Apply yourself. Better yet, don't.
The importance of introductions and referrals.
I’m back to coaching, and it’s terrible.
Not the coaching, you twerps! I love coaching. I couldn’t be happier to be back in business with so many of you. If you’ve been thinking about coaching, or you’re a lapsed client and you want to get back in touch — just hit reply and tell me what’s up.
Times are tough! It’s more difficult than ever to find new jobs, plan career changes, and for people to sell themselves and their services.
I want to address how much harder it has become to apply for a job via postings on sites like LinkedIn and Indeed. A lot of these same issues apply to freelancers who are out there selling their services online.
It’s not you, friends. It’s them.
The Opposite of Emotional Intelligence
What is the opposite of emotional intelligence? Whatever it is, corporate employers have industrialized it, they have weaponized it, and they have turned it against careerists during the job search process.
They have aimed it at our amygdala when we are at our most vulnerable, when our sense of self is weakened, when the security of our families and our place in our community is in question.
And why? Why post a job for a position that don’t really exist? Why post a job description without a location? Why interview candidates three or five or seven times, then ghost them?
Because it’s easy! Because they can, without consequence. This is ignored too often, and it’s not a fun thing to say out loud: Companies are not interested in any solution that makes it easier for candidates, if that would increase the number of applicants. Every job posting has way too many applicants for the hiring manager to even review. Anything that makes it easier for applicants is a solution to a problem that companies do not have.
Employers do not believe there is a problem. They are on the winning side of a essentially unregulated marketplace. Regulators cannot afford to tamper with the underlying mechanism. Workers generally cannot afford to reject them, or speak out publicly against them, and won’t even when they can.
So, what can we do?
Stop applying to jobs
First, a quick experiment.
If you got your last job via LinkedIn’s “Easy Apply” feature, you have won a valuable prize. Please hit reply and send me an email to claim it. Seriously, let me know if you’ve heard of anyone who got a job that way.
Next: If you got a job post-pandemic from a “cold application” via any online job application, please hit reply and tell me your story. I am sure they are out there, but I haven’t heard one in a while.
In my professional career, every single job I have got came via a referral or some kind of personal connection. From memory (and you will correct me if I’m wrong, won’t you, darlings?) every one of my clients who have gotten new jobs during our professional relationships either got them via a referral, or they applied to a job and their application was supported in some way via a relationship or connection.
Anecdotally, relationships are the single most important ingredient in a successful job search — and that’s also true for sales and marketing of freelancers and small business. Everybody believes they don’t have the right relationships, and literally nobody has as many or as powerful as the ones they want, but you have the ones you need to put to work, and they’ll do the job harder and better than an AI-generated resume template.
The practice and discipline of networking should be the primary focus of careerists today. The conditions in the “job market” (and by this we really mean cold applications online) are so bad for the applicants right now, I’m advising people that they should not be “cold applying” on the job sites at all. Keep your powder dry, until you find an opportunity that’s supported by an introduction or referral.
Last week, a pal of mine pointed out that applying for a job on LinkedIn is the equivalent of getting a “cold call” from a salesperson. Sure, there’s a 1-in-1000 chance that you’ll be relevant enough at that exact moment… but probably not.
And what about the poor cold calling salesperson? We know that this insane, inane, repetitive process of cold applications is harmful to us. Even though it is not a reflection on our self worth, even though it does not indicate our actual value in the marketplace — it is harmful.
That’s why the framework I’m using with my client begins with cutting out cold applications, or reserving them only for opportunities that are unique or special in some respect. The rest of the energy goes to developing our network of relationships, and finding the best possible ways to put them to work from us. Another post on that topic is below.
Thoughts or ideas: comment on the post, or just hit reply and let me know what you think. Thanks!
