Vijay Chandola - Career Tips

Career Growth Mentor | Co-Founder - Mera Career, Think Sage | 1 Mn+ Followers across Instagram, LinkedIn

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Hiring Managers: Recent #layoffs show that sometimes, people do have career gaps for no fault of their own.

Resume gaps are okay whether they're caused by becoming a parent, pandemics, layoffs, or because you need a break.

Let’s normalise career breaks.

#layoffs #careergaps

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

The biggest advantage of remote work isn't working in pajamas.

It's getting judged more by your output than by how busy you look.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Working remotely isn't easier than working from an office.

It simply rewards different skills:
- Writing.
- Documentation.
- Time management.

It requires absolute mastery over these 3 skills to be a good remote worker.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

There will always be someone younger, smarter, faster, or more experienced than you. There will never be someone with your exact experiences, perspective, and story.

Compete with yesterday's version of yourself.

Self-improvement >>> Self-comparison.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

@sumit_codes_ Rightly said. Interviewing is less of a viva and more of a "Can this work with our team in good terms" after a certain point.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

The fastest way to kill your confidence - compare your behind-the-scenes with someone else's highlight reel.

You don't see their failed interviews or self-doubt. What you see is their promotion post.

Your competition is ONLY with your past self.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Unconventional job search strategies 2/n:

Track funding announcements. Companies that just raised Series A/B/C usually hire aggressively.

Every Monday: Read TechCrunch. Make a spreadsheet.

Do a cold outreach even before everyone else discovers them.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Unconventional job search strategies 3/n:

Search engineering blogs.

Many startups announce expansion months before hiring. Google:
site:https://t.co/NbWx9mVaq1 engineering blog hiring

Growing teams usually start recruiting shortly after.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

@SucceededMind Hitting the gym consistently, 6 days a week, taught me one thing:

Tracking your efforts >>> tracking your end goal.

You can’t control when the results show up. You can control whether you showed up today. The same is true for job searching.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

@solopribuilds Work from home. Any day.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Unconventional job search strategies 2/n:

Search ATS instead of LinkedIn, Google - site:https://t.co/T3aOFaVd6n "Product Manager" AND ("Remote, India" OR "Anywhere")
or
site:https://t.co/E9mQeGGbJB "Data Analyst" AND ("Remote, India" OR "Anywhere")

You'll find thousands of jobs that never trend on LinkedIn.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Unconventional job search strategies 1/n:

Record a 90-second introduction video. Don't make a generic video.

Answer only 3 questions:
Who are you?
What problems do you solve?
Why this company?

Upload it as an unlisted YouTube video and send the link in your cold outreach, and see your response rate double.

[Nithya Shri @Nithya_Shrii]

Hard truth: The biggest raise you will ever get is from switching jobs, not staying loyal.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Don't start your job search on LinkedIn Jobs.

Start by creating a list of 30 companies you'd genuinely love to work for.

Target companies >>> Random job applications.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

A reflection: Most problems in your life smaller than they feel in the moment. A bad meeting, a pair of shoes that needs exchanging, or a rejection email can ruin an hour - but only if you let them ruin your day.

Zoom out. Remember the people you love, the work that gives you purpose, and the years still ahead. Make sure your reaction matches the size of the problem.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Paste your resume and the job description into ChatGPT and ask: "Score my resume out of 10 for this role and tell me exactly what to improve."

Don't guess what needs fixing. Get specific.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

After every interview, paste your interview questions into ChatGPT and ask: "How would the hiring manager have wanted me to answer these?"

Every rejected interview becomes practice for the next one.

Reflection >>> Repetition.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Before the interview, paste the job description into ChatGPT and ask: "What are the top 5 problems the hiring manager is trying to solve in this role?"

Build your interview answers around those problems.

Problems >>> Qualifications.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

Apply within the first 24 hours of a remote job being posted.

The first 100 applications usually get far more attention than the next 900.

Early >>> Perfect.

[Vijay Chandola - Career Tips @thinksageIN]

If you don't have experience, create evidence.

Write case studies.
Build mock projects.
Redesign existing products.
Publish your thinking.

Proof of work >>> Waiting for experience.