You’re job hunting the wrong way!
Turn your <1% response rate into a 25% response rate overnight!
I have spent a few months job hunting now, and I’ve found that most of the suggested ways to search for a job just haven’t worked for me. I think I probably sent out over 100 applications, and I got 1 response that led to nothing. I was tired, frustrated, and just ready to give up. I reached out to a friend, got some advice that I applied, and my results were almost instant. I’d like to share these tips with you.
I will warn you, this approach is not for everyone. There are some rather dicy options for improving your odds that I’m going to cover. I will also admit, certain things work for some people and don’t for others. I can feel the hate mail coming my way already. However, all of these things worked for me. Hopefully you can get at least a few golden nuggets out of this and something will work for you. Just use your own best judgment and you should be fine.
If you know you have the skills, the hustle and passion to land a job, but you don’t have a long work history in an industry yet, then this article is definitely for you!
The main change that we are going to make is to apply ten times the effort to one tenth of the companies you’re currently applying to, so that you can get ten times the results! We’re going to skip normal avenues, and instead reach out directly to a person. So, first thing’s first…
Drop the Cover Letter!
Let’s face it. They’re horrible to write. They’re miserable to read. I can’t tell you this for a fact, but I imagine if they’re seen by human eyes, they’re skimmed and not read completely unless you make it to the short stack of winners. We’re going to skip right around the ATS. Because you’re going to speak directly to a person, there is no need for a cover letter.
Humans crave contact with other humans. People want to socialize. It’s just the nature of things with the majority of society. We’re going to take advantage of that.
Stop One-Click Applying!
If you really want the job you’re after, stop one-click applying. If you’re only half-interested, or really need a job, you can hit the button, but don’t expect much. Unless you have a stellar resume, or you are in a high-demand field, you’re probably just wasting time.
I must warn you. The methods we are going to require take considerable effort. If you’re lazy, or you’re not passionate about your work, then you should probably stop reading here. But if you DO want to get into a job you enjoy waking up to every day, and you don’t mind putting in the effort to get there, then let’s do this! It’s time to…
Find your dream job!
Because we’re going to apply in a way that requires more time, make sure you’re putting effort into a job post that excites you! Find the job you don’t think you could normally pull. I got an offer from a company that I didn’t think I had a real shot with because I took a chance, and put in the effort. Shoot high!
First, do a quick scan of the job requirements. If you have roughly 80% of the skills on a resume, it’s enough. You can always add the few missing things with a little effort once you get the job. Read the basic description of the job description and/or company. Read the entire job post.
I think some companies sell their company better in a job post. They make the job sound exciting. I have found that these are because the people enjoy their job and their company more, and you should be looking for a job that you’re going to love. If the people writing the post make the job sound exciting, they probably love what they do and you might too.
Okay, found that dream job? Now, it’s time to initiate…
Direct Contact with People
I don’t know about you, but when I get an email, I quickly scan it, hit ‘Mark as Read’, and carry on if it didn’t sound interesting. There is no real engagement for me through email. It’s impersonal. When I am in a group chat room or Slack channel, it doesn’t feel super personal yet. However, when I get a direct message, that sparks my interest. I’m talking to a real person. I care just a little bit more. I will probably read the entire thing, no matter what it says. That’s the angle we’re working with for this approach.
Go to LinkedIn and head to the company page of the job you’re excited about. There are a few tabs, and we’re headed to the one marked ‘People’. Look for whoever might be the lead of your department. I am a software engineer, so I searched for ‘Lead Engineer/Developer’, ‘Senior …’, ‘VP of …’, etc. Take the time to browse through them to find someone who is high enough up the chain that putting your resume in their hands matters, but don’t go to the owner. He’s busy, and he may not even understand your role in the company.
It’s a delicate balance, and this is a bit of an art form. But I have faith you can find the right person. It doesn’t hurt to even message two people. It might even help your chances, because it shows you really want it. I wouldn’t recommend sending a message to the entire team though. That borders on the psychotic in my personal opinion. You can’t let them know you’re a total nutcase until after you’re hired and killing it on the job!
Once you find the right person, you’re going to do one of two things. If you have Premium, you can just send them InMail. If you don’t, then send a request to connect, and it will give you the option of writing a brief 300-character message. Unless you can pack a punch in limited words, this is going to be a tricky beast!
Keep it brief but impactful. Whether you have InMail or a free account, keep it brief. I’ve gone back through all my attempts at the companies I loved, and here are the things I found worked:
- Tell them what you love about the company, or at a minimum, at least what you love about the position you’re applying for.
- Name a few selling points that make you a great candidate.
- Give a direct call to action. Ask for a response of some sort.
They should typically be kept in this order too.
Here is an example:
Hi, I saw your post for Front End Software Engineer. I’m a full-stack React engineer. I’m familiar with Git workflows, AWS Certified, decent at Docker. I can basically check every box except Python/shell scripting. I think I’d make a great candidate, and I’d love to talk more about the position.
One more:
Hi, I really like your job posting for Software Engineer. I’m really passionate about technology, especially medical and vision technology. I worked for six years in the medical industry before my switch. I think I could really make a great impact in your company because of it. Reach out so we can have a chat?
I know, they seem underwhelming. You can only say so much in 300 characters. But when you’re messaging a busy person on LinkedIn, they might not take the time to read your novella if that’s what you choose to send. The first one is the one that scored me a phone screen with my number one choice. I’ve got an offer, and I will start soon! If you’ve done yours properly, soon you’ll have them reaching out for a copy of…
Your Resume
I need you to bear with me. I’m going to go against everything you’ve been told about writing resumes. That’s because this resume isn’t meant to be run through ATS. This resume is for human eyes.
When making resumes for ATS, it’s a good idea to include everything you possibly can in the list so that you hit as many keyword searches as possible. The goal for us, however, is to scream ‘Wow!’ with very few words. A short list of incredible skills and accomplishments is better than a laundry list of ‘meh’ written in some micro font.
If you have a long list of skills, I want you to shake it up. Create a section called ‘Projects’, ‘Software Applications’, or whatever the appropriate moniker for your particular industry would be. Find ways to say the same thing, but with solid metrics, impressive achievements and the like rather than just listing the skills that are on every other resume.
If you are newer in an industry, put your bio and achievements at the top, and your work history at the bottom. Most resumes don’t get fully read until the interview, so the important stuff should be front and center for that first read. I’m going to leave the details up to you. Writing resumes is a subject all its own, and not the main purpose of this article.
If they like your resume, they’re going to call you for a phone screen. The biggest factor here is to…
Be memorable!
Most hiring managers, recruiters, HR employees and the like see hundreds of applications when you’re applying. If you don’t find a way to stand out, you’re done for unless the dice just so happen to fall right. Seriously, if you don’t make an impression, you are leaving things to chance, no matter how awesome you are.
And you are awesome! You have some quality that makes you stand out. You have a quirk, or you bring passion. Maybe you’ve achieved something that not many people have. You’re going to have to sell it and you have very little time to do it. I’ve done probably 20–30 phone screens by now, and the first thing that always comes up once you’re into the thick of it is the infamous line, “So tell me about yourself!” They’re giving you a wide open windows to say something outstanding and memorable. So do it!
They’re not asking you your age, what you look like, what you do for fun, or if you like pizza. They want to know about the you that will be working for them. You have 30 to 90 seconds to make an impression. Don’t use this time to reiterate your resume. They read it, they get it. Use this time to shine a little.
Have some bullet points you cover every time, but for the love of God, don’t rehearse it to the point you sound mechanical! You want to sound human. I use some variation of this for my intro:
I’m a full-stack engineer twenty plus years in the making. I’m a problem solver and tinkerer, and have spent a lifetime fine-tuning this ability. I started coding HTML pages with the advent of AOL and GeoCities. I wrote a personal homepage and a page dedicated to playing WoW druids to maximum efficiency. I learned a bit of Lua to create my own game addon because I wasn’t satisfied with the current offerings. I dabbled with PHP/MySQL to help a previous employer out when his developer bailed on a mess of code that was his website. About 3 years ago, I really began learning JavaScript very deeply, aiming to make this a career for myself. I love programming, the industry is in killer demand now, and it seems like a perfect future for myself. I spent the last year going through a demanding program to get job ready, and I’m ready to deliver great results for your company if you’ll have me on.
You should be slightly dramatic here, but be honest and be genuine. When you’re talking about yourself in a way you believe, it really shines through. That’s what you’re after. It never hurts to add one or two lines after all this telling them exactly how you’re going to deliver that to their specific company or job position.
I hope some of this can help those of you who are stalled in your job search! I want this to be a living article that can really help people. If you get results, tell me what worked and why in the comments. If something didn’t work for you, leave me your thoughts on how I could improve the post. I want to see everyone who reads this article get the job they deserve!
Good luck! You’ve got this!
