What the hell this is all about?

In the next 7 minutes, you'll learn what this newsletter is about and how you can use it to enhance or kickstart your career.

This newsletter isn't related to the tech field, and I won't focus on "hard skills" development here.

I'm not providing a step-by-step guide because everyone has a different story, goals, challenges, and measures of success. Instead, I'll share my knowledge, failures, and what has helped me along the way. What works for me might not work for you, but if it does, I'll be more than happy for you.

Here's what I consider my career success, even though I've just started. I believe in sharing knowledge and always being curious to learn from others, and now I think it's time to share my own experiences.

TL;DR of my path: finished high school -> started university -> quit university after 1 year -> worked at a warehouse -> moved to another country to work as a dishwasher in a kitchen (despite having no previous kitchen experience) -> became a chef -> started exploring the data science field while still working as a chef -> worked + self-studied for ~3-4 years -> returned to my home country -> COVID-19 pandemic -> landed a 3-month contract as a data analyst -> secured a full-time contract -> changed companies 3 times -> currently working as a lead analyst + reporting project tech lead -> learning ML to continue my professional journey -> starting a newsletter on soft skills, behavioral skills, and career development (yes, this one).

Everyone likes numbers, so my salary increased by 346% over 4 years. It has currently slowed down because I've reached the market average, and I’m focusing on knowledge and continuous development towards ML (Machine Learning) rather than job hopping for a higher salary.

In addition, I've already helped a few friends land jobs by giving advice on resumes and conducting mock behavioral interviews. One friend was able to reduce their interview stress and land a job in the tech field. Another friend didn’t pass the resume screening initially but after revising their resume, HR started to consider them.

I know this isn’t a lot, but it's a small proof of improvement, and I feel proud about it.

Overall, we'll discuss discipline, interviews, preparation, resumes, behavioral skills, how to market yourself effectively, and why being a jerk is detrimental because no one wants to work with jerks.

I'll share my tips, knowledge, resources, and approaches—everything that has helped me. I believe the tech domain has a complex interview cycle, often consisting of multiple rounds (an average of 5 rounds), starting with the resume and a small chat. If you pass those, your domain skills need to shine (hard skills). However, if you fail the initial behavioral rounds, you won’t even get to the domain-specific rounds. Therefore, be prepared to sell yourself and present yourself as a valuable candidate.

This is also new territory for me, so expect ups and downs. Please share your opinions because, as I always say, sharing is caring.

Thank you for reading this introduction!