How to find a winning job search strategy

Writing about job search strategies poses a philosophical conundrum for me. Suggesting that you simply have a job search strategy isn’t good enough because it doesn’t set you up for success. You could have a good job search strategy, but you could also have a bad job search strategy. My hope is that this edition of #GetHired will steer you toward a good strategy.

I reached out to Austin Belcak, who is the founder of Cultivated Culture and posts a ton of great resources on LinkedIn, to learn his tips for crafting a smart job search strategy.

Know where you want to go

“One of the best things you can do is to get clear about where you want to go next,” Belcak told me. “That can be difficult to spend time on because you may really need or want to take that next step.”

Impatience can lead you to “hitchhiking” through your job search by submitting applications to every ad in hopes of a response, he said. Hitchhiking through your job search is a bad idea, though. 

Online career assessments can give you some direction if you’re really struggling to visualize your next move. Belcak recommended CareerExplorer. You can also find similar tests at CareerOneStop and O*NET. The results can give you a starting point for your search.

You may also want to take a moment at the start of your search to identify your values and evaluate whether the path you’re on aligns with those.

For those looking to jump into something different, Belcak suggested reaching out to people who do those jobs to get an understanding of what they do day-to-day. The outreach pays double because you’re doing important research on your career and also expanding your network. He also suggested doing 30-day pilots of those careers by taking courses, reading books and even getting some hands-on training. “Thirty days is a good time to get a clear sense of what this field is about and whether you want to stick with it.”

In addition to knowing where you want to go with your career, Belcak said you should also know what you’re looking for in a potential employer. When he last searched for work, he said he wrote down what he wanted and used LinkedIn’s filters to find those companies. One of those was Microsoft, which is coincidentally LinkedIn’s parent company and where Belcak currently works.

Don’t do what you were taught in high school

“A lot of job seekers get really bogged down in the online application process,” he said. “I recommend job seekers take a step back and look at the data.” Specifically, research suggests people whose only job search tactic is applying for jobs have very low success rates.

“The big pitfall here is that most job seekers start going out and applying online. I think mainly because that’s the process we’re taught from the authorities or people we encounter in our life.”

Many job seekers often spend 80% to 90% of their time applying to jobs and the rest on networking. “You’re basically spending most of your time where your odds are the lowest.” Instead, Belcak said people should spend most of their time networking and the rest on applications and other parts of their job search.

Spending your time on networking increases the odds of getting an existing employee to give you a referral, which can dramatically increase your odds of hearing back from a potential employer.

Show the company the value you bring

Most job seekers rely only on their resume and cover letter to do the talking for them to a potential employer. Belcak suggests doing some extra legwork to show the employer the value you’d bring to the open position.

“At the end of the day, companies have one reason for hiring, it’s bringing in the person who is going to bring the most value for the role,” he said. “The way the system is set up, it’s really hard to convey value.”

As an example of showing value, he told me of a person he worked with who got in front of one of her target employers. She did some analysis of market research, user comments and other resources to show where the company could expand its business. 

“If I could tell everyone to take one thing away, it would essentially be: don’t constrain yourself to a resume or cover letter to show your value,” he said. “I’ve seen so many people ‘unqualified’ on paper land amazing jobs because they found creative ways to show value.”

Keep evolving your strategy

Strategies often need a bit of maintenance over time — whether it’s in sports or the job search. Belcak suggested you keep experimenting throughout your job search to find the most successful path forward.

“If you get into a habit of tracking your efforts, you will learn what works best for you,” he said.

One example of experimentation is to create two different outreach emails and a list of 20 people to contact. Send one version to half of the people and the second wording to the other half. If you have much more success hearing back after sending a particular outreach email, you may want to use that in the future.

Belcak said it may seem like a lot of effort, but that may be because most people are not taught to search for work using these strategies. “I think most people say it’s too much effort not because it’s too much work, but because a lot of that work is uncomfortable.”

What job search strategy has been most successful for you? Join the conversation.

▶ Want even more #GetHired?

I go live each Friday at 12:00 p.m. ET on LinkedIn Live to discuss important issues affecting job seekers and answer your questions about looking for work. I spoke with Latesha Byrd, who is a career and talent development consultant, on the most recent episode. You can watch it below or by clicking here.

Coming up: I’ll be chatting Friday, August 7, with Adrienne Tom, who is an executive resume writer and job search strategist. You can RSVP by clicking here and tune in that day at noon ET on the LinkedIn News page.

▶ The follow-up

Many job seekers get frustrated when they receive automatic denials or no responses after submitting applications to potential employers. Applicant tracking systems are often behind those frustrations. The systems, which vary by company, can do everything from accepting applications, selecting top candidates and shepherding applicants through the entire hiring process. Knowing a bit about these systems can help job seekers overcome the obstacles they place along a person’s job search journey. We discussed these systems in the last edition of #GetHired. Here’s what people are saying about applicant tracking systems.

▶ Other news to help you #GetHired:

Are “zombie jobs” a problem for the global economy? Many workers around the world have been furloughed with the help of government subsidies to keep people on payrolls. Countries are beginning to worry that many of those jobs won’t recover. Economists argue that an alternative approach of giving people high unemployment payments encourages them to apply for better-paying jobs and encourages employers to create them. Here’s what people are saying about the debate.

What are people worried about when returning to work? The latest LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index survey found that people who work in recreation and travel, construction and manufacturing were less worried than those in retail, entertainment and education about exposure to others in the workplace. Meanwhile, people in entertainment and education were more worried than others about proper sanitation in the workplace. People in construction and manufacturing appeared the least worried overall about returning to work during the pandemic. Here’s what people are saying about the trends

Here’s who’s hiring right now. As I’ve said before, we’re doing our best to connect you with companies that are still hiring during these troubled economic times. Part of that effort is a regularly updated list of companies we know to be hiring. Some of those include Amazon, Walmart and CVS Health. Click here to see more.

▶ Up next:

Many of you have reached out to me about concerns you have about your resumes — from gaps to agism. We’ll dive into some of those concerns in the next edition. But, I want to hear from you about the pain points you experience with your resume. Tell me about them below or in a post using the #GetHired hashtag.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out to me if you have ideas on topics or questions I should address in future editions of #GetHired. You can also email me at GetHired[at]LinkedIn.com.