Madeline Mann explains why you should pick your industry first, then company, then role. Industry matters most because it shapes your daily work and makes your resume stronger to hiring managers. She walks through how to evaluate each layer and shares an example of how this approach changed someone's job search.
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Hey everyone, I'm Madeline Mann. This is self made millennial. Everything today is backwards, and that's because I've been talking to you all about the way you're conducting your job searches and it turns out many of you are doing it completely backwards. So today I'm focusing on how to optimize your job search to find the best possible opportunities for you so that you can catapult your career. And I do not use the word catapult lightly. So let's jump in. I love chatting with you viewers out there. And one question I've been asking a lot lately is, how are you conducting your job search? And after asking this question, I realized there's a striking consistency among many job seekers the way they're conducting their job search. And let me tell you about one person in particular, Amir, who is a great example of this pattern I'm seeing. So a bit about Amir. He is on the job hunt for a customer service role and told me the way he went about it is he goes to the major job board sites. He searches for jobs with titles such as customer service, customer support in the LA area where he lives. Then out of those roles, he chooses which one to apply to based on does it have the experience level that he has, as well as if the description matches his interests and personality? Does this sound like what you do? I told him that this is very common ways most people go about it. And actually job boards encourage you to do it this way in that usually the two men major fields are what title do you want? And the location of that position. But I said your process is totally straw cap, which is the word backwards, backwards. And that's when I pulled out the old pen and paper. There are three categories you have to address in your job search industry, company, and role. Amir spent most of his time here focusing on roles that seem to fit him without really having purposeful direction on exactly the types of industries and companies that would be best for him. If you're like Amir, then reverse your search. Focus on industry, then company, then role. I'll walk you through each one. Industry is the most important part of your job search for three reasons. First, it's what you're going to be focused on every day. The industry is what you're going to be talking about day in and day out, be it cell phone plans or diet supplements or designer dog clothes. And I said to Amir, don't you want to be in customer service in an industry that you're really passionate about? Wouldn't that make you better at Your job. And his eyes lit up. He realized that he'd been focusing so tactically on what the job would be and what he'd be doing every day versus the big picture of him gaining skills in a specific industry. Which brings us to reason number two. Industry expertise matters. Do not underestimate how much effort it takes to learn a new industry. I mean, there's new competitors, new customers, new processes, different people. I mean, the list goes on. So do the hard work ahead of time of exploring different industries and picking one to commit to that you're very excited about so that your career isn't filled with lateral moves of going to underwhelming industries. And the third reason to focus on industry is that industry specific resumes and cover letters get more interviews. You know, it's pretty obvious to me when people are just doing the resume spray where they're not really paying attention to the company or industry, they're just shooting their resume off to tons of companies that are hiring for similar roles and just hook hoping someone will pick up the phone and call them. These people are frequently passed over because they seem to not have a lot of direction or passion for the industry. But the people who seem very deliberate, they have thought about this. They know that they want their next career step to be in this direction of this industry. That's very compelling. And those people get the interviews. Do note that when you're selecting what industry you want to go after, it can be as broad as technology or hospitality, or specific as all natural household products. It's really up to you. So next you have company, which is the second most important thing for you to focus on when deciding what kind of company you want to work for. Look at companies size and their growth. High growth companies will be generating more opportunities than they have time to hire for. The key is to make sure that company can offer you growth opportunities. I've talked to a lot of seasoned people about their career regrets and one theme I hear coming up a lot is that earlier in their career they wish they had taken the jobs that maybe didn't pay as much but led them to have more learning and growth opportunities instead of taking the job that paid them more and was more safe. But they ended up going into that role and feeling a bit more stagnant. So while money is important, put much of your focus on the growth opportunities and it will pay off long term in your career. And so lastly, roll. We're on a roll. Many people are very focused on the title, but you come to realize that a job title tells you very little about what you're actually going to be doing. It is truly the context of the industry and the company that will better inform what the job is going to be like. For example, I was approached by a large restaurant to work for them with a very similar title that I am now. But I mean, that job would be such a departure from what I'm doing now. I mean, think about it. In the restaurant industry, it's a totally different chain of command, totally different types of people, totally different problems arise. It's so wild that two jobs with the same title could be so different, which is why the company industry context is extremely important. But hold on, let's change the word role then to the word function. Focus on getting the right function in a company instead of the right role. Function is important. I'm not saying that if the industry and company are right that you just take whatever job is open in that company, that would be a disaster. So if you're committed to getting a job in customer success, definitely get one in that function. But just be flexible with what the title could be. If it's the right industry and right company and there's lots of growth opportunities, then your goal then to review before you start your job search, pick an industry that you are committed to pursuing. This will take lots of hours of informational interviews. I'll link a video down in the description of how to do informational interview. But this time commitment upfront is totally worth it. Next, target companies that are poised to present you with lots of growing opportunities in your targeted industry. And third, find roles in your function in those companies. So the way I did it in my job search is my industry was tech and I focused on startup companies and roles in the people operations realm. And what I did is I went on a little site called Built in la. They're pretty fantastic and they have lists of technology startups in la. And so that's the list that I use to search for companies and seeing if they have any roles in my function. And I was able to really focus on the best possible roles for me. And, and so there's definitely sites out there for you based on your direction that can help you focus your search. So stop going backwards, flip your job search around and future you is going to thank me. When you are in an industry that you're dominating, you're passionate about, the company, loves you for the beautiful little kangaroo you are because kangaroos can't go backwards. Pop a like on this video because that will tell me if this information is helpful. And if you want to see these videos come out every single week, make sure you subscribe. That's it. Thank you all. See you next time.
