Negotiating your salary

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1. Be prepared for the salary expectations question before you have your first interview.

   • This question continues to frighten most job candidates as no one really knows how to answer it and when it might come up. 

   • Best practice is to prepare (before your first interview!) to be able to answer it. I’ve seen it appear in initial screens, second rounds and final round interviews -- so basically at any stage in the interview process. 

   • Here is a great guide from TheMuse.com with strategies for how to answer this question. Note: asking about prior salary is now illegal in some cities/states & here is another TheMuse.com guide on how to tactfully answer that type of question.

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#random

• Physicists build circuit that generates clean, limitless power from graphene 

Did you know...that graphene is as light as aluminum foil, but strong enough to stop a bullet?

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How to get ahead in an interview

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You’d be surprised at how many candidates don’t take the time to do the following — and how much value each of these items will provide in any interview situation.

1. When looking to work at any tech company, understand how they make money. 

   • Learn what their business model is, even if at a high level. Here are 53 of them to check out! 

   • For startups: many funders have changed how lenient they are with companies that burn cash for a long period of time without generating revenue, so be aware of how long the runway is for newer startups. Great article on this: How To Vet A Venture-Funded Startup

   • For larger companies: aim to find a role within the money-making part of the company FIRST. Then, once you’ve had success there, it’ll be easier to pivot into another part of the company. 

2. If you’re selected to interview, fill out this template to help you understand how the company works & makes money. 

   • Business Model Canvas template

3. Use that information to answer interview questions with more depth and to ask insightful questions about the company’s growth/stability. 

   • This will help you with interviews for *any* type of role at a tech company and will put you miles ahead of most other interviewees who didn’t take the time.

4. Prepare for the variety of ways that you will be interviewing in your job search.

   • Phone Interview Tips From a Career Expert That'll Get You to Round Two

   • How to Succeed in a Virtual Interview

   • Consider using 1-2 post-it notes as strategic reminders. Maybe you always forget to give results in your PAR answer? Write down the PAR framework on a post-it (Project Action Result) to help you. Just don’t have too many post-its - or you’ll look at them and not your interviewer!

5. When preparing for interviews in tech, one technique that requires a lot of preparation is “disagreeing tactfully with your interviewer.” 

   • This HBR article does a great job of describing 4 steps for how to effectively employ this interview technique: do your homework; give yourself space to think; ask permission to speak candidly, and trust your instincts. 

   • Use this technique because you operate well in a company culture that appreciates discussion & debate. (The best part of the CareerLeader assessment is the MyCultureMatch section. In this sample pdf result, check out pages 13-16 to see the 4 main types of company cultures and see which one(s) align best with your preferences.) 

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Want personalized interview tips and career guidance? Take a look at my Career Strategy Session options.

Having a futurist mindset

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While not everyone needs to be a futurist to work in tech, it helps to borrow from their mindset. Here are a couple tips to help you get started. 

1. Practice making decisions without much information.

• Make it small at first. 

  • Try picking a local restaurant or an activity without reading any online reviews. 

  • What are other cues or factors that help you decide if it’s going to be a good experience or not? 

    • Location? Name of restaurant? Write these factors down so you can review them later to see what information was useful or not useful.

  • Afterwards: evaluate how did it go? Did it meet your expectations, or exceed/underwhelm you? 

    • Ask yourself the critical question: Why?? What info would have helped you make a better decision? What proxy info could you have used to  

• Then, escalate the decision to something with more impact. Try thinking about a larger decision you need to make that you are or have been uncertain about. Is it related to choosing a new job or career? Deciding what city to live in?

  • Use the questions & criteria you saw above & modify them to fit this scenario.

    • Curious about whether you should become a programmer? Try Hour of Code & see what you think.

    • Thinking about a new city? Can you do a virtual visit there via a Chamber of Commerce site or similar? Can you find a friend to help you learn about where they live?

2. Imagine that this is an interview question - for life - and try to see how many experiences you’ve had where you didn’t have much information, yet made the decision anyway. 

• Prompt: “Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all of the necessary information. What happened? Why did you have to make this decision in this way? What did you learn from this experience, and how did it impact your future decisions?”

  • If you don’t have many experiences like that, go out and get some. 

  • Think of it like a muscle that you need to exercise regularly, not a skill that you can be ‘certified’ in. You have to practice it often, especially when the stakes get higher and higher as your career progresses. 

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Want personalized job search strategy tips and career guidance? Take a look at my Career Strategy Session options.