the next generation of job matching
Hey y’all!
Mariam from Forward here 👋
In today’s edition:
⭐ JUST LIVE! HIRING A SALES ROLE FOR AN EMPLOYER PARTNER!
3 sales and operations jobs requiring 0-1 years of experience
how to talk about your previous (toxic) employer in interviewers
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This week’s curated job postings
⭐ COMMERCE IS OUR NEW EMPLOYER PARTNER! We are finding candidates for this role, so if you’re interested in this role, please hit REPLY on this email so we can help get you an interview
We source 20+ new early career jobs WTIH SALARY ALWAYS, updated weekly
🔥 NEW SECTION: Ask Mariam Anything (AMA) #5
Each week, I’ll answer your most burning career questions. Have a question? Ask me here.
“What are your thoughts on ‘startup culture’ and is it just code for toxic?” -Anonymous Alligator
It definitely can be. I think for people with a particular working style, learning preference, professional priorities, and life stages, it can be a great way to advance your career.
But starting with the term ‘start-up’ culture. There are so many types of start ups out there (familiarize yourself with some of the terms here). In the BROADEST terms, the smaller the company, the less stable it is but more individual growth opportunity you’ll have. The opposite is true for bigger companies. Again, there are many exceptions to this (we see big tech startups do layoffs often).
You want to ask yourself a few questions:
What is my risk tolerance? Am I willing to take a shot on something that is less of a “sure thing” for the sake of potentially really growing my career? For example, would I work at a small company if it meant I got a really great title or manage a team?
In what kind of environment do I do my best work? This is a really undervalued question. Some people do best where there is clear direction, structure, and expectations. Others learn better by jumping in the deep in and learning as they go. Depending on where you are on that spectrum, I would consider a work environment that serves that learning style (particularly when you are early in your career).
Will I be working with people who I can learn from and who want to see me succeed? This matters everywhere, but PARTICULARLY with a small and scrappy team. Having trust in your team at a startup is critical, particularly as you build the plane together 🚀
Ultimately, what are my priorities for this specific stage of my career? For some people, their priority is a 9-5 that allows them to travel and explore hobbies. For others, it’s getting exposed to a particular skillset or industry. Maybe they want to maximize their income above all else. No one job is going to give you everything on the checklist, so it’s important to be clear with yourself about what you want out of the next ~2 years of your career, and if that job is going to help you get there. It also gives you a clear(ish) set of criteria on when it’s time to move on from a job!
I’ve seen careers made at startups, and I’ve also seen crazy burnout. Everyone’s situations are totally different, but hopefully these questions offer some food for thought!
Overheard from a recruiter
I’m having conversations with recruiters, hiring managers, and other talent decision-makers weekly, and want to share tidbits of what I’m learning with y’all here too!
We notice the way that you talk about past employers in interviews, so be mindful of that!
You may really not like your current on previous company, but I’d caution you on fully railing on them, particularly when going into an interview. It may inadvertently turn off the company you are talking to (“what if this is how they talk about us in the future?”), but it also matters because the world is smaller than we think sometimes. You never know who knows whom.
That doesn’t mean we have to give companies a pass if they don’t deserve it. If someone asks why you are leaving your current job during an interview, here are some examples of ways that I would be honest but diplomatic:
“I love the mission of the company, but lately I’ve been struggling with the strategic direction that senior leadership is taking. I love how customer-centric your company is in comparison.”
“A lot of the leadership that I most directly admired and enjoyed working for have left, and I love working for a company where I know that I have those types of figures to learn from.”
“Unfortunately, our industry has been hit hard with tariffs, so I want to look into other options given the instability of this moment.”
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Take a break
Job searching is hard work. You deserve a break. Here’s how I took time to rest and recharge this week!
My teammate Sondra and I coworked in Austin last Friday, where we brainstormed about how we wanted to continue getting y’all more early career jobs and interviews 💌 More to come on this next year!
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Thanks for showing up this week! We appreciate you. See y’all same time next week!
Mariam Matin
Connect with me on LinkedIn!