Real World Survival Kit

Networking

• It’s a gift economy
• The personal network you start building now is more powerful than anything else I say
• Who do you know - who knows you?
• It’s an ongoing project
• Karma. What you sow is what you reap
• Know why you want to talk; know why you’d be worth talking to
• Book: Never Eat Alone

How?

• When you meet someone interesting, make effort to make a connection
• Keep a notebook of people you’ve met who are ‘interesting’ Template People Networking
• Invest a little in the relationship: jeep in touch with some regularity
• Phone call, email, invite for coffee
• Figure out why you want to talk to them and tell them
• Make sure it’s mutually ‘useful’

LinkedIn

• Some people have reservations about LinkedIn… Don’t
• Please join now and connect to me.
• Lets look someone up (Fake account Joan Salas)
• Designing your profile

Jobs

Where to apply, from worse to best

• info@bigco.com
• meet at a career fair
• someone you know even a little
• someone who knows you well
• A ‘warm intro’

What they do and don’t look for, and what they avoid

• Look for
  • Specific content knowledge, obviously
  • Self-starter
  • Perseverence, solves own problems
  • Can get things done even when there’s no grade attached
• Hardly look at
  • Your GPA
  • Your three majors
• What they avoid
  • High maintenance people

Resumes

• Remember: Not what they can do for you; what can you do for them
• Competitive advantage/ What makes you special? (professionally)
• Who looks at them, for how long
• Type, color, pages, appearance
• Put github name or portfolio near the top
• When needed: Career goal; Special qualifications
• Cover letters
• Have dates and make sure they add up
• Put skills etc. in priority order (what you know best goes first)
• One page resume rule
• Personalize resume based on job/job type (within reason)

Companies

Typical functions in ‘Tech’ Companies

• Development or engineering
• Quality Assurance or testing
• Product Management
• Sales and Business Development
• Marketing
• Finance

Large companies

• Fewer interactions outside of department (less personal)
• Process/politics/paperwork etc.
• Career paths: multiple products, departments – more opportunities
• Can get laid off out of nowhere - less connection between you and your job security
• Less scrutiny on each individual employee

Small Companies

• Less process, take initiative to get things done (fix your own problems)
• Very focused; Lives & breathes the one project/product - not good if you want to experience more than one type of thing
• No room/limited room for mistakes (Spotlight)
• Easy access to higher-ups

Choosing

• Location
• People
• Risk factors. Runway. Layoffs.
• Big vs. Small company

Interviews

• Dress, demeanor:
  • Body Language
  • Enthusiasm
• Trick questions:
  • “What salary are you looking for?”
  • “Are you a hard worker?”
  • “When can you start”?
  • “Whats your greatest weakness?”
• Taxes and Benefits
  • Some companies withhold taxes automatically
  • 401K- deposits are not taxed
  • Some companies match a portion of salary
  • 5% match - they will match up to 5% of your income
• Stock purchase plan
  • vesting - you can buy stock but you cannot get it unless you work at the company for x amount of time
  • Significance of each benefit depends on person