John Marty

The other day a perfect stranger reached out to me on LinkedIn to see if I'd be willing to meet for coffee - In this video I'll share a couple effective tactics this person used in his message, that got me to say yes to a coffee chat and ultimately made me want to help him get a job at Amazon. I know that Networking with strangers on LinkedIn can often be intimidating, but if you craft your message the right way, you can almost guarantee people will want to meet with you. Hopefully this example can help on your journey to landing an awesome job! How to Network on LinkedIn - Find a Job Without Even Asking

In this video, I'll share my perspective as an Amazon employee on how I answer the question "Tell me about yourself." My approach is non-traditional, but can be very effective at kickstarting a quality 2-way dialog. Often times the job description is written by the recruiter and not the person that will become your boss. This creates a disconnect between what your eventual boss is looking for and what you actually applied for. My approach is simple, non-traditional, and effective. It starts with a 90 second intro, that includes a brief summary of my education, followed by two accomplishments I am most proud of. Next, I ask a single question to uncover the key problem the hiring manager is looking to solve. This approach get's your soon to be boss more engaged, allows them to tell you specifically what they are facing, and turns what would have been a 1 way conversation into a consulting session where you control the pace.

There's a lot of chatter about building a personal brand, but most people are thinking about it the wrong way. In this video, I'll break down how to think about personal branding the right way in 2018.

In this video, I'll provide 3 tips you can use to be more confident in your next interview. Interviews can be nerve wracking, but being prepared and having the right mindset go a long way to increasing your confidence. Calm your nerves with a couple practical tips and don't forget to smile! Wishing you the best of luck!

Don't let your career stagnate. In this video I'll share some tips on when to start making a move, and what to do if you are getting passed up for promotion.

Salary negotiation can be intimidating, and because of this, 54% of men and 66% of women don't even try. In this video, I'll share 5 types of leverage you can use to persuade an employer that your experience and skill-set are worth more than the initial offer!

In this video I'll talk about why it's important to celebrate and appreciate small victories. It can be intimidating to start taking action towards a big dream or goal, especially because we compare ourselves to those who have already reached the top. We often don't realize that if we just start, we'll grow, and when we grow, new opportunities will come our way. Always point towards your goal, but spend 95% of your time focusing just a few steps ahead, and celebrate each small victory along your journey.

In this video I'll share 8 things I noticed and then changed during a real life resume writing exercise. These tips can be used by anyone looking to stand out. The inspiration from this video came from a Quora post I did that received 45,000 views. In my post, I shared my opinion that resumes should always be one page. One person named Jason told me that consolidating his 3-page resume down to one page couldn't be done - "It was impossible", and he gave me a one week challenge to see if I could make it happen. This was a fun resume writing challenge, that helped Jason, and hopefully will help you too.

In this video I’ll share 5 tips I use to increase productivity each week In Gary Keller’s book The One Thing he refers to a study that indicates “workers are interrupted every 11 minutes and then spend almost 30% of their day recovering from these distractions.” DAMN TRUE. Ok, so 30% of my day is a total waste (I’d guess more) and the average American works 40 hours… If I cut the waste, thats 2 hours of savings per day, 12 hours of savings per week, and 576 hours of savings per year!

Stop applying for jobs and praying you get calls. Instead leverage the power of LinkedIn to get recruiter calls. In this video I'll share 5 tips I've learned along my journey to get found by recruiters. Criteria to have an All-Star LinkedIn profile 1. Profile Photo 2. Industry and location 3. An up-to-date current position (with a description) 4. Two past positions 5. Education 6. Skills (at least three) 7. At least 50 connections Services to find out if your LinkedIN photo is good or bad Photofeeler Snappr It was Feb 2017, when I received a call out of the blue from Amazon. When I asked how the recruiter found me, she replied “LinkedIn”. At the time I had been working for American Express as a Senior Product Manager. I was making a nice six figure salary, but Amazon gave me an offer and role I COULDN’T refuse. Having a LinkedIn profile changed my life. I spent a lot of time the past two years refining my profile, learning how to create a compelling story, and amassing a network by going to events and reaching out to people (I now have 1,390 connections). The time was well-spent, with LinkedIn recently granting me with illustrious title of “All-Star” based on my industry, description, education, skills, profile photo, and connections. According to LinkedIn, people with completed profiles “are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn” because only 51% of members have a completed profile. LinkedIn has empowered me to flip the traditional “apply and pray” model on its head, making recruiters sell me on opportunities, as opposed to me attempting to sell myself. This creates a tremendous amount of leverage and allows me to simply say “If you want me, then show me the money” I now have recruiters reaching out to me every week (including Google two months ago). So, does being on LinkedIn help you get hired? HELL YES IT DOES

Starting your day grounded in a sense of gratitude has been proven to lower stress, increase healthy eating, and even reduce the effects of aging to the brain. Gratitude gives you a sense that what you have and who you are is enough. Gratitude is a force that acts against our constant drive for more in our personal lives, it acts against anxiety about the future, and depression. “It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful" - David Steindl-Rast

The Cover letter is DEAD - Don't waste your time - Here's a three step process to actually get noticed - My Amazon perspective - There's a lot of Youtube videos out there that will teach you how to write the PERFECT cover letter, but the reality is (especially in Tech) that nobody will ever take the time to read it.  Today, if you are an external candidate, you don't know anyone on the inside, and you are trying to stand out, the competition is fierce. Each opening  has anywhere between 100-200 applicants and because of this, you'll be lucky if a recruiter even clicks, or spends a few seconds on you resume, let alone spends any time reading an entire 1-page cover letter.  For you to land an interview in 2018 you have to get out of your comfort zone, and gain access directly to the hiring manager if you want to increase your chances of getting noticed.  I hope my 3 step process works for you!

You only have 6 seconds capture a recruiters attention! - Here's 5 fresh resume tips to get noticed - from my perspective as an Amazon employee Two factors make it critical for you to get your resume polished 1) recruiters spend an average of six seconds reviewing an individual resume, and 2) for each job, there's an average of 118 applicants. For a long time I struggled to figure out the best resume format. I received advice from career coaches, school counselors, etc, who all have different opinions about what should, and should not be done. My most recent resume landed me an awesome job at Amazon as well as numerous calls from top tech companies and Google. Here's my take on 5 resume tips that, if you nail, will be sure to get you noticed! Good luck with your job search. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments section!

Are you planning on starting your own business? don't make the same mistake that most people do. Starting your own business is hard, and 80% fail within the first 18 months, maximize your chances for success by following a couple simple tricks.

I was recently hired by Amazon as a Sr. Product Manager, but that likely wouldn't have happened if I didn't have College under my belt. I'd like to share my perspective on going to college and why, for me, I think it's still worth it in 2017 to go to College, despite the cost and investment in time. I was able to leverage my business school degree after a failed entrepreneurial venture and land a six figure job, that I used to pivot into an amazing role at Amazon. Ultimately, I like to view College as an insurance policy that you can pull from your back pocket in the event you need to course correct your life. In other news - For those of you who are subscribers, It's been a while since my last post due to my recent move to Amazon in Seattle. As you can see, I've taken a different direction with the style of my videos, and I plan to post more regularly, now that things have settled down.