My Best Advice

For about a year, I participated in LinkedIn’s Career Advice product which matched me, as a career coach, with folks looking for career advice. I chose IT as my focus area and coached eight people, having phone conversations lasting approximately 90 minutes. The people were mostly under 30 years old, in early stages in their careers. Sadly, LinkedIn cancelled its Career Advice product with no clear indication of the reason why.

After several of these calls, I noticed I was giving similar advice each time. It might be because folks early in their careers face similar issues or because these are the areas I’m currently excited about. Either way, I figured I’d summarize my best advice for anyone who might be interested. If you find this useful, please like, comment, or ask questions.

Narrow Your Focus

Lately I’ve seen folks on social media post that they need a job because of the current pandemic. My immediate reaction is to try to help somehow by reaching out to some of my contacts who might have openings. Some of their posts read like, “available for software engineering, IT project management, IT security, product development or leadership opportunities”. I understand the intention to cast as wide a net as possible, but I believe that is not a good strategy. It makes job seekers seem unfocused and desperate. Out of desperation, you’ll take a job you may not otherwise consider for much less money than you usually earn. You may end up quitting as soon as you find something better, which is frustrating for the company that hired you and for other folks who would’ve been a better fit in that role.

If I’m hiring for a position, I want to find someone who’s practically an expert in what I’m offering. I’ve never met a single person who’s an expert in all these areas simultaneously. I don’t want someone who’ll settle for just any job because they need a paycheck and will reassess their options once the economy improves. The best candidate is someone who’s actually interested in the subject matter for which I’m hiring and wants to excel in that area and solve my problems for at least a couple of years. Candidates must be honest and serious about which career they want. I want someone who will “ask for the order” like in Godfather 3 (The Godfather Part 3: Vincent Mancini becomes Vincent Corleone). If I have a temporary need, I’ll hire a consultant or a contractor. If you’re looking for immediate temporary opportunities, you should contact a temporary staffing agency.

However, if you’re looking to begin the next phase of your career, you need to make a convincing case to potential employers that you’re the most obvious choice. The way to do this is to choose a specific focus that you can point to and say, “This is what I do.” Not that. Not some other stuff. This!

Microsoft recently phased out all of its technology-specific certifications and replaced them with “role-based” versions. I was initially disappointed because I had started studying for the SQL Server 2016 certification and had to change course.  However, once I learned more about the new certifications and understood them, my disappointment changed to excitement.

The role-based strategy explicitly defines different IT-related jobs or career tracks as “roles” such as “Data Analyst”, “DevOps Engineer”, “Data Engineer”, “Data Scientist”, “AI Engineer”, “Security Engineer”, and several others. Each role interfaces with different Microsoft technologies in different ways. The exams emphasize only the portions of each technology germane to that specific role. Each Microsoft software is broad and elaborate and it isn’t necessary to become an expert in every feature to do your job. I always felt like there were certain areas of SQL Server that were critical to my success and other areas which were mostly unnecessary for me to learn.

Microsoft is putting a stake in the ground and saying these specific roles represent the different IT jobs of the future. I imagine the implication is that you should choose one of these, focus on it, earn the certification, and start working in that career area. It’s kind of like how the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter determines the school House to which you belong. Or maybe it’s like choosing which superhero or Dungeons & Dragons character class you want to be.

After studying each role closely, I had a mini-epiphany where I realized that I’m a “Data Analyst” and I’m not any of the other roles. In fact, I’ve quit multiple jobs which started out as data analyst but then changed to something else over time. I’m a data analyst. Period. Not a “project manager”, not a “statistician”, not a “data warehouse developer”, not a “data scientist”, not a “data engineer”. None of those things. My entire career has been as a data analyst. I’ve worked in departments such as accounting, finance, operations, IT, and marketing, but always as a data analyst in one job or another.

I focus equally on automated reporting and on business process automation. I’ve developed elaborate, powerful solutions in these areas which have delivered huge value to my employers and clients. Although I’ve formally studied data mining and statistics and have developed solutions using these technologies also, I still consider myself a data analyst.

It was very meaningful for me that Microsoft explicitly named my area of focus. It’s kind of like when someone who’s been sick for a while but doesn’t know which disease it is finally gets correctly diagnosed with a known condition. It was a sort of catharsis.

There’s a reason why nails are pointy. If you want to penetrate a piece of wood and make progress, you have to focus on one single spot.

Ok, great. Now that you’ve narrowed your focus, how do you “make a convincing case”. Well, that brings us to the next section…

Create a Professional Portfolio

Many of the folks I’ve coached are not currently satisfied with their careers and would like to pivot to something different. They feel their accumulated education and work experience in one area have pigeonholed them and make it difficult to change gears. They think the only way for them to change is to go back to school and start over.

I disagree. It’s still true that people need to make a convincing case for why they should be hired in their new area of interest. But unless that area explicitly requires a degree, like medicine, or law, there’s a better way than getting a degree to show that new interest and expertise. Rather than taking multiple years to add a single line to their resume, people can create an online professional portfolio.

Many companies don’t care if you have the right degree; they just want someone who can do the job. All you have to do to get the job is show you can do the job!

Artists and designers have professional portfolios which convey their unique style and body of work. But you don’t have to be in creative arts or IT to have an online portfolio. At the very least, you can blog about your topic of interest to show your thoughts and to clarify tough topics. You can design useful content, describe problems you’ve solved, and post helpful items or guides. Showing what you know about a topic will interest clients and employers even if you don’t have a degree. The more creative and elaborate, the better!

If I were a college dean, I would require every student to create an online multimedia portfolio to which they publish all their schoolwork. Rather than treating their assignments as throw-away projects just for a grade, the assignments would have enduring value as examples of thought processes, understanding, creativity, and work output. When graduates start interviewing for jobs, they can curate their best work from their school portfolio into a professional portfolio to share with prospective employers. This can represent “experience” even if someone hasn’t had a job.

My professional portfolio has helped me numerous times. I’ve been in interviews where the interviewer emailed the link to my website to other people in the company during the interview. Whenever I take calls from recruiters who ask me about my work, I direct them to my website. I don’t have to tell people about my work experience. I can show it to them!

Think of Yourself as a Business

Are you receiving any royalties now from work you did in the past? No? Hold on. You’ve probably worked at least several years for several different employers. You mean not a single one of them is still paying you anything at all? Bummer.

Many Hollywood actors make a movie or TV series one time and continue to receive residuals for many years afterwards. Some of these actors are still making millions of dollars per year for work they did decades ago. Others are simply living comfortably on a few hundred thousand dollars a year of residuals. Even if these actors went completely broke for some reason, they would wake up tomorrow to find checks in their mailbox. How convenient!

The reason actors and producers get paid residuals is because they are considered “creators”. As long as the content continues to produce value, they continue to get paid. If you’re creating useful content on your portfolio, you should start considering how you could monetize it. Lots of people spend hours every day consuming content on their smartphones. If you spent 70% of that time producing and publishing content rather than consuming, imagine what value you might create.

Your content doesn’t even have to be “good”, it just has to appeal to some people. There are tons of lousy TV shows, movies, and YouTube videos which still pay good money to their creators. The tricky part is finding the people to whom your content appeals. Stop consuming and start producing!

If a business or a consumer approached you with an offer to purchase or license your content, would you be ready? Do you have an LLC or business license? Do you have business bank accounts?

Back in 2014, someone I used to work with wanted to pay me to write a computer program for his company. I didn’t want to be paid just as a sole proprietor. I wanted to start a business and have him pay my business. So I started an LLC and let him know I was ready to begin work on the program. He talked to the CEO of his company but told me they weren’t interested after all. Here I’d created a new LLC with nothing to do with it.

I decided I’d keep the LLC since I was going to publish a career motivation book in the future. I sell three versions of my book on Amazon and I also sell art and t-shirts on my related Threadless site. In 2018, when things weren’t working out with a former employer, a different former coworker contacted me about a consulting project. Because I had my LLC already, I was ready to take on that project immediately. I’ve been working under my LLC as a data analytics consultant since 2018.

I know a woman in Las Vegas who sells custom jewelry on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/UrbanCoutureJewelry. Her business is incorporated and she’s very busy. She told me the secret to her success is fast customer service feedback. She said her biggest challenge is fulfillment. She’s very busy making jewelry and fulfilling all the orders. Her jewelry is excellent and her business is a success.

I’m sure you have thoughts, products, and creative ideas you can sell online. Start thinking of yourself as a business and make it official by formalizing yourself and your activities. Start an LLC, develop a website, and start selling online. There are tons of resources online to help you. All you need is an idea and some content or products. If you have something to sell with sourcing and distribution channels set up, then all you have to do to earn more money is figure out how to increase sales.

If you don’t have any sort of automated sales channel, your income options are limited to trading your time for money, which is the worst and slowest way to make money. Unless you’re an executive in a company, receiving significant stock options, you have no multiplier effect, no leverage. It’s like you’re going trick-or-treating with no bag.

Money never stands still; it’s always flowing all around you. In order to get some of it for yourself you need to stand in front of the flow and hold up a big bag to collect it in. Your bag is only as big as customer awareness of your products and services. If you don’t have any kind of automated income channel (the bag), you’re not even in the game.

Compound Interest

Someone very important asked me to reach out to you. When we spoke, that person was specific and serious about what they wanted. That person raised their voice, jumped up and down, and pounded their fists on the table. The person made me swear I would get you to pay attention and take action.

That person was 65-year-old you, and what they wanted was 30 years of compound interest! Forty years would be even better. That person does not want to be worried about paying the bills and would like to be able to retire or down-shift their work activities to focus more on hobbies, side-businesses, leisure, and family.

Compound interest is almost magical because interest is calculated on both your original principal as well as previously accumulated interest. The earlier you start investing, the more the money grows. In order to generate the largest effect you have to start investing as early as possible. The best time for you to begin investing was the day you were born. The second best time is now.

You probably think 65 years old is a million years from now. It’s not. It’s coming straight at you one hundred miles an hour and when it gets here, you’ll want to be ready for it.

While going for a walk recently in my neighborhood, I met a man who was riding his bike. When we started talking I was surprised to learn he was 64 years old; he didn’t look a day over 50! He’s 5’10”, 32-inch waist, and lifts weights three times a week. He used to be an engineer but has been retired several years now and owns a lovely home. (As you can see, I’m very nosy.) He does what he wants, when he wants. This guy has it made.

But you might say, “I am saving for retirement, I have a 401k!” That’s not good enough. Of course you should be contributing up to your employer’s match, but that’s not enough. You need to be shoveling every spare penny you have into some sort of investment vehicle (stocks, real estate, index funds etc.). You need to be saving and investing like your life depends on it – because it does.

One morning, in my early 30s, I went to Barnes & Noble bookstore to spend the day researching finance and investing. I brought with me a new spiral bound notebook and my favorite pen (Dr. Grip). I gathered about a dozen books on the topic which seemed interesting and sat down at a table with a big coffee and a chocolate croissant. Over several hours, I skimmed through each book and summarized the main suggestions in my notebook and then put the books back on the shelf.

Later, after reviewing all the suggestions, I chose the ones that were most common or made the most sense to me. I came up with an investment plan that I still use today. I suggest you do this same exercise. And don’t forget the chocolate croissant; investing is supposed to be fun.

Prepare for Battle

When FDR was inaugurated, he said, “…the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

This pandemic finds many of us stuck at home, for better or for worse, with the veil removed from our shared human condition by the vagaries of the crisis. Let us recall our grandparents lived through world wars, the Holocaust, genocides, the Great Depression, and the flu of 1918 without the tools of technology and entertainment we enjoy.

There’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Truth is, there was almost as much uncertainty before the crisis. Our ability to go outside and engage in social activities just distracted us from it.

This crisis is an involuntary stress test of our strength of character. To pass it, you must first accept that it’s going to be here for an uncomfortable amount of time. Turn away from panic and fear. The cure for uncertainty is action. Deal only with what is in front of you at the present moment. Resist your mind’s urge to dwell on fearful thoughts.

Optimize those areas of your life you can control – there are more than you think. To the greatest degree possible, improve your sleep, diet, exercise, living space, possessions, and daily schedule. Donate or sell stuff you don’t need. Get rid of expensive car payments, downsize your house or dwelling if possible. Kick anything and anyone out of your life which are not encouraging you to be your best self.

How do you feel right now? Are you ready for battle? Are you somebody decision-makers would choose to help them take charge of critical initiatives? Is there fire in your eyes? Do you look intimidating to other job candidates? Does your tone of voice project enthusiasm and authority?

It’s true, times are tough right now. They say, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Now is your chance to “convert retreat into advance.”