How to get a job with half the effort

How human interaction and your personal brand will get you hired; Stop clicking “Apply Now” and read this…  

If you’ve been endlessly clicking the “Apply Here” button on job boards and sending the same CV into countless black holes, wondering why nothing is happening…you’re not alone. 

For many people, job hunting has turned into a ritual of repetitive button pressing that leads nowhere.

The truth is you’re doing the work, just not the right work.

In today’s job market, success doesn’t come from transactional button pressing. It will come from your connections (your network) and direct communication.

1. Human communication is a real differentiator

Technology has made hiring easier for companies, but harder for you. Automated filters, AI CV screeners, and massive applicant pools mean your application might not ever reach the person who will hire you.

Human interaction

Although today’s generation of job seekers is technically astute, they have lost the skill of human communication, often going into a panic when faced with the prospect of making a phone call to speak to someone they don’t know. 

Fundamentally, human interaction builds trust, rapport, and relationships. You are more likely to get hired when you make a human connection. And you can’t do that through a button. You build it through:

• Making connections online via emails and places like LinkedIn.
• Polite introductions by following up on your applications. This is very powerful and can take your CV from somewhere in the CV pile to the top
  getting connected to people who might not be the key decision makers, but who might be influencers that can point you in the right direction (LinkedIn is great for this).
• Showing your interest, curiosity and passion.
• Following up! You’re not going to hit the bullseye on the first throw, so make sure you follow up, or all the work you have done will be for nothing 
  When you speak with real people, you bypass the automated systems, moving you from the anonymous pile to the possible pile.

Top Tip:

Getting started is the hardest part. Be prepared to hit a few brick walls and have some one-way conversations, it’s all part of the learning process that in time will become second nature, helping you verbalise more effectively and confidently.

Don’t be put off by rejection; instead, learn from the experience and move on.

Keep records on a spreadsheet of who you spoke to, their position, their contact details, the outcome of the conversation (either by email or in person) and the next steps.

Lastly, don’t spread yourself too thin. If you try and approach dozens of companies at the same time the process will become unmanageable, so keep it simple and approach a few at a time. 

2. Your personal brand is your first impression

Whether you realise it or not, you have a personal brand. It’s built from:

• your online presence on social media and your CV
• the way you speak
• the way you write
• the way you communicate

A great personal brand does three powerful things:

• it conveys professionalism
• it creates trust
• and it makes you attractive to future employers

3. Why repetitive clicking is wasting your time

No one teaches you how to job hunt properly and most of us think we are being productive because we’re applying for lots of jobs, but it’s a numbers game that offers a very low rate of return, because the odds are that your application will be one of many, and the person carrying out the initial review might not fully understand the role or might not actually be a human. 

So don’t hit the “Apply to 20 jobs a day” mindset button; instead, think about how I can be noticed, and remember everyone else is doing the same thing. So, before you burn out and lose confidence, step out of the grind and get proactively in marketing yourself. 

4. Do less work…do the right work

The most successful job seekers don’t work harder; they work smarter.

The road to nowhere

• Clicking “Apply” repeatedly because it’s the way you have always done it.
• Sending the same CV to 100 companies, hoping one will stick.
• Not adjusting the language in your CV to match the job description so it resonates with the hirer’s expectations, but don’t make up false truths if you don’t have the right skills!  

The road to getting hired

• build relationships
• have a conversation
• understanding the industry you want to work in
• targeting the roles that fit your skill set
• creating a strong and consistent personal brand
• reaching out directly to hiring managers

Top Tip:

Do your research on LinkedIn, company websites and social media; you can usually find what you are looking for quite quickly and make sure the language in your CV resonates with the reader. 

6. The Bottom Line

If applying for jobs feels like a chore without an outcome, that’s because it is!

Whilst the job market might have changed, the people who make the decisions haven’t.

So, take some time to build your professional brand, review your CV and covering letter and get talking to people. Not only will it get you hired, but it will also help build your confidence. 

We are all people, and even the CEOs had to start somewhere, so get talking!