Alan Corey - Subversive Job Search: How to Overcome a Lousy Job, Sluggish Economy, and Useless Degree to Create a Six-Figure Career

The Subversive Job Search

How to Overcome a Lousy Job, Sluggish Economy, and Useless Degree to Create a Six-Figure Career

By Alan Corey

Copyright 2013 by Alan Corey

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

THE SUBVERSIVE JOB SEARCH
EDITED AND TYPESET BY DIANA GHAZZAWI
Cover design by Howard Grossman
Printed in the U.S.A.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Corey, Alan.

The subversive job search : how to overcome a lousy job, sluggish economy, and useless degree to create a six-figure career / by Alan Corey.

pages cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-60163-257-9 -- ISBN 978-1-60163-536-5 (ebook)

1. Career development. 2. Job hunting. I. Title.

HF5381.C687825 2013

650.14--dc23

2012047122

I have dedicated this book to you.

Okay listen, if I were you, Id tell all your friends youve got a book dedicated to you. Thats pretty sweet, right? Now each friend that you get to buy the book, this book will also be dedicated to him or her! Its up to you. You can be the nice guy here, or you can choose to hog all the glory for yourself. I dedicated it to you because I knew you would do the right thing. (But please dont tell my sister Jill to buy it; I dont want to dedicate this book to her.)

It was a dark and shitty night. Inside the house, a computer screens blue glow bathed a face in pink and blue, like the colors of a nursery. But it was on a mans face with a five-day stubble and not a baby face, though according to his wife, he was definitely acting like a baby. No. Nope. Hell no. Shit no. No way. Jesus H. Mothershitterneverinamillionyears.

Sorry to start off so vulgar, but that was my uncensored mindset as I dug through hundreds of job listings online for the fourth week in a row, dismissing each potential occupation as being beneath me. When I occasionally found ones that I liked, I would assume Im an unqualified applicant, swear uncontrollably, and move on to the next job listing. That mindset didnt serve me .

I was in a funk, and not like a James Brown kind of a funkmore like the kind many of you may have experienced before, or are possibly experiencing now, while trying to plot your escape from a dead-end job or even unemployment. This irritable funk of mine has also been known to appear around irrational bosses, impossible-to-please authority figures, or just about any bad situation that doesnt seem to have a quick fix. Bills piling on top of stress on top of bills on top of stress can make my personality a fragile Jenga tower of profanity-packed tirades. If you arent convinced I had enough reason to have such a spirited tongue, please let it sink in how far my star had fallen: I was just two years removed from celebrating the release of my first book, A Million Bucks by 30, my rags-to-riches tale of how I had achieved a million dollar net worth in just six and half years. And here I was about to turn 31, fully ashamed that I just took a government-mandated job training course so that I could start collecting unemployment checks.

But dont fret! Youre reading this book because I found a remedy to my no-income-inspired malediction. Yes, I made my way back on top again. And this time for good. Im here to share my experiences, my lessons learned, and possibly a few more creative outbursts with you. When I reached my financial rock bottom, I decided my only way out of my funk was to set an overly optimistic goal for myself and do whatever I can to achieve it. Unhelpful advice from loved ones of just find a job gave me no direction. Eventually I learned, during the course of 18 months, what it took to go from rock bottom to rock-star and from unemployment to a six-figure income. Dont worry, Ill save you the year and a half it took me, and Ill get to the good stuff quickly. With the right moves, you could be in a whole new pay grade in just six months time. Ill not only teach you how to land a job, but Ill also teach you how to get the bonus you deserve, nail down that raise, and talk yourself into a higher-paying position once you get that job. Whether you are currently employed or not, after reading this book, youll be richer in more ways than one.

My story is meant to inspire and to motivate. If you need to know anything about me, its that Im just a regular guy. If I can do it, then you can do it. Yes, I was in a state of deep depression at one point. My savings were depleted. My income had vanished. My skill set (namely, real estate) no longer served a purpose in a collapsing housing economy. I was embarrassed of my predicament. I was ashamed. I was scared. On top of that, I was a new father and gaining new responsibilities daily. The pressure was on. I had to find a job, any job, and that was quickly becoming the hardest thing in the world to do. But I eventually found a way. And so can you.

Though it may seem like I should be a character in a Horatio Alger novel, I didnt achieve my goal because of any special talents or inside connections. I didnt become a well-heeled investment banker, or a high-powered lawyer, or a jet-setting jewel thief, or even get some sweet family-owned business gig. When I decided that I had to do everything I could to land a six-figure career, I definitely didnt know what I was getting into, but I was excited to make it happen.

So how did I do it? Well, you got a whole book to read to find that out! But Ill give you the first step. Its the same one I used in A Million Bucks by 30. To begin with, I started setting realistic goals for myself. I decided I was going to do everything I could to earn a six-figure salary. I made a commitment to myself to always be looking for a way to make more money until Ive reached my goal. With a $100,000 annual pay day, I knew I could support my family with no problem and have plenty left over. I had never made six-figures working for someone else before. Hell, Id never made more than a $55,000 salary before. Id been successful working for myself, but entering the corporate world again was going to be a challenge. With this small goal, it made me face the hard truth that I maybe had to start over at an entry-level job. I needed to do something as I was currently going nowhere by sitting around collecting unemployment checks with a finite end-date. I didnt want to resort to begging and borrowing, so I threw all my efforts into building a career.

In the following chapters, Ill break down exactly how I achieved six-figures from nothing, and the strategies and steps I took along the way. Each chapter will begin with my autobiographical journey of stumbling into a career path, subversively job hopping, and then finding creative ways to increase my salary. These tales will be followed by a Subversive Job Search 101, a quick recap and highlights of my lessons learned, and a What You Can Do Today guideline for taking control of your paycheck. These sections will provide the takeaway lessons from my anecdotes and give you concrete next steps to increase your career prospects. Also scattered throughout the book are Subversive Job Tips that provide unique advice to get noticed by taking the extra step in a crowded marketplace. Each chapter will then conclude with Salary Science, actual studies and research you can use for additional support to get you to where you want to go.