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ChooseFI | Financial Independence Podcast

Career Hacking The Tech Industry | Millennial Boss

ChooseFI | Financial Independence Podcast

Jonathan Mendonsa & Brad Barrett | Choose FI Media, Inc

Investing, Business, Careers

4.8 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2018

⏱️ 71 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A poli sci grad with $25K in student loans transformed that "wrong" degree into a six-figure tech career—then doubled her income again—without going back to school. Jay's path from unemployment to elite tech roles wasn't about credentials or waiting for opportunities. It was about creating them. After hitting rock bottom in the 2008 recession, she stopped applying to traditional jobs and started a blog, volunteered strategically, and landed an internship at the U.S. Olympic Committee that rewrote her trajectory. Now she shares how she won three out of four salary negotiations and why networking—not résumés—unlocked doors that didn't exist in job postings. Key Principles Career Hacking Fundamentals Focus on creating your own opportunities rather than waiting for them [00:11:15] Embrace vulnerability to alter your life's path [00:36:50] Never surrender due to past decisions; there's always room for reinvention [00:36:00] Networking and Opportunities Build relationships to find unadvertised job opportunities [00:40:31] Financial Independence Initiatives Understanding and managing student loans effectively can accelerate your FI journey [00:14:43] Chapters [00:00:00] Introduction and Background [00:02:14] Jay's College Experience [00:04:51] Job Search After Graduation [00:06:08] Creating Opportunities [00:17:04] Navigating the Tech Industry [00:19:29] Learning from Internships [00:35:07] Tips for Negotiating Salary [00:40:31] The Importance of Networking [00:42:19] The Journey to Financial Independence [00:59:40] Final Thoughts Notable Quotes "If you want an opportunity, you've got to make it for yourself." [00:11:15] "Reaching rock bottom spurred my transformation." [00:09:34] "You have to put yourself out there if you want to change your life." [00:36:50] "I became the person that I wanted to be and didn't know how to be." [00:10:00] "You can't be like, oh well I didn't make the right decision when I was 18 so I'm just going to give up." [00:36:00] Action Items Identify local networking opportunities to expand your career connections [00:40:31] Create a personal blog or portfolio to showcase your skills and experiences [00:06:08] Evaluate your current job satisfaction and explore avenues for growth [00:54:27] Resources Mr. Money Mustache Blog [00:42:19] Fire Drill Podcast [00:59:31]

Transcript

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0:00.0

Your listening to Choose Applied Radio.

0:09.6

The blueprint for financial independence lives here.

0:20.4

If you're looking to unblock the secrets to financial independence and early retirement,

0:25.4

you're in the right place.

0:27.3

Stay tuned and join a community of like-minded people who are getting all fans to know and

0:32.3

taking control of their lives in the pursuit of financial independence.

0:36.2

Choose FI, your home for financial independence online.

0:41.4

All right, let me go and set the stage for you guys today on the show.

0:53.1

I'm going to be talking with Jay from FireDrill Podcast.

0:56.1

It's criminal to try to shorten all this, but let me just give you the short and sweet.

0:59.4

The TLDR, Jay has moved to three states in the past three years in the pursuit of

1:03.7

financial independence, career hacking like a pro, taking your income from 33k to well over

1:08.7

100k and then double that within five years through mercenary salary negotiation, which

1:15.4

she likes to say she won three out of four times.

1:18.2

This is going to be an incredibly actionable episode where we're going to dive into how

1:21.9

a female is able to graduate with a poly side degree and then somehow leverage that into

1:28.3

the highly competitive tech world through the art of career hacking.

1:32.9

And help me with this.

1:33.9

I'm my co-host Brad here with me today.

1:34.9

How you doing, buddy?

1:35.9

Hey, Jonathan, I'm doing well.

1:37.9

The way you set that up, I just cannot wait for this conversation.

...

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