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This is an IT Support Group
Weekly IT Roundup 🤠
Happy Friday, IT Professional!
Last week’s 5 minute career advice was a hit, so it’s back. This week’s topic is on viewing the job search process as a sales funnel.
I want to see this newsletter be 10 times as big and 10 times as good as it is today. So if you’ve got some suggestions…please hit reply and let us know what you’d like to see.
May your Friday be incident free and your production systems be reliable,
-Stetson
Tech News TL;DR
This week’s IT and tech news in 5 minutes or less
Cyber-Security
Business & Economy
Artificial Intelligence
Miscellaneous
Is 2023 the year you finally learn Linux?
I’ve worked in IT for nearly 10 years now (sheesh, wtf!)
I’ve been a Network Engineer, Web Developer, Help Desk Jockey and now Software Developer.
If there is one core skill I’d say new engineers should have mastered — it’s Linux Systems Administration.
MOST web servers are running Linux.
And companies are hiring people that understand how to build them, fix them and automate them.
Linux is running in datacenters, cars, planes, space and fridges. (for real!)
Understanding how Linux works can give you a huge leg up on the competition.
Over the years, I’ve been able to piece together blog posts, books, documentation to understand Linux systems and how to troubleshoot them and fly around on the command line.
I recently launched Shell Samurai — an e-book compilation of everything a Linux N00b should know to get started.
Here’s a preview of the table of contents:
What’s a Linux kernel? how does Linux Boot?
Navigating the Linux CLI like a pro
Managing and installing packages
Managing processes
Troubleshooting Systems
Checking network connectivity
Using Git and version Control
Spinning up a basic web server with Nginx
Linux Job Interview Questions and Answer Guide
If you’re tired of being a Linux n00b…
I invite you to check out Shell Samurai and level up your IT and Software career today.
You can get a copy for just $32 with coupon code KERNEL at the link below
Need brutally honest resume feedback?
Next week, I’ll be doing live resume critiques!
If you aren’t getting calls back…
If you aren’t sure if your resume is up to snuff…
Maybe it’s not!
Send your resume (scrubbed of any personal details) to [email protected]
Community Highlights
This week’s top posts from This is an IT Support Group
IT Support Meme of the Week
giving my jira tickets clickbait titles just to feel something
Tech Support Gore of the Week 🤢
Who’s Hiring?
Hope you enjoyed last week’s 5 minute career advice. It’s back.
5 Minute Career Advice ⏱️ 👨💼
Today’s Topic is a brief one about Sales funnels and selling yourself as a product. Sound a bit sleazy?
Marketers and sales people have been using sales funnels for many years.
If you’re not familiar with a sales funnel, it’s a way of looking at the journey that customers go through before they buy a product.
You should be looking at your career the same way when you’re looking for a job.
Marketers use sales funnels to determine where a prospect is in the funnel.
Eg, seen an ad, scheduled a call and finally if they’ve purchased a product.
Look at your future employer as a prospect.
You are now a product. Congrats.
I argue that you should look at the job search process the same way.
Take the steps of getting a job offer and apply it to the funnel.
First, you fire off a resume or get introduced to a hiring manager or recruiter. This is the awareness stage. The company knows that you exist and might be able to fill the role.
The interest stage kicks in. Your goal at this stage is to build interest and show off why you’re a good fit (assuming you are).
This stage includes the interview process, emails talking about the job and anything else that gives the employer a view into who you’d be as an employee.
Then comes the Decision and Action. In job terms, this is the decision to make an offer. In sales terms, this is making a sale.
What’s great about thinking about job searching in this way is that it gives you some insight into where you might need some work.
If you’re firing off resumes but not getting any calls back, perhaps you need to tweak your resume. Perhaps it isn’t properly customized to the role you’re applying for. Maybe it’s riddled with typos. Work on it!
Getting calls back? Great. No offer after the interview? Bummer.
Work on the interview process by either:
becoming more qualified through training and experience
selling yourself better (easier said than done)
The first point is pretty straight forward. You can take on new projects at work, train for certs or pursue additional education.
Selling yourself is a bit murkier of a task.
Try out a mock interview with a friend, colleague or mentor and ask for honest feedback. Learn strategies like the STAR method. Practice public speaking.
It’s an unfortunate reality, but the better you are at communicating and selling yourself, the better your prospects of a sweet gig.
After getting a job, you should still be looking at your employer as a customer and yourself as a business.
The business of you is selling a product, which is specialized knowledge that fulfills a company’s needs. Maybe we’ll go deeper into that in a future piece.
I hope this is helpful and maybe gets you thinking about the job search process in a different way!
Should I write 5-minute career advice again next week?
Tell me. 👇
Should we keep doing 5 minute career-advice? |
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Today’s newsletter was written at a bar somewhere in Cincinnati, Ohio
Want to contribute content to our newsletter? Want to help write it?
Email me at [email protected]
-Stetson
ITSG Founder