04. Map Your Career Journey

Map Your Career Journey through Online Research

You have already identified what you want out of a career, both professionally and personally. Now it’s time to find the places that can help you meet those goals! In the exercise below, you will create a list of companies that interest you. Don’t be afraid to do some exploring outside of your industries as well—there are many tech jobs in traditionally non-tech sectors.

The goal of this exercise is to determine the next stop on your career path - likely a new job or role. With that stop in mind, you can map your journey with what to study next and specific skills to develop for that next job.

Tip: Don’t forget that this process will be a marathon, not a sprint. Explore careers and new industries with persistent curiosity. Be sure to keep your notebook next to you so you can write new questions as they come up.

Map the Next Stop on Your Career Journey

Now you're ready to perform an early job search to see what's out there.

We'll help you get started.

We performed a search for you on LinkedIn, and you can see the results when you click on the button below. We searched for "developer" jobs worldwide on LinkedIn. Click the button and see the search results. Change your search terms and apply filters. For example, only search for "web developer jobs in Miami" or "Android developer jobs in Lagos."

Go to LinkedIn Search

While browsing on LinkedIn, identify 2-3 locations you'd like to work in and find three companies hiring in those locations. The information you collect should reflect why you're interested in the company, what makes them a good fit for you, and any basic information you should know as an applicant.

For example, imagine that you are interested in companies located in Mountain View, and decide to do more research on one called Udacity. The notes you take should look something like this:

• Primary Product(s)
  • Nanodegree programs
  • Free, single courses
  • Udacity Connect
  • Corporate training
• History of the company or organization
  • Founded in 2011 by David Stavens, Mike Sokolsky, Sebastian Thrun
  • Udacity originally focused on offering university-style courses, but in 2015, Udacity started the Nanodegree program, a paid credential program which is its main product today.
• Company Mission
  • Democratize education by offering world-class higher education opportunities that are accessible, flexible, and economical.
  • "Virtually anyone on the planet with an internet connection and a commitment to self-empowerment through learning can come to Udacity, master a suite of job-ready skills, and pursue rewarding employment."
• Leadership
  • CEO: Vish Makhijani
  • President: Sebastian Thrun
  • VP, Careers: Kathleen Mullaney (I'm interested in working on career development)
  • Knowing the company's leadership, you can search for talks, blog posts, or articles about them. This will give you insight on their interests, goals for Udacity, and background information that can be talking points when you discuss Udacity.
• Why do you want to work here?
  • The mission aligns with my own belief that lifelong learning is important.
  • I see many jobs are remote-friendly and I like that flexibility.
  • I'm interested in gaining experience in the online learning space.

Mapping Exercise

Now, treat the space below as a notepad for recording notes on your research for each company. You can copy and paste this information into a new document to build upon later!

QUESTION:

Company 1

• Primary product(s)
• History of the company or organization
• Company Mission
• Leadership
• Why do you want to work here?

ANSWER:

Great job! You taken the first step in working on your industry research.

QUESTION:

Company 2

• Primary product(s)
• History of the company or organization
• Company Mission
• Leadership
• Why do you want to work here?

ANSWER:

Great job! You taken a big step in working on your industry research.

QUESTION:

Company 3

• Primary product(s)
• History of the company or organization
• Company Mission
• Leadership
• Why do you want to work here?

ANSWER:

Great job! You taken a big step in working on your industry research.