Hi Reader,
This was a year of a lot of "Firsts." All of the sudden, in January, you heard the news that Chris Pyak, longtime owner of the Immigrant Spirit brand, was moving on into his next chapter of life. That meant he was handing off the weekly newsletter, website, and resource creations to an ex-client from three years ago. When I think about how you accepted my entrance in January as the new leader, I am grateful to how smooth the transition ended up being.
A lot of you wrote me during those first few weeks about where you struggle with most in your job search. I responded to almost everyone that had a question that week, which helped me realize how important this is. That is, so you get to ask your question directly, and get a genuine response.
Almost 1 year later now: I am looking at what made certain clients successful this year. You can copy these traits as well in your search.
What did they have in common?
- Accountability
This year the clients that got job offers were the ones that booked my calendar the most, showed up almost every time, and where we held EACH OTHER accountable. That includes telling me that I need to change something, or that I am doing something that can be improved. This is one thing I learned this year: how important it is to meet at least 1x per week. Setting a plan of action for the week, and reviewing the status of our goal - to get an offer.
Don't underestimate holding yourself accountable to the highest standard, or if you are working with a professional, holding each other accountable.
2. Openness to try different things
As our website was completely remodeled this year, what also went away was the old video course for EJO intensive clients. I tried something new this year with the deliverability of the video course into email lessons (video & written), which laid the foundation before our regular coaching sessions a bit differently.
The clients who got job offers this year, that you heard from, talked about how a course outline is helpful for the basics, but sometimes we need to be creative to get a manager to respond or give us a chance. The flow steps to getting the offer doesn't go the exact same way for each client. I implemented a new rule this year: Applying to the job (no matter what) after 2 weeks, to make sure we don't lose the opportunity while waiting for a manager to respond.
For one client, the difference was actually going through old emails and making ANOTHER follow-up email asking for the status of the application. If you haven't heard back yet: you need to get an answer from them. No answer or being ghosted is the worst.
I'm still making the push with some of my current clients from September, there is hope for another offer received in the coming weeks. But in general, this year was tough as the number of overall jobs in Germany have been declining to very low levels.
Further Wins from 2024: What makes me hopeful?
- WEBSITE: Rebranding went smoothly besides being without a website for a week back in May. The website was upgraded for you to make it easier to read and interact with.
- MEDIA: I appeared on 2 podcasts, 2 German media articles, 2 American media articles, and 1 international media article this year, as I completed the transition from jobseeker to guide.
- TESTIMONIALS: I heard from all types of clients, past and current, and in different formats. We made video interviews, podcasts (audio only), and written transcripts. Success stories came from all angles, and I was so glad to hear that most people were open to telling their story, whenever it was over the past 13 years. These helped massively to build trust with new followers.
- REPUTATION: Upheld and built stronger with those who were successful this year, on top of the many past clients I just talked about that vouched for Immigrant Spirit from years earlier. Our community stayed over 7,140 people up to today, which is impressive considering you had a completely different voice after January. 42% of you are "5 star subscribers", you've engaged at least once in the last month. This shows how involved most of this community is. Relatively, this is a very strong engagement level for a newsletter. Only 250 people are "1-star subscribers" people who have not engaged at all in the past 9 months. And this is considering the past 2 months which saw email deliverability rates drop significantly due to multiple factors for all creators.
- NEW OFFERS: This year I tried offering a "Consultation" for the first time, due to feedback from you about the existing packages, and my own notice about how other similar advisers charge for their initial meetings. This went well, as a handful of you invested in a consultation, and even 2 people turned the short 45-minute meeting into joining the intensive program. This was one of my goals with the new offer, which was supposed to be only a 2-week limited offer, but I saw enough bookings and value to keep it going. The idea is to give you a lower barrier to experience how we will make our joint effort to get you your offer; previewing the methods in the course, and allowing me to properly recommend if you should join the program or not. I even told a number of you to look at a different programs, strategies or resources to get to Germany. This is not the right fit for everyone.
Last but not least, wins from this year in my perspective included the in-person event in Berlin at the IamExpat fair, and Chris Pyak's continued weekly strategy consulting for the company and program. We even held a full 1-hour YouTube live interview together that had all of the best tips and advice from years of experience & current cases. If you haven't yet, checkout the new YouTube channel where you can find replays from all the webinars, interviews, podcasts, live events and so on from this year.
Here are some photos from the in-person event in June.
There is also plenty to improve on from this year. It's been a tough job market as you've read previously. We cannot control external factors such as declining job postings and longer vacancy times. I also share the concern of rising expenses, and I would like to attend more in-person events this next year so we can meetup and talk about solutions.
Oh yeah, and if you have time, you might want to check your spam folder for some of my emails from the past 2 months. Like I mentioned before, the deliverability went downhill fast and I only recently got it fixed. There should be some resources in there for you from Immigrant Spirit.
All considered, I found this year as a solid base to build on for a stronger 2025. My focus is now on the February course that I just opened recently, which has 7 seats available. I encourage you to focus on what you can control and change for the better this next year.
Could I make a last request for 2024?
If you found the tips, resources and advice helpful this year, could you share the link below with your friend who is looking for a job? That would be much appreciated so we can keep the community growing, with high engagement.
https://takemetothejoboffer.ck.page/b64ccdb9e1
They can signup themselves for the same weekly newsletter you got, plus all the free resources as a new subscriber (Updated 100 companies list & more).
Even better: if your friend decides to join the intensive program, I am willing to pay you up to €900 if they are outside of Germany. €450 if they are in Germany already.
To a 2025 ready for the challenge,
Kevin