3 Steps to Landing Your Dream Job In 2024

Landing Your Dream Job

Welcome.  My name is Michael Vizdos. 

While I’ve spent more than half of my 30+ year professional career as an entrepreneur and running my own company, I also know that owning a business is not for everyone.

I’ve noticed many people are either looking for a job (after a layoff or reorganization or whatever-people-call-it-when-you-no-longer-are-a-w2-employee) or are resigning and jumping ship in the “#GreatResignation.”

And.

I sometimes hear from people who ask, “Help me find a job.”  

Or, I’ll see multiple postings per day on my feed in LinkedIn.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE NOT LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB, PLEASE CONSIDER FOLLOWING THESE STEPS TO HELP YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES IN LANDING THEIR NEW JOB JOB!

Are you looking for a new job?

Re-read the title of this post.

Contains: “Landing Your Dream job.”

Sometimes… it seems that ANY job is better than NO job.

But work with me here.

First.  

Breathe.  

PLEASE REMEMBER

I am NOT a recruiter nor do I receive any compensation / finders fees / referral fees for connecting good people.  Yes, GREAT recruiters can help you.  I am NOT a professional recruiter.  I do this to help people move forward in their career.  That’s it.

Here are the steps I recommend to help me – and others – help YOU.

Landing Your Dream Job: Step 0

The pre-work and preparation.

Make sure you’ve done some of the basics like making sure you have an updated resume and it matches your profile on LinkedIn.  

This is important.

There is a ton of free information out there about doing that.

Oh, and DO NOT USE my profile as an example of a good LinkedIn profile — it’s not setup for people to hire me for a full-time job and that’s OK for me. It’s enough to allow people to vet I’ve been around for a while [if they care].

PLEASE NOTE 

In my opinion, resumes are very old school and not super useful in actually landing a job.  

They might help you get through the keyword scraping [usually an automated process] to move someplace internally within some database of a hiring company.

I call this the ether of the job search machine.

Most of the time, you've been applying for jobs by hitting “apply,” filling out “applications online,” and then getting frustrated because that seems to not work.  

Spoiler Alert: Many companies and organizations are required by law to “post” job openings to the public even though they have someone internal in mind already for the position to be filled. They need to check a compliance box.

Either it goes into the ether of the machine or you get ghosted.  

Over.  And. Over. And. Over. Again.

Recommendation: 

After you’ve made sure your LinkedIn profile and resume are in sync…

Share your online portfolio of work.

Examples include:  

• If you are a software developer, share your GitHub link [here is one from my son Kenton Vizdos] or your portfolio (like mine — this website / collection of articles and events).

• If you are a web developer or designer, share that!

• If you are an artist, point people to your work [here is a sample of my son Dominic - www.DominicVizdos.com).

Either way…. show off some of your work (heck, if it’s your own site… all the better – like my own site) so people get an idea of who you are.

It’s almost like a real world resume of your work.

Employers who can see REAL WORLD outcomes trump “what you’ve done in the past.”  

Really. 

Employers want to know, “What can you do for me today and in the future?”

Good?

Landing Your Dream Job: Step 1

Let’s connect and have a real conversation.

Tell me who you are and what it is you want to do next for an employer.  

Let’s have a conversation.  

How?

Send me a direct message on Linked In or contact me directly.  

The more context I have the better it is for both of us.

Many people cannot or choose not to do this. 

It’s hard.  

Yep.

And I – or other friend and colleagues of yours – can help you refine your ideas.

Let’s talk.

Landing Your Dream Job: Step 2

Tell me where you would love to work. One place. Really.

Finish Step 1.

Done? 

Yeah!

Now…

Let’s talk about two or three of your dream companies / organizations you’d love to work for.

Dream big.

Really. 

What’s the downside?

This means you can’t just tell me…

“Oh really anything anywhere in industry X.”

This is NOT GOING TO HELP YOU or allow others try and help you.

Many people cannot or choose not to do this. 

It’s hard.

#SorryNotSorry.  

Welcome to real life.

Complete Step 2 before moving onto Step 3.

Landing Your Dream Job: Step 3

Let’s make a connection for you today!

OK.  

You’ve finished Step 1 and put thought into “who you are and what you want to offer your future employer”.  We’ve had a conversation and we both understand the context of where you want to work next.  

THIS IS A WIN.

You’ve also finished Step 2 and let me know two or three of your dream companies or organizations you’d love to work for.  You have been very specific. That is awesome. Thank you!

THIS IS A WIN.

SPOILER ALERT:

Most people never get this far and give up. 

Or, they keep doing whatever they were doing in the past.

  Go them.

[ sigh ] 

This is where the rubber hits the road….

Now… 

Let’s identify people in YOUR network who are connected with people who currently work for your two or three dream companies or organizations.

Example: 

Let’s say I am connected to someone who works for one of your dream companies or organizations – or I am connected to a person who is connected to one of those people.

Bonus: 

If you have identified an actual job posting / job requisition / link to the dream position at your dream company or organization… 

Share that information with me.

And.

Based on completing Step 1 and Step 2, and Step 3…

Let’s make the magic happen….

I’ll either pick up the phone or send an email or a direct message to that person asking if they’d be willing to connect with you directly.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

If that person is in a hiring position – WAHOO!  

If that person is NOT in the position to hire you – WAHOO!

Either way… 

If they are open to a conversation with you (I ALWAYS ASK FIRST) and you have a conversation together [this is how life really works] you might just have someone internal at your dream company or organization for the dream position so they can help shepherd your resume and application through the internal process of getting you out of the ether.

Bonus: 

Start following people in that company or organization and start liking and commenting on their posts (relevant responses – NOT “stalking like” or random “good stuff” type of comments).  

Professional relationships matter.  

And not just today… 

This will help you in your career no matter what!

Make sense?

Most people looking for a new job have found success in landing a new job using these techniques.

And.

I usually do not hear from people who never complete Step 0, drop off before starting Step 1, or as they never get to Step 2 or Step 3.

Don’t be that person.

But then again, if you’ve read this far, you are already showing me you are not that person.

What Next?

Let’s get started.

I’ll do what I can to help you land your next dream job.

If I cannot help you, please approach some of your friends or colleagues and ask them to help you using this approach.

You can start with a direct message to me on LinkedIn.

Really.

The next step is yours….

REMEMBER: I will point you here to finish step 1 to prepare for our initial conversation together.

Contact me (with feedback) or connect with me on LinkedIn to discuss this more together.

One final thing…

Subscribe to my weekly Saturday morning emails about Implementing Scrum in the real world. And get an “every two week” check in from me too.

What could be better?

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