Posts Tagged looking for a new job
Book Outline “Crush It!” part 4, when should you quit your job
Posted by eviator in For Job Seekers on December 9, 2009
According to Gary Vaynerchuk, you should quit if you can’t answer yes to the following questions:
- Are you happy with your present job?
- Do you work for a company that allows you to have a public persona?
- If you’re not allowed to develop a personal persona at work, are you allowed to do so in your personal time?
In today’s tough economy, it is probably unwise to quit your job outright. However, Vaynerchuk makes a good argument. If you are not able to build your own personal brand, you will be left in the dust, and should at least start preparing your resume. Chances are, there’s a better job out there for you, one that will enable you to prepare for your own future success as well as the company’s.
What do you think? When is it appropriate to quit your job? Let me know at edwardviator [at] evil-marketer [dot] com
Notable quotes from this chapter:
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- Crying about how things should be instead of embracing how things are doesn’t do anyone any good.
- The middleman has not yet been eliminated but we’re getting there.
- The changes that will be wrought by the internet are as fundamentally transformative to content and commerce as the printing press. It’s a whole new world; build your personal brand and get ready for it.
Book outline: Crush It! part 1
Posted by eviator in For Job Seekers on December 2, 2009
As a professional I always strive to be the best at what I do, which is why I am a big fan of sharpening my marketing tools. A big part of this is reading the latest business books and trying to learn as much as I can; only a fool thinks he/she knows everything. I recently read Crush It! Cash In On Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk, and have learned some very useful techniques for marketing / branding yourself online, as well as effective ways to use social networking websites to accomplish marketing goals; both of which are essential skills in today’s business world. I’m going to go through this book, chapter by chapter, describing the salient points as well as offering my own commentary. The chapter 1 discussion starts now.
In his first chapter, Passion is everything, Vaynerchuk offers his secret to success.
- Love your family
- Work superhard
- Live your passion
This formula may seem overly basic to some, but if you think about it, you know it’s true. At one of my previous jobs, I found myself dissatisfied even though the pay was good, and the job was challenging. At the time, I had no idea why, but after reading this book, I’ve realized what I was missing. I wasn’t living my passion. I’m betting that this is the point where most people have problems. With food to put on the table and bills to pay, it’s easy to think of success as something to be measured by money. We seldom realize that success should be measured by how happy we are. If you’re not living your passion, you are missing out on one of the most important elements of success.
Living your passion sounds great, but in the meantime you have bills to pay and so you won’t (and shouldn’t) quit your day job just yet. The good news is that with all of the opportunities available using free social networking websites (such as blogs like the one you are reading now), you can still live your passion, and may even be able to make some money off of it in the future. Vaynerchuk discusses these social networking websites as well as money making opportunities later in the book, which we will get to in a future post.
Notable quotes from this chapter:
- Money goes where people go.
- It’s never a bad time to start a business unless you’re starting a mediocre business.
- The person who can dominate in rough times is the person who can dominate, period.
- Social media = business, period.
Have you noticed something missing in your life? Are you living your passion? Email me EdwardViator [at] evil-marketer [dot] com
Recently unemployed: Start a business or Look for a Job?
Posted by Steve in For Job Seekers, Leadership on April 7, 2009
When layoffs happen, people consider starting a business. The outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray and Christmas once told me that about one-third of all these people stop looking for work and start their own business. As a person rises in the management ladder that percentage increases. The reasons are many but usually stem from a need to take more control over their destiny, support their family, tiredness of corporate mediocrity, and the belief that they can do it better.
The reality is that a lot of hiring managers feel they are too experienced and expect too much money so will not stick around. The executive feels “unhirable” and sees no other solution but start a company.
There are many similarities in the preparation of looking for a new job and looking for a new business to start. You are looking for an industry and people to convince to take a risk on you. You will have to repeatedly sell yourself and experience failure.
There are obviously many differences; most notably, that starting a business will require sales that will include multiple episodes of many fails with a success.
Some people do both: look for a job and at the same time look to start a business. They see the similarities and in their own words, “hedging their bets”.
An investor, however, wants to see a commitment. They do not want the entrepreneur to take a job and quit the startup. They do not want the entrepreneur to even take a part-time job, or make the business the part-time job. Investors expect the commitment.
As someone is looking for a job they can try to start a business. At some point, most people are going to have to take that leap of faith and focus entirely on the business to make it work. The challenge is to find that jumping off point to make the commitment to the business. The entrepreneur needs to say, “I’m not going to look anymore, but I am going to make my business work.”
Over the last two months, several of my good friends contacted me looking for a position. I gave them a lot of advice, and I realized there are many similarities between preparations for looking for a job and for seeking investment. The process points to consider are: research (what books to read), resume, cover letter, pitch, online search sites, social networking, and marketing collateral (cards and a website). There are also the Do Nots.
A person looking for both a job and a startup idea can also seek a job at a startup.
The next series of posts will look at the tasks needed to find a job and how they can also be used for a startup.