Avoid to 8 Job Search Mistakes that can kill your chance
Table of Contents
Today, I’m talking about the eight, ways that you are blocked in the job search process. It’s just like a video game, and it requires skill if you want to unlock level if, you want to go to the next level you have to figure out the solution to work through that roadblock. There are eight roadblocks, and they are the ATS system, your resume, your cover letter, your Linkedin profile, your interview prep, your networking strategy, your job search strategy, and your career story and each one of those things is a little bit more challenging just like in a game.
So, if you don’t know how to navigate all of these things you are going to make your job search harder and longer. Conversely, if you get really good at these things if you understand how the game is played you can become amazing at job search. You can create unbelievable opportunities for yourself and put yourself in a situation. Where you’re working with the best employers because it’s a game so, shall we begin all right? So, today, I want to talk about each one and how they block you from the process. So, we’re going to start with the ATS.
ATS system
ATS applicant tracking system also affectionately called the applicant tossing system, the reason for that is that we all think that applying online was designed to make our lives easier. No it makes our lives as job seekers way harder, it makes the lives of recruiters and hiring managers easier because it’s easier for them to screen you out. So, you spend all this time applying online and on their side this applicant tracking system is secretly looking for specific information and will not forward your application through to a human being to look at unless you meet this secret criteria, they ask you a bunch of stuff.
But they’re not going to tell you what they’re specifically looking for. Because, get hundreds of applicants tons of non-qualified people apply. So, they need a way to filter that out to give you an idea on average for every 100 applicants they might only look at 20 and of those about three percent total that apply ever really get phone call and move forward. So, your chances of getting hired by applying online are terrible. Especially if, you don’t know what to put in the fields if, you skip a field and even then every ATS system different every company has bought a different type of system.
Resume
So, any of these companies telling you that can teach you how to gamify your resume, It’s a lie, it’s doesn’t work that way you might improve it for one but, not for others, and you don’t know which system employers are using. So, you need a resume that is designed to be readable that you can get directly in the hands of employers. We call it a white space resume and it’s made much easier for someone to see. Because this idea of filling everything on a resume it’s called keyword stuffing and ,putting everything you’ve ever done, and hoping it gets through the ATS . First of all that increases the chances you get tossed and if, someone does see it. When you design a resume like that I can tell you right now recruiters are completely overwhelmed. It’s too much text there’s too much information and you’ve actually given them, more reasons to screen you out.
The point of the resume is it’s like your marketing copy for your business of one. Your business of when selling your services you want to tease them in to wanting to call you and speak to you. So, your resume shouldn’t have everything you’ve ever done, it shouldn’t be visually overwhelming. It should be very easy to read, it should have the basic information, and it should make them go. I think, I want to talk to this person there’s not enough info here I think, they’re a fit but I need to talk to them. That is the point if a resume today that’s kind of resume you need. All right so you get through we’ve got the ATS right, and then I said the resume right see how they kind of go hand in hand. So, you’ve got to understand ATS doesn’t work you’ve got to know how to build the resume that can get see.
Cover letter
The cover letter and I hear the time, and again people go recruiters say they don’t read cover letters. There should be a little asterisk next to that, recruiters don’t read bad cover letters, and bad cover letters are all those cover letters people are ripping of the internet for free. That are like 30 years old so, if your cover letter begins with to whom it may concern. If your cover letter starts with “I’m writing in response to application for this job” this will not work. If a paragraph in your resume is let me tell you why I’m most amazing candidate for the job, I did this, and this and regurgitates your resume that’s also not work, and that’s not a cover letter today. Not to be you know difficult folks but, I’m trying to make you understand this a game right, think video game. You have to write a disruptive cover letter a disruptive cover letter the whole point thinks the word disruptive is to them to go. Wait what is this isn’t a normal cover letter wait what this thing let me read it, and you tell a story, and you get them at hello so that they want to go over and look at your resume, and they want to screen you in instead of the screen you out.
The cover letters where you hook them so, that’s what a disruptive cover letter does, lots of great tutorials here on YouTube that can check out as well. But, it is so important because while everybody else is writing a crummy you know copycat cover letter that recruiters don’t read every single day people work a daily are learning how to write a disruptive cover letter, and getting interviews, and the recruiters are calling up and saying best cover letter I ever read. That’s the whole point is, you can wow recruiter now they’re in your court, and this is what you have to do especially with those dream employers.
Moving on, you have no choice, 100% of recruiters, especially for any kind of office job, virtual jobs anything any Linkedin kind of professional job 100% of recruiters are on Linkedin and searching for you. So, one we say brand or be branded if, you don’t have a Linkedin profile by now there are 700 million-plus people on Linkedin. So, if you don’t have a Linkedin profile then what you’re saying is that I’m not tech-savvy, there’s nothing special about me there’s nothing impressive, or I have something to hide. So, you’re still sending a message it’s just not a good one you have to be on Linkedin. But, more importantly there is a huge hidden job market right now, anytime you have a recession thing like this economic crisis pandemic, there’s still hiring going on. But, companies don’t make it public and by that I mean that don’t post their job on Indeed and Monster and Careerbuilder, and Linkedin, and Glassdoor, and all these other places that you might go. Instead, they keep it secret because they don’t want ten thousand applicants, think about it. In times like these they would be overwhelmed with applicants plus everybody would be trying to call in favors so, instead, they write up the job description. They post it quietly on their company’s career page, and then they go internally to their staff and say do you know anybody.
The order thing that recruiters do is, instead of posting the job at all. They write up the job description they go research on Linkedin for people that have the skill sets, and they reach out to them privately, they message them privately and say, “hay we have a job available, I think you’re a fit can we word,” so, this is when it spikes. If, you don’t have a Linkedin profile optimized recruiters aren’t going to find you. If, you don’t know what to put in your headline in your about section in your work history, you will not be found because Linkedin is nothing more than a search engine so, if you go to Google and you do Google they have this big algorithm. I mean there are billions of pieces of data on the internet so; Google had to create a sophisticated algorithm. So. When you put in just a few words it knows what relevant information brings to you, well Linkedin had to do the same thing with 700 million profiles. It’s like the yellow pages of professionals so how does it know which 50 to give you first, it’s all based on the algorithm, and what’s in your profile. So, if you don’t put the right words in you’re not going to be found you’re not going to be in the top of the list, and that’s part of the process. You have to have a well-optimized Linkedin profile.
Interview prep
Now moving on to interview prep, interviewing is where you stand out from the competition. This is the place where I see people blow it the most which bring my heart because they finally figure out all there other things, I’ve talked about, and they land an interview, and they blow It because they don’t prep. In the interview, your job is to show them how you’re going to save or make them enough money to justify the cost of hiring you of picking you, and the way you also do that is by explaining to them all the problems. You’re going to solve and the pain that you’re going to alleviate, they don’t hire you just because they like you do have to have a good personality, and you have to look like you’re adaptable, and you can learn their way and you do have to have the experience. But, that whole package your personality operating experience has to convey that fact you are going to make their lives easier that it is worth the return on the investment of packing you. So, your answers have to be very succinct a logical and have to tell stories that explain. I get what you need I know how to deliver the value and let me prove it to you. If, you do not answer questions this way you will not get the job.
Here’s the upside though when you do know how to answer questions this way you end up way up here because, all those other people you’re competing against don’t answer as effectively as you do, and this is why I find this to be the game-changing piece of job search. Because, you learn to interview properly, and let me just say quickly you don’t to be an extrovert, you don’t need to be some sort of like amazing speaker. I know introverts I know contemplators who are awesome at interviewing because, they’ve practiced and prepped, and know what hiring managers are looking for them to explain, and they do that in their own voice, and they command respect, and people are drawn to their calmness. So, every personality type every style can be good at interviewing, don’t tell me you can’t you can be but, you have to work out in advance. The key things you need to get across, and then you need to practice them, and when you do this what happens is they want you so badly. That when you finally get to the point that you’re picked for the job. Now you’re in a position to negotiate salary because they don’t want their second pick the second pick didn’t do as well interview as you did, you said all the right things. You proved that you had the value I want you that’s why interview prep is so; important that’s where you make more money.
Job search strategy
Now once you get a past interview prep there is also job search strategy because you’re not going to get interviews. If you don’t know how to pick the right companies to focus on, you can’t spray and pray this is a mistake. I’ve talked about this on tick tock before people just blindly applied whole bunch of jobs and then when they didn’t get called. Because what did I just show you they’re ATS they couldn’t get through their resume was no good cover letter all this.
You have slimmed, and unchanced when you do this spray and pray method. They get depressed, and they think something’s wrong with them there’s nothing wrong with you. You didn’t choose the right employers and didn’t build the right strategy. You have to have something called a bucket list, and you don’t have you had to know how to create an effective bucket list of employers, that you’re attracted to that hire for your skill sets. So, that you can network effectively with them every good salesperson knows to do this, you know how salespersons you if, you’re not sales you might not know but, they’re given territories, and told to prioritize their leads, and focus on the once that are the best fit that’s targeting. You need to go targeting in your job search when you target, you’re going to devote quality time getting hired, and it’s going to be much more rewarding you’re not going to waste your time spraying and praying.
Networking
Networking, we have to learn how to network your network is, your net worth in job search. The bigger the network you have the better again let’s go back to video gaming and having allies right. Your network or your allies now this is again a lot of people say I’m a terrible networker I’m super shy, I know shy people that are insanely awesome networkers. All you need to do is understand you’re not asking people for something you’re serving them, when you learn the serving technique I’m here to serve my network, and you learn the strategies for connecting with people. It’s a game-changer but, when you build up your network it’s that six degrees of separation. Somebody knows, somebody who knows, somebody at the company in your bucket list, and now all of a sudden you’ve got a way to get that amazing resume in front of the hiring manager to get your linkedin profile to get your disruptive cover letter in front of them to get an interview. This is how people are doing it, all day long and you don’t have to know you, people, even yet at your bucket list companies. But, if you don’t have bucket list companies you don’t know who to network with now, you can network with them with these strategies, and build up connections, and learn, what is takes to get hired at that company from people that are already there. This is how you pass the hundreds of thousands of people that are applying online, and go around the ATS system, and get in with the people that can actually make hiring happen.
Career story
This is the pinnacle this is the most important high-level part this is when you learn to master career story. You will fully control your career you can take it to levels you’ve never believed before, and that’s because, your career story is the narrative in your head. See, as human beings we are designed our brains our ancient brains are designed to have experiences and to codify them. We interpret them, every experience you had in your life I’ve had in my life, we interpret, and we tell a story in our head we connect the dots. So, all of us whether you’ve ever realized it, or not have a career story, and that career story is playing in your head likes a major motion picture. Picture like an epic novel, and we of course being human beings have created all sorts of drama around its highs and lows. But, that story is a subjective interpretation, I could put somebody different through the same experiences, and they would have a totally different story in their head.
That story you’re talking about is not cast in stone, it is not fact, it is subjective, and let me prove it to you. Have you ever had something happen to you and initially you think? It’s really bad, and you’re like, “oh my gosh I can’t believe this happened to me”, and Then, eventually, one day you’re saying to that’s the best thing that ever happened to me “thank goodness.” I thought it was terrible at the time but, if that hadn’t happened this wouldn’t have happened. We’ve all had those experiences so, at the time, you were telling a story that was negative but as time went on, and you had aha moments it turned into a story that was positive. So, your career story the story that you’re telling right now about your career is literally determining your success. So, if you’re playing the victim right now if, there’s more to your career story that’s negative, and limiting. You are literally limiting your opportunities if, we can rewrite your story if, we can show you how to challenge some of the information that’s playing in this story.
If, we can show you how to rewrite those sections, you will open up so, many doors for yourself. You won’t even believe it, and I can prove it to you because if you go talk to two or three people that you really admire their careers I challenge you, and you ask them to tell you their career story listen to it. Because, it’s awesome, and you’re going to find out they hit all sorts of roadblocks and overcome them, and celebrated them, and moved forward, and learned, and grow their story is awesome. Your story can be just as awesome, you just need to correct the parts that holding you back.
All right so to recap everybody, the eight ways you are being blocked in the job search process just like a video game.
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