Hey hey! I hope you're having an awesome week, welcome to June!
I have some awesome resources coming your way in the rest of the email, I'm pumped to share them. If you want to listen to the audio version where I talk through the stuff in the newsletter, you can do that right here:
It's been a crazy time in the Belcak household. Lily and I ended up buying our first house!
We weren't necessarily committed to that move, but this one popped up on the market and it was too good to resist.
It was bittersweet leaving the NYC area for the suburbs, but I'm loving it so far (smiles are hiding behind the masks 😁 ):
As for the job search, I've got an amazing guide from Reforge on their Reverse Interview Strategy for choosing your next company plus a killer networking strategy that you can use (even if you're not sure how to add value).
Here we go!
The Reverse Interview: How To Choose Your Next Company (Reforge)
Of all the career-related questions I get, two themes stand out above the rest:
- I don't know what I want to do / what career or role is right for me
- I don't know how to get my foot in the door and consistently land interviews
On of my favorite blogs, Reforge, recently wrote a killer article that walks through a process to help job seekers solve for both!
Naturally, the advice in the article is super in line with the system I talk about here at Cultivated Culture, but the authors (a former SVP of Growth at SurveyMonkey and Malwarebytes and an SVP of Growth & Business Intelligence at Gojek) bring some of their own unique perspective to the process.
This article covers some awesome stuff, including:
- How to overcome the information disadvantage in the job search
- Why the most common job search advice is useless
- The “Reverse Interview Method” to help you take back control of the search
- A guide to asking fantastic questions as a candidate
>> Click here to read the full article on the Reverse Interview
Networking When You Don't Know How To Add Value
If you've heard me talk about networking, you've heard me talk about “adding value.”
Easier said than done though, right?
I mean, how do you add value to people who are levels above you? Who seem to have everything at their disposal?
One of my best tips for people in that position is to start creating content around the person you're trying to network with!
Show them you're tuning in, you're listening, and you appreciate what they say.
Katrin Wietek has nailed this strategy.
Every week, Katrin tunes into LinkedIn Lives from her favorite creators. She takes copious notes and then she turns their advice into beautiful, informative graphics that summarize the key takeaways.
Then she posts the graphics on LinkedIn and tags the creators!
Katrin and I met after she did this exact process for a LinkedIn Live I was on with my buddy Jonathan Javier (watch the replay here).
She tuned in, took notes, and created this amazing graphic:
It was too awesome for me to ignore. I had to reach out and ask her if I could share it here! Jonathan also reposted to his feed as well.
A week later, I hosted another live on salary negotiation. Katrin did the exact same thing. When she shared her post on LinkedIn, it totally blew up with over 2,900 reactions and 200+ comments!
This is why I love content creation as a networking strategy.
It gets you noticed by the people you're supporting AND your entire extended network!
You don't need to be an artist either – you can do this by starting a podcast, writing blog posts, or creating content on LinkedIn (or other platforms) where you share your learnings and tag potential contacts.
>> If you want to see this in action, give Katrin a follow here
⚡ Lightning Round ⚡
The lightning round is where we have a little fun! I'll share some links to things I'm reading, things I'm learning, things I'm loving, and things I'm testing:
Book(s) I'm Reading: I finished up two books and am halfway through my third since last month:
- How To Resist Amazon And Why – Danny Caine (fascinating pamphlet on the wide-reaching impacts of Amazon on many aspects of life)
- Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (I'm a sucker for sci-fi and I loved the Martian, I couldn't put this one down)
- Flash Boys – Michael Lewis (currently reading, it's been on my list for years)
Song I'm Jamming To: Already – Rochelle Jordan
Best Beer I've Had Recently: Soft Terra – The Drowned Lands Brewing (this was a top 10 of all time for me)
As always, thanks for reading and being an awesome part of the fam here. Have success out there this week!
Be well,
Austin
