How to Prepare Your Job Search for 2024

All right. Happy Friday, everybody. My name is Albert of Albert's List, and welcome to How to Prepare Your Job Search for 2024. So today we're going to talk about just that, how to prepare your job search for 2024, and everything in relation to the job market and how the job market is evolving. So we're going to have some initial, this is being recorded, and you will be sent a recording upon the conclusion of this webinar. So a little bit about me just to start. I'm a San Francisco born and raised job search entrepreneur, also a product marketer by day as well, and here doing, and I've been running Albert's List here, which is a job search community of 47,000, 48,800 members on Facebook that connects job seekers, hiring managers, and job opportunities. And you can join here at the link bit.ly slash find your next job. That's the short link for the Facebook page. And so, yeah, today's agenda, we're going to talk about a few things here, and we're going to talk about the job market in full and where everything has been. And it's opportune that we're hosting this webinar today because we are also talking about the state of the job market and the Bureau of Labor Statistics just recently launched its latest jobs report, which comes out every first or second Friday of the month. And so this is important because that actually feeds into the trends that are going on. Then we're going to talk a little bit about the actions that you have to take to find your next job, including how to figure out what you want to do, how to approach the job search with the strategies and tactics that you need to have, and then what to do once you've been hired, and then some next steps for some things that we can consider and do together and really help you be on your way to getting where you want to go next when it comes to your job hunt. So let's get started. So our goals for today's webinar, we're going to start a little bit with that. I want to provide a 50,000 foot view of the job market and then zoom in on what matters and what doesn't matter and talk a little bit about your role and what it means for you. Then I want to leave you empowered to begin your job search. One of the things about a job hunt today is that it can be a very, very overwhelming experience. There's a lot always going on and there's also a lot of different things that you have to consider, whether you're interviewing, building your personal brand, or thinking about your job search strategy. And I hope that ultimately when this webinar concludes, we can bring clarity to how you can approach your career and really send you on your way, no matter where it is that you are in your job hunt or in your career journey. And so that's something that I want to think about and something that I want to consider going forth. Okay, so the first part of today's webinar is I want to talk about the state of the job market. And so this is just sort of a recap of everything that's happened this year. And you know, if you've been paying attention, you know that it's been a really, really tumultuous year because of a lot that's been going on, right? So the first thing that we all know is that since really the spring of 2022, we've seen a significant amount of layoffs, especially culminating with Google, Amazon, and Meta in January through really like May this year when they laid off a ton of people. And the reasons have been more or less pretty consistent, right? Rising interest rates, you've seen a lot of companies say that they're laying people off because they have noticed that macroeconomic trends have changed or they overhired during the pandemic and all of those pandemic expectations where they thought that people would be online forever never came to fruition. So all of these individuals who ended up doing this hiring are now laying off and you're still seeing those reasons today. Some of these companies are a little bit late to the game, but they are here. As you also know, inflation went way, way, way, way up, peaking at 9.1% year-over-year increase for prices in June of 2022. They have since fallen into the 3% range, which is really fantastic. And as a result, we've seen interest rates go up, right? And interest rates go up correlating with inflation going up because the Federal Reserve in the United States and also Federal Reserve and financial institutions abroad raising their interest rates to make money a little bit more expensive. And as a result, try to curb spending and curb investment so that inflation can come down. And so this is important for the job market because a lot of technology companies especially hired a ton of people when money was cheap back in really the last 10 years until maybe about a year and a half ago. And these layoffs are as a result of the fact that that kind of labor is no longer cheap. If you have to borrow money, if you have to invest a lot of money to make really moonshot projects go and be successful, it's going to be difficult because you have to have a period of not making any money before that money is made. So that's why you saw companies like Google lay off people in the Google Home space or Amazon for Alexa, or even for a lot of these unique technology projects that otherwise would have thrived during a zero interest rate time, but had to be shelved due to economic volatility and uncertainty. Yet despite all of this, one thing that we've also seen since October, 2021 is that the unemployment rate has dropped from 4.6 to 3.9% in October. And if you saw the jobs report today here on December 8th, 2023, the unemployment rate is down to 3.7%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 199,000 jobs were added just last month. And so despite all of these things, the job market remains hot. And this is where it really comes down to say, it really depends where you decide to take your job search because there are various different trends and things that are important right now in the market versus things that aren't as important. And so following the trends is very key. And if you're wondering what those trends are, and you thought about artificial intelligence, that's exactly where it's been, right? So everybody by now has heard of ChatGPT, I hope. We know that generative AI has taken the world by storm, and everybody is using generative AI to create their blog posts, write their resumes, create their cover letters. And generative AI are also transforming how different industries are going to be impacted by AI, right? So on one side, we have everybody excited about our artificial intelligence. But on the other hand, we also have a lot of people who are afraid of the impacts of artificial intelligence and how jobs will be impacted, right? And so you can see in the chart on the left that there are industries that will benefit from AI, including health, science, and technology, all the way down to industries that will be negatively affected, including manufacturing, transportation, storage, public administration, events, construction, and so forth. And so choosing your industry and the interests that you want to go into is important because if you don't, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a layoff due to technology. And then, you know, there are also jobs that are least likely to be taken over by AI. You can see that in the chart on the right. These tend to be roles that require a lot of human interaction, a lot of customized interaction, and so forth. And so, you know, the other piece that I mentioned outside of AI is healthcare. Healthcare is a booming, booming industry. One thing that we think about here in the West is that the baby boomers continue to turn 65 every single year until 2027, and so we have three more years of that. And considering that many folks live another 20 years, 30 years after that, you're going to see a sizable boom in healthcare for the next 30 years, at least in my opinion. And so if you're just starting out your career now and healthcare is a place that you're thinking of, definitely think about that as a consideration for yourself. Another way to look at what's trending right now in the state of the market is to look at what kind of startups are getting funding, right? So startups have seen a precipitous drop in terms of funding and their valuations over the last year and a half because the rising interest rates mean that the cost of capital is a lot more expensive. So venture capitalists have redirected their venture financing to different spots. And so this is from KPMG, a screenshot that I took, and these are the top 10 to 11 financings in Q3 of this year. And so this is just something to note, right? You're seeing a lot of investment in automotive, clean tech, artificial intelligence with Anthropic and e-commerce and database software. And so what does this tell you? We're looking towards the future of cars. We're thinking a lot about artificial intelligence. We're thinking about the technologies that support artificial intelligence like semiconductors. And then there's some things that just make it into here like clean tech and e-commerce that really showcase what people are thinking about and what's trending in a market like this. So if you're thinking about where you want to work in 2024, look at what companies are getting funded and think about how to position yourself within those companies and those industries within your industry so that you can have a higher chance of landing your next job, right? So as again, we can think with these patterns is that it's AI, automotive, electric cars, electric vehicles, and things that support those areas, which is semiconductors and clean tech. And then number 10, here is Databricks, which also shows that analytics and data-related companies continue to also be of interest because not only do you need to create this technology, but you also need to find a way to measure the success of this technology as well. And so the forecast for 2024 is that there's a lot of hope ahead. According to recruiters, I've heard there should be a return to growth in sometime in spring 2024, correlating hopefully with the drop in interest rates. Many economists expect interest rates to fall in a presidential election year here in the United States, spurring more investment, spurring more interest, and spending money. And of course, AI, it will remain hot as companies continue to invest in the technology. And even despite all that, recession worries still continue because we're in this interesting phase where we have high interest rates and employment is still happening, but we're not sure what will happen next. Yet at the very end of the day, it's also important to say, all of this is speculation because you at the end of the day are still in control of your own efforts, you're still in control of your own career, and you need to have a vision for how you want to get to that career next. And that's what we're going to talk about a little bit next in regards to the tactics that you should take when you conduct your job search. So this is the first of three sections on how to find your next job and things to consider. And we're going to try and figure out how to talk through that here in the next 45 minutes or so in terms of the tactics, strategies, and thoughts that you have to take as you find that next job. So number one is figuring out what you want to do, right? Because you can go ahead and write a resume and you can go ahead and build your LinkedIn profile, but if you don't know what it is that you want next, you're going to want to figure out what you want to do. You got to do that first because that will guide everything else and waterfall into what you do next. So the first thing about figuring out what to do is to start with what you know. And so one thing that's important here is a lot of people view their careers as knowing the answers now. And really what that means is that you have a lot of people think that they need to know what they want to do today. And truly what your careers are today is not something where you go into your job for 30 years and then you come out and you can retire. A lot of us have multiple careers during our lives. And what's important about that is the ability to pivot, the ability to be agile and understanding what it is that you want to do, why you want to do it and so forth, and going from there. The second piece is knowing what you are good at or can be good at, right? So a lot of us have skills that we've acquired over years and years of work or we have skills that we've developed ourselves. And so what is it that you know you're good at and that you can successfully do? Think strategically about and grow within a particular career field. And then finally the third is to evaluate your values and interests, right? So what do you care about when it comes to the work that you do? What kind of companies do you want to work at? Who are you as an individual aligned with? Are you somebody that believes in green energy, green earth? Are you somebody who thinks that the promise of electric vehicles is something that is going to be huge? Artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, all of those, these kinds of hot industries right now, do you align with the values that these industries provide? And so as you think about what it is that you value and care about, right? These are, you can find these lists everywhere. There's a list of values that hopefully you align with, whether it's hoping that you can find a level of authenticity in the role that you do, right? Nobody likes working a job where they don't feel like it's real. Yet at some point, if you just need the money, then sometimes authenticity isn't exactly at the top of that list. Or maybe you're somebody who's got 10, 15 years of experience and you value leadership or you value people who are really great at leadership. Or maybe you want fun. You want to work at a company that is fun, maybe an early stage startup or an established company that values fun for their employees and infuses that every day into the work that they do. And so these are all things that matter here. And you can also write your own values according to this list here. And once you understand those values and you think about those values as you apply to companies, then it starts to make sense where you ought to go and the type of work that you should do. And so in addition to knowing what you want to do, you also need to do your own research. So number one, paying attention to the ongoing industry trends. We did this several slides ago, right? Talking about AI, talking about clean tech, talking about green technology, all trends and interests that are dominating fundings right now and dominating the news in terms of what people care about. Number two is understand the skills that are needed to get into a certain job. So every single job that you have out there requires either certifications, a certain skill set with proven background, or having done a particular tactic before, whether it's everything from writing a software application to having done certain types of accounting or having written certain types of marketing assets. All of those are important for being able to be successful as you move forth in your career. Because if you don't have those certain skills, then it's only going to put you in a more difficult spot as you look for that next job. Number three is investing in education and the outcomes, right? So if you're still in school, fantastic. Stay in school. If you're out of school now and you are in the field, it behooves you to continue taking these courses, taking courses and understanding how the market changes and what the new best practices are for the career that you have. And so this can include everything from going back to formal education in a university setting or taking certifications or doing LinkedIn Learning, which is available if you're here in the United States through your local library, or taking courses on Udemy, on Coursera. And even if you don't get a certification, at least you can put that on your resume and say that those are in progress and you're gaining knowledge in those areas. And then number four is conducting informational interviews. An informational interview is a situation where you go and you talk to somebody who is in your industry and you share with them your interests of moving into that industry while asking for advice. So if you're somebody who is always interested in learning how somebody broke into a career or what their favorite or least favorite part of that career is, an informational interview is an opportunity for you to ask those key questions. And if you come and show up with the right attitude, sometimes you can also leave with a job opportunity as well. So investing in yourself. Let's dive a little bit deeper into that. One of the things that matters there is not only investing in your skills and in your education, but also in your EQ and your emotional ability to navigate this uncertainty of a job search. One of those things is imposter syndrome. And so imposter syndrome is where you feel like you aren't good enough and you aren't ready for something despite the fact that everyone else in your field is not quite ready either. And so imposter syndrome is an important thing to overcome because it helps you overcome the barriers to being more confident in who you are. Number two is to view yourself as a startup ready to launch. Right. So Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn CEO, once wrote a book called The Startup of You. And in that book, he talks about how as an individual contributor in your career, you are a startup and you have to think about yourself as a startup because you as a professional need to iterate. You need to a new version of yourself every few years so that you can compete in the global labor market. And so viewing yourself as a startup is meaningful because it also means that you can that you can move at the speed that you want in order to gain and attract and acquire the skills that you have and treat that like your personal brand, whether it's writing a blog, whether it's putting together a YouTube channel, talking about your expertise. All of those things package you up as a product, so that when an employer discovers you, they see that you are the best candidate possible for the type of job that they have. Number three is to invest in education and your projects. Right. So we talked a little bit about education. So Dimitri here asks, what are some of the reliable websites to take online courses? Right. So going on to Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, all great areas to look for the courses that can help you get the knowledge that you need so that you are able to move forward. And then projects. Right. Because one of the things that you'll notice when it comes to the job search and interviewing is that companies want to know whether you not only know the theoretical, but also the practical. Are you somebody who can put your ideas and thoughts and the skills that you've learned into the real world? So if you're doing freelance projects or you're starting a YouTube channel or you're experimenting with free things to help you build your brand or help you build interest in a project or contributing to GitHub, you know, all of these things are projects that help build your credibility because you know how to do the day-to-day type of work. And then the fourth one is to network in the right communities. Right. So if you're new in your career, sometimes you're networking in very general spaces. But if you're somebody who is really experienced, you're going to association events, you're going to specific meetup groups focused on a particular topic, whether it's marketing, accounting, finance, engineering, and so forth. And going to those networking events and putting yourself in front of individuals who can refer you or hire you themselves and so forth is really important too, because people really remember people that make an impression on them. And so how are you making that right impression? How are you coming across? Do you know what it is that you're looking for as you attend your events? And so once you know all of these things, you can move to the next piece, which is how to approach the 2024 job search and what skills and what tactics you need to move towards that next step. And so this is quite a few things, and we're going to talk about this as we go through it. And so number one, right, we have to understand what's ahead in the context of 2024. There are a lot of things that we face today that we haven't faced in the past or have faced in the past, but haven't seen in a while. The top line point here is that it's the toughest job market since 2008 and the Great Recession, right? So we have a lot of people who haven't seen this type of market before. It's really tough, and while it's not as bad as 2008 itself or even the dot-com bust, there's still a lot of consideration because the job search takes longer today than it did in the past. So as a result, because there are more people in the market, competition is fiercer than ever across all functions, which means that you need to be precise when it comes to messaging who you are, ensuring that you have no typos on your resume, ensuring that you can write and communicate and articulate yourself in the clearest way possible, because if you're not doing it, it's likely that your competition is doing it and you don't want to put yourself at that disadvantage. Number three, you know, we're mentioning this again because it's so important that some industries are faring better than others, right? If you're somebody who's trying to become a recruiter today, it's going to be the hardest thing ever because there are so many laid-off recruiters and HR professionals on the market. But if you're somebody who wants to make your way into AI, clean tech, electric vehicles, now is still the time because these are still very hot industries that continue to hire and continue to grow. Number four is to not be hard on yourself, but to also be fair. You know, one thing that I always talk about in my job search community is that one thing that you are always going to be responsible for in your job search is your effort. And effort is the only thing that you can control. So if you want to spend four to five hours on your job search a day, you can do that. You want to spend 10 hours a day looking for jobs, working on your projects, networking with people, you can do that as well. And there will be appropriate results from appropriate effort. So those four to five hours versus those 10 to 12 hours are going to net you different results depending on how you spend that time. And then number five is to look for opportunities in unlikely places. So if you're a big company person, maybe your next role is in a startup. If you're a small startup person, maybe your next role is in a contract. Or maybe you look for companies in small businesses, right? The Wall Street Journal just came out with an article the other day that said that job openings at companies with less than 10 people is at a 25-year high. And so every single employment situation has its risks and has its upsides. But if you're thinking about that alone, perhaps right now is the time to move into a smaller company where maybe you can be valued more, maybe where you can take a greater role. So that once we get out of this economic situation, you can be ready to have as many and more skills to be prepared to speak to other people and work for other people. And I think the most important thing right now is to not take a great resignation mindset into a return-to-office world. And so this one is interesting for me because, as you all know, the great resignation was a period of time between 2020, late 2020, and early 2022 where a lot of people were moving from one company to another because there were so many jobs being created. There were so many jobs that were available. And so a lot of people took this time after the pandemic had subsided down a little bit to switch companies because they realized that they wanted to be in a place where they were more valued, where they could gain a higher salary, especially in parallel with inflation. And they wanted to be able to get what they wanted and maybe move up in their careers or move into a new career as a lot of people move into the tech space. And so unfortunately, that time has ended, right? So we're no longer talking about the great resignation. And we're now in what we call the return-to-office world where a lot of companies have forced their employees back into the office, no longer remote, or they are in a hybrid situation. And so these moments are important because if you still think that you have leverage as an employee, I think it would depend on the industry that you're in. But overall, you need to be in that mindset where you have to be a lot more agile and ready to move instead of hoping that someone will reach out to you and pursue you. And so how does all of this look? We have this in a couple of slides coming up here. Number one is to build your personal brand. And so your personal brand is what people know you for, right? So we've all known the adage, it's not what you know, it's who you know. And I would argue that it's not any of those two. It's not who you know or what you know, but who knows you. And building your personal brand is important because it helps you build credibility and recognition through your thoughts, through the projects that you've done, through your reliability. And it's a bunch of different things that combined together make you somebody who has a name that can be dropped in rooms that you're not spending time in. And that's the most efficient way to run a job search because if you are in an HR person's mind while they are hiring for someone or a hiring manager's mind while they're hiring for someone, that puts you at a distinct advantage because it means that you are able to, it means that you're able to do your job hunting without actually doing your job hunting. And so when you go and do your personal brand, you go where your audience is. Today for a lot of folks, that's LinkedIn. A lot of people have been posting that they are laid off and ready to work or posting their insights and thoughts. It can also be done on your own personal website. It can be done on other social media networks. It can also be done at a networking event. Maybe you can host your own networking event. And it's really strategically meeting the right people and saying strategically the right things to help build your professional credibility and help move yourself forward. And so what else? Go on offense with your job search. So if you're still living in that great resignation world and a return to office mindset, I'm here to tell you that it's time to stop thinking about that and it's time to take your life by the horns. So going on offense with your search means turning on your open to work settings on LinkedIn, using the best job search sites that fit you and your needs, whether you're still looking for that remote job, whether you're still looking for, whether you're looking for a specific job in your industry, whether you're looking for contracts, small businesses, etc. and so forth. I prefer to use websites like LinkedIn. You might prefer to use something a lot different. And then in addition to that, it's to understand that opportunities can come to you from unlikely places. So if you've always worked in a large company and a startup comes to you with an interesting idea, it could be a chance for you to have that type of conversation. Because in that world, you want to be able to think, okay, maybe it's time for a change time for a switch. And how do you think about that? And how do you go about that, in being able to understand that you may have less resources for you, but you can do a whole lot more with everything as well. And number four is to find an accountability part. You know, I always during my job searches, have relied on the power of connections in my network, to ensure that people can to ensure that people can hold me accountable for my job search, and check in with me to just make sure that everything is going the way that I'm hoping for it to go. Step three is to tell the story that you want heard, right. So part of this is about your personal brand. But also a lot of this is putting together the assets that you know, contribute to a successful job search. And so number one is building a resume that showcases your history and the work that you've done in your career. You want to use the right action verb showcase the right skills, talk to the experience that you've done and the accomplishments that you've made. One thing that I've noticed a lot with folks who write resumes, and I want everyone here to think about that, is that a lot of people sell themselves short, and don't tell the best story of themselves. So the next time you're reviewing your resume, make sure that you read your resume a few times to ensure that you are saying something that is something that says the best version of yourself. Number two is to create interview answers based on what you anticipate. So we all hate job interviews, but job interviews can be managed. Because if you've been in your industry a while, or you haven't been in your industry before, you can use tools like ChatGPT to help come up with interview answers for you, and you can practice your interviews that way. There is no need to not know what you're going to anticipate going into a job interview, and to not have the right stories to be able to tell, so that you can be the best candidate possible. Number three is to be consistent with your message. You want to be able to say things consistently, and showcase that you have the right knowledge, or the knowledge that's growing within you, and really repeat what it is that you are trying to do as you look for that next job. And number four is practice, practice, practice. If you have an interest and an intent in learning how to become a good interviewer, or understanding how to be a great networker, practice with a buddy. Practice your mock interviews, and practice until you give interviews without stuttering, without stumbling over your words. So that when you are able to go into that interview, to articulate yourself clearly, and show the greatest credibility possible. Step four is to interview with confidence. So interviewing in itself is one thing that matters a ton. And so number one is to understand what's at stake, right? So all of us, and I would say very few of us go into job interviews thinking about what's in it for the company that we're working for, but it's all about what's at stake, and what's in it for the company. They want to hire you because you can help them get to a place that they've never been before. Otherwise they wouldn't have that job open in the first place. Number two is knowing where you create risk, and mitigating that risk, right? So every single job interview that you'll ever go into, you're being seen as a risk because they've never met you before, they don't know the quality of your work, they don't know what your interests are, and they're not sure whether you're going to stay there for 10 months or 20 years. And so it is your job as an employer interviewing at these opportunities, as an employee interviewing at these opportunities, to know where these risks may lie with you. Even if it's a short stint at previous companies, you need to have the right stories to be able to share why it is that anything happened the way that it happened, so that companies and the individuals who are interviewing you can see you as somebody who won't be skipping town in just a few days. Number three is knowing where you excite employers and build momentum. So every one of us have been in a conversation where we felt like the conversation went really well, there was a lot of synergy, there was a lot of excitement between you and that other individual where you may have wanted to do business together. And so that's where I call avenues of excitement within the interview process, where you're talking about a project and they want to know more about that project and why that project is amazing. And so being able to build and share and show that excitement is important because it really builds a level of momentum and a level of interest where you might get the job over someone else because you left somebody feeling better than you found them. So know where your stories of excitement are, have those stories in your story bank for when you prepare for that interview, and be able to show up with those stories so that you can excite people and they're more willing to hire you. And then of course the final one is to use the types of interview questions to your advantage. So do you know the types of interview questions that there are, right? There are the fact-based questions. Tell me about yourself. Where did you go to school? Walk me through your resume. And then there are the other questions that are the situational questions and the hypotheticals. So the situational questions where they want to know more about what it is that you've done in the past. Tell me about a time where you've been successful. Tell me about a time where you failed and what you learned from that failure. And being able to answer those questions really showcases and walks you through how people think about what it is that you're capable of. And then finally the hypotheticals, right? You've got the tell me how many phone books are in Manhattan. Tell me how many bowling balls can fit inside the 747 airplane. Where they want to know how it is that you think and why it is that you think in that particular way. And so this slide I wanted to talk a little bit more about what's at stake, right? So what's at stake is important for you within a business interview context because what's important to you may not necessarily be important to everyone else. And since a lot of companies are hiring because they want to get it to the next level or they want to make more money, you have to understand what's at stake for everyone around you and be able to interview and speak to and work to all of these things so that you can be the most successful possible. And so these are the five areas or really six areas that you should think about when it comes to thinking about what's at stake, right? So between you and the industry you're working in, you and the company in general that you're working for, where are they right now? Is it growing? Is it declining? Is there something that's missing that you're going to be able to bring to the table? What about you and your colleagues, right? If you go to a business of any size, you're going to have people who you are working with and what their interests are are going to be likely what your interests are as well and sometimes maybe not because they're in a different function. And so how do you make them look really, really good so that you in turn can look really good as well? In addition, you and your boss, right? So your boss has hired you. They are looking to you to make sure that you can be successful and you can make them look good. And they also have strategic priorities that they need to accomplish as well. And so how can you and your boss work together to have a harmonious relationship that ultimately benefits the company and maybe even the colleagues around you because there are projects going on. And then possibly while the most important one here is you and your customers. So the customers are the one who pay your bills. They're the ones who drive you crazy and keep you up at night because they're the ones ensuring that the lights stay on. And so what's at stake for your customers and why do your customers both internal and external have the interest that they do and how do you as a professional help benefit these customers so that they leave happy, they continue paying you and operations remain smoothly flowing. Alright, so step five, turn job hunting into a habit, right? So the most important thing about job hunting is that it has to be a desire. You can't wake up one day and say that you want to find that new job and not really say much more than that. You have to make it an intention every day. You have to turn it into a habit, much like going to the gym, much like taking a shower, much like going for a walk, eating your three meals a day, job hunting figures around that. And you don't stop going until you sign an offer and you keep going until you start, right? We live in an unstable world where things are changing all the time. So even if you have a job offer in hand, continue to interview after you've signed that job offer because you want to make sure that you can go to that first day of work and not be cut before you go and then lose all your momentum within your job search. Number two, be consistent about job hunting and finding your next role, right? So we just mentioned this little bit where you want to be able to think about your job search every day, something that you calendar out, because job hunting is a job in itself. And so if you need to be looking for that new job, then you need to find time in your day to ensure that you're interviewing, to ensure that you're networking, to ensure that you're building your personal brand and doing all these items. Number three is to be flexible, but don't sacrifice for the things that you really want. And your mileage is going to vary on this one because if you have salary requirements, if you have benefits requirements, if you have company requirements, or if you want to work hybrid and office, remote, fully remote, those are all things that you need to consider now, right? We don't live in a great resignation world, we live in a return to office world. And so with that in mind, you have to really think about what it is that you will get versus what you likely may not get, and really find the difference between the two so that you can be at the happiest of possible. And finally, number four, I think might be the most important one of this slide is that it's okay to take a contract as a bridge. It's okay to take a survival job. So we've been in a bad market for a little bit now. Everybody has bills, it's an expensive time to be alive and to be working or trying to find work. And if you find a contract for six months, 12 months, nine months that helps you get closer to when the economy improves, it's okay to take that bridge. But it's also important to know why you're taking that bridge in the first place. Is it going to help you build skills? Is it going to help you build more experience? Is it going to help you build credibility within your industry? And so taking that bridge is also important too, so that you can continue to look as well, right? Because we live in hopefully countries and states here where you and the relationship between you and your employer is one that is at will and one can leave at any time that they want. Step number six is to help others, right? So it's a tough job market out there. It's really difficult to find that work right now, but it's also a great opportunity to build your brand because it's an opportunity for you to help other people, whether it's building a networking event, whether it's networking online, maybe even through an informational interview where you ask people for advice and for help, and people will remember you for that because a lot of people are in these conversations and in these networking opportunities just for themselves. And so also this includes sharing listings that may not be a fit for you, but could be a fit for other people, and then helping boost other people's LinkedIn posts for greater reach. A lot of people are doing that now too, and that also helps people get the reach that they need so that they can get the job opportunities that are available out there. Step number seven, so continue investing in yourself. You know, we've mentioned this a couple of times before. Overcome your imposter syndrome and build the confidence that you want. Take courses to increase your skills. Udemy, Coursera, HubSpot, LinkedIn Learning, lynda.com, all of these things are available to you so that you can increase your skills and continue building that credibility. And then number three is if you can afford to attend conferences and networking events, do that as well. A lot of conferences do online things these days, so there's an opportunity to go and network and do those things that help you out a lot. So that concludes our second section in terms of what to do now that you are doing that job hunt and executing it. And the next question is, what do you do once you've been hired, right? So one of the things that I think about often is that a new job is a new beginning, but now is not the time to rest. It's actually a time to keep going because even though you've spent so much time in finding a job, doing the networking, the personal branding, the informational interviews, the interviews themselves, those are all exhausting. And you know, between your signing of your offer letter and your start date, you should absolutely take a vacation or take some time off. But once you get to that job, the time to start and get going is now, right? Because you showed the hiring manager that you had the potential, but now it's time to perform. You want to keep that job. You want to get promoted. If you want to get awards, if you want to be recognized within your industry, you have to understand that that job is that new beginning. And so what does that look like, right? It means learning those new skills on the job. We mentioned those learning platforms earlier, but you are also now learning those new skills. You might want to get certified. You're going to use internal technology that generally others have not used. You're going to use things that are not available out in the world, but maybe are an internal solution. And so, or maybe you're going to build upon the skills that you already have existing, but in a new realm there. And so that's learning new skills. You're going to grow your communication skills, right? So communication is one of the most important soft skills within any job, because you want to be able to communicate with your boss, articulate, ask for what you want, understand what it is that other people want and listen to them and listen to them closely. Number three is developing leadership and leadership can be anything from building your credibility to building your ability to building your credibility to to leading others, you know, and leading others doesn't necessarily mean that you're the boss of them, but it means that you're able to convince others to help you do things, help them help you do things that you may otherwise not be able to do alone. And then number four is to earn increased duties, right? So one of the things that really high performers achieve at work is not only doing the work that they've been assigned, but getting additional work because it's both strategic and because they're known as reliable individuals. And so you want to work through that and be able to show that you are reliable and that you are dependable. And so all the things to keep in mind as you get into this new job is that the job is also rarely forever. So keep networking and keep building your brand. You want to be somebody who is continuing to put yourself out there as sort of that startup of you. And you want to remember that even within your industry, things change. And so you have to be able to move and have that level of agility. So if in case you ever get laid off again, you know the next 10 steps to find that next job. Number two is as you register accomplishments, write them down on your resume, right? So we all know how hard resume writing is, but if you do it live time where you can understand the stats, the data of what it is that you were able to accomplish, then that makes things a whole lot better. And so write them down on your resume, update those statistics as you go along, and that will make you look good. And then number three, stay in touch with the recruiters, stay in touch with the people that you networked with, stay in touch with anybody that you did an informational interview with, because you'll never know when you meet them again, right? All the time, I'll run into people who kept up with the recruiters that they were working with in the past, and a job shows up. And even though they may not have worked three jobs, worked together for three job searches ago, they get a chance to finally work together for this current job search. And that really helps them, that really helps them out really well. And so with that in mind, we're going to move in the next steps. There's a couple of things that I want to offer here. You know, we offered a 50,000 foot view today of all of these job search technology, job search ideas and thoughts, and there's a lot more to it, right? And so as the founder of Albertslist, one thing that I've put together over the last couple of years is what I call the Job Seeker Toolkit. And so the Job Seeker Toolkit is a collection of 39 videos around cross-finding your next job, discovering what it is that you want, what to do once you get hired, and sample mock interviews. And so we have 26 videos where we do everything in the last four sections that we talked about, interviewing, finding what you want, what to do after you get hired. Plus on top of that, 13 mock interviews across industries like product marketing, software engineering, data analysis, and so forth. And this comes out about to about $1,600 worth of content that we're giving away to you today for $17 until the end of the month. And so this is something as the holiday season approaches, as we think about what it is that we want to do, that we have that. And so you can get your kit today at bit.ly slash hired in 2024. I'm going to go ahead and drop the link here in the comments. And what you'll find in that is a listing of all the videos that you'll see and a chance to pay for those right then and there. And so I'll follow up with this link as well in an email so that you can get it and you can spend your holidays watching these videos and be ready to hit 2024 hard. And so finally, I wanted to also offer an opportunity to stay in touch as well. You can connect with me on LinkedIn at this link here. And then you can also join Albert's list where I joined where I included the link above. And let me know that you found me here in this community in this in today's session. And you know, we can we can have you in there. I encourage you to make to make an introduction on Albert's list and get to know us get to get to know our community. Ask for advice and join a lot of the other webinars that we have going on as well. And so with that, I'm complete here. I appreciate your time that you spent with me today to learn about what the job search will look like in 2024. And what you have to do that will set you apart.