This post originally appeared as a 09-25 weekend issue of the Daily Job Hunt email. Sign up for kick-butt career hype in your inbox each morning.
Mindset for Success
Zig When Others Zag. What is everyone else doing the same on their job hunt? They’re all browsing jobs boards and sending resumes and copy/paste cover letters to companies they know almost nothing about. The result? An inbox that’s flooded with rejection emails. If you want different results, be different. Do the opposite.
Hunt Your Prey. So many people treat the job hunt like it’s the process of putting your name slip in a suggestion box. But it’s called a hunt for a reason. A hunt is high stakes game. It involves preparation. Stalking. Learning your prey’s ways. And then, chasing and striking with all the force you can muster. That is how you bring home a kill. Act accordingly.
Links worth checking out
- Why Job Titles Don’t Matter (2 min article)
- DJH Audio Version (podcast)
- How to Use Advanced Google Search to Find Jobs (3 min article)
Quote of the Week
“Bravery is the solution to regret.”
— Robin Sharma
One Hundred Flip Phones
Would you rather have a hundred flip phones or one smart phone?
Not a hard question, is it?
Clearly you’d rather have one great phone than a whole bunch of meh ones.
You only need one, after all.
In fact, if you did have a hundred flip phones, now you have another problem, because now you have to choose one. And you can hardly test drive each phone for a day to see which one functions best. That would take months!
So what do you do?
You’d probably just choose the one with the best specs on paper. Or if you’re a little more superficial, maybe just the one that looks the coolest.
Welcome to the life of a hiring manager.
Because this is what they have to deal with on a daily basis.
After all, companies have as much use for a whole bunch of cheap, low-quality applications as you have use for a hundred flip phones.
They too, would much prefer a few great options to choose from over a hundred meh ones. And they too, lack the time and resources to spend months test driving their mediocre options.
And so they just select some options based on superficial qualities, just like you would.
Makes sense, right?
This is why your applications fall through the cracks so many times.
This is why your inbox is flooded with rejection emails.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to fix this.
Don’t be a flip phone.
Apply like you mean it.
Pitch yourself.
Corné
and the DJH team
