How to stand out in the job market (no matter what you do)
7 Lessons from a year of job hunting and starting my own business in a crowded industry.
Between moving countries, states and then changing careers again recently, I have spent the better part of the last couple of years in the job market. As someone who has had a non-linear career path, I have been around the block a couple of times.
I’ve worked for big corporates, small mom-and-pop businesses, and myself. I have reinvented myself many times and have adapted my resumes and cover letters accordingly.
I have gotten interviews and jobs through recruiters, VPs and CEOs, and word-of-mouth. My familiarity with the job market and methodology for continually, successfully landing interviews has made me the go-to person for advice in my friend circle.
When I thought about it I realized that regardless of the audience — through my entire job-finding journey — a few tactics have remained the same.
The following strategies, when used in conjunction with one another, consistency landed me interview and job offers.
So read on to find out how to boost your chances of successfully landing that next gig.
Avoid the Spray and Pray Method
You might feel like your odds are better if you just apply for every single job for which you are remotely qualified. I’ve done this before, and it only led to a wave of rejection. I wasted time on applications and interviews for jobs that, if I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t remotely interested in.
Lesson: It is more effective to spend a little extra time on fewer applications for jobs you are better suited for than to spend less time on more applications.
Also if you apply for jobs that genuinely excite you, your application will be infused with that excitement and you’ll be more likely to be the lucky apple that gets picked from the bushel.
Do Your Homework
Before you submit your application or reach out to the job poster — before you do anything — spend at least 15 minutes thoroughly perusing the company’s website.
In addition to finding out what it is they do exactly, make sure you spend some time on the ‘About Us’ page. Look over the company history, their founding story, who the members of the C-Suite are. Read a few of their blogs or any media that’s been written about them.
It’s almost a guarantee you will discover something about them that you relate to. This will impact your cover letter and any conversations you have with recruiters. It will be clear to whoever you talk to that you are well-informed, which will help you stand out in the pool of applicants.
Customize Your Application
It’s all well and good to have a resume and a cover letter template, but you should be customizing both for every job application. I have a folder for each on my Google drive, and I just make a copy and rename the file with the new company’s name.
In a separate tab, I have the job description open. I go back and forth between the JD and my documents, highlighting certain aspects of my personal history, skills, and experience that are a match to the specific role requirements.
I always begin my cover letter with a personal story that relates to what the company does, or what the role requires. For example, I once applied for a marketing role at a ski resort. I started the letter with a funny story about my first ski lesson.
Other tips:
- Use humor where you can (hence the story about the ski lesson, let’s just say I wasn’t a natural).
- Be as specific as possible with examples of your skills and experience.
- Include things about your career history that make you unique, and thus memorable.
I always include the fact that I was a startup founder who participated in an accelerator program. I know this is an uncommon aspect of my career that will stand out against the crowd of other applicants.
Then I normally transition to a brief overview of my career history, move into distinct examples of the expertise they’re looking for, and close by summing up why I’m a good fit for the role and what excites me most about the position.
Be Authentic to Who You Are
No doubt you’ve heard this one from your mom and probably Oscar Wilde. I have to say personally, Allen Ginsberg’s is my favorite quote on the topic:
Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.
I like Ginsberg’s because it harkens back to my advice about carefully choosing the kinds of jobs you apply for. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? The answers to those questions and your gut instinct should be your driving force.
I also like the quote because it’s a much cooler way of saying you want to be able to bring your “whole self” to work.
Zappos is a great example of a company creating a culture that encourages people to be themselves with one of its core values: create fun and a little weirdness.
So if you’re a little weird, you might feel really at home working for Zappos. Alternatively, if you aren’t weird and you pretend to be in order to get a job there, two things could happen:
- You get the job and are really unhappy because you don’t fit in.
- They can tell you are pretending to be weird and don’t hire you.
Let your personality be your strength. It’s another thing about you that’s distinct, so you might as well leverage it! Finding the perfect job is a little like finding a soul mate. If your character traits fit in with the culture, it’s worth pursuing. If they don’t then maybe you and this job aren’t a great match.
Swipe left!
Take it to LinkedIn
One of the first things I generally do if I’m particularly interested in a position is to look up the company on LinkedIn. I check out their recent posts since companies tend to publish mostly important announcements and media they’ve received.
Then I click on ‘people’ and filter by my department, in my case ‘marketing.’ I scan through the list, checking to see if I have any mutual connections I can leverage for a personalized intro.
If I can get a personal intro to someone at the company, I’ll wait to apply so that I can learn more about the role. Once that person has learned about my qualifications, hopefully, I get a referral link to apply with, or an intro to someone in HR, and a better shot at getting an interview.
In the event that no one in my network can help me, I make a note of the VP or Director level profiles and head back over to the website to apply. If I haven’t heard anything after about a week, I generally direct message whichever person appears most active on LinkedIn to check on the status of my application.
Follow-up Regularly
I recently saw a post on LinkedIn in which a woman had submitted an application online and had followed up by sending a hard copy of her resume and cover letter over to the company. It had been over a week and she hadn’t heard anything, and she was debating following up on LinkedIn through a private message.
My advice (and others have echoed this sentiment as well) is to always follow-up. Of course, it’s important to be selective about the method (call, email or PM) as well as the timing.
While I generally recommend waiting about a week in between each message, one way to make sure outreach is justified to ask when you should expect to hear back after every stage of the interview process. Then, if that date comes and goes and you don’t hear anything, it merits a follow-up.
I personally have never heard of anyone not getting a job because they followed up too persistently. A lot of the time, the interview process gets drawn out — it can take months to hear back from when you first submitted your application.
My philosophy is, it’s better to know if I’m still being considered so that I can stop dedicating mental space and energy to pursuing the job if I’m not. In one scenario I actually removed myself from consideration for a role after being strung along for over 3 months, with the company consistently missing every deadline to get back to me.
So, that being said — watch for red flags.
Do you want to work for a company that doesn’t respect people enough to not string them along? What does it say about the way that the business functions that the people that work there can’t communicate well?
In Conclusion: Have You Got That Hustle?
The single most important skill to possess in order to land that new job or client? Hustle.
Get there first. Submit a killer application, and apply early. Follow-up. Be thoughtful and gracious. Send a thank-you email or note after your interview.
Some opportunities just manifest themselves, but most don’t. If you want it, you need to get after it. Use every tool in your toolbox to stand out, and to stay on the minds of those who matter.
Anything I missed on this list? Comment below.
