Career Crashers

This week on Career Crashers, Joel is joined by Jerrod Harlan to learn how he crashed his career in copywriting! Jerrod was a participant in the Praxis professional bootcamp, and decided he wanted to pursue a career as a copywriter. With his own initiative, support from mentors, and personal projects he has been able to quickly develop a thriving career.  Learn more about Jerrod and connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrod-harlan-650643a7 For more resources on creating a great career check out Crash.co 

In a world full of so many different companies on so many different job boards, how can you narrow down to the ones that will provide you with the best opportunity for growth? That’s what we’re talking about today with Henry Johnson, the creator of Rocketshipjobs.com.  You'll learn about what makes a company a rocketship company, how to find them for yourself, and how to find and win great opportunities with them.  If you want to try out the Rocketship Jobs newsletter, go to rocketshipjobs.com/crash! Once you do, and you find great companies you want to pitch, go to crash.co to create your account and send them a pitch that blows them away! To connect with Henry, find him on Twitter at twitter.com/talktohenryj or email him at Henry [at] rocketshipjobs.comTwitter

In this special episode, Joel & Jeremy dive into the just-launched Crash Course: Job Hunting 101, which covers: Why knowing what you hate is more important than knowing exactly what job you want to do at the start of your career What a “signal” is and how it relates to education and the job hunt How to find job opportunities before they hit job boards Resumés aren’t doing the job and why sending a pitch or value proposition is better Why doing free work almost always pays off Following up successfully, before and after interviewing Becoming more valuable on your job hunt and tons more in the five levels in the five levels of the Crash Course: 1) Pick a career path and start running 2) Prove your ability to create value 3) Discover new opportunities 4) Pitch your way in 5) Crush the job and beyond Get it for just $120 right now at https://crash.co/learn/job-hunting-101

It is easy to get discouraged when looking at the list of requirements on a job posting. Previous experience, marketing skills, tech skills, sales skills, nunchuck skills, the list goes on and on. How do you press forward and convince a company that you are the right fit for a job, even if you don’t have all the skills and experience they’ve listed? Joel has the answer in this week's episode about investing in a growth mindset. In this episode: If you make a growth mindset your number one soft skill, there is no limit to what you can accomplish When you’re looking at job postings, don’t dismiss your chances if you don’t perfectly fit the description Companies want to hire people that can do the job, but also can grow and provide long term return on investment Why motivation matters a lot more than experience when it comes to getting opportunities early in your career Building confidence over time by taking on your own projects As you develop your ability to learn, you become more and more conf

This week on Career Crashers Joel is joined by Emily Cozzens, partner success manager at PandaDoc! Many people believe a job at a high-growth startup is out of reach unless you’re a superstar programmer or experienced marketer. The reality is that some great projects and initiative will go along way to getting your foot in the door. In this episode, Emily shares how she used her early career experience working in a cheese store to develop great customer service skills and how taking initiative to create projects allowed her to win a great opportunity and advance quickly once she had it. In this episode: How Emily got her first job as a teenager working at a cheese shop What skills Emily learned in her early service industry job that have helped her in her work at a tech startup How Emily challenged herself to learn marketing and writing skills by creating a blog and Instagram page for the cheese shop she worked at Why adding constraints can improve your creativity How using projects to build skil

Today on Career Crashers, we're excited to launch the first episode in a new series diving into the hottest up-and-coming tech companies you’ve never heard of, and what it’s like to work there. To start, we’re exploring AirGarage, a company that is reimagining the way we use parking space in our cities. Meet co-founder and CEO Jonathon Barkl and software engineer Priya Ghose. Learn about their culture, passion for urbanism and technology, and philosophy on hiring. If you’re excited about what AirGarage is building and could see yourself joining the team, the best way to get on their radar is to send them a pitch with why you’re excited and what you could do to help! Go to crash.co to create your account and send AirGarage a video pitch that blows them away! Visit airgara.ge to learn more about AirGarage!

Sean Thielen-Esparza is Associate Product Manager at Hyperscience a company that uses machine learning to automate and modernize processes and operations for large scale companies and organizations. Sean has a fascinating story of crashing his career by leaving behind a promising opportunity in healthcare to pursue opportunities in tech on the other side of the country in NYC. In this episode: Sean’s background up to moving to New York to work as a tech product manager Why Sean decided to get off the med-school track, turn down a healthcare job offer, and pursue a career in tech How to Sean decide what type of companies that he wanted to focus on What Sean’s process for finding opportunities was like from identifying companies, to finding emails, and pitching key players at the companies he was focused on How Twitter and email allow us to completely rethink the way we go about finding job opportunities Balancing thriving in an internship with pursuing full-time opportunities Wh

For most of us, there are things in life we approach with professionalism, and other things we approach a lot less seriously.  We approach our jobs as professionals, but then our dreams can fall by the wayside. We put them off to another day, another month, or next year.  When we continue to not show up for our dreams, it is no surprise that we never make progress towards them. The only really way to make consistent progress towards our goals is to work on them everyday. To build confidence and momentum day in and day out.  Here is Joel Bein on why we need to show up for our dreams.  In this episode:  * Non-zero days and why making small progress every day matters * What do non-zero days look like on a job hunt?  * Check out Joel’s post on the power of blogging * Building confidence over time * What we can learn from kids and piñatas We also want to hear your story. If you've created an opportunity and found a career that makes you feel alive, send it to Isaac [at] crash.co

Jibril Jackson is the founder of Hyve a platform rebuilding the social media experience.  After excelling throughout school and university, and graduating from law school, Jibril  started and was excelling in a career as an investment banker. But he realized that the path he was succeeding on, was not a path that led to a great destination.  So he changed direction. He left his comfortable job to set out as an entrepreneur and build something new.  In this episode, Jibril shares his journey, career insights learned, and what he is building with Hyve.  In this episode:  * Why Jibril released that going to law school was a mistake * What Jibril’s experience working on Wall Street was like and what he learned from the experience * Why finance doesn’t work the way we think it does, and why relationships matter a lot more than data * Power comes from social networks and social proof  * How becoming a father changed the way that Jibril thought about his career * Why Jibril dec

James Kawas is Co-Founder and CEO of The Selling Company, where he is working to change the way people sell their things. From a young age, James has thought outside the box about the way he works and creates. When he was 17, after already starting his first company, James wanted to meet Brian Chesky, so he created a side project idea for Airbnb, found emails for key employees at the company, and pitched them on it. They liked it so much they invited him to come to present it in person in San Francisco. In this episode, James shares the story of his Airbnb pitch and a lot more about how to hustle and create opportunities for yourself. In this episode: * How James at age 17 cold pitched Airbnb on an idea and ended up meeting and pitching Airbnb leadership in-person * Applying the same strategy to Facebook * Starting a company at age 15 to help people buy and sell used goods * Why James didn’t go to college and getting the Thiel Fellowship * What the transition from being a founder to employee was like when

John Britton is the founder of Raise.dev where he helps developers build the skills and experience they need to get hired and level up in their careers. In this episode, John’s shares his own career story, from how he dropped out of college to get started working in software development, to how he got hired with GitHub, and why he started Raise.dev. John was able to create a great career and find opportunities by leaning into the combination of skills that made him unique, his communication skills combined with his technical skills. In this episode you’ll learn how you can find incredible opportunities at the intersection of your skills. In this episode: Why did John drop out of college? Struggling with a job hunt before finding a role as a developer evangelist What led up to John getting a job at GitHub Why marketing through education is the best way to connect with developers The talent stack and finding opportunities at the intersection of your skills What is Raise.dev and what was the proces

As a young immigrant from Guadalajara, Mexico, Carlos grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and developed a passion for promoting meaningful conversations on philosophy and public policy. In this episode Isaac and Carlos talk about how that passion led him to dropping out of college and eventually to founding Arizona Talks. In this episode: Carlos’ experience in college and why he decided to drop out Working in politics and then transitioning to focus on non-profits The steps Carlos took to start Arizona Talks (a non-profit) and raise funding Why finding a clear way to explain your vision/mission is key Don’t try to speak to everyone, focus on who matters most Learn more about Arizona Talks at arizonatalks.org Connect with Carlos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calfaro2/ Connect with Carlos on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alfaroamericano?lang=en We also want to hear your story. If you've created an opportunity and found a career that makes you feel alive, send it to Isaac [at]

Gerritt Maatkamp is a front-end web developer who started from scratch and taught himself the tech skills he needed to change careers.  Gerritt shares his career story, from dropping out of university to learning programming while working as a janitor and how anyone can follow a similar path.  In this episode:  * How seeing his brother work from home opened Gerritt’s mind to the idea of learning to program * Making the decision to drop out of university  * How working as a janitor helped Gerritt learn programming and get his first opportunities in the field  * What was Gerritt’s process like for learning the skills to build a career as a web developer * Gerritt’s advice for others early in their career looking to find skills they can build careers around Learn more and connect with Gerritt at gerritmaatkamp.com We also want to hear your story. If you've created an opportunity and found a career that makes you feel alive, send it to Isaac [at] crash.co For more resources on creati

At a young age Mikkel Thorup learned that school was not for him. In grade 7 and 8 he hated school, started cutting class, and by the time he was 15 he had completely dropped out and starting working odd jobs. From working and saving at a young age, Mikkel invested his time in traveling and adventures around the world where he has build a career that allowed him to continuing living an adventurous life.  Mikkel is now the Director at EscapeArtist.com and hosts The Expat Money Show podcast where he helps others learn about how they can create more freedom and abundance in their lives by moving, working, and invest abroad.  In this episode:  * Mikkel’s experience in school and why he dropped out of high-school * Why Mikkel invested in travel at a young age  * Learning and experimenting by creating businesses  * How creating and sharing out-loud opened opportunities for Mikkel  * How travel get romanticized but it is the difficulties that help you grow  * The case for why tra

Brian Folmer is Founder and CEO of FirstLook, a subscription box designed to cut the friction and red-tape between consumer brand founders and early-stage investors. In this episode Brian shares his career story, from getting started working for a startup accelerator to moving to a corporate track, before eventually starting his company FirstLook.  In this episode:  * How Brian got started in venture capital and working with start ups * Why Brian was interested in working in a start up accelerator early in his career * Why being in a smaller city or working with a smaller company can be a big advantage early in your career * Launching his first startup Backer Bar * Pursuing a corporate career track * Why sending cold emails is a great way to get job interviews * What is FirstLook and why Brian was inspired to create it * Why working at a startup accelerator is a great place early in your career when you know you want to start something but aren’t sure what yet * Learn more about FirstLook at first

Vince Martellacci is the head freelancer at Forge Collective, an innovative marketing agency made up of freelancers focused on music and film marketing campaigns.  Vince has consistently used projects to learn new skills and create new opportunities for himself. In this episode, Vince shares his career journey and how sharing his work and learning out loud has led to unexpected opportunities. In this episode: * What was the moment Vince realized what he wanted to do in his career? * How a real estate agent reading his blog led to a marketing opportunity * The process of creating Forge Collective * Why Vince was drawn to freelancing work * Why realizing what you don’t like so important in your career * Vince’s advice for anyone who thinks they would like freelancing more than a static job * Connect with Vince on IG at https://www.instagram.com/theforgeagency/ Check out Forge Collective (https://forgecollective.agency/) We also want to hear your story. If you've created an opportunity and found a car

Vince Thompson is Founder and CEO of MELT, the premier agency for activating sports and entertainment properties in ways that drive fans to respond. They’ve worked with companies like Coca-Cola, Holiday Inn, and Wing Stop at all sorts of the biggest sporting events.  In this episode Vince shares the lessons he learned building a career in the world of sports marketing and founding MELT.  In this episode:  * How Vince got started in sports marketing  * Why connecting with speakers at events can lead to great opportunities  * How did Vince start his sports marketing agency MELT?  * Vince’s book Building Brand U * The ways people early in career overlook opportunities and risks * Why patience matters early in your career Learn more about MELT at https://meltatl.com/ Connect with Vince on Twitter at https://twitter.com/vinnyinc We also want to hear your story. If you've created an opportunity and found a career that makes you feel alive, send it to Isaac [at] crash.co

Daniel Richardson is an SEO Specialist at Homes for Students (https://wearehomesforstudents.com/). After originally going to college to get a journalism degree, Daniel realized that working in that field wasn’t how he wanted to build a career. He did have a friend working in Digital Marketing and thought it might be the type of job he liked, but he had no experience or clear entry points into a job.  Knowing he needed a different way to stand out, Daniel heard a story of someone using a billboard to get job opportunities. Daniel started thinking about how he could replicate that in a way that would help him stand out, so he created a website and started targeting Facebook ads at people working in web design companies. That lead to 3 or 4 interview requests and his first job in Digital Marketing.  In this episode, Daniel shares more about his career crash story and how he has used creativity to stand out on the job hunt.  In this episode:  * How Daniel decided he didn’t want to work in j

David Kirby is co-founder of Acton Academy of Washington, DC. Before becoming an education entrepreneur, David had built a very successful career working in a non-profit in DC. But while his career was celebrated as successful he felt like there was something missing and it eventually led him to make the entrepreneurial plunge.  In this episode Isaac and David dive into David's journey through a more traditional path and what led him to co-founding an Acton Academy school. In this episode: Why did David decide to leave the non-profit organization that he used to work with to pursue a more entrepreneurial route How did David’s path though traditional education (Bates College, Harvard, Oxford) affect the way he approached his career Raising money as an entrepreneur vs raising money for a non-profit The challenges of opening a school in a large urban setting Creating a children’s business fair as a wind to create a community and test for demand for the school What is David’s advice for peopl

Lauren Hasson is the founder of DevelopHer a platform that teaches women to build value and earn more money in tech. She also works remotely for a Silicon Valley payments company.  Lauren had a degree in computer science, but had bad experiences early in her career and decide she didn’t want to work in tech, years latter with little technical skills she decided she wanted to make a change and find a way to work in tech once again.  From that point, with little in the way of skill or connections, Lauren was able to build a network, find opportunity, and find success within two years.  Learn more about Lauren and find great resources for starting and growing a career in tech at developher.com In this episode:  * How Lauren went from being out of tech to finding success in the industry within two years * How consistently volunteering at hackathons when she was an intern led Lauren to placing 2nd at a high profile hackathon * Why having a bias toward action matters in building and growing