Week 11/06/2023-11/10/2023 - Unsolicited advice

How do you know you reached peak grandiosity and self-indulgence—well, you start providing advice before you’ve registered meaningful contributions in a career. Who would do that you ask? I would, Nick does that. In my defense, I was (gently) recruited by a representative from my alma mater to partake in a career fair for graduate students. She was looking for seasoned professionals who attended UTampa (I’m 1 for 2) to provide advice and recommendations to current graduate students about finding a role. Initially, I was tickled for the opportunity to give back, but then I remembered my unique experience about finding a role and realized—oh yeah, I’m definitely the person for this (read: cupakes and third doors). The job landscape is—dare I say—very competitive. With layoffs, hiring freezes, and a general neurosis of the market; companies are scrutinizing hires more so than ever before. What does that mean, well, either you are freakishly remarkable and companies are actively recruiting you (you’re probz not btw) or you’re like me and invested and inordinate amount of time to get an interview with a great company—this one is for you.

Note: I spoke to about 30 MBA’s who are generally impressive, driven individuals, but this advice applies to anyone looking for a role. It’s a framework that does not scrutinize against faux pedigree and credentialism (i.e., MBA students)—it works if you work; simple.

The majority of the students I spoke to have aspirations in Finance and Consulting, but others have dreams to work in marketing, project management, tax assurance compliance auditor (ew), and other endeavors. Whatever it is it’s important to have a direction of where you’d like to end up. Without it, you run the risk of being aimless and increase the risk of frustration. I would say target industry and or companies is table stakes. Now, to get into the framework or what I like to call it—the Nick K method (haha, so self-indulgent).

1.) Be on offense: You know those people who land on their feet? Like, they apply to their dream job once and get it, like people throw opportunities at them, like they constantly hit the mark… Ya… same, assume you’re not this person. Every job or opportunity i’ve gotten was self-sourced, which is latin for I had to ask for it. I asked people to coffee, gym dates, lunch, phone calls, and zoom calls. I knew if I waited around for them to contact me, I would be waiting a long time. Become a person who has a bias action, who reaches out, who expresses interest and desire for something. Trust me, in an age where people are allergic to effort, you cold emailing someone, expressing interest in them and their job will put you in the top 10% of job seekers.

2.) Lean into your uniqueness: I don’t know if anyone has told you this yet, but you’re not special, read that again. Contrary to popular belief, you’re not the only one who wants that bad#ss marketing position or that private equity rotational program. There’s literally 10,000 of you with a degree from a good school and leadership positions—big whoop; take a number. You might not be special, but you are unique. This is how you break the mold by highlighting what you can bring to the table besides your college degree. Spent a summer volunteering in Omaha, highlight it, compete in Jiu-Jitsu, talk about it, worked in your parents family business, brag about it. The fact that you’re different counter intuitively is a feature not a bug. It adds context and texture to who you are, it gives you a story.

3.) Success leaves breadcrumbs: #3 ties into #1. The people who you should be reaching out, ideally, are in the roles you want and are employed at the companies that you target. Platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter are fantastic for finding individuals who are doing the job that you hope to be doing in the future. What’s great about these individuals is they have the role and they likely remember how they got it and how they got into the company. Their success leaves breadcrumbs for you to follow. Remember, they were in the same position as you at one point and funny enough they love talking about their experience—which is exactly what you need from the conversation. The end goal here is to get them to coach you by looking at your resume, opening up their network to you, and championing you forward in their org. How you do this is by being interested not interesting. Express admiration and be inquisitive about them and their role. Also, asking them at the end of the call “I really appreciate your time, if its not too much to ask, can we schedule more time in the future to discuss X,Y,Z topics, and how you would go about X,Y,Z situation”. Always schedule next steps and take initiative of doing the work upfront to make it worthwhile for them. Be pleasant and coachable, it’s easier to win if people want you to win.

4.) Patience and don’t keep score: I remember one of the my contacts completely ghosting me the second time we were scheduled to speak. Pissed was understatement, I felt like the world owed me something and I was cheated out of my bounty (so dramatic, I know). But, I came across a teaching from stoic philosopher, that basically said in training the greeks would sometimes get caught by their training partners knee, elbow, or fist. The correct reaction was not to assume malice, and not think that they are actively planning your demise. It happens, you’re going to get clipped by a stray elbow. People are going to no show you, not get back to you, and ignore you; your job is to not react negatively. Take it in stride and move on to the next. We ended up rescheduling because I followed up (see above, rule #1), and we are still connect today. When reaching out to people just know they don’t spend their time thinking how they can help you, it’s up to you to do that. Be patient and don’t keep score, your relationships will be better for it.

In sum, the event was a hit, I think i’m doing it again next semester. I scheduled calls with prospective job seekers to coach them up on the Nick K method (ok, I need to change the name). For me, doing stuff like this makes me feel good. I have a sense of pride that I can be helpful and useful to others, or maybe I just like drinking my own kool-aid. I’ll let you decide.