Why You Should Always Be Applying: The ABA Rule For Your Job Search

Sarah Doody [00:00:00]: Hey there. I’m Sarah Doody, host of the Career Strategy Podcast. Many professionals are seeking more impact, flexibility, growth, and let’s face it, getting paid what they’re worth. But how do you unlock this in your career? It starts with strategy. I’m taking you behind the scenes of what’s working for my career coaching clients. You’ll hear strategies and actionable, yet sometimes against the grain, advice for how you can be the CEO of your career and stop dreading Mondays. Ready to level up your career? Let’s get after it. Hey, friend.

Sarah Doody [00:00:39]: Welcome back to another episode. Today, I want to talk about the ABA rule for your job search. This rule is going to help you be more in control of your job search and your career whether you’re actively job searching or you’re happily employed. So, what does ABA stand for? It stands for always be applying. Now, in the world of sales, maybe you’ve heard of always be closing, a b c. The thought behind this ABA framework is similar. Instead of always be closing, we want to be always be applying applying for jobs. And there’s really 2 scenarios here.

Sarah Doody [00:01:27]: Scenario 1 is if you’re currently in a job search. A lot of job seekers get very excited when they get further along in the interview process and they think they’re going to get an offer and even after receiving an offer many people stop applying the further they get in the process, and that is a mistake. As a candidate, you want to continue applying until you start your job on day 1. And the reason for this is that despite feeling like you’re doing well in the interview process or what people tell you or even receiving a job offer, it is not over, meaning your job search isn’t over until you start that new job on day 1. Because while things can happen, the unexpected can come your way. And, unfortunately, there are scenarios where you may receive a job offer and maybe it gets rescinded for a variety of reasons, many of which have nothing to do with you as a candidate. So, by continuing to apply, you are making sure that you are continuing the momentum in your job search, you are riding on the confidence that you have, and that you’re exploring other opportunities that might come your way. And, honestly, you might be surprised.

Sarah Doody [00:02:59]: Maybe you think you are in the interviews for your dream job but because you continued applying, you realize actually there is a better opportunity over here at this company I have never heard of. So that is why you should always be applying in an active job search. Now, the other thing we want to think about is why you should always be applying even if you are happily employed because this still applies to you. So if you’re in a job and you really have no plans on leaving, I think it’s a very healthy exercise to explore other roles at different companies from time to time. So maybe you’re scrolling LinkedIn and you see a job that, kind of, catches your eye or maybe someone sends you a link to a job or recruiter reaches out to you with an opportunity. Instead of just automatically saying no, I’m good, it may be in your best interest to say yes and at least have a conversation with that recruiter or that person about the role. Because the very act of having those conversations and potentially going to interviews does a couple of things. First of all, it makes sure that your career materials, meaning your resume, your LinkedIn profile, a portfolio if you have one, even your interview skills, it makes sure that those are kind of always in a ready to go state, right? And because you are exploring options you’re routinely updating these things which is going to benefit you in the future.

Sarah Doody [00:04:45]: Another reason why it’s great to be applying even if you are happily employed is because it helps you gauge and assess your worth in the job market. You might get a better clarity on the skills that people are looking for in someone like you, even the salary that you could command. You could even potentially learn, things that you may be able to negotiate, in your current role if you decided to not leave that job you are happily at right now. Another reason why I think it’s really valuable to always be applying even if you are happily in your dream job is that I think it can help reduce anxiety when you are job searching maybe in the future because maybe you’re doing this on a once a year basis or a couple of times a year you explore opportunities. This notion of applying to jobs, tailoring your resume, having screener calls, etc, it’s just less foreign because you’ve been doing it on a more frequent basis. And the other reason why I’m really a fan of continuing to apply is that similar to for that person that may have had a job offer, it just helps you become aware of opportunities that maybe you didn’t even know exist, whether that is companies, even job titles. You would be surprised at how many times there might be an awesome job at a company that you have never heard of. But because you said yes to that message that someone sent you in your LinkedIn inbox or you decided to apply even though you’re employed right now, you may be surprised at how good of a fit another company or team may be.

Sarah Doody [00:06:43]: And, you know, sometimes when your job that you think is really great, you don’t recognize the negatives of that team or that company, and it’s not until you look outside of, you know, the confines of your current job that you realize: wait a sec, I really like, you know, the structure of this company’s teams or these benefits or their salary or their job title or who knows what. So I want you to commit to setting a regular schedule for at least job searching. Maybe you’re not applying, but at least searching to see what’s out there so you can get a sense of how you stack up and maybe help you realize if you’ve kinda become blind to things at your current job that maybe you’ve just kinda settled for. Keep your resume and LinkedIn profile updated. Right? Because if you’re always applying, gives you a reason to keep those things updated so you don’t have to rush to update them later. Another reason that continuing to apply is beneficial is it can help you grow your network. Right? Every conversation you have, every email you exchange is an opportunity to build a relationship with someone. And if you’re busy, one pro tip here, set up alerts.

Sarah Doody [00:08:06]: Go on whatever job search tool you use. I know LinkedIn has alerts you can create so that you can reduce the time it takes in the job searching part of this because if you set up the alerts, the jobs will come to you. Alright. So that is the ABA rule for your job search, always be applying. I hope you learned something new today. I hope you learned some new tips that you can implement this week, or you may wanna share this with a friend who is currently in a job search. I bet they would find the tips helpful also. Okay.

Sarah Doody [00:08:41]: That’s all for today. I will see you in another episode. Thanks for listening to the Career Strategy Podcast. Make sure to follow me, Sarah Doody, on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn. If anything in today’s episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it. Tag me on social media or send me a DM. And lastly, if you found this episode helpful, I’d really appreciate it if you could share it with a friend or give us a quick rating on Spotify or review on Apple Podcasts. Catch you later.