Where Do Jobs Come From?
Steven Kneiser
3-minute read ⚠️ Work In Progress
Are there any real junior jobs anymore?
You’re willing to put in the hours,
but they still ask for 1-3 years of experience
“Mommy,
where do jobs come from?”
The Average Job Search™
- Time to revisit the ol’ résumé
- Give up on the old format & google a new template
- Sprinkle some recent salt & pepper on LinkedIn
- Visit the first few job boards that come to mind
- Spam 10 applications
Optional cover letter?
“How about NO”
Way to really roll the dice!
“Wait,
LinkedIn has a job board now?”
- Try 1-3 LinkedIn Jobs searches
- Praise modern tech for innovations like “Easy Apply”
AND NOW WE WAIT…
*sniff* *sniff*
Does anyone smell existential dread?
*deep gasp*
“COULD IT BE
a red notification dot FOR ME?”
- Check the LinkedIn Feed to clear that permanent notification dot
- Oh, a local recruiter posted about a new job!
- Discretely comment your email
(you sly fox you
…getting in at the ground floor)
*leans back in chair*
“That’s enough TCB for 1 day”
TCB: Takin’ Care of Business
🎬 End scene
This is madness
Why do we look to job boards? Okay, well it’s obvious why, but of all the options? That’s just the most low-hanging fruit. This is your life’s work we’re talking about here. Why do we apply for the easiest to find jobs and then get surprised when we’re engrossed in this vicious, cutthroat, over-commoditized fight to the death with other candidates?
Job boards are where jobs go to die
The secret problem:
Many people simply don’t know
there’s a better way
The secret answer:
Most junior roles are created
with someone in mind
Most junior roles are created
as an excuse to bring someone on
Is that true?
Could we help companies
create a junior role just for us?
The key to this magic trick starts with understanding that “a job description” is merely one of the final stages of a company’s cry for help. There are hidden junior roles out there at every company that have yet to justify the huge investment of time, money, & energy to bring in help from the outside. In your early days, this probably isn’t the easiest way, but it’s the most time-tested.
What if you had job-catchers grabbing opportunities before they even wrote a job description?
The Circle of Li—*ehm* Jobs: from birth to death
🚨
🚨 What’s that?
A service light is going off
Something’s just not right…
This is where jobs come from
It always starts small:
one person handles it
until they can’t
They start chatting with coworkers
because they can’t do it alone
- Maybe a deadline is coming up
- Maybe they need extra expertise
- Maybe they’re “tied up” in meetings
Something’s wrong
& it’s not going away
“Can I get some help with this?”
Persuading coworkers. Nice.
The Magic of Delegation™
except this time it’s still not enough!
This is your chance,
the one you’ve been waiting for
Where one job dies, another is born
After many meetings
many meetings about those meetings
many meetings “bringing others in the loop”
“Fine, we’ll bring someone in
.
.
.
but ughhhhhh”
Ouch, they’re “bringing someone in”?
4 words:
- time
- money
- energy
- & ughhhhhh
Hey you! Want a job?
Congratulations!
You really outdid yourself this time
You sneaky snake, you…
You slithered into that first interview
& you’re just sittin’ there
sittin’
there
talkin’
☝️ yep, that's you
- talkin’ ‘bout passion
- talkin’ ‘bout Credentials™
- talkin’ ‘bout high school G.P.A.
But the only thing on their mind is
They just don’t have the bandwidth
to think about you right now
with this lurking around
Don’t prove your greatness
Prove your awareness & comprehension
of all that ughhhhhh
Best-case scenario:
you know ughhhhhh better than they do
& have some perspective to share
How can you make that go away?
Whatever makes the ughhhhhh go away
is gettin’ paid today
Okay?
Help them today
Share your story tomorrow
(you’ll probably bond more
with a different coworker anyways)
- contracting vs in-house
- 5 stages of grief (leading to job posting)
⚠️ Full story: coming soon…