How to Not Get a Job: Aligning Your Work with Your Passion

These slides were presented to a group of students participating in the two-week MIT MediaLab Bitcoin Bootcamp during the summer of 2016. They reflect my personal opinions and experiences, and not those of my employers, either former or current.

Transcript

1. ALIGNING YOUR WORK WITH YOUR PASSION Presented by Meltem Demirors @Melt_Dem How to (not) Get a Job
2. SUCCESS IS A SERIES OF CUMULATIVE STEPS Setting the Stage
3. 3 THE CONTEXT OF A HUMAN LIFE Mastering the basics Figuring out who you want to be Becoming that person and hitting your stride For more mind-bending perspectives on time, check out Wait but Why – Putting Time in Perspective (August 2013) - http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/08/putting-time-in-perspective.html UP TO YOU! School Years Growth Years Prime Years AND BEYOND!
4. 4 CAREERS ARE NOT A LADDER
5. 5 THEY ARE A MATRIX
6. 6 STARTING POINTS Learning how to make slides (yay), working hard (100+ hours a week), and trying to “be an adult”
7. 7 PROGRESS CAN SEEM FUTILE Quit job. Apply to gradschool. Spend life savings traveling.
8. 8 AND YOU FAIL A LOT Grad school at MIT – fail at two startups in a row
9. 9 BUT YOU FIGURE IT OUT Help build a new company
10. 10 EVERY COMPANY HAS THREE FUNCTIONS BUILD SELL OPERATE •  Engineering •  Design •  UX / UI •  Product •  Sales •  Business Development   •  Marketing •  Communications •  Analyst •  Finance •  HR and Talent •  Operations •  Assistant Often work solo or in smaller teams, focused on project execution, may require specific skills or degrees Requires communication skills, often around people, may involve travel or frequent “out of office” team Focused on process and task execution, often part of larger operations team, supporting roles
11. 11 HOW THIS TRANSLATES TO YOUR SEARCH •  No role is 100% of build, sell, or operate, but the job description gives you a clear sense of what’s involved •  Your personal preferences will indicate what role may be better for you at this point in your career -  If you don’t like working alone, maybe an engineering job right out of school isn’t the best fit •  Be honest with yourself – it may not sound glamorous, but if you’re a super-detail oriented person who slays tasks, maybe an operating role is a good starting point •  Know what an ideal job would be -  My ideal role would be 40% build, 50% sell, and 10% operate because X, Y, Z
12. 12 FOUR QUESTIONS TO ASK 1.  What are you good at? 2.  What inspires you? What do you love? 3.  What does the world need? 4.  What can you get paid for?
13. 13 NOW FIND THE INTERSECTIONS What you LOVE What the WORLD NEEDS What you can get PAID for What you’re good at passion mission vocation profession
14. 14 NOW FIND THE INTERSECTIONS What you LOVE What the WORLD NEEDS What you can get PAID for What you’re good at passion mission vocation profession #YAS aka ikigai
15. PUTTING IDEAS INTO PRACTICE How to Start
16. 16 1.  Make yourself visible 2.  Take inventory of your network 3.  Evaluate your options 4.  If it doesn’t exist, BUILD it! HOW TO START
17. 17 1. MAKE YOURSELF VISIBLE •  The first thing I do when I meet someone is GOOGLE •  Key places I look: -  Twitter -  Medium -  LinkedIn •  People won’t know you’re looking for a job unless you TELL THEM. Make it really easy for people to help you! •  Google yourself and sanitize or do cleanup where needed •  Make sure your Instagram, Facebook, and other public profiles are PG-rated
18. 18 PRO TIP: LEVERAGE TWITTER
19. 19 PRO TIP: USE MEDIUM •  Make sure you have a profile and follow people •  Comment on other people’s content •  Try writing one or two posts – even short posts help! •  Extra Credit: cross link everything to Twitter and LinkedIn
20. 20 PRO TIP: TELL PEOPLE HOW TO HELP YOU •  Everyone is really busy – TL;DR check every email •  Be direct •  Make it easy for others to help you •  Be open to anything and everything Meltem (MIT FinTech): Help with Job Search – Resume Attached Hello X, You may recall we met at Y – I really enjoyed your Medium post on (insert fact). I’m very passionate about bitcoin, and am starting to look for opportunities. Given your role, I thought you might know of people who are looking for entry-level employees, interns, or part- time help. I’ve included a brief template email to make it easy for you to introduce me, and have also attached my resume. I would appreciate any leads, suggestions, or advice. Of course, please let me know if there is any way I can return the favor or be helpful to you! Should fit one iPhone screen!
21. 21 2. TAKE INVENTORY WHO WHAT WHERE •  Spend the time to master these tools and learn how to use them effectively •  Schedule a quarterly calendar reminder to review all of your tools and update whatever is necessary
22. 22 PRO TIP: FIND LOCAL EVENTS
23. 23 PRO TIP: CHECK OUT VC WEBSITES •  VC’s are often at the cutting edge of new tech trends – regardless of whether you want to work at startups, corporations, or institutions / NGOs •  They curate great content which cross-links to jobs, other blogs, and even events!
24. 24 PRO TIP: NETWORKING IN A NON-CREEPY WAY •  Explain why you’re there when you introduce yourself •  Make business cards with your name, social handles, email, and university (with graduation year) •  Have a plan when you meet people -  Review guest / attendee list and “stalk” them online -  Prepare questions ahead of time and ask them! •  Tweet from the event – use the event hashtag or speaker hashtag •  Follow up with e-mail if there’s a reason •  Connect on LinkedIn using a custom note
25. 25 3. EVALUATE OPTIONS •  Think of yourself as a product manager – YOU are the product! •  Use LinkedIn or your alumni network to find people who have a background similar to you and are 2-3 years out of school -  What was their path to their current career -  What skills have they built and how do they express this? •  Look at people you find inspiring – CEOs, founder, leaders – and read their bios, look at their LinkedIn profiles, and try to untangle their path through the “matrix” •  Look for “dream jobs” you’d like to have in 5 to 10 years – what are the requirements? Think about ways you can build toward bigger roles by building your skillset
26. 26 PRO TIP: USE ANGEL LIST VC pages aggregate portco jobs Can also search startups directly
27. 27 PRO TIP: CHECK WHAT CO’S ARE HIRING FOR AND FIND WAYS TO GET IT
28. 28 4. IF IT DOESN’T EXIST… BUILT IT! Start or Join a Student Club Run a conference or event Create your own internship Do a research project •  Purchased domain name on GoDaddy, built site on Squarespace •  Got funding through adminstration (and sponsors) once established •  Invite speakers you personally want to hear from and meet •  Engage with sponsors who are looking to hire you & your classmates •  Reach out to local startups / companies and ask if you can intern or do projects •  Come prepared with ideas for short, focused projects and low / no pay •  Conduct projects for school. interview or gather data from companies •  Better yet, once research is done, present to execs + post to social
29. 29 PRO TIP: FIND WAYS TO INTERACT WITH TOPICS YOU FIND INTERESTING Blog for MIT VC Conference “Treks” w Entrepreneurship Club
30. 30 PRO TIP: COME PREPARED I’m an MIT graduate student looking to build my experience in social media management. I noticed you don’t have a social media presence yet. I’d be eager to help you build a robust social media strategy and engage with your sponsors, data partners, and startups to create content marketing. Here are three ideas I would implement: Customizing an Internship Pitch a Specific Project Approached Boston-based startup with content marketing strategy, offered to work for free during “trial period” with potential to be contractor
31. 31 WRAPPING IT ALL UP Your career is a journey – enjoy it! You don’t always have to know where you’re headed – success takes time and preparation There are LOTS of great tools! Learn how to build a great toolkit and put in the time and energy to use it Be patient and roll up your sleeves Sometimes great opportunities are earned or created, not given