Don’t take this popular career advice about how to approach your job search

Sarah Doody [00:00:00]: There’s a lot of career advice out there, and some of it is actually preventing you from getting hired. So today, I’ll let you know one piece of popular career advice that you should not follow and what you should do instead. But first, a quick celebration. I wanted to share that Tessa from Career Strategy Lab got hired at Wells Fargo as a content designer and secured a 178% salary increase from her previous role in administration. As a career switcher, Tessa was able to leverage her previous experience and got hired into an awesome role and bypassed junior roles. Prior to joining Career Strategy Lab, Tessa said that in 3 years, she applied to about 400 jobs and only had 4 interviews. But with Career Strategy Lab, her job search only took 23 days, and she only applied to 11 jobs before she got hired. We are so excited for this next step in your career, Tessa.

Sarah Doody [00:01:07]: Okay. Back to the episode. Buckle up because today, I’m not holding back about what I think of this common career advice that I 100 said disagree with. Most career advice tells you to keep applying to jobs and eventually you’ll get more interviews. You’ve probably heard people say things such as keep applying. Eventually, it’ll work out. You just have to work the numbers. If at first you don’t succeed, keep applying.

Sarah Doody [00:01:39]: Okay. Let’s hit pause for a moment. Why would you keep applying if you haven’t received an interview after 30, 50, 100, or more roles applied to. It makes no sense. This is a giant red flag that something is wrong with either your resume or your LinkedIn or that you’re not honestly qualified for the jobs you’re applying to. That’s the thing that most people don’t take into account when they tell you to keep applying. So I’m here to tell you today that you should not play the numbers game in your career, and I’ll give you an alternative strategy that’s helped my clients in Career Strategy Lab get hired at companies including Blue Origin, Wells Fargo, IBM Talkspace and more. The numbers game is not a strategy.

Sarah Doody [00:02:38]: It’s a recipe for burnout, and it sets you up for a lot of rejection and a lot of time spent finding and applying to jobs. Think about it. The more jobs you apply to, the more likely you are gonna face rejection. It’s, like, just math. And the more jobs you apply to, the more likely you’re applying to jobs that maybe are not actually a fit for what you’re looking for because you’re just trying to find more jobs to apply to. If you aim to apply to 10 jobs a week because that’s what you read in some article or tweet or something, then there’s a really strong chance the jobs you do apply to don’t meet all the criteria of what your ideal job really is. And there’s a risk that if you do get a job offer, you’ll quickly realize it’s not the right job for you. Another problem with applying to tons of jobs is that you probably won’t have time to customize your resume and cover letter for each job you apply to because you’re too busy finding more jobs to apply to.

Sarah Doody [00:03:55]: In a previous episode where I had the interviews with hiring managers. We heard that customizing your resume and cover letter for each role can increase the chances you’ll stand out. By tailoring your resume to highlight the skills and experience in the job description in using your cover letter to connect the dots between your prior experience and the role you want. You will stand out. In fact, Amy Thibodaux, head of creative at Gusto, does a lot of hiring, and she estimates only 10% of candidates include a cover letter. I’ve had plenty of people involved in hiring also say that that they do read cover letters, so why not take a chance and include a cover letter next time you apply. Cover letters are not dead. Here’s the thing, though.

Sarah Doody [00:04:54]: You can only do this if you stop focusing on the quantity of jobs applied to and instead focus on applying to fewer jobs, but more of the right jobs for you and creating quality application materials. I know this is so counter to what you’ve heard from so many other people. However, this stuff works. In my Career Strategy Lab program. We teach this exact job search strategy, the whole less is more thing, and our candidates get hired on average in 3.5 months after joining the program. And honestly, many have been hired in less than 60 days. So if you’re currently applying to jobs, do an experiment and focus on applying to fewer jobs and take the extra time you’ll have to customize your resume to the role and create a cover letter that connects the dots. And if you’re not searching for a job right now, maybe send this episode to a friend who is so they can try this out for themselves.

Sarah Doody [00:06:03]: Alright. That is all for today, my friends. Repeat after me or write these 2 phrases down on a sticky note so you do not forget them. I will not play the numbers game in my job search, and I will not gamble with my career. Alright. I’m Sarah Dutti, founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, and this has been my counterintuitive advice for your job search that if you put it into practice, will help you stand out. But don’t take it from me. Try it for yourself and see how this makes a difference.

Sarah Doody [00:06:43]: If this content has been helpful, please consider leaving thing, review, clicking the like button, leaving a comment, or sharing this resource with other people that you think could find value in it. You are always welcome to learn more about Career Strategy Lab by visiting careerstrategylab.com or if you wanna learn more about my thoughts and tips on the job search, check out my YouTube channel. It’s at Sarah Doody, or head over to my Twitter, also SarahDoody. Instagram, I’m SarahDoodyux, and you can search for me on LinkedIn just by my in Sarah Doody. Alright. Hope you have a great rest of your day, and I will talk to you soon.