep end and helped me to understand what the true opportunity was in cannabis. It was the best thing I ever did and changed my entire career. If you listen to one piece of advice, just get yourself into the game. Go see, feel, and touch what is happening with your own fingertips.

• MJBizCon – By far the largest and most broad sweeping
• Arcview – The most curated and best for startups and higher ups
• Hall of Flowers – The best for marketing and brands
• Cannatech – The best for global and international opportunities
• NCIA – The best for government and social activists

Newsletters & News Sources to Sign Up For:

I spend 30 minutes every morning doing a review of what is happening in the world of cannabis, pick a few of these and do the same. This is how you learn to speak the language.

• Leafly – Consumer focused news and insights into cannabis
• MJBizDaily – The most well-known cannabis and business news source
• Green Entrepreneur – Great insight into entrepreneurship in cannabis
• Entourage Effect Capital – We are going to announce some cool hiring resources, so stay tuned.
• BDS Analytics – Best consumer data out there on cannabis.
• Codie Sanchez – I also have a biweekly newsletter you can subscribe to that will include short snippets on building, VC’s, and cannabis.
• Civilized – Cannabis culture, consumption trends and what’s new

For the rest of the guide including how to reach out to recruiters and get answered, top recruiters, follow-up campaigns etc ---> Click here.

With 1 out of 3 Americans unemployed... we hope to see you not just get back to work, but thrive.

Codie Sanchez

Cannacurious? Here's our contrarians' guide to investing and getting a career into cannabis, or find out more information below:

IG: @codiesanchez

EEC: www.entourageeffectcapital.com

CS: www.codiesanchez.com

This article is presented for informational purposes only, is an opinion, and is not intended to recommend any investment, and is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase an interest in any current or future investment vehicle managed or sponsored by Entourage Effect Capital, LLC or its affiliates. Any such solicitation of an offer to purchase an interest will be made by a definitive private placement memorandum or other offering document.