Yes, Im European, and yes what they say about our indulgences is true…
You are not my only one…
But thats a good thing - Let me explain
I run my business providing clients access to talent in two geographies, South Africa and The Balkans
Sometimes clients dont want to go too far away (geographically speaking) to hire, they want countries closer by, in case they want to hire directly, bring them into to their offices, or even expand their business to those neighbouring or nearshore countries - currently have a client that is going quite hard on expanding in Bosnia.
So i’ve been busy cheating on you, finding someone else, someone exciting and European - I hope your heart is still in one piece…
That being said, it gives me a good sense of what clients are looking for when exploring multiple geographies
So today we are chatting about selling yourself
So lets jump in - Pimp B (my name on the streets) has some words of wisdom
Communication
This one sounds obvious, but maybe its because you’re so used to speaking english every day, you kinda overlook it
Strong english - you really want to have high fluency and pronunciation, this gives clients comfort in looking further afield into countries they know little to nothing about
Easy comms - this I want to say is about speed more than anything, clients are always hesitant and put hurdles in their minds that have to be jumped over to give them confidence in going overseas for talent
Fast comms = certainty,
Slow comms = doubt, confirmation that this idea might not be best for them, risk and trepidation
Details - in what you have done, what you are doing and what you can do, don’t let comms become vague and opaque, you want the client to feel their idea of SA is a good one, and that is helped when you can clearly commuicate what you’ve done and what you’re capable of doing, i.e. the value you can add to them
I recently had an amazing iOS developer get passed over, just because of this very reason, Lazar, i then had another great dev, Anton, who’s english wasnt as strong, and i literally worked with him for about an hour, before the interview - and he made it to the next round - all because we made his comms clear, structured and detailed
Lazar is a better dev, but Anton is the employed dev…
Im not particularly proud of this statement, and I will look for more opportunities for Lazar, but his english didnt sell him and someone with worse comms, but practice, did get “sold” to put it blatantly
Experience
I’m going to tell you a story of my girlfriend getting a hair cut
My girlfriend got her haircut the other day - and was walking around the house, strutting her stuff… How did this lead to an argument? it didnt, but for the suspense of this story, lets say it did…
She got what would be the equivalent of 1 hair strand cut by like 1cm, in her eyes, she was a brand new girl, someone I should be excited and nervous to meet…
In my eyes, nothing changed, which isnt a bad thing - but I didnt know she got a hair cut till
she told me
she showed me
That part 2 is very important, you are walking around with a fresh cut but most people dont know you got one, because they dont know how you looked before, or because they are so used to you
Its the same with your experience, you want people to value it, but people have no idea about it.
Sit down, write down what you have accomplished at work, at life, at education, at sports - you have to have clear, easily remembered stories
Focus most on the work part, unless your education/life has something very closely tied to work - like a dev we recently hired, he loves Tattoos and he built an app to size, shade and print tattoo stencils, thats Life and Work coming together as one
And i bet you people will remember that story, more so than “i built features, debugged some code, worked 10 years”
The Job Market
If you’ve got one, appreciate it, if you’re looking for one, forgive yourself, it takes time and way more time than you’d like both from a “talking with friends about the latest updates” as well as “im going to be broke soon” side of things
Why am I saying this to you?
Because you have to prepare - Comms and Experience - you have to put a lot of time into this, so that when the right opportunity comes, you are best placed to capture it
The job market isnt passive, and you cant afford to be either - You have to put time and effort into this, and make sure you nail all interviews, so that if nothing comes of it, you know you did your best, you know you dont have to beat yourself up
I’ve been rejected plenty of times, i lose all the time, and when I dont feel bad, is when i did my best - when i do feel bad, is when i see i took shortcuts
There is no shortcuts in this market - there is no AI will solve this for me - there is no it’s going to come
So lets get out there and kick some ass, and let people know we kick ass
Even if you’re happily employed - these above tips will also help you, not just stay employed, but rise above and get promoted in what is without doubt, the worst job market in basically everyones memory - unless youre like 50 something, in which case, it probably still is the worst market you’ve ever experienced.
Let’s get after it peeps!
Have a wonderful week ahead
P.S im writing this on a saturday - just after noon - going to post this bad boy and see you in your inbox!
THATS A WRAP
This was a different kind of post - it was a long ass story, so I want to know what you think about it
Reply here and let me know - do you prefer these kinds of stories that then tie in advice? do you think i grew my balls or just acted emotionally? do you miss the old format? should I combine the old with the new? etc….
ANY HOW!
Let me know if you like this and as usual:
LinkedIn - I’m always hiring - but only 2 to 4 people a month - connect with me on and send me your CV - currently, I only hire people with 7 or more years of experience - if you have less, but are EXCEPTIONAL, i’ll make exceptions
Youtube - i’m always making content to help you out, subscribe and binge
Free Career Advice - i’m going to be giving away CV feedback for early subscribers for free, I usually charge $100 for a resume roast - i’ll make a recording and send you feedback - just reply back to this email with your CV - its totally free for first 10 people