How to get your first career break

[Andy Black]

A friend asked what advice I'd give someone who's just graduated and is working a casual job while trying to get a job in the industry he studied for.

Below is what I emailed him (I'll maybe create a video out of this at some point).

I'm curious what your takeaways are, and what you might advise differently.

...

Figure out what you need to get a job here (visa, certifications, experience, etc).

• Step through what's needed to get each.

At the same time, start building your personal brand.

• Your personal brand is your most valuable asset - you'll always have it, and it's non-taxable.
• You can use it to get introductions, jobs, work, and to jumpstart businesses and other income producing assets.

Steps to build your personal brand:

1) Create and optimise your LinkedIn profile.

• You want to be found if someone searches for "cyber security".
• Remember that the people searching could be recruiters, HR, business owners, and other cyber security specialists.
• Have "cyber security" in your title, and sprinkle it in your bio.
• Fill in work history and education. Use 3 bullet points per workplace. Explain what you did and main achievements. Try to use bullet points that start with action words (e.g. Managed ... Implemented ... Trained ... Improved ...). Try to include numbers where possible.
• Build a network of people in your industry. Send connection requests to people in your industry, and also recruiters.
• Spend 10 minutes a day checking out relevant posts in your newsfeed. Reply in the comments and say thanks and explain why it's helped you.
• 2-3 times a week post a simple update about what you're working on or studying. You just want people to see you're active.

2) Create a personal branded YouTube channel.

• Use the same profile picture as you've used for LinkedIn.
• Post one short video a week that answer questions you're commonly asked.
• Point people to those videos whenever you're asked that question in future.
• Don't overthink it, and don't sweat the details. At the start, no-one will likely find the videos except people you send the link to.
• Post the same videos natively to LinkedIn.

3) Give a nod to what you do in your personal social media profiles.

• Put something in your bio mentioning what you do.
• Don't go overboard posting about work. If you're using a personal profile then keep it mostly personal.

4) Join Facebook groups related to your discipline.

• Do NOT try to get clients.
• Have fun bouncing around replying, supporting, and helping people.
• Make friends, build relationships, create win-wins.
• Hop on Zoom/Skype calls at the drop of a hat. Just chat with people and enjoy it. Over time you'll build a network and some will become firm friends.

5) What will slowly happen as you do the above:

• You'll start getting known.
• You'll start getting known as someone who's helpful and supportive.
• You'll start getting known as a cyber security guy.
• People will start messaging you with cyber security questions, work, and jobs.

Also check out the two videos linked to in this thread:

• 10+ Years IT Contracting at €300-900/day (Learnings)

 

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[Victory!]

Great advice @Andy Black - I’m personally a “meet people in person” kind of guy, so I would also add “get out there and meet people in person”.

People are much more likely to trust and be comfortable with somebody they have seen or met face to face. When you meet people in person, you also get dedicated time with them and can learn what they are doing, what they are working on, and what problems they are facing pretty quickly.

Combine the above with some kind of networking event and you just met a bunch of people at once.

Tons of industries have local networking events, training sessions, and happy hours. I just googled “cyber security meet-ups” in my city and found at least 15 different groups as well as events which are happening within the next month, most of them are free. A good chunk of these are sponsored by cyber security companies (potential employers or customers right there).

 

[Andy Black]

Great advice @Andy Black - I’m personally a “meet people in person” kind of guy, so I would also add “get out there and meet people in person”.

People are much more likely to trust and be comfortable with somebody they have seen or met face to face. When you meet people in person, you also get dedicated time with them and can learn what they are doing, what they are working on, and what problems they are facing pretty quickly.

Combine the above with some kind of networking event and you just met a bunch of people at once.

Tons of industries have local networking events, training sessions, and happy hours. I just googled “cyber security meet-ups” in my city and found at least 15 different groups as well as events which are happening within the next month, most of them are free. A good chunk of these are sponsored by cyber security companies (potential employers or customers right there).

Ooo. That's great advice about going to cyber-security meetups. I'll make sure my friend sees this thread.

I agree with meeting in person being the best, although I don't do it anymore. I prefer Zoom calls as they're infinitely easier. I'm still amazed I can hop on a video call with someone in the US when I'm in Ireland.

A Zoom call can be much the same as meeting for a coffee, in that it's dedicated one-on-one time.

Which reminds me of this thread:

• Spend your money on diesel and coffee

 

[BizyDad]

Have some people "vouch" for you. This could be by leaving reviews on your LinkedIn or comments on your YouTube.

Building a personal brand becomes of self reinforcing loop. The more people see that other people trust you, the more trust they will give you.

Help build that third party credibility grow by regularly asking for reviews or comments.