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Ep8: It's a New World Out There
Episode 8 • 25th September 2023 • The Hire Drive • Marc David
00:00:00 00:17:50

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Shownotes

Introduction

  • Inspiration behind the episode title.
  • Observations on job seekers' frustrations and challenges.

Personal Experience

  • Reflecting on the host's job search in 2018.
  • Comparing past experiences with the current job market.

The Digital Shift

  • The evolution of online job applications.
  • The ambiguity of LinkedIn job post statistics.
  • The mindset of approaching job applications.

Understanding Recruiters

  • The challenge recruiters face in filtering through numerous applications.
  • Importance of tailoring your resume to the job description.
  • The misconception of "fancy" resumes.

Leveraging AI and Modern Tools

  • The rise of AI in job search and applications.
  • Benefits of automated job application tools.
  • The importance of diversifying job search strategies.

The Importance of Networking

  • Utilizing personal and professional networks.
  • The unpredictability of job offers and rejections.
  • The reality of feedback (or lack thereof) from recruiters.

Practical Tips

  • Crafting a resume that stands out.
  • The debate on cover letters.
  • The significance of consistent effort in the job search.
  • Timing of job applications for maximum visibility.

Dealing with Rejections

  • The emotional toll of job searching.
  • The unpredictability of job offers and rejections.
  • Personal anecdotes on dodging "bullet" job offers.

Conclusion

  • The changing landscape of job searching.
  • The importance of persistence and resilience.
  • Encouragement to never give up and always strive for improvement.

Remember: The job search journey can be challenging, but with the right tools, mindset, and persistence, success is attainable. Keep pushing forward and never lose hope.---

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Transcripts

Marc David:

I came up with the episode or the title is episode

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called it's a new world out there.

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Simply because over the weekend,

I saw the:

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someone's spending all weekend.

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Updating resumes, looking for jobs,

applying for jobs in the weekend.

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And you could tell they.

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They were just frustrated.

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And they've been doing

this a very long time.

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Now, when I started looking back in.

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2018.

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I thought applying to 83 jobs in seven

months with, you know, a low hit rate.

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Was bad.

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I mean it's, for me, that was worse.

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Time of my life, but that's just my own.

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Perspective.

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But then I look at it today.

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And I see.

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83 is nothing.

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Seven months is.

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You know, good average.

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And there's a lot of

people that are there.

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Hundreds of resumes.

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Maybe more.

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And they're spending months looking

for something and you can tell

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they're just extremely frustrated.

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But it's a different world out there.

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And let me.

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Put that into perspective.

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Now that EV everything was online

when I was looking, but now

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every, every everything is online.

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And you're applying for jobs.

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And you really don't know how many

people have applied for those jobs.

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So if you see something on LinkedIn that

said 800 people have applied or whatever,

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Really 800 people applied or 800 people

looked at that particular posting.

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So you don't know who applied.

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And it doesn't really matter because

you've got to go into it thinking that

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you're the only one that's going to apply.

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So unrealistic, but that's

the way you go into it.

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So then you look at those,

let's say 800 people.

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There's going to be.

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Quite a few in that, that aren't even

qualified for that position at all.

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Like they haven't really even looked.

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They just see, oh my God, open position.

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I've been out of work for 11 months.

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Don't care.

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Applying.

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There's a lot of people like that.

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And so recruiters have to filter through.

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All those people.

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And that does take time.

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So when you've applied and

you're thinking, Hey, why don't

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I hear back in a couple of days?

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It's a lot of work for someone to peruse,

even if it's 30 seconds to 60 seconds.

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You've got to go through a

lot of resumes to figure out

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these people aren't qualified.

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Then you have to look at the ones

that may be qualified and you take

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a little bit more time on that.

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And out of those 800, maybe there's.

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2060 to 20 they're

they're truly qualified.

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So your odds just got really good.

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And that means you've got

to spend a lot of time on.

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A resume.

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That's going to showcase your strengths.

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Should that particular job.

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You don't want to make anybody

connect the dots because they're not

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going to connect the dots and they

don't have time to connect the dots.

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So the one thing that was true,

then that's still true now

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is if there's a job posting.

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You want your resume to match

that as closely as possible?

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With truth and everything

that you've actually done.

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So of companies looking for a, then your

resume should be person who can do a.

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And it is work, but.

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It's substantially a lot less work now.

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That it used to be, but, but there are.

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Doing a tailored resume for jobs is true.

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And there are still people to this day

that will post up a really fancy resume.

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That looks awesome.

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If it was on a colored piece of paper,

they've got their great headshot.

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They've got cool fonts.

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They have.

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Things along the side about

their, you know, bullet line

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of their skills and hobbies and

interests, and none of that matters.

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And you put it into a computer system.

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Recruiters aren't looking or

they shouldn't be looking at what

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you look like and or anything.

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Right.

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They're looking for a

person that can do this job.

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So your resume needs to be clean and

I'm not going to go through in this

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podcast and dump a bunch of links because

they're in other podcasts that I've done.

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But your resume needs to be in a

correct clean, easy to read format.

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That can just be sent in and it just

goes buzzes through that system.

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And boom, you match, right?

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So that's, that's the one thing.

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The second thing is.

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I know it's still, it still feels

kind of weird because it really

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only hit mainstream for most people

even know what it was, but with all

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this AI stuff, that's just changing.

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On, you know, technically daily basis,

but if you know, weekly, There are a lot

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of sites that will take a resume for you.

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And.

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Clean it up.

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And post it to jobs for you based

upon some preferences, whether it

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be whether you want to be remote.

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Or hybrid.

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Or in the office.

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Or where you want that location

to be and your keywords.

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And it will find jobs that match.

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What you're what you're looking

for, what you're qualified to

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do, and then it will submit.

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That one resume.

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And so while you may not get as many

jobs as you would, if you handpicked

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and maybe the places that it scouring.

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Are not the exact same places

that you would be posting.

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You can use both.

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You can do your own research

on the weekends or research

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during the week because looking

for a job is a full-time job.

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And you can go ahead and do that

and then use these tools in the

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background to continually post for

you of jobs you're going to match.

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I did actually use a tool like that to

check things out and I got actual hits

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from inside recruiters and I never.

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Posted.

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I mean, I never did anything other than

put up my resume and the keywords was

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looking for, and it did match those jobs.

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And I did get reach outs from

recruiters and I did get some

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interviews scheduled to test that out.

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And that is where the

future is going to be.

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And you can still, like I said, do your

own research, do your own postings.

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Go find those companies that

may not appear on these.

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Wherever they're getting there.

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Job queues from, but use both

because I'll tell you one thing.

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There are plenty of people

that are using both.

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And they're going to apply to more

jobs that they're qualified for.

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They're going to be able to get out

there in front of people quicker, quicker

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than you would be able to do that.

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And they may get hired faster than you.

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So you want to take advantage of

everything that you can, and that is

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if you have a network, use the network.

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I didn't have a network.

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So that was an easy one for me.

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Then you want to be able to scour

some of the, you know, LinkedIn or

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different job boards find jobs that are

really something you're interested in

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and that, you know, you could do and

make sure your resume matches that.

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Write a cover letter, get

AI to write a cover letter.

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Who knows who's going to read it,

or if they're even going to read

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it, it's not a big deal to do it.

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And apply for that job.

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Keep the stats.

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And move on.

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And don't worry about it because really

what it comes down to is focused.

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Slow.

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Constant.

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Effort.

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And that is how you will

eventually land something that

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is going to be a fit for you.

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And when you do land something,

you'll probably look back like I

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did on some of the places that you

really had hoped that you'd work for.

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And then you realize how lucky

you are that you don't work

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for some of those places.

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I have at least two places and I'm like,

man, I dodged a bullet on that one.

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But at the time, I was really

bummed that I didn't get it.

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Cause I thought I was a shoe-in.

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I had a great interview.

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Every.

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I thought it was great.

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And.

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You just, you don't get

any feedback, right?

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And that's another old school thing I see

is not as much, but people asking for,

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Hey, I, I, you know, I've reached out

to the recruiter and asked for feedback.

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Most recruiters can't give

you that feedback, right?

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They just, who knows what it is, maybe

it, maybe it was the hiring manager.

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Who decided to pass on you and they didn't

pass that to the recruiter and they're

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not going to pass out to the recruiter.

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And so you're not going to get anything

constructive out of that whatsoever.

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Second.

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I have seen a couple of posts, not very

many, but where recruiters said, okay,

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I'm going to go out on a limb here.

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And I am going to tell you what.

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Y, Y you didn't get this job or what

you could do better or whatever.

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And the job seeker decided that that just

was, you know, not good for them to hear.

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And they didn't like that.

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And they thought it was, you know,

breaking some kind of a code, whether it

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could be racism, you name it, whatever.

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So recruiters, aren't going to go out

and put themselves on the limb and

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then open themselves up for a lawsuit.

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And really as a job seeker who cares.

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Honestly, who cares?

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It could be.

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It could be a number of things, right?

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It's probably, if you got a call or a

reach out from a recruiter and you got an

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interview, it probably wasn't your resume.

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Right.

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Maybe the hiring manager is

looking for something different.

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Maybe they're looking for

someone who's been there longer.

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Maybe they're hiring internal, they're

hiring a friend who knows and who cares.

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Your job is to simply find things and

places that you want to go work for.

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And then you get yourself in front of

the recruiter via resume and do that.

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And that sounds easy.

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And technique, technically it easy.

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The worst part of it.

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Is the rejection.

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The depression.

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The uncertainty.

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The not knowing.

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The toll that it takes on you

thinking that you're not good

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enough with that to not true.

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The length of time, you know,

some people I know, I don't

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even know how I said it before.

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They'll quit a job and too excited.

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They're getting hired.

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I'm like, I don't understand.

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I don't, I don't get that.

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That wasn't my experience.

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It's nothing that I'm seeing out there.

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I don't understand.

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Uh, and they don't know

either and whatever.

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But for most people, and it just

seems like it's taking a lot

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longer than it normally has,

and that could be the economy.

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Uh, there could be a lot of different

factors for that, and you can only

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control what you can control and that is.

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How you present yourself, how your

resume is for that job, how your

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cover letter is, if that's even still

something that people read and how

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you present yourself in interviews and

your focus on the next thing and the

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next thing, and the next thing, right?

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Until you get an offer letter in hand.

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Don't sit around waiting

for some magic phone call.

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The day after an interview that I

had, that I thought I nailed it.

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I was still applying for jobs.

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Because you just don't stop.

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You don't know what's going to happen.

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You could get like an offer or

you could get a conditional offer.

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Like everything is good.

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We're just waiting on something.

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And then all of a sudden.

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Uh, we're not, we didn't get

the funding for that position

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and we're not hiring now.

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And then you sat around for a month.

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You can't do that and

you shouldn't do that.

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So.

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Take advantage of the

tools that are out there.

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The landscape has changed.

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It is a new world.

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And if you don't want to

play the game, that's fine.

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There's plenty of people that

are going to play the game.

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So you have to look at everything

that you can, that you can control.

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And that is profiles like LinkedIn

profiles searching for those

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jobs, crafting that resume, either

getting it professionally done

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or using AI to help you write it.

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Cleaning it up.

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Putting in for those jobs, applying

for that, keeping those metrics,

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doing the cover letter interviewing

and going to the next thing.

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And don't spend as much time.

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Weekends for me, I'll be honest.

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I never really stopped.

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But I never really applied over

weekends just for the fact that

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recruiters aren't usually looking then.

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And so you're going to apply

Monday through, you know,

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Monday through Thursday.

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That's kind of the application time

when you're, when you know they're going

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to be there and somebody's going to

see your resume and it's not going to

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be buried on a slew of weekend stuff.

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They have to go through on a Monday.

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So that by Tuesday, You know,

maybe they get some good stuff.

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So if you want to apply, I mean,

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I guess it's an old thing.

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When should I, when should I podcast.

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You should podcast, you should

be consistent with podcasting.

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And who cares about the time?

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So if you want to apply

for a job, go for it.

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But I tend not to do.

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I tended not to do it on weekends.

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I tended to do it more Monday

through Friday when I knew people

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were working and I had a chance

of somebody seeing my resume.

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As far as how many people

have applied for the job.

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That's just a useless stat to you.

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It doesn't matter how many people applied.

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Most of them won't be qualified anyway.

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So that should never, ever deter you from

applying for something that you want.

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Plus.

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Little inside tip.

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You don't know that.

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If somebody gets hired.

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And they don't pass a background check

or they decide to take another offer,

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but they've been offered the job.

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All of a sudden that person

doesn't take the job.

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You may not have even applied for it.

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And maybe you did and you, and

you gave up, they don't take it.

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You may be in line for that.

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So you always want to apply for something.

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If you feel that there is.

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A fit and it doesn't matter at all.

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What the numbers on some sites say,

how many people applied for you?

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Just apply for it.

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I will say out of.

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Everywhere that I've ever

applied for in my entire life.

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I only applied to Amazon one time.

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For a cybersecurity.

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Position.

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And.

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While I didn't take it.

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They've come back four times

in the last five years.

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So they actually keep

your resume in the system.

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And they actually do look at it

again and they actually will come

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out of the woodwork and contact you.

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I have never had ever.

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A company do that.

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I I've my, most of my experience

has been applied for a job.

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And then you never hear anything back and

that company will never contact you again,

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even if they open up a position, right?

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Because let's say they need

a customer support agent.

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You're telling me that you don't have

10,000 billion customer support agents

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in the last, whatever that you could look

at once they've closed that position.

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They don't go back and they don't

look at those resumes anymore.

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So Amazon was unique in that

particular instance, but

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most places aren't like that.

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So if you haven't looked there.

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And I'm sure you have, cause

you probably looked everywhere.

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You could take a look at that as well.

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But always, always go

out and just try to make.

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What you can control.

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Better.

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Control your resume.

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Right?

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Some of the things that are

talked about in my book is.

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Go through and find jobs

that you really want to do.

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See, if there's a skill on there that,

you know, you've done, and maybe that's

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a skill or a block of text or something

that you can use on your current resume.

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And switch it out for something

that's maybe not as catchier.

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Uh, doesn't have, you know, the key

metrics in there because you know

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what people are looking for because

LinkedIn is telling you what job,

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what employers are looking for.

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And so if you're looking in a certain.

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Uh, nature.

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It's a space for that.

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Go and change your resume so

that you can apply for those

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particular jobs that fit it.

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So it's a different world out there.

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And you got to play the game

and I'm sure that you are.

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But like I said, if you're spending

all weekend, just constantly doing the

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old post post post post post to jobs.

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Without giving it any a little

bit more insight and using some

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of the tools that are available

now to really bump up your game.

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I think you should, because that means

a lot of people who are mediocre.

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And probably aren't qualified to get

the job are going to be on your level.

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Because you're not playing that game.

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And maybe if you're in the middle

and you are on that level, you

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could increase your level and make

yourself stand out in the crowd.

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By doing some of those techniques that

I've talked about in previous podcasts.

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So whatever you do.

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Absolutely positively.

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Do not give up.

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You don't know when a position will

open, maybe the perfect position from

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you for you is eight months from now.

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And you've only been looking for, for,

and I know you're freaked out and it's

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terrifying and it's a horrible feeling.

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But you don't know what's

out there, so you can't.

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Quit.

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I do know people who have.

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Gotten awesome jobs, but it

took them a year and a half.

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And I'm not doing that to scare you.

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I'm just saying.

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Going on for over a year,

a lot of people will quit.

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That person didn't quit

and they did land a job.

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So do not quit.

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Do not quit.

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Keep improving.

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I know it's frustrating.

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It's a terrible situation

and it doesn't feel good.

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And you're not alone in that.

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So don't quit.

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Keep applying.

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Keep improving.

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Keep tweaking, keep asking questions,

keep reading, keep learning, do

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all those things because time

eventually will be on your side.

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