Forem: taylor desseyn

The Career Advice No One Told Us (But We Wish They Had)

taylor desseyn — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 00:18:00 +0000

Nine days out from baby day!! (Also nine days out from America’s birthday coincidence? I think not). But for real, baby number 2 is healthy and barreling towards a July 4th due date! Plus I’m still unearthing myself from emails from Render and trying to cram as many meetings and tie up as many loose ends before baby is here so while I am trying to enjoy the last few days of a family of 3— the hectic schedule is making time go by too fast.

One thing I spoke about on a recent live is doing the ‘small stuff’ better during an interview. Here are some ‘small things’ you can do better than others that don’t take a lot of effort…

Ask thoughtful questions at the end of an interview
Research the folks you are interviewing with and find commonalities to bring up to change the style of the interview to more of a convo
Be happy/smile during an interview! (it helps A LOT)
Send thank you notes via LinkedIn afterwards
Know what the company does and a little about it’s history and reference/tie it in to your questions/answers in the interview
Depending on how much work it is, build something small using the companies software/platform etc

One more thing…I will be taking off this newsletter/live show for the the next month/month and a half so I can be more focused on my family. I started my live show when Arie, my daughter, was born 4 years ago and really haven’t taken a pause on it outside of vacations! So this will be my last newsletter for a bit. I appreciate you reading this and see you in a few weeks 🙂
So we better make this one count, right?!

Maybe it’s the new baby, maybe it’s looking back at my career, or maybe it’s just the question I ask at the end of most GC 2.0 shows. But I always want to know what career advice you wish you could tell your younger self. I’ve gotten some great answers over the years, and I wanted to share some more with you. Shout out to my Twitter (X? idk have we decided on that one yet?) fam for helping me put this list together.

Even if you’re not in the ‘younger self’ part of your career anymore, odds are you know someone who is or, let’s be honest, we’re all still learning some of these lessons. And y’all delivered with some great ones:

Life

Learn that it’s okay to say no.
The faster you learn to say no, the faster you can focus on what actually matters to you.
Advocate for yourself, especially when it’s uncomfortable.
Don’t neglect your health. You only get one body. (until the robot tech catches up at least)
Even if things don’t usually go to plan, you should always have a plan.
Talk about people in private how you would talk to them in public.

Career

Quit bad companies faster. Signs of a bad company: slow/no growth, bad leadership, or a manager who doesn't value your work or advocate for you.
The best way to avoid burnout: work where your effort is appreciated.
You can’t do everything yourself— hire and train other people to help.
Don’t strive for the small raise. Strive for the personal growth and life-changing jumps. You’re worth more than you realize. AKA learn how to better negotiate & advocate for yourself.
Trust your own decisions. And if something in your career is bringing you more joy, lean into it.
JR DEVs— don't be shy about asking for code reviews, you can improve quickly with just a few tips. Remember software isn’t about code, it’s about people.
Do you want to be like the person giving you advice? Then take it. If you don’t….

And finally….

Appreciate and talk to the people around you. We can get hyper-focused on ourselves and forget there are people around us going through the same struggles. That’s part of the reason this article is even on your feed. Because sometimes you just need the reminder that…
You’re not alone.
-Taylor

How to Write a Resume that Doesn't Suck

taylor desseyn — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 16:35:59 +0000

What’s up fam!! I survived my third year at Render, and it was another stellar year. Hats off to Justin Samuels and the crew for putting on a BANGER of an event. They already have 2025 up and running for tickets and they are SUPER cheap so go ahead and buy them ASAP.

I do want to plug another amazing event I caught wind of from my dear friend Chris DeMars. You know I’m all about a virtual networking conference and this has the makings of a good one! It’s Digital Ocean’s yearly conference that is FREE and they are creating virtual spaces (hubs) where folks can come in an engage with the community, speak to solution architects about building on DO, partnerships hub etc. If you want to sign up head over to: https://do.co/4cxzdUf

Finally - I am on baby watch!! Me and the wife are 2 weeks out (July 4th) of having our second kid. CAN’T WAIT FOR ALL THE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS. But for real, we’re pumped. If you don’t hear from me next week you know why!

Been really into doing live’s/podcast episodes by myself again to go over pretty tactical job search stuff. Let me know if you like it just me or with guests! Here is an overview on how to write a resume that doesn’t suck! And if you’re a visual learner, I walk you through what a good resume looks like here.

But my best advice is that if you’re looking for resume help try to stay within your industry. And if you think you’re going to take a short cut and pay someone to write it or send it through ChatGPT… I mean you do you, but it’s pretty easy to spot a generic template that has a little personal info dropped in it.

Here’s my quick advice:

Leverage the Header space

This is where you’re going to throw your name and contact info. Remember we’re trying to get as much on the first page as possible.

Make sure you can manage whatever contact info you include. So if you don’t want to be fielding surprise calls, maybe just include your email.

You can also link to your LinkedIn or GitHub here. But remember, you don’t want too many links so it doesn’t get tossed when going through certain ATS.

Professional Summary

Outline your career as it relates to the job you’re applying to (as best as you can). It’s not really feasible to adjust your resume for EVERYTHING you apply to, but if you have the time I’d recommend it.

This is your quick grab highlight reel. You should be writing things like “8+ Years of Python development” not full sentences.

Professional Experience

Use clear formatting

Bold should be use to break of the major text blocks, not every other line.

Company mm/year - mm/year

Title

Location (or Remote)

First Bullet Point:

Give me an overview of what the company does mainly around revenue and/or sort of idea of how big or important the company is. I’m not going out of my way to Google your company.

Second Bullet Point:

Give me an overview of why you were hired and what your main responsibility is.

Rest of the Bullet Points:

Start with action words (managed, ran, created, etc)

A little less tasks, a lot more action.

Talk about quantitative things YOU have done.

Get the actual stats.

I’m sure you’re team is nice and all, but this resume should be all about you.

Keep each line to one sentence/line. This is going to be a challenge for some of y’all, but it makes your resume so much easier to read.

Rinse and repeat until you’ve built our your full resume. Length wise, I say keep it three pages or under. I promise you can do it. Another big thing to note is your resume is probably going to be read on someone’s phone. So when it comes to formatting, no one is going to want to read your three column wide text block. Keep it short, keep it concise, keep it clean.

The Art of Being Bored: The Upside to Downtime

taylor desseyn — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 20:32:00 +0000

own to the ATL to be one of the official MC’s/hosts of Render 2024. If you plan on being there please come find me!! I have no idea what stage I’m going to be on but just listen for my loud voice :) But for real, let’s get into some conference prep for Render before we dive into a recent live show I did…

Do your research on what sessions to go to; Render has a mobile app so pick what events you want to attend on the front end! Trust me, I’ve rolled into conferences not prepping and I panic.
Figure out your elevator pitch; you are going to meet a TON of people for about 30 seconds at a time so you need to be able to tell that person EXACTLY what you do and what you want to do quickly.
Get as many people into your LinkedIn ecosystem as you can and then follow up after the conference; most people don’t follow up and you lose a TON of momentum.

I hope you have a blast at Render if you go! If you aren’t going to Render, then I hope you enjoyed that conference prep for the next conference you attend! Anywho, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of the newsletter….

I recently had Reid Evans on to talk about something I think we’re all feeling— getting tired of “the grind.” Whether you’ve lost career momentum, said yes to too many things/people, or are just tired of the corporate life (more about that later), let’s take a sec to stop and think about what we’re actively doing to make that situation better.

You know that whole 'never-ending, pedal to the metal' vibe in our industry? It's coming from all directions. We're stuck in this work culture where jobs disappear, but the workload just keeps piling up on everyone else. Or let's be real, some of us have kind of become low-key addicted to the hustle. Looking at myself here. But that gets me to my point, and a big topic that Reid and I talked about, we’ve really forgotten how to be bored.

Being constantly busy does a couple things we probably don’t think about. It forces us into a schedule AND it also distracts us thinking about life’s what-ifs. Hear me out, would the grind be so bad if you were actually working on something you were passionate about? And when’s the last time you took the time to slow down, be bored, and think about what that passion actually is?

Obviously this conversation comes from a place of privilege of not being restricted by money or other circumstances. But I think we owe it to ourselves to take some time now and again to be bored. And tbh it’s uncomfortable. From experience. But the clarity and the conversations you have with yourself and others after is worth it. I’m going work on more intentional boredom and y’all let me know if it works for you.

To those of you that are tired of corporate America and on the verge of rage quitting, this part is for you. So many people are over the whole 'circling back' 9-5 routine... Talking about making the move to freelance, Reid said something along the lines of he was tired of working so hard to make money for other people and tired of those people spending that money on him for things he doesn’t need or want. Which is the problem with corporate life in a nutshell. What he did do, though, is have a loose plan and more importantly some savings. So if you’re thinking that you don’t need no “man” to make money, you’re probably right but rage quitting is very rarely successful. What should we call quitting with a plan, premeditated quitting? Do that.

Alright, I hope I’ll see some of y’all at Render and we can talk about this more. I want to hear what you’re thinking.

LinkedIn Hacks to Get Hired Now

taylor desseyn — Thu, 30 May 2024 20:12:08 +0000

Two in-person Nashville meetups in one week?? Yep. My social battery is going to be dead by tomorrow. I had the chance to hang out with the JavaScript User Group for a quick second last night giving away two RenderATL tickets, and I am speaking on a panel this evening aka Thursday night on how to keep yourself sane through the job search. Pretty pumped about this meetup…it’s a joint meetup between RenderATL and The Black Codes.

But wanted to talk about in-person meetups for a second. Listen, I get it, it’s annoying to get out of your house and go to one. Especially when you live like 45 minutes away HOWEVER it was so nice to be around people last night even though I was at the meetup for 15 minutes. I’m thoroughly looking forward to hanging out with folks this evening, and I was even talking to a Director of Eng last night about the fact he literally has his job now because of a meetup.

As someone who lives his life down to the minute by my schedule (my wife hates it) I’m encouraging you to start showing up once a month to a local meetup. Who knows, maybe your next job is at the next meetup you attend!

Wanted to summarize my live recently talking about how to use LinkedIn to find a job. Lotta folks have been asking me so I figured I would share!

Is your LinkedIn just a couple coworkers and some people you took a class with in college? Then you’re not using it to it’s fullest potential. And, tbh, LinkedIn is a little clunky. But, as of right now, there’s no better platform to connect people with other professionals, companies, and job openings all in the same space.

Now if one of y’all wants to help me build a new/better platform, hit me up.

So here’s how you’re going to use LinkedIn to find your next job:

Use search filters

Always search job posting from the last 24 hrs. You’re going to be served some stale old postings otherwise. And I would check the postings this way at least once a day.

Don’t go too narrow too quickly

Some of the senior postings you see in title are actually a mid-senior position. So read the details.

Look for connections

Instead of quick applying, see if there’s a connection you could reach out to instead. And if you don’t have a connection…

Connect with people from the company & send a note

Make every note intentionally and tactfully crafted. Copy and paste is not appropriate here.

Work on your DM skills

You only have your opening line to humanize yourself from all the other spam bots in their DMs. Work within the formula of flattery/acknowledgment + specific question + specific amount of time.

Your title should match the role you’re looking for

Titles are the tl;dr of profiles for recruiters and hiring managers. Make sure you’re easily searchable and visible.

Invest in Premium

*not sponsored. You can literally do your whole job search on LinkedIn so pay the $30 or whatever and give yourself the freedom to connect and talk to all the people you need to.

You don’t have to post to make yourself visible

Liking and commenting could honestly be just as effective as posting your own content every day. It’s all about making sure people are familiar with you and your name. If you are posting, take into account your content will be pushed to the people you most recently connected or interacted with.

I’ve given you my recruiter insight before, but I think it’s really important to add in more of a personal narrative and branding strategy. I mean looking for a job is just trying to find someone to invest in you and your skills. It never hurts to already have who and what that is established. Alright, happy searching.

Creating a Job That Doesn't Exist w/ Aaron Harmon, Sr. Recruiter

taylor desseyn — Thu, 23 May 2024 19:05:15 +0000

Any dad advice going from one kid to two kids? Because that’s happening now in 6 weeks!! But for real, if anyone has gone from one to two give me your best advice because I’m all ears! While you’re thinking about that, I want to give you some updates from Gun.io. This is not going to become a Gun.io newsletter don’t worry BUT we’ve been COOKIN as the kids say over here so I want to give you an update on what we got going on…

We basically redid our entire platform to where the main view is you searching our entire database of thousands of engineers. Think LinkedIn Recruiter but within our database. It’s pretty sweet and it allows hiring managers to start to budget/see what’s out there. Already had a lot of folks in my network say they like the look/feel of it.
This is for DEVELOPERS - we have opened up our entire platform to where you can submit to any open jobs that you feel like is a fit! You have to have your profile 100% complete and TBH we’re very picky about this because this is how we match you with jobs. But if you haven’t made a profile you might as well go ahead and do it. Make sure you select me on marketing attribution :)
We JUST rolled out an AI feature (yes eye roll more AI). It’s a very simple feature but it allows you to copy/paste your job description into our filter and then it automatically spits out candidates that are a fit for your JD. Here’s the kicker…your job description better not suck. Just sayin’.

Anywho, had a great convo with my guy Aaron Harmon, former Tesla recruiter, on how he found a job in 4 weeks with this market…hint…it was because of content :) There’s no way I’m going to get through all of it here, so go check it out. Bonus: there’s corgis (that’s right, plural).

I always love bringing guests on for y’all who have recently been on the job search because even if you aren’t looking right now, odds are you will be at some point down the road. And I think it’s important to be prepared but also to get a look at what works for other people. Here’s the short version of what has been working for Aaron post layoff:

File for unemployment. It’s there as a net for when you need it. You need it, so use it. Not to mention that the process isn’t exactly quick… better to get a head start.

Updating your LinkedIn to be “Open to Work” Speaking of things that get some mixed feelings, adding that little green banner to your profile is just there to make your life easier, use it. Or at least throw up a post that you’re looking.

Accept the help. If someone offers you help, they won’t be put out because you actually take them up on it. Check your ego, take the help.

Start posting. Hey look, I said exactly what you thought I was going to say. BUT Aaron had a great perspective on this: it’s an opportunity to share your background and your capabilities how you want them to be shared, not just some line on a resume a stranger is reading.

So you’ve now applied to tons of jobs… hundreds of your applications are floating around out there, but you haven’t found the right fit. Here’s the thing— you have to make it a priority to understand why a position is open and make an intentional effort to research and understand what the company really needs. Aka, now we’re getting into the title of this newsletter.

When I started at Gun.io, the position they had open was for sales. Now I’m not saying that’s not part of what I do, BUT I researched the company and saw that their marketing and online presence could benefit from all the things I’m good at and love doing. So should I have just seen the only open sales position and moved on? Nah, sometimes you have to create your own job. Know your own worth and present yourself as a solution.

That being said, you really have to lean on your network and be willing to send out some DMs. Aaron had some great DM advice: keep it direct and match the tone of the person you’re messaging. Do your research and look at how they post before you pop off with an incredibly formal or informal message.

This convo with Aaron has so many more great nuggets of info. I don’t think I even began to cover it all. OH he also mentioned that he used (not sponsored…) Teal to keep track of his job search metrics. If you’ve tried it, I’d love to hear more from you. Always love hearing about new products.

Three Steps to Ace Your Next Interview

taylor desseyn — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 14:43:53 +0000

Hey hey! I am now a week out from having the flu. I tell you what, traveling to your parents house to only get the flu on your 35th birthday is not the most ideal way to celebrate your birthday if I’m being honest. ANYWAY, back in the saddle in Nashville and still dealing with some brain fog but getting things ready for SXSW in Austin. The Gun.io crew is heading down there so if you or someone you know will be there let me know! This is my first SXSW event so if you’ve done it before and have suggestions I’m all ears! My biggest words of encouragement for you this week is we are not meant to walk through this life alone. If you are struggling with the heaviness of your job search, reach out to someone, hell reach out to me. I’ll talk to you! It’s hard right now and life is heavy for a lot of people but deep breaths friend. You got this. I know you do.

Speaking of the job search, I’m dropping some of my top tips for acing the interview. If you want to check out the whole episode, here you go.

Also, here’s a reminder that my live shows are always a great place to network. Come hang out in the comment section and meet some new people.

Okay so back to these tips. Let’s break it down into my three biggest suggestions:

Research the company. This may seem obvious, but you have to put in some time and effort to really get to know what they do, understand what their problems will be, and prepare talking points for the interview. I’m going to say this now and keep saying it forever— when you get to the “do you have any questions for us” part of the interview you should never be saying, “Nope, I’m all good.” Here, I even made it easy by writing some out for you (plus they’re sourced from tons of industry people). Adjust these to fit based on all that research you did.

Research the people interviewing you. If the goal of the interview is to have some good and engaging banter (…which that should be your goal FYI), you’re going to need some talking points folks. “Man, this weather is crazy” will only get you so far. If you find yourself dreading interviews or absolutely failing, odds are you’re having trouble with the conversation part. My advice— start putting some time into working on those skills. Read some books, or go to some networking events. Nothings worse than someone asking you a question, you answer, and then the conversation just stops. Okay say you’re interviewing with me. You could be like, “Taylor, I watched a couple GC 2.0 episodes and ordered a bag of THAT coffee. I thought you were joking, but that stuff is actually awesome. It’s almost as good as (insert your favorite coffee shop here).” And if you know Nashville, you know that nothing starts a debate quite like who has the best coffee. Figure out something that can lead to a back and forth, preferably a few things, and write it down.

Have the materials you need physically in front of you. That’s right, we’re going analog here. Here’s what I’d recommend:

Your resume. I promise you don’t know it as well as you think you do.

The job description, the names of the people interviewing you, and ideally a phone number to contact them in case of some internet emergency.

A notebook and a pen. This may be a controversial take, but it’s more professional to physically write down your questions than to type them in a separate screen. I’ve talked to some hiring managers that say besides making you look distracted from the interview they’re worried that you’re using AI to help you answer questions. And even though that’s probably not the case, looking engaged is never a bad look. So grab that pen and paper.

A “sizzle reel” of your career. Just 3-4 bullet points of things you’ve done that directly apply to the specific role you’re interviewing for.

Alright— here’s a lightning round of answers to some other interview questions I get.

Experience is experience. If you’re worried that the things you’ve done don’t count because they were unpaid, nah. If you used the skills and did the thing it absolutely counts.

Do an audio/video test before the interview. I don’t think I need to expand on that one.

If your interviewer is LATE late, take a deep breath and try your best not to get flustered. Shoot them a quick email letting them know that you’re there and waiting.

Gaps in work history aren’t a problem as long as you know how to talk about them. If you’ve been out the game for a minute, spend a lot of time nailing down how you’re going to answer the About Me questions. If you’ve got a three year gap and fumble answering why, that’s an instant red flag for any interviewer.

Alright, let’s go ace that next interview. And like I already mentioned, don’t forget you’re not alone. Reach out. I promise there’s people that want to help.

Talent Marketplaces, What are They?

taylor desseyn — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 21:46:45 +0000

If you’ve been wondering what exactly Gun.io is and what exactly we do— you’re in luck. Today we’re talking about talent marketplaces, i.e. what does that even mean and how are they different from a regular ole staffing agency. You can catch the full episode here.

But if you want to get right into the pros and the cons, let’s go. Y’all are all probably pretty familiar with staffing companies. They’re the ones in your inbox with “new opportunities” and “great fits,” and that’s because they’re set up to go out and find talent after a company approaches them with an open role. So it’s their job to hustle and find/place someone as quickly as possible. Which is great if you want the opportunities to come to you, but it has some downsides that we’ll get to later. Talent marketplaces, go about things from the opposite approach. Basically, we have high end talent on tap so that when companies come to us, there’s a pool of people that already fit the bill and are ready to go. Some other marketplaces you might’ve heard of are places like Upwork or Toptal. And the jobs you’re going to find are most likely going to be a little more niche and senior level (at least at Gun and Toptal).

So how do you get on a talent marketplace and what do you do when you get there? The process to get started with Gun is currently being updated, but our goal is to make things even simpler than before. You’ll log on and take about an hour to fill out your profile. From there, you have access to submit/see our open roles. Now, hold your horses, just because you submit doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll move you through to the next step. One of the things about talent marketplaces and Gun specifically that you don’t get with agencies is a tech talent team to help guide you to the roles that would be the best fit for you and your skills. Not only that, you also get to set your own rate.

Alternately with agencies, and one of the biggest reasons that they get a bad rap, is that they’re working on more of a churn and burn model. Their job is to more or less sell candidates to companies— usually sans the teching out talent you’d get with a marketplace. And adding to that, they’re keeping a pretty hidden hand when it comes to showing you all the roles they have available. The goal is more to push you the roles where they would make the most money and can move on the fastest. So if you go the agency route or want to add it on to your tech marketplace search, make sure the vibes with your recruiter are good and be sure to ask them if there’s any additional roles they haven’t shared with you.

If you’re finding yourself constantly in a race to the bottom of who can do the job the cheapest, come give Gun.io a try. You’re setting your rates, and our team is teeing up the matches for you to review. And for all of you asking, our platform is opening back up in a week or so. In the meantime— update your job search stuff. Resume: make sure it’s formatted well. Half the time the content of your resume is on point… but then there’s 5 different fonts and everything is jumbled together. LinkedIn: it needs to be solid. Maybe one day we’ll get to use our LinkedIn instead of a resume, but until then be sure to use your title as SEO for the roles you’re looking for. Headshot: invest in a good one. And not those spooky AI generated ones either. We can tell.

It's Been a Tough Year, So Let's Talk About It w/ David Neal

taylor desseyn — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 22:02:20 +0000

If you want to find out why David ate 4 lbs of bacon every day for a month, you can watch the whole show here. But what I want to talk today about is something a lot of people are feeling right now. In short, the job search feels like a never ending cycle of constant rejection topped off with getting a job that might not even be the best fit for you. Not to mention some of these interview requirements have gotten absolutely out of hand. David talked about a 40 hour project as an interview requirement. Who would want to do that when they have a portfolio of work that shows they’re more than qualified? Or you could be one of the people who goes to dozens of interviews and still have nothing to show for it.

So what can you personally do to break the cycle? The messed up hiring process aside, I think everything should start with simply taking some time to reflect and understand yourself and your needs before jumping into the search. David talked about talking to his wife and how she reminded him to think about the work and the projects that brought him the most joy. Your next step on your career doesn’t necessarily have to be in the exact same role as what you were doing before. Maybe you want to get back to building or maybe you really enjoy the things a certain company. Find things that spark some sort of feeling for you, or reach out to that company and see if they have any open positions. There aren’t many upsides to being jobless BUT you do get the space to reflect, so don’t let it go to waste.

A lot of you probably know David from conferences and public speaking, so I thought I’d take a minute to talk about just that. David describes public speaking as a super power. And as someone with chronic sweaty palms when speaking, I couldn’t agree more. Luckily it’s a super power that anyone can have with practice. And it reaches beyond simply standing in front of people and talking. It can give you more confidence for so many things like meeting new people, advocating for yourself in front of your boss, or presenting projects. It’s not just some course you were required to take in college, it’s a skill that can actually change your life and career.

Making the Switch to Freelance & Contract Work w/ Dan Mall

taylor desseyn — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 21:14:23 +0000

I know I say this all the time, but we’ve got a great show to cover this week. We’re talkin’ layoffs, career changes, contract and freelance work— all the things you want need to know with the infinite wealth of knowledge that is Dan Mall.

You asked, I listened. GC 2.0 episodes are now back to streaming live on YouTube. Let’s start with watching the full episode with my man Dan.

Ain’t got time for that? Here’s the highlights:

Let’s start with layoffs. We’re seeing them in the thousands these days, and if that makes you feel a little panicky, that’s the correct response. Literally two major tech layoffs happened while we were filming this episode. So what can you do to prepare (because we all need to prepare). Here’s Dan’s advice: build leverage. No, we’re not talking about blackmailing your boss so you can keep your job. Dan’s talking about building up your personal security to leverage the personal loss. This can be something obvious as regularly contributing to an emergency fund or getting in the habit of always sharpening your skills or learning new ones.

A more emotionally complicated way to leverage a layoff is to always have a worst case scenario backup plan in the back of your mind. Odds are, once you get laid off, you’re not going to jump right into your dream job where you love what you do AND the salary. So make those compromises with yourself ahead of time. Don’t wait until your picking your next career move from a place of desperation. If you have to take a big pay cut or even switch career paths, you’ve already made that decision for yourself.

What I’ve seen a lot of in the past two years are people that are just downright not willing to compromise. It’s fair to want a better situation than what you had previously, but the reality is that the perfect role you have in your head may not be out there. I mean, the market isn’t anything like it was a few years ago. And to top that off, you’re going to be competing against a lot more people that may be a lot more qualified. This can be summed up in the proverb Dan mentioned, “The man who chases two rabbits, catches neither.” Understand the areas you can compromise, because odds are you’re not getting it all.

So if you’re looking at the market and thinking about switching to freelance or contract work, we have some words of advice. Let’s start with not quitting your day job. You should still work full time while starting to build your client base. Yeah, you’re going to be really tired, but having that financial security is everything. If you’re already out on your own or thinking about trying it out, one of the hardest steps is just finding clients. Dan recommended starting with your friends, and I can’t agree more. You already have a built in level of trust that you’ll never get from a cold call or a flier you leave on a board. Even if your friends don’t need work, they probably know someone who does.

Speaking of accepting work, the first things you take on are probably going to be some bottom of the barrel tasks. Not everything you do has to be exactly what you want to do forever. When Dan started out, he was just taking overflow projects and making the most out of them. Sometimes you have to do a project that shows up in your bank account not necessarily in your portfolio.

If you’re still struggling with finding those first contract jobs, don’t be afraid to reach out to recruiters and look at talent marketplaces. I’ve placed the same developer multiple times for different companies. If you’re good at what you do and great at communication, it’ll really take you places. Speaking of building relationships and a reputation— if you feel you have to do something for free to start out, consider doing it for a testimonial. You can even go as far as writing it and then posting with client approval once the project is finished. Don’t forget, no one knows how much another client paid. But having a great reviews can always give you a leg up in charging correctly.

Getting the Most Out of Your Next Conference

taylor desseyn — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 21:37:06 +0000

I’m officially back from THAT Conference in Austin and also officially exhausted, in a good way. Huge shoutout to everyone who attended my talk and the people I had the chance to connect with. There’s truly nothing quite like that conference energy. Since it’s top of mind at the moment, I though I’d spend today talking about what you can do to get the most of your next tech conference experience. Because, as you probably know, the whole thing can be pretty overwhelming if you don’t prep.

If you need more deets from my time at THAT Conference, watch the full recap here.

The biggest theme from the conference this year is one that I think will resonate with so many people. And it’s about being fearless. So often we’re the biggest thing holding ourselves back. So when it comes time to learn a new framework, or change jobs, or start something new we let our hesitancy get in the way of opportunity. I’ll admit it— it was fear that led me to not leave my last job years sooner than I actually did. It was fear that made me slow to start a career change or even how I viewed what I do now. But making the conscious decision to not leave your life full of what ifs is almost always one of the simplest and most impactful changes we can make for ourselves.

Moving on to a little lighter subject— how are you actively prepping for your next conference? Those things aren’t cheap, so you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of the experience. Here’s my advice. Pop on over to the conference page and connect with all the speakers on LinkedIn. Add in a personal note while you’re there. It’s as simple as saying something like, “I’m so excited to attend this year’s Rat Convention, and I saw that you were a speaker. What are your thoughts on the Chicago Rat Hole? Is this finally some good press for rats?” adjust accordingly to fit their topic Then start posting that you’re going to whatever city and asking who wants to meet for coffee, a beer, or a walk around the block while you’re there.

Since you’re starting to make plans with people it’s incredibly important for you to schedule out your days. Kudos to you if you can go to every talk AND every happy hour. But, be realistic. What talk subjects are the most interesting to you but also what speakers do you want to hear from most? This takes a little research, but it’s well worth it to not have to stress day of. Don’t forget to factor in time to just decompress for a bit. Whether that’s visiting a local attraction or having some TikTok time in your hotel room— you have to take a little time for yourself.

So you’ve made it to the talks, now what? Leave the pen and paper in your bag, and consider live tweeting your favorite talking points instead and tagging the speaker. As a speaker, we love when someone takes time to create content like this for us at conferences. Then at the end of the day, throw up a LinkedIn post with a few sentences about the day with a pic and tag those speakers you’ve already connected with.

There’s no better place to network than at a conference. It’s also one of the places that can be most intimidating. Here’s something easy to start with— connect with the speaker at the end of their talk. You already have an obvious subject to talk about, now all you have to do is ask them a relevant question. Boom. There’s one hand officially shook. And for everyone else you meet and connect with on LinkedIn while you’re there— your connections should be in chronological order. So when you get home and finally get some rest (speaking directly at my self here) go back, look at that list, and send those people a DM. It will feel a little off at first, but don’t forget to be fearless.

Networking Is Just Making Friends

taylor desseyn — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 14:22:28 +0000

Let’s get down to business. We’re chatting with the infinite source of wisdom that is Shruti Kapoor, Staff Engineer at Slack and formerly Paypal. What are we talking about? Jobs, duh. Catch the whole convo here.

TL;DR: Networking isn’t just cheesy, hand-shake business connections, it’s about making friends. And you’re probably not doing as much as you should to prep for your next interview.

We’ve got good news and bad news to start. And both are the same news. You never know when your next layoff will happen. The bad side is that even if your business had it’s most successful year yet, outside of spending a couple grand talking to whoever replaced Miss Cleo, you can’t predict when the next layoff will happen. The good news in this is that you get to make moves now to fully prepare you for when the day comes.

So what does prepping for career doomsday look like? We always talk about keeping that resume extra crispy and keeping an active log of what you’re actually doing/accomplishing at work. But we haven’t really touched on networking inside your company. If you weren’t logging on every day or sharing an office with someone, would there be a space that you regularly connect with your coworkers? I mean you already know them, so why not give them an add on LinkedIn and stay in touch. And on the note of networking— why does it always feel so cringey. Like it’s something your dad taught you and you’re supposed to be wearing khaki pants and talking about ‘hitting the range’ this weekend. Let’s take a moment to get rid of that mental image and replace it with one of just making friends.

That’s all networking is at the end of the day. And, soft shoutout to my introvert friends, if making friends seems too difficult too, try approaching people in settings where there’s an easy and obvious subject. At a conference (cough cough) that could be approaching a speaker about questions you had on their topic. In an online space, you can comment about my corgi literally any time. Every compliment goes straight to his ears, apparently. You get the point. It doesn’t have to be some awkward convo where you just say “stocks.” back and forth. Go make some job friends so they’re there when you need them most.

Okay, now some quick interview advice. As much information as you can get up front the better. This may look like reaching out to the recruiter that contacted you and asking what the interview will be about. Good recruiters have already invested their time in you, and they’ll want you to succeed. Getting info can also look like asking questions to the hiring manager ahead of the interview. Ask for an outline of what will be discussed. For specifics, go back up and watch the full show. Also don’t forget to bring a list of questions with you. It seems simple enough, but one of the biggest determining factors on candidates getting hired is how interested they seem in the position. We’re flooded with similar talent and experience, so going one step beyond makes all the difference. And if you’re going after roles in areas you’re already passionate about or a product you love, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Final housekeeping note, here’s some gun.io upcoming events that you don’t want to miss out on because we really do want to hang out:

January 29-31 - THAT Conference in Round Rock, TX

Not only are we hosting the opening happy hour, but our very own Dev Advocate (me) will be giving a talk titled "Why Building Community & Content Can Launch Your Career."

February 8 - Gun.io X Couchbase in Nashville, TN

We're joining our friends at Couchbase for an evening of tech talks, networking, and, of course, plenty of food and drinks. If you'll be in town and want to join, shoot us a message and we'll send you more details!

Does Your Manager Suck?

taylor desseyn — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 22:37:07 +0000

Would you rather: A) Never hear from your manager at all or B) Have your manager check in with you regularly? I mean, Option A may have it’s pros… but I think it’s the general consensus that we all, as employees, kinda want to know where we stand. We’re chatting with Tim Cheadle, VP of Engineering at Binti, about ye ole career ladder and what good management looks like in these #tryingtimes. Also, you should go check out Binti and what they’re doing for the foster care community.

Thirty three minutes and twenty nine seconds of pure industry insight can be found as a recap of our live show here.

For the theater trailer version:

The phrase “career ladder” wouldn’t normally be described as a particularly intriguing subject, but we’re going to try our best here. Really what we’re talking about is that subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) pull towards getting that next big role or title in your career. I mean who doesn’t want to get promoted and make more money, right? What we’re rarely talking about is takes great management it takes to reach our career goals. So what does a bad manager look like? If you experience symptoms of never knowing where you stand, feeling like the milestones are always moving, or feeling like your voice isn’t part of the team’s goals you may, in fact, be a victim of a bad manager.

As most of you know engineering leadership, in particular, is pretty jacked up. Well for the most part. If you want to be a manager, you have to truly and I mean truly love people. What we’re seeing and experience in engineering are people who started as a programmer taking the same work style approach to management. But it’s a totally different job, not something people should be promoted to by default.

What does this mean for you and your career goals? Well, let’s start by pinpointing why you’re rushing for that senior position. Money aside, could you feel that way because there’s so much gatekeeping around those positions? But does the fact that it’s difficult make it right for you? And what if your bad manager who never set goals or checked in with you regularly goes ahead and moves you up the ladder. Odds are that you’re going to fail and possibly get fired.

When it comes down to it, it’s difficult for managers to set expectations when they honestly don’t know what they want. But to leadership reading this that are open to change, start with setting aside regularly scheduled time for your team. Know specifics about your employees— what percent of their day is spent writing code or how much is design. Know their goals in the company and how you can help them achieve that. I’m not saying micromanage them, but you need to have a relationship built so you can be a foundation for their ladder.

Okay that was cheesy, but you hopefully get the point. Scroll back up and hit that link if you want to hear more about parenting while working from home or what hiring managers are looking for these days.