Podcasts about cultivated culture

In this episode of Fractal Focus, Phillip Lorenzo sits down with Austin Belcak, the founder of Cultivated Culture, a company dedicated to helping people navigate the job market and take control of their careers. Austin shares his journey from transitioning into tech, working at Microsoft, to eventually founding his own company. Together, they dive into the complexities of hiring for startups and early-stage companies, tackling the psychological challenges founders face when assembling their teams.Tune in for practical advice on how to build a winning team, avoid common hiring pitfalls, and make smarter decisions when it comes to your company's most valuable asset: its people.Fractal Focushttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/fractal-focus/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/building-the-right-team-austin-belcak-on-hiring-and-company-culture

#interviewtips #LinkedIn #resumetips Hello Everyone and Welcome Back to 5 Minute Career Hack Podcast. Unlock a 48% higher interview rate with a simple LinkedIn profile tip! In this video, we break down the steps you need to take to enhance your resume and significantly increase your chances of landing job interviews. Discover the power of adding a LinkedIn profile to your resume and watch as we guide you through the process live. Don't miss out on this game-changing advice – stay tuned till the end for exclusive insights and actionable steps that can transform your career prospects. Join our Facebook Group for Free: https://bit.ly/careerhackerfacebook

Today, we're delighted to welcome back return guest, Austin Belcak, who joined us way back on episode five to talk about how to land a dream job at the salary you deserve, as well on episode 89 where he shared his insights on building an exceptional resume that gets real results. Through his personal experiences, Austin has developed a uniquely effective job search system that helped him go from being a new grad with a biology degree (and a job in healthcare) to landing interviews at multiple tech companies, including Microsoft, where he ended up working for over five years and was promoted multiple times. Austin is the founder of Cultivated Culture, where he helps people secure jobs they're passionate about, without relying on the need for traditional experience or online applications. The platform is a hugely valuable resource for job seekers and offers multiple free tools, including a resume builder and analyzer. He also hosts The Dream Job System Podcast where he shares bite-sized, highly actionable career advice. Additionally, Austin's work has been featured in multiple publications including, Forbes, Business Insider, and Fast Co. Through his work he has helped thousands of job seekers earn roles at top companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon, without ever needing to apply online. In today's conversation with Austin, we delve into the subject of networking, why he's found it to be infinitely more effective than traditional job-searching methods, and how he developed a jobs system that could help others just like him. We unpack why traditional approaches proved particularly ineffective for him, why he needed advice from people with first-hand experience, and how he went about reaching out to those individuals who could give him the insights he needed to succeed. Our conversation also examines some of the most common misconceptions when it comes to networking and what can be done to address them.  Austin's parting message emphasizes the importance of investing in yourself and actively creating things that other people will find interesting, before breaking down exactly how this will help your networking journey in the long run. His story serves as a powerful reminder that following your intuition and finding a braver path, will often be far more effective than sticking to more traditional routes. Join us today to hear all of Austin's eye-opening insights as we discuss the nuances of networking and finding the job you truly want!    Key Points From This Episode:  Some background on today's guest, Austin Belcak. [02:03] How Austin founded Cultivated Culture. [05:45] What made him reject traditional job search practices and try a different approach. [11:35] Key factors that helped him determine the job he was looking for and where he wanted to work. [15:36] How Austin found high-achieving individuals who would understand his experience, especially coming from a non-traditional background, and how he reached out for their input. [17:33] Common misunderstandings around networking and advice on how to address them. [19:55] Learning how to cultivate persistence when it comes to networking. [26:58] Why people are more ready to invest in people who are already investing in themselves; how to establish channels that create value and make it easier to network. [31:09] Where you can find Austin online. [35:16]   For More Information: Austin Belcak on LinkedIn Austin Belcak on X Austin Belcak on Instagram Cultivated Culture Cultivated Culture Blog Cultivated Culture Podcast Cultivated Culture Tools   Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Listen to Finding Brave Episode 5: How to Land a Dream Job at the Salary You Deserve with Austin Becak  Check out Finding Brave Episode 89: Building a Crazy Effective Resume that Gets Real Results with Austin Belcak    ——————— Are you ready for a BIG positive shift in how you're working and what you're capable of achieving today in your career and leadership? Let's work together and make that happen! While you might know me best as a podcast host and writer, a key focus in my work is career and leadership coaching and training for mid to high-level professional women around the globe. In my top-rated Career & Leadership Breakthrough 1:1 Program and The Most Powerful You video and live course, I help female executives and leaders experience what they want most, which includes more confidence, impact, recognition, advancement, financial reward, well-being, and fulfillment. And I also help them close their power gaps and make headway towards their most exciting visions for the future.  In the past 17 years, I've worked with over 20,000 women across 6 continents. Before that, I served as a therapist, and prior to that, I was a corporate VP managing multi-million-dollar budgets and global initiatives. I leverage all of that experience to help women build a new chapter of work to reach their highest and happiest potential in careers they love. For organizations looking for top-level career and leadership coaching to support the emerging and seasoned female leaders in your workforce, please feel free to contact me here. Check out Career & Leadership Breakthrough Coaching Program – Kathy Caprino and Most Powerful You training. I hope you'll register now. I'd love to support you!   ——————— Need some great podcast production support? Check out We Edit Podcasts! Hi, folks! Kathy here. So, are you thinking of launching a new podcast or have you been at it a while and recognize it's time for more or better production help to create the best podcast you can? I totally understand — I've been podcasting for over 6 years and know how challenging it can be. That's why I'm very excited to share key info about the great product team I'm using called We Edit Podcasts. I've been working with them for well over a year, and I've been so happy with the results! They're a full-service production agency and their services give me access to a wonderful team of seasoned audio engineers and editors who help create a polished, professional sound. 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Austin shares 4 ways that failure has helped to skyrocket his career. Success and failure are perceived incorrectly by so many people, so change your mindset. Learn from your failures and that will lead to your success!Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:25] - 4 ways that failure helped to skyrocket Austin's career[0:35] - The problem with the perception of success and failure[2:54] - Austin's journey through failure to success[3:05] - Trying to start a music blog[4:42] - Trying to start an apparel company[6:40] - Trying to be a freelancer[7:35] - Trying to create an app[9:28] - The beginning of Cultivated Culture[13:25] - Just go try somethingFree Masterclass: Land Your Dream Job In 10 Weeks (Without Applying Online)!Ask Austin Anything (And Have Him Answer Live On The Podcast!)Click here to submit your question.Want To Level Up Your Job Search?Click here to learn more about 1:1 career coaching to help you land your dream job without applying online.Check out Austin's courses and, as a thank you for listening to the show, use the code PODCAST to get 5% off any digital course:The Interview Preparation System - Austin's proven, all-in-one process for turning your next job interview into a job offer.Value Validation Project Starter Kit - Everything you need to create a job-winning VVP that will blow hiring managers away and set you apart from the competition.No Experience, No Problem - Austin's proven framework for building the skills and experience you need to break into a new industry (even if you have *zero* experience right now).Try Austin's Job Search ToolsResyBuild.io - Build a beautiful, job-winning resume in minutes.ResyMatch.io - Score your resume vs. your target job description and get feedback.ResyBullet.io - Learn how to write attention grabbing resume bullets.Mailscoop.io - Find anyone's professional email in seconds.Connect with Austin for daily job search content:Cultivated CultureLinkedInTwitterThanks for listening!

Austin shares the one thing he always looks for when hiring at Microsoft or Cultivated Culture!Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:30] - Do you have a side hustle?[1:13] - Looking for passion[1:54] - People with a side hustle are motivated[2:30] - Be scrappy & innovative[4:23] - Driving outputsFree Masterclass: Land Your Dream Job In 10 Weeks (Without Applying Online)!Ask Austin Anything (And Have Him Answer Live On The Podcast!)Click here to submit your question.Want To Level Up Your Job Search?Click here to learn more about 1:1 career coaching to help you land your dream job without applying online.Check out Austin's courses and, as a thank you for listening to the show, use the code PODCAST to get 5% off any digital course:The Interview Preparation System - Austin's proven, all-in-one process for turning your next job interview into a job offer.Value Validation Project Starter Kit - Everything you need to create a job-winning VVP that will blow hiring managers away and set you apart from the competition.No Experience, No Problem - Austin's proven framework for building the skills and experience you need to break into a new industry (even if you have *zero* experience right now).Try Austin's Job Search ToolsResyBuild.io - Build a beautiful, job-winning resume in minutes.ResyMatch.io - Score your resume vs. your target job description and get feedback.ResyBullet.io - Learn how to write attention grabbing resume bullets.Mailscoop.io - Find anyone's professional email in seconds.Connect with Austin for daily job search content:Cultivated CultureLinkedInTwitterThanks for listening!

People often want to make a change in their careers but few do until they're forced to shake things up. Often, fear is one of the main obstacles that hold people back from making a transition. Fortunately, more and more people are finding the courage to change careers thanks to some self reflection during the pandemic. LinkedIn Editor Andrew Seaman has talked to several experts about how people can change careers during that time. This episode – a favorite from the GH archives – brings together the advice of three all-star Get Hired guests: former Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno; career coach Christopher Taylor, aka “The Occupation Optimist; and coach Austin Belcak, the founder of Cultivated Culture. Overcome the Fear of Changing Careers The first step when you're trying to make a hard pivot, says Apolo Ohno, is to overcome the fear of change. “No one wants to climb the mountain, go back down to the bottom and then go back up again,” he shared, but sometimes it's important to start with a beginner's mindset. You can't operate in a state of “FOPO,” or “fear of other people's opinions.” Your Skills are Still Valuable Next, remember that even though you might be jumping from one industry to another, the experience you've gained is still valuable. Chris Taylor, who focuses on skills-based hiring in his coaching, says that “if you have six out of ten” of the requirements listed on the job description, you are likely more than qualified and should apply. You can also look at the company on LinkedIn to see the profiles of people who hold similar roles, and see what skills they have. You can then focus on building those skills, using your network or free platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn Learning. Don't Wait for Others to Give You Experience Finally, Austin Belcak offers a way to get started: just do it! Start by offering your newer skills for free or low rates to local businesses. As a freelancer, you can build up a portfolio and make sure that this new field is for you. You can also start to publish articles in order to build your own education. As Belcak says, “If you made it a goal to create one post about your target industry for the next 60 days on LinkedIn, not only are you going to educate yourself in this new space, but you're also creating this breadcrumb trail of evidence of you actually learning everything.” If you've been inspired by our guests' advice on making a pivot to a new industry or career, leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Apolo Ohno on LinkedIn Follow Christopher Taylor on LinkedIn Follow Austin Belcak on LinkedIn Follow Andrew on LinkedIn and join the Get Hired community at https://lnkd.in/ghpodcast

My guest today is Austin Belcak, content creator and founder of Cultivated Culture.Austin pivoted out of his corporate career after successfully growing an audience on LinkedIn (which now totals 1.35 million), who recognised the huge value he was sharing via his insights into how to land amazing jobs.His approach focuses on teaching "people how to land jobs they love in today's market without traditional experience and without applying online."With that in mind, we discussed:- How to consistently create high-quality content.- Novel ways to illustrate your value when pursuing new opportunities.- The power of podcasts to help you improve your learning & grow your network…and loads more.LINKS:Austin's LinkedInCultivated CultureOllie's LinkedInFuture Work/Life newsletterFuture Work/Life websiteMy book, Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, will be published on 17th January 2023. You can pre-order your copy HERE. Here's what Justin Welsh has said about it:"With the right mindset and systems, you can make positive changes in your career. Ollie Henderson's Work/Life Flywheel gives you the tools and motivation to develop both, creating the momentum you need to maximise your potential and succeed in the new world of work." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AIRED AUGUST 6TH, 2019 The goal of the pozcast is to bring you, the job seekers, my listeners new, outside the box advice and tactics to take their search to the next level. My next guest, Austin Belcak does just that. Austin is the founder of Cultivated Culture where he teaches people how to land jobs they love without applying online. His strategies have helped people land jobs at places like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, and more without applying online. Austin has also been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Fast Company, Inc., and more. But that's not his Day job, he is currently Director of Partnership Development at Microsoft. So he most certainly found a way to land a great gig. Recently I was drawn to Austin's content on LinkedIN and had to connect and learn more about his approach. We had a great chat and I said I need to have you on the pozcast to share and that's where we are today! Austin brings you a TON of value and actionable advice and tactics how to move your career search forward. This is PURE GOLD enjoy! Austin has also created a fantastic value add resume builder for free, check it out: https://cultivatedculture.com/resume-templates For more, please visit www.thePOZcast.com

People often want to make a change in their careers but few do until they're forced to shake things up. Often, fear is one of the main obstacles that hold people back from making a transition. Fortunately, more and more people are finding the courage to change careers thanks to some self reflection during the pandemic. LinkedIn Editor Andrew Seaman has talked to several experts about how people can change careers during that time. This episode brings together the advice of three all-star Get Hired guests: former Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno; career coach Christopher Taylor, aka “The Occupation Optimist; and coach Austin Belcak, the founder of Cultivated Culture. Overcome the Fear of Changing Careers The first step when you're trying to make a hard pivot, says Apolo Ohno, is to overcome the fear of change. “No one wants to climb the mountain, go back down to the bottom and then go back up again,” he shared, but sometimes it's important to start with a beginner's mindset. You can't operate in a state of “FOPO,” or “fear of other people's opinions.” Your Skills are Still Valuable Next, remember that even though you might be jumping from one industry to another, the experience you've gained is still valuable. Chris Taylor, who focuses on skills-based hiring in his coaching, says that “if you have six out of ten” of the requirements listed on the job description, you are likely more than qualified and should apply. You can also look at the company on LinkedIn to see the profiles of people who hold similar roles, and see what skills they have. You can then focus on building those skills, using your network or free platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn Learning. Don't Wait for Others to Give You Experience Finally, Austin Belcak offers a way to get started: just do it! Start by offering your newer skills for free or low rates to local businesses. As a freelancer, you can build up a portfolio and make sure that this new field is for you. You can also start to publish articles in order to build your own education. As Belcak says, “If you made it a goal to create one post about your target industry for the next 60 days on LinkedIn, not only are you going to educate yourself in this new space, but you're also creating this breadcrumb trail of evidence of you actually learning everything.” If you've been inspired by our guests' advice on making a pivot to a new industry or career, leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Apolo Ohno on LinkedIn Follow Christopher Taylor on LinkedIn Follow Austin Belcak on LinkedIn Follow Andrew on LinkedIn and join the Get Hired community at https://lnkd.in/ghpodcast

WATCH ▶️ Watch this episode on YouTube *** EPISODE DESCRIPTION Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture, which people how to land jobs they love without “traditional” experience and without applying online. Austin has 1.3 million followers on LinkedIn and his posts have been viewed hundreds of millions of times. He's recently started investing time into Twitter, where he already has more than 50,000 subscribers. In this episode, we talk about Austin's approach to content creation, what content is working on LinkedIn today, why good people give bad advice, and how being Data Driven helped him become one of the biggest accounts on LinkedIn. Full transcript and show notes Learn more about Austin Belcak Follow Austin Belcak on LinkedIn / Twitter *** CONNECT

Austin shares the one thing he always looks for when hiring at Microsoft or Cultivated Culture!Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:30] - Do you have a side hustle?[1:13] - Looking for passion[1:54] - People with a side hustle are motivated[2:30] - Be scrappy & innovative[4:23] - Driving outputsHave questions about how to stand out to hiring managers? Text them to Austin at (201) 479-9511.Ask Austin Anything:Click here to get your question answered on a future #AAA episodeShare Your Feedback:Want a free resume or LinkedIn profile review from Austin? Leave us a rating or review on iTunes to automatically be entered to win. We choose winners every week, click here to learn how to leave a review and enter to win.What should Austin talk about next? Ask a question or share your thoughts at CultivatedCulture.com/FeedbackConnect With Austin:Cultivated CultureLinkedInInstagram@austinbelcak on TwitterTry Austin's free Resume Builder, free Resume Scanner, and free Mailscoop email finder tool

Ask Austin Anything! In this episode Austin answers questions from listeners just like you. Get your question answered on a future Ask Austin Anything episode by submitting it to the link below.Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:25] - #AAA for July 2022[1:06] - Trixy - You said you have done a lot of interviewing, can you share any question(s) in particular that you left your interviewer dumbfounded or shocked in a good way? [3:31] - Anish - How did you come up with your company name “Cultivated Culture?” [8:37] - Matt - When you started planning Cultivated Culture, what were some of the things you did to get started, for example, what was your process for creating/starting your website?[11:53] - Borja - Which would you say are the most important skills to work on in order to have a master powerful brand?[17:37] - Jennifer - You talk a lot about mental health. What is your favorite thing to do to relax and escape the laptop?Have questions about how to build your own personal brand? Text them to Austin at (201) 479-9511.Ask Austin Anything:Click here to get your question answered on a future #AAA episodeShare Your Feedback:Want a free resume or LinkedIn profile review from Austin? Leave us a rating or review on iTunes to automatically be entered to win. We choose winners every week, click here to learn how to leave a review and enter to win.What should Austin talk about next? Ask a question or share your thoughts at CultivatedCulture.com/FeedbackConnect With Austin:Cultivated CultureLinkedInInstagram@austinbelcak on TwitterTry Austin's free Resume Builder, free Resume Scanner, and free Mailscoop email finder tool

Starting a career – whether you have an internship or job lined up, or nothing at all – can be daunting. Austin Belcak, career coach and founder of Cultivated Culture, joins Andrew to dig into some practical advice for starting out. Follow Austin on LinkedIn Follow Andrew on LinkedIn and join the Get Hired community at https://lnkd.in/ghpodcast

In this episode of Startup Survival, we talk about hiring—but from a different perspective than I've covered before. I want to get into the nitty-gritty of what A-players look for in an employer and how your startup or small business can start hiring top-performing employees.  With me to discuss this topic is Austin Belcak, the founder of Cultivated Culture and a coach helping people land their dream jobs. Austin specializes in teaching job seekers that you don't have to go to Harvard or even have the traditional working experience to get the job you want.  In this episode, Austin helps me reverse-engineer his process to teach companies how to recruit these top employees. Tune in to learn what a “dream job” looks like, how to get more creative with the hiring process and more.  About Austin BelcakAustin is the founder of CultivatedCulture.com where he helps people land jobs they love without traditional experience and without applying online. His strategies have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Fast Co, and Inc. and he has helped thousands of job seekers land jobs at places like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Tesla, SpaceX, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, ESPN, the NFL, and more—without applying online. https://cultivatedculture.com/ (Website) https://www.linkedin.com/in/abelcak/ (LinkedIn) https://www.instagram.com/cultivated.culture/ (Instagram) If you like this episode, check out these resources.Podcast: https://www.jackiehermes.com/podcast/how-to-handle-hiring-mistakes (Hiring mistakes and how to handle them) Podcast: https://www.jackiehermes.com/podcast/3-questions-about-when-to-hire (Is it time to hire? 3 questions you need to ask yourself) Podcast: https://www.jackiehermes.com/podcast/11-things-to-do-before-hiring (11 things you NEED to do before hiring) More about the show: ​​http://www.jackiehermes.com/podcast (www.jackiehermes.com/podcast) Hit me up! https://the-art-of-entrepreneurship.captivate.fm/linkedin (LinkedIn) https://the-art-of-entrepreneurship.captivate.fm/instagram (Instagram) https://the-art-of-entrepreneurship.captivate.fm/tiktok (TikTok) https://the-art-of-entrepreneurship.captivate.fm/website (Website)

Tristan talks about 5 data-backed strategies to help you boost your resume. Throughout your job search, you can miss so many things that can cost you the perfect opportunity, but your resume doesn't need to be one of them. Austin Belcak of Cultivated Culture analyzed 125,000 resumes to see what most job seekers miss in their documents and developed 5 data-backed insights from his analysis to help you beat the competition and write a job-winning resume, and Tristan talks about those today! Want to know more about our LinkedIn Learning courses? Check them out! https://bit.ly/3k4havy Read the Cultivated Culture article this tip was inspired by. https://bit.ly/3M8Dgtf Have a topic suggestion? You can find our submission form here. http://bit.ly/tapintristan Check out Tristan's website to learn more about him or to book a free consultation. http://bit.ly/31HFzND Connect with Tristan on LinkedIn, IG, FB, and Twitter. http://bit.ly/2G7d6HK http://bit.ly/2XDcp3z http://bit.ly/2JEbg1R http://bit.ly/2JCmKTz

In this week's episode, we speak with Austin Belcak, the founder of Cultivated Culture. Austin is someone we hold dear to our hearts as he helped Jim spearhead his way out of the medical device industry and into software sales which ultimately provided him with a true work/life balance. Austin began his company out of his own experiences, which is the best way to do it. His goal and his company's mission are to help others navigate a career change that may not include a traditional background or family/friend connections. He has built a program to last, and we can speak from experience that it works. We're grateful to have him on the show today to share his experience from medical device to Microsoft to founding Cultivated Culture and helping thousands land their dream job. >>>>> https://www.linkedin.com/in/abelcak/ (Connect with Austin on LinkedIn) https://cultivatedculture.com/ (Check out Cultivated Culture)

Ask Austin Anything! In this episode Austin answers questions from listeners just like you. Get your question answered on a future Ask Austin Anything episode by submitting it to the link below.Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:25] - #AAA for November 2021[1:42] - Matt - When you started planning Cultivated Culture, what were some of the things you did to get started, for example, what was your process for creating/starting your website?[11:32] - Alex - How does an individual contributor move into a management role, whether internally or externally, with little to no experience?[17:55] - Gaurav - How do you increase visibility on LinkedIn so that more recruiters contact you during your job search?[22:31] - Tom - What quote has had the most impact on your personal life philosophy?[26:55] - Dennis - What's your favorite pizza and drink to go along with it?Have questions about your job search? Text them to Austin at (201) 479-9511.Ask Austin Anything:Click here to get your question answered on a future #AAA episodeShare Your Feedback:Want a free resume or LinkedIn profile review from Austin? Leave us a rating or review on iTunes to automatically be entered to win. We choose winners every week, click here to learn how to leave a review and enter to win.What should Austin talk about next? Ask a question or share your thoughts at CultivatedCulture.com/FeedbackConnect With Austin:Cultivated CultureLinkedInInstagramTry Austin's free Resume Builder, free Resume Scanner, and free Mailscoop email finder tool

We have a special treat for you!  Bobbie put together some top tips from some leading experts on career, job seeking & college advice. In this jammed-pack episode, learn from some of our previous guests: √ Dr. Dawn Graham:  Former host of the Sirius XM Dr. Dawn on Careers and author of “Switchers:  How Smart Professionals Change Careers and Seize Success. Learn from Dr. Dawn some networking strategies, important career action steps to take while in college and interviewing tips.  Visit Dr. Dawn's website and buy her book here:  Dr. Dawn on Careers  √ Austin Belcak:  Founder of Cultivated Culture  and the host of The Dream Job System Podcast .  Learn from Austin some amazing techniques for landing a job without applying online with the “value validation project”. √ Mac Prichard:  President of Prichard Communications, Founder and Publisher of Mac's List   and host of the Find Your Dream Job  podcast.  Learn from Mac his tips and advice on the “hidden job market” and informational interviewing √ Rich Feller, PhD:  NCDA Past President, Prof & Univ Distinguished Teach Scholar, Keynoter & Author, Entrepreneur, Consultant in all 50 States and six continents.  Visit Rich Feller's Website.  Learn from Rich the importance of experiential learning and the importance of adopting an “HEROIC G” mindset. √ Justin Nguyen: Host of the  Declassified College:  Unlock the Cheat Codes  podcast.  Justin attracts a lot of Gen Z listeners.  He helps students navigate into their careers.  He is also a creator and international speaker.  Learn from Justin his best tips on how college students can land amazing internships. √ Christine Cruzvergara: Chief Education Strategy Officer at Handshake.  Learn from Christine how Handshake can help college students to land jobs.  Also learn about the future of Handshake and how it will play a role in helping students to identify in demand skills, and where they can acquire those skills…perhaps this will be through micro credentials and creating partnerships between education and industry. √ George McGehrin:  Executive Headhunter and Branding Expert:  Learn from George three tips for landing a job. √ Michelle R. Weise, PhD: Author of Long Life Learning, on the Thinkers50 Radar List for 2021 and a future of education and workforce strategist. Learn from Michelle s about the future of work.  Michelle is a leading expert in this area.  Visit Michelle's website and buy her book here: Rise and Design  √ Madeline Mann:  Career Strategist featured in Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Creator of Self Made Millennial and a Career Coach.  Learn from Madeline the importance of a cover letter.  Madeline teaches us how to write a job winning cover letter in a 3 step EASY process.√ Robin Mamlet:  Senior Partner and Managing Director, WittKieffer and former Dean of Admissions at Stanford University.  Learn from Robin what colleges are looking for in the admissions process.

Edward welcomes Austin Belcak on the show. Austin is the founder of CultivatedCulture.com where he helps people land jobs they love without traditional experience and without applying online. Austin's job search system stems from his personal experience transitioning from a new grad with a biology degree, a 2.58 GPA, and a job in healthcare to landing interviews and offers at Microsoft, Google, and Twitter. We Discuss: 1) His 200 business ideas that did not work 2) Why he decided to work at Microsoft 3) Translatable skills from corporate to entrepreneurship 4) Mindset 5) Networking formula 6) What's next for Cultivated Culture

Ask Austin Anything! In this episode Austin answers questions from listeners just like you. Get your question answered on a future Ask Austin Anything episode by submitting it to the link below.Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:25] - #AAA for May 2021[1:25] - Nikhil - What do you think is the metric for having successfully established a “brand” on LinkedIn?[4:54] - Cate - Let’s talk LinkedIn keywords! Any resources you would recommend for insights into top consistent keywords that are used in recruiter searches to incorporate into one’s profile?[9:42] - Sandeep - Is it really necessary to buy LinkedIn premium?[13:35] - Andy - How did you come up with your company name “Cultivated Culture?”[16:58] - Michelle - If you were diving into a side hustle right today that wasn't related to anything you do now, what would it be?Have questions about your job search? Text them to Austin at (201) 479-9511.Ask Austin Anything:Click here to get your question answered on a future #AAA episodeResources Mentioned In Today’s Episode:WordClouds.comResymatch.ioMailscoop.ioShare Your Feedback:Want a free resume or LinkedIn profile review from Austin? Leave us a rating or review on iTunes to automatically be entered to win. We choose winners every week, click here to learn how to leave a review and enter to win.What should Austin talk about next? Ask a question or share your thoughts at CultivatedCulture.com/FeedbackConnect With Austin:Cultivated CultureLinkedInInstagramTry Austin’s free Resume Builder, free Resume Scanner, and free Mailscoop email finder tool

What is your dream job? Most career transitions require starting from scratch - leading to years of wasted experience and work! In this conversation on Finding Your Dream Career, we are joined by Austin Belcak, the founder of Cultivated Culture. where he helps people land jobs they love without traditional experience and without applying online. Austin's job search system stems from his personal experience transitioning from a new grad with a biology degree, a 2.58 GPA, and a job in healthcare to landing interviews and offers at Microsoft, Google, and Twitter. O exactly HOW you can create your unique path to a meaningful and successful career (no, not just through networking!); we also uncover: Getting clear on your values Power of experimenting and exploration How to find the RIGHT mentors How to successfully transition into your #dreamcareer Watch NOW to transform your #career. A huge thank you to Austin for this extremely insightful and intriguing conversation! https://youtu.be/ijzVLNcAHG4 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/unique-u/message

Welcome to the first-ever episode of the Social Work Insider podcast. I wanted the first episode to be a banger and decided to bring to you a recent LinkedIn Livestream I did with my fellow career coach and LinkedIn influencer, Austin Belcak.Austin's the founder of a website called Cultivated Culture where he teaches job seekers how to land their dream job without applying online. With over 700,000 followers on LinkedIn, Austin's job search strategies have made appearances in Forbes, Business Insider, Inc., Fast Company, & The USA Today. In this episode, Austin shares a lot of valuable insights from how to virtually guarantee you get a job using his job hunt funnel approach, strategic networking tactics to land referrals, how to negotiate a salary, and much more.Follow Austin:LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abelcak/INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/cultivated.cultureWEBSITE: https://cultivatedculture.com/Follow me, Harleny:LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harlenyvasquez/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/yourevolvedmind/?hl=enWEBSITE: https://yourevolvedmind.mykajabi.com/

As lack of transparency in the hiring process is becoming a thing of the past, we ask our guest, Austin Belcak, CEO of Cultivated Culture, what this transition to greater openness looks like for both companies and job candidates.Belcak pursued a bachelor’s degree in biology from Wake Forest University and put his minor in entrepreneurship to the test after a harrowing experience working in healthcare put him back on the job market. He had sent more than a hundred resumes in 30 days without getting a response, when Belcak designed a solution: a system to get employed by the companies he dreamed of working for. His method was so effective that he landed interviews and offers from Twitter, Google, and Microsoft. Belcak, whose strategies were featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Fast Company, and Inc. Magazine, shares his ideas about what candidates and companies should do differently to get the best out of the hiring process. We discuss one-way interviews, and why most candidates don’t like them. We also touch on the importance of referrals and their role in employee retention. You will hear Belcak’s vision of how assessments should be run and what candidates can do to differentiate and highlight their resumes. Some Questions Asked:How should companies better tell their stories to recruit top talent?How can companies tell whether an applicant is aligned with their values and what they’re trying to accomplish?What impact do referrals have on retention and performance?In This Episode, You Will Learn:About companies taking public stands on social issues to attract the type of talent that is aligned with their valuesThe risks companies are taking when they are not open and transparent in their search for candidatesThat potential and knowledge are not the same, and what folks with no traditional work experience can do to get hiredLinks:Austin Belcak - LinkedInAustin Belcak - InstagramCultivated Culture websiteCultivated Culture Free Tools for Job SeekersThe Dream Job System Podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today, Dee Ann is joined by Austin Belcak, the founder of Cultivated Culture. At Cultivated Culture, Austin helps thousands of people crush their job interviews without even applying online. He and Dee Ann talk about the role of networking in landing your dream job, how to prepare for an interview, tips and tricks to differentiate yourself in today's world of virtual interviews, and how to use social media to set yourself apart from the other interviewees. Tune into Austin and Dee Ann's conversation to learn how to find a job, keep a job, and grow your career. For more tips on how to Crush Your Career visit www.crushyourcareerbook.com to purchase Dee Ann's highly anticipated third book, Crush Your Career: Ace the Interview, Land the Job, and Launch your Future.

In this incredible episode hosts Brad & Cassie have the incredible Austin Belcak on the show. Austin is the Founder of Cultivated Culture a leading platform to help job seekers get out of the stacks of resumes and implement innovative but effective strategies. Some of the main topics covered in this episode include: - Austin's background and how he came to found Cultivated Culture from his own frustrations in the job search. - The many mistakes that students and young job seekers make when starting their job search. - How to get away from egocentric networking and consider how you can add value to the one's you're trying to meet. - Easy steps that young professionals can take to network and find opportunities. - How to overcome lack of experience when applying to first jobs or one's that are higher level. - The best pieces of career advice he can pass along to the next generation. Guest Info: Austin Belcak www.cultivatedculture.com https://linkedin.com/in/abelcak https://cultivatedculture.com/podcast https://www.instagram.com/cultivated.culture #jobsearch #jobseekers #cultivatedculture #landajob #cultivatedculture --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/yourcareergps/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/yourcareergps/support

Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture, a company that teaches people unconventional strategies to land jobs they love without applying online. Cultivated Culture features informative blog posts, free job search tools, as well as The Dream Job System podcast. Previously, Austin worked for Microsoft as the director of partner development and Cultivated Culture was his side hustle.  The post 680: How to Pivot From One Industry Into Another With Austin Belcak, Cultivated Culture [K-Cup TripleShot] appeared first on Time4Coffee.

Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture, a company that teaches people unconventional strategies to land jobs they love without applying online. Cultivated Culture features informative blog posts, free job search tools, as well as The Dream Job System podcast. Previously, Austin worked for Microsoft as the director of partner development and Cultivated Culture was his side hustle.  The post 678: Why Winners (Sometimes) Need to Quit With Austin Belcak, Cultivated Culture [K-Cup TripleShot] appeared first on Time4Coffee.

Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture, a company that teaches people unconventional strategies to land jobs they love without applying online. Cultivated Culture features informative blog posts, free job search tools, as well as The Dream Job System podcast. Previously, Austin worked for Microsoft as the director of partner development and Cultivated Culture was his side hustle.  The post 676: Why to Start a Side Hustle in College With Austin Belcak, Cultivated Culture [K-Cup TripleShot] appeared first on Time4Coffee.

Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture, a company that teaches people unconventional strategies to land jobs they love without applying online. Cultivated Culture features informative blog posts, free job search tools, as well as The Dream Job System podcast. Previously, Austin worked for Microsoft as the director of partner development and Cultivated Culture was his side hustle. The post 674: What It’s Like To Land Your Dream Job Without Applying Online With Austin Belcak, Cultivated Culture [Main T4C Episode] appeared first on Time4Coffee.

Can you imagine landing your dream job without even applying online? When I started my LinkedIn journey, I was happy to connect with Austin. I was working at a marketing company, but I hated my job. I would always enjoy reading Austins posts about job search tips, and how to land your dream job, not just some position to pay the bills. Fast forward 6 months and I quit that job, pivoted to podcasting full time and interviewed Austin about his company, https://cultivatedculture.com/ (Cultivated Culture). He created the business to help regular folks land dream jobs - I'm not talking the 4.0 Harvard grads, I'm talking the 3.4GPA state school type of people. What he was doing stood out to me. In this interview we dive into how his college side hustles led him to start and run a successful business, and the reason he stayed at his 9-5 at Microsoft. I'm also happy to announce he since quit that job, and runs Cultivated Culture full time Find Austin on https://www.linkedin.com/in/abelcak/ (LinkedIn here), and https://www.instagram.com/cultivated.culture/ (IG here) where he posts daily tips and insight. Links Below: _ @sullybop on Instagram Search 'BOPCAST' on any platform! (Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube) Visit https://www.sullybop.com/ (SullyBop.com) for more information, show notes and to join our monthly newsletter.

Austin is the founder of CultivatedCulture.com where he helps people land jobs they love without traditional experience and without applying online. Austin's job search system stems from his personal experience transitioning from a new grad with a biology degree, a 2.58 GPA, and a job in healthcare to landing interviews and offers at Microsoft, Google, and Twitter. His strategies have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Fast Co, and Inc. and he has helped thousands of job seekers land jobs at places like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Tesla, SpaceX, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, ESPN, the NFL, and more -- without applying online. His goal with Cultivated Culture has been to offer as much free value as he can to job seekers. As a result, he's created a bunch of free tools for them to use including a Resume Builder, Resume Scanner, Resume Bullet Analyzer, and Email Finder: ResyBuild.io - free resume builder ResyMatch.io - free resume scanner and optimizer ResyBullet.io - free resume bullet analyzer MailScoop.io - free email lookup tool You can also access all of the free tools at: https://cultivatedculture.com/tools/

Is your career lacking fulfillment and purpose? Or, are you struggling to find that meaningful job that you are looking for? Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture, a career coaching platform with a community of 600,000+ on LinkedIn. Austin's job search system stems from his experience as a new grad with a 2.5 GPA to landing offers from Google, Microsoft, and Twitter - he is one of the top career coaches on the market today Enjoy this brief sneak peek from the conversation on The Blueprint For Life After College Summit happening NOW. In the full version of this conversation, we talk about: Finding the first job as a graduate Starting from scratch Career pivots Successful networking Finding the right mentor for you Career strategies to set yourself up for success Register to listen to the rest of the conversation NOW: https://blueprintforlifesummit.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/unique-u/message

Austin shares 4 ways that failure has helped to skyrocket his career. Success and failure are perceived incorrectly by so many people, so change your mindset. Learn from your failures and that will lead to your success!Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:25] - 4 ways that failure helped to skyrocket Austin’s career[0:35] - The problem with the perception of success and failure[2:54] - Austin’s journey through failure to success[3:05] - Trying to start a music blog[4:42] - Trying to start an apparel company[6:40] - Trying to be a freelancer[7:35] - Trying to create an app[9:28] - The beginning of Cultivated Culture[13:25] - Just go try somethingShare Your Feedback:Want a free resume or LinkedIn profile review from Austin? Leave us a rating or review on iTunes to automatically be entered to win. We choose winners every week, click here to learn how to leave a review and enter to win.What should Austin talk about next? Ask a question or share your thoughts at CultivatedCulture.com/FeedbackConnect With Austin:Cultivated CultureLinkedInInstagramTry Austin’s free Resume Builder, free Resume Scanner, and free Mailscoop email finder tool

Ask Austin Anything! In this episode Austin answers questions from listeners just like you. Get your question answered on a future Ask Austin Anything episode by submitting it to the link below.Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:25] – A message from Austin[1:30] - “You mentioned you were promoted three times at Microsoft in the (I think) 5 years you worked there. How did you manage to do that? Any tips for people looking to climb the ladder?”[7:00] – “What do you do in your daily life to keep your mental health healthy?”[14:08] – “How do you get around the issue of ageism in the job search? I am 58 - a young, fit and enthusiastic 58. I am up-to-date with digital trends and have so much experience to offer on a senior management level, but I can't escape the feeling that my (many) applications are overlooked because of age.”[19:39] – “How do you prepare a VVP that avoids rubbing them the wrong way or making them think that you don't know the business well enough if you suggest the wrong thing? To avoid thoughts like: We already tried that, and it didn't work, We just spent $100,000 (or I worked tirelessly) on what you are recommending could be improved, How presumptuous/condescending of you to provide insight without having enough context.”[23:23] – “What should I write in a cold email when there is no job opening at the moment but I want to introduce myself politely and professionally?”[26:38] – “How did you make the choices for the stylistic parts of your brand? The blue color, the Cultivated Culture logo, etc.?”[30:11] – “If you had to start a business from scratch, what are a few of the major steps you’d take to get started?”Ask Austin Anything:Click here to get your question answered on a future #AAA episodeResources Mentioned In Today’s Episode:BlockSite.coShare Your Feedback:Want a free resume or LinkedIn profile review from Austin? Leave us a rating or review on iTunes to automatically be entered to win. We choose winners every week, click here to learn how to leave a review and enter to win.What should Austin talk about next? Ask a question or share your thoughts at CultivatedCulture.com/FeedbackConnect With Austin:Cultivated CultureLinkedInInstagramTry Austin’s free Resume Builder, free Resume Scanner, and free Mailscoop email finder tool

Ask Austin Anything! In this episode Austin answers questions from listeners just like you. Get your question answered on a future Ask Austin Anything episode by submitting it to the link below.Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:25] – A message from Austin[2:32] - “Hey Austin, thanks for doing this! I’m curious to know how you set your goals and what systems/strategies you use to follow through?”[10:02] – “Austin, what is your most important habit and why?”[13:17] – “I had my second round with a company a few weeks ago and I haven’t heard anything back. Does this mean I didn’t get the job? What else can I do to get them to reply and make sure I’m still in consideration for the role?”[16:22] – “What are your suggestions for an effective About section on LinkedIn? This is valuable real estate on a LI profile, but it's tricky to know how to make it count, eye-catching and an enticement to engage.”[21:50] – “What are you reading right now?”[26:08] – “You create a lot of content. You write, you make videos, you have a podcast now. Are any of those mediums “hard” for you? Which do you enjoy most?”[28:47] – “Were you worried about Microsoft not letting you continue Cultivated Culture?”Ask Austin Anything:Click here to get your question answered on a future #AAA episodeResources Mentioned In Today’s Episode:Atomic HabitsResymatch.ioResybullet.ioShare Your Feedback:Want a free resume or LinkedIn profile review from Austin? Leave us a rating or review on iTunes to automatically be entered to win. We choose winners every week, click here to learn how to leave a review and enter to win.What should Austin talk about next? Ask a question or share your thoughts at CultivatedCulture.com/FeedbackConnect With Austin:Cultivated CultureLinkedInInstagramTry Austin’s free Resume Builder, free Resume Scanner, and free Mailscoop email finder tool

In this episode we talk to Austin Belcak, Founder at Cultivated Culture. Austin shares his story on becoming a thought leader in the career niche and offers advice for others on getting started, finding your niche, and how to stand out. If you like this episode, you'll probably also love... How to Identify and Amplify Your Unique Story as a Thought Leader with Chris Watson Practical Steps to Position Yourself as a Thought Leader with David C. Baker The Importance of SEO for Thought Leaders with Gaetano Dinardi Are you getting every B2B Growth episode in your favorite podcast player? If not, you can easily subscribe & search past episodes here. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Meet Austin Belcak.While his 9-5 life entails being the Director of Partner Development at Microsoft, he is also the founder of Cultivated Culture — a program that helps people across all interests and skill levels land jobs they love, without the frustrating application process.Though it worked out in the end, his path wasn't always clear.Austin graduated from university and took a job from his roommate's father. What initially seemed to be a great opportunity led to a large sum of debt, feelings of sadness, and a loss of passion.Austin decided to make a change. He left his job and began applying to hundreds of postings online. The result — no replies.This forced him to take a new approach to networking. While it wasn't easy at first, taking the leap and putting himself in a vulnerable position led him to jobs at some of his dream companies. Now, years later, he shares this strategy along with numerous others through Cultivated Culture, so that anyone can get results across all levels, passions, and interests.In this episode, we cover topics includingWhat interview styles and networking approaches resonate with those who are hiring todayThe importance of exploration in finding a dream jobCombating social anxiety through fear settingThe importance of being able to clarify and illustrate your valueReshaping failure and learning from experienceIt's time we start reshaping the meaning of failure. We're often taught that failing a test, for example, is the worst possible outcome.While it may not seem ideal at the moment, failure forces us to learn new skills and lessons that will only benefit us as we move through life. In this episode, Austin teaches us that failure is the key to success.How are you reshaping failure as an opportunity to learn and develop new skills and competencies in YOUR classroom?Continue the conversation and let us know on Twitter using the hashtag #CompetenciesPodcast---------------------------------------Reflection Prompts for Your StudentsFind them in this episode's blog post. Helpful LinksLearn how Cultivated Culture can help you land dream job offersCheck out Austin's Free Resume Builder for job seekersTry Austin's Free Resume Scanner to compare your resume to your target roleListen to The Dream Job System PodcastLearn from countless helpful articles through the Cultivated Culture BlogFollow Cultivated Culture on InstagramConnect with Austin on LinkedinRead The 4-hour Workweek by Timothy FerrisRead Cashvertising by Drew Eric WhitmanRead Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert CialdiniRead Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins

After applying to hundreds of jobs with no response, Austin Belcak decided that there had to be a better way to do a job search. Through trial and error, Belcak perfected the process and landed job offers at some of the most sought after tech companies. Now, through his own company, Cultivated Culture, Belcak and his job search strategies and tactics have helped over thousands of students and employees land jobs of their own. In this interview, Belcak shares his story of the challenges with job hunting, how to perfect networking and the other tactics MBA students can use to land jobs and internships. 

In Todays episode we have Austin Belcak from Cultivated Culture.He will be talking about:Time ManagementGrowing Your LinkedIn Following Land Your Dream Job Without Applying OnlineCOVID-19 Stay up to date on the Facebook Page "Nontraditional College Success".Chat with us on the Facebook Group "Nontraditional College Success".Arnold's LinkedIn - arnoldmoralesLinktree - @ArnoldmoralesArnold's Instagram - @arnoldjmfTikTok- @arnoldjmfYouTube- Arnold MoralesAustin's Links:Cultivated Culture WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYoutube

Hey beautiful people, Welcome back to Now What?, the podcast that aims to help students to navigate their options in tech. The next guest doesn't need any presentation. It is Austin Belcak! Director of Partner Development at Microsoft and Founder of Cultivated Culture. A community with other 350k people who lands amazing jobs without applying online. In this episode we are getting deep into job search strategies and tricks to succeed in it. Enjoy :) Slack Form (click on it), Youtube Channel, Gabri's Linkedin, Instagram (@nw_podcast)

Austin Belcak - Cultivated Culture - How to land an amazing job with no connections. In this interview you'll hear Austin's story of how he created a whole new future for himself and how he is doing that for others with his company cultivatedculture.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sparkzofcourage/support

Applying for and securing a role we love can be difficult. We especially believe this to be the case if we're missing perceived prerequisites in order to do so, such as having personal connections or 'traditional' work experience. Austin Belcak - founder of Cultivated Culture - went to 50+ interviews at top companies like Google and Facebook in order to learn the ins and out of interviewing, perfecting your CV and researching potential employers. In this episode, Austin and I discuss the beginning-to-end of applying for and securing roles at any level of seniority, including tips on every stage of an applicant's journey (and more!). Music provided by Audio Library: Jungle Juice - Wataboi.

"Define your professional success through self-reflection and remembering back to your old jobs. But it's about what you FELT in it, and what you ENJOYED about it." (114) How has the current situation changed the way we look at our current jobs, and how does it impact the plans we’re making for the next ones? London-based Arun Coumar is a career coach, strategic planning consultant and author who works with high-performing career-starters. He shares his perspectives on how it's important to take a step back towards yourself before you resume your journey forward. RESOURCES. Connect with Arun via his website at https://www.findprofessionalsuccess.com or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aruncoumar. He also referenced Cultivated Culture and Career Sidekick.  Find pandemic-related guidance on the AICPA coronavirus resource centre at www.aicpa.org/coronavirus. There's also the CIMA coronavirus resource centre at www.cimaglobal.com/coronavirus. SHARE WITH YOUR NETWORK. Know someone who should hear this podcast? Click on these links to automatically share this episode with colleagues and friends. Recommend it to your LinkedIn connections, send to Twitter, auto-share on your Facebook page, or simply tell someone via email. GIVE FEEDBACK. How did you discover our podcast, where do you listen, and what would you like to hear more of? Finance pro or not, we'd love to know what you think. Email us here. ABOUT OUR PODCAST The Voices. These conversations with expert guests are recorded by different members of the AICPA & CIMA team from our offices around the world. While the sound quality may vary, we hope that the insights will be consistently useful. Hear more. Get our shows every week automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on your app or media player. Connect. #GoBeyondDisruption @AICPANews @CIMA_News ©2018-2020 Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA & CIMA)

Austin and I discuss job seeker strategies, cool software tools and the importance of selling yourself, just to mention a few of the areas we discussed.

Resumes are the one thing that everyone needs to do, yet to "win" in the resume game you need to stand out. So how do you do that? I asked 3 students who are killing it a few questions and this episode is about their answers. You will hear from: Mehul Patel - UCF Student David Rosenstein - University of Maryland Joseph Berlin - Western Michigan University Between the three of them they have interned at places like LinkedIn, Goldman Sachs, Quicken Loans, and much more! They're masters at the resume game and you won't want to miss out on what they have to say. Links to the resources that David mentions: For free resumes: Rezi - https://www.rezi.io/ and Cultivated Culture: https://cultivatedculture.com/resume-templates/ Google HR Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhUgaKb0s5A&list=PLllx_3tLoo4c_aR8RKOOnizL5LiUH02YF

We are super excited to have Austin Belcak on the podcast. Austin offers job seeking advice that is so incredibly new, fresh and inspirational that you have to hear it! Not only is Austin’s advice among the best we’ve heard, his story telling abilities are off the charts so we guarantee you will not be bored listening. If you are searching for a job, we promise, you will not want to miss this episode. Austin, in his humble and relatable approach, tells about his own job seeking experience from college to today and how out of desperation he created a method that is highly effective and different from probably anything else that you’ve heard. It worked to land Austin a great job at Microsoft and he now uses his approach to help others. Austin is the Founder of Cultivated Culture, he has a prolific following on LinkedIn, where he posts great content nearly every day, and where he occasionally offers informative and helpful live sessions. Austin has also contributed to Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider & The Muse.Join Our Podcast Email List! Follow Our Podcast:Website: Listen To Our Podcast HereYouTube Channel Twitter LinkedIn Facebook InstagramAll Things College and CareerMeg's LinkedIn Bobbie's LinkedIn ACADEMIC & CAREER ADVISING SERVICES:Visit Website: Academic and Career Advising ServicesSchedule an Appointment with Academic & Career Advising ServicesMusic Production by Lena Keller: lena.m.keller@gmail.comTechnical Production: Richard BarnettSHOW NOTES:Follow Austin on LinkedInVisit Austin's Website | Cultivated CultureFollow Austin on Instagram: @cultivated.cultureFollow Austin on FacebookStilettos on the Ground PodcastThe Voice of Job Seekers PodcastTaste of Taylor Podcast | Taylor StreckerAWAYMicrosoft TeamsCandor

On this week's episode of Next Level Minds I had the opportunity to sit down with Austin Belcak—the Founder of Cultivated Culture, an innovative career coaching and consulting company. Austin drops some major knowledge around career development, applying for jobs, interview techniques, and salary negotiation tips. No matter what phase of life you are in, this episode will add a ton of value for you.  Austin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abelcak/

#008 - Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture, a website which helps people land the career of their dreams and make more money while they’re at it.Having hated his job in healthcare, Austin taught himself Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing, improved his skills by freelancing and was soon interviewing with companies like Google, Uber, and Twitter before landing his dream job at Microsoft.Austin takes us through his process for identifying and acquiring the qualifications and experience needed to land just about any job, regardless of education or career background.For the show notes for this episode, visit:https://changeworklife.com/8Also, make sure to join the Change Work Life Facebook group and check out all the resources mentioned by our guests on the Change Work Life Resources page.

The goal of the pozcast is to bring you, the job seekers, my listeners to new, outside the box advice and tactics to take their search to the next level. My next guest, Austin Belcak does just that. Austin is the founder of Cultivated Culture where he teaches people how to land jobs they love without applying online. His strategies have helped people land jobs at places like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, and more without applying online. Austin has also been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Fast Company, Inc., and more. But that's not his Day job, he is currently Director of Partnership Development at Microsoft. So he most certainly found a way to land a great gig. Recently I was drawn to Austin's content on LinkedIN and had to connect and learn more about his approach. We had a great chat and I said I need to have you on the pozcast to share and that's where we are today! Austin brings you a TON of value and actionable advice and tactics how to move your career search forward. This is PURE GOLD enjoy! Austin has also created a fantastic value add resume builder for free, check it out: https://cultivatedculture.com/resume-templates

Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture where he helps people leverage unconventional strategies to land jobs they love without connections, without "traditional" experience, and without applying online. His strategies have been featured in places like Forbes, Business Insider and Fast Company and he has helped people get hired at Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and many more.

Resources: Austin's LinkedIn profile for regular, action-packed insights Austin's company, Cultivated Culture, filled with free resources Viral blog post about Austin's journey and learnings to getting a job at Microsoft

"The social impact that I'm trying to make with my business at a high level is to really empower power to land jobs that they love. We spend so much time at work, sometimes more time at work than we do with families and friends. But people should love what they do and should be paid what they deserve, and should be treated fairly." Episode #18 of Season 2 of The Social Impactors Podcast features #SocialImpactor Austin Belcak, Director of Partnership Development at Microsoft and Founder at Cultivated Culture, where Austin teaches people how to use unconventional strategies to land jobs they love in today's crowded market (without connections, without traditional "experience," and without applying online). Austin and I talk about how he went from being a graduate student with a low GPA, to apply to 100 jobs and not landing a single job opportunity, why he decided to rip apart the hiring process and make a new, innovative system, how it helped land him his role at Microsoft, and how he now teaches people around the world to land the dream jobs that they want in life. Join the Social Impactors Community: 1. Leave a #iTunes review to help new people find it! Link: https://apple.co/2WI5Ckn 2. Check out my website and share it! There's even a #merch store to become a real life #socialimpactor! Link: http://bit.ly/thesocialimpactorswebsite #SocialImpactEverywhere --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theimpactorspodcast/support

Austin Belcak explains how deep research, cold emailing, and solving one of your dream company’s problems upfront accelerates job hunting--while building your skills.   You'll Learn: Two common themes to successful job searches How to do cold outreach that gets responses Two ways to effectively illustrate your value   About Austin: Austin is the founder of Cultivated Culture where he teaches people how to land jobs they love without connections, without traditional experience, and without applying online. Austin's created a community of over 30,000 job seekers who have leveraged his strategies to land jobs at places like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and more.   View transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep392

Who do you know who is currently looking for a new job and continues to hit dead ends in their job search? What is the secret to landing your next great job with your dream company -- without going through the hassle and frustration of online job applications? How does anyone -- at any age -- find meaningful work that pays well when the job application process is fundamentally broken? Maybe you’re like today’s PYP MVP Austin Belcak (“Bell-sack”) who found himself applying for more than 300 jobs online and getting zero responses. Sick and tired of going nowhere fast, Austin did what any awesome PYP MVP would do -- he got creative and began searching for answers from people who were doing the kind of work he dreamed about doing. Today Austin is not only happily employed, but he’s well-compensated for the contributions he makes. AND -- it gets even better! He loves to share his process and insider tips for landing your great next opportunity no matter your age. This is a conversation you don’t want to miss! MVP Player Highlights Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture, where he teaches people how to use unconventional strategies to land jobs they love in today’s market -- without connections, without traditional “experience,” and without applying online. Austin’s strategies have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Fast Company, Inc, and more. He’s grown his community to over 10,000 job seekers who have leveraged his advice to land job offers at Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, Goldman Sachs, ESPN, and more. Austin is ready to share his step-by-step breakdown of the process that has helped hundreds of people land amazing jobs at the world’s best companies.   It's easy to get even more out of PYP! Links from the show: Show notes Find Your Football Newsletter Nominate a Guest for the Show We always appreciate your rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture where he teaches people to land jobs they love without connections, without traditional experience, and without applying online. His strategies have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, & Fast Company and have helped people land jobs at Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and more. In this episode of the Just Go Grind Podcast we discuss how you can use unconventional strategies to land your dream job, how Austin got 60,000 views in 60 days on an article he wrote, and how he's continued to grow his business and help thousands of people. Show Notes: https://www.justgogrind.com/austin-belcak-podcast/ Just Go Grind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justgogrind/ Just Go Grind Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justgogrind/ 

As a job seeker, what is the first thing you do when looking for your next job or career move? Do you get online, find jobs you might be interested in, and then go through the online application process? If so, you might be shocked to learn that you have a better chance of getting into Harvard than you do of finding a job you love through an online system. On this episode of the Find Your Dream Job podcast, career expert Austin Belcak tells you how to get around the online application system, how to build relationships with people on the inside, and how to find your own personal champion within a company.   About Our Guest: Austin Belcak Austin Belcak (https://www.linkedin.com/in/abelcak/) is the founder of Cultivated Culture (https://cultivatedculture.com/) and is an expert on how to find jobs in unconventional ways. He shares highly effective strategies for landing amazing jobs without traditional experience, without connections, and without applying online.   Resources in this Episode: Austin shares a detailed breakdown of his entire job process as his flagship course. Check out Austin's Dream Job System: https://cultivatedculture.com/macslist/  Rapid Resume Revamp (https://cultivatedculture.com/?s=rapid+resume+revamp) helps you create a resume that will help you build a relationship with the employer and beat applicant tracking systems. Get in touch with anyone with Hunter (https://hunter.io/): the easiest way to find someone's corporate email address. Austin has provided several free courses for Find Your Dream Job listeners. Visit https://cultivatedculture.com/macslist/. Need help getting clear about your goals? Check out Finding Focus in Your Job Search, a free resource from Mac’s List. Download it at maclist.org/focus.   

Austin Belcak is the founder of Cultivated Culture where he helps people leverage unconventional strategies to land jobs they love without connections, without "traditional" experience, and without applying online. His strategies have been featured in places like Forbes, Business Insider and Fast Company and he has helped people get hired at Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and many more.

The traditional approach is not always the best.  This week Austin Belcak, founder of Cultivated Culture joins Peter to share how he took an unconventional route to landing his dream job at Microsoft and how he turned that method into a business of its own. If you are seeking your dream job, or seeking to grow your network Austin’s advice is sure to help you on your way.

For Episode 99 of The CareerMetis Podcast, we will be hearing from Austin Belcak.This interview is part of the “Career Expert Series“.Guest Introduction – Austin BelcakAustin Belcak is the founder of CultivatedCulture.com. Through his website he teaches people how to use unconventional strategies to land jobs they'll love in today's market without connections, without traditional experience and without applying online.Episode Summary1. Austin explains where the name for his brand, Cultivated Culture originated, and where he's hoping to take it.2. Austin takes us back to college and describes the path that ultimately led him to his full-time career. From the medical field and hating his job to using his side hustle to create a large opportunity for himself.3. Austin shares his thoughts on what people can do if they aren't happy with their jobs. He gives step one to getting where you'd rather be, and how it can potentially lead to a referral.4. Austin discusses competition, and gives an in depth look at the hiring process, and how people go about applying for jobs. He then talks in depth about a different approach that can massively help in the process.5. Finally, Austin shares examples of a few creative approaches to the job search, and how they paid off for the applicant.Quotes“I've had a side hustle basically since I entered the professional world”“Nothing I did was correct, I realized I had to get out of there”“You can learn pretty much anything online for free these days and then go out and apply it”“If you're doing the same thing everybody else is doing, you're going to have really really hard time landing a job you truly love”“Only 20% of available opportunities or roles are posted online”“Only take advice from people who have what you want”.Links & ResourcesTo learn more about Austin Belcak, you can visit his company website. He can also be reached via LinkedIn or Twitter .Austin has created a special offer specifically for The CareerMetis Podcast listeners. You can find that information here.Intro Music provided courtesy of Accelerated Ideas (www.accelerated-ideas.com). Soundtrack – Siren KickbackEnding Music provided courtesy of Accelerated Ideas (www.accelerated-ideas.com). Soundtrack – No Need to Rush See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Austin had a biology degree, a poor GPA, and a job in the medical field, but he wanted to transition into tech. He had no experience, but he figured out how to gain it quickly and landed offers from his dream companies. In this episode, he shares his advice and methods so that you can do the same. Written and read by Austin Belcak: https://cultivatedculture.com Original article: https://fcc.im/2LydTlZ Learn to code for free at: https://www.freecodecamp.org Intro music by Vangough: https://fcc.im/2APOG02 Transcript: In this episode I’ll show you how to quickly gain experience in any field, as well as how you can leverage that new experience to land job offers in that field. I personally used this strategy to transition from the medical field — where I was working in hospital operating rooms — to the tech industry, where I received offers from Google and other tech companies (along with a 200% raise). Myths about things you DON’T need when switching fields Before we dive in, I think it’s important to address a few “myths” about changing industries: You don’t need an extensive network of contacts. In fact, you don’t need any contacts at all — you can make them all on your own. You don’t need a degree in the field you want to switch to. Perception is reality, and results speak volumes when it comes to perception. They are worth more than any degree or previous job title. More on that later. You don’t need money. Everything you need to know can be learned for free. In fact, I’m going to show you how this process can actually help you generate a second stream of income. Next, I’m going to outline the exact steps I used to land a job in a totally different industry so you can make it happen for yourself. Part 1: Painting a picture of the perfect candidate The good news about entering a completely different field is that you are a blank canvas. You can choose your skills and mold yourself into the perfect candidate. What does perfection look like? In order to become the ideal candidate, we must first understand what “ideal” looks like in the eyes of the people who will be hiring you. There are two ways to accomplish this: Job descriptions Job descriptions are essentially resumes in reverse. They spell out the exact skills you need in order to be successful in that particular role. That sounds obvious, but we are going to be looking at this from an atypical lens. Let’s take a look at this Growth Marketing Analyst role that I grabbed from Facebook’s site: Responsibilities - Leverage data to understand our products in depth, identify areas of opportunity, and execute projects to drive growth and engagement of Facebook users. - Drive projects focusing on new user growth, mobile usage, and revenue — working closely with design, product, engineering, and data teams. - Work both on core Facebook products like news feed, notifications, and mobile, and offsite marketing channels like SEO, SEM, and email. - Use tools like Hadoop/Hive, Oracle, ETL, R, PHP, Python, Excel, MicroStrategy, and many other internal tools to work efficiently at scale. Minimum Qualifications - BS or MS in Engineering, Computer Science, Math, Physics, Statistics. - 1+ years experience with SQL. - 2+ years of quantitative or statistical analysis experience. - 1+ years of experience managing a project. - 1+ years of experience in marketing, advertising or growth. - Ability to process and analyze data sets, and interpret them to make business decisions. - Communication skills and ability to manage a project or product. Preferred Qualifications - Software development experience. - Internet Marketing experience. What do you see here? What does the ideal candidate look like? What do they need to get hired? My guess is that you’re thinking, “Ok, they need a degree in computers or math. Then they need at least two years of experience coding and managing projects at a company.” Well, here’s what I see: Facebook is looking for someone who understands how to identify trends/patterns within big data that will have a direct impact on revenue. That person also has enough knowledge of programming to efficiently make those discoveries and present them in a simple, concise fashion. The main issue a lot of people have is that they think the only way to get “experience” is to work at company or have fancy degrees. This is one of the biggest myths when it comes to job searching. In order to understand it, let’s take a step back and think about why companies hire. They want someone who will come in and have a large, positive impact on their bottom line. Someone could have a PhD in Computer Science and be fluent in all of the programming languages mentioned above, but if they lack the ability to clearly convey results, the company isn’t going to benefit. On the other hand, someone who may not have a degree or total fluency but understands how to find impactful insights and presents them in a concise, actionable manner is extremely valuable. Your goal is to become that second person. Informational interviews In addition to combing through job descriptions, it’s equally important to get in touch with people who work in the industry. They will be able to help you prioritize the skills you found in those job applications, as well as give you some inside info on the intangibles (nuances of the hiring process, putting you in touch with their contacts, etc.). I’ve found that the best way to make this happen is by leveraging LinkedIn’s advanced search filters. You can search for people at specific companies, with specific titles. If you have LinkedIn Premium, you can even search for people who used to work in your industry and now work in your target industry — or even at your target company. Then you can use this email script to reach out: Subject: Quick Question Hi [Name], My name is Austin and I currently work at Cultivated Culture. I was browsing through LinkedIn and came across your information — I hope you don’t mind me reaching out of the blue here. I saw that you have extensive experience in Facebook’s Growth Analytics vertical and I’m very interested in learning more about that space. I would love to have the opportunity to run some questions by you, as well as tap into any advice you may have given your knowledge of the industry. I know that your time is extremely valuable so please don’t feel to need to respond in depth. If you do have 5 minutes to chat, I would really appreciate it. Best, Austin When they agree to a meeting, you’ll want to prepare some questions. They should focus on: Identifying which skills are the most crucial for performing daily activities (this will allow you to prioritize) Providing some background on how that person got to where they are (you’d be surprised at how many people came from other industries) What they would do if they were in your shoes — trying to get this job with little to no experience in the field Here are those bullets in question form to help get you started: I’ve been doing some research and it seems like [Skill 1] — [Skill 3] are common in the space. Which of these do you think is the most crucial to success? I was looking through your LinkedIn and saw that you came from [Previous Role/Company]. How did you initially get involved in this industry and how did you end up at [Current Role]? Let’s say you were in my shoes — you’re new to the industry and don’t have too much experience. How would you go about getting your current job? What specific steps would you take? Bringing It All Together Now you have an understanding of the skills that you need, where they stand in terms of priority, and a roadmap from someone who has/had the role you want. Next, you need to build a foundation with those skills and use them to generate results that directly align with the company’s goals for that role. Part 2: Nailing The Basics (On The Cheap) Over the next month or two we’re going to focus on building a rock solid understanding of the basics needed for the skills you identified above. For now, the best ways to do this are by reading books, taking courses, and creating a sandbox you can use to test your knew knowledge. Reading Up (For Free) Books are a fantastic way to understand the basic concepts of a specific subject. They also happen to be very easy to get for free. Remember that public library your parents wanted you to check out when you were a kid? It’s actually still there! Amazing, right? The good news for you is that even public libraries have caught up with the times and now carry ebooks. You can borrow them for free like any other book, but they will be sent directly to your phone so you can read them anywhere, anytime. All you need to do is install the Kindle app (which you can get for free for iOS and Android). In order figure out which books to read, I would Google “best books on [subject]” or go ask some folks on Quora. Taking Courses (For Free-ish) While books are giving you the 30,000 foot view of your topics, courses will help you figure out the nitty gritty. They are a better way to learn the actual skills because they tend to be interactive and are updated regularly. One of the best resources for our purposes is Coursera. Coursera aggregates courses from the best professors at the best schools in the country (I’m talking Princeton, Stanford, Harvard — they don’t mess around). These courses are fantastic because they are structured like an actual course you would take in college. They have videos, but they also have tests, projects, and forums where students can collaborate. This is key because it helps make the course “sticky” due to the fact that you are committing to all the above rather than just watching a few videos. Best of all, at the end of the course, you can receive a certificate stating that you passed the course. It will even have the seal from that university on it! It does cost ~$49 but it’s well worth it because you can put that right on your resume: Subscribing To Industry Blogs & Newsletters Next, you’re going to want to sign up for some newsletters. Blogs stay in business by having the highest quality, most up-to-date information and getting it out there as quickly as possible. This is the easiest way for you to stay on top of current events in the industry while picking up tons of knowledge along the way. You can find them using the same method you used to find the books — Googling and hitting up Quora. Additionally, try to find a niche blog as they tend to have highly detailed information on your topic. Here are some examples: SEO: The 10 Chapter Beginner’s Guide To SEO Content Marketing: The Advanced Guide To Content Marketing Facebook Ads: The Ultimate Guide To Making Money With Facebook Ads Free Resources (Where Applicable) Many industries and fields have a ton of free resources out there to help your learn. For example, if you’re an analytics person — Google Analytics is completely free to set up. Additionally, Google offers an entire course on the platform for free. If your plan is to break into the development field, you’re already in the right place. Free Code Camp is one of many great resources that will help you learn the basics of programming for free. Be sure to do a thorough search on your industry. Chances are good that free training resources exist. Bonus Pro Tip: Google Alerts Google Alerts are an awesome way to save yourself hours that you would have spent searching for articles on specific topics or companies. You can set them up for anything that you could feasibly search for in Google, but probably want to stick with the salient points like a specific industry, certain skills, the company you want to work for and Beyonce. Then, every day, Google will crawl the web and find the most relevant (and worthy) articles on your specific subjects and deliver them straight to your inbox. You can sign up for Google alerts here. Part 3: Getting Paid To Hone Your Skills Yup, you read that right. We’re going learn how to have someone pay you to learn the skills you need to change industries. Building Credibility & Real-World Results Now that you understand the basics of these skills, it’s time to really develop them. I’ve found that the best way to truly learn something is by doing it. I can’t think of a better way of “doing” than selling your skills for some cold hard cash. Rapidly Develop Your Skills By Freelancing While it may seem like a daunting task, it’s fairly easy to get started in the freelance world even if you have no prior “experience.” As Tim Ferriss says, the definition of an expert is someone who knows more than the person they are dealing with. There are two ways of going about finding clients when you’re starting out — freelance aggregator sites and traditional cold outreach: Upwork (A Freelance Aggregator) Upwork is a community where business owners come to find freelancers for everything under the sun. The beauty of Upwork is that it removes the need for you to invest a lot of time in marketing yourself. It is an inbound site meaning your services will show up to people who are already looking for that particular service, making them more likely to hire. That may also be attractive to someone who is uncomfortable with a traditional sales process. The trade off is that, while you save time, Upwork charges a hefty fee for saving you that time. For our purposes, that’s not too terrible because you’re mostly in it for the learning while the money is icing on the cake. I recommend using Upwork if you’re having trouble managing the sales process on your own, or if you’re just starting out and need to build up a few success stories. If you really want to expand your initial reach, check out Hubstaff’s comprehensive rundown of Upwork alternatives and get yourself on multiple platforms. Cold Outreach The second option, and the path that I recommend, is handling the sales process on your own. That way you get to keep 100% of the revenue and remove the middle man. This can be a bit tougher initially because those businesses may not be actively looking for your services and if you don’t have much sales experience, the learning curve can be steep. In this section we’ll through the steps that I used to land my initial clients, build success stories and then use those results to expand my portfolio (and increase my revenue). Define Your Niche Our first step on our freelancing journey is defining our target prospect. Most articles out there tell you that when you start a business your niche should be laser-focused, like Male Golfers, Ages 47–54 who suffer from back pain. While I agree that it should be targeted, it’s not reasonable to expect that you’re going to know your target audience in that level of detail before you’ve even worked with a single client. You’ll begin to hone in on your ideal niche as you go, but for now we’re going to use the following process to determine our target audience (actually, we’re going to choose 3). Defining Your Initial Target Prospect Start by making a list of 50 people that you know. It can include everyone from your best friend’s parents to a connection on LinkedIn you met at a conference last year. The only criteria they need to meet is that you must feel comfortable reaching out to that person. Add these people into this spreadsheet I created for you along with their company type and industry (ignore the email column for now, we’ll get to that later): Now that we have our people, let’s take a look at their company type and industry. Which industries and company types match up best with your knowledge and skill set? If we take my list, I know that my marketing skills could benefit a tech company, but they could also benefit a health & wellness startup looking to build an audience. Additionally, know that it’s much easier to sell into startups than corporations when you’re first starting out. With that in mind, my ideal mix is: Company Type: Startup Industry: Advertising, Tech, Web Development & Health/Wellness Now we have one “niche,” but my list here is only 10 people. I want you to try and find 3 different niches where one or more of your skills apply. Then I want you to assign each niche a number and label your spreadsheet (you can also highlight too if that helps): Awesome! You just defined 3 areas that you can sell into and you have your first set of prospects. Key Takeaway: Don’t get caught up in finding a super-specific niche before you’ve ever booked a client. Keep things broad, take on a few initial clients and your niche will narrow over time. Create Time & Be Consistent I have spent a lot of time reading about success. I’ve also spent a lot of time building businesses in hopes of chasing it. After sifting through the thousands of pages and lessons, I found that one thing had the greatest influence on whether I was successful or not: Consistency The ability to work on something every single day — regardless of how you feel, how crazy your job is or how many friends tell you to go to happy hour — is the difference between succeeding and failing when you start a business. In order to be consistent, you have to create time. Time that you know is not going to be interrupted. For me, that means waking up at 5:30am. For you, early may work, or maybe late at night is your thing. Whatever you do, make sure that it’s a natural fit for you. You don’t want to feel like you have to drag yourself to do this, otherwise it will never work. Put It In Your Calendar Start by opening up your Google calendar and finding a 1.5 hour block of time that works for you at least 5 days every week (yes, that includes weekends). Create an event and set reminders for 1 hour before and 15 minutes before. Mark that time as “busy” on your calendar: Hold Yourself Accountable Now it’s real — ink on paper. However, your calendar invite isn’t going to get you out of bed the day after you went out a little too hard or help you say no to those free concert tickets to see Kanye. If we truly want to stick with this, we’re going to need a little outside help. I personally recommend StickK because I’m a competitive person who doesn’t like losing. StickK basically lets you bet yourself that you will start your business. You put down a dollar amount (I recommend $100) and you set a goal. Then you’ll be assigned a “referee” who will hold you accountable. If you complete your goal, you get your $100 back. If you don’t, that money is donated to the charity of your choice. I can personally tell you that the thought of $100 being yanked out of my wallet has helped me push through many hangovers. Getting Your First Client Now that we’ve got our service and our niches nailed down, it’s time to get some paying customers. Since we don’t have much in the way of a portfolio, we’re going to want to start by aiming for a prospect where we have a personal connection. Then we’re going to leverage the current experience that you have to land the deal. Let’s head back to our spreadsheet and look through the list of names that we highlighted in each niche. I want you to go ahead and rank each of these people in the order of how likely they are to help you. Then we’re going to reach out to each from top to bottom. Finding Emails If you don’t already have their email, you can easily find it by using VoilaNorbert or FindAnyEmail.net. Once you have it, go ahead and plug it into your spreadsheet for future reference. Reaching Out Now we’re going to reach out to our contact and ask them if they can help us set up a meeting. Here is the exact email template you can use for that: Subject: Quick Question Hi [Name], Hope you’re doing well! I wanted to let you know about a business I’m starting up called [Company Name]. It’s aimed at helping companies [Insert Value Prop]. Most recently we were able to [Insert Success Story]. I did a quick audit of [Prospect’s Company] and I have some ideas that I’d love to share with you. Could you help me get in touch with the correct person? Either way, would love to catch up soon! Best, [Your Name] All you need to do is fill in their name, your skills and press send. I would also highly recommend getting an email tracker such as Hubspot (free) or Yesware (better, but costs $). These will allow you to see if your prospect read your message and help you determine whether or not to follow up. If they open your email once, that trail is dead. However, if they open it multiple times across multiple days, feel free to follow up with them after 4–5 business days. I have personally followed up with people 8–10 times before eventually getting a response that led to a deal. Preparing For The Meeting Once the meeting is set, we want to make a compelling case for why this company needs your services. The best way to do that is using what I like to call The Audit Technique. It’s extremely simple and effective: Carefully review our prospect’s current set up (website, social media, content, copy, health — whatever fits your service) Identify as many issues/improvements as we possibly can Determine the measurable impact of fixing these issues Share specific strategies for solving 2–3 of the issues and then showcase the potential result of fixing all of them Tell them that, regardless of whether or not they hire you, they can keep the audit report Boom! Easy. Closing The Deal In the beginning, most of your prospects aren’t going to be seeking you out. That means that you have to convince them that your services will be worth their time and money. The best way to do that is via the following framework: 1. Address We’re going to start off the meeting by addressing the issues that you found with their site. Don’t be too critical. The goal here is to make them feel good about their business while also letting them know that there is a lot of untapped potential out there. Hand them your Audit Report and walk them through each of the issues. Explain what is happening, why it’s hurting their business, and what the solution is. 2. Illustrate Potential Once you’ve explained the issues, you want to clarify what the prospect is missing out on. The more quantifiable this is, the better. For example: Your call to action on the site isn’t strong enough. Your conversion rate is probably 5% lower than where it should be. If your site gets 30,000 visitors a month, that’s 1,500 people we’re not capturing! Instagram accounts like yours typically see 100–300 followers every day, but you are only netting 20–30. If you implement the strategy I laid out here you should see an immediate boost within a few days. That could mean an additional 2,400 followers each month! Show them how this is impacting their bottom line. Walk them through the math: You: What is your typical sales conversion rate from your email list? Prospect: Hmmm, it’s around 3% You: Wow, that’s pretty good! And how much profit do you make from each sale? Prospect: Typically we net around $150 per sale. You: Awesome. Based on my audit, I’m seeing that we’re missing out capturing an additional 3–5% of your site’s traffic due to poor copy and CTA placement. I poked around and saw that your site gets ~30,000 visitors per month which means that we could be capturing an additional 1,500 people every month. Based on the numbers you just gave me, that’s $6,750 per month! If you charge $2,000 per month, that’s a no brainer for your prospect. Any business owner would pay $2,000 if they knew it would result in an incremental profit of $4,750 — and you just made $24k this year! Ask Them For The Sale Now that you’ve proven out the value — ask them for the sale: Tell them that the Audit Report is theirs to keep regardless Reiterate the potential opportunity they have to gain Outline what next steps look like for hiring you Ask them if they want to move forward Chances are good that they’ll want some time to think about it. No worries at all — drop note on your calendar to follow up with them 72 hours later. You just booked your first client! Now I want you to rinse and repeat this process for everyone on your spreadsheet. If you can get your foot in the door, you can expect about a 5%-10% close rate. Consolation: Offering Your Services For Free Since we’re mostly in this for the learning, this is great option to consider if the above process isn’t initially working out. I found that it was much easier to land clients when I had success stories I could speak to. It’s important to figure out a way to get some results before you go all-in on pitching for money. You can reach out to businesses, same as above, and offer your services for free. This takes away all of the risk for the company, making them much more likely to agree, while allowing you to get right to the learning and create real-world results. Remember, we’re in this to try and find a job we love that pays us what we deserve. That is worth a LOT more than a few paid freelance contracts. If the freelancing turns into a source of revenue, that is icing on the cake. Leveraging Your Results To Land Your New Job There you have it — a step-by-step plan to build the experience you need to land a join a different industry. Now it’s time to get out there and get your foot in there door. First up, edit the resume. Add Your Experience To Your Resume As soon as you have some concrete results under your belt, you’re going to want to add them straight at the top of your resume. This will be the first thing that your potential employer will see and it helps remove any doubt about your qualifications. Way back up at the top of the article we took a look at why companies hire. The qualifications of X years is just an arbitrary number set by the company to make them feel like they are hiring someone who can do the job. Adding in your freelance experience not only shows that you can do the job, but also that you have an understanding of how to run a business. This knowledge is extremely valuable to an employer, especially for a technical hire because technical folks typically get tunnel vision and have trouble seeing how their work relates to the larger picture — making money. Identify Influencers At Your Target Company Now that you have the relevant experience, you’re going to want to start connecting with influencers who can help refer you into your dream job. I outline that exact process in my article How To Land A 6-Figure Job In Tech With No Connections so be sure to check that out when you’re ready.

Austin was stuck in a job he hated. But given his non-traditional background and lack of Silicon Valley network, he knew he'd have to work extra hard to launch a career in tech. In this podcast, he details the steps he took to land interviews at Google, Twitter, and other prestigious companies that led to his dream job. Written by Austin Belcak: https://cultivatedculture.com Read by Abbey Rennemeyer: https://twitter.com/abbeyrenn Original article: https://fcc.im/2F8uE2H Learn to code for free at: https://www.freecodecamp.org Intro music by Vangough: https://fcc.im/2APOG02 Transcript: Shortly after college, I began chasing something many people want but few ever get: a job they love. I left school with a biology degree and a job in the medical field. It took me about two weeks to realize I absolutely hated it. I was working 6 days a week, waking up at 3:30am in order to be at the hospital by 5:30. Making next to nothing, I quickly racked up $10,000 in credit card debt. I knew I deserved more, but I had no idea how to get it. I saw people in my graduating class living in New York or San Francisco, making six figure salaries and going on exotic trips. I often wondered what they had figured out that I hadn’t. What was their secret? I dedicated the next 12 months of my life to finding the answer. In this article I’m going to share everything I learned along the way. First, I’ll walk you through the exact process you can use to get a job interview at your dream company even if you don’t know a single person there — you won’t even need to apply online. Next, I’ll teach you how to ace the interview process, get the offer, and land a salary you deserve. I personally used these exact strategies to get interviews and offers at companies like Google, Uber and Twitter. They are also the same tactics that my students have used to land interviews and offers at Google, Microsoft, Slack, Deloitte, PWC, American Express, ESPN and more. Referrals Are The Most Effective Way To Get Hired A recent LinkedIn survey on talent trends showed that 1 in 3 people were actively looking for new work. As of January 2017, the population of employed people in the United States was 123 million. This means that, at any given time, 41 million people are looking for work. On average, an open role at a well known company gets ~250 resumes. 75% of these resumes came from some sort of online portal (like the company’s online application, or a career aggregator site like Indeed.com). Once submitted, these applications are screened by Applicant Tracking software that scans them for keywords. At the end of the process, ~5 resumes make it into the hands of a recruiter. That’s 2% at best. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal published an article stating that 80% of jobs aren’t advertised online. That means that 75% of people applying for jobs are all competing for 20% of the opportunities! Oops. When it comes to getting hired, referrals are the most effective way to secure an interview and land the offer. Here are some stats from a recent Jobvite survey: 40% of hires come from referrals, the next largest channel is via career sites at 21% (almost half as many) Referrals get hired in an average of 3 weeks while other applicants take up to 7 weeks Referrals get paid more on average than cold applicants 40% of hires come from referrals (courtesy of Jobvite.com) Finally, over 50% of six figure jobs are filled via referral. Moral of the story? If we want to get hired at our dream job, we need to find another way to get a referral from an insider. The problem is, many of us don’t happen to have friends or family working at places like Google. Part 1: How To Get A Job Interview When You Don’t Know A Single Person At The Company Know Your Role (And Find It) The first step is having a solid idea of the specific role you are looking for, down to the company and title if possible. Next, you need to make sure that role is available. For today, let’s assume that you want to be an Account Manager in the Technology B2B vertical at Google. Looks like a spot is open in New York: Locate Potential Influencers Next, you are going to find someone who not only knows about the role, but could potentially have an impact on hiring for it. Time to fire up LinkedIn. In the search bar, plug in the company name + all of the information I highlighted above (title, vertical/industry, preferred city). However, before you hit “Search,” we need to remember that you are looking for someone who can influence the hiring process. With that in mind, I usually use a title that is one level up from the position that I’m looking for. If you’re not familiar with title hierarchy structures in the corporate world, here is a quick guide (if you are already familiar with how titles are structured, feel free to skip this section): Side Note: A Brief Guide To Company Organizational Structures By Title Every company has a hierarchy starting at the top with the CEO/Founder all the way down to the entry level employees. When researching companies, especially people to speak to within those companies, it helps to know where certain titles fit in the food chain. That way you can ensure you are talking to the right person. Here is a general list of titles that fits almost any company, starting at the top: C-­Level (CEO, CTO, CFO, COO, etc.) Vice President (VP) Director Senior Manager Manager Coordinator (Entry Level) Associates, Executives, and Seniors In many companies, the above titles have some sort of variation that allows for greater segmentation within that level. The most common forms of this are Associate, Executive, and Senior. Here is what those mean: Associate: this title is usually given to someone who is halfway between positions for some reason (maybe there is typically a 4 year gap between levels and they are 2 years in). A person with Associate in their title is usually one notch below a person with the original title. For example, an Associate Account Manager would most likely be one level below an Account Manager. Senior: ­this title is the more experienced version of an Associate. People with Senior in their title are usually one notch above the original title. For example, a Senior Account Manager would be one notch above an Account Manager. Executive: ­this title is usually given to people who are very senior, or around the level of Vice President. The two most common cases are Sales Executive/Account Executive (synonymous terms for a senior salesperson) or Executive Vice President who is two notches above a Vice President and one notch above a Senior Vice President. That should be all the info you need to make an educated decision around where people stand within the company you are researching. Now that you’re familiar with the company structure, let’s get back to finding that influencer who can help you land this job. Since we are looking for an Account Manager role, the next step up would be Senior Account Manager so your LinkedIn search would look like this: Our first result? A Senior Account Manager who works in B2B at Google: Obtaining Contact Info Now we’re going to reach out and set up a meeting. It’s best to do these in person but over the phone can work well if you’re dream job is in another state or country. In order to get in touch with our influencer, we’re going to need their contact info. Here are 3 strategies you can use to find almost anyone’s corporate email address: LinkedIn This one is obvious but it’s a big time saver and definitely worth the 10 seconds it takes to check. On the person’s profile, right under their picture, there can be a button labeled “Contact Info” (I say “can be” because people have the option to remove it). Occasionally, people will have their email address listed right there — voila! If not, let’s move right along… Reverse Lookup Head over to Voila Norbert and enter the first and last name of the person you are searching for, as well as their company’s website. For example, if we were trying to find Larry Page’s email, our form would look like this: Once it spits out their email you can confirm it using MailTester. Matching Formats If that doesn’t work, you can try finding someone else’s email at the company and use that format reverse engineering your target email address. For example, using Larry Page again, if I know that my buddy John Smith’s email is john at google.com then I can assume that Larry’s email is larry at google.com. The easiest way to get a hold of a company email address is to reach out to someone in sales or media because both of these departments usually have inbound lead forms and people on the other end ready to pounce on those leads. We can also use our LinkedIn method here and target salespeople. Salespeople almost always have their corporate email listed on their LinkedIn because it’s a free win for them. If someone is looking for their product and then finds them on LinkedIn, boom — they just got an effortless inbound lead. Once you have the format, you can use MailTester to confirm your target email address. Research, Research, Research Now that you have your potential influencer, it’s time to do some research so you can effectively reach out and build that relationship. Start with the usual suspects — LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. and look for common points of interest. To be honest, most people are better at this online research thing than I am, so I’ll get back to the meat here. One thing I will say is, don’t skimp. The more you get to know this person beforehand, the better your chances of landing a referral from them. Some people have said to me, “Austin, isn’t this a little weird? I feel like I’m kind of stalking this person.” I totally get it. However, this information is critical for quickly building a strong relationship and getting that referral. Also, in my experience, people tend to expect that you’ve done some research on them. The key is to understand what is kosher to bring up out of the blue and what isn’t. People are OK with you checking out their LinkedIn, but they may be a little weirded out if you mention that picture from Saturday’s Bar Crawl you saw on Facebook. My general rule of thumb is this: if it exists on LinkedIn, it’s fair game to bring up. If you found it somewhere else (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) use a different method. For example, if I see that my influencer is a skiing fanatic, I may bring up that I went on a ski trip a few weeks beforehand. Sending The Email Now that you have your potential influencer and their contact info, it’s time to reach out. Not only is this one of the scarier parts of this process, it is also the most pivotal. To help you get past that hump, I’ve included the exact email script that I used to reach out to people. In this case, I’m reaching out to Tim who works at Google: Subject: Quick Question Hi Tim, My name is Austin and I currently work at Cultivated Culture. I was browsing through LinkedIn and came across your information — I hope you don’t mind me reaching out of the blue here. I saw that you have extensive experience in Google’s Technology B2B vertical and I’m very interested in learning more about that space. I would love to have the opportunity to run some questions by you, as well as tap into any advice you may have given your knowledge of the industry. I know that your time is extremely valuable so please don’t feel to need to respond in depth. If you do have 5 minutes to chat, I would really appreciate it. Best, Austin There are a few key points to the email above: Address the person you are emailing by name State who you are and make it personable Include some flattery that positions the person as an “expert” As for the subject, Fast Company did a study where they emailed 1,000 C-level executives from Fortune & Inc 500 companies. They found that the subject line “Quick Question” made up 66.7% of total replies. I saw similar results. All of that said, this script is just a framework. You will most likely need to tweak your emails to fit the situation. When that time comes, I recommend checking out Sam Parr’s incredible guide on how to cold email like a boss (Sam has started conversations with Jeff Bezos and Brian Lee (aka Jessica Alba’s Honest co-founder) via cold email). It’s the same guide I used to help craft my email templates. Now hit Send! Prepare For Your Meeting In order to prepare, we have to know what we’re preparing for. The goal of your meeting is to position your influencer as an expert, make them feel special, and build a relationship. You should not and will not mention anything about the opening at their company. People innately enjoy helping others and if you follow the steps above, they will bring this up naturally. You will want to prepare a list of questions that gets them to open up about themselves and the company. I like to ask them several softballs to get things warmed up and then hit them with a few questions they are guaranteed to remember. Here is a quick set that I’ve had success with in the past (I’ve found the last one really seems to stick): I saw you worked at [Previous Companies]. How did you end up going from [First Industry] to becoming interested in [Current Company]? You hear a lot about [Current Company] in the news, but I’d love to hear more about why you love working there. What’s your favorite part? What is one totally unexpected lesson you’ve learned from working at [Current Company]? The “Million Dollar” Question Regardless of the questions you choose, there is one that you must always be sure to ask: “What is the biggest challenge your team is facing right now?” Really dig in here, get them to be specific. This information is going to be critical in helping you land a referral from this person, as well as getting the offer farther down the road. Your Homework: Adding Value (In A Big Way) Okay, so you met with your influencer, things went great, and you identified a major pain point that the team is having. Now we’re going to focus on that last piece. Over the next week you are going to research the crap out of your influencer’s problem. Then you are going to come up with a solution and draft up a proposal for how you would solve it. Your proposal should include: A summary of the problem (to illustrate that you understand their pain) A step-by-step framework of how you would solve this problem A brief outline of how your skill set positions you as an asset to implement that solution Truthfully, this process deserves a post of its own but this should give you a good idea of what you need to do. If you’re the type of person that likes concrete examples, check out this guerrilla usability test that Raghav Haran ran for Airbnb. Once you have all of this information, consolidate it into a Word document, head over to Upwork, and hire a graphic designer to make your proposal look amazing. If you’ve never hired on Upwork before, here is an amazing guide by Dave Nevogt on how to do it right. Following Up With Your Proposal Now we’re going to reach back out to our influencer with the proposal. Here’s the template I used: Hi [Influencer], Thanks again for taking the time out to chat last week. I spent a lot of time thinking about what you said regarding [team’s biggest challenge]. In fact, I created a short framework that should help you solve it. Please find that attached. If you have some time, I would love to chat about it in more detail. Please let me know if you have any questions, I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Best, Austin It’s very important that you do not mention the open position in any of your emails or the proposal. Be patient and wait for their response. When they do get back to you, they will not only bring up the opening but they will ask you if you’re interested. Kindly accept and play it cool. You’re in! Part 2: How To Breeze Through The Interview Process Fast forward — our influencer passed along our resume to HR and they have reached out to set up a phone screen. Once we get past that, we’ll be on to interviewing with the team, and then getting the job. A note to developers: The advice below does not cover technical interviews, which are typically required for developer/software roles. However, the advice below will help create more time to prepare for technical interviews by minimizing the amount of preparation needed for other parts of the interview process. If you are applying for a development role, I suggest you read Cracking The Coding Interview by Gayle Laakmann McDowell. Interviews can be daunting, especially at companies like Google, Amazon, or Uber. I’m sure you’ve read the horror stories about crazy questions they ask people like “Quick — How many golf balls can fit inside a school bus,” or, “how many gas stations are there in Manhattan?” The truth is, most of these companies have done away with those questions. They crunched the numbers and found that the answers didn’t correlate with high employee performance (shocker, I know). In fact, Google’s own Senior Vice President of People Operations called them a “complete waste of time.” These companies have since reverted back to the standard style of interviews, which is great for us because it makes it much easier to identify patterns. We can essentially “guess” what questions will be on the test and prepare answers that will blow our interviewers away (it works way better than it did in college, I swear). Here is the process I used to prepare for each one. Nailing The Basics: Questions You’ll Get In Every Interview According to renowned career guru Penelope Trunk, one of the easiest ways to be a better interviewer is to prepare for the most obvious questions. You may be saying “well duh,” but you’d be surprised by how many people spread themselves too thin by trying to prepare answers to every possible question. 99% of the interviews you go on will follow the exact same template. If you can master the format, your confidence will skyrocket and you’ll be prepared for almost any situation you get thrown into. The Universal Job Interview Format: Tell me about yourself (your experience, why you are interested in this role, etc.) A mix of behavioral questions, which we’ll dive into shortly What questions do you have for me (the interviewer)? Let’s tackle each individually. Tell Me About Yourself This is your first impression. More importantly, it’s the only part of the interview that you totally control. Do NOT rattle off your resume like a grocery list. In order to nail this part you need to craft an interesting story — your story. You want it to be concise (around 2–3 minutes) and you need to think about what you want to convey. I recommend: Choosing 2–3 themes to build your story around (for me, those themes were Persistence, Agility, and Success) Including quantitative metrics whenever possible Addressing the question of why you want to leave your current position (they are going to ask you this anyways, addressing it early shows that you’re aware it’s a concern of theirs and helps put them at ease) To help get you started, here is what my story looked like. To give you some context, I was a biology major who was interested in landing a job in digital marketing: Growing up, like most people, I wanted to be a doctor. I went to [college] where I majored in biology and planned my course to medical school. Not long after, I decided that pre-med wasn’t for me. I wanted to get into digital marketing, and I wanted to be in New York. I set my sights on this goal and created a plan that would get me there. In 2013, I graduated with my biology degree and took a job in medical device sales where I worked from 5:30am — 12:30pm covering surgical cases in the operating room. Then, every day, I would come home and study digital marketing until 8:00pm. In order to gain relevant experience, I got certified in Google Analytics & AdWords and created my own consulting firm that focused on using search engine marketing to generate leads for private golf communities. We were able to increase home sales by an average of 20% while reducing the cost per lead by around 10%. Armed with my new credentials, I began to look for positions in New York. Eventually, I was offered a position at my current company (a promotional analytics company in New York). During my tenure there I have grown my book of business by 467%, spearheaded the creation of an internal group dedicated to marketing the company on the internet, and helped close the second largest deal in company history. However, the company has restructured several times since I was brought on. I’ve had 3 different managers over the past year, as well as 3 titles with different sets of responsibilities. I’m looking for something a bit more stable and [company I am interviewing at] has been somewhere that I have wanted to work since I got into this industry. I’m really excited to have this opportunity. Pro Tip: You are telling a story. Don’t be afraid to embellish a bit. I’m not saying you should lie or make up stories, but you want to sell yourself and you can bet your butt that your competition isn’t afraid to inflate their credentials. Behavioral Questions Next up is the dreaded set of behavioral questions. The ones meant to tease out your thought process and your ability to be a “team player.” This is the part where our educated “guesses” are going to come in handy. The behavioral section is broken down into two parts that I call Standard Questions and Company Specific Questions. Let’s start with the former. Standard Questions You are going to be asked a variation of one, if not all, of these questions in every single interview you go to: Why do you want to work for us? Tell me about a time you exhibited leadership Tell me about a time where you had to work as a team Tell me about a time you’ve had to work with a difficult person, or difficult people Tell me about a time you failed Tell me about a time you overcame an obstacle Tell me about a time when you had success If you can answer these 6 questions, you can handle 9 out of 10 interviews with no other preparation and be totally fine. Just follow the same set of rules I mentioned above in the Tell Me About Yourself section: Craft a concise story Make sure to include quantitative metrics that illustrate your success Anticipate and address objections Company Specific Questions These are questions that fall in the middle of the 7 listed above and “why are man hole covers round?” Never fear though, we can anticipate these too. Head over to GlassDoor. If you’ve never heard of GlassDoor, it’s a great resource for any job seeker that includes salaries, reviews, and interview information for almost any company in the world. First, you are going to search for the position you’re applying for. In keeping with our theme, we’ll search for “Google” under Companies & Reviews: Next, we’re going to click on the “Interviews” Tab: Then scroll down and click on “Filter Interviews” which will bring up some advanced settings. Here we’ll type in the title of the job we want (Account Manager, in this case) and the location (New York, NY). We’ll also select “Received Offer” because the people who didn’t receive offers tend to be slightly, ahem, biased: This will pull up a list of reviews from everyone who interviewed and received an offer for that position. The general comments are really helpful, but we want to focus on a section called Interview Questions towards the bottom. I usually comb through 10–15 of these and add all of the interview questions into a Word doc so I can answer them later: Now you have your second set of questions to prepare for. What Questions Do You Have For Me? Finally, once they are done peppering you with questions, your interviewer will ask if you have any questions for them. This is the most crucial part of the interview. Why? Because so many people neglect it. If you can ask some questions that are even slightly outside of the box, I’ve found that really sticks with the interviewer more than any other part of the meeting. After every interview I’ve been on, I asked for feedback. Without fail, the interviewer made a positive comment about the questions I asked. The good news for you is that I asked the same exact questions in every single one. Here they are: What is your favorite part about working here? What is the biggest challenge you are facing right now? Let’s say that, in one year, you are looking back on this hire. What has that person done to exceed expectations on every level? Ask about a current event (for example — I saw that [Competitor X] came out with this product. How do you see that affecting your business?) What is the most unexpected lesson you’ve learned while working at [company]? Tell me a little bit more about you, what do you like to do outside of work? These questions work because they are based on specific principles of behavioral psychology. They break down barriers and help build a positive association in your interviewer’s mind. If you’re interested in the details, you can read more about it here. Say Thank You While we’re on the subject, be absolutely sure to send a thank you note to everyone you interviewed with. Also include a personal touch to each one (something that you gained from that last question). Many people I talk to say “but I don’t have their email.” Ask for it! At the end of every interview always, always ask for a business card or write down the person’s email in your notebook. If you forget, try using the techniques I outlined above for finding people’s emails and you should be fine. Part 3 — Following Up & What To Do If They Say No This is one of the most common mistakes I see from job applicants. I understand how nerve wracking it is to sit there and wait while everything is completely out of your hands. One of the toughest things I had to learn throughout my interview process was that, while this is a HUGE deal to you, it’s really just another agenda item on the hiring manager’s schedule. They will get back to you, and if they don’t? You don’t want to work for someone who doesn’t have the courtesy of replying to the people they do business with. When Can I Send Them A Reminder? The rule of thumb is one business week. If you interviewed on a Tuesday, wait until the next Tuesday to email them (as J.T. O'Donnell says, never send a nudge on a Monday). When you do, don’t push or be blunt. Keep it short and sweet: Hi [Interviewer], I hope you had a great week! I wanted to quickly follow up and see if there was anything else I could help with regarding the application process. If so, please let me know. Best, Austin That’s it. If they don’t respond to that after another 3–4 days, you have your answer and it’s time to move on. What Happens If They Say No? Ugh. The worst case scenario. Don’t get down just yet though, we’re not done here. I have this quality where I have trouble taking “no” as an answer. When I was interviewing with Google, the initial screener told me that she wasn’t going to put me through because she “didn’t think I was qualified, and didn’t want to waste the team’s time.” I was not happy. So I sent her this: Hi [Recruiter], Thank you again for carving out the time to speak this afternoon. I really appreciate your feedback, and I wanted to add one final note: I completely understand your concerns regarding my experience with [skill]. You are correct that I didn’t have much experience with that at [previous company]. That said, this doesn’t stem from an inability to produce results, but rather a lack of opportunity to do so. While my experience on paper may not match up to the initial expectations of the position’s description, I have do have two qualities that work in my favor: I am an extremely efficient learner, and am also very effective at translating those learnings into practice. Second, I’m much more tenacious than your average individual. My career has hinged on these two qualities. I left college with no digital experience and a biology degree — all of my digital knowledge was obtained through self study. I spent 8 months selling myself without the on-paper experience to back it up. When I was finally given the opportunity to apply my knowledge in a business setting, I playing a critical role in landing the company’s 2nd largest deal in history. I am confident that I can have the same success in this role. I have the resources necessary to learn what I need in order to be successful at [company], and am prepared to do whatever it takes to make that happen. I understand that [company’s] interview process is extremely challenging, and that only the top talent ends up with an offer letter at the end. I also believe that I am worthy of a shot at that letter. [Company] is known for hiring people who excel at the intangibles, as well the ability to learn new things and apply them to existing knowledge. That is my forte. I am not asking for an offer. I am simply asking for the opportunity to speak with the hiring manager to make my case for the position. I’m sure you will find the best person for the position, I would just like to have a legitimate shot at being that person. If you give me that chance, my next set of answers will not disappoint. Thank you again for your continued consideration. Best, Austin Now that may be a little aggressive… Ok, it was pretty aggressive. But she wrote me back an hour later and pushed me through to the next round! Mission accomplished. The moral of the story here is, don’t give up if you get a “No.” Try to identify why you were turned down and then send a note to hiring manager addressing those items (feel free to copy mine). Taking Action There you have it. The exhaustive, step-by-step guide to landing an interview and then getting an offer from the company of your dreams. What are you waiting for? Get out there and start researching!

Today’s guest for Finding Brave is Austin Belcak, the founder of Cultivated Culture. Through his work, Austin helps people land amazing jobs that they love - at the salaries they deserve. Austin shares his powerful personal story of pursuing a degree that in the end, didn’t help him land work he would enjoy (or work at all!). After applying to approximately 200 jobs online in the space of a couple of months and hearing nothing but one letter of rejection, he decided he needed to take a completely different tack. He embarked on a journey of researching exactly what people his age had done to secure amazing positions at the nation’s top companies, including Google, Microsoft and Twitter. From his intensive research, he began applying what he learned to secure a dream job, and launched his own business helping others do the same. Austin’s strategies have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Inc., Fast Company, and more, and his students have landed interviews and offers at Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Uber, Deloitte, Accenture, ESPN and more. The strategies you’ll hear in this episode go far beyond what you hear every day, and Austin’s advice can be applied immediately to your own job search to get you noticed and moving in a direction you’ll be thrilled with. Austin is one of those individuals who has truly turned his “mess into a message,” and you’ll be inspired by his success to build your own. To learn more about today's guest, visit https://cultivatedculture.com/.

In today's episode, we're talking to Austin Belcak, who started the rapidly growing career blog, Cultivated Culture. Austin is a hardcore side hustler… he's built his blog traffic up to 30,000 visitors per month, recently had a successful launch of his first online course, and has hosted multiple virtual summits with tens of thousands of attendees. Built around his experience landing jobs and interviews with companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Uber, Austin's monetizing his skills (and interests) by helping other people land their dream jobs, negotiate higher salaries and navigate career transitions.

Austin Belcak didn’t have it all figured out when he picked a Biology major in college and landed his first sales job in the medical field, both of which he didn’t actually like. However, he used them as motivation to push harder and further. By building his knowledge and networking with the right people, Austin has now landed his dream job at Microsoft. Additionally, his brewing desire of becoming an entrepreneur eventually led him to create Cultivated Culture, a platform that allows him to share his job search process with people in need of advice and resources. Austin is holding a Virtual Career Mastery Summit coming up on April 03-08, 2017, featuring ten speakers (including Ruben, Artur, and Timur) to talk about various topics from helping people get interviews at companies and making transitions, all the way to starting a side business and growing it up to six figures while working full-time. Sign up here to learn more about Virtual Career Mastery Summit and join this free event.

Today's interview is with Graeme Austen. Graeme is an entrepreneur and founder of Cultivated Culture, a resource dedicated to helping people accelerate their careers and create additional sources of income. Two years ago he was making close to nothing at a job he hated. he was putting 1,500 miles on his car every week, was barely able to afford eating Ramen for breakfast, and was swimming in $10,000 of debt. He had met and heard of people his age who were already well on their way to success. People who earned top dollar working for the best, and most recognizable, companies in the world. Every night he would ask himself, "How did they do it? What are they doing that I am not?" He became obsessed with that question over the next 12 months. He spent his waking hours meeting with, and dissecting, top earners and performers at the world's best companies. He studied their habits, their approach, their routines, and their respective paths to success. He began to discover common threads, repeatable patterns... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.