I am not much of a poster, but I decided I might as well start strong. I am looking for some advice with an idea, but I want to share a little story first. I will have a TLDR; at the bottom.
Like many, I have struggled to find a job in tech, specifically as a PM. Before the pandemic, I handled dozens of projects because I wanted to expose myself through experience and hope that would replace my *lack of experience*. My projects ran within resource constraints and timelines, and my stakeholders were always happy, but I didn’t have formal PM experience. I applied and applied to my megacorp of an employer and finally got a phone screen, to which I was told oh, those projects don’t count since it is not your primary responsibility. I go to my manager and ask what I am missing, and sure enough, she goes those projects are for me, and I am giving you the chance to be a part of them. When it came to getting credit for my results, I was given an excellent job pat on the back and a free lunch if I was fortunate. Queue pandemic, and sure enough, I was laid off.
I apply, apply, and then apply some more. My resume was updated; it had all my projects. Everyone at my old job said it’s a great resume! So what gives? I clocked in at around 1000 applications on LinkedIn alone and pretty much nothing; sure enough, the recruiters said the same thing I need experience as a PM to be a PM… Catch 22 at its finest. I find r/recruitinghell makes me feel a little better that I am not suffering alone. I find r/overemployed what… now in tech, even PMs can hold multiple jobs bringing in 6 figures no problem, then I end up at r/antiwork and realize all of these resolves are the same concept we are all getting fucked… I do some more research and write down what successful PMs do, see their resumes, youtube, career coaches, etc. Eventually, I made a list of the good resources escaping from the youtube clickbait of being a PM at Google but first, “tell me, how would you launch an invisibility cloak?”. Look it up. It’s a real thing.
So I updated my resume, LinkedIn, education, and from my usual failed interview once a month almost overnight, I went to 5. Then 10. Then 15… I couldn’t do anymore in a week. What changed? I rebuilt my online presence/resume from scratch to the title and experience I should have been given from my last employer, who thought I was more valuable to them as an ambitious little worker bee than looking out for my growth.
I went from unemployed to overemployed overnight. I hold two PM jobs and all my bosses are happy with my work. This leads me to think if I spent so much time (which I can admit is a privilege on its own) looking for the job I wanted and believed and now proved I can excel at, to see how I can help others do the same. Now I want to be very clear that I did the work of a PM, and that is why I can do it now just fine, but if I didn’t create a believable fiction based on my experience, no one would ever have given me a chance. I want to start a community with a centralized knowledge base where lying isn’t looked down upon and everyone can be anonymous, all to have the career each of us deserves in this world where everyone doesn’t want to train. I helped out one of my friends with what I had made and coached him. He took the first offer to get him out of his last job in a month, and I believe I can do the same for many more.
I was thinking of creating a discord channel with some sort of coaching service, resume, education, interview prep, etc.
I am thinking like $5-$10 a month service or something where I can justify the time creating your ideal persona. It’s not concrete. I want to test the waters and ask… Would you guys be interested in something like this?
TLDR;
I found the secret sauce of getting six-figure PM roles and want to create a discord channel to build an anonymous community with a centralized knowledge base and career services to find professional success. Later I want to expand to many other tech roles. Why tech? It usually pays the most. I have learned there’s no loyalty for any company. Just pay me.