speaker-0: Hi My name is Carmen Durvet and I will be hosting today's episode of Behind the Founders. And today I will speaking with Delan Lee. ⁓ welcome. Would you introduce yourself?

speaker-1: Hi everyone, my name is Dylan Lee, aka Dylan Digital Online. I'm a recruiter that literally loves loves video games and I like to fuse the two together for ⁓ job hunting tips and tricks with a video game spin so I can make the job hunting process educational and fun.

speaker-0: Nice. Thank you so much for the nice introduction, Dellen. To get us started, could you share with the listeners out there what inspired you to start Dellen Digital?

speaker-1: Yeah, so ⁓ I'm a recruiter by trade. I've been doing it for like 10 plus years in my career. it actually comes from like a low point in my career. I got laid off on Halloween, my favorite holiday of all time. ⁓ And got got laid off. It was it was the during the same time at the party. I think it was like on a Friday. and they ⁓ walked me the office, said, Hey, we did everything that we could do. At the time I was like the lead recruiter, I was recruiting 48 states, yada yada. I got laid off on Halloween, my favorite holiday of all time. accolades and then saving money and all all the nice stuff that top earners do, right? ⁓ I got that, the first four seconds I was just kind of shell shocked. And then after that, I was like, wow, I could start making content on YouTube. ⁓ I started ⁓ making YouTube videos about job hunting and video games and just kind of fusing the two together to make it a little a little cool, a little fun, a little relaxed. And so people could learn at the the first four seconds I was just kind of shell shocked. And then after that, I like, I could start making content on YouTube. the same time. So that's what honestly started this whole journey for me.

speaker-0: All right. And tell us a little bit more about this the integration of the YouTube and the video games content.

speaker-1: Yeah. So when you think about video games, you're just thinking, ⁓ you're just playing a normal game, right? But ⁓ video games are like in different systems, right? And they have ⁓ different pathways for people and different kind of gaming concepts as well. ⁓ I kind of stumble across this ⁓ gentleman called Bartle. ⁓ Bartle is like a Bartle theory kind of thing, and it kind of divides players into four different types. And I actually have right here. So there's four different types. There's the achievers, which is the diamonds, there's the explorers, which is the spades, there's the socializers, which is the hearts. And last but not least, there's the killers, which are basically the clubs. And that kind of categorized plays into different types. And me with my recruiting brain kind of clicked and said, Hey, there's different types of people out there on the job hunt that goes about their careers. So I feel like the play the games that we love, like really, really love, kind of correlates into the skills that we have. Which at the end of the day collates into the careers that we we do and love, you know. And that's where I just came with the video game concept and, you know, made six different branches on YouTube, aka playlists. I go into specific details about resumes, interviewing, job searching strategies, motivation, because God, we all need it sometimes, ⁓ just kind of go through the process through there.

speaker-0: Yeah, I think it's definitely a very interesting concept, right? What you mentioned about the different types of people in the job search and also like the different categories they're part of. So what would you say, what would you say is the purpose of the video games? Is it something for ⁓ is it targeted specifically for job seekers for them to kind of understand how to basically find the secrets and hacks to be able to, I don't know, get past the AI system of application screening or the interviews because as you know the job market nowadays is really really challenging. Yeah. You've probably had conversations. I've had conversations with people who are struggling to even get an interview or to even spend, I don't know, months or hundreds and hundreds of applicants to be able to finally land a job. Like what is the purpose of that game?

speaker-1: So I'm just honestly just gamifying the job hunt. So when I'm going through a resume, I don't see a normal PDF file. I see a character sheet. I a I see a character sheet of someone's skills, their their background story, ⁓ you ⁓ how they added value to a company or a gill in this ⁓ in case, like like a club. ⁓ So and when you're going through like an interviewing process, I think of it like a boss fight. You're you're sitting there, you're you're throwing questions at the person, you're receiving ⁓ hits. you know, answers and questions at the same time. So that's why that that's what I meant by gamifying the job. It's just like through the lens of gamings and just using the jargon and terminology that I get from video games to kind of like trick you into thinking that hey, you're entertain you're watching something entertaining, but at the same time you're learning something really ⁓ valuable at the same time. for all anyone that likes to play video games and honestly if you don't like playing video games, the ⁓ educational content is still through, you know, if you just read between the lines.

speaker-0: Yeah, that's very interesting. It's like it is very ⁓ what you mentioned about gamification. It's like very interactive activity as well. So how does it work? Do you design Where can people access it? Is it just on YouTube or is it like another platform that's been?

speaker-1: So for right now, I'm doing it to through two ways. One, the free kind of way through YouTube, right? Just you sit down, you watch. If you want something specifically about your resume, you can look into that. Something about LinkedIn and how to upgrade your profile through that way. You could go through it all through YouTube as well. And plus I actually have this option where I actually go live stream as well, where I actually go and live stream, actually play a video game. And if anyone asks me a question about hey have this question about the job hunt. I actually talked to you while I'm playing this video game and help you along the way. and plus I also have a store where I actually sat down I made this ⁓ whole course through A to B in terms of up understanding your all the way to the application process and how to go about things with templates and things like that in a digital kind of format. ⁓ and plus I also share jobs because I also collaborate with other platforms like Jotform and and Floccy to share jobs to people honestly every day. So that's the kind of way that I'm like ⁓ people with my kind of ⁓ unique outlook on things.

speaker-0: Hmm, okay. And what would you say are like the most frequently asked questions that you've received, you know, while you are going live? What would you say are the most asked questions?

speaker-1: Yeah, one of the most asked questions is how do I write my resume? ⁓ And is LinkedIn important? Those are the first two things that pop up in my head. And the first thing that said to myself, especially for the LinkedIn side of things, it's super critical. you know, we're getting into a very digital age right now where there's a lot of people getting laid off, and I'm actually I actually make a lot of videos about layoffs, especially in the video game industry and outside of it, that's happening. And you know, there's a lot of people out of work. And one of the best ways to kind of showcase your skills in real time is to be active in your sector. And one of the best ways in doing that is A, of course, going to networking events and actually talking to people. And B, if you can't do that, you could actually do that online digitally through LinkedIn. And you know. I have a strong feeling that everyone should have a good understanding on how to edit videos and things like that. Because by, you know, making a video of yourself, you can just say, Hey, my name is Timmy Turner. I do X, Y, and Z. And you could honestly like send that to people and like talk mostly about what you do in your craft through a video, through examples, through case studies. There's a lot of different ways to kind of reach people and get eyeballs on your, you know, profile to opportunities.

speaker-0: Yeah, for sure. I was just gonna say because we hear a lot of talk about networking. And the first thing we like you mentioned, there's so many different ways to network a spell as well. And I was just thinking that, you know, there's also different personality types. There's people who are ⁓ they love being surrounded by people, they love to attend conferences and events, but there's also people who are more introverted where they're like, Okay, well, you know, networking is kind of a way to in the job hunting world, but at the same time, they're not exactly they're they don't really prefer to be surrounded by people. But I think what you mentioned there about the option to do online networking, there's just so many ways. And I just wanted to just acknowledge that as well.

speaker-1: Yeah. So many ways. You just gotta open your mind to it as well. We're playing a new game when it comes to job hunt, especially with AI coming.

speaker-0: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we'll definitely talk a little bit about your thoughts on AI and how you integrate that as well, especially for your business of Dell and Digital. So let's just take a couple of steps back and talk a little bit about Dell and Digital. is YouTube channel that you're running and also the game part of Dell and Digital or is that a separate thing?

speaker-1: I would say it's a part of it because it's like mostly like my marketing piece when it comes to honestly. I'm kind of ⁓ it's like I'm I'm treating myself as a brand and I'm showcasing what I could do in real time in videos and you know online postings as well. And of course, through actually helping people, I actually leveled six people up since I started this back in ⁓ 2023 on the job hunt, you know, one-on-one coaching kind of thing. ⁓ So, know, the YouTube channel. kind of access that marketing piece where I could actually just showcase my work and just kind of go through it that way. And if anyone wants to actually press start with me and actually go through the one-on-one coaching, then I have that option as well. But I have the free option and the paid option just to make it more accessible for more people.

speaker-0: Mm-hmm. Okay. And tell the listeners out there a little bit about Delen Digital. Like if they hear the name for the first time, what can they expect in terms of like the services that you have to offer and what they can get out of it?

speaker-1: Yeah. So honestly, it just kind of dials down into one on one coaching when it comes to the resume and the LinkedIn side of things. I kind of sit down and I go through your whole LinkedIn page and I update your resume as well with recruiter eyes, mind you. I go through the whole profile from A to B. There's like nine things to kind of consider when it comes to ⁓ looking at LinkedIn ⁓ you know your header all the way down to you know how to treat LinkedIn. Right. Some people think that LinkedIn is just a job board, but it's not. It's not that. It's a social media platform that has jobs on it second. And if you go in with that mindset, you'll go very, very far. And I do that for like at least normally like an hour, hour and thirty minutes. Usually I spend with a client. ⁓ if they don't want to do the one on one kind of coaching thing and they're more I just want to watch something and just have templates and stuff like that, I have that access as well. I even have access for a webinar where I just sit down with like probably a group of ten people and I talk about the importance of LinkedIn and job searching strategies and ⁓ know, bounce ideas off each other and just go through that.

speaker-0: Mm-hmm. Okay. And ⁓ how many clients do you currently work with on a day to day basis when it comes to coaching, reviewing resume, tips, mock interviews and so on? ⁓

speaker-1: Yeah, so far I only had like the six clients as of right now. I know that's pretty slow, but you know, we're in a very strange economic time right now. And, you know, paying for services is not at the top of someone's list. That's why I still kind of put heavy focus into my YouTube channel where people could not, you know, you don't have to spend money there unless you're like, you know, you're a subscriber and you want to like donate or something like that. ⁓ once I get monetized on YouTube. But it's mostly spending your time when it comes to sitting down, watching the videos and just learning something through that way. I also have people, you know, you could just send me a DM of your, you know, city, estate, the jobs that you're looking for in that area. And I send you jobs because I have access to a pool of like over like 9,000, 10,000 jobs in my pool with ⁓ people that I connect with and I work with as a partner.

speaker-0: Mm-hmm. do you also correct if I'm wrong, do you also promote specific jobs? Or for an example, when somebody comes to you and saying, Hey, I'm looking for a job, you also partner up with other people in terms of sharing different job offers ⁓ in your or you're just specifically just coaching them in terms of the career?

speaker-1: So I I send a lot of jobs to people and plus I have like a full like kind of link tree kind of thing of jobs that I could like share people. I actually share jobs every single day on my LinkedIn profile. the time when it comes to jobs. I think I share like probably 30 jobs ⁓ a week sometimes to kind of give people more options so they could see it. and just kind of go from there. I haven't partnered with any kind of company yet. But I have partnered with a company that works with other companies where I could kind of send people jobs and just do that way.

speaker-0: Okay, so basically the jobs that you send, ⁓ let's say this job is from this

speaker-1: Like Hello Like HelloFr Fresh or you know, ⁓ another company like that kind of thing that has a job in engineering or marketing or something like that. I send that off to people or I just put make a post out of it saying like hot jobs or five opportunities to look out for kind of thing.

speaker-0: Okay, but you're not ⁓ how do I say you're not partnering up with those companies to help them source people for those jobs.

speaker-1: No, I haven't pressed start on that yet. I kinda wanna focus on the ⁓ Canada experience side of things before I kinda partner with ⁓ other companies. I wanna I wanna level up a little bit more before I take a step into that kind of stuff.

speaker-0: Yeah, of course. So we did talk a little bit about your experience. You know, you have worked a lot in in-house recruiting and the candidate experience is a very important glue or piece to ensure that the company's up and running. your experience, what do you consider to be a good candidate experience? ⁓ important? What are the factors that go into that?

speaker-1: Yeah, communication is honestly really the important one. So as soon as you come into the ATS applicable tracking system, it would be wise for the recruiter to have something like, you know, we we acknowledge that you we received your resume just to at least let them breathe easy easy, saying, Yes, they received my resume. There's no questions about that. I got this email. Then from there, you know, you follow up with them. If they're a good fit, they fit all the quite criteria, they didn't get knocked out with those knockout questions. Saying, hey, I'm a cook, but I'm applying for engineer kind of role with no engineer experience kind of thing, right? Then you just wanna me personally, I would like to follow up with that person the same day. if they are unable to kind of be super quick, because some you know people have lives, I like to send them the option of a calendar link that has a very generous amount of leeway time for people to connect with me and just kind of go through the process like that, you know. ⁓ And course, when I'm getting on these calls, it's not. Really like to do the scripted kind of thing. It's more of a free-flowing talking. Let's learn about your skill points, talk about the company, a little bit about my experience with the company. So you can kind of get that kind of aspect of things, talk about it the role, of course, and most importantly the salary and benefits. And then we just kind of go through the process like that. Just a normal conversation of two humans talking. Kind of and then just kind of go through there.

speaker-0: Yeah, yeah. I think you really it up really well, especially when it comes to the recruiting process that it is a two-way conversation. I think oftentimes a lot of candidates they get really worried. They're like, okay, I really have to leave a good impression for the company, but it also goes both ways because they also need to see, okay, is this job or is this company a good culture fit for them as well? So it really goes both ways. And ⁓ I like to compare recruiting or job search. It's a little bit like dating, right? Because you have to know. if that fits as well. It's like, you know, two puzzle pieces coming together.

speaker-1: Yeah, makes perfect sense.

speaker-0: Yeah, yeah, for sure. So like from your experience, right? ⁓ having worked and interacted with many job seekers, what would you say is their biggest frustration right now, especially right now in this job market that's really tough.

speaker-1: Not being seen as one. due to ⁓ I know we're going to talk about this later about AI, but due to AI and ⁓ the economic climate, what's going on, you know, businesses don't have money, right? Which means they're going to cut back on roles, and most importantly, they're going to cut back on salaries, right? So it's going to be a little interesting to see how things kind of pan out for the future because a lot of people. ⁓ They they just go through the normal process of how you know applying was done in 2012. You know, apply, you get the role. I have a lot of experience. I'm gonna get like a ton of interviews, but now we have ⁓ such an unflux of people out there that's super talented, mind you. It's gonna get harder and harder and harder for people to kind of get work. That's why it's super important now to have multiple streams of income and multiple ways how you could assist companies and people. at the same time if it's the skills that you currently have and have like very important marketable skills that that will go across any industry. If it's you know learn about how to write better or psychology, you know, or sales. Every if you know how to sell something, you have a job ever anywhere. That's it doesn't have to be like like a car or or a product. You gotta sell yourself, you know, because you're the you're selling yourself to companies. Right. It's ⁓ It's a seller's seller's market right now. It's not a buyer's market right now. So that's the kind of vibe that I'm getting ⁓ when it comes to seeing people online and and just saying, you know, I hey I I'm looking for a job. But when I look at their profile on LinkedIn's, it's just a ghost town. It's it's nothing there, they don't showcase anything, they don't comment on on people or be active in their sector. You know, they're not going out and about out of their homes into these networking events. specifically for their industries talking to to to humans just kinda go through it that way. So it's ⁓ a very strange landscape that we're in.

speaker-0: Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely for sure. It is also quite like an interesting time as well. now that we are talking a little bit ⁓ AI, I would love to hear what are your thoughts on AI in general?

speaker-1: When it's used correctly, I love it. When it's not used correctly, it's insane. It's insane. And what I mean correctly is that you know, you build a foundation of skills that you currently have and you use AI to amplify it. Right. It's like money. Money is like a umhibitor, right? Increases ⁓ you are already, right? AI is gonna do the same thing for people. So ⁓ my case, I use AI all in my business and in my you know, nine to five and volunteer career. You know, I use it to ⁓ help me write posts, right? With my ideology and and me talking to it and giving it my business plan and things like that. And ⁓ I use it for like helping me with videos and things like that. Schedule calls for me, reading through my emails, right? So I could focus on the things that I really love to do, which is you know be creative and talking to the person at hand when it comes to the role. So using AI in that way is is super, super important. And I fear that if people don't know how to use it or pick it up soon, it's gonna bridge that gap even more. you know ⁓ this new tool, it's going to be like ⁓ Microsoft Office ⁓ back in the day. How people was using filing cabinets people companies was really looking for people that has Microsoft Excel, Word, whole thing. Now we're in this new age of looking for work and work. AI is going to be that. Microsoft Office kind of thing. If you don't have AI, then we we don't want to talk with you because you you're not gonna be proficient or efficient when it comes to things. We know that you know how to do things, but we need you to know AI so you can do it ten times better.

speaker-0: I like how you mentioned that AI is like the new Microsoft Office or the new old fashioned filing cabins as well. And I think it is really essential that, you know, because the world is constantly changing, we also have to adapt and upskill in all of those different areas as well. So yeah, I really like the analogy that AI is like the new Microsoft office MS tools as well. Yeah, gotta keep leveling up.

speaker-1: You gotta keep leveling up.

speaker-0: So Dallan, you are working on multiple things at the same time. You have your nine to five job, you have the YouTube channel, you're doing volunteering, and now you're running the coaching business. how do you structure your day and manage and balance all of these things at the same time?

speaker-1: Time management is the one skill I feel like I kind of leveled up a lot in my career because you know you need to have a schedule and a calendar, right? If I don't have that calendar, I'm lost, I'm finished. So most of my days, at least through Monday through Friday, ⁓ going to be with my career because I at the end of the day, I I'm a recruiter, right? I love doing what I do in the recruiting space, and now I do it for two not for profit spaces. One I get paid for, and the other one is just volunteering. Kind of thing. That's like a stark difference from what I was doing before when I was working in the for-profit industry, which is quite interesting when I'm looking back at it. Right. So ⁓ and then from there, once I'm off work, sometimes I go to a networking event because New York City, I go to a lot of networking events. I go to at least two, maybe three networking events at least a month. when it comes to things just to kind of meet new people, get different perspectives and level up my thinking of the world. It's super important to be in these spaces because one, you learn how to talk to people more from different backgrounds. And two, you'll learn just in general on what's going on in the world. So that's that's another take that I like to be ⁓ like to do. And ⁓ having time management skills is super important because I live stream at least three times at well now four times a week playing games on my YouTube channel. Personally and in between whenever I have a time, I'm editing a video as well. And when I'm not doing none of those things, I'm with family. So

speaker-0: Okay. And in terms of the time management piece, do you feel like there are certain things that are just taking up a lot of your time or any challenges that you face?

speaker-1: I've been doing this for like at least ⁓ two years. because I started the YouTube channel on November 16th, actually my birthday. so I did that. And I ⁓ I would been asked this question a year ago, I would have probably saying ⁓ said a few things. But as of right now, I'm pretty much ⁓ set. You know, you have a good workflow ⁓ going and you you actually test that out for like at least 90 days to see and and see if the results are good or if you're getting burnout or anything like that and just make some teeny adjustments here and there, then you're pretty much golden. You know, right now my main focus is to ⁓ you know, partner with other people, other companies when it comes to brand partnerships or something like that, or, you know, maybe helping them out with their recruiting or content creation ⁓ it comes to things, just branch out my own skills and help other companies. with branding, 'cause once again, we're Dylan digital. We're getting very digital out there. ⁓ ⁓ having a good important brand behind a good company is very important in this landscape.

speaker-0: Okay. So you talked a little bit about content creation. Are you specifically talking about YouTube or are you also looking to ⁓ expand on social media like Instagram, TikTok and so on?

speaker-1: Yeah, I'm I'm talking about the latter in this sense. ⁓ I I do a lot of I like to focus in on YouTube and LinkedIn because those are my two biggest platforms right now. But I'm also on the other platforms as well. ⁓ I try to keep a good tempo on other things ⁓ when it comes to things like the Instagrams, the TikToks, the face even Facebooks, when it comes to things. So ⁓ yeah, mostly focusing on video creation and I specifically do written content on ⁓ LinkedIn since it's my highest platform. As of right now.

speaker-0: Mm-hmm. Okay. in terms of like your coaching business and so on, do you have a team of people to support you or how does a the current setup look like in order to bring your your coaching business to life?

speaker-1: As of right now, it's just me solo. ⁓ AI is a crazy thing when it comes to like scheduling meetings and things like that. Zoom takes care of all that for me. And ⁓ when it comes to the actual landscape and the website, I actually partner with ⁓ Stan Store, which makes things a little bit more efficient when it comes to offering. These are my offerings. Here, this is where I'm at. Here's my channels. ⁓ let's talk kind of thing. And I just do mostly the outgoing work when it comes to you know, reaching out to people or connecting with people on LinkedIn and just talking a lot about the video game industry as a whole and just recruiting and job hunting as well. right now it's just a solo business.

speaker-0: Okay. do you feel like there is ⁓ at some point your ⁓ there are certain aspects of your business, whether it's in ⁓ the marketing side, content creation, scheduling, where you feel like it's still manual or everything is running through AI.

speaker-1: Right now it's is I don't want to say it's manual at this point of time. There is that's the one thing I could kind of level up my business on when it comes to like using Cloud Code to have like different agents to do different things in my business for right now. There's like probably one or two manual things like sharing the jobs that I have access to on my LinkedIn is manual, but that's a like a nice little ritual that I have for myself on a Sunday. ⁓ Have a cup of coffee and looking through these roles and posting ⁓ throughout the week kind of thing. So that's that's something I like to do as of right now. Once if it gets a little bit too tedious, then that's probably something I'll look into when it comes to like maybe getting like a you know virtual assistant or something like that to do that type of stuff. But ⁓ not at that stage ⁓ for the business. It's still relatively

speaker-0: Okay. Remind me again, when exactly did you start this business? Was that like after Halloween or was that something that came later after that layoff that you mentioned?

speaker-1: So I started it in ⁓ 2023. I like there was this whole business plan that I kind of sat down and wrote up because in addition to being the lead recruiter, I kinda took it upon myself to kind of make the two YouTube channels for the past business that was worth with. They kind of had their ⁓ videos on Vimeo. And I said to myself, guys, this is an opportunity to show people this is about. Right. We be ⁓ posting something that. ⁓ And ⁓ addition to that, one channel that I was talking about. I made a whole new channel for just training purposes for the people that we were hiring as well. And I made like this video just talking about the onboarding process ⁓ from A to B. And plus I made this like a ⁓ like a full PDF file and how to go through the onboarding process because at the time the recruiters was also sharing that function sending the onboarding paperwork, training them how to do that. and recruiting at the same time. So by me making this video, they could just send them that video, the PDF, ⁓ nine times out of ten, they get through it. So the recruiters could focus in on you know recruiting more people because at the time I think it was like a hundred jobs, split like three, no, four people, ⁓ the being like field merchandisers, like the people that go out there, stock the shelves and stuff like that, drive to different locations and things like that throughout the United States, the supermarkets and stuff like that. So yeah, that's that's the thing that I was And I had this cool idea and it got shot out the sky. And I said, man, this would have been really great for you know the company because of these YouTube pages and ⁓ my whole kind of recruiting aspect of things when it comes to getting feedback from people. ⁓ was able to raise the Glassdoor and Indeed's profiles from a 2.4 to like a 3.5 because of because of that, you know. pri flywheel that I was doing and getting that feedback and actually working on that feedback and fixing it where we can as a company. So I said to myself, you know what, I'm just gonna sit down this weekend and just write this business plan on what I want to do for me and Dylan Digital. And I did that and I just put it to the side. Right. And then, you know, I just I was always thinking about it and then I got laid off. And when that happened, I was like, Okay, I guess this is a good time for me to kind of focus in on this crazy idea let's let's see what will happen, right? And ⁓ I I kinda challenged myself. I said, I'm gonna look for a job in a hundred days. If I can't do it, then I I I don't know. I guess we'll just pivot and do something else. But managed to find a job in eighty days because I'm a recruiter, right? So

speaker-0: We know the tricks.

speaker-1: But we know the tricks. So I did that and I still continued on with ⁓ Dylan Digital and just networking in the video game industry and outside of it and and other recruiting spaces and now I'm here. That's what that's what started this whole crazy idea of Dylan Did.

speaker-0: Okay, okay. I have like another question about the world of recruiters, right? So sometimes I think we've all stumbled across those posts and feed on LinkedIn. There's a lot of posts made by JobSeekersing. They feel like they've been ghosted by recruiters. why do you think that happens a lot? You know, they maybe they had a really good interview or they've made it to a couple of rounds of interviews and then Nothing, not even feedback, whether they got the job or not. Why do think this happens a lot in the world of recruiters? What do you think the biggest struggles are ⁓ in the recruiter world?

speaker-1: Yeah. So a lot of things could happen behind the scenes when it comes to the recruiting space. Sometimes funding could go away for a certain department and they have to like pull back on the role. Other times they could have multiple people in the pipeline and the manager really, really likes someone. you know, you they just get sent the, you know, rejection email. And sometimes they get hit into spam and they don't see it. You know, so there's a lot of different reasons why ghosting honestly happens ⁓ a whole. I know ATS are out there that has some of them has like a ⁓ AI and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, if you apply for a role and your skills are not matching up with what the company's looking for, you're you're just gonna get that rejection email if you're not a good fit for the role. Right. And keep in mind there's a lot of people out of work. So there's someone that probably has double the experience that you're looking for and maybe take less pay in some aspects. It's something to kind of yeah, it's something to kind of look into. That's why you Gotta rethink when it comes to like, okay, I'm I'm getting ghosted. Yeah, that that happens sometimes, but you need to pivot and look at it in a different way, saying, Okay, well, I guess this company is not a good fit for me. It happens, let's just move on. Just be you know, I'm appreciative that they send you a rejection email. If you don't get a rejection email on saying why, that's another reason why, because at the end of the day, it's a company. And most companies are afraid of getting sued or anything like that. That's why they don't not a lot of recruiters will tell you the reason why you you got rejected in that kind of sense. Yeah. Or it becomes like a legal case where you know some candidate could be very ⁓ upset about something and just take it to court and then that'll be a bigger ⁓ issue down the line. That's why I like to keep it general, saying, Okay, it wasn't good fit, thank you, and just kind of go through it that way. I know it It sucks in some aspects, but it's the process of of these companies right now.

speaker-0: Yeah, yeah. I think you made a good point that it's like you never know what is going on internally, right? And sometimes the best thing to do is that because sometimes it could be a lot of reasons. It could it has nothing to do with the candidates as well. It's simply because sometimes there's some restructuring going on or other confidential internal things that we're not allowed to disclose. And of course with the candidates, it's kind of like, okay, we've all been a candidate once, right? So we're we understand the frustration as well. And the only thing we can do is just tell them, you know what. we have to not a fit or we choose to continue with other candidates because it's also about finding the balance of like respecting the the company policies or something like that too.

speaker-1: Yeah. So that's why you just my motto is start and end in kindness. Just tell them and just tell them, hey, thank you so much. If something else pops up, let me know. Yeah. Like don't don't burn the bridge. Don't close the door. Just kind of close it and just leave a little bit of room to open it back up because you never know what happens in the future.

speaker-0: you never know that you you will always be able to cross paths as well.

speaker-1: Life is funny that way.

speaker-0: Mm-hmm. Yeah, life is ⁓ it's it's a small world, right? So you never know who you might run into and cross paths and so on like that. Okay, I have ⁓ two more questions. So one question would be what advice would you give to someone who is currently, you know, let's say they spent over a year applying to jobs, but they still haven't gotten any jobs. What advice would you give them to help them stay motivated and encouraged? Because we all know it is a really It is a really tough world out there right now. So what advice would you give?

speaker-1: I I would say first take a deep breath. You know, a a year is a long time. And that's honestly, unfortunately, becoming the norm these days. Right. I would say You you gotta track what you're doing every day, right? Because you're it's a job. Looking for work is a job, right? And you should and you should treat it like that. So you're paying yourself, you know, in in with time or with your savings that you have, hopefully, ⁓ it comes to this. ⁓ you gotta treat it like job, which means you gotta go about it a different way. You gotta track what you're doing, if it's through Excel sheet or using a tool online, You kind of need to say to yourself, okay, I'm gonna apply to 50 jobs, you know, a day that actually, you know, fits within what I'm doing. It could be 20 to 50, right? Anything lower than 20, I don't I don't think it's gonna be really beneficial. And actually go through these res ⁓ not resumes, applications and companies and making sure that you're a good fit for the company, right? And you gotta think about smaller companies too, because smaller companies need help too. And a lot of people are focusing on these huge companies. And you know, maybe that's an opportunity where you could kind of go in, even if you think you're super senior and you're 20 plus years and company needs help in some way, shape, or fashion when they post a job up. They don't have all the answers. That's why they're looking for other people that have like those skills to help them out. ⁓ keeping track of your jobs is super important. And you gotta fire up LinkedIn. You gotta fire up LinkedIn and have a plan on how to go about LinkedIn. You need to network with other people in your space. You need to see if there's a networking in-person or online kind of opportunity as well. You need to block out your days for specifically LinkedIn and specifically applying to jobs in the day and even block out time for lunch to take a break and just once it's like five o'clock or maybe even six. That's it. You don't think about it because you need to sustain that energy for a long period of time when you're on the job hunt. just basically working your job, but you know, you're a little bit structured in a way when you're on the job hunt. By doing that, you could keep track of what you're doing and you could see what's not working. So that's how you should honestly go about the job hunt. That's how I did it. That's how I teach my clients to do it. ⁓ it's been successful.

speaker-0: Yeah, I like what you mentioned how, you know, in a way, job search, it is like a full-time job, right? You also have to put certain boundaries because you could get a burnout as well, because it can be very exhausting and you have to spend a lot of time and detail tracking the jobs, creating the resume, tailor making it, doing the preps, doing the mock interviews. Yep. And sometimes I'd even say that the job search itself, the job of doing the job search is way harder than once you start a job as well because of all the uncertainty that comes with it and also when you're going to get it as well. But I think that is definitely some very, very helpful advice that ⁓ for all the listeners tuning in right now to be able to take and to also make sure that they do a little bit of self-care as well while ⁓ going at their own pace too. ⁓ Delen, one final question. There's a lot of people out there who are feeling a little bit having some reservations or maybe they're a little bit ⁓ to take that leap of faith of starting their own business. If have one piece of advice or multiple, what would be? What would you share to the people or the listeners out there considering to start business?

speaker-1: Yeah, I mean I I went to school for business. So I I was already locked in beforehand, actually switched majors from being a ⁓ hospitality student to business and entrepreneurial studies. So I knew that I wanted to do something with gaming in some way, shape, or fashion. Right. But ⁓ when it comes to like starting your own business, it's it's very rewarding. You know, you you're you're putting stakes on yourself you're just being more creative and you just, you know, you're challenging yourself every day to do something different. From what the world is seeing. it's okay to kind of honestly do both, you know, work for a ⁓ corporate and also do your thing on the side as well, as long as it's not like conflicting ⁓ anything like that. ⁓ know, you're you're adding value with your skill points, and you you don't want to live in regret, right? Because probably like 10-15 years down the line, and you you probably see someone else doing something that you had in your head, and they took a chance on it, but you didn't. I I don't know about you, but I I don't want to live a life of regrets, right? That's why I started this business. That's why I started making YouTube videos because it's fun and I'm you know, I'm actually giving benefit and helping people throughout the world. You know, once you start growing and let's just say you get trolls or something like that, ⁓ means you're on the right track because you can't please everyone in this world, right? You ⁓ you'll eventually find your tribe and you find others as well. That's also doing some crazy things, know, they'll gravitate towards you. The world becomes a better place because you're you're helping people in some type of way, whether it's volunteering or through your business, you or just through video content, it's it's important, right? And by just taking a step, taking a leap, seeing how it goes, it's better. It's better for you in the long run. So just take that chance and just start that business. If it failed, hey, businesses fail in the first like year. Restaurants fail within a year. Most businesses fail within five, five years, right? ⁓ you taking the chance, you're not failing. You not taking the chance, that's an instant fail, right? About even seeing your true potential. So just take a chance on it.

speaker-0: Yeah. like you said, take a chance because you never know until you try. and least you will have no regrets, as you mentioned. ⁓ so it's all about just putting yourself out there, giving it a shot and seeing where it goes. Because no matter what, I believe that whether whether whether it succeeds in the way that you want it to or not, there's always going to be something that you'll be able to gain out of it as well. So definitely. very very valuable insights and also ⁓ words of encouragement for the listeners out there considering to start a business as well. So Delen, thank you so much again for coming on to speak with me. This is Behind the Founders and be sure to stay tuned for the next episode.