The Whole World Wants The Job: How to get in the door

Perfect Symbol for the current job market (Screenshot from Linkedin)

54 Online applications and 32 Referrals later, I finally have 2 interviews scheduled. For some additional context: I am in tech, working as a product manager with about 3~5 years of experience. “Brandname” university and tier-B companies on the resume for professional experience.

And to expand on what I wrote in my last article on Job-Hunting during Covid, the market right now is TOUGH. This puts my final response rate at slightly less than 2% for cold-applications (via website or linkedin) and slightly above 3% for referred applications. For the latter, it might be bounced up to around 5~8% since many of the positions turned out to be no longer available as according to the responsible recruiter.

And I perfectly believe that. If anything, the title picture shows that both cold and referral ratios need to be boosted up because of that. But you know what the unfortunate reality is?

It doesn’t matter

What does matter is that we don’t know which postings are actually available. So even then, all we can do is apply to all of them. Spend the time, write the cover letters, shoot for referrals, and hope for the best. All we know is that their numbers are getting scarcer, applicants are getting more desperate, and as more companies are implementing work from home forever — the applicant pool is now the entire world and not just the local area.

As job hunters, we are getting hit with the double whammy of less jobs and the sudden EXPLOSION of an international applicant pool. It was bad and it was already starting a bit before, but this pandemic-driven push to remote work has expedited this flow.

And so that means, a couple of things:

1. Job hunting is going to suck much much more
2. Wages are going to drop
3. A lot of us are going to get screwed

The only bright side? If you’re already employed and get to work remote, maybe now you can finally move somewhere cheaper and still get paid the same. On the flip side, this huge labor pool means your salary growth is definitely going to get hammered.

So for those of us hunting, soon-to-be hunting, or will be hunting we need to step up our game. Because unlike running from a bear, it’s not good enough to outrun the last guy. To get the job, you have to be the fastest one who gets back to safety, cooks dinner, and is bed by the time the bear even reaches the last guy. We have to be streets ahead.

And the easiest way to do that right now is to get someone on the inside going to bat for you. Someone to bug the recruiters, get your resume in front of a pair of human eyes, and to find the new posts and refer you to them before they even come up. Now it’s hard to find that kind of friend, because that’s going by far the extra mile.

But thats what you need. Because:

1. Resumes don’t get offers
2. Cover letters don’t break ties
3. Someone will have a better GPA than you

All of the above are just ways to make sure you can pass through the door. Problem right now is finding the door. Linkedin, Indeed, Glassdoor, all of their postings right now are trapdoors. They’ve become sinkholes, and it’s not their fault. Companies are just being overwhelmed with applicants and/or they’re not maintaining their open (now closed)listings. And the only way to save our time and get the job is having someone on the inside reserve the door for us.

I’m one of those people who clamor for fairness. And this situation is terrible. It makes entry positions harder than ever (after all, the whole thing about being a new grad is that you lack a functional referral network because EVERYONE is also hunting). But it also penalizes introverts or those of us who just want to make it so that we’re being judged and rewarded for what is objectively what’s important.

Too bad though. Because I also need to be a realist and realize that a belief in fair doesn’t buy my dinner. What might is checking in with my peers, and putting aside any embarassment or reservation I mistakenly have about asking for help. To realize that this is what’s needed in the market, and we have to do what we must in order to get to where we want to go.

So apply to places outside your area (if you can work remote, or if you can move)

Apply like the wind. Did you set 5~10 postings a day? Forget that, apply until the only filter you use is “Last 24 hours”

Ask your friends. Seriously, fucking ask. Embarassed? Feel shame? That’s fine. Pride on an empty stomach sucks more. Don’t have friends that’ll go to the bat for you? Make some or strengthen the ones you have now.

Go and good luck. If you liked what you read and are interested in seeing more learnings as I go along in my progress, please share and leave a clap!