How To Get on Forbes 30 Under 30 (From Someone Who Made the List!)

Introduction

‍

You've probably heard about the one and only Forbes 30 under 30. What is Forbes 30 Under 30? According to Forbes, this is how it started:

“Ten years ago, Forbes set out to create the inaugural 30 Under 30 list. One decade later, it's now the definitive list of young people changing the world”

‍

“Young people changing the world”; this is something that many can stand behind which inspire future generations of leaders to continue lending a helping hand. At Wonsulting, we are a group of young people changing the world, specifically in the Education space, where we’ve helped hundreds of thousands land jobs and now have a following of 3 million+.

‍

But how did Wonsulting get on Forbes 30 Under 30 for Education in 2022? The answer: we paid….

‍

Just kidding, we did not (but there’s rumors that some people can pay to get on, which I do not know if this is true or not). In this article, I’ll break down how we were able to get on Forbes 30 Under 30, starting with how we prepared for it, the application process, and tips to get in. 

‍

How we “prepared” for Forbes 30 Under 30

‍

“Wait, you can prepare for Forbes 30 Under 30? How did you prepare for it?”

‍

We didn’t. There is no “preparation” process to get onto Forbes 30 Under 30. Many people I’ve spoken to who have gotten onto the Forbes 30 Under 30 list said they just applied and got in. What I believe in is that if you are already doing good work, whether it’s helping job-seekers land their dream roles, giving back to the community by building shelters, or making an impact to the environment, you are well on your way to making the list.

‍

In the first year of applying to Forbes 30 Under 30, we did try to do a marketing campaign via LinkedIn where we asked people to nominate us; however, we did not make the list. In the next year we did, and these are some tips on how you can get in.

Network with Forbes 30 Under 30 Honorees

‍

At Wonsulting, we always encourage our followers to network with professionals to land their dream careers. For Forbes 30 Under 30, it’s the same way; one of the ways that I learned many of the insights to get onto Forbes 30 Under 30 was by networking with current listers. How did I do this? I did the following search on LinkedIn:

LinkedIn Search Bar: Search Forbes 30 Under 30

Filter: People

Filter: Current Company to “Forbes” (This is optional)

‍

‍

By doing so, you’ll have many people that’ll show up in your search that you can connect with. Even better, network with people who are specifically in the Industry you’re trying to get into. You can do this by sending the following (this is the exact personalized invite I sent to some!):

Example: Hi (name)! Hope all is well. My name is (name), (position) at (company) and (previous positions). I love your (mission/values/what they stand for) because (the reason why). I would love to connect with you!

‍

Two exact personalized invites I sent:

‍

Hi (Name)! Hope all is well. My name is Jonathan, CEO/Founder of Wonsulting and prev Snap/Google/Cisco. I love your mission to uplift human dignity, which is similar to our mission in turning underdogs into winners. Also love the work you do for children and families. You're awesome, let's connect!

‍

Hi (Name)! Hope all is well. My name is Jonathan, CEO/Founder of Wonsulting which mission is to turn underdogs into winners. I read about the Harvard Diversity Project and love how you use your voice to inspire and impact lives in so many places. We need more people like you in the world! Let's connect.

‍

After connecting, then add them to a Networking Tracker and get on coffee chats with them to see how they were able to get on the list. By doing this, I was able to connect with 20+ listers on LinkedIn and then spoke to 3 on how they made the list which leads to my next tip. 

‍

Get Referred by Someone Who is On the List

‍

When you’re going for Forbes 30 Under 30, you can either nominate yourself or have someone else nominate you. You can send to your friends to refer you for the role, but what holds more weight is having current listers nominate you for the list.

‍

When I was applying to Forbes 30 Under 30, I had only 1 person refer us for 2021 and we got rejected. However in 2022, about 4 listers referred us for the list, which I believe leveraged our application to be read by those selecting for it. By networking with Forbes listers before or when the list is out, you can get referred and a better chance to get on there (Read until the end to see how you can get referred by me!)

‍

Showcasing Your Impact through Storytelling

‍

Here was our summary + additional information in 2020 (Rejection):

‍

Summary

• Both Jonathan and Jerry come from non-target schools and nontraditional backgrounds (e.g. low-income, first gen, under-represented minorities); however, they landed their dream careers at Snap, Google, and Cisco by using LinkedIn. 
• Jonathan Javier graduated from UC Riverside and was on track to becoming a retail manager because he thought he couldn’t get into his dream companies due to his non-target school background. Similarly, Jerry Lee comes from a low-income, first generation immigrant family where he didn't have a familial network to rely on. But he became the first intern at Google from his alma mater and landed interviews with 10 companies in 6 weeks during the COVID19 pandemic. 
• Wonsulting’s work involves 4 main pillars: large scale events, corporate partnerships, career experiences for all & online content. In 2020, they’ve done the following:

• Hosted 50+ large scale events, hosting professionals & executives: SVPs from Cisco, leaders from Google & recruiters from top tech companies, gathering over 175,000+ job seekers virtually. 
• Partnered with 150+ organizations & companies to equip 15,000 job seekers with LinkedIn job strategies. 
• Launched Wonsulting Project 2020 to offer 4,500+ job seekers, affected by COVID, project opportunities and webinars with 16+ companies.
• Created 200+ professional development content on LinkedIn, generating over 160,000+ LinkedIn followers.

‍

Additional Information

• Jonathan & Jerry launched the Wonsulting Speaker Series back in March. Since then, we’ve netted over 150,000+ attendees and brought 120+ speakers & recruiters from top companies including Facebook, Google, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, EY, PwC, Disney, Lyft & more. 
• Individually coached & mentored 400+ job seekers, landing them roles in top companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, JP Morgan & more.

‍

Here was our summary + additional information in 2021 (Accepted):

‍

Jonathan Javier graduated from UC Riverside and was on track to becoming a retail manager because he thought he couldn’t get into his dream companies due to his non-target school background. However, he broke into his dream companies Snap, Google & Cisco. Similarly, Jerry Lee comes from a low-income, first generation immigrant family where he didn't have a familial network to rely on. But he became the first intern at Google from his alma mater and landed interviews with 10 companies in 6 weeks during the COVID19 pandemic. 

‍

As a result, Wonsulting was created to educate, inspire & equip underserved jobseekers to land their dream jobs.

‍

Wonsulting's mission is to turn underdogs into winners, where we help job seekers who come from non-traditional backgrounds break into their dream careers. Within the first year, Wonsulting has impacted over 1,000 clients & reached over 150M job seekers through social media.

‍

Find out how Wonsulting can help you get hired at your dream job here.

‍

Since the last time Wonsulting has applied to Forbes 30 under 30, Wonsulting has accomplished the following: 

- Total social media followers (TikTok, LinkedIn & IG): 1.6 million (+20x growth YoY)

- Total Revenues: $$$

- Partnered with companies like Coursera, LinkedIn, TikTok (kicked off TikTok resumes), Handshake, Udacity, ZipRecruiter & more 

- Featured by Forbes, Fox, Business Insider, Yahoo News, The Times, NewsWeek, LinkedIn News, TikTok News & more on how Wonsulting is leading the forefront in educating others on job search 

- Team size grown to 18 across 5 teams (product, marketing, sales, partnerships & The20)

‍

As we look forward to the next year, we're currently looking to invest into:

Services: Team of service providers to do 1:1 career coaching with clients. (EoY'21: $$$)

Online Course: Flagship digital product to help jobseekers learn the end to end recruiting cycle. (EoY'21: $$$)

The20: Cohort-based accelerator for job seekers ($$$)

Brand Partnerships: Partner with companies to provide marketing services ($$$)

Workshops: Speak at large events & schools ($$$)

Wonsulting's purpose has always been to serve the underprivileged community with a mission of "turning underdogs into winners". Jonathan and Jerry left their corporate jobs at companies such as Google/Cisco to continue this venture because they not only found passion in the work they were doing but also saw a problem in our generation regarding job-seekers not being able to land jobs.

‍

By creating Wonsulting, we established a company that could both educate and create a social impact where non-traditional background job-seekers could receive the confidence and guidance to land offers at the Google's, Deloitte's, and Goldman Sachs of the world. In total, we have led 250+ speaking engagements in 9 different countries to spread this message, and by doing so, we hope to turn EVERY underdog into a winner.

‍

You can find the links to our work here:

‍

Instagram:

-https://www.instagram.com/jonathanwordsofwisdom/ 

-https://www.instagram.com/jerryjhlee/

-https://www.instagram.com/wonsulting/

‍

TikTok:

-https://www.tiktok.com/@wonsulting  

-https://www.tiktok.com/@jerryjhlee  

-https://www.tiktok.com/@jonathanwordsofwisdom

‍

LinkedIn:

-https://www.linkedin.com/in/jehakjerrylee/ 

-https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-wonsulting/ 

-https://www.linkedin.com/company/wonsulting/ 

‍

Your following matters; here’s why:

‍

Get Featured in Well-Known Articles (Including Forbes, of course!)

By getting featured in articles, especially ones from Forbes, you’ll be able to showcase these in your application to stand out! For example, these are some of the articles we were featured in from Forbes that we mentioned in our application:

• How this Millennial Skipped Applications, Landed His Dream Tech Job Using Social Media
• No Application Necessary: 5 Tips For Using Social Media To Land A Job In 2021

‍

Later on, we were featured in Forbes articles such as these:

• How This 26-Year-Old Entrepreneur Gained 160,000+ LinkedIn Followers In Less Than A Year
• Want To Craft A Viral LinkedIn Post? These Influencers Show You How

‍

By doing so, you’ll gain credibility as you go through the application process.

‍

VC Funding + Revenues (If applicable)

If you have VC Funding, definitely stress this. By doing this, you’ll show that you have investors who are willing to invest into your business which seems like Forbes recognizes as valuable in the application process. For Wonsulting, we did not have VC Funding; however, we were able to break down our revenue streams in our application which showed that we were not only revenue-generating but also profitable.

‍

Conclusion

‍

Forbes 30 Under 30 is a great list to be on; to get on the list, exemplify all of your achievements and don’t hold anything back. If you’ve made it on other lists, put it into your application. If you’ve made an impact on millions of people, stress those numbers. If you’ve just started your business, that’s okay too; just showcase what you’re planning to do with it!

‍

I hope this article will get more of you on the list and we’re happy to help you at Wonsulting. If you’re ever interested in signing up for our services, don’t hesitate to check out our website! We also have many free resources to help you land your dream job.

‍

Send me an email at jonathan@wonsulting.com and let me know about your story of changing the world. Would love to nominate you if I see if there’s a good fit.

‍

–

Need more help? Our 1:1 services could be a good fit for you! With 90% of our clients land interviews within 3 months and 70% land offers in 6 months, it’s only a matter of time until you land that job you’ve always dreamed of.

If you need help in making that decision, sign-up to speak to our team. We’ll help you turn from an underdog into a winner.