q&a

full transcript

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All right, so let's dive into a few questions again. This is a Q&A episode. Had some questions come in that I want to answer and obviously get to. And so let's see here. First question here is, do you think it's wise to chat with developers and companies I'd like to work with to get the minimum requirements for a role that I'd like to apply to sometime in the future? So this came in as a question on how a person should network how a person should DM, how a person should communicate with somebody at a company and we talked about this a lot. I talk about this a lot.

But you shouldn't message, you shouldn't message that person asking about a job. Let me, let me say that again. You should not message somebody at a company asking them about a job they have posted. You're probably tailored, why? Like that sounds counterintuitive because at the end of the day, every other person the job search takes. They take, they take, they take, hey, can you talk to me about this? Hey, can I have your time for this? Hey, let's talk about this job, right? And so people start feeling used. People start feeling like, well, do you actually want to talk to me or do you just want to get to a job, right?

It feels very disingenuous. And so what I told this individual who emailed me is you should not ask about a job. You should DM somebody at a company and go, hey, remember the three ways to DM somebody, one, admiration, flattery, hey, listen, I love what you're doing in the market, I love what your company is doing, I love the chat with you too. Let's just a specific amount of time you want to talk to that person. Not five minutes, because five minutes is general. Four minutes, six minutes, eight minutes of your time. So that's the second thing. And the third thing is one specific question, right?

So this individual who wants to talk to their dream job, company, I would say, hey, Mr. higher manager, I've admired your company, I've admired what y'all have done in the market for years now. Do you have six minutes to chat with me? What makes, in your mind, what makes your company different? Right, have the conversation, get on a Zoom call, right face to face is good, get on Zoom call. And then don't ask about the job and leave and just keep in touch with them on LinkedIn. Again, long game, it takes time, it takes time, but it works. Again, just to refresh, if you have any questions, go with your questions from emails, from text messages, all that.

So please, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, just stories you want to share that you want me to throw up for other people, we'll do that as well. So I have a question too, another question that came in for my text messaging community. And so my question is, how worth it do you think it is for working to, working developer, so this developer has a job to create a brand? What made you decide to brand yourself and what kept you dedicated to it? I think about creating a brand for myself all the time, but I wonder how much of a return I'd really get since I'm very happy at my current job, not looking to move anytime soon.

This is a huge question. And I'm glad this question came in, and actually when this question came in, all my texting community, I was like, I need to have this live when you talk about this and break this down. So the first thing I want to talk to you about or ask you, do you wait to get in shape before you go to the gym? Let me ask that question again. Do you wait to get in shape before you go to the gym? Right? The answer is no. You go to the gym to get in shape, right? It's the same thing with what this individual asked me.

It's the same thing. You start a brand, you start putting out content, you start creating who you want to be known for, whether you're on the job search or not. Actually, if you're not on the job search, it's actually the better time to do it, because what happens is, is people just try to create a brand, people try to create a brand on the job search, and it's forced because they have to find a job. So it's a little like, ee, ee, it's just weird. It's awkward, don't be weird not worried. So start your brands, start creating content. You're actually not looking for a job, because I'll tell you this, that is the best way to find a job.

Start putting yourself out there, putting out content, and then people start seeing you and you start getting interviews because of it, right? Another part of the question is, what made me decide to start a brand? So there's many different levels. Quick story, the full shirts, the full shirts, the pink, the brightness, that comes from speaking at code conferences, and all y'all developers like to wear black shirts, and like dark clothes and hoodies. And I was like, well, I gotta create, I gotta be different, I gotta stand out. So that's where the bright, full little shirts came from. When it comes to putting out content with helping people, one, no recruiters are actually doing it.

Most recruiters that I follow are putting out these in gross stories about getting in a rack, and then the person helping you in the rack was your interviewer on the way to the job, and then that person hires you, helping you with your like car that you rent. No one's actually giving out practical, tactical advice for people to actually, to help them in the job search. So that's where I've started to become, that's why I've started to create brands and to give back because no one's doing it. And also too, I hate the way recruiting is set up. Traditional way recruiting is, hey, I'm gonna message exactly build the well before you're thirsty, I love that.

I need to put that on a t-shirt or something. But like, for example, the traditional way of recruiting is like, so if I go to Will, like, hey, Will, William, I wanna work with you, like I saw slide in the Williams DMs. Hey, William, I see you're on the job search with love to chat with you. Do you have time to talk with me? And I did that every single day for seven or eight years, DMing cold people every day, complete strangers now. Then I make, was I successful at it? Yeah, absolutely, that was a successful at it. But it got to a point where I was tired.

I was burned out. I didn't care. I just didn't like it anymore. So I wanted to do something different and to give back. And so that's why I've created brands. And I think if you are innately wired to help people, to educate, to give back, to be a light to others, that is where I think you need to start putting out content and create a brand for yourself. Because, you know, and you can talk about one thing, right? If you've ever been to a code conference, there have been speakers that talk about one part of one technology for an hour. And people love it. People love it.

You don't have to know a lot. You can know just about a little and talk about it nonstop. And then you start becoming that person. You are known for that topic, that subject matter. But you've got to be consistent. So that was a good question that came out on my text, the computer pedger goes, I messaged on yesterday's live. And somebody reached out to help. We're having a Zoom meeting today to go over openings on their company and how it would have fit applied. Look at that, Pedro is benefiting off this live show. That is why I have it. That is why I do it.

That is why you need to comment to engage when I go live. This is a platform for you. Yes, I get to run my mouth for 15 minutes every day. That's great. I get likes. That's great. But the end of the day, if you are not commenting, if you are not liking, if you are not engaging on my live show, so others can see you and bring visibility to yourself, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. Pedro is not the only person that has had success getting leads based off my live show. So again, comment, engage, friend. If I were you and I would watch my show every morning and I would connect with every person that comments and started conversation.

Started conversation. Be fearless. This is a warm lead, right? Yes, Pedro, William may not ever be able to help Pedro, but they know each other now. And you just never know. You never know the job searches about taking one random conversation and it changing your entire life. That's what it's about. So I had a story come in on LinkedIn. Again, if you have any comments, if you have any questions, please throw them up, that we can talk about. William goes, yes, find your niche. William also goes, it's like a TV channel. If you create a React content, if you create a React content, people will trust you that you know react.

Oh yeah, then tune in to you. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, sorry, William. I had to figure out anymore coffee this morning. But yeah, if you just talk about React 24.7, you are known as the React guy or girl. It's that simple. It's that simple. So somebody messes me on my LinkedIn and they go, hey, it was listed here, broadcast this morning. I'm experiencing the opposite of that. I forgot what that topic was. I've made it to the hiring manager's interview stage with six different companies, lots of communication and then they go completely silent. Won't answer emails, even text cannot understand. Best I can figure out as I made an offer and our waiting for a response before cutting me loose.

Would love to hear your perspective. So I get this a lot. Pia, what's going on? Good morning. Yeah, no, I get this a lot is that companies just go dark and companies, hiring managers, if you are watching this, the way you treat your candidates, the way you treat the job seeker through the interview process is a direct reflection of your company and your culture and your brands. Let me say that one more time, companies. The way you treat people who interview through the processes is direct reflection on your company's culture and the way you treat people and a direct reflection on your brands. There have been companies in Nashville that have created a bad reputation because they go dark, there's no feedback and they treat candidates like crap.

And I have to be aware of that. Listen, if you've worked with me and I haven't gotten back to you before, like text me, let me know because a lot of times things just fall through the cracks. Things fall through the cracks, but I will tell you this, companies, recruiters, whoever's watching this now or in the future. If somebody follows, I'm, listen, I think it's excusable sometimes for things to fall through the cracks. I let things fall through the cracks. There's a massive amount of people on the interview process, things just get lost. I get it, but if they can't it follows up with you and you see that and you know it's the second or even the third follow up and you do nothing about it, then that is on you and that is your responsibility.

And so did this individual who messes me on LinkedIn to ask me for my response or my thoughts? I think this company has a very poor internal communication method and could potentially be a poor place to work. Now, is it always the cost? Is it always that way? Like if a company's got poor community, so if you're watching this and you're like, well Taylor, like, I don't know, I feel like every company's got poor communication and so is any place good to work at? Listen, I get that. They're gonna be exceptions to the rule, right? There are times where companies can have some, you know, spotty, shotty interview processes and it's a good place to work, but I'm saying just as a whole be aware of that.

And so I would tell this individual in summary that what they've probably done is either A, they're stringing you along because they're trying your second or third in line, or they're just terrible at communicating. Let's see here, what else? What hit one more question? What hit one more question? Or actually this is a story. This is a story. So we'll wrap on this story. I actually got this message from a DM from Twitter actually. This individual I've known for a long time, I've ran into them at conferences. And they messaged me and it says, so this individual message me goes, hey, you won't believe this.

I'm in final rounds for a Facebook or a fan company. And I said, heck, yes, I go, how did that happen? You know, as turns out, I had an internal recommendation from someone that I met at the conference that you and I attended two years ago. I noticed they had recently looked me up on LinkedIn and it must have passed along the recommendation. Hashtag Small World. Yes, that is it. This individual messers me. They were extremely happy in their job, but they networked one time, right? They had one unique conversation at a conference two years ago. And then now this individual is about to go work at FANG.

That's it. One unique conversation can change the complete trajectory of your career in your life. So be kind, be enthusiastic, ask questions, be engaged because you never know what one conversation at a random coffee shop or a random conference can do for your entire career. So that's it. That's it. I appreciate you all for tuning in to Guide to Cancer 2.0 and this morning just again, Q&A, some questions, some stories. This is why I do this. If you need me, text me 615-235-6500. That's my text and community. One text to your phone today. I don't spam you. Tailedestin.com. I have a bunch of free resources for job seekers, hiring managers.

You can check out my candidates. I got a bunch of stuff. So again, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, ask me, text me, DM me, I love to answer them for you. Y'all have a great Thursday and I'll be with you tomorrow live before we go into the weekend. Appreciate y'all.