• Holly Lee, a career coach, has experience as a recruiting leader at Amazon, Meta, and Google.
• Lee emphasizes starting out at smaller companies to build skills and explore career interests.
• She also says networking and interview preparation are crucial for standing out in tech.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Holly Lee, a career coach in Phoenix. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Before becoming a career coach, I worked as a consultant at Microsoft, leading engineering hiring, and later as a recruiting leader at Amazon, Meta, Google, and several startups.

When I switched to career coaching, I realized how much I love helping people accept not just any job but one they'll love to do. I like to ask my clients: What are your core strengths? What truly makes you happy, and not just accept a paycheck?

Early in my career, I struggled with those questions myself, and now helping those struggling with them — and struggling to climb the corporate ladder — is my passion.

If you're looking to get a job in tech, like in AI, for example, one of the hottest fields right now, here are four things I'd suggest doing, especially if you're struggling.

1. Start small

If you're just starting your career, don't focus on landing your top dream companies. You might think you want to work for Amazon, Google, Facebook, or Microsoft, and you can eventually get there, but it takes time because you're competing with the best in the industry.

Be open to exploring smaller companies that offer opportunities to grow, learn, and build valuable skills. Smaller or midsize companies will allow you to wear multiple hats. You can also find a fast-growing startup seeking Series B or C funding, which means the company has the revenue to keep someone employed for a while.

When fresh out of college or early in your career, you might not know what excites you or what role fits you. A smaller company can allow you to explore, helping you figure that out.

2. Be willing to learn

Before working your way up, learn as many skills as possible. If you're hired as a web designer, don't just stick to web design tasks — look for opportunities to take on other projects that will help you gain additional skills.

When you work for a large company, they'll want to see a wide range of skills. If a company sees you can juggle several different things, they're more likely to hire you over the 1,000 other people competing for the same job.

To learn skills beyond your role, help your peers, and see other projects they work on. If you're a user designer interested in becoming a graphic designer, those are different skills, but you can learn them.

Let's say you don't have experience with Java or Python. If you know one, you can learn to translate between similar languages. At its core, coding involves a lot of similarities — it's just about learning the little tricks.

If you're struggling to find a job, think about how you can use your skills elsewhere at places that are hiring. Consider if you can transfer your skills to places like manufacturing, healthcare, or even pharmaceutical companies.

3. Network

Don't just apply to random tech jobs. I can apply to 50 jobs, but without a connection, it's unlikely anyone will call me because no one will see my résumé. Networking is the way to go.

One way you can build your network is to pay attention to those you went to school with. If you maintain relationships with your classmates, you can see where they're landing and how you can help each other.

Another way is to join groups and communities on LinkedIn and Facebook. If you're into web design, look for a web design group and connect with the people in it. Some will be recent graduates, and some will be hiring managers. If you work on building your network, they can help you, and vice versa.

When you reach out to someone, make the message mindful — especially if you don't know them. Don't just say, "I saw you work for Amazon, and I want to work there." Instead, try something like: "I've been following your career journey, and I'm intrigued by your growth at Amazon. I noticed you recently worked at Microsoft, and I'd love to add you to my network."

If you're reaching out on LinkedIn, tell them what interests you about their profile and try to build a relationship rather than just sending a one-time message. You have to figure out a way to stand out and ask yourself how you'll provide value to the person.

4. Practice your interviews

There could be a couple of reasons if you're struggling to find a tech job but landing interviews. Sometimes, it's simply because someone else filled the role, and that's OK. Sometimes, people also go into interviews unprepared.

Ensure you're preparing for the interview, not just entering it on the fly. If you're an engineer looking to get through the interview process, be able to problem-solve with coding and design an architecture from scratch. This combination can help you through the interview.

If they ask why you want to work at the company, they want to hear three sentences, not a fifteen-minute answer. Ultimately, companies want to see if you have the appetite and aptitude to learn and do well. In an interview, you don't need to meet every requirement, but make sure you prepare.

• Navigating a career can be challenging, especially at the start.
• BI asked senior Wall Street leaders for their best pieces of advice for climbing the ranks.
• Interviewees hold top positions at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, BlackRock, and more.

What does it take to get to the top? Well, who better to ask than those who are already there?

Navigating a career can be challenging, especially in a rapidly changing economy. But those in senior leadership roles on Wall Street have cracked that code, climbing the ranks through their decades of experience.

Because these top Wall Street money managers, economists, and strategists are among those best-positioned to offer career advice, BI asked them in recent interviews for the top pieces of wisdom they would pass along to those just starting out.

David Kostin, chief US equity strategist at Goldman Sachs

Takeaway: Prioritize going to the office

"Show up in the office," Kostin said. "I can't imagine how a young person is going to actually absorb all the dimensionality of what's happening in the client relationships and with their work and colleagues and not be in the office."

Kostin's advice is simple, but it comes at a time when a massive debate is raging about various companies' RTO policies. In Kostin's view, working in person is critical to developing your career early on.

Mike Wilson, CIO and chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley

Takeaway: Bet on yourself, and be OK with being wrong

"You've got to be willing to go take a stand on stuff, whether it's in a meeting, with people you report to, pointing out things that you don't agree with, kind of making a firm stance," Wilson said.

Wilson says this boils down to being open to taking on "personal risk," or the chance that the argument you're making could be wrong — or right.

"On Wall Street, personal risk often means taking contrarian views because that's where the real money is made and accepting the idea that you're going to be wrong along the way. I think ultimately how you deal with those consequences will determine whether you're successful or not," he added.

Rick Rieder, CIO of global fixed income at BlackRock

Takeaway: Understand how technology is trending

As the biggest firms in the world pour money into AI development, Rieder said that those who are early in their careers should think about how the economy might look in the years ahead as robotics and AI increasingly augment our lives.

"I think the world's changing faster than anybody really recognizes," Rieder, who oversees $3 trillion, said.

"For young people today, understand where that's going to happen and how you take advantage of that — I think it's a really, really big deal," he continued. "I think we've left status quo, and we're moving to a whole new era."

Anna Wong, chief US economist at Bloomberg Economics

Takeaway: Be curious despite consensus, and come to a conclusion only after stress-testing it

"Constantly being curious, even if there might not be an obvious payoff to it," Wong, who previously worked at the Federal Reserve, said for her first piece of advice. "If investing is about finding what the market has not priced in, then what people have not priced in usually are in the details. For me, I have learned to be attuned to that little voice inside my head that sounds a tiny alarm in cases where I am about to make some broad assumptions."

Second, when it comes to forecasting, Wong said to consider if a conclusion is still valid after considering multiple arguments and points of view.

"The way I decide on whether to make an out-of-consensus call is to see whether it's possible to arrive at a forecast in many different ways," she said. "Most times I take as the forecast the middle of those ways — and that could at times be totally out of consensus, and at times be smack in the middle of consensus."

One of Wong's current out-of-consensus calls is that there's a 60% chance the US economy is headed toward or already in a recession.

Michael Feroli, chief US economist at JPMorgan

Takeaway: Treat every job as a learning opportunity, even if it's not what you see yourself doing long-term

Landing your dream job at the very start of your professional life is a rare occurrence. More often than not, you may find yourself at a job that isn't a great fit or isn't aligned with your long-term goals.

However, there's a lot to be learned while figuring out your career. "Do your hardest at the job you're currently at, even if it's not the job you love," Feroli said. "Whatever you're doing now will help you get to where you want to be."

Rob Arnott, founder of Research Affiliates

Takeaway: Enjoy what you do, and challenge widely accepted beliefs

"First piece of advice: Do what you love," Arnott said. "Because if you don't do what you love, you probably won't be very good at it. And if you do what you love, you're going to have fun even if you're not wildly successful."

He continued: "Second: Never accept conventional wisdom as true. Always be curious. I've made a career out of listening to conventional wisdom and thinking, 'Gosh, has anyone tested that?' And I go and test it, and half the time it turns out to be true — and fine — and half the time it turns out to be a myth."

Invesco, PIMCO, and Charles Schwab all use Arnott's alternative indexes as the bases of various mutual funds and ETFs they offer. Arnott recently told BI that market consensus around AI could be too bullish, and large-cap growth stocks may be in for a rough patch.

Wei Li, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock

Takeaway: Take time to explore interests outside of work

It may seem counterintuitive, but the key to Li's career success has been making time for new experiences outside work.

"Don't only spend time on the things immediately useful to you in your seat right now," Li said. "The world is so unpredictable. Other things you could absorb may end up being helpful to you in ways that you don't even know."

Hobbies that she's picked up over the years, such as learning about cryptocurrency or studying Italian, have opened doors in her life that she could not have foreseen.

Li believes having diverse experiences is especially important in a post-AI world: "These days, I really force myself to experience things that have nothing to do with my job because it trains my brain in ways that my job doesn't. Who knows, it could become useful in the future and in an environment where we just don't know where the future is," she said.