Articles & Guides
How do you find work when nobody will hire you?
TL;DR
Iman Aghay moved to Canada in 2009 and applied for employment for months without getting one interview. So he took matters into his own hands and started a web design business and a free networking group on the same day. Three days later a member of his own group became his first paying client. If nobody will give you a chance, you can create your own opportunity and lead opposed to following.
In 2009 Iman Aghay moved from Iran to Vancouver. He was still learning English and didn’t know a single person in the city. He also arrived a few months after the recession. He applied for every job opportunity he could find for months and never received a single interview.
It wasn’t a skills problem. He could build websites. The real problem was that nothing about him could be verified. His degree and his work history were on the other side of the world in Iran. To an employer he was a complete unknown, and it is always the safer move to pass on an unknown.
What he did instead
He stopped applying to work for other people and started creating his own opportunities. He founded a web design business with just his laptop. That same day he also started a free Meetup group called the Vancouver Business Network so local business owners could connect with each other.
Three days later a member of his new group hired him to build a website and paid him $1,800. That first payment covered his rent and bought his groceries.
His resume was the same as it had been all those months. The difference was how people viewed him. Instead of being another stranger asking for work, he was the founder and leader of the group they had just joined. Once someone has met you and gets to know you, you are now the leader and they know and respect you. Now hiring you is an opportunity not a risk.
How can you apply this?
You don’t need to start a company for this to work. The idea is to create a place where the people you want to work with can get to know you and see your expertise.
That could be a monthly meetup for your field. or a workshop at your library, or possibly a group that gets together to practice a certain skill set you are an expert in. When you are the one running the show, you meet everyone who shows up and they all know your name.
The other thing to learn from Iman is that he didn’t wait for a perfect plan. He started the business and the group on the same day and had his first client that same week.
Iman’s whole story, including the night in a hospital bed that started it all, is in our film A Second Chance at Life. It’s free to watch and about 15 minutes. We also wrote about what that night taught him if you want the rest of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long did it take Iman Aghay to get his first client?
Three days. He started the Vancouver Business Network and his web design business on the same day, and three days later a member of the group paid him $1,800 to build a website. Before that he had spent months applying for jobs without getting one interview.
What is the Vancouver Business Network?
A business networking group Iman Aghay founded on Meetup in 2009, shortly after arriving in Canada from Iran. He created it rather than joining an existing group, which meant he could introduce himself as its founder instead of as someone looking for work.
Do you have to start a business for this to work?
No. What worked was giving people a way to meet him. Organizing a meetup, a workshop, or a group that practices a skill together does the same thing. Once people know you, hiring you stops feeling like a risk.