A Tip for Job Search: Gold Rush Skills

 If you need to make some money very quickly, what would you do? Your answer points to the kind of problems you can solve. They give you some measure of confidence and hope.

Exercise: Gold Rush

TO FIND A GOLD RUSH, DON'T THINK DIFFERENT, THINK BORING

A lot of people get stuck in the search for a "big idea." But as you saw in Chapter 5, you don't necessarily need a big idea to make big profits. You need a helpful idea. Consider the guy who invented the cupholder. Granted, it's not as sexy as making the latest smartphone model. But if you're driving along with a beverage, that cupholder sure comes in handy.

Consider as well some of the examples you've seen in this chapter. Harry Campbell, the ride-share guy, provided profitable tips to new drivers seeking to be more effective. Mike Hallatt founded Pirate Joe's in Canada to import specialty groceries that he knew there was a market for. Again, being helpful is the highest value.

These qualities are good signs of a potential gold rush:

• A big, untapped market
• A new technology or advancement that a lot of people don't know how to use or participate in
• Confusion or uncertainty over how to participate in the new thing
• Something people want but can't get ("illegal" groceries from across the border)
• Something that is perceived as scarce or involves FOMO (the fear of missing out)

Remember, always strive to meet needs and solve problems. Also, when you find a possible gold rush, strike at once.

"BORN FOR THIS", page. 160

The Kind of Problems You Should Solve for Your job Search

 The kind of problems you should solve for your side-hustle, portfolios or brand.

Exercise: Solve Specific and Measurable Problems.

2. Solving specific, measurable problems is much better than attempting to create huge behavior change.

A friend of mine once spent six months putting together a huge set of resources for aspiring business owners. who were struggling with their marketing. When I saw the list of materials, I was impressed. "There's so much there!" I said. But that was actually a problem: there was too much there, which is probably why the initial response from her, audience was okay but not great. Instead of feeling inspired, people felt-overwhelmed.

My friend revised the course to focus on a more specific issue: helping business owners improve cash flow. This was better! She was much more successful with the revised offer directed at one specific problem.

3. To avoid getting off track, always ask, "Why should people care about this?"

This isn't a question you can overlook. Ultimately, your success in life and work depends on it ...

"BORN FOR THIS," The Answer In Your Inbox, page. 111

A Job Search Tip: Do the Work without Pay

 Show off your skills and contributions by doing some parts of the work but without taking any pay.

It takes some thinking and planning.

Exercise: Start Work in Secret

These are a few ground rules that will increase your chances of getting an interview and getting the job you want.

1. Choose a project that is small and manageable and get to work. Companies want to know you are proactive, not desperate. For your own sanity, make sure that the project you take on demonstrates your skill and takes under five hours to complete.
2. Ground the project in a hard skill. This is not the time to demonstrate your leadership abilities. This exercise works only if you ground the project in a hard skill that the company needs and that is related to the job the company is hiring for. Do you want to work as a marketing manager? Run one Facebook ad, and show the firm the different tests, results, and methods you used to optimize the traffic. If you want to work in human resources, choose an open position and send the firm a lead list of candidates that you sourced, with an explanation of how you chose them, explaining why you want to do this work in-house.
3. Make sure you pick something you know you can do well. If you are leading with your work, you have to be good. This is not the time to practice learning something new. You will be judged based on what you produce, so make sure it is relevant and up to the company's standards.
4. Send an e-mail to the CEO or a high-level employee telling what you did and that you are committed to working with the company. Adapt a version of the e-mail that will get you the job (184).
5. Don't expect a response. Read the chapter on creating a job search spreadsheet (170). A company doesn't owe you a response no matter how much work you put in. The more preparation and actual work you put in, the easier it is to forget this fact and expect the company to hire you. ...

"5O WAYS TO GET A JOB", page.210

A Job Search Tip: Solving Problems

 Solving problems show that you care, that you have initiative and leadership.

Exercise: Solving problems is a short-cut!

Help Solve Problems

Anyone can drop a complaint into the metaphorical suggestion box, but the mark of a truly brilliant employee is coming up with solutions to those problems. Becoming a problem solver shows that you care --- not only about your own career, but also about the long-term health of the entire business. And don't sit back and wait for problems to find you; even if there aren't big crises staring you in the face, there's always something that could be done better or more efficiently, in every workplace.

Maybe in your role as a project manager, for example, you spend a huge portion of your day documenting what you did on each project, which is limiting your ability to make much progress on the project itself. And you know this doesn't only affect you; you've heard similar complaints from the rest of your team.

It would be easy to bring up the problem to your boss and wait for him or her to come up with a solution. But it would be a true sign of leadership to not only bring up the issue, but also present a solution --- like an idea for templates that would significantly cut down on the time you spend documenting each project. Better yet, offer to create those templates yourself if your manager likes the idea!

If you're the one who identifies workplace challenges and suggests a way to fix them, you won't only make your life easier; you'll prove to your boss that you're ready to solve the bigger and thornier problems that fall to a manager or leader.

"THE NEW RULES OF WORK", page. 302

So, what problems can you see to solve right now?