April 28, 2025 • 32 mins
Kendall Berg sits down with viral career coach and former Google recruiter Farah Sharghi, and the conversation is a corporate culture reality check. From bad résumés to bad advice, Farah calls out what most job seekers are doing wrong—and what actually works if you're trying to stand out in today’s messy job market.
With firsthand experience at companies like TikTok, Uber, Lyft, and The New York Times, Farah doesn’t hold back on the pitfalls of “spray-and-pray” job applications, inflated job descriptions, and the jealousy that cost her a corporate gig. She drops hard truths on everything from how AI has wrecked the hiring process to why most people think they’re qualified when they’re not. (Spoiler: if you don’t speak Portuguese, don’t apply for that role that requires it. Looking at you.)
The conversation also touches on the real rules of the workplace—why HR isn’t your therapist, why your LinkedIn is your brand, and why networking shouldn’t only happen when you’re jobless. Oh, and there's a very real callout to anyone who thinks being “too honest” at work is a strength.
In this episode, we discuss:
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What are ghost jobs and why do companies post them?
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How can I tell if I’m actually qualified for a job?
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What’s the biggest mistake job seekers make with AI-generated résumés?
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Why doesn’t HR support employees the way we expect?
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How can I build a personal brand that attracts job offers?
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That Career Coach
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/
Build out the tools you need to navigate the corporate game: — Self Driven Mastermind
Connect with Farah :
Work With Me: https://stan.store/farahsharghi
Website: https://www.farahsharghi.com
Podcast Production by Dany Albertina
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Farah Sharghi (00:00):
That proportion is 75% unqualified, 25% qualified. And I'm sure some of y'all are listening. You're like, I'm 100% qualified for every job I apply to. I bet you're not. I bet you are not. Let me tell you how I know this, because I have clients. For example, I have this one lady and she applied for a job at a very popular Silicon Valley company. And I go, huh? It says here you have to be fluent in either Spanish or Portuguese. Are you? She said, no. I go, why did you apply to this job? And she said, well, because it was remote. And I go, but you don't speak these languages, therefore you are wholly unqualified for this job. And she was like, yeah. So really, look at the job qualifications.
(00:42):
That job description is written in a way where they're telling you exactly what they're looking for.
Kendall Berg (00:49):
Welcome back to this episode of Secrets of the Career Game. So many people are trying to navigate a corporate world that is laden with secrets, overly hidden and unspoken rules to a game that most employees don't even know that they're playing. On this podcast, we try to give you a peek behind the curtains and some tips and tricks to ultimately make you successful in your career and help you progress a little bit faster. Hello, lovelies. Welcome back to the pod. Today's guest was actually sent in by you guys as a request to have on the podcast because some of her content was so relatable and so interesting that you guys wanted to hear what she had to say. So today we have fan Sarah Shargi.
(01:31):
She is a career coach, a content creator, and a former Google recruiter who helps professionals navigate their job search, land promotions, build high impact careers without burning out. She was a technical recruiter before she was out on her own. She's worked for large tech companies like Google, Lyft, Uber, TikTok, and the New York Times. And she has been featured in cnbc, BBC and Business Insider. Quite the impressive pedigree. Welcome to the show, Farah.
Farah Sharghi (01:57):
Thank you so much for having me. Kendall, lovely to be here. And thanks to all of your lovely listeners for asking me to come on. I am honored.
Kendall Berg (02:04):
It's super fun. And so were chatting right before we got started that like, being a career coach in the content world is like a wild ride. So what did your wild ride look like? How did you get here? Where are you going? Tell us all the things.
Farah Sharghi (02:19):
Okay, so I'll be as brief as I possibly can while being as detailed and focused as possible. So in terms of my education, I have an undergraduate degree in computer science from the University of North Texas, and I went there specifically to.
Kendall Berg (02:32):
No, I'm interrupting.
Farah Sharghi (02:34):
Did you graduate from unt?
Kendall Berg (02:36):
My degree is in mathematics from unt, and I took all the comp Sci classes because you had to. To major in math. Okay. Small world.
Farah Sharghi (02:43):
Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. I got chills. That's not exactly.
Kendall Berg (02:46):
Ever heard of, too. And I'm like, what are the odds?
Farah Sharghi (02:49):
Oh, that's so funny. So when I started at unt, were in the General Academic building, which is the gab in the middle of campus. And then they had bought the h. Old HP building, and then they would bus us out because, like, send the engineers off to the campus. Go. Mean green.
Kendall Berg (03:04):
I was gonna say, were you eagles or mean green? Because there was a switch that happened.
Farah Sharghi (03:08):
And, like, I was more of the white albino squirrel.
Kendall Berg (03:11):
Okay, fair.
Farah Sharghi (03:13):
Because he lived near my dorm. Yes.
Kendall Berg (03:15):
So for anyone listening, that was a total aside. But now Farah and I are best friends, so please continue with your story.
Farah Sharghi (03:22):
That's awesome. Now we have a lot to talk about. Fry street, and all sorts of fun things. Okay, cool. But I went there because they had game programming as a focus, and it was, at the time, the only university in the nation that had it. But then I got to campus, and I started seeing, like, what was involved in creating games and, like, calculus and physics. I was like, you know what I'm going to do graphics, programming. 2D is a little bit easier than 3D. It's a little easier to stomach. I bring this up for a reason, and I'll tell you why later. So my dad was also a university professor.
Kendall Berg (03:53):
He.
Farah Sharghi (03:53):
His specialty was digital imaging and signal processing, specifically the ability to read text within images and videos. So when I did my internships, like, I interned with him at Siemens, worked on postal automation machines. And so my dad wrote algorithms to convert images into, like. Like, basically recognize text within images and videos. Sorry, I got really. Yeah, I was here. There you go.
Kendall Berg (04:16):
Cool. All right, I'm tracking.
Farah Sharghi (04:18):
He worked with OCR and ICR technology. And so I also helped my dad a bit, so worked as an engineer for a while. Terrible time to be an engineer when I was. And someone suggested I go work in finance. So I ended up working in finance for a decade. Spent seven years at Fidelity Investments. I got seven promotions in seven years. Which people are like, how'd that happen? I was, like, started work in 2007, and then this big crash in 08 happened. And because of that, my career skyrocketed, which is really cool. So stayed in finance for a decade, got laid off from a job. And one of my girlfriends said, hey, why don't you reach out to this recruiting agency, Robert Half. They might be able to help you get a job.
(04:55):
So in the process of finding work, my recruiter suggested that I actually work as a recruiter. She goes, I think you'd actually be really great. Why don't you come join my team? And I was like, I'm just gonna do this to like, hack the job search strategy and let's figure this out. So started off an agency, I hated it. I was like, this is not a model for me. It's very backstabby. I just. It didn't resonate with me. And so I went to another agency. Cause I thought, well, maybe another agency would better. Got laid off within three months. And then at that point got the opportunity to interview at Apple through a connection. So a guy worked with his best friend, was a hiring manager within talent acquisition at Apple, got the interview, did eight, got an offer verbally.
(05:37):
Then they said, oh, sorry, we ran out of headcount. And I was like, no, could you do this to me? So then another friend said, wait, a friend of mine's a recruiter at Google. Why don't you go talk to him? And so that's really where my, you know, corporate recruiting career started from. Yeah, started, you know, recruiting technical talent on the hardware and software side. Google, Lyft, Uber, TikTok, the New York Times. And actually when I started working at TikTok was when I started creating content because I started seeing really bad armchair content where people were giving bad advice. I'm like, oh my God, if people do this, they will literally get put on a do not hire list, which is basically a blacklist. And so my first videos are honestly me pointing at words because I couldn't even speak.
(06:20):
I was like, I can't. So that was my way of making videos. Then I found out to be an excellent way of recruiting talent. So I kind of like kept going. And then an interesting thing happened. And I'm bringing this up in case anybody out there wants to start creating content. It started rubbing my boss the wrong way. And so I realized, wait a minute, he's jealous because I'm getting power and he doesn't like it. Interesting. So rather than let that bog me down, I was like, you know what, I'm going to go somewhere else. And I did. And so that's really where like my career led Me to where I am today. Throughout my recruiting process, I'd always been career coaching. I actually coached for a business called Hire Club. So did that off and on for many years.
(07:05):
And then in my last role I was laid off and I just said, okay, well, I guess I'll turn coaching on. And I haven't looked back since.
Kendall Berg (07:11):
That's awesome. And before we started recording, were like, we're gonna have so much to talk about. I could spend a whole hour on things you just said and we could never touch on any other topics. But I do find it really interesting because I started my technical career as a data scientist writing algorithms and doing financial analytics. So that's where my career started out of UNT as well. And very similar. Five promotions in seven years. I was offered a CFO ship before I was 30 and it was like that very fast progression. And so I actually have no recruiting experience aside from as the hiring manager. Right. I've hired hundreds of people, but I've never recruited. And so different take on the same issue.
(07:50):
That kind of led me into content creation where people were saying, you know, make sure your resume looks like this or make sure that you're saying these things in the interview. And I was like, don't do that. I wouldn't hire that. Right. And similarly was like, I'm just gonna go put my thoughts on the interwebs and see what happens.
Farah Sharghi (08:06):
Yeah. You know, and I also, I bring up the OCR technology, by the way, for those listening who don't know what that is. That's optical character recognition. So basically imagine like, you know, a camera is capturing an image and then it has to interpret that image and determine what that actually is. And so they write these algorithms that are called binarization algorithms. So binary zeros and ones, black and white. So they turn these images into black and white. And so, you know, when it comes to applicant tracking systems, you know, people like upload these like crazy looking resumes that are up for interpretation with all sorts of clip art. I call them Cheesecake Factory menu resumes. And I'm like, what are you doing? This is ridiculous.
(08:44):
Because when that resume gets converted into something that the computer can actually read, it can't parse that data because it can't actually see the text. And you know, when I try, when I explain this to people, they get all upset. And you're just trying to prevent me from getting a job. I'm like, what are you like? They prefer like stories over statistics and actual data. And I'm like, Wait a minute. I've worked with seven applicant tracking systems. I know exactly which OCRS they're using. And I work with recruiting operations, I've worked with Tableau to extract data, to look at our recruiting efforts, etc. Because I've been a manager and a hiring manager in recruitment as well, not just an individual contributor. I know how this works. And so, like, there's.
(09:30):
I don't know about you, Kendall, but do you ever feel like there's this, like, fight between, like, armchair experts and, like, people who've actually have experience?
Kendall Berg (09:38):
Yeah. So my husband would call that pepc. The problem exists between computer and chair. Like, between your computer and your chair. I'm sensing an issue. And my good rule of thumb is if you have ever loaded a resume for a job application, the next page is usually, please enter your job history information. And everybody's like, why do I have to do this if I just loaded it in the resume? Most of the time, that company will parse your data into what it thinks your job experience is. If it loads really poorly, it's going to load really poorly into the ats. And I'm not talking minor formatting things or it turns a bullet into a question mark.
(10:15):
I'm talking, like, if the whole thing looks wrong, your resume is formatted in such a way that the ATS is not going to be able to digest it, because that company is basically showing you the ATS output and they're like, confirm this. And if it looks really bad, ATS isn't going to be able to digest it. So I agree with you. And I think, you know, this is no shade on people who are used to doing things a certain way. I used to have a Cheesecake Factory menu resume.
Farah Sharghi (10:41):
Yeah.
Kendall Berg (10:42):
12 years ago, when people were physically reviewing resumes. And it worked really well for me because they would get an image of me. They would get, like, my phone number. They knew where to find me. I got a lot of interviews that way. But if you're not applying for a creative position, in which case it should be in your portfolio, not in your resume anyways. And if you're applying to anything using an ats, which is pretty much every job, it's not going to work anymore. Like, it was great when people were looking at them. You used to be able to take out a classified ad when you really wanted a job. Okay, that's like a way throwback. But now you got to play the game the way it is. So you are very familiar with the job market.
(11:18):
You're helping your Clients really navigate finding careers in what has been called a very difficult job market right now. Right. The transition, I would say beginning of 2024 to now, we have seen in my opinion, a very big slowdown in what is happening in the job market and what jobs are being posted. We're seeing more ghost positions where like the company's like we're hiring, but then that position's not real and it's just sitting there. So what are some of the trends you're seeing in the job market and then what are some of the things that you're at a high level encouraging your clients to do to kind of break through what's happening? If you have been eagerly awaiting the Secrets of the Career Game book, it is officially available for pre order.
(11:59):
This book will go over 36 strategies for building success in your career and honestly is some of my best lessons, best templates and best ways for you to start to get the success and progression in your career that you deserve. If you do pre order the book, make sure that you email a screenshot of your Pre order to thatcareercoachmail.com in order to be added to our top secret community. In that community, you'll have access to me, as well as 2 live Q& A sessions. When the book launches, you'll also get an extra early copy with the first chapter of the book. For you to read ahead, go to Amazon. Find secrets of the career 36 strategies for your career. Go ahead, place your pre order and send us an email.
Farah Sharghi (12:42):
Sure. So as a former recruiter, I never posted a ghost job, so I think that's something we should also address because there are times where companies will post what we call evergreen requisitions. So personally I've never been a fan of this. When I went to work for the New York Times, this was something that they implemented in engineering and I was like, y'all are nuts. Because if you need to hire 10 different engineers for 10 different teams within a vertical, why are you posting an evergreen requisition like you're not. You're using the wrong bait to catch the right engineers. So I actually overhauled all engineering hiring for the New York Times. Like, I mean, I don't want to give it give away any secrets. Let's just say that they, they were kicking it old school for a while so we had to modernize them.
(13:22):
Kind of like pull them into the modern times. What I have noticed though is that there is an increasing level of frustration on the job seekers side. Rightly so. Right? I'M not saying it's not frustrating, but here's the thing. None of us were ever taught properly. How to find a job, how to search for a job. We were just trained to be workers. Right? Elementary school, university, like all of that, you're just trained to work hard and expect to get the thing to get the trophy. And that's not how it works. You are not trained to know how to be an entrepreneur. Even the best universities out there that have, you know, like, entrepreneurship opportunities, it's kind of like it's outside of the curriculum of your syllabus. Right. It's not. That's not what university is designed for. University is its own institution.
(14:11):
Again, my dad was a professor. A lot of my aunties and uncles, quote, unquote, are all professors. They'll even tell you, like, yeah, and I answered to the chairman says we got to keep students happy to get our scores up so we can keep attracting more students. And that means just, you know, giving the students what they want. And if what they want is, I don't want to work hard, I just want to use ChatGPT to write my code for me because I don't actually want to learn, then they have to acquiesce, which is a really sad thing to see. To see. And so I'm seeing that in academia where students are getting lazier and not. And like, using AI in the wrong way. Right. You still have to learn.
(14:49):
Like, I remember spending hours in the lab just like, trying to figure out certain, like. Like algorithms. Like, they. It just wasn't clicking. But after a few hours of me banging my head on the wall, it finally worked and I'm like, great. And it. And it stuck. And that's how it really should be in order for that to. To really stay. So in terms of the job market.
Kendall Berg (15:07):
Yeah.
Farah Sharghi (15:08):
Seeing a lot of people getting really frustrated because they don't really understand the value of their labor. So when they're out there in the marketplace, they're like, well, I did this at work, and I did this at work. I'm like, why'd you do that? Because my boss told me to. Why'd your boss tell you to do that? I don't really know. Why didn't you ask? Or maybe let's, like, reverse engineer it. Like, what projects did you work on? Well, I kind of worked on this thing. I worked on that thing. Okay, what about your performance reviews? Do you have any of that information? So it's like, just like, kind of like trying to get people to understand that they're not just there to go clock in, do a job, and go home for the most part. Right.
(15:45):
I mean, I'm talking like white collar jobs, not blue collar jobs. But even so, the money that the company is making off of your labor is clearly more than what they're paying you.
Kendall Berg (15:56):
It should be.
Farah Sharghi (15:56):
It should be, or the company wouldn't pay you. Exactly. They'll just go find somebody else. So why are you working? Like, what is the value of your labor in the current marketplace? That's the other thing too is people don't realize the value of labor changes. So, for example, at one point there were more recruiter openings and software engineering openings during COVID when Covid first happened. And so the value of recruiting labor shot up. And then companies said, oop, sorry, we overhired. And then they just slashed their talent acquisition teams. And so then the value of recruiter labor actually came down.
Kendall Berg (16:32):
Yep. Yeah, I totally agree with that. And this is something that I talk about often as well, is you have to understand the impact of your work. And making like a slight parallel, the same is true when it comes to advocate for a promotion. I see people all the time go, well, I did this, and this in my job. You should promote me. And I'm like, well, but they paid you to do that.
Farah Sharghi (16:54):
Yeah, those are just your deliverables. That's just your core job.
Kendall Berg (16:57):
It's your salary right there. Right. And so when I talk to clients about, like, advocating for promotion, I'm like, you need to tell them what impact it's going to get the company that they're not getting right now for them to pay you more money. Right. What are you going to deliver? What are you going to do? Who are you going to manage? How are you going to help them? And then find market research that backs up that labor value. Like what listings are on LinkedIn and what are they getting paid if you're going to your boss, I'm going to use Covid as an example, since you did. Like, I knew engineers making like $500,000 in Covid. No offense to my very smart, beautiful engineers out there. That's ridiculous. Like, love you guys.
Farah Sharghi (17:36):
Yeah, that's absurd. Oh, no. You want to hear a crazier story? I'm not going to say which company, but I know an engineer who got a $900,000 sign on bonus.
Kendall Berg (17:44):
This is what I'm saying. Like, Covid, there was some crazy stuff that happened. And if you're listening to this and you're like, that didn't happen to Me?
Farah Sharghi (17:50):
Oh, it happened.
Kendall Berg (17:50):
Okay. But it's okay if it didn't happen to you because those people have since been laid off and now have no money, so it's fine. But then those people come to you and they're like, hey, I want a developer role. I want $500,000 in my next role because I want to make more than I'm making now. And I'm like, dude, that job should have never existed in the first place, let alone to expect to maintain at that level. The market just doesn't support it a lot of times. So I love what you're saying of, like, we've got to be a little bit realistic. What does the market support? What salaries are out there? What can you expect to make for certain levels of seniority? And I'm not saying you shouldn't want more money in your next job.
(18:25):
We all want more money in our next job. But then gearing your story, your resume, your LinkedIn towards that impact that they're going to get, that they're buying. But I love that. I'd love to hear you mentioned earlier. You said people underestimate the value of their labor or overestimate, how would that translate in the job search? Because, like, something that I'm seeing a lot is, like, you got to put in more effort right now, more time, more labor to get an interviewer, to get a job. What does that look like from your perspective?
Farah Sharghi (18:54):
So AI has made the job search much more challenging and difficult in ways that were not quite expected by the public. And what I mean by that is because I have a lot of people that I know in my network who are active recruiters. They're all telling me that they are getting flooded and bombarded with AI resumes. And when I say AI resumes, I'm not saying you as an individual clicking and applying with a resume that you use ChatGPT to help you write. I'm talking there are services out there where you pay 20 bucks a month and they will spray and pray your resume to all of these companies. And I've heard that there is like an overnight cycle around 2 to 3 in the morning where all of a sudden they'll get this like, influx of these resumes.
(19:34):
So part of the other problem of what's going on in the labor market is the volume of applicants has increased dramatically. However, the proportion of qual versus unqualified candidates has remained the same. That proportion is 75% unqualified, 25% qualified. And I'm sure some of y'all are listening you're like, I'm 100% qualified for every job I applied to. I bet you're not. I bet you are not. Let me tell you how I know this, because I have clients. For example, I have this one lady and I adore her and she's really sweet. And she applied for a job at a very popular Silicon Valley company. It was a sales role. And I go, huh? It says here you have to be fluent in either Spanish or Portuguese. Are you? She said, no. I go, why did you apply to this job?
(20:21):
And she said, well, because it was remote. And I go, but you don't. I go, you don't speak these languages, therefore you are wholly unqualified for this job. And she was like, yeah. I go, okay, moving on. So really look at the job qualifications. That job description is written in a way where they are telling you exactly what they're looking for. And you have to be able to read between the lines. So you also have to be able to interpret what it. What are they actually hiring for? What are the gaps that the hiring manager has that if they hire you're going to fill and close in those gaps? People don't look at it from that perspective. They look at the job title, they look at the compensation, they look at the location, they just kind of skim the requirements.
(21:06):
They're like, yeah, good enough, I'll just apply. And if they like me, great. And if they don't like me, oh well, all I did was spend five minutes applying to a job and then they get frustrated because they. All they do is throw spaghetti on the wall over and over. And they think that is effort. And unfortunately, job search historically has been very transactional. And I'm sorry, we can't go back to the 60s where you could just like literally walk into an office, shake someone's hand and get a job offer. That's just not the world that we live in because we have education inflation, right? A lot of people are getting educated, they're getting certified. There are too many qualified people out there in the labor market. So now you're competing with everybody else.
(21:45):
And so you also have to see where the skill sets going where, what are companies hiring for? Because a lot of the layoffs that have happened in tech have been a result of shift in priorities, right? It's cheaper for a company to lay off staff rather than train them up into, let's say, these new tools or these new. Or the new AI, whatever it might be, right? So being realistic and realizing that the company is not your family. They're not there to take care of you. Right. I really love the Sprinkle Lady Shira 7. It's like, you're there to make money, honey. They're there to make money off your labor, too. This is a money exchange. Okay. Like, just know they are not out of the goodness of their heart going to train you.
(22:26):
If they train you, it's because it's cheaper to train you than to hire somebody else.
Kendall Berg (22:30):
Yes. No, that's absolutely true. So last thing on the job market and then we'll switch gears just a little bit. But love to hear what role networking is playing today from a recruiter's perspective. Right. Forbes published a study in December that said 45% of roles are being filled by somebody the hiring manager either knows or was referred to the hiring manager. I'm curious, having lived it, like, how much do you see network and relationships playing in the job space?
Farah Sharghi (22:57):
I mean, I don't know where that statistic came from. I think that's a little high. But I do believe that networking is very important. It's becoming more important as we kind of like move through this cycle of hiring because again, there's so much qualified labor out there. How are they going to possibly differentiate between candidates? Like, for example, let's say you wanted to hire an executive assistant because you're that. You're that girl and you're busy, who are you likely going to hire? Somebody who like, just like, sent in an application or like your best friend going, hey, I work with this person. They're amazing. Like, and you should talk to this person. Who do you want to talk to? Obviously the one that your friend is going to recommend. Right.
(23:40):
So part of the problem, though, with networking is that people, when they need it, is when it's a little too late, Right. They don't really keep up with their network. They're not going out there and being active. So, you know, just go to a conference once a year. Come on. Like, this is part of your job, like, not just your core job, but like, these are the external things that you really need to be doing for longevity in your career. And for those of you are who are like, this is exhausting. I'm like, welcome to working in corporate. Like, this is the game. If you don't want to play the game, get out of the game, go do something else and you'll be happier, probably.
Kendall Berg (24:17):
So this is a perfect segue. Thank you so much for that, Farah. My pleasure. A lot of my Content is focused on the game itself. Right. Careers do not work the way that we theoretically think they should. Right. I would love for everybody to like, pick daisies on their lunch break and Never work past 4:30 and their boss gives them Christmas presents. And like, I would love for this utopian career society to exist. Experience. It really doesn't. So when you think of the career game, I love what you said. Like, if you don't want to be part of the career game, exit the career game. Probably be happier. I also tell people you can choose not to play, but then don't expect the results of somebody who does play.
Farah Sharghi (24:54):
Exactly.
Kendall Berg (24:55):
But love to hear you've had an exciting career. Right. You've done technology, you've done finance, you've done recruiting. How have you seen the game kind of play out? And what are some of the areas where, like, you would tell somebody like, hey, just be smart with this and otherwise you're gonna hurt your own progression.
Farah Sharghi (25:12):
I think the one thing that's universal throughout all of them is just like, watch your mouth, girl.
Kendall Berg (25:20):
Watch your mouth, girl.
Farah Sharghi (25:20):
Watch your mouth. What you saying? Be careful what you say around other people. Again, you don't know if your bestie at work is actually your bestie or if they're the one who wants to step on you to get that promotion. You know, I'm not saying that we have to look at everybody with a side eye, but like, remember your place. When you enter that building, you are a different person. You are the corporate version of you. Right? Like, this is a mask that we have to wear. And realize that we are always on stage, no matter what. Do not talk badly about your colleagues. If there are any issues, still speak in a professional tone manner. Be respectful. Even if somebody's being a jerk and an asshole. Send that to hr. Document that. Don't. Don't deal with it yourself. That ain't your job.
(26:06):
That actually isn't your job. Go send that off to somebody else you want. If somebody wants to, like, get in the weeds with you because they've got problems, go talk to your manager about it. But make sure it's documented before you do that. Otherwise, like, they're going to be like, we're not your therapist. Because, like, remember, HR is not your friend or your therapist, all right?
Kendall Berg (26:25):
You have a career coach who can be both your friend and your therapist, right?
Farah Sharghi (26:29):
And I tell people, I was like, listen, like, HR is there for a purpose, right? They are there to protect the company and the employees. They are there to do that. However they're not your therapist. And any company that would employ a therapist, like, I'd. That's probably not a good idea. It's like, what you need to spend money for a full time therapist here. Like, what is this? Palantir.
Kendall Berg (26:50):
Sorry, red flag.
Farah Sharghi (26:53):
Someone, a Palantir is going to hear this and be like, I can't believe she said that.
Kendall Berg (26:56):
How dare they. It's okay. There are companies I could slide into that example as well.
Farah Sharghi (27:00):
But that would be, I think the main thing throughout. Like, doesn't matter now or 20 years from now, it's still going to be true. It's.
Kendall Berg (27:07):
I feel like this should be your new content slogan. Just watch your mouth.
Farah Sharghi (27:10):
But I love.
Kendall Berg (27:11):
Because it is true. I say all the time, like, it's not. People will come to me and say, but my boss doesn't care about my opinion. They don't listen to what I say. Then how are you saying it? Like, start with how are you saying it? And start with, should you be saying it? And if those two things are both, like, I'm saying it correctly and yes, it's part of my core job and I should be saying it. Then we talk about, like, how do we manage up? How do we build relationships, how do we navigate that?
(27:36):
But like, if you're going to your boss and you're like, so and so was mean to me in the morning meeting and like, Jeff won't send me this report and Scott made me sad, like, your boss is going to look at you and be like, yo, bro.
Farah Sharghi (27:49):
Yeah, that means you have communication issues and maybe that's something you need to work on offline in terms of like, you know, there are ways of having, you know, healthy discussions and like, confrontation is not a bad thing. You just have to be able to approach it from a healthy perspective and just know that when you approach someone with something that you don't approach them with anger, right? Or with like, I can't believe you didn't listen to me. Oh, no, you are a grown adult. Act like it. And by the way, I say that with love and respect. But like, be very neutral in your communication and just say, hey, you know, lay it all out there, wait for the feedback. Right? And you know, it's not your boss's job to be your mom or your dad. They're not your parent, they're your boss.
(28:31):
Like, they're there to, like, make sure you don't do dumb things to water down communications from on high to make sure you do your job and, you know, make sure. Your time cards and your paychecks are running the way they should. Like, that's about it.
Kendall Berg (28:44):
I love it. So please comment below this episode if you would like Farrah and I to do a whole series called Girl, watch your mouth where we just talk about stupid stuff we've heard people say in the workplace and how they should have said it instead. Because I feel like this is like a content series that we should be running. Feel like we need it. So comment below if you're interested in that. But otherwise, Farrah, at the end of every episode, I always ask the same question. If somebody is looking to take control of their job search, take control of their career, what is one piece of tactical advice you would tell them? Like, go do this tomorrow. This will start you off on the right foot and get them started in the direction they want.
Farah Sharghi (29:21):
I would say that think of yourself as a brand and actually think about your own branding. Who are you as a brand? So I say this with love because again, I have clients who come to me and they're like, recruiters aren't reaching out to me. I'm like, you don't have anything on your link. You don't even have a profile picture on your LinkedIn. Why would anybody reach out to you? You are a ghost. Why would they reach out to ghosts? Come on. If you want the things, you have to do the things. So in terms of your brand, like, what value do you bring to the marketplace? Like, if a company hires you, why would they be stupid not to hire you? Think about it from that perspective.
(29:59):
Approach your LinkedIn as your, hey, if somebody were to learn more about me, this is what I want them to know about me. And then when you approach your internal branding at your company, know what the limitations are, right? You can't just be that person that, like, thinks outside of the box, because you have to, like, think outside of the box within the corporate box.
Kendall Berg (30:20):
Right?
Farah Sharghi (30:20):
That's just a fact. Again, if you want to be that creative type and be an individual and be loved for that, go off and do your own thing, like, with love. Mazel tov. Like, you know, like, again, like, there's nothing wrong with that, but I think oftentimes people go, well, I want to be responsible, respected for, like, what I'm saying. And, you know, they have all of these ideas and you go, listen, I. I think that's really great that you're. You're thinking in this capacity. However, you don't understand what's going on. Levels above you.
Kendall Berg (30:49):
Yes.
Farah Sharghi (30:50):
So one, like, when you get to that. When you know you get to the top of that mountain, someday in your career, you're going to go look down and go, oh, I was really naive, right? But also, again, think about like that branding piece. So when you do go to conferences, you introduce yourself, you've got that five second pitch of like, yep, this is what I do, this is, you know, who I help, etc, and again, that will carry you forward throughout your corporate career.
Kendall Berg (31:13):
Yeah, I love that. And you're so right about the context piece. I feel like the more senior I get my career, I look back, I'm.
Farah Sharghi (31:19):
Like, ooh, why'd I say that?
Kendall Berg (31:22):
Like, I'll wake up at 2am and be like, remember that one time in 2009 in a meeting where you said this stupid thing? And I'm like, why did I do that? Like, you're just, it's amazing how the wrinkles of your brain save space for things like that, but not to remember what you need at the grocery store.
Farah Sharghi (31:36):
So, so true.
Kendall Berg (31:38):
This was such a fun episode. Farrah, thank you so much for coming on that Career Coach podcast, Secrets of the Career Game. Where can people find you if they want to learn more, if they want to connect with you, if they want to be your best friend, where do they go?
Farah Sharghi (31:49):
Well, thank you again so much for having me, Kendall. You can find me on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn. So it's Farah Shargi f a r a h so 1 r not 2 and also my website, Farah Shargi dot awesome.
Kendall Berg (32:03):
Well, we will link all of that in the show notes below. If you like today's episode, go ahead and give us five stars. Leave us any questions or comments below so we can get back to you guys. But otherwise, fair. It was fabulous having you on. We'll have to have you back and thank you guys so much. We'll have another great episode next week.
That proportion is 75% unqualified, 25% qualified. And I'm sure some of y'all are listening. You're like, I'm 100% qualified for every job I apply to. I bet you're not. I bet you are not. Let me tell you how I know this, because I have clients. For example, I have this one lady and she applied for a job at a very popular Silicon Valley company. And I go, huh? It says here you have to be fluent in either Spanish or Portuguese. Are you? She said, no. I go, why did you apply to this job? And she said, well, because it was remote. And I go, but you don't speak these languages, therefore you are wholly unqualified for this job. And she was like, yeah. So really, look at the job qualifications.
(00:42):
That job description is written in a way where they're telling you exactly what they're looking for.
Kendall Berg (00:49):
Welcome back to this episode of Secrets of the Career Game. So many people are trying to navigate a corporate world that is laden with secrets, overly hidden and unspoken rules to a game that most employees don't even know that they're playing. On this podcast, we try to give you a peek behind the curtains and some tips and tricks to ultimately make you successful in your career and help you progress a little bit faster. Hello, lovelies. Welcome back to the pod. Today's guest was actually sent in by you guys as a request to have on the podcast because some of her content was so relatable and so interesting that you guys wanted to hear what she had to say. So today we have fan Sarah Shargi.
(01:31):
She is a career coach, a content creator, and a former Google recruiter who helps professionals navigate their job search, land promotions, build high impact careers without burning out. She was a technical recruiter before she was out on her own. She's worked for large tech companies like Google, Lyft, Uber, TikTok, and the New York Times. And she has been featured in cnbc, BBC and Business Insider. Quite the impressive pedigree. Welcome to the show, Farah.
Farah Sharghi (01:57):
Thank you so much for having me. Kendall, lovely to be here. And thanks to all of your lovely listeners for asking me to come on. I am honored.
Kendall Berg (02:04):
It's super fun. And so were chatting right before we got started that like, being a career coach in the content world is like a wild ride. So what did your wild ride look like? How did you get here? Where are you going? Tell us all the things.
Farah Sharghi (02:19):
Okay, so I'll be as brief as I possibly can while being as detailed and focused as possible. So in terms of my education, I have an undergraduate degree in computer science from the University of North Texas, and I went there specifically to.
Kendall Berg (02:32):
No, I'm interrupting.
Farah Sharghi (02:34):
Did you graduate from unt?
Kendall Berg (02:36):
My degree is in mathematics from unt, and I took all the comp Sci classes because you had to. To major in math. Okay. Small world.
Farah Sharghi (02:43):
Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. I got chills. That's not exactly.
Kendall Berg (02:46):
Ever heard of, too. And I'm like, what are the odds?
Farah Sharghi (02:49):
Oh, that's so funny. So when I started at unt, were in the General Academic building, which is the gab in the middle of campus. And then they had bought the h. Old HP building, and then they would bus us out because, like, send the engineers off to the campus. Go. Mean green.
Kendall Berg (03:04):
I was gonna say, were you eagles or mean green? Because there was a switch that happened.
Farah Sharghi (03:08):
And, like, I was more of the white albino squirrel.
Kendall Berg (03:11):
Okay, fair.
Farah Sharghi (03:13):
Because he lived near my dorm. Yes.
Kendall Berg (03:15):
So for anyone listening, that was a total aside. But now Farah and I are best friends, so please continue with your story.
Farah Sharghi (03:22):
That's awesome. Now we have a lot to talk about. Fry street, and all sorts of fun things. Okay, cool. But I went there because they had game programming as a focus, and it was, at the time, the only university in the nation that had it. But then I got to campus, and I started seeing, like, what was involved in creating games and, like, calculus and physics. I was like, you know what I'm going to do graphics, programming. 2D is a little bit easier than 3D. It's a little easier to stomach. I bring this up for a reason, and I'll tell you why later. So my dad was also a university professor.
Kendall Berg (03:53):
He.
Farah Sharghi (03:53):
His specialty was digital imaging and signal processing, specifically the ability to read text within images and videos. So when I did my internships, like, I interned with him at Siemens, worked on postal automation machines. And so my dad wrote algorithms to convert images into, like. Like, basically recognize text within images and videos. Sorry, I got really. Yeah, I was here. There you go.
Kendall Berg (04:16):
Cool. All right, I'm tracking.
Farah Sharghi (04:18):
He worked with OCR and ICR technology. And so I also helped my dad a bit, so worked as an engineer for a while. Terrible time to be an engineer when I was. And someone suggested I go work in finance. So I ended up working in finance for a decade. Spent seven years at Fidelity Investments. I got seven promotions in seven years. Which people are like, how'd that happen? I was, like, started work in 2007, and then this big crash in 08 happened. And because of that, my career skyrocketed, which is really cool. So stayed in finance for a decade, got laid off from a job. And one of my girlfriends said, hey, why don't you reach out to this recruiting agency, Robert Half. They might be able to help you get a job.
(04:55):
So in the process of finding work, my recruiter suggested that I actually work as a recruiter. She goes, I think you'd actually be really great. Why don't you come join my team? And I was like, I'm just gonna do this to like, hack the job search strategy and let's figure this out. So started off an agency, I hated it. I was like, this is not a model for me. It's very backstabby. I just. It didn't resonate with me. And so I went to another agency. Cause I thought, well, maybe another agency would better. Got laid off within three months. And then at that point got the opportunity to interview at Apple through a connection. So a guy worked with his best friend, was a hiring manager within talent acquisition at Apple, got the interview, did eight, got an offer verbally.
(05:37):
Then they said, oh, sorry, we ran out of headcount. And I was like, no, could you do this to me? So then another friend said, wait, a friend of mine's a recruiter at Google. Why don't you go talk to him? And so that's really where my, you know, corporate recruiting career started from. Yeah, started, you know, recruiting technical talent on the hardware and software side. Google, Lyft, Uber, TikTok, the New York Times. And actually when I started working at TikTok was when I started creating content because I started seeing really bad armchair content where people were giving bad advice. I'm like, oh my God, if people do this, they will literally get put on a do not hire list, which is basically a blacklist. And so my first videos are honestly me pointing at words because I couldn't even speak.
(06:20):
I was like, I can't. So that was my way of making videos. Then I found out to be an excellent way of recruiting talent. So I kind of like kept going. And then an interesting thing happened. And I'm bringing this up in case anybody out there wants to start creating content. It started rubbing my boss the wrong way. And so I realized, wait a minute, he's jealous because I'm getting power and he doesn't like it. Interesting. So rather than let that bog me down, I was like, you know what, I'm going to go somewhere else. And I did. And so that's really where like my career led Me to where I am today. Throughout my recruiting process, I'd always been career coaching. I actually coached for a business called Hire Club. So did that off and on for many years.
(07:05):
And then in my last role I was laid off and I just said, okay, well, I guess I'll turn coaching on. And I haven't looked back since.
Kendall Berg (07:11):
That's awesome. And before we started recording, were like, we're gonna have so much to talk about. I could spend a whole hour on things you just said and we could never touch on any other topics. But I do find it really interesting because I started my technical career as a data scientist writing algorithms and doing financial analytics. So that's where my career started out of UNT as well. And very similar. Five promotions in seven years. I was offered a CFO ship before I was 30 and it was like that very fast progression. And so I actually have no recruiting experience aside from as the hiring manager. Right. I've hired hundreds of people, but I've never recruited. And so different take on the same issue.
(07:50):
That kind of led me into content creation where people were saying, you know, make sure your resume looks like this or make sure that you're saying these things in the interview. And I was like, don't do that. I wouldn't hire that. Right. And similarly was like, I'm just gonna go put my thoughts on the interwebs and see what happens.
Farah Sharghi (08:06):
Yeah. You know, and I also, I bring up the OCR technology, by the way, for those listening who don't know what that is. That's optical character recognition. So basically imagine like, you know, a camera is capturing an image and then it has to interpret that image and determine what that actually is. And so they write these algorithms that are called binarization algorithms. So binary zeros and ones, black and white. So they turn these images into black and white. And so, you know, when it comes to applicant tracking systems, you know, people like upload these like crazy looking resumes that are up for interpretation with all sorts of clip art. I call them Cheesecake Factory menu resumes. And I'm like, what are you doing? This is ridiculous.
(08:44):
Because when that resume gets converted into something that the computer can actually read, it can't parse that data because it can't actually see the text. And you know, when I try, when I explain this to people, they get all upset. And you're just trying to prevent me from getting a job. I'm like, what are you like? They prefer like stories over statistics and actual data. And I'm like, Wait a minute. I've worked with seven applicant tracking systems. I know exactly which OCRS they're using. And I work with recruiting operations, I've worked with Tableau to extract data, to look at our recruiting efforts, etc. Because I've been a manager and a hiring manager in recruitment as well, not just an individual contributor. I know how this works. And so, like, there's.
(09:30):
I don't know about you, Kendall, but do you ever feel like there's this, like, fight between, like, armchair experts and, like, people who've actually have experience?
Kendall Berg (09:38):
Yeah. So my husband would call that pepc. The problem exists between computer and chair. Like, between your computer and your chair. I'm sensing an issue. And my good rule of thumb is if you have ever loaded a resume for a job application, the next page is usually, please enter your job history information. And everybody's like, why do I have to do this if I just loaded it in the resume? Most of the time, that company will parse your data into what it thinks your job experience is. If it loads really poorly, it's going to load really poorly into the ats. And I'm not talking minor formatting things or it turns a bullet into a question mark.
(10:15):
I'm talking, like, if the whole thing looks wrong, your resume is formatted in such a way that the ATS is not going to be able to digest it, because that company is basically showing you the ATS output and they're like, confirm this. And if it looks really bad, ATS isn't going to be able to digest it. So I agree with you. And I think, you know, this is no shade on people who are used to doing things a certain way. I used to have a Cheesecake Factory menu resume.
Farah Sharghi (10:41):
Yeah.
Kendall Berg (10:42):
12 years ago, when people were physically reviewing resumes. And it worked really well for me because they would get an image of me. They would get, like, my phone number. They knew where to find me. I got a lot of interviews that way. But if you're not applying for a creative position, in which case it should be in your portfolio, not in your resume anyways. And if you're applying to anything using an ats, which is pretty much every job, it's not going to work anymore. Like, it was great when people were looking at them. You used to be able to take out a classified ad when you really wanted a job. Okay, that's like a way throwback. But now you got to play the game the way it is. So you are very familiar with the job market.
(11:18):
You're helping your Clients really navigate finding careers in what has been called a very difficult job market right now. Right. The transition, I would say beginning of 2024 to now, we have seen in my opinion, a very big slowdown in what is happening in the job market and what jobs are being posted. We're seeing more ghost positions where like the company's like we're hiring, but then that position's not real and it's just sitting there. So what are some of the trends you're seeing in the job market and then what are some of the things that you're at a high level encouraging your clients to do to kind of break through what's happening? If you have been eagerly awaiting the Secrets of the Career Game book, it is officially available for pre order.
(11:59):
This book will go over 36 strategies for building success in your career and honestly is some of my best lessons, best templates and best ways for you to start to get the success and progression in your career that you deserve. If you do pre order the book, make sure that you email a screenshot of your Pre order to thatcareercoachmail.com in order to be added to our top secret community. In that community, you'll have access to me, as well as 2 live Q& A sessions. When the book launches, you'll also get an extra early copy with the first chapter of the book. For you to read ahead, go to Amazon. Find secrets of the career 36 strategies for your career. Go ahead, place your pre order and send us an email.
Farah Sharghi (12:42):
Sure. So as a former recruiter, I never posted a ghost job, so I think that's something we should also address because there are times where companies will post what we call evergreen requisitions. So personally I've never been a fan of this. When I went to work for the New York Times, this was something that they implemented in engineering and I was like, y'all are nuts. Because if you need to hire 10 different engineers for 10 different teams within a vertical, why are you posting an evergreen requisition like you're not. You're using the wrong bait to catch the right engineers. So I actually overhauled all engineering hiring for the New York Times. Like, I mean, I don't want to give it give away any secrets. Let's just say that they, they were kicking it old school for a while so we had to modernize them.
(13:22):
Kind of like pull them into the modern times. What I have noticed though is that there is an increasing level of frustration on the job seekers side. Rightly so. Right? I'M not saying it's not frustrating, but here's the thing. None of us were ever taught properly. How to find a job, how to search for a job. We were just trained to be workers. Right? Elementary school, university, like all of that, you're just trained to work hard and expect to get the thing to get the trophy. And that's not how it works. You are not trained to know how to be an entrepreneur. Even the best universities out there that have, you know, like, entrepreneurship opportunities, it's kind of like it's outside of the curriculum of your syllabus. Right. It's not. That's not what university is designed for. University is its own institution.
(14:11):
Again, my dad was a professor. A lot of my aunties and uncles, quote, unquote, are all professors. They'll even tell you, like, yeah, and I answered to the chairman says we got to keep students happy to get our scores up so we can keep attracting more students. And that means just, you know, giving the students what they want. And if what they want is, I don't want to work hard, I just want to use ChatGPT to write my code for me because I don't actually want to learn, then they have to acquiesce, which is a really sad thing to see. To see. And so I'm seeing that in academia where students are getting lazier and not. And like, using AI in the wrong way. Right. You still have to learn.
(14:49):
Like, I remember spending hours in the lab just like, trying to figure out certain, like. Like algorithms. Like, they. It just wasn't clicking. But after a few hours of me banging my head on the wall, it finally worked and I'm like, great. And it. And it stuck. And that's how it really should be in order for that to. To really stay. So in terms of the job market.
Kendall Berg (15:07):
Yeah.
Farah Sharghi (15:08):
Seeing a lot of people getting really frustrated because they don't really understand the value of their labor. So when they're out there in the marketplace, they're like, well, I did this at work, and I did this at work. I'm like, why'd you do that? Because my boss told me to. Why'd your boss tell you to do that? I don't really know. Why didn't you ask? Or maybe let's, like, reverse engineer it. Like, what projects did you work on? Well, I kind of worked on this thing. I worked on that thing. Okay, what about your performance reviews? Do you have any of that information? So it's like, just like, kind of like trying to get people to understand that they're not just there to go clock in, do a job, and go home for the most part. Right.
(15:45):
I mean, I'm talking like white collar jobs, not blue collar jobs. But even so, the money that the company is making off of your labor is clearly more than what they're paying you.
Kendall Berg (15:56):
It should be.
Farah Sharghi (15:56):
It should be, or the company wouldn't pay you. Exactly. They'll just go find somebody else. So why are you working? Like, what is the value of your labor in the current marketplace? That's the other thing too is people don't realize the value of labor changes. So, for example, at one point there were more recruiter openings and software engineering openings during COVID when Covid first happened. And so the value of recruiting labor shot up. And then companies said, oop, sorry, we overhired. And then they just slashed their talent acquisition teams. And so then the value of recruiter labor actually came down.
Kendall Berg (16:32):
Yep. Yeah, I totally agree with that. And this is something that I talk about often as well, is you have to understand the impact of your work. And making like a slight parallel, the same is true when it comes to advocate for a promotion. I see people all the time go, well, I did this, and this in my job. You should promote me. And I'm like, well, but they paid you to do that.
Farah Sharghi (16:54):
Yeah, those are just your deliverables. That's just your core job.
Kendall Berg (16:57):
It's your salary right there. Right. And so when I talk to clients about, like, advocating for promotion, I'm like, you need to tell them what impact it's going to get the company that they're not getting right now for them to pay you more money. Right. What are you going to deliver? What are you going to do? Who are you going to manage? How are you going to help them? And then find market research that backs up that labor value. Like what listings are on LinkedIn and what are they getting paid if you're going to your boss, I'm going to use Covid as an example, since you did. Like, I knew engineers making like $500,000 in Covid. No offense to my very smart, beautiful engineers out there. That's ridiculous. Like, love you guys.
Farah Sharghi (17:36):
Yeah, that's absurd. Oh, no. You want to hear a crazier story? I'm not going to say which company, but I know an engineer who got a $900,000 sign on bonus.
Kendall Berg (17:44):
This is what I'm saying. Like, Covid, there was some crazy stuff that happened. And if you're listening to this and you're like, that didn't happen to Me?
Farah Sharghi (17:50):
Oh, it happened.
Kendall Berg (17:50):
Okay. But it's okay if it didn't happen to you because those people have since been laid off and now have no money, so it's fine. But then those people come to you and they're like, hey, I want a developer role. I want $500,000 in my next role because I want to make more than I'm making now. And I'm like, dude, that job should have never existed in the first place, let alone to expect to maintain at that level. The market just doesn't support it a lot of times. So I love what you're saying of, like, we've got to be a little bit realistic. What does the market support? What salaries are out there? What can you expect to make for certain levels of seniority? And I'm not saying you shouldn't want more money in your next job.
(18:25):
We all want more money in our next job. But then gearing your story, your resume, your LinkedIn towards that impact that they're going to get, that they're buying. But I love that. I'd love to hear you mentioned earlier. You said people underestimate the value of their labor or overestimate, how would that translate in the job search? Because, like, something that I'm seeing a lot is, like, you got to put in more effort right now, more time, more labor to get an interviewer, to get a job. What does that look like from your perspective?
Farah Sharghi (18:54):
So AI has made the job search much more challenging and difficult in ways that were not quite expected by the public. And what I mean by that is because I have a lot of people that I know in my network who are active recruiters. They're all telling me that they are getting flooded and bombarded with AI resumes. And when I say AI resumes, I'm not saying you as an individual clicking and applying with a resume that you use ChatGPT to help you write. I'm talking there are services out there where you pay 20 bucks a month and they will spray and pray your resume to all of these companies. And I've heard that there is like an overnight cycle around 2 to 3 in the morning where all of a sudden they'll get this like, influx of these resumes.
(19:34):
So part of the other problem of what's going on in the labor market is the volume of applicants has increased dramatically. However, the proportion of qual versus unqualified candidates has remained the same. That proportion is 75% unqualified, 25% qualified. And I'm sure some of y'all are listening you're like, I'm 100% qualified for every job I applied to. I bet you're not. I bet you are not. Let me tell you how I know this, because I have clients. For example, I have this one lady and I adore her and she's really sweet. And she applied for a job at a very popular Silicon Valley company. It was a sales role. And I go, huh? It says here you have to be fluent in either Spanish or Portuguese. Are you? She said, no. I go, why did you apply to this job?
(20:21):
And she said, well, because it was remote. And I go, but you don't. I go, you don't speak these languages, therefore you are wholly unqualified for this job. And she was like, yeah. I go, okay, moving on. So really look at the job qualifications. That job description is written in a way where they are telling you exactly what they're looking for. And you have to be able to read between the lines. So you also have to be able to interpret what it. What are they actually hiring for? What are the gaps that the hiring manager has that if they hire you're going to fill and close in those gaps? People don't look at it from that perspective. They look at the job title, they look at the compensation, they look at the location, they just kind of skim the requirements.
(21:06):
They're like, yeah, good enough, I'll just apply. And if they like me, great. And if they don't like me, oh well, all I did was spend five minutes applying to a job and then they get frustrated because they. All they do is throw spaghetti on the wall over and over. And they think that is effort. And unfortunately, job search historically has been very transactional. And I'm sorry, we can't go back to the 60s where you could just like literally walk into an office, shake someone's hand and get a job offer. That's just not the world that we live in because we have education inflation, right? A lot of people are getting educated, they're getting certified. There are too many qualified people out there in the labor market. So now you're competing with everybody else.
(21:45):
And so you also have to see where the skill sets going where, what are companies hiring for? Because a lot of the layoffs that have happened in tech have been a result of shift in priorities, right? It's cheaper for a company to lay off staff rather than train them up into, let's say, these new tools or these new. Or the new AI, whatever it might be, right? So being realistic and realizing that the company is not your family. They're not there to take care of you. Right. I really love the Sprinkle Lady Shira 7. It's like, you're there to make money, honey. They're there to make money off your labor, too. This is a money exchange. Okay. Like, just know they are not out of the goodness of their heart going to train you.
(22:26):
If they train you, it's because it's cheaper to train you than to hire somebody else.
Kendall Berg (22:30):
Yes. No, that's absolutely true. So last thing on the job market and then we'll switch gears just a little bit. But love to hear what role networking is playing today from a recruiter's perspective. Right. Forbes published a study in December that said 45% of roles are being filled by somebody the hiring manager either knows or was referred to the hiring manager. I'm curious, having lived it, like, how much do you see network and relationships playing in the job space?
Farah Sharghi (22:57):
I mean, I don't know where that statistic came from. I think that's a little high. But I do believe that networking is very important. It's becoming more important as we kind of like move through this cycle of hiring because again, there's so much qualified labor out there. How are they going to possibly differentiate between candidates? Like, for example, let's say you wanted to hire an executive assistant because you're that. You're that girl and you're busy, who are you likely going to hire? Somebody who like, just like, sent in an application or like your best friend going, hey, I work with this person. They're amazing. Like, and you should talk to this person. Who do you want to talk to? Obviously the one that your friend is going to recommend. Right.
(23:40):
So part of the problem, though, with networking is that people, when they need it, is when it's a little too late, Right. They don't really keep up with their network. They're not going out there and being active. So, you know, just go to a conference once a year. Come on. Like, this is part of your job, like, not just your core job, but like, these are the external things that you really need to be doing for longevity in your career. And for those of you are who are like, this is exhausting. I'm like, welcome to working in corporate. Like, this is the game. If you don't want to play the game, get out of the game, go do something else and you'll be happier, probably.
Kendall Berg (24:17):
So this is a perfect segue. Thank you so much for that, Farah. My pleasure. A lot of my Content is focused on the game itself. Right. Careers do not work the way that we theoretically think they should. Right. I would love for everybody to like, pick daisies on their lunch break and Never work past 4:30 and their boss gives them Christmas presents. And like, I would love for this utopian career society to exist. Experience. It really doesn't. So when you think of the career game, I love what you said. Like, if you don't want to be part of the career game, exit the career game. Probably be happier. I also tell people you can choose not to play, but then don't expect the results of somebody who does play.
Farah Sharghi (24:54):
Exactly.
Kendall Berg (24:55):
But love to hear you've had an exciting career. Right. You've done technology, you've done finance, you've done recruiting. How have you seen the game kind of play out? And what are some of the areas where, like, you would tell somebody like, hey, just be smart with this and otherwise you're gonna hurt your own progression.
Farah Sharghi (25:12):
I think the one thing that's universal throughout all of them is just like, watch your mouth, girl.
Kendall Berg (25:20):
Watch your mouth, girl.
Farah Sharghi (25:20):
Watch your mouth. What you saying? Be careful what you say around other people. Again, you don't know if your bestie at work is actually your bestie or if they're the one who wants to step on you to get that promotion. You know, I'm not saying that we have to look at everybody with a side eye, but like, remember your place. When you enter that building, you are a different person. You are the corporate version of you. Right? Like, this is a mask that we have to wear. And realize that we are always on stage, no matter what. Do not talk badly about your colleagues. If there are any issues, still speak in a professional tone manner. Be respectful. Even if somebody's being a jerk and an asshole. Send that to hr. Document that. Don't. Don't deal with it yourself. That ain't your job.
(26:06):
That actually isn't your job. Go send that off to somebody else you want. If somebody wants to, like, get in the weeds with you because they've got problems, go talk to your manager about it. But make sure it's documented before you do that. Otherwise, like, they're going to be like, we're not your therapist. Because, like, remember, HR is not your friend or your therapist, all right?
Kendall Berg (26:25):
You have a career coach who can be both your friend and your therapist, right?
Farah Sharghi (26:29):
And I tell people, I was like, listen, like, HR is there for a purpose, right? They are there to protect the company and the employees. They are there to do that. However they're not your therapist. And any company that would employ a therapist, like, I'd. That's probably not a good idea. It's like, what you need to spend money for a full time therapist here. Like, what is this? Palantir.
Kendall Berg (26:50):
Sorry, red flag.
Farah Sharghi (26:53):
Someone, a Palantir is going to hear this and be like, I can't believe she said that.
Kendall Berg (26:56):
How dare they. It's okay. There are companies I could slide into that example as well.
Farah Sharghi (27:00):
But that would be, I think the main thing throughout. Like, doesn't matter now or 20 years from now, it's still going to be true. It's.
Kendall Berg (27:07):
I feel like this should be your new content slogan. Just watch your mouth.
Farah Sharghi (27:10):
But I love.
Kendall Berg (27:11):
Because it is true. I say all the time, like, it's not. People will come to me and say, but my boss doesn't care about my opinion. They don't listen to what I say. Then how are you saying it? Like, start with how are you saying it? And start with, should you be saying it? And if those two things are both, like, I'm saying it correctly and yes, it's part of my core job and I should be saying it. Then we talk about, like, how do we manage up? How do we build relationships, how do we navigate that?
(27:36):
But like, if you're going to your boss and you're like, so and so was mean to me in the morning meeting and like, Jeff won't send me this report and Scott made me sad, like, your boss is going to look at you and be like, yo, bro.
Farah Sharghi (27:49):
Yeah, that means you have communication issues and maybe that's something you need to work on offline in terms of like, you know, there are ways of having, you know, healthy discussions and like, confrontation is not a bad thing. You just have to be able to approach it from a healthy perspective and just know that when you approach someone with something that you don't approach them with anger, right? Or with like, I can't believe you didn't listen to me. Oh, no, you are a grown adult. Act like it. And by the way, I say that with love and respect. But like, be very neutral in your communication and just say, hey, you know, lay it all out there, wait for the feedback. Right? And you know, it's not your boss's job to be your mom or your dad. They're not your parent, they're your boss.
(28:31):
Like, they're there to, like, make sure you don't do dumb things to water down communications from on high to make sure you do your job and, you know, make sure. Your time cards and your paychecks are running the way they should. Like, that's about it.
Kendall Berg (28:44):
I love it. So please comment below this episode if you would like Farrah and I to do a whole series called Girl, watch your mouth where we just talk about stupid stuff we've heard people say in the workplace and how they should have said it instead. Because I feel like this is like a content series that we should be running. Feel like we need it. So comment below if you're interested in that. But otherwise, Farrah, at the end of every episode, I always ask the same question. If somebody is looking to take control of their job search, take control of their career, what is one piece of tactical advice you would tell them? Like, go do this tomorrow. This will start you off on the right foot and get them started in the direction they want.
Farah Sharghi (29:21):
I would say that think of yourself as a brand and actually think about your own branding. Who are you as a brand? So I say this with love because again, I have clients who come to me and they're like, recruiters aren't reaching out to me. I'm like, you don't have anything on your link. You don't even have a profile picture on your LinkedIn. Why would anybody reach out to you? You are a ghost. Why would they reach out to ghosts? Come on. If you want the things, you have to do the things. So in terms of your brand, like, what value do you bring to the marketplace? Like, if a company hires you, why would they be stupid not to hire you? Think about it from that perspective.
(29:59):
Approach your LinkedIn as your, hey, if somebody were to learn more about me, this is what I want them to know about me. And then when you approach your internal branding at your company, know what the limitations are, right? You can't just be that person that, like, thinks outside of the box, because you have to, like, think outside of the box within the corporate box.
Kendall Berg (30:20):
Right?
Farah Sharghi (30:20):
That's just a fact. Again, if you want to be that creative type and be an individual and be loved for that, go off and do your own thing, like, with love. Mazel tov. Like, you know, like, again, like, there's nothing wrong with that, but I think oftentimes people go, well, I want to be responsible, respected for, like, what I'm saying. And, you know, they have all of these ideas and you go, listen, I. I think that's really great that you're. You're thinking in this capacity. However, you don't understand what's going on. Levels above you.
Kendall Berg (30:49):
Yes.
Farah Sharghi (30:50):
So one, like, when you get to that. When you know you get to the top of that mountain, someday in your career, you're going to go look down and go, oh, I was really naive, right? But also, again, think about like that branding piece. So when you do go to conferences, you introduce yourself, you've got that five second pitch of like, yep, this is what I do, this is, you know, who I help, etc, and again, that will carry you forward throughout your corporate career.
Kendall Berg (31:13):
Yeah, I love that. And you're so right about the context piece. I feel like the more senior I get my career, I look back, I'm.
Farah Sharghi (31:19):
Like, ooh, why'd I say that?
Kendall Berg (31:22):
Like, I'll wake up at 2am and be like, remember that one time in 2009 in a meeting where you said this stupid thing? And I'm like, why did I do that? Like, you're just, it's amazing how the wrinkles of your brain save space for things like that, but not to remember what you need at the grocery store.
Farah Sharghi (31:36):
So, so true.
Kendall Berg (31:38):
This was such a fun episode. Farrah, thank you so much for coming on that Career Coach podcast, Secrets of the Career Game. Where can people find you if they want to learn more, if they want to connect with you, if they want to be your best friend, where do they go?
Farah Sharghi (31:49):
Well, thank you again so much for having me, Kendall. You can find me on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn. So it's Farah Shargi f a r a h so 1 r not 2 and also my website, Farah Shargi dot awesome.
Kendall Berg (32:03):
Well, we will link all of that in the show notes below. If you like today's episode, go ahead and give us five stars. Leave us any questions or comments below so we can get back to you guys. But otherwise, fair. It was fabulous having you on. We'll have to have you back and thank you guys so much. We'll have another great episode next week.
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