Are there really job search cheat codes?!

Last week, I saw multiple “new job” alerts from people who I’ve gotten to know from how they’ve shared their job search on LinkedIn, and from one person that I had just given resume feedback to a few weeks prior! (Go congratulate our community members here and here!

Y’all I share this for two reasons:

1. It seems like things may be improving - I’m seeing more and more people getting interviews AND landing offers!! 🙌

2. Don’t be afraid to share your journey authentically, while also peppering in the things that make you a great match!!

One of these folks is going to be a “guest writer” on Landed in a few weeks sharing her journey and lessons learned for how she bounced back from being laid off and navigated her job search!

Job Search Cheat Codes?!

I see them all the time.

“Just buy THIS resume template and you’ll get the job!”

“Join this referral site and hack your way into your next role!”

“Take this masterclass and you’ll triple your salary!”

“Send this LinkedIn message, and you’ll get fast-tracked!”

Here’s the reality: There are NO CHEAT CODES. There are no silver bullets.

If you want to land a job quickly, you need to apply to jobs that you’ve already done in industries you’ve had recent experience in. And if those fields are heavily saturated (for example, anything in tech, recruiting jobs, etc.)

If you want to make any sort of career transition into a more lucrative position, field, or industry, you will have to upskill, you will have to do a really masterful job of crafting a resume and networking to show what you bring to the table, you’ll need to give really strong interviews…and you will STILL be rejected a lot.

Not sure if you’re qualified? I made a fun bot to give you insights on how well you align with a role!

I first applied to some recruiting roles at tech companies in 2014 (when I’d never formally worked in recruiting). No interviews.
Instead I transition from my work in program management in education/non-profits into a recruiting role in the same industry.
I applied again in 2018. I landed a single interview and made it to the final stages, in part because I was able to leverage a referral that advocated for me by checking in throughout the process. But I didn’t get the job.
I applied again in 2019. I landed a single interview thanks to a referral, and made it to the end before losing the offer to an internal candidate.
I applied again in 2021. And that year, I got a number of interviews, and two offers with tech companies.

What happened?

1. I had a lot of really relevant experience.

2. The market was on my side - in 2021, tech was booming and it was an employee’s market so they were willing to hire people into recruiting even if they hadn’t worked in tech.

3. I networked alongside my applications.

4. I got flexible on role level - I stopped applying only to management roles and applied to some individual contributor roles too.

No cheat code, no silver bullet. Just the right blend of being a strong applicant, and having the market on my side.

The market is not on the side of those making career transitions right now, so it will be harder. Not impossible, but harder.

Even when the market is on your side, it’s still tough.

That doesn’t mean don’t go for that dream job. It just means that you need to plan accordingly.

So are there any resources we should be investing in?

My short answer is no. I don’t think you need to spend a dime to land a job, and I think you can find lots of free resources on line, and many of the paid services offer a lot of resources.

But if you’re having the following issues, these might be solutions to consider:

• Not sure if you’re actually qualified for that job?

  • Grab a free month of Coursera (please recognize that often employers will see you as entry level if you have no experience in the field, even with a certification or courses like these).

  • Use Jobscan to check your resume against a job description (I think you can do this free once before they charge you, but maybe you have more than one email?)

• Applying to jobs you’re well qualified for but not landing interviews?

  • DIY that resume with Teal or Kickresume or Jobscan or Ramped. (Teal and Ramped are more full-service with a whole suite of tools; Kickresume has the most options for your resume specifically, and I mostly share multiple options so you can cycle through those free trials before you have to pay for anything). 😉 

• Too busy to apply?

  • Check out Ramped’s new human-driven auto-applier that will both find jobs and submit apps on your behalf. (This link gets you $50 off - not an affiliate link, I don’t benefit if you buy this so no pressure from me!)

  • Teal has an auto-app filler extension which I believe is still in beta and free - it’s not finding jobs for you, but it is helping speed up the application process!

  • I’ve heard of others here, but don’t feel comfortable recommending them as I haven’t been able to vet them personally/gotten reviews from people I trust about effectiveness - but you can search “auto-applier” and try them out yourself!

  • And if you’ve tried one and want to share your experience, that would be awesome so I can make more recommendations of things that work!!

• Struggling once you get in the interview?

  • This article on The Muse walks through how to structure your behavioral interview responses.

  • Speeko offers AI-driven feedback on your interview responses.

  • Ramped has some free resources on interviewing skills.

But bottom line y’all, the biggest thing holding people back in their job search is targeting jobs that are a stretch given their experience - so before you change anything or spend a dime, do an honest reflection. Go line by line.

Even things like working for a regional company while targeting national or global companies, or looking for a role that’s a step above where you are at a larger company will likely be deal breakers in this more competitive market.

👀 Here’s some interesting stuff in my world! 👀

🛫I’ll be traveling for 3 weeks in September without regular internet access. I’m going to invite some guest authors to help with writing for this newsletter - if you’re interested, email me and share a potential topic you’d like to write about!

This company sent me a backpack a while back - I LOVE IT! It has amazing storage and I sent them a pic as a thank you and they put it in their email.
Side note: Companies love to send out freebies…so talk about stuff you like or are looking for on social media, leave comments on their posts, etc.

🙋Answering Your Questions🙋

Each week, I’ll answer a few of your questions in this section. You can submit your questions here.

100% YES!!! Always leverage your connections. You can send a message like:

“Hi! I just saw a role at COMPANY that is a great fit for my background. But given your knowledge of my work and the needs of the team, I wanted to get your thoughts. If you have time to chat about the role (or can suggest someone for me to connect with), I’d appreciate that as well!”

If it’s a more casual connection that doesn’t know your work, then I’d add a few lines outlining how your experience aligns with the role as well to help them connect the dots.

Finally, remember that a referral is meaningless if you’re not qualified, and many executives may be more cautious because they know their referrals can carry a lot of weight with the team.

🛫 Community Connections 🛬

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The In-Flight Amenities 🍱

Each week, I share job openings within my network and a featured jobseeker that I hope we can all support in their job search.

Jobs you need to check out:
Zapier is hiring as always!
I am so excited to see my friends at Teal hiring for several remote roles!!
Remote director role with Soli Organic!
DEI leadership role at Atlassian!
Several opportunities shared here!
Lots of product roles at Practice Better! (No job posting - I would check the website and DM the poster!)
Machine learning role at Netflix! They get tons of apps so I would definitely DM the hiring manager who posted this!
And as always, I share jobs regularly in my Talent Collective! (If you’d like to share jobs, we’d love to have you!)

A jobseeker you need to hire:
I forgot to reach out to someone this week - so instead, check out these folks who have recently posted that they are open to work - leave a comment or make a connection!
Grace Minton is looking for event planning roles that are remote/based in Italy.
Meghan Christensen regularly shares great advice and posts so many opportunities regularly…if you’re hiring a recruiter, connect with her!
Sierra White is looking for recruiter roles!

Interested in having your story shared? Sign up here!

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