Thread by @mipsytipsy

Here we are, now going on the fourth straight month of headlines all about how a record number of people are quitting their jobs.

There's a lot of pain behind that statistic, but also a strident, activated edge to labor that feels unlike anything seen in my lifetime.

I am *all for* more people quitting their jobs. I am *all for* employers needing to compete for employees by treating them better, increasing their wages, and offering more flexibility and support.

Most people in our industry stay at jobs they don't love, far too long.

So here's a piece of advice that I find myself giving over and over again, to senior folks who are daunted by the prospect of having to go out and search for the right role, the right team, the right company ... it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, right? 😰

You're right, it's super hard and time consuming to sift through companies, research them, interview, backchannel, etc.

So don't do that! Instead of looking for the right company, make it easier for the right companies (and recruiters) to find ✨you✨.

Yes, it starts with LinkedIn -- you gotta go where the fish are. Make sure you use enough of the right keywords, emphasize the skills you want to build, make sure it represents you well (and is friendly to skimming). Solicit feedback on your profile from people you trust.

Next, write or speak about your areas of expertise. If you're a database person, write up the story of your most recent migration, or open source a tool and write a medium post about how it saved your team time

If you love containers, write an opinion or a tech piece about that.

If you're trying to move from onprem to cloud engineering, explore some tech and write a medium piece about it.

If you're a manager, write about your experience learning to manage teams where you aren't the expert, or write a review of one of the recent tech manager books.

Any decently sized medium post can then be turned into a good meetup talk. Give it a couple times, share the slides.

It doesn't have to consume your life. You just have to generate bread crumbs for the rest of the world to find you for what you're good at.

Any recruiter or interviewer who googles your name -- what are they going to find on the first page? Hopefully, it's evidence of your expertise in the areas you want them to hire you for!

External links are powerful social validation that you know your shit.

The more you share about your passions -- what you hate, what you love, the kind of work you love, the teams you love -- the easier it will be for recruiters and companies to find YOU.

That's their job, and they're pretty good at it. You just need to give them a little help. 💫