The Number One Struggle Of Job Seekers Isn't What You Think It Is

Good morning,

This is Unlike The Others, the career newsletter that gives you the same feeling as that first batch of fresh heirloom tomatoes in late August (tomato toast anyone?). We’re your number one spot for tips, tricks, and real-world, tried and true advice to help you advance your career.

Here’s the deal — You give us 5 to 10 minutes of your time, and we help you change jobs, land a promotion, or make your next career move through our expert advice.

So, what’s on the agenda for today? I’m glad you asked.

Today we’ve got:

1. The Number One Issue Job Seekers Face

2. How Sarah Turned Around Her Job Search

3. Maximizing Your Job Search Productivity

4. Effective Time Management Frameworks/Techniques

And we’re excited to announce:

1. Career spotlight (where we highlight a new career including necessary skills, potential growth, and how to get started each week).

2. Motivation Corner (where we share an inspiring quote, or personal anecdote to encourage you to stay persistent in your career journey).

3. Weekly Challenge (where we set a small, actionable challenge for you to complete each week to help you move forward in your career.

Sneak Peek: The number one issue that most job seekers face (as evidenced by hundreds of different clients I’ve coached from individual contributors to C-level executives) is a lack of time management and motivation.

Note: Job seekers face many other issues, but time management and motivation are within their control.

The Number One Issue Job Seekers Face

When I first started coaching, I didn’t think that the majority of my time would be spent checking in on clients, holding them accountable, and motivating them. Yet, nearly 2 years and a bunch of different processes and systems later, I’ve noticed that there are 2 different types of clients…

1. The first type of client is strategic, disciplined, and goal-oriented.
2. The second type of client is more junior and lacks grit, discipline, and motivation. They’re typically motivated when seeing results, but often prefer to be comfortable.

The first client is a head of, director, vice president, or chief executive while the second client may only have 2-3 years under their belt.

This brings me to the number one issue that I see job seekers facing — a scattered effort lacking strategy and persistence. Or more simply, minimal motivation and poor time management, or a lack of discipline.

So how do we solve this? Here’s how Sarah and I solved it ↓

How Sarah Turned Around Her Job Search

A few months ago I met Sarah, a brilliant Product Leader with a resume that boasted experience at top tech companies in the US. Sarah wanted to leave her current role which paid over $450K USD per year in favor of a better work-life balance. She worked long hours (50+ per week) and felt stressed out, often needing to take time away from her family to travel for work.

Yet, even with her track record, she found herself stuck, unable to land her next role.

She faced a few critical issues:

• She wasn’t sure that it was the right time to leave her current role.

• She was paid so well that it was tough to give up nearly half a million in total compensation per year for a new opportunity.

• Her efforts were a whirlwind of updating her resume, browsing job boards, and sending out scattered messages to her network.

• She preferred to spend her time at home with her family instead of job searching—she preferred being comfortable.

Deep down, Sarah wanted to move to a new company, but because she was paid so well, no driving force motivated her to change companies. Imagine if you had a cushy job that paid you $450K+ USD per year. Would your job search be urgent?

I’ll answer for you, probably not.

So her struggle wasn’t her qualifications, experience, or resume—her struggle was her lack of motivation to move companies and her commitment to her job search. Additionally, because she wasn’t motivated or committed to her job search, her strategy and time management were non-existent.

Without a structured plan and the motivation to stick to it, or even a fire under your arse, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and disheartened when you fail to see results.

Now that you know a bit about Sarah’s story, I’ll dive into how we motivated her to pursue what she set out to do (a Product role at a new company).

Maximizing Your Job Search

Sarah’s turning point came when we set clear, actionable goals. She began her days knowing exactly what she needed to accomplish. We set up a Trello board and I explained the importance of small, measurable goals.

After all, if you only focus on larger goals (such as landing a job) you’ll never celebrate any of the quick wins you’ve had in your job search. Additionally, when you fail to see immediate results (like quick wins) you’ll give up again.

You NEED to see PROGRESS to continue forward.

Here are the steps she took:

• Set Clear Goals: We defined her career objectives and broke them down into actionable steps. We set daily and weekly goals using a Trello board which helped Sarah maintain focus while tracking her progress.

• Created a Schedule: I had Sarah treat her job search like her actual job. She had to allocate time each day to job searching, networking, and skill development. This meant that she already knew what she had to do for the day, so she didn’t have to negotiate with herself. Her schedule was already laid out!

• Used Job Search Tools: We leveraged tools, templates, and platforms to streamline her job search process. Job searching sucks—trust me I do it every day. It’s HARD! Use as many modern tools as you can to simplify it and make it easier.

Effective Time Management Techniques

So, now that you know who Sarah is, what she struggled with, and how we laid out a strategy to help her overcome her difficulties as a job seeker, here are a handful of time management techniques that I’ve used in the past with my clients.

I’ll be honest, I only started using these over the past year. Before that, I used my willpower and fortitude to accomplish everything. What I learned is that those things only take you so far and that by implementing effective time management frameworks and techniques you can accomplish so much more.

Here are a few ways Sarah and I got more done in less time (because she was working 50+ hour weeks):

1. Prioritized Tasks: We identified the most important tasks and tackled them first. We put them into the Trello board and then used a priority matrix to distinguish between urgent and important tasks, allowing us to focus on what mattered most. Whatever makes the biggest impact is typically what I prioritize.

2. The Pomodoro Technique: Sarah had already used this technique in the past as it’s recently become more well known due to YouTube and viral reels. You work in sprints or focused intervals (typically 25 minutes) followed by a short break. This helps maintain concentration and prevents burnout.

3. Eliminated Distractions: I had Sarah create a dedicated workspace and schedule for job searching (treated it like a job). Try turning off unnecessary notifications and set boundaries to maintain focus. For example, turn your phone to greyscale mode to reduce use, or put on DND.

4. Batched Similar Tasks: We grouped similar tasks, such as setting aside specific times for job applications, networking, and skill development. For example, instead of answering every email that comes in as soon as you receive it, reply to them all at 4:00 PM instead.

TLDR

Treat your job search like a job and focus on the bigger picture. Celebrate small wins to stay motivated. Reflect on why you feel unmotivated to continue forward in your job search and implement a strategy and schedule to continually progress. If every day you just do what you feel like doing instead of what you should do, YOU’ll FAIL. Now that you know how to win, get to work.

Motivation Corner: This Week’s Quote

Embrace The Power of Persistence

Have you ever felt like giving up when things didn't go as planned? Maybe you’ve sent out 100+ job applications this week without getting a single response, or perhaps you’ve faced rejection after making it to the final round of interviews. I get it, it's easy to feel disheartened in these moments but remember, every setback is a setup for a comeback.

Most of you know that the way to move forward is by doing what’s hard and uncomfortable. Consider this quote:

This quote emphasizes that the most important tasks are also the most challenging. These tasks are crucial for our progress and success, and they cannot be avoided. There is no comfort in progress and life involves making difficult choices, and each choice comes with its own set of challenges and burdens. We have to decide which difficult tasks to undertake, understanding that avoiding them will not make them disappear. In your career, persistence can make all the difference.

Here are a few tips to help you stay persistent:

1. Set Clear Goals: Define what you want to achieve and create a roadmap.

2. Stay Positive: Maintain a positive mindset, even when things don't go as planned. Remember, every rejection is an opportunity to learn and improve.

3. Take Small Steps: Break down your larger goals.

4. Seek Support: Surround yourself with a supportive network of friends.

5. Learn from Failures: View failures as learning experiences. Analyze what went wrong, make necessary adjustments, and keep moving forward.

As you navigate your career journey, remember that persistence is your greatest ally. Stay determined, keep pushing forward, and you'll find that success is not a matter of if, but when.

Career Spotlight: Becoming A Data Engineer

Welcome to this week's Career Spotlight, where we dive into the world of Data Engineering. If you have a passion for technology, data, engineering, and problem-solving, this could be the perfect career path for you.

What Does a Data Engineer Do?

So what does a Data Engineer actually do? At a high level, data Engineers are responsible for designing, building, and maintaining the infrastructure that enables data generation, collection, storage, and analysis. They ensure that data is accessible, reliable, and ready for use by data scientists, analysts, and other stakeholders.

Or more simply put, a Data Engineer is like a super organizer for data. They build special places (like toy boxes) to store all the data, making sure everything is neat and easy to find. They also create paths (like toy roads) that help move data from one place to another, so it’s always ready when someone needs it. This way, people who need the data, like scientists and analysts, can find and use it easily to do their work.

Day In The Life: Click this video to learn more

The Facts

I’ve rounded up some of the most important aspects that someone considering a career change to Data Engineering may want to know. Below you can find the key responsibilities, necessary skills, and potential growth paths of data engineering.

Note: The salaries mentioned above are specific to Seattle, New York, and The Bay Area of the United States (HCOL areas). If you are in a LCOL or a different country it’s more than likely that these salaries are very high for a Data Engineer.

How to Get Started

Now that you know what a Data Engineer does, what skills they need to land a role, and the potential growth paths for a data engineer (including potential salary) let’s talk about how you can get started.

Although there are many different paths, here’s what I’ve seen works best:

1. Educational Background: A bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field is often required. Advanced degrees can be beneficial but are not always necessary. A degree in mathematics or statistics is more than acceptable.

2. Learn Programming and Database Management: Gain proficiency in key programming languages and database management systems.

3. Hands-On Experience: Work on projects that involve data pipeline development, database management, and data integration. Internships or entry-level positions can provide valuable experience.

4. Certifications: Consider certifications like Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer, AWS Certified Big Data – Specialty, or Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate. Coursera has a few different courses by IBM, Google, and Meta that could be helpful.

Wrapping Up Data Engineering

I believe that a career as a Data Engineer is rewarding and dynamic with multiple paths and different opportunities for growth and specialization. If I were to go back into the corporate world full-time, I’d consider careers in Data Engineering, Product Management, or AI & ML. If you enjoy working with data and technology, consider exploring this exciting field.

Weekly Challenge: Removing A Distraction

This week’s challenge is all about removing distractions from your workspace, whether working remotely, at the office, or actively looking for employment. By removing distractions from your workplace, you can aim to be more productive and get more deep work done.

I want to keep this section simple to avoid making it too difficult to complete the weekly challenge.

Here’s what I want you to do this week:

Identify one major distraction in your daily routine and eliminate it for the week. This could be turning off social media notifications, setting specific times to check your email, or creating a dedicated workspace.

After the week concludes (or when you read my next email), reflect on how your productivity changed. Did you get more done? Was the quality of your work better?

That’s it for this week, see you next Friday.

Your coach,
Regan

Regan Setter
CEO & Founder
Unlike The Others
Find me on LinkedIn or X
Book a 1-on-1 call with me here

Whenever you're ready, there are 5 ways I can help you:

1. Join My Skool Course (free): In just 3 weeks I will be officially launching my flagship course on how to find a job that you love, earn more, and finally enjoy going to work again. In it, I share proven strategies that I use with my 1-on-1 executive clients to help them land roles at F500 companies like Google, Meta, and Microsoft. If it’s always been a dream of yours to work for a Top Company, this is your cue to sign up today. Get in early to receive early bird pricing on our pro version.

2. Receive A Resume & LinkedIn Profile Review: I’ve helped everyone from Junior Software Engineers to CTOs land interviews paying up to $500K+ annually at any big-name company you can think of. A vital part of their success has been making a positive first impression through their resume and profile. In this comprehensive video review (via Loom), I’ll share advice with you on how to modify your documents to see the same success in your job search that 1000+ other clients have seen.

3. 3-In-1 Professional Writing Service: Are you too busy to write your resume? Maybe you’re seeking a professional LinkedIn profile and you know that graphic design isn’t your thing. Whatever the case may be, my 3-In-1 Professional Writing Service includes a resume, cover letter, templates, consultation, and a professionally redesigned & rewritten LinkedIn profile from the ground up. I’ll even throw in AI headshots if you need them!

4. Sign Up For 1-on-1 Coaching: If you’re an executive professional who has been out of the job search for a few years and you’re looking for someone to bring a more strategic, results-oriented approach to your job search, look no further. I’ll work with you 1-on-1 for 6 to 12 months and automate part of or all of your job search and guarantee results or I’ll work with you for free until I get them. I specialize in Director, VP, SVP, and C-Level roles paying $200-500K.

5. Promote yourself to 1,000+ subscribers by sponsoring my newsletter.