‫As we've discussed, it can be hard to communicate with a project manager, boss or team mates if you
‫don't have a job.
‫And if you've recently learned some skills through an online course and acquired some certificates,
‫it can be tempting to jump straight into the next one and get the next certificate and the next.
‫But what are you really chasing?
‫Are you after more certificates or more skills?
‫Now, a thing you should remember is that no matter how good the course you can assume, the skills
‫you learn there will be commoditized.
‫That means many other people will have gone through the same course, acquire the certificates, same
‫skills as you, and then we'll be looking for similar jobs to what you are.
‫Now let's say Janet posts a job vacancy and receives 673 applicants through an online form.
‫You can imagine how hard it is for your resume to stand out.
‫Now, this isn't to say you shouldn't apply through an online form.
‫But if you are really serious about getting a role somewhere, start the job before you have it.
‫How?
‫By working on and sharing your own projects which relate to the role you're applying for.
‫I call this the Weekend Project Principle.
‫During the week.
‫You're building foundational skills through various courses like the one you're going through now.
‫But on the weekend you design your own projects, projects in line with the role you're after and work
‫on them.
‫Working on your own projects helps you build specific knowledge.
‫They're what compound this type of knowledge that you learn in courses into skill.
‫Skill which can't be taught in courses.
‫Let's see it in practice.
‫Joe.
‫And Melissa.
‫Apply for a data scientist role to Janet.
‫They both make it through the interviews and are now sitting in an interview room with Janet.
‫She looks at both their resumes and notice that they've both done similar courses.
‫This is great.
‫And she asked Joe if he's worked on any of his own projects and he tells her no.
‫He's only had a chance to work on coursework but has plenty of ideas.
‫Now she asked Melissa the same question and she pulls out her phone and tells Janet that she's built
‫a small app to help read food labels.
‫Now, you see, Melissa's daughter can't have gluten and got confused every time she tried to figure
‫out what was in the food she was eating.
‫Now the atmosphere is built, isn't perfect, but it helps her daughter figure out what foods she should
‫eat.
‫Now, I want you to ask yourself, if you were Janet.
‫Which candidate would you lean towards?
‫You see, working on your own projects helps you build specific knowledge.
‫I can't stress this enough.
‫Your own projects are what?
‫Compound knowledge into skill.
‫Now, what should you work on?
‫See, the hard part is you've got unlimited options.
‫But the best part is you've got unlimited options.
‫One method is to find out the ideal company.
‫As we said before, you want to work for.
‫And then figure out.
‫Do your research.
‫What does a person in that position do day to day?
‫Find out.
‫And then design your own six week project.
‫You might be wondering why six weeks?
‫Well, the worst case is if it doesn't work out, it's only six weeks.
‫And the best case is you're going to surprise yourself at what you can accomplish in 42 days.
‫Now, if you're still stuck, you can follow your interests, use this same sort of timeline.
‫If you don't have an ideal company you'd like to work for, think of an ideal role you'd like to work
‫for.
‫Design it yourself again.
‫The worst case is after six weeks, you'll know whether to pursue something you're working on.
‫Okay.
‫I set up another six week project or move on to the next thing.
‫Now, instead of only having a collection of certificates, you've got a story to tell.
‫You've got evidence of you trying to put in what you've learned into practice, exactly what you'll
‫be doing on a job.
‫And if you're wondering where the evidence comes from, it comes from you.
‫Documenting your work.
‫Writing it down.
‫Where?
‫On your own blog, you might be wondering why a blog?
‫I'm not even a writer.
‫We've discussed this before, but it's worth repeating because writing down what you're working on helps
‫solidify your thinking.
‫At the same time as helping others on a similar journey to learn from you what you've done.
‫What would you like to have known when you were at week one?
‫That's the things you can write about.
‫You could start with the post per week detailing how your six week project is going, what you've figured
‫out in week one, what you've figured out in the next week, what you're doing in week three.
‫Remember what something you'd like to have known sooner?
‫Probably the best type of post you can write is helping your past self, because if you had a question
‫on something, likelihood someone else will have a similar question.
‫Now again, remember, your project doesn't have to be perfect.
‫None are.
‫And your writing doesn't have to be perfect either.
‫But by the end of the six weeks, the beautiful thing is you're going to have a series of articles detailing
‫your work, as well as something that you can point at and say, This is what I've done.
‫Now, if you're looking for resources to start a blog, I'll leave some in the resources section.
‫But at the moment, dev blog by hash node and fast template by the fast eye team are both free and require
‫almost zero set up to get started.
‫Otherwise, medium is the next place to get writing and to get sharing your own projects.
‫You can share your articles on Twitter, LinkedIn, or even if you're tactical enough, send them directly
‫to the person in charge of hiring for the role you're after.
‫All right.
‫So now we've looked at communicating with your team and starting a job before you have it, designing
‫your own six week projects to build specific knowledge.
‫And one of the best ways to communicate you and share your work is documenting it on your blog.
‫Let's find out how you might communicate with people outside your team.
‫The kind of people who might be reading your blog.