Decoding the Job Hunt: When Advice Doesn't Add Up
This job market is tough on candidates. All day, I talk with people who are seeking new roles and trying to transform their careers. After working in this field for 20+ years, I consider myself an expert, and I am often called upon to present my expertise at various conferences, meetings, or other events. Enter social media. A brief visit to LinkedIn will reveal how many folks out there consider themselves career experts or career coaches, with no experience in either. You’ve seen the conflicting advice:
Act excited about the job. The hiring manager wants to know you’re eager to join the team!
You shouldn’t display your excitement about the job in the interview. Keep it neutral. You don’t want to seem desperate.
Write a cover letter.
Cover letters are outmoded, and no one reads them.
Send a thank you email after the interview. It shows that you are interested in the job and that you follow through with things.
Don’t send a thank you letter. That’s like begging for the job, and no one wants to hire a job beggar.
Don’t ask about the salary at the first interview. It is bad form. Companies want to know that you’re interested in more than money.
Ask what the compensation plan looks like upfront. That will avoid wasting everyone’s time.
Ask what the salary range is.
Tell the hiring company your salary requirements; don’t ask them for the range.
LinkedIn’s “Open to Work” banner makes you look desperate.
The Open to Work banner is great because it lets recruiters know that you are receptive to hearing from them about the jobs they’re sourcing.
Your resumé shouldn’t be longer than one page.
A two- or three-page resumé is fine.
I think you get my point.
In the digital age, job-seeking advice is rampant, flooding our inboxes, social media timelines, and popping up in every other article we come across. But, in the cacophony of ‘expert opinions,’ how do you discern the solid gold from the utter dross?
Let’s begin by acknowledging a basic truth: Not all advice is good advice. Sure, Aunt Martha means well when she tells you to “just walk into the company and hand in your résumé personally, but times have changed. The same goes for some modern ‘hacks’ you might stumble upon online.
Consider this: someone who has spent two decades in recruiting will likely be a fount of wisdom. Their insights come from years of skimming through thousands of CVs, making hiring decisions, and observing the ever-evolving job market. On the flip side, if someone, regardless of their following or charisma, has never made a hiring decision or been part of a recruitment panel, caution flags should rise in your mind.
And then there are the clever marketers whose “advice” subtly ties into a sales pitch. If midway through the ‘golden advice,’ you encounter a “Click below to order my guide to landing the perfect job! Only $9.99” - step back, evaluate, and understand that the intention may not just be your successful job hunt.
Among the pile of misguided advice, a couple stands out in the hall of infamy:
Lie on your resumé: Quite simply, don’t. Anyone suggesting this should be immediately tuned out. It’s not only unethical but also easily caught in our hyper-connected world.
The Shotgun Approach: This strategy encourages applicants to send out their resumé en masse – applying for hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs with the exact same CV. The logic here is the more applications you send, the higher your chances of landing a job. While this may sound like a game of numbers, it fundamentally misunderstands the tailored nature of the recruitment process. Hiring managers and ATS systems alike can easily spot generic, non-tailored applications. More often, the shotgun approach only leads to a flurry of rejections because it lacks the specificity and attention to detail recruiters seek.
So, as you navigate the vast sea of advice, remember: if it sounds absurd, over-the-top, or just a bit too convenient, it likely is.
In a world constantly buzzing with ‘quick fixes’ and ‘secret hacks’, cutting through the clutter might feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. But the true “hack”? Trust in time-tested wisdom, watch out for red flags, and, above all, use your noggin. Because the best tool in your job-hunting arsenal isn’t a secret keyword or a hidden font trick – it’s common sense.
Happy hunting!