Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research

Welcome to part 4 of the 5 part series on the Job Search!

In this episode, Sarah discusses the importance of researching what kind of work environment a company has LONG before you apply by using social media to your advantage. She covers covers how to discern which sources to trust, how to learn about a company's culture, and how to vet reviews and comments you might find online.  In your job search, you do not have time to waste. By researching companies in advance, you'll avoid applying to companies that don't align with what you're looking for and you'll better equip yourself with questions if you apply and do get job interviews!

02:06 Workplace culture is so important because we spend a lot of time and energy at work

03:21 Research Strategy #1: Following employees on professional social media platforms

04:46 Research Strategy #2: Look at the social media presence of the company or your specific department of interest

06:54 Research Strategy #3: Read company reviews and consider reaching out to HR about any concerning reviews you see

09:04 Recap

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Welcome to part 3 of the 5 part series on the Job Search.

In this episode, Sarah discusses why playing the numbers game is not in your best interest as well as how to  recognize red flags in your job search, the value of your time and energy, and how to maximize each application you send.

01:34 Multiple times a week people message me, email me and say, Sarah, I've applied to a TON of  jobs and not had a single interview.

02:47 A lot of people just simply don't know what to do if they're applying to jobs and they're not getting interviews.

03:53 Reason #1 that you should stop playing the numbers game: It’s a red flag that something isn’t working

05:01 Reason #2 that you should stop playing the numbers game: Time & energy

06:41 Reason #3 that you should stop playing the numbers game: You aren’t concentrating enough on building relationships

08:06 Reason #4 that you should stop playing the numbers game: Your mental health

10:24 Recap

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Welcome to part 2 of the 5 part series on the Job Search.

In this episode, Sarah discusses prioritizing making connections with people, following and engaging with people who work at companies you want to work for (without coming off as a creeper!), cold emailing hiring managers, and how to keep your messaging short and sweet.

01:27 Why you need to prioritize people over platforms in your job search.

03:03 How a lot of people successfully find and apply to jobs through the portal

04:38 Focus on connecting with people because people share about jobs before they ever hit the job boards.

07:12 I wanna go through an example that I saw on LinkedIn last year…

08:19 There's no perfect formula to use or template. You have to be strategic

10:54 You really need to proactively be seeking to create or nurture relationships in your job search.

12:57 If you have not prioritized people in your job search yet, it is not too late.

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Welcome to Part 1 of a 5 episode series about the job search! In this series, we'll cover what to do before you apply for a job, why relationships are crucial, why you should NOT play the numbers game, how to research a company before you apply for a job, and how to deal with rejection.

In today's episode, Sarah discusses creating your career value criteria so that instead of panicking and taking the first offer you get, you can feel confident that you’re making the right choice.

01:49 The number one thing you need to do before you apply for a job? what this is, is you need to create something that I call your career value criteria.

03:20 If you don't think about these things, guess what? You might end up taking a job that doesn't align with what you want and what you need.

05:03 It can help you leverage one of the biggest superpowers in your job search, and that is your career community.

06:23 Let's imagine you're buying a house…

08:23 So beyond job title and salary, of course, here are the things we need to think about

09:50 A great way to brainstorm this is to think about the past jobs you've had.

11:31 As much as they are interviewing you, you need to be interviewing them.

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In today’s episode, Sarah shares a mindset coaching call that the CSL Coaching Team hosted for people interested in CSL to give them a taste of the kind of calls we host on a weekly basis.

Each week (and on this call) our coaches discuss a myriad of topics including; your relationship with your past work, confidence in yourself and your materials, and many other challenges you may face while developing your career strategy.

Tune in and let us know what you think!

02:00 Introduction

05:42 Sarah speaks about developing your career  as the product of you.

09:48 Let’s talk about staying motivated during the job search.

16:48 Layoffs are absolutely happening and we're also seeing a lot of people get hired.

20:54 Consistency is not the same as perfection.

23:26 Jobs are one of those things where there's beginnings and endings and there's often grief.

27:59 The period between finishing an education and building up a portfolio slash publishing that portfolio, what framing recommendations do you have around thinking about this and not getting bogged down?

29:12 How do I work on my confidence in the workplace? I feel scared to contribute to conversations because I'm scared that my ideas aren't good enough.

30:42 Let’s talk about where confidence comes from.

36:04 What happens when we build self-trust? Your confidence goes up because you trust yourself to do your best in this situation.

40:18 “Enoughness” and ageism.

44:06 Rejection and the job search.

49:41 Rejection is excellent data, and it can be hard on our feelings.

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Sometimes we can get overwhelmed trying to make our careers into what we want them to be over night.

Breathe and remember that your career is a marathon, a journey, and that takes time!

This week’s episode was recorded during a long car ride, that helped inspire this episode’s message.

During this episode, Sarah recounts her experiences with marathon running, injuries, and the struggles of accomplishing long term goals. She explains how community helps you get where you need to be without the stresses that come with doing it alone.

00:47 If you can't tell, I am not in my regular home studio. I am actually driving in my car across Nevada

02:06  I wanna tell you the story of training and running my first marathon because your career, it's very similar to running a marathon

04:25 I was at the doctor's one day, just like a normal doctor's visit, but I'd always had this weird little bump kind of on my hip.

08:45 I was super proud of my 4 hour and 13 minute debut into marathons, I also thought, man, I think I can do better.

10:18 Between the New York City Marathon and that Toronto Marathon. The difference was for that Toronto Marathon, I followed the pacer and I kept them in my sight for most of the time.

12:05  Having these goals for me in my case running, help me really develop a lot of resilience, a lot of confidence, and have a support system. So that I don't fall into the trap of trying to do it on my own.

14:05 When you try and do things on your own, that's when negativity can creep in.

17:56 If you're struggling in your career right now, I would ask yourself, have I identified the big goal? And is it specific enough?

18:55 Are you trying to be your own coach or could you maybe benefit from a coach?

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LinkedIn profiles are often not optimized for visibility. They should be treated like web pages, keeping search engine optimization in mind. The right key words can elevate your profile tremendously! Your LinkedIn is its own search engine for recruiters to find out if you fit the position. If your profile is not optimized it will be harder for them to find you.

In this episode, Sarah guides you on how to optimize your profile and shares some examples of what not to do.

01:00 LinkedIn is a search engine that recruiters and hiring managers use to find candidates

01:51 The other day I was on LinkedIn and I saw a profile that stopped me in my tracks

04:02 What can we do to help this person write a headline that has more relevant keywords and highlights, unique traits, skills and experience, and help them stand out from other candidates?

05:16 UX researcher with 10 years of experience doing mixed methods research in finance and healthcare with a focus on usability testing and ethnographic interviews. So let's break that down.

07:19 What words, what skills, what phrases would you type into the search box in LinkedIn?

07:49 Recap

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It can feel difficult to break into the tech field, or any industry, when you reach a certain age. You may feel like you’re being overlooked for simply your age. Let’s talk about that!

This week Sarah discusses the topic of ageism in the tech industry and some misconceptions people have about it. You can’t control your age, so instead you should concentrate on things you can change. Leverage the extensive experience you have. Soft skills learned through a lifetime of work are some of the hardest to obtain.

00:38 Am I too old to get hired in tech or user experience or really any field for that matter?

02:20 So how old you are is not within your control. You can't change that, right? what you can change is how you talk about experience

03:37 If you are a little older and worried about how your age might be perceived by a potential employer, et cetera, I want you to know that with more experience comes more skills and more knowledge.

04:39 Resilience, work ethic and other factors that might make someone a good team member, employee, manager, et cetera. These are skills that someone who might be just starting out in their career might not have developed as much as someone like you.

06:37 I thought it would be just interesting to highlight two people from my career coaching program, career strategy lab who were older and did get hired.

07:04 Ashley was in her sixties when she joined Career Strategy Lab.

08:36 David  was in his fifties when he joined Career Strategy Lab

09:58 It costs companies a lot of money to hire employees, and the average cost in the United States is about $4,500 to hire a new employee

11:24 So the three things that I want you to think about concerning ageism in getting hired and in the tech and UX or frankly any industry

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Do you feel like you’re stuck in your career? Maybe you’re bored, or you feel like your skills have plateaued or heck, even your salary has plateaued. Do you see current and former colleagues getting promoted or doing work that you wish you were doing?

If so, these might be signs that you’re stuck in your career. So, the big question is, how do you get unstuck?

In this episode, Sarah gives you 3 questions to ponder to help you get unstuck in your career. And sidenote, these questions can really apply to ANY situation – both work and personal.

Timestamps:

00:55 Introduction

02:39  We're gonna look towards the future to help you create an action plan for how you can get unstuck

03:25 So here are the three questions you can ask yourself to get unstuck in your career

03:54 First Question “Where am I now?”

05:06 How am I feeling? Are you excited every day? Do you dread every day? Do you live for the weekends?

06:00 Second Question “Where do I want to be?”

08:08 Third Question “What is stopping me?”

09:42 Now, this is where the magic kind of happens. After you've made this list of the things that are stopping you, I want you to read back through it and ask yourself, which of these things are truly within your control and which are not within your control?

11:01 “What's stopping me” list in the middle, get shorter and focus on things that you can control and influence.

12:13 And it's important to remember you can't do everything at once. You can't build every skill at once. You can't learn every software at once or get every degree at once.

14:08 Recap

14:32 Outro

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For many people, maybe even you, job search burnout is real.

A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that half of adult job seekers in the USA are pessimistic about their prospects for a new job. A survey by the Pew Research Center found that about half of US adults looking for a job are pessimistic about their prospects for future employment.

In this episode, Sarah talks about factors that contribute to job search burnout and some practical tips you can put into practice right now to help you manage and minimize this in your life.

2:07: The Pew Research Center survey said that 53% of people said they felt like they almost lost a piece of their identity during their job hunt. And 56% of people said that they've experienced more anxiety and depression and other mental health issues during a job search.

2:48: Burnout has a ripple effect.

3:31: It's really important to get clear about the things that you can control and the things that you know you can't control.

5:20: You have the control to either apply to multiple jobs every single day, which can add up to hundreds over the course of a job search. Or you cannot play the numbers game and take that approach.

5:44: You can control the quality of relationships and interactions that you're having on LinkedIn and social media and elsewhere.

6:36: Who you listen to for advice and wisdom that's within your control.

7:11:  You can't control the quality of job descriptions that are out there.

9:54: There might be some truth to this whole law of attraction thing about how positive thoughts bring positive results to your life and negative thoughts bring negative things to your life.

11:06: Edit who you listen to and who you let influence you.

13:44: Put it on your calendar so you're more intentional about it so that there is a specific time frame around it.

14:20: Have a plan for why you're using social media in your job search.

16:58: Before you jump to conclusions, you have to consider the context.

20:33: A lot of times candidates fixate on this idea of ghosting in the job search.

22:28: Recap our tips for job search burnout.

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