Ben also sheds light on Olark’s unique human-centric approach in the tech world, reinforcing their core belief that the world is better when we help each other. Discover how Olark, a software as a service company, prioritizes fostering human connections, even in a tech-based environment. Ben’s people-first mindset offers a refreshing perspective on how businesses can operate more empathetically. Tune in to find out why persistence is key and how Olark’s philosophy can inspire your own career journey.
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Speaker 1
0:00
And you know if your set of skills is not great or not perfect for that job and that's you know in your mind, this is like the perfect job for you. I think a good thing to do is to ask the hiring manager like, hey, like you know, I know I eventually want to end up here, but like, what do you think I should be doing at this point in my career that's going to help me get here, get there in the future. Get here, get there in the future. And I think that if you can build that plan a few steps out, it makes it more tractable to you know, end up at those places that you're really excited to end up at, rather than just like I'm going to spray and pray and I'm just gonna end up like wherever I can right now. I think if you had a little bit more intentionality around it, you could be like you know what I should be doing right now. I should be going back to school.
Speaker 2
0:50
Hello, it's Alex from Remote Work Life and that was the voice of Ben Congleton. Ben Congleton is the CEO of Olark and you can find Olark's website at olarkcom. That's O-L-A-R-Kcom. I'll also leave a link for you in the show notes. Olark is essentially a live chat platform and they've been around for a number of years and they're probably one of the bottom right-hand corner, usually prompting you to engage or to chat with somebody on their help desk. Then OLARC is that particular or may be that particular provider because they have around about 12,000 businesses worldwide using their software. And although Olark is a software as a service business, ben Ben Congleton, their CEO, is very much a people person and even if you read through their website, you will see, for example, on the homepage we believe the world is a better place when everyone helps each other, believe the world is a better place when everyone helps each other.
Speaker 2
2:08
And in that interview that I well, I only showed I only gave you a snippet of the interview I did with Ben, but throughout the interview he was talking about. Although you know, olarki is a software company, they're very much built around people and their interest is human connection. Is that connectivity between, well, that human to human connection and I got the feeling that he was very much the kind of person you know who really really walks the talk, and he's very much a you know, a people person, and I think that's why he he gave that little bit of advice that you just heard there in that little segment that I played for you just earlier on, where he was essentially talking about you as an applicant or you as somebody who's trying to really do business with a company or applying online via a job, for example. What he's essentially saying is because you can probably imagine, lots and lots of people apply, especially to remote opportunities, and they get hundreds of applications. But what he's saying is if you don't hear back for whatever reason whether because they're busy, um, or they just don't have the resources to just to reply then what you should do is follow up, and I'm a you know, I'm a I'm somebody who would, would really advocate this as well.
Speaker 2
3:38
You should always follow up. You know at least once, if not, if you don't hear back the first time. And that's because if you don't follow up, then you'll never know where you went wrong. You'll never know what you have to do next time, should the same role or a similar role come up, so you know if you're following up, as Ben suggests here in that segment. If you're following up, you really want to know what you need to do to be successful next time around, and this isn't, in fact, this doesn't just apply to if you're applying to a job for the first time. It also applies to you if you've been to an interview and you've perhaps come a very close second, or even you know you haven't got that job.
Speaker 2
4:27
You should always, always, always, send an email to that interviewer or that hiring manager and ask them what do I need to do next time around to be successful? And that will give you some closure, in a sense. That will give you some closure, but it will give you some feedback as well in terms of what you need to do. It may be something that you could do immediately, or it may be something that you need to invest some time to improve, but at least you will. Something that you need to invest some some time to to improve, but at least you will know what you need to do and be ready the next time around, and it will help you to stand out if you, if you're emailing the hiring manager or the HR or whoever it is who's hiring. It will help you to stand out and show them that you have a real passion about the business and about the role.
Speaker 2
5:15
And imagine, imagine if you perhaps you're perhaps one of the few who's likely to do this and if you do, your name will stick and if that job comes about again, or if a similar job comes about again and you apply to that job, you will have built a human connection with that business. You would have built human connection potentially with your hiring, your, your potential future hiring manager, to the point that hopefully, that hopefully they'll remember you from that previous conversation that you had by email. So the message here is you know, if you're not successful with your applications, whether or your interviews, don't just leave it at that. Make sure you follow up, make sure you make that human connection, make sure you have a conversation, a meaningful conversation that will not just help you, help you to stand out, but it will help you to potentially move your career forward and it may see you working for that business sometime in the future. I hope that has helped.
Speaker 2
6:23
I will at some point publish more snippets from that interview with Ben, because it was just such a, for me such an informative interview that I think you know. At least giving you little bits here and there, I think, will help you out. Let me know if you want to hear the full interview. Please leave a rating as well, if you've enjoyed this or you've enjoyed the other content I've put out there and I will speak to you soon.
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