Before You Apply

[00:00:00]
>> Let's start with the application. How to get your foot in the door? That initial, I don't know, probe into, maybe I want to start looking around. Maybe I wanna see what this company is about. Maybe I wanna see if they even notice me if I put in my application.

[00:00:18]
I've got some tips on that. The first thing before you even apply, even before you think about applying, think, what do you like about your current job? Is it, it's a learning environment and people are friendly? Is it you solve these incredibly complex challenges and it's very rewarding?

[00:00:39]
Is it the free food? Is it your company has a lot of notoriety as an engineering culture? Think about what do you like about your current job? And then think, what do I want in my next job? That's important. A lot of times we apply it blindly to companies just trying to see where we'll land and we don't do it with direction.

[00:01:02]
We don't do with purpose. We don't think I wanna be at this next job, but you didn't get any thoughts. You get hired, you work there for a year and you're like I am unhappy. And then you do that again, and then you do that again, rather than, let's find a home where you know you can grow and you can build and you could learn.

[00:01:18]
And over time you say I'm very satisfied, I can move up the ladder, I can build cool things. I just have a lot of job satisfaction. Most people don't do that. Because interviewing is kind of a crapshoot. We just hope we get a job somewhere. But I encourage you when you're applying for job, do it with intentionality, do it with a purpose.

[00:01:40]
Say, I wanna work at this company, and here's why. Also what companies have appealing engineering cultures? Is it your company? Is it the companies you read about in the news? Are there companies you think are bad, are there companies you think are good? Consider that carefully, because engineering culture is really important, and we never focus on it.

[00:02:03]
We focus on getting the job, rather than, will I be happy this next job? Does the culture vibe with me? And I can say for a fact there are companies that I would not enjoy working at, big companies, they pay me a lot of money, but I wouldn't be happy there.

[00:02:18]
And what's the point of doing any of this if you're not gonna be happy doing what you do?