They told you that the job search was a numbers games and you believed it! At one point in my life, I did as well.
Have Chat GPT write you a winning resume and send out hundreds of applications a week. The next week, repeat the process until you get burnt out and start complaining about the job market, the economy, and recruiters that never follow up with you.
I’m challenging that approach by suggesting that it’s not a numbers game, but perhaps your approach is focused solely on send-outs and not on results with small wins along the way. The job search quickly gets stale when you’ve sent out resumes with no response from the right people. Emphasis on the “right people”, i.e., decision makers.
Your process needs to be finetuned with a goal towards achieving 2-3 responses from a decision maker a week. It’s about building momentum on a traditionally tedious journey that will keep you motivated through the rejections.
My Recommendations:
1️⃣ Chose 5 companies for a given week that you’d like to work for. The quality of your outreach is more important than the number. Target those companies & do your research into each one. Stop blindly applying to companies and roles that don’t fit your values. To employers & recruiters, you are part of the 1% if you have an organized & well-thought-out job search strategy. You can tell a lot about a prospect by the approach they’ve taken to their job search. The best example of this was a candidate who I was counselling some time back. He showed me a detailed excel sheet during one of our calls that he was using to track every position he had applied to since starting his job search. It wasn’t long afterwards that he was hired and started a new position.
2️⃣ From those 5 companies that you’ve selected, go on LinkedIn and find a hiring authority or an HR representative at each company. Hit the “APPLY NOW” button on the job posting, but don’t stop there. Log it in your excel sheet and leverage LinkedIn to find the hiring manager for that position. Some postings mention who that person is, but there are times when you’ll have to make an educated guess. A personalized message to that individual with your resume attached will increase the chances of a response from someone within the company. Even if it’s a no, you’ve now connected with someone, and you can follow up in the future or keep the conversation going.
When I was looking for a new position some years ago, I engaged in a 3-week blitz that included sending out resumes with a personalized message to a decision maker. From there, I got in my car and drove to a some of those companies where I was able to personally speak to decision makers. It seems intimidating, but after the first impromptu meeting, my confidence went through the roof. It was as simple as walking into the company and asking reception for that individual. In one instance, I was interviewed on the spot by the person overseeing that vacancy.
Be encouraged and keep pressing forward!