Assorted tips for finding a job

If you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications, you should still consider applying. Studies show that you can still be considered for a job if you meet just 50% of the role’s requirements.

One way to apply to jobs is to figure out the absolute least you can do to get someone’s attention. To spray and pray. Another is to radically overdeliver. To do way more than is expected. (You might find this is also an effective self-marketing technique.)

Invest in things that remove doubt, and that give you the benefit of it. Recruiters and hiring managers will never consider you for a job because you said you know how to do something on your resume. They need a reason to give you the benefit of the doubt. One way to do that is get a degree in that industry, or by getting great referral. Another is to take all the known (not necessarily the best) certificates/courses/classes, even if they're optional, and especially if you don't have a degree in the field.

For that matter, it's helpful to think of the entire interview as a process of removing doubt by way of instilling confidence. This means you have to be confident if you plan on getting the job. (There's a reason they call it "selling yourself.")

Search for jobs with keywords. Many recruiters and hiring managers often don’t know the best title for the job their posting, so they tend to use titles for roles that aren’t technically/semantically correct. To get around this problem, use keywords (skills you have) to search for and find positions that have those skills listed. While the job titles you find won’t often be an an exact match, the descriptions themselves (the roles & responsibilities of the job) will often meet your target.

If a job requires a skill that you don’t have, consider: can you learn this skill in two weeks? (Either by reading or watching videos.) If the answer is yes, apply. Given the timeline of most hiring processes, you can probably pick it up by the time you need to know it.

If you do know how to do something, list it on your resume and tell people you know how to do it. Just because there’s more to learn (there alway is) doesn’t mean you’re not good enough.

If you’re consistently getting turned down for the jobs you want, consider spending time (nights & weekends) upskilling, or optimizing your funnel (i.e. networking, improving your resume/portfolio, making a website, etc.). Or perhaps take a part-time job for now, and do a gap year.

Don’t undervalue yourself. Never say you can’t. Say: I’m willing to try/learn/teach myself.

Make a spreadsheet to track the jobs you apply to, and include the title (with a link to the job post), the company, the date you applied, and the primary contact (recruiter/hiring manager), perhaps with a link to their Linkedin profile. This can keep you accountable and help with motivation (since you’ll be able to see what jobs you already applied to, and how many jobs you’ve applied to each week). I use a plain and simple Excel sheet for this, but you could also use Huntr.

Whenever possible, go through the backdoor. (The front is crowded as it is.) That might mean committing to a different approach--taking the initiative, networking, being relentlessly persistent--but rest assured, it's likely a more effective strategy.

Don’t quit. Be patient. Look up. It’s a nightmare out there, for sure. But giving up on yourself or playing small is not going to help. Disappointments, setbacks, rejection…it’s inevitable. All you can do is rise to the challenge and hope for the best.

…

Hat tip to Moriah Rahamim and Haseeb Qureshi for their generous insights on this topic.