In this lesson.
We are going to talk about how you can find job offers from the alumni network.
So I will share with you another real story.
My first job in Silicon Valley was a two month contract job.
So a I, I told you in the previous lesson that I started working in consulting gigs.
Uh, so I started working in a small consulting gigs for individuals, and I, I, I offer a very,
very convenient rate for them in exchange for them to take the time to talk about me whenever I had
a another person interested.
So I was asking them, please, uh, if anyone calls you, uh, and asks about your experience with
me, please, you know, take the time to, to explain how your experience has been, etc..
So they were very, very satisfied customers and they were really kind and took the time to talk to
other potential customers.
So I think there was just three consulting gigs and I willing I immediately got into one real, uh,
job.
So this was a job in a tech multinational in Silicon Valley.
They were looking for a person with very innovative, innovative tech, uh, experience in one particular
field.
And it wasn't common, but it was the field.
I was, uh, very focused on.
So I identified, you know, one very trendy area.
And, uh, they made an interview.
They call my references, they got very positive feedback, and I was offered a two month contract.
So after the first month, I got a raise and I.
I got a very well permanent paid offer.
They made me a full time employee and in I think it was two months or three months, I was named employee
of the month and I gained a reputation in, in the company a positive reputation.
In my second job, I, I was even better paid.
And I'm talking about very, very well paid for a person that was just, uh, that was just a new in
the country, you know, and in the field.
But as you know, tech companies pay really well.
And in Silicon Valley especially, you have very, very good salaries.
So my second job was a very well paid also in a multinational also in Silicon Valley.
The first one was in San Mateo in the south of San Francisco, between San Jose and San Francisco,
which is called Silicon Valley.
And the second one was in Palo Alto, which is like the capital of Silicon Valley, is the the city
of the Stanford University, etc..
Right.
So my second job was very well paid.
I also got a raise there.
I also was named employee of the month in one of the months, etc., etc. so I share my story with you
because my story can perfectly be your story.
If you are not in the tech field and you are looking to make the move as many people are doing right
now, I remember when I when I initially arrived to the Bay area of San Francisco, I was really surprised
about two things.
First, the number of tech employees without a formal tech education, and second, the number of foreigners
working in every company I remember, especially one day where when, you know, one person arrives
at our company, we were several hundred people in the in the I think it was like 300 people in the
company and my department were like 35 people.
And I remember one day there was a new person in the department, and I asked one of my colleagues,
where is he from?
Because she has a very strange accent.
And they told me she's she's from here.
So it was very strange, you know, the accent of the local because all of us, you know, most of us,
we were foreigners.
So you have people from Europe, from from Asia, you know, from Latin America, from every part of
North America.
And it was very interesting to to see that for me.
So first, the number of people in tech positions without a formal tech education and second, the number
of people from, from every, every part of the world working there.
So this story can also be your story, if you ask me, what are the most important things in order to
get a job in the tech industry?
I would say education is very important, but this education doesn't need to be from prestigious universities.
The important thing about the education is that it really teaches you valuable things to offer in your
in your company.
Second, good referrals.
This is super important.
So for example, in Silicon Valley, companies are hiring a lot of people every month.
And for the hiring manager for the best people in human resources, it is very important if they can
find references from people they trust.
So a it was super important for me to get my first job and also to get my second job to have very positive
referrals from a previous contacts.
Right.
So this is super important for you.
I tell you this a in the context of the alumni network, the alumni network can be of a lot of use for
you.
If you are, for example, a honor student of a of our program, this is going to talk very positively
about you.
And whenever anyone calls me and asks me about an honor student, I'm going to spend time talking a
positive about this person for sure, because I am really appreciative of the contribution they make
to our program and to our community.
Third thing I think is very important in order to get a good job in tech, your portfolio.
So as you know, for example, in our program you can make use of our exercises, you know, our projects
and include them in your portfolio.
You know, probably you will customize them.
You you will improve them.
You will change them.
And that is perfectly okay and even desirable.
And finally, I think it will be very good for you to be able to show a your skills.
So a tech is a space where merit is the currency.
So tech industry is really a meritocracy.
You only progress if you provide value in other industries.
You can speculate, you know you can hide your your real value, etc. but in tech you need to know what
you what what you do.
So in the job interviews, it is going to be very common that you are going to be asked to show your
knowledge, to show your skills.
So okay, show me your portfolio, show me what you can do about this problem right now.
Review this code and tell me what you think about that, etc. etc. etc..
So these four things good education, good referrals, good portfolio and ability to demo your skills.
In the alumni network, you are going to find job offers and you are going to find also the possibility
to get a premium coaching service if you need it.
Because sometimes you know the space of job hunting or your job searching is really it can be messy
and confusing.
So sometimes it's very good to find a person that can share experience, techniques, tactics, contacts,
etc., right?
So this is also something interesting you are going to find in the alumni network.
In the next lesson, we are also going to talk about a very interesting value you can find in the alumni
network, which is the possibility, the possibility to find future startup team members.
Okay.
This is going to be very interesting for you.
If you are one entrepreneur or if you just want to work in startups, you know, because this is a very
good moment to do that in the AI, in the generative AI space.
So we will talk about that in the next lesson.