#022 - 22 Very Short (And Sometimes Funny) Job Search Insights

How To Get A New Job

Author

Matt Hearnden
November 19, 2023

#022

22 Very Short (And Sometimes Funny) Job Search Insights

  1. It’s so easy to stand out in the LinkedIn DMs

Most DMs I get - and other recruiters get - are either some form of “what jobs do you have” or “can you look at my CV” or “can we get on a call to discuss [x].”

Something more effective: “Hey [name]. I’ve applied to the [x] role at [company]. Are you recruiting for that one? If not, would you be able to point me in the right direction? Even if I don’t hear from you, have a great day.”

Or even: “Hey [name]. Loved your post on [x]. Hadn’t thought of it that way and it’s really helped me out. Thanks!” 

You don’t have to ask for anything. In fact, you’ll probably stand out if you don’t.

  1. It’s okay to doubt yourself

You don’t have to pretend you’re feeling confident and optimistic the whole time you’re searching for a job. If you’re doubting yourself, that’s perfectly natural.

Remember to reflect on everything you’ve achieved so far in your career. You have done a lot. You have worth in the market. And if you keep doing all the right things, your time will come.

  1. Try the green ‘Open To Work’ banner

If you have more job-search success with it, keep it. If you have less, remove it.

Don’t overcomplicate it.

  1. Use the ‘Open To Work’ feature

This is the one only recruiters can see. If you’re open to work, please use it.

Oh, also: please use it.

  1. Prep for your interviews

The person you’re interviewing with - unless they’re a corporate masochist - doesn’t want to interview loads of people to find the right one. They want to interview maybe a few.

And if you get an interview, the interviewer definitely doesn't want to leave the interview thinking they don’t want to hire you. They want to leave it thinking, “That was a great interview. They’d probably be a great hire.”

By not prepping, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Plus, won’t you just feel better going into an interview having prepped? I mean, how did you feel going into an exam unprepared? (Not speaking from experience, of course.)

  1. Impatient with actions, patient with results

Our parents were right about patience being a virtue. I know. But let’s not tell them.

Remember the bamboo farmer? If not, how dare you. She’s patient for 5 years. 5 years! And if she has even one moment of impatience and checks on how the bamboo is doing, it will probably die and she’ll have to start over.

So yes, you can be patient when it comes to getting your dream job. Feel free to be impatient, however, with all the actions it takes to get there.

  1. Set boundaries

With the jobs you apply for, with the people you take advice from, with how many hours a day or week you spend job searching, with your salary expectations.

If you don’t - and it’s easy not to, particularly with the job search - you’ll find yourself burning out. Which leads to a less effective job search. Which leads to you being unemployed for longer. Which sucks.

Decide what boundaries to set and enforce them. (If you think setting boundaries is difficult, wait until you need to enforce them.) 

  1. Don’t get complacent

If you’re in a role or company or industry you don’t like and want to move on but you’re struggling to do so, take note of this quote from Tim Ferriss: “Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.”

Or, in other words: a lot of people remain ‘stuck’ until the pain becomes too much to bear.

You don’t have to wait until then.

Just FYI.

  1. Your next job doesn’t have to be your forever job

Someone I know took a job outside of their dream industry (shock horror). They also took a 25% pay rise.

Your dream industry might be too competitive right now. That’s fine. Because sometimes it pays - literally, in the above case - to go where the competition isn’t.

Your dream industry isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Taking a job outside it doesn’t mean you’re giving up; it means you’re being patient.

Very wise, if you ask me (nobody asked me).

  1. Adopt the craftsman mindset

As Cal Newport writes in So Good They Can’t Ignore You:

  • The passion mindset is about ‘What can I get from the world?’

  • The craftsman mindset is about ‘What value can I bring the world?’

One of those is a lot more attractive to employers.

And one will lead to the other.

But not vice versa.

  1. Appeal to their self-interest

Companies need people who can produce things, make things, ship things. They need results, in other words. If they don’t get results, there’s no company, no jobs, no anything.

So yes, it’s great you’re passionate about your thing. I mean that, genuinely. And how has that passion translated into results, achievements, metrics that a hiring manager needs in their team?

As the writer Jason Pargin says: “People have needs and thus assign value to the people who meet them. These are simple mechanisms of the universe and they do not respond to our wishes.”

Appealing to a hiring manager’s self-interest will help you get what you want, so why wouldn’t you do it?

  1. Take rejection gracefully

There’s no downside to taking rejection gracefully. Even if the company does a poor job of rejecting you, so what? Do you have to sink to their level?

Even if you’re ghosted, you can take rejection gracefully. “Hi [name]. I haven’t heard from you in a while but I wanted to let you know I’m removing myself from this recruitment process. Thank you for the opportunity and I wish you all the best.”

As the inimitable Michelle Obama has said: “When they go low, we go high.”

  1. Check-in with past interviewers and recruiters

Myself and other recruiters have all hired a few people this year who’ve done this.

So, you know.

Do this.

  1. Engage on LinkedIn every day

Connect with people in your desired industry, connect with potential hiring managers, add thoughtful comments to people who create content (we all love thoughtful engagement, believe me), search for past co-workers and reach back out. 

LinkedIn has 1 billion users. The people you want to notice you are on there.

If you haven’t already, start engaging.

Today. 

  1. Have all possible job titles set up on LinkedIn

If it were me, I’d have Senior Recruiter, Lead Recruiter, Senior Talent Partner, Talent Partner, Recruiter, Recruitment Lead, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, Talent Acquisition Specialist, and any others I could think of.

You don’t want to miss out on a great role because you weren’t aware of it.

(If you don’t have LinkedIn job alerts set up, you’re killing me.)

  1. Treat interviews like first dates

No, don’t lean in for a kiss. What I mean is when you go on a first date, you don’t know if you want to be in a relationship with them. You’re interested in getting to know them, yes, but no more. You should be less interested in impressing them and more interested in seeing if you’re compatible.

Same with an interview. You don’t know if you want the job but you’re interested in finding out more, to see if you’re compatible.

Nothing is for certain yet. Take the pressure off.

  1. Ghosting shouldn’t happen but it does

It sucks, doesn’t it? Of course you shouldn’t be ghosted. Of course it’s rude. Of course it hurts.

It’s also out of your control. If it happens, well, you now have some interesting information about that company.

Also, maybe the recruiter got laid off. Maybe the hiring manager left. Do yourself a favour and assume the best.

  1. Interview feedback is overrated

If you get some, great. And if you think it’s relevant, feel free to use it going forward.

If you want to ask for feedback, please do. It’ll take you probably 2 minutes to write the email so instead of overthinking it, just write and send it.

But as I said on LinkedIn the other day, when it comes to feedback, it might have just been ‘translated’ to make you feel better. The hiring manager might’ve made something up because they felt they had to say something rather than just ‘we preferred another candidate.’

Plus, the exact feedback you get (“they came across as lacking confidence”) might be the exact reason another company hires you (“we loved their humility.”)

Be careful what you take to heart.

  1. Being really good at what you do will make your job search easier

If you’re really good at what you do, you’ll have results. A recruiter might have filled many jobs while maintaining a 90%+ offer acceptance rate. An artist might have a beautiful and easy-to-navigate portfolio. A social media manager might have amazing growth and engagement metrics.

All things that can go on your CV and make you ‘stand out.’

You could also create and post content. A recruiter might post about the job search. An artist might share their work. A social media manager might share unique insights.

If you’re really good at what you do and you share that publicly, well, it’s going to be hard to keep you out of a job for long.

  1. Commenting on posts will help your DM get a reply

If a recruiter or hiring manager or creator gets 50 DMs a day - and some get a lot more - who do you think they’re more likely to reply to:

  • Someone they don’t know

  • Someone who comments on their posts with thoughtful, engaging, kind content, and has done so consistently for weeks

A decision that’s easier than deciding whether or not to put pineapple on your pizza (yes).

  1. Control the controllable

What you can control: your CV and how much you tailor it, what jobs you apply for, how much time per day or week you spend job searching, how deeply you prep for your interviews, your LinkedIn profile and presence, who you network with.

What you can’t control: who your competition is, if the role gets put on hold or filled internally, your CV being selected, the job market, what the hiring manager thinks of your interview, not getting feedback, being ghosted, and probably a load of other things.

As the Stoics said time and time again over 2000 years ago: control what you can control and let go of the rest.

Yes, I know it’s easier said than done. Name something that isn’t. (Someone on Reddit said “seeing a colour vs. describing it.” Fair.)

  1. It works when you work it

“It” being job search advice.

There’s a mountain of free advice out there from me and other recruiters. It’s quite likely you have most of the information you need to get yourself a new job.

So, the question is: are you taking all this advice? Even when you don’t think it will work for some reason? Even when it feels uncomfortable?

If you are, your new job is only a matter of time away.

If you’re not, it’s worth - like a mirror - reflecting on.