Today I’m launching something new.
The Determination Podcast is where I chat with professionals who are on a career transformation journey.
Some are navigating a layoff, others are changing jobs or careers, and a few picked up the entrepreneurial bug and started a new business. I also converse with recruiters, coaches, and consultants to find out what exactly is going on in the professional job market, and where the opportunities lie.
In each conversation, the guests discuss what worked, and what didn’t, during their journey, and offer actionable advice on what you should do when thinking about your long-term career plans.
I hope you find these conversations insightful.
THIS WEEK’S EPISODE
If you learn one thing from this episode it’s: Visibility is your most important feature
Other concepts to note:
The mentor/advisor push
Your content becomes your portfolio
Build something in 30 days
Never stop building after you land
The direct outreach process
I kicked things off by having a conversation with Kel Wu. In a lot of ways, Kel inspired this podcast, his work motivated me to take this from an idea on paper month’s ago, to execution.
A little over a year ago Kel was unfortunately part of layoff at his company.
The harshness of corporate life became reality, quickly. As Kel puts it, he was at a leadership offsite..
”…very focused on what are the goals for 2025… We sang kumbaya, did all the group activities, was super excited about what I want to build and focus on for the new year. And then about two weeks later I got the call that... I hate to tell you this but your position has been eliminated."
Kel’s job hunt was typical of what many go through. Frankly, I’d say he was successful at getting interviews: 7-10 per month.
But nothing was sticking for him and he discusses with me not connecting at times with interviewers and recruiters.
That is until, one day, a friend made a suggestion to create content.
Show - Don’t Tell
To keep his skills up to date, Kel worked with a group called ProductGym. According to Kel,
"I actually got a little push from Richard Chen, who's the co-owner of Product Gym... The main reason was, OK, you're going to learn about AI. Why don't you just film yourself? It doesn't matter if you fail. People are going to be doing the same thing, going through the same troubles. Why don't you just document it?"
This mentor / advisor push was what he needed to get going, both with learning new AI products, and more importantly, creating content.
The big takeaway from my conversation with Kel - Visibility is your most important feature.
Because once Kel started creating content, the conversations with recruiters and hiring managers changed.
Instead of trying to recall past achievements under pressure, Kel could say "let me show you." Every interview naturally returned back to his content.
There could be multiple interview rounds, yet the same question - from different people - kept coming up: tell me more about those projects.
The videos show his personality, communication style, and how he thinks on his feet.
Your content becomes your portfolio.
As Kel put it,
"Instead of you telling me what you built, I can actually ask you to screen share and you can show me what you built... they can picture, okay, maybe this guy can actually do what we need."
Kel’s content did the talking. He had two distinct advantages in his interviews that most candidates lack.
The content showed companies what he could do, and, they could see how he did it. Meaning, his personality came through on the videos.
He’s a likable guy, he’s narrating what he’s doing, a manager looks at that and says - here’s someone I could work with.
Going into interviews they felt like they knew him. When asked about his projects they had just viewed, Kel could talk on-and-on about them, with passion. No more “describe a time when….”
Kel found a full-time role he’s excited about and there’s no question his content was a key asset during that process.
Just a Start
Kel’s advice for job seekers, searchers, and those looking to change or go out on their own:
Build something in 30 days.
Stop prepping and start making. The confidence you gain from creating something real beats interview training every time.
"Give yourself about 30 days to try to build something, you know, anything. And the confidence that comes from just making something real is worth more than any interview prep."
And then, don’t stop building.
Kel told me,
"No job is really secure, especially in tech nowadays... I'm telling myself I'm never going to go through this whole layoff process again. So that's kind of a motivation for me to continue pushing out content."
Finally, Kel found his direct outreach process was helpful, just as someone in sales with a warm lead would do. When he applied for a position, he’d immediately find a connection, usually on LinkedIn, and reach out directly.
"You're doing them a favor. They don't have to sift through the thousands of applications. You're saying, hey, I can do it. Here's why."
Enjoy the episode, which can be found on Apple and Spotify, and here at the website, DeterminationPod.com
Click here to see Kel’s content. If you’d like to connect with Kel, he can be reached here.
If you have a story to share that could help others, please reach out to me. My email address is [email protected].
See you next week!
