Career Advancement Tips

I recently got asked about career advice I wish I had received when I was starting out. Here are 8 pieces of advice I know at 32 I wish I knew at 22: 1. Build a reputation for reliability. Reliability is one of the most important traits in your career. You can get pretty damn far by just being someone that people can count on to show up and do the work. Being reliable is entirely free and doesn't require any talent or luck. 2. Be the person who just figures it out. Early on, you'll be given a lot of tasks you have no idea how to complete. There's nothing more valuable than someone who can just figure it out. Do some work, ask the key questions, get it done. People will fight over you. 3. Swallow the Frog for your boss. This is one of the greatest "hacks" to get ahead early in your career. Observe your boss, figure out what they hate doing, learn to do it, and take it off their plate. Easy win. 4. Build storytelling skills. World-changing CEOs aren't the smartest or most talented in their organizations. They are exceptional at: (1) Aggregating data and (2) Communicating it simply & effectively. Data in, story out. Build that skill and you'll always be valuable. 5. Work hard first (and smart later). It's in vogue to say that working smart is all that matters. Wrong. If you want to accomplish anything significant, you have to work hard. Build a reputation for hard work—take pride in it. Then you can start to build leverage to work smart. 6. Do the "old fashioned" things well. There are simple things that still stand out. Look people in the eye, do what you say you'll do, be early, practice good posture, have a confident handshake. It sounds silly, but these things are all free and will never go out of style. 7. Show up early, stay late. Showing up early and staying late is a free way to materially increase your luck surface area. The most interesting side conversations come up before meetings start or after they end. When you're in the room, you're more likely to get pulled into a follow-up call, coffee, or discussion. Being in the room pays off handsomely in the long run. 8. Dive through cracked doors. I recently had an experience that brings this advice to life: These two young guys were trying to work with me on a project but my schedule was tough for a call. They said they had to be in NY for a meeting the next day and offered to meet in person. I said ok. We met, hit it off, and are working together. They later told me they didn’t need to be in NY at all and booked flights after I said yes. I'd always bet on people with that kind of energy. If someone cracks open a door that may present an opportunity, dive through it. Embrace those 8 pieces of advice and you'll stand out and be on the right track. If you enjoyed this or learned something, follow me Sahil Bloom for more in the future!

I got my license to practice law in October 2006. Here are the "Top 10" things I wish someone told me 17 years ago: 1. Work like hell in your 20's. This is how you set yourself up for doing something great in your 30's and 40's. If you show up to a job and just do the minimum to remain employed (which many people do) your career will not flourish later. 2. The money you make in years 1-5 after law school does not matter. You need enough to pay the bills. That is it. Don't worry about your friends making more money. The real money comes later. 3. If someone is willing to mentor you, accept it with open arms. You know next-to-nothing about practicing law when you graduate law school. I see way too many young lawyers who don't know how to accept advice and training. 4. Big law is a bad place to work. I know very few people who are fulfilled by a career in big law. There are so many other ways to make money as a lawyer in today's world. 5. If you remain in private practice, you must develop a book of business. A lawyer without a book of business is much easier to replace than a lawyer with a book of business. Start early. Write blogs. Post on social media (appropriately). Network as often as you can. Stay in touch with people from law school. All this will build on itself over time. 6. Your competence as a lawyer is ultimately judged by your performance as a lawyer. No one will care what school you went to or where you graduated in your class. I know a lot of smart people who are bad lawyers. 7. Being a good lawyer requires knowing much more than the law. Most of the time, you need to find practical solutions for clients (not legal ones). You need to develop your ability to see the big picture from the client's point of view and help them solve problems. 8. Clients want short actionable advice. No one cares about your 20 page memo. It is a waste of time and money. Your job as the lawyer is to take the 20 page memo and distill it to a few bullet points for your client. 9. Pick up the damn phone. You may not like calling people in your private life, but the human touch is critical to lawyering. Whether it is your client or opposing counsel, talking is critical so that things don't get lost in translation via email or text. 10. It's all about relationships. Your success as a lawyer is fully dependent on your relationships. If you are building strong relationships at every stage of your career, you will have more clients and more job opportunities as you get into your 40's. #lawyers #attorneys #lawstudents #lawschool

I was rejected not one, not two, but DOZENS of times when applying for internships going into my junior year of college. To be honest, I had given up. I was discouraged, heartbroken, and in extreme distress😭 I vowed that I would NEVER receive rejections like that again. Sure enough that next Summer not only did I receive multiple internship offers, but I had my dream internship offer. Here’s what I did differently: 1️⃣Turned on job notifications on LinkedIn When I tell you all this made finding internships 5x easier! Because I was looking for internships in DEI at the time, I went to the LinkedIn jobs tab searched “DEI Intern” filtered the experience level specifically by “internships” and “entry level” roles then toggled on the “get job alerts for this search” button at the bottom of the page. After that, every time a new role was added to LinkedIn that matched my search, I was notified! 2️⃣Created a company fast facts sheet This was SO helpful! I wrote down everything that I needed to know about the company from their core values and mission to their current initiatives and projects. I also did a deep dive into the LinkedIn profiles of my interviewers and compiled key points of their roles and responsibilities. I studied this sheet daily so I would be able to leverage some of the information during my interview P.S- It helps if you make the sheet fun and decorative 3️⃣ Tailored my resume and my cover letter to each role As soon as I learned how applicant tracking systems (ATS) work, I did whatever I could to try and beat the system. I found that the cheat code was aligning my resume and cover letter to match key words in the job description. When I tell y’all that this hack changed my life! Tailor those resumes y’all! 4️⃣Came prepared with solutions The goal is always to be one step ahead of your interviewer. When prepping for your interview, keep track of industry trends to find ways that you think the company could improve against their competitors. Then take it a step further and show how you could use your skills to help make that improvement. When asked if you have any questions at the end of the interview try saying something like this: “When doing my research I noticed that Company X doesn’t have [fill in the blank with a process, system, program, etc]. I have skill X, Y, Z relevant to implementing this. Is this something that is in the works or an idea that your team would potentially be interested in?” 5️⃣Tracked my applications This was a game changer! I created an excel sheet that I used to keep track of when I applied to internships so I could monitor the timeline of the process as I proceeded (or didn’t lol) to the next rounds. ——————————————————————- What are some things you’ve done in your internship search that have made a difference? #tipswithtaylor #internships #dreaminternship #internships2024 #collegestudents #intern #techinternship

I was a Military Intelligence Sergeant Major that spent most of my career doing Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Tell me how that translates directly into a civilian occupation 🙄 🤔 #quinnsights I mean - there are law enforcement aspects of investigations and then there was the option of going back into the Defense or Intel Community (which is totally fine) Pretty much direct translations But I wanted different (a new ladder) So I crafted my resume to the best of my "nerdy" ability (I can write and tell stories 😊) "I lead the operations for 17,000 people in 45 countries" it proudly stated along with a collection of other impressive-sounding accomplishments only slightly translated from my evals & awards over the years Know what I found? None of it made sense to someone outside of our community #quinnsights The things I had done didn't automatically fit on a resume, BUT THEY LAID THE FOUNDATION for me to excel once I filled some gaps out here I needed to figure out what those gaps were (which differed depending on career path) So I needed to figure out what I wanted to do (needed to talk to a lot of people) And I realized that I did have most of the requirements for several different career paths (sales, HR, business analyst, operations management, the dreaded PM, training management, etc) Took a first job that gave me access to learn the #business and get more involved in government contracting That led to a big promotion as a consulting Senior Manager at EY 😎 Which built on it all and enabled me to found HireMilitary #militarytransition The problem? Everyone seems to be looking for an MOS-translator The "you were this, so you can be this" in the private sector 😔 None of them work unless you do exactly what you did in the military BUT YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!!!! It might not come through on the resume initially, but if you network and put in the work to add it to your resume (like my first job)...THE SKY IS THE LIMIT Thoughts? Questions?

Job security in IT? It's a myth. Many people think if they become experts in a specific role, they'll be indispensable and can't be replaced. But here's the hard truth—every role is replaceable. Every. Single. One. Been at the same company for years using the same tech stack? That's not loyalty; that's a comfort zone. And comfort zones are career quicksand. Watch for these red flags that suggest you should start working in the right direction: • Stuck on a single, outdated technology. • Comfortable in a job that doesn’t push you to grow. • Your skills can’t be transferred to another role or industry. • Reluctance to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. So how do you future-proof your career in these turbulent times? 1. Continuously learn in-demand skills. AWS, Python, Kubernetes, GenAI are examples. 2. Pursue transferable strengths like communication, leadership and collaboration. 3. Contribute to open source projects to showcase your abilities. 4. Build a personal brand on sites like LinkedIn to expand your network. 5. Explore adjacent roles to broaden your experience and skillset. 6. Obtain certifications in new, cutting-edge technologies. 7. Attend conferences and training workshops to stay inspired. 8. Experiment with side-projects to showcase versatility. The takeaway - rather than hoping for job security, take charge of your career. Keep your skills fresh, versatile and relevant. Tech keeps changing quickly - make sure you change along with it. What other tips do you have for building career resilience as a tech professional?

Dear Cyber Security Career Seeker: If You Don't get Grease on your Hands, You Won't Succeed. When I'm mentoring, the most common thing I hear is "I want to be in Cyber Security". This excites me. This is a great field to work in. However, when someone says they want to get into Cyber Security it is like saying they want to play sports. Which sport do you want to play? Do you want to be on offensive security? How about Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC)? Even better, how about defensive security? Any of these paths that you choose can still be extremely confusing. Picking a path is important, otherwise it can be overwhelming. However, even after choosing a direction, the path isn't always clear. What if you aren't learning the right SIEM for the next job you apply for? Maybe you are learning Splunk, but what if your next job requires something else? What if your bootcamp is teaching you Nexpose, but there seems to be more demand for Nessus? I hear OpenVas is good, so should you be learning that? Maybe? Let me make this easy for you. No matter what tool you use, they all have one thing in common. It is one thing that hasn't changed much at all and is at the core of how everything works, including every network as well as the entire internet. It's this simple thing called TCP/IP. What is it? It stands for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol. Without getting technical, it is what makes every single device you have work. The cell phone you carry, uses TCP/IP. Your laptop, uses TCP/IP. EVERYTHING that communicates over the internet uses TCP/IP. Every defensive tool uses TCP/IP. Every offensive tool uses TCP/IP. If you understand it, you have the ability to understand any tool that exists. If you learn how TCP/IP works and how to analyze network packets you will be way ahead of most. Think of it like this. TCP/IP is basically the motor of the internet. If you learn how cylinders, pistons, crankshafts, valves, and heads work, it doesn't matter what make or model the motor is placed in, you will still understand it. If you take an auto mechanics class, they don't start by teaching you different models of cars. They start by teaching you how the motor works. Don't getting stuck worrying about which tool to learn. Learn the fundamentals and learn them well. If you want to be a blue teamer, understanding TCP/IP and knowing how to analyze packets will give you the ability to drive any SIEM out there. If you want to be a Penetration Tester, understanding TCP/IP and packets will help you determine your game plan for attack. If you are pursuing GRC, understanding how the internet works will play a major part in helping an organization secure itself. If you're not willing to get greasy tearing the motor down, leave the tools in the tool chest. If you ARE willing, you'll learn how to keep it running forever. Want to Work with me? Visit me at ➡www.breakincyber.com⬅. #cybersecurity #informationsecurity #infosec #leadershipbyexample

I went from making little progress in the first 7 years of my career to becoming a VP in 5 years. Here's everything I learned about growing my career I wish I knew sooner: 1 - No one owes you anything If you want something, go and get it. Don't hold your breath waiting for favors. 2 - Hard work is not enough The # of hours you work doesn't correlate with impact. You can work long hours and barely move the needle. Impact > hours For every task on your to-do list ask: • Will it impact my main KPIs? • If skipped, would it matter? • What is the alternative cost? Don't count hours, count results. 3 - The more value you add, the more valuable you become Value triumphs MBA/Titles/Fancy resume How can you add value? • Increase revenue • Reduce costs • Efficiency Tie your work to any of these 3 and you'll become invaluable. 4 - Showing is better than telling Talk is cheap. Anyone can do it. If you want to earn an opportunity prove you can do it. • Identify a gap • Take initiative • Solve a problem Do the work before you ask for the reward to earn it. 5 - You're not supposed to be a superhero You are not supposed to have it all figured out. You are not supposed to do it all on your own. That's why we have: • Team members • Colleagues • Mentors So we can delegate, collaborate and ask for help. Even Wonderwomen has the Justice League. Iron Man has the Avengers. They're better together. 6 - When you believe in yourself, others believe in you It's counterintuitive, but that's how it works. If you doubt yourself - people will doubt you. If you have no idea what you are doing, but you believe you can figure it out, they'll follow you blindly. Trust yourself. 7 years with little progress Then IC to VP in 5 years. That's what happens when you learn which levers to pull. 💪 Repost ♻️ to help someone grow their career faster

Not to age myself, but when I first started working in communications, there was a hard line between internal and external communications. This was a time before every colleague had a laptop and before cell phones were in every pocket. I think it’s safe to say that today’s pace of information exchange is vastly different.    Now, instead of a firm line, I often think internal and external communications are becoming one – with employees as one of your most important audiences to engage. As fellow communicators look to find this balance between internal and external communications, I wanted to share a few tips that have helped me throughout my career.  🧩 Integration: Make sure internal and external channels are represented, keeping a cohesive message between the two. 💪 Consistency: Maintain a steady cadence in pulsing out communications so audiences know what to expect and when.  🔨 Utility: Find new ways to expand existing tools to solve other communications goals – work smarter, not harder. 🤝 Engagement: Keep even the small elements engaging. For example, here at Thermo Fisher Scientific, we started sharing a colleague highlight reel at the start of our quarterly global town hall meeting. Colleagues feel great about seeing themselves AND we improved the buffering problem of having thousands of colleagues join an event at the same time. 🎨 Creativity: Don’t lose sight of creativity as you find the right blend of engaging and informing your audience.  What tips do you have for balancing internal and external communications? Do you think these are still separate strategies? 

Office politics are the number one career blocker clients cite to me as a coach. People hate them. We feel powerless. We see decisions being made for illogical reasons and personal benefit and it is frustrating. Here is how you can handle them. First, office politics are hard to define precisely (I invite you to try in the comments - please share your definition). But, we all know them when we feel them. It is that feeling that decisions are not being made based on what is rational, what the data shows, or what is best for the project. We are normally taught that decisions should be made with data and analysis. And, we are told that at our company we share a common purpose: to help the company sell its products or services, to serve customers, and to grow and succeed. When decisions are not made to serve this purpose, but are instead made to bolster the standing, budget, visibility, or power of the leader, that is politics. When unrelated projects are tied together to get leverage (”we'll do this thing, but only if you do that thing”), that is also politics. It is easy to feel powerless in these situations. They are frustrating because our normal tools of influence stop working. Data and logic no longer work because the “politician” has changed the decision criteria. However, because we are generally expected to use data and logic to make decisions, politicians cannot admit what they are doing. This leads them to conceal their true motives (sometimes even from themselves) and to lie about their goals. It also leads them to attack the data or even attack you personally as a way of justifying their hidden agenda. This is why politics are so cancerous. Good companies and good leaders reduce office politics. If you are a leader, avoid them yourself and fight them for your team. But, we all face politics at some point, so it serves to get good at them. Here’s how you can do that: 1. Figure out the real agenda - what does that person actually want? 2. Can you give it to them without harm? Can you expose it without retribution? 3. Gather allies. Politicians read the winds, they will give up on losing battles. 4. Avoid such people in the future. Work around them. Shun them. Leave if you must. 5. The worst politicians are dangerous. They hold grudges and seek to remove enemies. Make sure you don't become one. Finally, it is important to note that you do not have to become sleazy to be good at countering politics. You can still tell the truth and be ethical. What you do need is to understand the hidden agenda and help others see what is really going on. The bottom line is this: if you face politics, get good at them or suffer. It is naive to think you can always stand silently above them. I wish we could, but we cannot. Readers, share your political stories and what you did to survive or win. For ongoing advice on office politics and other unspoken topics, subscribe to my free newsletter:

Most people think career success comes from making the perfect decision. It doesn’t. It comes from making timely, values-aligned ones. Especially when the next step feels unclear. One of my clients, a brilliant VP, spent 3 months stuck on a single choice: “Do I speak up about being overlooked, or wait for my work to speak for itself?” She called it strategic patience. But it was really fear disguised as overthinking. We ran it through this framework. She made the call. Six weeks later, her promotion was fast-tracked. She was finally seen, heard, and most importantly, included. Because here’s what I tell every high-achiever I coach: You don’t need more time to decide. You need a better way to decide. Try the 2-Minute Decision Framework™ (Career Edition): 1. QUICK DECISIONS → Handle it NOW For low-stakes tasks that clog your mental bandwidth: → Can you respond to that email in < 2 minutes? → Is the request low risk and easily reversible? → Are you spiraling on something that just needs action? ✅ Do it. Momentum builds trust and confidence. (Your career doesn’t stall in the big moves, it drips away through tiny indecisions.) 2. TEAM DECISIONS → Resolve it TODAY For collaborative work or project bottlenecks: → Who’s recommending this approach? → Who’s doing the work? → Who’s accountable for the final call? ✍️ Assign roles. Align expectations. Move forward. (Most team confusion comes from no one knowing who’s driving.) Use this anytime you’re: – Leading a cross-functional project – Navigating performance reviews – Building team trust through shared clarity 3. CAREER DECISIONS → Make it THIS WEEK For decisions that affect your growth, visibility, and voice: Use the 3–2–1 Method: → 3 options: Brainstorm career paths, scripts, or solutions → 2 perspectives: Ask two mentors, not the whole internet → 1 call: Choose the path aligned with your long game 🎯 Clarity > complexity. Every time. This works for: – Deciding whether to advocate for a raise or promotion – Considering a lateral move for growth – Navigating visibility or speaking up on tough issues The truth is: courageous careers aren’t built on perfect plans. They’re built on small, aligned decisions made with intention. That’s C.H.O.I.C.E.® in action. So here’s your coaching moment: 🔥 Pick one decision you’ve been avoiding. Run it through the framework. Make the call within the next hour. Then ask yourself: What changed when I finally decided? ❓ What’s one career decision you’ve been sitting on too long? Share it below, or DM me, and we’ll run it through together. 🔖 Save this for your next “Should I…?” moment 👥 Tag someone who needs this framework in their toolkit Because alignment isn’t found in overthinking. It’s built through C.H.O.I.C.E.®. ➕ Follow Loren Rosario - Maldonado, PCC for tools that actually work in real life. #CareerCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment