2020 was a challenging year as the global novel coronavirus-2019 pandemic took center stage. The spread of this deadly virus affected every person and nearly every aspect of their lives.
It took a toll on how we interact, how we navigate our communities, and how we earn a living. The widespread distribution of several vaccines has boosted confidence across the board, but there is still a ways to go before our nation can claim victory against COVID. This is especially true with re-starting our economies and getting Americans back to work.
If you’re one of the thousands of people currently looking for a new job or planning to start a job search soon, there are a few things you should consider.
According to Pathrise, an online mentorship program that guides people through their job search, the average jobseeker takes nine months to find a new position within the same industry and even longer for those looking to change career paths. For a person making a $100k per year salary, one month of unemployment is $8,333.33 in lost income. For unemployed people and those looking to jump back into the workforce, time is money spent while seeking employment. Without a dedicated, strategic approach to landing a new job in place, many people may burn through savings and even dip into retirement accounts to keep food on the table. The most common practice for job hunting these days is scouring the internet, responding to hundreds of job ads, and hoping for a response. This method is not only proving to be ineffective but also costly.
Pathrise co-founder and CEO Kevin Wu explains that “investing the time to match your resume to the job description and sending a compelling and concise email to the recruiter or hiring manager are two ways to increase a jobseeker’s chances of getting a response.”
These tips and a dedicated and individualized approach are part of the Pathrise curriculum and report that their program approach is tripling application response rates. Mr. Wu also points out that job seekers in the Pathrise program discover 5 to 15 new, quality opportunities per week.
“When interviewing, our candidates are seeing a 1.5 – 3x increase in performance with guidance and preparation from our mentors. Additionally, candidates reaching the offer stage are gaining an extra 10 to 20 percent through mentorship assistance in negotiating salary and benefits,” added Wu.
The company website offers several different tracks for job seekers to review. Currently, they work with people looking for roles in software engineering, data science, product design, marketing, sales, product management, strategy, and operations. A big part of the Pathrise program is the one-on-one approach mentors offer, from resume building, optimizing social network profiles, and preparing candidates for interviews in highly technical roles specific to the industry, company, and position. These mentors are current and former senior team members and recruiters from top tech companies like Facebook, Salesforce, Google, Stripe, and more.
According to the website, Pathrise uses an income share agreement (ISA) structure, which means that the program is free until the candidate gets hired and starts working at a job they love. Then, they pay back a percentage of their salary over several months. Currently, most people have a standard ISA, which is 9% of their first year’s salary paid over six months. However, Pathrise offers several scholarships and discounts, so the ISA percentage varies. Jobseekers can also choose to pay a $7k upfront fee and forgo the income share altogether.
“Pathrise has helped over 1,000 people land jobs at top tech companies and startups like Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Uber, and more. The average base salary for junior roles is $90,795, and the average base salary for senior roles is $152,432. We have a 96% placement rate and a 1-year job guarantee, which means that candidates who do not find a job within one year do not need to pay for the program,” added Wu.
Today’s job market landscape is changing rapidly. Companies are adjusting to new, remote work structures and are starting to fill roles previously left empty due to the pandemic. In many industries, employers struggle to find suitable candidates, which gives the job seeker an advantage for landing quality jobs with leverage to negotiate better benefits packages. This scenario also creates a uniquely competitive job market with many furloughed and unemployed professionals racing back into the workforce. The Pathrise approach and unique knowledge base of recruitment may be the edge that many job seekers need to pick up where they left off professionally before COVID.
