Guidance to Optimize Your Career
I’m Justin Gillebo. I went from loading trucks at UPS as a first-generation college student to managing billion-dollar supply chain operations at Starbucks, Microsoft, and Amazon. I did this without family connections, without a strong network, and without a college-educated family to guide me. I’ve successfully navigated this terrain; think of me as your career field guide.
Career Field Guide is a labor of love to help you optimize your career. From one underdog to another, I’m rooting for you.
Articles to Help You in Every Season:
Confused About AI and How It Might Impact my Career
Your New Coworker Wasn’t Hired. It Was Built. - The data confirms what hiring managers already know: young workers are being priced out of entry-level roles. Here’s a guide to help you build your career as a young person.
I Just Got Laid Off (or I’m Worried I’m Next)
Why Resumes Don’t Get You Hired - Your resume is a screening tool, not a selling tool. Here’s what actually gets you in the door.
8 Steps to Prepare for Your Job Interview - The system I used to land roles at Amazon, Microsoft, and Starbucks.
Performance Is No Longer Protection - How AI, Wall Street, and layoffs rewired the rules of career safety
I’m Employed, but Not Making Progress
Build a Network That Brings Jobs to You - A simple 30-minute-a-week system that builds relationships and visibility without feeling like “networking.”
5 Worst Career Habits Smart Professionals Still Do - The invisible patterns that stall careers, even for high performers.
The Most Embarrassing Mistake I Made at Microsoft - What an awkward moment taught me about presence, perception, and giving yourself grace.
I’m Looking to Level Up
Opportunity at Work is Not Random: 3 Ways to Make it Yours - How reliability beats brilliance every time.
Learning Speed as a Career Advantage - Three ways to learn faster when the world keeps changing around you.
5 Career Moves That Look Risky But Aren’t (And 1 That Is) - What I learned about calculated risk vs. reckless gambling at Amazon, Microsoft, and Starbucks.
7 Career Lessons I Learned the Hard Way So You Don’t Have To - The mistakes that cost me years, and how to avoid them.
I Don’t Know What I Want Next
Thinking About Your Career - A 4-step framework to figure out “what do I want to do next?” when the path isn’t obvious.
Every Career Choice Has a Hidden Cost - If you don’t decide what you’re optimizing for in your career right now, you’ll wake up frustrated by tradeoffs you never consciously chose.
Stop Picking Surfboards. Start Riding Waves - What Sears, Walmart, and Amazon teach us about spotting career-defining industry waves.
Stop Networking. Start Being Useful. - How Gary Vee’s 51/49 principle took me from factory floor to Fortune 500, and how it can work for you.
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Every week, I send one idea to help you build a career that is both successful and resilient by sharing practical strategies from factory floors, business dinners, and boardrooms.
These are strategies informed by my role as a researcher Principal Researcher at Zero100 where I advise COOs and Chief Supply Chain Officers on navigating the challenges and opportunities presented by AI and the Digital Revolution. I hope you’ll join me.
Rooting for you,
Justin