Show Notes
Kyle Elliott, the Founder and Career Coach behind CaffeinatedKyle.com, joins the pod on his quest to transform boring job searches into something fabulous. Kyle specializes in helping job seekers, especially those in technology and cybersecurity, find jobs they love and express the value they bring to potential employers. Need to know the secret to acing your next tech job interview? Look no further than Caffeinated Kyle.
Timecoded Guide:
[00:00] Finding your own definition of fabulous
[06:06] Standing out in a tech job interview
[12:19] Dealing with and learning from job rejection
[16:41] Targeting your dream tech job & telling your career story
[21:33] Breaking into technology the easy way and the hard way
Sponsor Links:
Thank you to our sponsors Axonius and Uptycs for bringing this episode to life!
The Axonius solution correlates asset data from existing solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory, uncover gaps, and automate action — giving IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity. Learn more at axonius.com/hackervalleyWith Uptycs, modern defenders can prioritize, investigate and respond to threats across the entire attack surface—all from a common solution: uptycs.com.
From your perspective, what makes someone fabulous?
Being “fabulous” can sound grandiose to most tech practitioners, but Kyle believes that everyone has the potential to be fabulous, especially when they’re forging their career path. There’s a lot of competition amongst large tech companies to find the employees that close skill gaps and stand out from the massive group of hungry job seekers. To be fabulous, one has to know how to stand out and what sets them apart.
“When I think of fabulousness, I think: What sets you apart from other people? I work with job seekers, so I think: What sets you apart from other job seekers or other applicants?”
When you look at standing out in a job interview, what are some of the key components that go into that?
Many job seekers that Kyle works with have the skills, meet the position requirements, show up for the interview, and still struggle with getting a job in tech. While this can happen for a variety of reasons, Kyle explains that a simple mistake job hunters are making is regurgitating their resume without backing up their experience. A strong story about the experiences you had and the value you delivered makes you memorable and explains what you can provide.
“When you're doing this, you want to think in the mind of a hiring manager. How have you added value to the organization? What sets you apart? I didn't just code, I didn't just have cross functional collaboration, here's the value to the organization and what sets me apart.”
How do you coach someone through being able to tell their story in an interview?
Career storytelling skills separate a potential employee from a pack of qualified applicants. However, a lot of technical people aren’t known for their storytelling skills or knack for creativity. Instead, Kyle recommends his clients in tech and cyber practice their storytelling through a more familiar world of spreadsheets. Each spreadsheet helps job seekers break down the value they bring with their skills, so they can tell a story that connects their past experiences to their future position.
“A lot of the people I work with in tech, they're amazing at their job, but they're just not used to practicing storytelling…It feels awkward. It feels different. It feels weird, because that's not something they’re used to.”
From your experience, what have been the easiest and hardest fields in technology to break into?
In Kyle’s opinion, there isn’t one field of the tech industry that’s easier or harder to break into. Instead, breaking into the tech industry relies more on professional experiences, background, and skillset. If the leap to tech feels like too many transitions at once, Kyle recommends slowing down to one transition at a time and building each experience off of one another. Instead of hiding that this may be a new path for you, embrace your past when job searching and explain why a potential employer should hire someone transitioning into the tech world.
“Everyone's like, ‘Kyle, how do I get a job in tech?’ I would start with your background, and I think that's gonna determine what's easiest or hardest for the person. What I always recommend is, try to make the least amount of transitions possible.”
---------------
Links:
Keep up with Kyle Elliott on LinkedIn and the Caffeinated Kyle website
Connect with Ron Eddings on LinkedIn and Twitter
Connect with Chris Cochran on LinkedIn and Twitter
Purchase a HVS t-shirt at our shop
Continue the conversation by joining our Discord
Check out Hacker Valley Media and Hacker Valley Studio
Recent Episodes
Staying Ahead in the Age of AI Agents with Marco Figueroa
Marco Figueroa is back, and his AI predictions aren’t just coming true—they’re unfolding faster than anyone expected. AI agents aren’t on the horizon—they’re already here, and security teams are ...
I Built an AI Version of Myself – Here’s Why with Marcus J. Carey
The best time to be alive is right now—if you know how to use AI. Marcus J. Carey, Principal Research Scientist at ReliaQuest, is harnessing AI to supercharge creativity, cybersecurity, and ...
Cyber Warfare, Digital Deception, and the Hidden Threats We Ignore ...
We’re already in World War III—just not the kind you’re thinking of. Cyber warfare is here, and the battlefield is your inbox, your bank account, and your digital identity. So why are we still ...
The AI Shift You Can’t Ignore with Marco Figueroa
AI isn’t just evolving—it’s sprinting, and cybersecurity needs to keep up. Ron Eddings is joined again by cybersecurity leader Marco Figueroa, Program Manager for Gen AI at the ODIN Bug Bounty ...
Superhuman Productivity and AI Mastery with Pedram Amini
What if you could have a conversation with yourself—years into the future? Or leave behind an AI-powered avatar that understands your thoughts, philosophies, and even your voice? In this ...
Cybersecurity Meets AI: The Good, The Bad & The Janky
There’s no doubt that AI is changing the game in cybersecurity, but not always in the ways we expect. In this episode, Ron Eddings shares his firsthand experience with AI-powered tools that make ...
A Human-Centric Approach to Cybersecurity with Edna Conway
What if cybersecurity was more than just tech—what if it was about the people it serves? In this episode, Edna Conway, Founder and CEO of EMC Advisors, shares her incredible journey from law to ...
Rise of the Machines: Why Your Attack Surface Has More Holes Than ...
Did you know nearly half of your enterprise devices are agentless—leaving your attack surface wide open? In this episode, Ron is joined by Pandian Gnanaprakasam, Co-Founder and Chief Product ...
How a Game Turned a Watchmaker into a Cybersecurity Pro with ...
What if cybersecurity training could be as engaging as your favorite game? In this episode, Simeon Kakpovi, founder of the KC7 Foundation, shares how his gamified approach is changing lives and ...
Managing and Mitigating Cyber Risks For Your Assets with Jerich ...
What’s the key to mitigating unseen cyber risks? In this episode, Wes Wright, Chief Healthcare Officer at Ordr and Jerich Beason, CISO at WM uncover the complexities of attack surface management ...
WORK WITH US
PODCASTS + SPEAKING + EVENTS
Are you the best kept secret in cybersecurity? Let's change that by partnering together for podcast ads, social campaigns, and your next event or keynote. Send us your details to get started.
Thank you!
We will be in touch soon.