Hey, welcome to the second edition of The Job Stacking Guidebook, where we digest the best strategies to skyrocket your revenue. If you’re like me, you don’t want to waste a lot of time on simple chit chat. Let’s get down to business.
Improving Job Application Strategies
You’ve lived through this scenario. You want to look for a new job, so you send out a hundred CVs on monday. Then, after sending dozens of cover letters and answering job postings, you wait, and wait, and wait. By friday, you’ve already given up.
Typically, this occurs because your CV isn't delivering the desired value or information to the forefront. Common knowledge says that companies usually don’t read your entire resume. They skim through it (if they do so at all).
In reality, recruiters and other people in similar positions take a long time to even open the CV. While there’s some truth to the fact that companies can make fake job postings to make themselves look like they’re growing, we’re going to focus on the opportunities where they’re actually hiring.
Truth is, they take a long time to even open your CV.
So, aside from asking yourself if you’re applying to the correct jobs (more on that later), you also have to ask yourself if you’re providing the correct information. For instance, is your formatting appealing enough?
Your CV’s your business card, and if that card isn’t presentable, it’s going to be harder to find jobs. You need to:
A) provide the most relevant information right from the start, and
B) You need to make it appealing and eye-catching.
“But Rolf”, you may say“, it’s not about that. This current economy and job market is terrible. No one can find a job”, you say. Well, yes. That’s probably true. But you’re looking at it from the wrong angle.
Controlling The Narrative:
ABA
The Job Market’s like the Stock Market: It can be deceitful, and expecting transparency or a set of rules from them is a dangerous mistake. Trying to predict where the market will go means expecting companies and a myriad of different parties to tell you the truth. That isn’t going to happen, and you’ll still be stuck at square one.
You can’t determine how the economy or the job market will turn. What you can control, however, is the way you present yourself, and how you implement strategies that circumvent the usual tactics employers and recruiters use.
Which is where ABA comes into play: Always. Be. Applying.
But I’m not talking about applying like you’re handling a machine gun. If you send out a hundred CVs in just one day, you’re confining yourself to how the market feels on that particular day. Sure, you might get lucky. But there’s a reason why luck is the exception.
No, the idea is to spread out your applications. By sending out 2 to 5 applications a day, when you’re still employed, gives you control on the narrative. You’re not exposed to unemployment, and you get to choose different opportunities from different points in time.
Of course, there are other areas of improvement. If you’re getting to the interviewing stage and still getting rejected, then the issue lies with your interviewing skills, not the CV. Generally, it’s easy to find which areas you can still optimize - and the best part is that you can control these elements, unlike the Job Market.
So remember: Always Be Applying. Minimize the risk by increasing your opportunities. Don’t let the market dictate what you need to do - be present, don’t confine yourself to a snapshot of what the market looks like on a random Monday. Your time is worth more than that.
If you need more advice or you’d simply like to learn more, you can always check out my Youtube Channel for an in-depth look.
Rolf.
