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Episode 32: How to get companies to create roles for you, with Isaac Morehouse of Crash.co

Welcome to The Career Clarity Show, where we help you find a lucrative, soulful, and joyful career path for you! 

Ever seen a great organization you’d love to work for but been absolutely crushed to see they weren’t hiring at the moment?

Happens. Every. Day.

Most people have stumbled across (or stalked…) a dream company, swooned, and gotten excited about contributing to the company…only to find there aren’t any currently available roles that fit you. (Cue the sad trombone and professional heartbreak.)

And most people interpret that information as a big, fat “THERE’S NO CHANCE” sign, give up their hopes and dreams, maybe bookmark the job board page on their browser, and keep moving along to other less-dreamy pastures.

But what if you didn’t have to give up? What if you didn’t throw in the towel and actually got the opportunity to custom-create your own job offer?

Sound nuts? If you’re rolling your eyes, know this: there’s a GIANT invisible job market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that 70% of open roles are never truly posted publicly online. Oh, they’re real jobs all right, but they’re filled by an internal candidate or by a referral from a trusted source. Hence, they’re hidden from the external eye (i.e., YOU) and—no matter how many times you refresh that job board–you’ll never even have the opportunity to throw your hat in the ring if you’re relying on an online application. 

Given that less than 30% of all jobs are filled by online applicants anyway, knowing there are so many roles that will  never pop in your Google searches (no matter how much of a Boolean master you are) might be frustrating as hell or make you feel hopeless. 

But, there’s hope! In his interview on The Career Clarity Show podcast, job-hacking enthusiast Isaac Morehouse sees this statistic as an opportunity. His company Crash teaches job seekers how to get creative to hack the job market and find those invisible roles—or convince companies to create roles for them.

Crash’s approach rests on one simple principle: if a company can see proof of what you can do for them, they are (approximately) a million times more likely to hire you.

It’s a revolutionary way to think about job searching because the burden of proof is on you—not them. If you really want a company to take you seriously, you need to up your job search game by showing them more tangible evidence of your capabilities.  

You’ve gotta present the evidence. “Proof,” if you’re a career switcher, can mean creating a lean and mean “minimum viable product” (or MVP, if you’re trying to sound hip) for your dreamy future employer. 

The MVP is essentially a proof of concept that shows off your capabilities and the way you think, while also creating something valuable that your target company can use immediately. If you wanna make the most effective use of your time AND impress the pants off your future boss, generate a work sample. 

Typically, the most powerful MVPs live at the intersection between your old domain of expertise and your new desired pathway. Really challenging yourself to think about how you can create value from the outside and use your past knowledge is super important.

Let’s say you’re an attorney trying to pivot into business operations. A possible MVP for you might be a preliminary risk audit of a specific business practice, a list of questions to help evaluate the viability or liability from a new product feature, or your white paper on the most persuasive arguments the sales team can use to share about the company’s work. 

If you’re a digital marketing expert who wants to become a product manager, your MVP could be an agile project outline for rolling out a new marketing message, the list of customer requirements you’d use to vet the engineering team’s work, or the scrum meeting outline for executing a launch.   

If you’re a program director looking to elevate yourself to the role of chief operations officer for the company, a great MVP could be an audit of internal processes and how they can contribute to a project’s success or failure. 

On The Career Clarity Show podcast, Isaac shares how he once received a cold email from a prospective employee. There was no pre-existing relationship, so this was truly a shot in the dark from the candidate. Instead of the typical chest-pounding email cover letter touting all his own accomplishments and past work, this individual sent along a (totally pro bono) work sample demonstrating his current capabilities and explaining his work process. He focused on how he could create value for Isaac instead of trying to dazzle him with professional accolades (or even a resume). And, as Isaac says on the podcast, the free work left a huge impression on him.

What a game-changing way to search for jobs: do a few tiny work samples for free (that just so happen to also benefit you by helping beef up your portfolio) and put them in the hands of potential hiring managers who will either create a role for you on the spot or be willing to stick their necks out for you by forwarding your message along to anybody else they know who could possibly hire you. #MakeShitHappen

Have you ever created a bite-sized work sample for a future employer? What ideas do you have for projects you could make for that company you’ve been dreaming of working for?

Want to learn more about our strategic framework for successful career change? Download The Roadmap to Career Fulfillment ebook right here!

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About the Author Lisa Lewis

Lisa is a career change coach helping individuals feeling stuck to find work that fits. She helps people clarify who they are, what they want most, and what a great job for them looks like so they can make their transition as easily as possible. Lisa completed coaching training in Jenny Blake’s Pivot Method, Danielle LaPorte’s Fire Starter Sessions, Kate Swoboda's Courageous Living Coaching Certification, and the World Coaches Institute. In addition to that, she apprenticed with the top career coaches in the country so she can do the best possible work with — and for — you. She's helped more than 500 individuals move into more fulfilling, yummy careers and would be honored to get to serve you next!

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