How Teal Helped Travis Realize He Was Looking for the Wrong Job (and Find the Right One)

The Challenge 

Realizing it was time for a change, Travis began looking for a role that aligned with his next career step.

After nearly five years at PandaDoc, where he’d established himself as a LinkedIn video content creator, Travis Tyler had reached the limit of his growth potential. Despite being comfortable in his role, he knew it was time for a change.

"I knew in 2023, that I’d reached the limit of [my] growth potential. I worked at PandaDoc for basically four years, almost five. And towards the [end of] last year, I started getting the itch that maybe it was time for me to try something new and spread my wings."

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However, Travis faced several unique challenges. Unlike many job seekers who are unemployed, he was looking to make a strategic move to advance his career. This meant he needed to be particularly thoughtful about his next steps.

As he began his search, Travis found himself caught in a cycle of interviewing for roles that didn't align with his true skills and passions.

"I took about 12 to 15 interviews throughout the year in 2023. So almost one a month."

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These interviews, while frequent, often left Travis feeling uncomfortable and inauthentic.

"I was walking these interviews on a weird tightrope where I was talking with folks about head of content roles or director of content, and a lot of them ended up disappointing me in the sense that [they were] as skill sets I felt like I was forcing myself into."

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The disconnect between the roles he was pursuing and his true strengths became increasingly apparent.

"Traditionally, content roles really focus a lot on the written word, case studies, blogging, eBooks, kind of like traditional writing pieces of content. And the skill set I had really been flexing and working on over the last few years was more video focused, more social forward."

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Travis found himself struggling to articulate his value in these interviews, often feeling like he was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. He also struggled to find balance.

“I think the hardest part about searching for a job is finding the motivation to stick with it. Angela Duckworth wrote a really great book called ‘Grit.’ And many of us are familiar with that term, but the stick to itness of working at a full-time job, and then looking for a job, it can feel like you have two full-time jobs.”

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The challenge wasn't just finding a new job but finding the right one—without burning out.

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What Travis's job search looked like before Teal 

Before discovering Teal, Travis's job search was largely reactive and unstructured. Despite his strong presence on LinkedIn, he lacked a systematic approach to managing his career transition.

"I was using LinkedIn how a lot of people do to just search for jobs and seeing where there were openings and looking at job boards."

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His method of tracking applications and opportunities was rudimentary and inefficient.

"I was using two, well, three things. I was using Google Docs. I would create folders and it'd be like head of content roles, and I had my resume that I thought was tailored for a head of content, but then I had to tailor each one individually.

I also had the job description saved as PDFs in there. And then I had a spreadsheet trying to keep track of all that stuff, but I was entering it all in manually."

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Travis was also struggling to tailor his resume for each application effectively, and this manual process was time-consuming and made it difficult for him to gain a clear overview of his job search progress or to identify patterns in the roles he was pursuing.

Without a structured way to analyze job descriptions and match them to his skills, Travis often found himself adjusting his resume in ways that didn't actually reflect his strengths or career goals.

The lack of a comprehensive job search tool also meant Travis was missing out on valuable insights about his search patterns and the types of roles he was gravitating toward. This made it harder for him to recognize he was consistently applying for positions that didn't align with his true skills and interests.

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The Solution 

Leveraging Teal's Job Tracker and Resume Builder for career clarity

Travis discovered Teal through his friend Camille Trent, who had taken a job at the company. Intrigued by the platform's potential to help him in his career exploration, he decided to give it a try.

"My good friend took a job at Teal. And I was like, what's Teal? And I was like, cool. This is like a job-searching tool and AI resume-building tool. There's a whole bunch of features in here that could be really useful for somebody who is exploring their next career opportunity."

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Travis found immediate value in Teal's Job Tracker. It provided him with a comprehensive view of his job search, helping him realize he might be targeting the wrong roles.

"The feature that really stood out to me first was the Job Tracker because, rather than using a spreadsheet, it already had location, salary, deadline, the date, like it had, it synced that up automatically."

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This bird's-eye view of his job search led to a crucial realization.

"It didn't click for me until I was looking at the Job Tracker in Teal that maybe I need to bookmark some other roles. I had like 15 roles bookmarked and half of them were head of content, director of content. And then the other half, I was like, ‘What jobs sound fun?’"

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This moment of clarity helped Travis refocus his job search on roles better aligned with his skills and interests.

"I was like head of social, social media manager. And I was like, wait a second. I think I've been a social media manager in like sheep's clothing, you know, like misdiagnosed, mislabeled."

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Travis also found great value in Teal's Resume Builder. It allowed him to create a more effective and visually appealing resume.

"I really liked using the Resume Builder right out of the gate and uploading my LinkedIn, then also [uploading] the other resume I'd built out of Canva to look a little bit prettier. So I picked a template that I really liked in Teal, and it looked a lot better than the one I was designing in Canva."

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In addition, Teal’s Design Mode was easy for Travis to use, saving him the time of manual formatting every little detail.

"As much as I am a Canva girlie, Teal has the features I need. How do you want to align your date? How do you want to align your location? Do you want it on the right side? Do you want it on the left side? Do you want to have your skills laid out via commas or columns? What kind of margins do you want? And it was so easy to move around the sections."

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The Resume Builder's Job Matching feature also helped Travis determine if his resume was well-matched to the roles he was now targeting.

"Obviously, the Job Matching. This was helping me to use a bit more like data and science and being like, wait, am I actually a good fit for this based on my resume structure and based on, you know, the keywords I'm using, like, am I actually as good of a fit as I think?"

By leveraging Teal's features, Travis gained clarity on his career direction, accelerated his job search, focused on roles that excited him, and created a great-looking resume that effectively showcased his unique skills and experiences.

“Any little time saver, any little hack, to make searching less strenuous and to give you back even just an extra hour of your day is monumental and can really help you when the first 13 job interviews you have don't work out and don't pan out. And for me, that was Teal.”

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The Impact 

From misaligned interviews to targeted opportunities

Using Teal had a significant impact on Travis's job search strategy and outcomes—helping him shift from pursuing roles that didn't fit his skills and interests to focusing on opportunities not aligned with his true strengths and goals.

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Before using Teal, Travis was struggling with interviews that left him feeling uncomfortable and inauthentic.

"When you're in an interview, and you start feeling this anxiety where you're like... this isn't who I am, I'm just saying yes because I need the job. Or I am lying my way through this interview in a way like I'm not being my true authentic self. That is not good; that's not a good process to develop."

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The Job Tracker and Job Matching features in Teal helped Travis realize he was targeting the wrong roles.

"Like, yeah, those were like, again, analyzing my professional summary, my work experience, and my target titles was so incredibly helpful. Finally, realizing, I'd been looking for the wrong job for 13 months. Wow."

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This realization led to a more focused and authentic job search. Instead of trying to fit himself into a traditional content box, Travis began targeting positions aligning with his passion for video and social media. The impact of this shift was profound. Travis went from feeling frustrated and inauthentic in interviews to feeling confident and excited about the opportunities he was pursuing.

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By using Teal to clarify his career direction and optimize his job search strategy, Travis was able to transition from pursuing roles that didn't fit to attracting opportunities that truly excited him and leveraged his unique skills.

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The Outcome 

Landing a high-paying role aligning with passion and skills

Travis's refined job search strategy, supported by Teal's tools, ultimately led him to a new role perfectly aligned with his skills and career aspirations. He secured a position as Senior Social Media Manager at Motion, a company that recognized and valued his unique talents in video content creation and social media management.

"When I interviewed at my current role at Motion, it was like one of the first ones where I did talk to the CEO and the founder, and I was like, I feel good. I felt like I was me. I feel like I wasn't holding anything back. And I was being accepted and enthusiastically accepted for who I am and what I bring to the table."

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The position at Motion represented more than just a job change; it was a validation of the unique value Travis brings to an organization.

Teal's tools, coupled with conversations he had about his job search with other marketers, helped him better understand and negotiate his worth. These insights empowered him to confidently advocate for a salary befitting his talents—between $135k and $165k—as a senior content producer.

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The Tips 

Strategies for career growth

Drawing from his experience using Teal to navigate a career transition, as well as his hard-earned knowledge of building a personal brand, Travis shares valuable advice for professionals looking to advance.

Invest in yourself

Whether it’s using a tool like Teal or hiring a career coach, investing in yourself will pay dividends in the long run.

"Figure out what's going to bring you balance, joy, fulfillment, anything you can out of a job. The right tools and talking with the right people will help you get there. Stop getting in your own way and figure out where you're leaving money on the table and how to overcome those things. Invest in your career like you invest in therapy. Take it seriously."

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Identify your "Zone of Genius" 

Travis emphasizes the importance of understanding your unique strengths and passions.

"There was a book written by Gay Hendrck called ‘The Big Leap.’ And one of the concepts in there is called your ‘Zone of Genius.’ And I really took to this concept because I think I had a good idea of what I was good at. But sometimes it's best if you ask others."

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He recommends reaching out to trusted colleagues, former bosses, and even friends to get their perspective on your strengths and expertise. This insight can help guide your job search toward roles truly aligning with your skills and interests.

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Leverage your personal brand 

Travis stresses the importance of consistently sharing your expertise and experiences on platforms like LinkedIn.

By regularly sharing valuable content, you can attract opportunities and potentially make connections that lead to opportunities.

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Be authentic in interviews 

Travis advises job seekers to pay attention to how they feel during an interview. Being true to yourself in interviews can help ensure you find a role and company that's a genuine fit.

"If I'm sweating under my armpits profusely to the point where I have to change my shirt after the interview, then I'm probably not comfortable in this environment with this personality or with what's expected of me. And that is a good red flag to listen to and think, ‘You know what? I'm going to pass on this one.’"

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Create interview content from your experiences 

Travis suggests turning your professional experiences into valuable stories.

"Write down, sit down in front of a notepad on your computer, and come up with like three to five short stories where you learn something super valuable through a mistake or something that succeeded really well. And this will help prepare you to tell those stories during the interview, but also it can become [social] content."

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Take care of yourself

Recognizing that job searching while employed can be draining, Travis advises.

"Step away when you need to step away and find avenues to recharge yourself because it is a slog and it is a grind and you will get defeated and frustrated very quickly. Figure out what's going to refresh you. As Gen Z likes to say: ‘Go outside and touch grass."

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About Motion
Motion is the command center for creative strategists.

With Motion, creative strategists get help at every step of their workflow including visual analysis of top-performing ads, competitor tracking, research tools, and automated recommendations to help prioritize what to ship next. Motion’s customers include some of the most prominent advertisers in paid social.

Brands like HexClad, Vuori, True Classic, Jones Road Beauty, and Ridge use Motion to analyze over $6B in media spend every year.