How To Get Hired | 12 Unbelievable Job-Search Hacks You Need
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
This is the ultimate list of 12 job search hacks to get hired today! I used these tips to get my dream role and now you can too!
Chances are, if you’re reading this article, you’re in a similar state I was at the beginning of this year…
- Stressed out — about money (bills and debt from college).
- Putting everything on hold — I was about to move in with my partner and we had already put in some offers for apartments.
- Anxious — Was I talented enough? Was I qualified enough?
- Embarrassed — Initially, I didn’t want to tell anyone. I was embarrassed about being unemployed. I left on my own accord, but I still didn’t exactly want to proclaim it to the world.
Additionally, I wanted not only to change roles, but I wanted to change industries… from a career in sales to a career in marketing.
Which meant I had barely any experience.
Recently I went through the stress of changing careers, landing a role at one of the biggest firms in the world. Here’s what I did to land the job!
So… if you are in a similar state that I was in…
Try Some Job Search Affirmations – Get Hired
- If you are stressing out: “I am okay. This state is temporary. I am strong, a hard worker, and determined”.”
- If you are feeling lost: “I will find what I am looking for. I don’t need to have all the answers right now. All I can do is try my best and keep searching for my place in the world.”
- If you are feeling unsure of yourself: “I deserve to be happy. I am smart, I am educated, and what I lack in skills or knowledge, I make up for in hard work and coachability.”
- If you are feeling embarrassed: “Being concerned about what others think of me, doesn’t help me. I cannot control what others think or say, all I can do is focus inward and keep pushing forward.”
How To Find Your Dream Job
Now let’s dive into exactly what I did to land my dream role, in the field I wanted, at a reputable and hugely successful firm.
- Copy these steps
- Be patient
- Keep working on your search every single day
- Lastly, Don’t settle — which means that even if you don’t get offers for the job you want right now, you will keep pushing and working towards getting your dream role.
It’s all a journey… here’s how to begin📍
Determine: How Are You Going To Survive ✍️
When all is said and done there is a huge misconception that finding a job isn’t hard work … this is wildly incorrect.
Finding a job is a job, in and of itself.
Therefore, you need to take it seriously and come up with your plan for how you are going to get from point A to point B.
I recommend writing down these steps and your action plan.
This title might sound dramatic, but it’s probably one of the most important steps in the process. Most people don’t realize that job hunting for most takes months.
When I first began my job hunt, I expected to get at least one offer in the first three weeks. Boy was I wrong.
It took me a solid month and a half to even hear back from some companies for an interview. Of the companies I applied to, only half even got back to me with an answer.
Everyone around me was telling me, “Well at least it’s a great job market! Everyone is hiring.”
It drove me crazy. I was always wondering, “Am I just not qualified enough?”
But no one was even responding.
Why Is No One Hiring?“
Well, if you’ve ever felt this … you’ve probably done a quick Google search and found tons of articles about why no one is getting hired, despite it being a “hiring market”.
This article by the Washington Post does a great job of breaking it down.
- This meant for me, I needed to continue to live at home with my parents, which I had already been doing for two years to work off my college debt.
- It meant I had to put everything on hold from a financial perspective.
- It meant I was not going to be able to get a new apartment with my partner of 6 years until I had one.
What does it mean to you? How are you going to survive?
Decide: What Am I Willing To Give Up, And What Am I Not? ⚖️
Ultimately, after spending two years in sales… which were great learning experiences, but also extremely stressful I decided I had had enough.
I had offers from various people in my network, but I was willing to hold strong.
That meant turning down high salaries, working with people I already had a great rapport with, in an industry I had been successful in (even in my short time in it), and in a job I was knowledgeable about.
So… what are you willing to budge on, and what are you not?
- Are you willing to take a pay cut?
- Are you willing to take a step back position-wise?
- Are you willing to take time off to aquire new skills you can leverage to find a new job? — For me that was teaching myself SEO.
- What are your boundaries? By this, I mean what are you unwilling to concede on … and these aren’t a bad thing!
For me, that meant not going back to sales. I wanted to stay true to myself and my interests and find a job in marketing (what I had studied in college). It also means prioritizing a work-life balance.
You might be not willing to go down to a certain level, such as an associate, because you have experience. It might mean not taking a job with a lower salary. It also means potentially working exclusively in a start-up.
I was willing to give up the six-figure salary, the title, and the network I had built, and turn down people I genuinely enjoyed working with to find a role that fit me better. It took a lot of humility.
Whatever it is, be true to yourself, and don’t be swayed by others too easily.
How To Find Your Dream Role (Get Hired Today) 🧭
Now you need to decide on your action plan. How are you going to find THE job?
HERE’S SOME IDEAS (WHAT I DID!):
1. MAKE A PLAN ✅
- Decide on all the different ways you can approach your job hunt
- Create your plan for the month, week, day, or whatever, to stay organized and on track.
2. UPDATE YOUR RESUME 💻
- I recommend using resumeworded.com (the free version)
- I was able to use their advice to get my resume from a 60% score to an 87%
- This score is essentially how you compare to other applicants, and how easily your resume can get through Applicant Tracking Software (or ATS) that sorts through resumes.
- I recommend reading more about getting around Applicant Tracking Software from this article from Forbes
3. CLEAN UP YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE 🧼
- Again, I highly recommend resumeworded.com for upgrading your LinkedIn profile to get noticed by hiring managers and recruiters.
- I was able to go all the way from a score of 40% to 90%!
4. CHANGE LINKEDIN STATUS TO ➡️ “OPEN TO WORK”
- Here’s an easy guide for how to change your LinkedIn Status — LinkedIn Status Change
- Worried your boss or colleagues will find out? — Here’s a helpful video explaining how to easily change your status on LinkedIn without notifying your network!
5. POLL YOUR NETWORK TO GET HIRED 📞
- Ask Everyone — Ask your friends, neighbors, message people on LinkedIn in your network, former colleagues, networking groups, hobbyist groups (such as your sports buddies), former professors, and the list goes on!
- I know it can be a bit embarrassing to ask, but trust me… it’s worth it. We’ve all been there. Plus, most people are more than happy to help if you are respectful.
6. FIND PEOPLE IN YOUR DREAM JOB 💭
Let’s say you are pursuing Instagram and you notice one of your college friends a portrait photography business, an area of business similar to one you would like to pursue.
You could:
- Message them and ask for coffee (on you!) to pick their brain (let them know this upfront!!!)
- Compliment their work and ask some simple, respectful questions.
- Look at their body of work and compare it to where you would like to be.
- Connect with people in their network.
- Lastly, piece together their journey and how they got started, and try to replicate it (but do your research!).
7. APPLY, APPLY, APPLY! 🧑💻
- Send out applications consistently — It could be 10 per week, 2 per day, 4 per month … whatever. As long as you are actively working on the hunt. And don’t burn yourself out!!!
- Don’t get discouraged and “fall off the wagon” — the stress from the job hunt makes people give up. DON’T. You never know what opportunity you could encounter a month from now, a week, or even a day. It took me two months before I even started to have interviews…
8. EXPAND YOUR NETWORK 📈
- Ask around — Ask if the people in your circle know of any job openings … especially people in your desired field
- Connect — Connect with people on LinkedIn, message them, and join groups the are a part of (not in a creepy way!).
9. ACQUIRE NEW SKILLS TO GET HIRED 📚
- Teach Yourself A Skill — Maybe you’ve noticed that several marketing jobs on LinkedIn are looking for a working knowledge of a certain software. You could teach yourself this software in your downtime to help make you more attractive as an employee.
- For example — I had a bit of knowledge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as it has been an interest of mine, so I expanded that knowledge and took some free assessments through SEMRush and posted them to my LinkedIn.
- Here are some of the certifications they offer
- Here are some of the exams they offer
10. APPLY TO DIFFERENT SITES (INDEED, LINKEDIN, ETC.) 🔎
- Expand your search — Apply to jobs at various sites, especially if you aren’t getting traction in one place.
- Diversify — You don’t just have to apply to sites specifically for job searching. Simply Google jobs in your area, think of companies you support or like, and apply on their specific websites, etc.
11. MESSAGE PEOPLE VIA LINKEDIN TO GET HIRED 📲
- Recruiters are your best friend — Message recruiters, hiring managers, etc., even if they aren’t actively searching because you never know what opportunities they might have in the works that they haven’t had the time to promote yet!
- A Friendly PSA — be kind to recruiters … even if they don’t seem to be super responsive. Their jobs are extremely difficult and busy and sorting through hundreds of applicants and finding quality talent is extremely hard work.
- Make A Post — Send out a post to request help in the hunt. It is a great way to expand your network, get some tips and tricks, or actually make connections with the right people.
12. ASK FOR GUIDANCE! 🤍
- Never Be Too Proud To Ask — Letters of recommendation, advice on networking, a fresh pair of eyes to look over your resume, cover letters, CV, website, etc. … all of these things can make such a difference, and can really make or break your job hunt, so be respectful, gracious, and simply ask! You never know what you might find! 🙂
IF YOU DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO READ THEM …
OR DIDN’T WRITE THEM DOWN 🙂
I hope you enjoyed learning how to get hired and these hacks help you land your dream job!
