August 30, 2022

The Fabulous Search for a Tech Job with Kyle Elliot

by Hacker Valley Studio

August 30, 2022

The Fabulous Search for a Tech Job with Kyle Elliot

by Hacker Valley Studio

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/hackervalley

With 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

Read more

Listen Now

test
The Fabulous Search for a Tech Job with Kyle Elliot

August 30, 2022 Hacker Valley Studio

00:00:00

Recent Episodes

May 30, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

In this cybersecurity podcast episode, Chris Cochran and Ron Eddings discuss the concept of 'dojos' as environments for growth and learning, drawing on experiences from their own career paths in cybersecurity. The 'dojo' metaphor is applied to variou...

May 23, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

Join hosts Ron and Chris as they dive into the world of Attack Surface Management (ASM) in this episode recorded live at RSAC 2023. Special guest Nabil Hannan, a seasoned industry expert and Field CISO at NetSPI, shares his wealth of knowledge and ex...

May 16, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

In this episode, hosts Ron and Chris are joined by Paul Valente, CEO and co-founder of VISO Trust, and Bryan Wong, Sr. Security Analyst at Headspace, as they dive into the world of third-party risk in cybersecurity. With conversations ranging from th...

May 9, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

In this episode, Ron Eddings and Chris Cochran discuss the concept of "paying the piper" and its impact on their careers and personal lives. Paying the piper means facing the consequences of one's actions, whether they are good or bad. Chris shares h...

May 2, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

In this podcast episode, Jack Roehrig, Technology Evangelist at Uptycs, discusses his experience with burnout and health issues due to his job as a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Jack has always known health is wealth and retired to Mexic...

April 25, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

In this episode, we explore the often-overlooked importance of empathy in the cybersecurity field. Our guest, Tracy Maleeff, shares her personal journey from community involvement to the industry and discusses how embracing empathy can lead to more e...

April 18, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

Head into RSA 2023 with a purpose. This episode is all about how to reach a win-win when sealing deals, getting hired, and networking.If you want to catch up with the Hacker Valley Team during RSA be sure to jump into our discord. You can join by goi...

April 11, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

RSA is right around the corner and we’re so excited because it’s one of our big opportunities to meet with you, our dedicated listener. If you want to catch up with the Hacker Valley Team be sure to jump into our discord. You can join by going to hac...

April 4, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

Join our creative mastermind and stand out as a cybersecurity professional: https://www.patreon.com/hackervalleystudio Become a sponsor of the show to amplify your brand: https://hackervalley.com/work-with-us/ Love Hacker Valley Studio? Pick up some...

March 28, 2023
by Hacker Valley Studio

Special Thanks to our sponsor NetSPI NetSPI has a team of skilled pen-testers that can help you find those critical vulnerabilities and become your partner in creating the right remediation game plan for you. Check them out at http://netspi.com/HVM ...