How to Ask for a Job (Without Asking)

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Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman

Thanks for watching!

[tested]

What's YOUR "informational interview" advice?
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[Joe-ijls]

My dad told me when I went on my first job interview, after college, that I was the asset, and the interview was more about my interest in working for the company, than their interest in me. He told me to never take a job where I wasn't happy to be working there, or a place who didn't value me. It has served me very well over the last 40 years.

[MatthewMe]

Being easy to work with includes a) being flexible when things change, and it doesn't cause a rapid emotional shift in you, b) taking feedback smoothly, not taking it personally, c) when the environment gets stressful, you become ore calm. Your energy counters the stress, not adding to it. And finally d) you ask questions when you don't understand.

[jerrysstories]

Here's an adjacent warning. If the job is considered cool or prestigious, and lots of people want it, they'll pay you squat and you'll only get raises if you've completely devoted your life to them for years. I've known so many people who stayed poor forever because they wanted so badly to be video game developers, Sea World trainers, CGI artists, or because they thought they wanted to work for Michael Moore, Deepak Chopra, Tony Robinson, etc, or because they wanted to work in the cannabis industry or academia. Always be aware that if lots of people want the job, the boss knows he doesn't have to pay much and expects to filter a lot of people out.

[sMarino]

I was in almost the same situation when I was younger. I wanted to work at a automotive performance shop. The best thing was having my own car I worked on and being able to showcase my work. I never had to ask for a job, just went in talking to the workers and owner, and once they saw my work and personality, they offered me a job. This worked for several shops I worked at, but its a bit unique to how the car community is. Adam brings up some awesome points as always.

[KeithMcWhirter]

Hi Adam! As a Career Coach at a Canadian University, and a massive fan of yours for many, many years ... I was thrilled to have the two worlds collide with this incredible response you gave to a viewer. I tell all my students that coffee chats (networking) should not be viewed as job-search, but re-search. Hearing your similar sentiments on the subject made my day and will be sharing this video far and wide to students and job seekers of all ages, and at any stage of their career journey. Thanks again ... loved your book ... the shop looks great ... stay awesome!

[TheDementation]

Understand that the type of place you want to work at may not match the way you want to work. For example if you want a creative place, dont expect it to be a 9 to 5 job.

[vincejester]

I don't wanna work or Adam,
I wanna hang out w/ him.
I think he'd be a tuff boss.
but a great co-conspirator.

[zackbob]

Every time you said "Dread Pirate Roberts" it made me smile

[zanehodgenracing]

Thanks for answering my question Adam! I have done a couple of informational interviews since watching this livestream. I went into those conversations with a somewhat agnostic mindset, purely with the aim of learning about the work they do, how they fit into the industry, and what they look for in young people entering into the business. Applying your advice has led to some very fruitful conversations with people that led to them putting me in touch with other contacts of theirs in the industry. I’m still in the early stages of networking, but I feel that I am gathering a solid array of people with whom I could have much longer relationships - relationships in which they may also be willing to help me achieve my goals. I truly appreciate your advice.

[tracedehaven]

Speaking as an older member of the workforce (nearing retirement), and having worked in several different fields, as divergent as corporate, law, and healthcare, I think your advice for young people is really spot-on. Things I wish had been told to ME (by someone I trusted) when I was 23 years old!

[lotharbeck]

At work, I like to say, “I don’t care what I’m doing as long as I’m doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing.”

You want me to do the thing differently today than what I was doing yesterday? Fine. As long as the instructions (or at least expectations) are clearly communicated… I’ll do whatever.

Except scrubbing toilets. That is definitely something that is NOT in my job description.

[mscbijles]

Adam, THANK YOU for bringing up to keep in mind how a job feels.
I’m currently orientating for new jobs, because my teaching job has started to feel less and less rewarding. I don’t feel any gratitude or reward coming my way from grading papers and when I do something I care about deeply (educational research), my school isn’t really interested. So I’ve decided to try and see what other job opportunities there might be for an inquisitive person. I started to notice that it’s of utmost importance to understand what I feel when working on something, as that will be my greatest compass and best predictor of job satisfaction for the coming years. So yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with you on this. Thanks again!

[fizzyshellfish]

Go to a potential employer with the notion that they are looking for a person who is going to make their life easier. That's it. They want someone who is going to make their daily routine and general process smoother, more efficient, less full of drama and full of more more predictability. The person who is hiring is looking for a solution to a problem or set of problems.

[Thefurnaceguy]

Can I add, don't take the first offer you get without hearing others.
I made this mistake nine years ago, after moving to a new area, and spent several months working for an employer who said after the interview, "Be here Friday morning, don't interview anywhere else."

Thankfully he laid me off several months later, and I found another job in the same field that I absolutely loved.

[AudioOrchardMusic]

As I get older and my career advances, I increasingly find myself on the other end of conversations like you are describing. And yes, I think we can see a lot of what younger people ae thinking because we probably thought much the same things when we were that age.

[fguremeout]

"Easy to work with" is code to be emotionless to doing work that could summon emotion. How can I be passionate about the work I want to do and am doing and separate myself from my own emotions driving the work? It's not going to work for me, an artist that derives art from emotion. Art creates EVERYTHING and anything any office could be tasked to sell. What are you really making sitting at a desk punching in numerals? ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT is just about looking and experiencing at "it", in action, it's giving energy to thoughts, lending context to time, and all of that is worthy of every modicum of value society can assign it. The widgets we use to track such value? IT'S ART TOO. (The f-n dollar its printed on)

[Justtrash]

Friend of mine always told me when it comes to work, and if you're corrected on something, leave emotions at the door. Just take the criticism, good or bad and go from there. There does not need to be emotions brought into it.

[GOGNLC]

Crazy that you put this out i am 24 years old and i quit my job at the dealership a week ago this has slightly shifted my perspective

[dstinnettmusic]

I’m in the leadership team of an education program for enterprise technology, and I shared this with our students for our upcoming cohort. Very good stuff here for any person about to take the “next step” in their career-arc, whether that be graduating college and going to work, getting the big promotion, making a career change, etc..this is great great stuff.