Upwardly Mobile with Albert Qian

With over 700 million users, LinkedIn is a bastion of opportunity. With all of its features, however, how do you make the most of the platform to network with others or find your next job? In this episode, we sit down with Andrea Misir, The Millennial Career Coach and LinkedIn expert, to discuss what job seekers should know and how they can use these features to their advantage.

In an ultra-competitive professional world, your personal brand matters more than ever—and there are more platforms than ever to build that brand upon. Getting there means creating the right type of content, whether you're leading a discussion on Clubhouse, grabbing attention on TikTok, or writing blog posts on Medium. In this episode, we speak to Charles Peralo, serial entrepreneur and TikTok content creator extraordinaire who evaluates the personal brands of those he hires, while building his own. You'll learn how to start your own personal brand, the best platform to do it, and how to apply it to your career.

Has your career exhausted you? Do you ever wonder what it's like to retire before you're 40? Do you ever see those who have made it rich with real estate, cryptocurrency, blogging, or otherwise, and want to do that too? Make no mistake: Ever since the whole idea of being a working professional has been around, the entrepreneurial and ambitiously minded have been finding ways to get around it. With the rise of the internet, it's more accessible than ever with new technologies like Uber, Airbnb, VRBO, and others enabling professionals to get out of the rat race and reclaim their time. In this episode, we speak with Justin Kusuwomidagdo, a former corporate sales professional turned Airbnb owner-operator who has successfully left the 9-5 world and now considers himself semi-retired. Learn about his journey and tips he has for aspiring escapees.

For some college students, the feeling of dread washes over them as they receive their diplomas this Spring: What are they going to do now—Especially in a pandemic-influenced economy? Job hunting has always been hard for new graduates, but recent downturns in the past two decades has made it even more difficult as they compete with experienced professionals looking for a break. With social media and new ways of building your personal brand, however, it's a lot easier. For insight on what new graduates can do, we turned to Grace Ling, a professional UX designer and founder of Design Buddies, a community of 18,000 professionals that she founded in her senior year of college. In this podcast, she shares how she used her personal brand to land a coveted Silicon Valley career as a new graduate while also landing keynotes at conferences—and how aspiring new graduates can do the same. Show Notes: Connect with Grace at the following links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graceling Instagram (me): https://www.instagram.com/irungracepace/ Instagram (art): https://www.instagram.com/candyleaf_/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/candyleaf_ Portfolio: https://www.grace-ling.com/ Design Buddies: https://discord.gg/designbuddies

Sales is one of those careers that has been glorified by Hollywood, from memorable lines like "always be closing" to the supposed glory displayed in the Wolf of Wall Street. If that's your only exposure to the industry, then it's nothing but glory. Reality however, is a different story as salespeople around the world grind their way through tough commissions, customer objections, and demanding employers. In this podcast episode, we speak to Lou Majeed, founder of sales and marketing recruitment firm Basima Tony about his experience working, recruiting, and managing sales professionals. You'll learn about the common misconceptions of the sales career, why you shouldn't listen to so-called influencers in the industry, and how to become the best. Show notes: Learn more about Lou and his recruiting firm at https://www.basimatony.com/. Connect with Lou on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/loumajeed/.

Would you like to travel for work? It's definitely alluring, from racking up travel miles to seeing new destinations—all while building a career—and it's available to you now. Meet Audrey Lo, a marketing professional who has been traveling for her career since graduation. From being Head of Community at Trip.com to creating her own events experience company, she's been able to travel far, seeing everything from Pyramids of Giza to the towering skyscrapers of Hong Kong. In this podcast episode, she shares how professionals can travel in their own careers, who they can network with to make this dream come true, and what types of jobs allow for travel. She'll also share tips on how to sightsee, credit cards to use, and her preference between Airbnbs, hotels, and hostels. Learn more about Audrey and Remote Work Bae, her remote work podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZLIWQ9LcGP6T7-a30vmYHQ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audreylo

Oracle and HP Enterprise left for Texas. Your neighbor sold their house. Analysts are predicting the demise of California—yet traffic is still bumper-to-bumper and the supermarket seems crowded. What gives? In this podcast episode, Albert sits down with Dr. Reilly White, Professor of Economics at the University of New Mexico to separate the hype from reality in what's been dubbed the "Cal-Exodus". He answers whether people are leaving, what this means for the job market, and what the real tipping points will be to send California beyond return. For more on Dr. Reilly White, click here: http://news.unm.edu/newsmedia/experts/reilly-white

A common misconception about looking for a new job is that the interview is just a conversation, when in reality, it's about crafting the right answers and telling the right stories. In this episode, Albert talks to Cory Hiromoto, a recruiter for a Fortune 500 company in Silicon Valley and career coach—and discovers what you should say, versus what you shouldn't.

Though HR serves an important part of every company, many workers have no idea what the function actually does. Join Kathy Tang, an HR Business Partner in Silicon Valley, where she busts some common misconceptions, explains what a performance improvement plan actually is, and dives into what is actually meant by the phrase "culture-fit".

It's a new year, which means lots of professionals have resolutions that involve their careers. Whether you're looking for a completely new career, want that promotion, or just want to stay put in these volatile times, check out what Find Your Peanut Butter founder Stella Yuen has to say about making sure your changes stick!