TCW #008 | Boost your job search with online communities
Get job search intel, find resume reviewers, build your network, get easy referrals, and partner with peers to practice interviews. All without being a jerk or a wallflower (for too long).
In today’s issue, I’ll teach you how to leverage online communities to sharpen your job search toolkit, accelerate your job search, and network to get outsized job search outcomes.
As a job search coach who has helped >200 people land top-tier jobs in tech, I can tell you this: no one feels well-equipped for a job search.
Most professionals do 5, maybe 10, job searches in their careers.
It’s not possible (or advisable, unless you’re a job search coach like me) to become an expert in job searching — you’ll only get to exercise your expertise a handful of times.
Job searching can also be a lonely time, especially if you are unemployed and feeling pressure to find a job quickly.
Loneliness + being out of your depth = a recipe for unnecessary stress and a longer path to landing the job you want.
Being an active member of a job search community can accelerate your job search 2x-5x and increase your confidence & compensation.
Job search communities offer an insane list of benefits you can’t find anywhere else:
peers eager to review your resume and LinkedIn and give honest feedback (from a stranger’s eyes: invaluable)
partners eager to practice interview questions and give/get candid feedback (again, from a stranger, who can be much more honest with you than your best friend or spouse)
intel and “news on the street” from fellow job searchers (to help you route your limited job search energy, ie toward companies actively hiring)
referrals into companies (friends of friends are the best way to get jobs, remember post #007!)
So, if you’re able to find and become an active participant in an online community of job seekers, you’re more likely to:
get candid feedback to make your resume and LinkedIn more appealing
network into your target companies more easily (with referrals!)
get intel to focus your job search energy
land a job 2-5x faster, with more confidence (and in a better negotiation position)
Let’s dive in.
Finding a Job Search Community
There are lots of online job seeker communities out there today, thanks to the COVID pandemic and the rise of community platforms like Slack, Discord, Circle, Mighty Networks, etc.
If there’s a career coach that you admire (like me!), they likely have either a community they’d recommend, or they may host a community of job seekers themselves.
Look on their website or ask them for job search community recommendations.
But it’s not enough to join a community.
You need to actively engage to get the real benefits.
How to Engage in a Job Search Community
There’s a subtle art to getting the most out of any online community.
I’ll share the formula for success that I’ve seen work for the job seekers in my community who had the fastest success landing a job they are excited about.
First: Introduce yourself
It’s tempting to join and secretly lurk in an online community, but when you’re actively job searching, there’s no time for that. You must introduce yourself.
Find the intros channel and introduce yourself.
Not sure what to say? Look for a pinned post at the top that tells you how to make an intro, and copy it.
Intros are the time when everyone sees you, so you can expect to get a bunch of waves 👋 to welcome you in.
Tip: Note the people who greet you. They are likely the most active members of the community right now. You’ll see them around, and they will be a reliable source of help.
Read the rules.
Like any community, online communities have social norms, and if you don’t follow them, you can quickly become an outcast.
Read the rules!
Dive in — but first, offer to help
Always give before you take, and the world will be more generous to you.
Find a way to help others before asking for help. In many job search communities, new members can:
offer resume or LinkedIn profile reviews
post job search intel (“X company is hiring” or “Y company just raised a round of funding and is expanding in Atlanta, Georgia”)
post links to jobs where you personally know the hiring manager and can make a referral
There are always lots of ways to give to the community before asking to be helped. Do them!
Then, ask for help
Once you’ve gotten the lay of the land and offered a helping hand to a few others, it’s time to get some help from others in the community.
Find the correct channel, and ask for help.
Tip: if there’s no channel that is a good fit for your request, there’s usually a #General or #Chatter channel you can use for miscellaneous requests.
Engage daily & find your rhythm.
Like an IRL community, the more you participate in an online community, the more you get in return.
I recommend at least 1x/daily participation in your job search community.
Some ideas for daily activities:
👋 wave to new members’ intros
💬 comment on other members’ posts. Putting an emoji so they know they aren’t shouting into the void is helpful, even if you don’t have an answer.
❓ask questions (“Has anyone encountered this situation….?”)
📌 post job search intel (“Oracle is hiring PMs in Redwood City. I have a recruiter if you want an intro?”)
👩🏫 share your experience (“I had a call with a recruiter today. They told me X.”) — any intel on the talent market is super helpful in a job seeker community
🧰 use all the community resources. Free AMA? Join it. Q&A with a hiring manager? Ask 3 questions. Don’t leave anything on the table.
Find your people
My #1 tip to people in communities: get more involved.
In any community, 80% of the contributions are made by 20% of the community.
To have a quick and effective job search, you want to be one of those active people so you can attract those other active people.
The more involved you are, the faster you’ll find your people — the ones on your wavelength who can help you on your path to your next job.
The faster you find them, the faster you get prepared and confident, and the faster you’ll land your next job.
I’ve seen this happen time and time again: the most involved community members often have the best outcomes.
Share your successes
Everyone in a job search community is cheering for you! This is because you’re all in the same boat.
Every time someone scores a win, the community is reminded that there are jobs, and they, too, will land one soon.
So, share your success!
Announce each of your wins, for example when you:
complete your resume rewrite (and link it for additional feedback!)
get your first HR or recruiter screen (and find a peer to practice with!)
pass a first-round interview
score an invite for final-round interviews
receive a verbal offer (and ask for negotiation tips!)
accept an offer
Always share the tips that unlocked your success. This helps everyone in the community collectively learn faster and improve their chances of landing a job, too.
(It also gets more eyes on your post!)
Stick around for a bit to help others
Never underestimate the power of good karma.
You’ve landed the job and shared the tips that unlocked your job search, now the best thing you can do for yourself (and the community) is to stick around for a few weeks.
help new members onboard and get off on the right foot
offer mock interviews for active job searchers (you’re now the expert!)
provide feedback to improve the community (long after you’re gone)
You will inevitably be in a job search again at some point in the future.
Helping to build the community now may ensure that it’s still thriving the next time you need support for your own career.
🎉 Ta-da!
You now know how to engage in an online job search community to:
2-5x the speed of your job search
build your confidence
expand your network
set yourself (and the community) up for long-term success
🎉 That’s a wrap!
The Subtle Art of Networking (in the digital age) is a new multi-week series at The Career Whispers. In this series, I’ll explore clever and effective ways to network into your next tech gig. All posts in the series:
TCW #005: Networking with Hiring Managers, Part 1: Find Them (and Engage)
TCW #006: Networking with Hiring Managers, Part 2: How to Connect (+ What to Say)
TCW #007: The Not-so-Subtle Art of Job Searching in the Open
TCW #008: Online Communities: The Secret Sauce of a Modern Job Search
TCW #009: The Subtle Art of the Professional Blurb
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