You want to be “memorable" by finding ways to stand out in a crowded market.
There is a Catch-22 in the job market. White-collar office workers have been laid off in disturbingly large numbers. Those who are still employed are concerned about their job security.
In challenging times, people are understandably submitting dozens or more résumés each day. They feel it's a numbers game, and the more they apply, the better their chances of securing an interview.
Highlighting the plight of job seekers, a Tiktoker (petersbrainfolds) recently took to the social media platform to voice his frustration over applying to 557 jobs since July 27, 2022. “I’m applying for jobs within and out of my field of expertise. I’m applying for big companies and small companies. I’ve even had a recruiter look at my résumé and rework it for me and tell me how to get around the system,” Peter said in the TikTok video. “I’d say more than three-fourths haven’t even responded.”
Moreover, the application process at a marquee brand, like Google, can be quite competitive. In fact, over 2 million people apply to work there every year. According to MentorCruise, getting hired at Google is 26 times more difficult than getting accepted into Harvard University.
The paradox is that the avalanche of résumés makes it nearly impossible for recruiters, human resources, internal corporate talent acquisition and hiring managers to go through them all adequately. This leads to candidate frustration, anger and calling out recruiters and companies as being callous and rude for ghosting job hunters.
What You Should Do
Terrence Seamon, a career coach and leadership development consultant, advises job seekers to use the “SMART” strategy—be strategic, memorable, active, relating, and tweak the résumé before you hit submit.
Instead of spraying and praying that your résumé gets noticed, Seamon suggests you take a “surgical strike” approach by targeting companies you would love to work with and focusing your energies on the specific roles you desire.
You want to be “memorable" by finding ways to stand out in a crowded market. Don’t worry about fancy fonts on the résumé. Instead, ensure that the document clearly aligns with the requisite requirements of the job description. In addition to a core résumé, tailor it for each submittal to match the specific job advertisement requirements.
Having a LinkedIn profile is only table stakes. Seamon advises that you must actively promote yourself on the social media platform to get noticed by recruiters, human resources and potential hiring managers. Check into your network to find out if anyone has a connection with your target companies who can offer a recommendation and help get you to the front of the line.
Most companies use applicant tracking systems, due to the large daily volume of résumés. Use relevant keywords applicable to the position and industry to improve your chances of gaining attention.
According to Indeed, job seekers should apply to 10 to 15 different jobs each week. Avoid applying to five or more jobs at the same company, as they’ll feel you’re just shot-gunning your résumé out of desperation and don’t really care about the company or any of the jobs you applied for.
What Not To Do
On LinkedIn’s job board, you can see the number of people who applied for a position. When you see hundreds of responses, your initial response would likely be not to bother. However, since so many people are sending out résumés, especially with LinkedIn’s Easy Apply function, many respondents shoot their shots and do not possess the right skills and experience for the role.
A recent trend on TikTok is “rage applying.” Feeling overlooked, unappreciated, passed over for a promotion and unfairly compensated, people are hunkering down and applying to as many jobs as possible to get out of their current position. This plan won’t work out well. Acting out of haste will haunt you in the future. You may be inclined to accept the first offer received just to leave your employer. After a couple of months, you’ll regret the job switch, as you didn’t do enough homework on the job, management team and corporate culture.
Be Forewarned: There Are Lots Of Fake Jobs
In a survey conducted by Clarify Capital, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, around 25% of hiring managers self-reported that they’ve kept job listings open for more than four months. Moreover, they don’t intend to hire anyone in the near future.
The reasons for posting “ghost jobs” include building a pipeline of candidates for when the tide turns and recruiting gears up again, making it seem as if the company is doing well and expanding and humoring employees that help is on the horizon with new staff arriving to help with the workload.
As a recruiter, I’ve seen this trend play out over two decades. Human resources and hiring managers place phantom jobs, anticipating that things will improve and companies will eventually hire.
