Interview Series - Career Experts - Austin Belcak from Cultivated Culture CareerMetis.com

Interview Series - Career Experts - Austin Belcak from Cultivated Culture In this interview series, we caught up with Austin BelcakfromCultivated Culture who shares his expertise and insights about job search, career change,etc.in today’s marketplace.Tell us a little bit about your company evalCultivated Cultureaims to teach people how to land jobs they love without prior connections, without traditional experience, and without applying online.evalWe’ve had 40,000+ people come through the community and land jobs at places like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Salesforce, etc.How did youget started? I started my site after going through a personal transition from being a recent grad with a biology degree and a job in healthcare to landing offers from Google, Microsoft, and Twitter.When I started, the job search process was incredibly frustrating and downright depressing. I sent in over 300 online apps and landed less than five interviews What is the most exciting part of working in thisindustry? evalSeeing someone land a job they love. It’s one of th e most gratifying feelings. We spend so much time at work and it’s such a big part of our lives, it’s awful to see people struggling or in situations they don’t like with no idea how to get out.I love hearing things “click” for my clients, when they finally see this other path they can take to land jobs besides applying online.How do to stay abreast of the industry as an expert? The biggest thing for me is making sure I’m always interacting with job seekers of all levels.I offer free 30 minute phone calls to my audience a few times every year, I coach plenty of people, I guest lecture at universities and events.evalAll of those things help me stay plugged into what people are struggling with and how the hiring process is evolving.On top of that, I love to follow other career experts to see what they’re talking about. LinkedIn is an awesome platform for that and I probably spend too much time on it!What are some of the things that you see job seekers struggle with the m ost?Spending too much time applying online. It’s a losing game â€" the data shows that you only have a 2% chance of hearing back when you submit an online app.On the other hand, referrals make up 40%-80% of hires If you combine those two strategies, you should be landing referrals from the people making the hiring decisions and you’ll be adding value in a way most job seekers aren’t.What is the biggest trendWhat is one advice you would give someone just out of college today? Learning how to build relationships with people from scratch is one of the most valuable life skills you can learn.The earlier you start the better and the only way to improve is with practice.Start with your alumni network and make a habit of reaching out to one person every day, then see where that takes you.What is one advice you would give someone who is switching careers?If you want to switch careers, you need to have some sort of experience in your new field. It’s great to read books and take cours es, but anyone can do that and it’s not indicative of your ability.If you want to get hired, you need to find a way to turn that knowledge into real world results. That’s what employers will buy into.How can job seekers make the most out of LinkedIn?When it comes to visibility on LinkedIn, you have two options:1) Optimize your profile to show up in more searches2) Engage become a part of the conversation The first option is important, but it’s also highly competitive and capped by search volume.Engaging with others is low competition (only 1% of LinkedIn users actively post) and it builds thought leadership.That leads to more clicks and views!Here’s how to do it efficiently:Step 1: Go Where The Views AreScroll through your feed and look for posts that are new-ish have a decent # of reactions.Those posts are gaining traction and getting views you can piggyback on.Step 2: Leave A Thoughtful CommentPosts with a lot of views are typically interesting which means people will be checking out the comments.Most comments are low effort things like “awesome post” or “love this!”If you take 10 minutes to write up a thoughtful response, your comment will immediately stand out and have a better chance of getting likes replies.That will push your comment towards the top where you’ll get more eyeballs and clicks to your profile.Step 3: Rinse Repeat DailyThe more often you do this, the more views you’ll get!Unemployment is at the lowest levels, why do you think that is? This is an interesting one.Wages have been stagnant in American for decades. Pew Research came out with a studylast year showing that, when adjusted for inflation, today’s average wage has the same purchasing power as the average wage from 40 years ago.On top of that, the wage gains we have seen have flowed into the highest tier of workers in America (the top 1-2%).In order to cover bills, pay off debt, and make ends meet, more people at turning to second (or third) jobs and/or side h ustles.When people pick up a second part time job or they begin offering their services as a freelancer, they’re no longer unemployed. We’ve all heard about the “rise of the gig economy,” that’s been a necessity for people to get buy or have a decent quality of life, and it’s also skewing unemployment stats.In my opinion, unemployment is a scapegoat metric that distracts from what really matters: increasing wages and hours.What is the biggest trend(s) you see that hiring managers will face in the next 2-3 years?Hiring managers are going to be faced with more non-traditional candidates (career changers).College isn’t giving people a good opportunity to learn about what professions they’re passionate about. This means that tons of people are graduating and quickly realizing they need to switch to a field that doesn’t align with their background or degree.This is a great opportunity to hire a fantastic person as a bit of a discount, but hiring managers do a terrible j ob of recognizing those opportunities right now.The companies/hiring managers who figure out how to identify great employees using traits other than their background on paper are going to win out.Austin, what are you currently working on?I’m currently building out a course to help people build the experience they need to pivot into a brand new industry without any prior experience.Outside of that, I’m always focused on creating new content for the blog and on LinkedIn.What are the best resources you recommend to job seekers? I’m biased, but Cultivated Culturehas everything I wanted but couldn’t find when I was job searching.For people who aren’t super confident in cold email and building relationships with strangers, I definitely recommend the YouTube channel Charisma On Command.What is the best way for our audience to reach you? Through our website or via Email: [emailprotected]Connect with or Follow Austin Belcak on Social Media:LinkedInInstagramMediumYouTube PageAdditio nal Resources:Check out the 2 Podcast interviews Austin Belcak has done with us:#99 â€" Career Expert Series â€" Austin BelcakEpisode 012 â€" The C.A.R.E. Podcast â€" Experts Corner â€" Austin BelcakAustin Belcak and Cultivated Culture have also been featured in our recent compilation of the most resourceful career experts and career blogs â€"Top Career Advice Websites.