I saw a first-generation college graduate struggling for a job and being called out by a Career Consultant. Let’s help her get into her dream career through these strategies (BONUS TEMPLATES INCLUDED)
I woke up at 4:00AM PST this morning with two startling texts from two of our Wonsulting Interns, Tiara Januar and Cheyenne Trac.
“There’s a person who needs your help”. As someone who helps thousands of job-seekers, it seemed ordinary at first. This wasn’t an ordinary case; after reading her story, I saw that there was a career consultant who responded to her as the “girl complaining on TikTok”.
The feeling of anger, sadness, and discouragement. That’s how I felt because I could empathize with how the job-seeker felt when no one believed in me when I was job searching; when I was trying to work at Snapchat, Google, and Cisco, I had no connections and remember feeling the same way because I felt I was never good enough. However, I believe that NO ONE should feel this way, especially coming from a first generation background and expressing vulnerability, which is something we at Wonsulting encourage many to do on LinkedIn.
Hi Alysse Mazakian, my name is Jonathan Javier, CEO/Founder of Wonsulting, which mission is to turn underdogs into winners: helping those who come from non-target schools & non-traditional backgrounds like yours to get you into your dream career.
Today, we help you land your dream career. I separated this article into sections just for you so we can get you a job. Here’s the structure:
- Background of the Post: I’ll give a quick background of where I saw the post so others can see!
- Making Your LinkedIn Profile: Going to renovate the most important parts of your LinkedIn profile which is your headline, about section, and experience
- Networking Strategies Which Will Help Land Your Dream Career: I’ll provide you networking strategies which have helped many of my clients land offers in the Entertainment Industry at companies including Disney, NBCUniversal, and more!
Background of the Post
The post can be found from Cassandra Thompson (Career Consultant) here and the other from Alysse Mazakian (Job-Seeker) here. I’m attaching pictures below to give a context of each part of it for you all to see. You can also find Alysse’s TikTok video where she talks about how she’s feeling.
Now, let’s help you get into your dream career Alysse! Before we do that, let’s clean up your LinkedIn Profile.
Making Your LinkedIn Profile
Let’s breakdown your profile into the most important sections: Your Headline, About Section, and Experiences!
Headline & About Section
For your LinkedIn headline, you should clearly state what you’re currently interested in getting into regarding which field, industry, or position. For example, your current headline is “Recent Graduate Looking For Work”. My question is: What work are you looking for? Did you just graduate? Are you a first generation graduate? Here’s how I would change your headline.
- Current Headline: Recent Graduate Looking For Work
- New Headline: Aspiring (Position) | First Gen-Graduate in Film & Creative Advertising at University of Texas at Austin
Why would I change to this headline?
- It articulates what position you’re aspiring to get into so recruiters/professionals know what you’re interested in
- It shows you’re a first generation graduate; according to statistics from Center for First-Generation Student Success, 56% of undergraduates nationally were first-generation college graduates meaning others in your industry may also come from similar backgrounds.
- You show which school you attended; this allows you to connect with other folks from your university when sending invites on LinkedIn.
Now, let’s go to your About Section. While looking at your profile, it looks like you don’t have one meaning a recruiter/professional wouldn’t know too much about you; however, I know you have an amazing story/background due to your TikTok saying your experience and where you came from. Let’s add that here with the following structure:
What you’re currently doing as a profession/your background, what you’re passionate about/interested in for your career, best way to contact you, etc
An example of your About Section can be the following:
Hi LinkedIn! I’m a first generation graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Film & Creative Advertising. I’ve had many experiences in the Entertainment & Marketing fields, having worked at Red Bull as a Student Brand Manager and at Man Outfitters Inc. as a Digital Marketing Designer, which is where I found my passions in the the industry.
What I’m looking for in my next role is to work in the Entertainment Industry specifically in Advertising. My work is inspired by my family background where my father is a mechanic and mother is a flight attendant.
Outside of work, I like to watch Netflix shows such Bridgerton (making this up btw!) and help fellow First Gen students in their careers!
Experience
Reading your experiences, you have an amazing background! You’ve interned at multiple places in your career which is impressive; however, when viewing your LinkedIn profile, I notice that there aren’t any descriptions in each part. Add descriptions to each so you can be seen in SEO when you’re searched and it will exemplify your experiences! Here’s how you can edit one of them (let’s say the Student Brand Manager at Red Bull):
Position: Student Brand Manager
Company: Red Bull
Description: At Red Bull, I worked as a Student Brand Manager to market on campus with 4 other team members. I hosted 6 events including at festivals and social gatherings to 500+ people on average. I also collaborated with senior management including Directors and VPs to strategize where our marketing efforts would take place through social media or email.
- Experience Bullet #1
- Experience Bullet #2
- Experience Bullet #3
For the rest of your LinkedIn profile, you can make it based on Wonsulting Wendy, a fictional character which has everything you need to make a great LinkedIn Profile! You can find more information on our Wonsulting YouTube and in our Breakdown of “How To Set Up Your LinkedIn Profile” (Shoutout to Veronica Saitta)
Now, let’s get into my favorite topic: Networking strategies!
Networking Strategies Which Will Help Land Your Dream Career
There are Networking Strategies that I would recommend to you to land into your dream career in Entertainment in Advertising; let’s go through some of them real quick!
Networking with Alumni in Your Industry / Location
Let’s bring up 3 observations I saw when viewing your profile:
- You graduated from University of Texas at Austin
- You’re interested in Advertising
- You live in Los Angeles, California
Filter to the following:
- Location: Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
- University: The University of Texas at Austin
- Industry: Marketing & Advertising
563 results show up. Do you know what this means? There is 563 potential connections you can reach out to that live in your new city, attended your school, and in your industry. Now, let’s reach out to them.
In my search, I found Saira Rabbani who is currently an Associate Media Director — The CW Network at OMD USA, which is one of the largest media organizations in the US. As seen in her heading, she is from the Los Angeles area, graduated from your university (University of Texas at Austin), and works in the Entertainment & Advertising Industry as stated in her About Section.
For those who are reaching out to professionals/recruiters with these similarities, here’s a format I would recommend utilizing when sending a personalized invite:
- Personalized Invite Template: “Hi (Name), hope you’re well! I saw you’re currently working as a (position) at (Company) and also graduated from (University). It would be great to connect with a fellow Alumni!”
- Personalized Invite Example: “Hi Saira, hope you’re well! I saw you’re currently working as an Associate Media Director at OMD USA and also graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. It would be great to connect with a fellow Alumni!”
Why do you send a personalized invite like this?
- Nobody does it: Out of the 3,500+ invitations I currently have pending, less than 1% send one. You’ll stand out if you’re able to do so!
- Common Ground: You express you also graduated from the same university!
- Relevant Experience/Same Industry (If applicable): Mention somewhere this to show you’re in the same industry. Example: I’ve previously worked in (Industry) with (relevant company/experience).
After connecting, do the following:
- Build rapport with your connection
- Offer your help on potential initiatives
- Have a coffee chat with the person:
Here’s how you can send a message:
“Hi Saira, thanks for connecting on LinkedIn! I appreciate connecting with a fellow Alumni.
While on LinkedIn, I saw you currently work in the Entertainment Industry in Marketing & Advertising at OMD USA. I’m really interested in learning more about your story coming from the University of Texas at Austin to your current role and what inspired you to break into the industry. I’m very interested in working in the Entertainment Industry in a similar field; I’d also love to help you out in any way I can with any initiatives you’re working on! Please let me know, as I appreciate your time and help in advance.
Thank you and have a great day!
If you’re able to get on a coffee chat with this person, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Gain insights which can help you tailor your resume to the field/industry
- Possibly get referred/recommended for roles at the company
- Get a mentor or champion for your career!
Now, let’s go to the next strategy!
Finding Fellow First Generation Professionals
In our TikTok Videos, we always stress how to find “common ground” with people to connect with them. In your case, you’re a first generation graduate, so let’s find first generation professionals! How do we do this?
We do this by identifying first generation organizations in entertainment companies: This is rarely known (But should be exemplified) but many companies, specifically in Tech and Entertainment, have Employee Resources Groups (ERGs) which you can join that have similar backgrounds you identify with (See definition of ERG here).
In this case, let’s say you want to work for Netflix.
At Netflix, there are 12+ ERGs that you can join. One of these ERGs at is Dream@Netflix which is specifically for those from Immigrant Populations and Allies. This is a group you could potentially join if you worked at Netflix!
After identifying which group you could potentially join, go back to LinkedIn and search the Employee Resource Group.
In this case when you search “dream@netflix”, Zeenat Bhamani shows up who is in Recruiting at Netflix!
After looking at her profile, it shows something very important in her About Section:
- Strong Record of successfully sourced hires across US and Latin America: Shows that she is an awesome recruiter who recruits worldwide!
- Experience: Has research experience in Product, Creative Marketing, Creative Production, Operations, Sales, and R4R across leadership levels!
- She is a former DREAMer: This means she also comes from a similar background as you since you’re a first generation graduate!
After identifying someone such as her, send a personalized invite like this:
“Hi (Name), hope you’re well! I saw you’re currently working as a (position) at (Company) and come from a (First Gen / DREAMer) background just like mine. As a (current role/position), I really look up to people like you! I’d love to connect and learn from you how you were able to do it.”
“Hi Zeenat, hope you’re well! I saw you’re currently working in Talent Acquisition at Netflix and come from a DREAMer background just like mine. As a first generation graduate, I really look up to people like you! I’d love to connect and learn from you how you were able to do it.”
After doing this, do something similar to the first strategy to build rapport, get a coffee chat to learn more about how they got into their career, and gain insights which can help you land into your dream industry. In the coffee chat, you can use similar coffee chat questions:
- Tell me more about your story coming from your background (First Generation, DREAMer, University, etc.)
- Why did you decided to pursue a career in (field) at (Company)?
- I saw that you have experience in (experience); how did that experience help you grow into the person you are today?
- What advice would you have for someone like me who comes from a similar background to land into their dream career?
- I’m really interested in (company) and saw that there are positions on your website that my (experiences/skills) relate to. What advice would you have to get an interview?
- How can I help you with any initiatives regarding (what you both are passionate about)?
These are just 6 questions you could potentially ask which shows that you’re invested in learning more about the person, have a similar background, and helping each other in your careers/lives.
Conclusion
The job search is all about the mindset: we go through ups and downs, many rejections from our applications, but at the end of the day, we never fail if we never stop trying. It’s okay to let your emotions out and be vulnerable; I did the same but knew I had people in my community, whether with Wonsulting or other people from POC backgrounds, that supported my endeavors. The same goes for you Alysse; I’m here for you and so is Wonsulting and every first generation graduate.
You got this, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn with any questions.
Let’s get you a job in 2021.
#JWoW
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Jonathan Javier is the CEO/Founder of Wonsulting, which mission is to “turn underdogs into winners”. He’s also worked in Operations at Snap, Google, and Cisco coming from a non-target school/non-traditional background. He works on many initiatives, providing advice and words of wisdom on LinkedIn and through speaking engagements. In total, he has led 180+ workshops in 9 different countries including the Mena ICT Forum in Jordan, Resume/Personal Branding at Cisco, LinkedIn Strategy & Operations Offsite, Great Place To Work, Talks at Google, TEDx, and more. He’s amassed 240K+ followers on LinkedIn & TikTok as well as 10+ million impressions monthly on his content.
Check out his Social Media links here:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-wonsulting/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanwordsofwisdom/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wonsulting
- Wonsulting Website: wonsulting.com
Some of these are insider tips from Wonsulting’s course, so check it out at here at courses.wonsulting.com
Interested in working together? Check out wonsulting.com or email us at hello@wonsulting.com (reference this article too)!
