Job Search and Career Transition

Struggling with the job search? Stop submitting dozens of online apps and crossing your fingers. Try this instead: Start by setting aside 2-3 days. Use that time to research the heck out of companies in your target industry. Learn about their products, customers, finances, people, and culture. You’ll cross a lot of places off your list — that’s a good thing! Work to narrow down the list until you have 15 companies you really love. Now focus 100% of your time and energy on those companies. Invest time creating highly personalized resumes and cover letters, then apply. Begin building relationships with potential referrals. Start with people you know — can anyone in your circle introduce you? Then message decision makers (hiring managers, potential peers) directly. Finally, think about how you can go above and beyond to show how much you want to work there. Can you share potential solutions to a challenge? Can you help identify a new opportunity? Can you perform a competitive analysis? Can you gather feedback on a new initiative? Package that up in a deck and lead with it (I call these Value Validation Projects). Moral of the story? Stop going 100 miles wide and one mile deep. Instead, choose a small set of companies you’re genuinely excited about and invest 100% in them.

“Access to front-office roles in investment banking is extremely competitive for all candidates, but our research suggests students from less privileged backgrounds are less likely to get the top jobs—no matter how talented they are.” — UK Social Mobility Commission, 1 September 2016. This report was released when I was still working in investment banking. Although many of my colleagues graduated from target schools or came from well-to-do families, I didn’t personally feel there was discrimination against less privileged individuals. I couldn’t join investment banking right after finishing engineering school in 1994, not because my father was a street food vendor, but simply because I wasn’t even aware such jobs existed. By 1997, when I graduated from Lancaster University with a master’s in finance, I knew something about investment banking but I showed up to job interviews in London wearing a second-hand suit I bought from Oxfam, a charity organization. The suit was so oversized that I could’ve hidden a chicken in it. I wasn’t a good fit—literally and figuratively. Needless to say, I failed all my interviews. I returned to Singapore and started a job in risk management. Four years later, I managed to move into sales and trading and eventually, into investment banking. At the universities where I’ve taught, I’ve had quite a few students make it into top investment banks. Here’s what I taught them, and if you come from a less privileged background, these steps can help increase your chances: 1. Develop presentation and public speaking skills early. 2. Dress like a professional ready to meet clients. Your clothes don’t have to be expensive, but they must fit well. 3. Demonstrate you are a team player who can work well even with rivals. 4. Read financial news and understand recent transactions such as Elon Musk buying Twitter or UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse. 5. Understand the role of each function within the investment bank you want to join. 6. Know what goes into a pitchbook. Try to get hold of a sample. 7. Have some interests not directly related to your school work. 8. Use LinkedIn to reach out to bankers and get comfortable speaking to senior leaders. If you can’t get into investment banking right after graduation, don’t despair, you can try again later. There will always be hiring as some junior bankers move to other banks or leave the industry altogether. Burnout is real! In the meantime, look for related roles in Big Four accounting firms, consulting, sales & trading, or corporate finance. It’s difficult to break into investment banking but not impossible. Good luck!

I can't tell you the last time I looked at a resume in over 12 years of hiring, and I've hired many people. It's not even a nonstarter. I don't even think about it. I know others will disagree with me, but I don't find any value in the PDF version of your LinkedIn page. I'll just go to LinkedIn. But don't despair; there are many ways to garner attention, be introduced, or stand out. 1. Follow-up notes - it's incredible how often I do not receive a follow-up message after a conversation. It's so easy to do. Here's my opinion on the best follow-up message setup: (1) Thank the person for their time. (2) Bullet point a couple of things you learned from the conversation (3) Ask a question to re-engage. Send the follow-up within an hour of the interview. Send a note to each participant if it's a group meeting or panel. IMPORTANT: If you don't get a response after your first note, could you send a couple more? People are busy, and the inbox is even busier. 2. Use video - I always appreciate it when an applicant uses Loom or another video provider to send an introduction or thank you video. It's a rare occurrence that surprises me due to its ease of use. 3. Please research the role and be sure you are a fit. Are you framing your qualifications to match what the hiring managers are looking for? Ensure you fully understand what you are applying for. 4. Research the team and understand the company. Who are your hiring manager's peers? Who else would you want to meet? If you are interviewing with the CMO, contact the CRO or VP of Sales and try to schedule a meeting. It doesn't hurt to ask. There is no excuse not to research with tools like LinkedIn available to you. 5. Get an introduction before applying - Once you research and meet a couple of people from the company, ask for an introduction. I can count on both hands how often I've received an introduction from a team member for a role I am hiring for. Even better, if you are a referral from a trusted peer, you go to the top of the list, no matter what. 6. Prepare with questions—Spend an inordinate amount of time listing out questions you want to ask the interviewer. Discuss the role expectations, but don't forget to ask questions specifically about them, such as "Why did you choose to work here?" etc. Hiring great people isn’t about resumes but connections, preparation, and effort. Don’t rely on the same old playbook if you want to stand out. Get creative, do the work, and show why you’re the best fit for the role. The good news? Most people won’t do these things. That’s your edge.

You have to be a bit of a Goldilocks when job hunting and look for the "just right" jobs. When I'm considering opportunities, I think of it a lot like college: 1. I apply for a few "reach" jobs. Reach jobs are those that are a stretch. You meet less than 80% of the requirements, the job is a big promotion, or it's in a new industry. This also includes very desirable jobs (remote, high comp, etc.) Particularly in a tough market, you'll be lucky to land an interview on 1% of reach applications. For me (a recruiting manager at a remote tech company), that might look like a director role at a similar company, or a recruiting manager role at a consulting firm where I have no industry experience. In this market, even a Sr. Recruiter role at a remote company could be a "reach job" because there are so many people on the market and I have only 2 years in tech. 2. I apply for a few "safety" jobs. These are jobs that you are beyond qualified for in every way. You have done that job in that industry at a similar company and excelled. It's targeting lower paying industries where things are less competitive. This also includes work environment. I want to work remote, but I'm going to apply for hybrid/on site as safety jobs to maximize my chances. Even in a tough market, you won't get an interview every time, but you should see maybe 10-20% on these applications. For me, this would look like applying for individual contributor or management roles in non-profits (where I spent most of my career) and where there are typically fewer applicants due to compensation. 3. I primarily apply for "just right" jobs. These are jobs that I am very well qualified for, with some room to grow. This could look like doing the same job you're currently doing but at a larger company. It could be a job that's a step up (moving from a Manager to a Sr. Manager) at a hybrid company. It could be taking a step back in level but moving to a new industry or a company with better compensation/work environment. Given this market, you're still only looking at landing interviews for 5-10% of these jobs. For me, this might look applying for Sr. recruiter or Recruiting Manager roles at companies that are similar to mine. Then combine this strategy with how quickly you need a job: -Laid off and need a job NOW! Go heavy on those safety jobs. If I needed a job in the next 3 months, I would be applying for 50-60% safety jobs and the rest just right jobs. -Happy and just seeing what's out there? Go 50-50 on just right and reach jobs. -Know you need a new job in the next 6 months? Go 20% reach, 60% just right, 20% safety. Here's a hard truth: I think most people are way too heavy on "reach" jobs, especially in the context of this market. And this just sets you up for a lot of rejection and disappointment. So take a realistic assessment of your experiences, your urgency, and the market, and make sure the mix of jobs you're applying for matches that.

Most people go about job searching on LinkedIn the wrong way. They apply through job boards, submit their resume, and wait. By the time they hit “apply,” they’re competing with hundreds of other candidates, and their application gets buried. But there’s a better way to find jobs before they even get posted. Instead of searching for open roles, search for people who are hiring! 1. Go to LinkedIn’s search bar and type phrases like: # We’re hiring a data scientist # Looking for a business analyst # Hiring a marketing intern # Our team is growing, looking for engineers 2. Then, filter by posts. This will show you real-time updates from hiring managers, recruiters, and employees talking about open positions. These are often jobs that haven’t been posted on job boards yet, meaning you have a chance to get in early. 3. Once you find a post that interests you, don’t just send a cold DM. Engage with the post first. Leave a comment, ask a thoughtful question, or add value to the conversation. Then, send a message referencing their post and expressing interest in the role. 4. If you’re applying to a company where you don’t know anyone, look up employees who work there. Find someone in the department and reach out. Instead of asking for a referral right away, ask for insights about the team and culture. People are much more likely to help when you approach them with curiosity rather than just asking for something. This approach works because most hiring happens before a job posting even goes live. The more visible you are and the more proactive you are in engaging with hiring conversations, the better your chances of getting noticed. Have you ever found a job through LinkedIn networking? Would love to hear your experience!

Deborah Liu was a long-time VP at Facebook where she built and launched multiple billion-dollar businesses, including Facebook Marketplace. Prior to Facebook, she was a Director at PayPal and eBay. She now serves on the board of Intuit and, for the past 3.5 years, has led Ancestry as CEO. In our conversation, we discuss: 🔸 Why you should PM your career like you PM your product 🔸 Advice for succeeding as an introvert 🔸 Strategies for incubating new products within large companies 🔸 Creating a successful 30-60-90-day plan 🔸 The pitfalls of perfectionism 🔸 The value of resilience and turning failures into stepping stones 🔸 How to leverage coaching in your career development 🔸 Much more Listen now 👇 - YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gvpRD46V - Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gqEQUcKQ - Apple: https://lnkd.in/gmNhk9f2 Some key takeaways: 1. Treat your career like a product roadmap. Start by defining your long-term career goals and envision where you want to be in 5 or 10 years. Break these goals down into smaller, actionable milestones, similar to setting quarterly objectives for a product. Develop a career plan that includes key skills to acquire, roles to target, and metrics for success. Regularly review and adjust this plan based on your progress and any new opportunities or changes in your industry. 2. Introverts need to learn to speak up. Whether you like it or not, the business world favors extraversion. So if you don’t share your opinions and market your wins, you’ll limit your career progression. If you’re a leader, focus on creating an inclusive environment where your entire team has an opportunity to speak up, not just those who are naturally confident in group settings. 3. If the idea of self-promotion makes you feel uncomfortable, consider changing your perspective on what this process achieves. Think about it as a way of advocating for your team’s needs and resources, or sharing important metrics you’ve all achieved. When we shift the focus from “This is about me” to “This helps everyone,” the value of self-promotion becomes far clearer—and much more palatable. 4. When starting a new role, create a structured 30-60-90-day plan: a. 30 days (listening and learning): Meet with as many team members and stakeholders as possible (aim for 50 to 60 people) to understand their perspectives, challenges, and wish lists. b. 60 days (aligning and planning): Based on your learnings, identify one or two areas where you can make a tangible impact in the short term. Develop a plan to address these areas and present it to your team. c. 90 days (execution and impact): Begin implementing the plans and changes that have been agreed upon. Focus on delivering quick wins to build credibility and demonstrate value. At the end of the 90 days, review your achievements and the feedback received.

I landed 3 job offers at unicorn startups, without using job boards like LinkedIn & Indeed. Here's how I found thousands of job postings that aren’t posted on major job platforms: When I first started applying to jobs, I only searched on popular job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed – just like everyone else. But then I realized: The jobs on those sites are sourced from ATS platforms, and I was missing out on thousands of openings that weren’t uploaded (especially from startups)… After doing some research, I found a hack that lets you find jobs by filtering for specific ATS websites.  Here's how it works: 1. Go to Google or another search engine. 2. Search for a popular ATS site by typing “site:[ATS website URL]” ↳ E.G. "site:greenhouse.io". This will show you a list of the jobs that use Greenhouse as their ATS. 3. Use Boolean Search to filter for job titles, locations, or keywords. ↳ If you use quotation marks, you’ll search for a specific keyword on the website.  ↳ If you use a minus sign, you'll filter out that keyword (to get rid of jobs you don’t want to see). For example, here’s a full search query for entry-level SWE jobs on Greenhouse: 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲:𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲.𝗶𝗼 "𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿" "𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆" -𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 -𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 -𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹 I tried this search yesterday, and found over 700 jobs from companies that are ACTIVELY hiring for this role. Hope you enjoy :) P.S. I’m currently compiling a list of the best ATS systems to search for. If you want the list, comment “ATS” below and I’ll update this post once it’s done!  P.P.S. You’ll still need to fill out the application once you find it… here’s a free extension that autofills your job applications: https://lnkd.in/g--Qjmtx

Here are my top 4 job sites for entry-level and early career tech roles 👩🏻💻 I’ve stopped using sites like Indeed and ZipRecruiter as much since they’re typically the same jobs listed with thousands of applicants which means you’ll likely never hear back from them. These are job portals that I’ve personally had pretty good experience with and have gotten interviews and offers from. If you’re currently in the job market, I'd check them out! 1. Apprenticeship.gov - https://lnkd.in/dh9QE6fk  This job portal seems much lesser known but has great listings for apprenticeships and other job opportunities from employers across the US. I’m expecting the job listings on this site to grow as the White House initiative to push for skill-based hiring INCLUDING more apprenticeships and earn-and-learn opportunities. 2. BuiltIn - https://builtin.com/ My favorite job portal! I got my last job and 3-4 interviews from applying to jobs directly on BuiltIn. I find that they have much higher quality job listings compared to other job portals, this is the one I recommend to everyone. 3. Startup.jobs - https://startup.jobs/  Great job portal for anyone applying for tech startups but I’ve also seen larger Fortune 500 companies and tech unicorns hiring on there as well. There’re also much more remote and “work from anywhere” jobs since this site is catered towards smaller tech companies that are typically more open to full-remote work. 4. LinkedIn Jobs - https://lnkd.in/dQh-dV_2  The OG job portal! Even though this one is relatively mainstream, I do like the overall job application and candidate process on LinkedIn Jobs. One thing to note though is that more candidates tend to use LinkedIn to search for jobs since it’s very well-known so you may not hear back from as many roles compared to the other sites I’ve listed. Regardless, there are plenty of quality job listings on here. At the end of the day, the job application process is a numbers game, when I applied for internships and full-time roles in the past, I’d send out hundreds of applications and a handful would result in interviews and even fewer into offers. Keep your head up and keep applying. I’m rooting for you! 💡 You can also get my FREE Cybersecurity Beginner Roadmap Guide for anyone who’s looking for where to get started in their cybersecurity career: https://lnkd.in/eY79cbZ3 #jobs #techjobs #hiring

Getting a job in this market is tough, but not impossible. I spent most of last year recruiting and these are the most effective things that helped me land a new job 👇 Spend more time tailoring your resume and networking instead of applying to hundreds of jobs and hoping to hear back. Why? Mass applying to jobs is not effective. ❌ It's very time-consuming ❌ You'll have a high rate of rejections ❌ For every application you don't tailor, someone else did (lowering your chances) Here's what I do instead 👇 ⭐️ 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 "𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐀" 𝐚𝐧𝐝 "𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐁" Plan A → Roles that you want to transition in, like your first PM role, a new industry, new technology, etc. (lateral move) Plan B → "Good Fit" roles for which your skills and experience are a great match. (vertical move) Use the ratio 1:3 → For every 1 "Plan A" job you apply to, apply to 3 "Plan B" jobs. Make a list of your Plan A and your Plan B roles - I use Google Sheets to track: - Company - Role Name - Plan A or Plan B - Link to the job posting ⭐️ 𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Tailor your resume, I can't state how important it is. For my Plan B (AI/ML roles), my resume has accomplishments related to the problems I solved with AI and the impact the models had on the business. For my Plan A's I grouped them by industry/technology and did a version of my resume for each one. Tip: Look at the required/basic qualifications of 3~5 job postings for each job category and write accomplishments based on those. For your LinkedIn → You can mix your Plan A and Plan But know that the more you align with one of the plans, there's a chance for higher success. → Turn on Open To Work. ⭐️ 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 Apply on the company's website first. Next, find recruiters: → Find the company's LinkedIn page → On the people's tab, filter for "recruiter" (Tech recruiters usually hire PMs) → prioritize reaching out to recruiters with purple banners, then those who are active on LinkedIn (posted recently). You don't know who is the recruiter for your role, so you'll send a message with this structure: Intro → quick intro about yourself and what you currently do Application → let them know the role (and ID) that you applied to Your ask → let them know you are aware they might not be the recruiter for your role, so ask them if your profile can be shared with the team. Why are you a good fit? → after the ask, let them know why you are a good fit for the role. Write 3 to 5 things about your experience that are RELEVANT to the required/basic qualifications of the job you applied to ⭐️ 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 On LinkedIn's search bar type "hiring Product Manager" and in the [all filters] menu use the [Author Company] to filter companies you are interested in. Send a similar version of the message above! --- 🚀 Need help with your resume and interviews? check my comment below!

While professionals compete intensely for positions in oversaturated markets, significant opportunities exist in industries experiencing critical talent shortages.   Three sectors currently offer exceptional employment prospects with minimal competition:   Skilled Trades: Far from outdated "blue collar" work, today's skilled trades represent "gold collar" opportunities.   Master electricians, specialized plumbers, and HVAC technicians command premium rates, often exceeding traditional white-collar salaries while enjoying strong job security and entrepreneurial potential.   Healthcare Support: The expanding healthcare sector requires extensive support infrastructure beyond physicians and nurses.   Medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, and healthcare coordinators offer stable career paths with advancement opportunities and meaningful work impact.   Cybersecurity & IT Support: Digital transformation has created urgent demand for cybersecurity specialists, help desk professionals, and network technicians.   These roles often provide excellent entry points into technology careers without requiring computer science degrees.   The strategic advantage lies in pursuing opportunities where market demand significantly outpaces candidate supply, rather than competing in oversaturated fields.   For professionals open to exploring alternative career paths, these industries offer immediate opportunities, competitive compensation, and long-term growth potential.   What other high-demand, low-competition industries have you observed in your market?   Sign up to my newsletter for more corporate insights and truths here: https://lnkd.in/ei_uQjju   #deepalivyas #eliterecruiter #recruiter #recruitment #jobsearch #corporate #skilledtrades #healthcare #cybersecurity #careerstrategist