If we could create a Public Service Announcement, this would be it! This is the info we would love for every job-seeker to have. These are the top 10 most common areas in which people tend to stumble, and they can make or break your job search process. Most of them are easy fixes and can be resolved by either expanding the boundaries of the way you think and/or putting a little more TLC into your process.

Problem 1: Don’t take yourself out of the running before the employer does.

What if I don’t meet the minimum qualifications? Apply anyway! They may have another position for you. When you apply to something a little bit out of reach, it shows ambition. When you apply to something wildly out of reach (e.g., a director-level position when you are a recent college grad), it looks delusional. Use your best judgment! “Qualifications” are preferences, not requirements. Even if they call them “requirements”, remember that they’re likely not set in stone. In a job posting, hiring managers are describing their ideal candidate—no one is going to throw you out of the running because you have 5 and not 7 years of experience, for example.

Many of our clients have applied for jobs for which they are “under-qualified” and either (a) got the job; (b) were interviewed for another job at the same company that had not yet been posted, or (c) were interviewed for a similar job in another department. Let the employer determine if you can do the job or not—don't take yourself out of the running before they do. If you’re interested in the job and think you’d be good at it, apply! Worst case scenario is they say no, and you’re no worse off than you were before.

Another common problem is that job-hunters often will not apply to positions outside of their city and don’t consider going through the process of negotiating for remote work. If it’s a good fit, apply! Interview! Iron out the details of location later. And in the post-COVID-19 world, remote work has become the norm across industries. Furthermore, even if you haven’t thought about a move, it might still be worth fostering a relationship with the company and like-minded professionals for future opportunities. You never know where new offices are popping up or who may leave the company of interest to go to another based in your city.

What if I missed the deadline? Apply anyway! What if the positing was removed? Do some research and find an appropriate email address to which to send your materials. You may need to make some calls (the company, a connection who knows someone who works there, etc.) and/or do some deep dives on Google or LinkedIn, but you very well may find what you need. They may not love their current candidate pool and you could be a better fit than what they have. Plus, it shows persistence and creativity which sets you apart from the pack.

Problem 2: Sending a general resumes/cover letters without tweaking them for the specific job of interest.

It’s a lot of work to edit each resume and cover letter targeting a job of interest, but it’s essential. No one wants to hire a generalist.

People are dynamic—they are often skilled in a variety of areas. Yet, someone with too many skills and experiences on a resume can look like a “jack of all trades and a master of none,” which you will want to avoid. Most employers are looking to hire a specialist rather than a generalist (the exception to this would be in a very small startup where they are explicitly looking for a jack of all trades to wear many hats). This usually means building a clean, focused resume (or 2-3 versions) focusing on just a more narrow skillset for a particular job or interest area [see our future post (we’ll link it as soon as it’s up!) The Psychology of the Resume & Cover Letter for details on how to do this].

Problem 3: People tend to apply through a portal and never go the extra step to ensure their application gets in front of an actual person.

Check out our post on the 3 Steps To Ensure Your Resume is Seen by an Actual Human

Problem 4: Forgetting to send a thank you email.

It may sound old-fashioned, but again, this will set you apart from the pack as this step is so often overlooked by job-hunters. Thank you emails are an important part of the job- search process (and not only for post-interviews, but also post-job chats, informational interviews, or other networking interactions). The point is both to show your gratitude for people’s time and to reinforce your interest (i.e., that after the interview, you feel even more interested in the job). You want it to be brief, but personalized. Make sure to mention something unique about your conversation and to reaffirm your interest. Employers are just people—they may assume you’re not that interested if you don’t follow up and say so!

Problem 5: Being too aggressive.

Boomer-era job search advice encourages job-hunters to be persistent (e.g., to call and follow up after sending an application, show up at your desired workplace unannounced, to follow up with an employer until they get an offer, etc.). However, these rules were created for and by White men in an era where dominance and assertiveness was rewarded. In today’s world, such behavior shows a sense of entitlement and a lack of boundaries. Follow up once or twice and keep correspondence time at about 7 days between the previous unanswered correspondence. Keep messages short and sweet (i.e., respectful of the reader’s time). Any follow-up should be polite and interested, without seeming overly eager, desperate, or entitled. Don’t write a multi-paragraph follow-up; this will only be viewed by its reader as burdensome, which is not a feeling that you want to be associated with when trying to get a job. Check in, show gratitude, and sign off! See our post for an example of Check-in on Status Follow Up (when you haven't heard from your interviewer in a 2-3 weeks).

Problem 6: Resume and cover letter are poor quality.

See our post on Psychology of the Resume & Cover Letter for details. Coming soon!

Problem 7: Putting all your eggs in one basket.

People tend to apply to a few jobs they’re excited about and then refresh their inbox over and over until they hear back (or give up hope of ever hearing back) before continuing their search. One should be constantly looking for new positions, applying, and networking until they get an offer. It’s not an ideal strategy to wait around hoping to hear back from your “top choice.” Instead, spend that time investing in additional opportunities. This will also help with your emotions during this process; waiting to hear back from a job is like watching and waiting for water to boil — it’ll drive you nuts, and it’s not very productive)!

Problem 8: Having a “lack” or “scarcity” mentality.

Reorient yourself. People often come from a “lack” mentality around jobs (i.e., all that’s out there is what I can see on a public job board, there are no good jobs left, all the good ones are taken, etc.). We need to come at this daunting task from an “abundance” mentality. There are a ton of jobs out there waiting to be filled, many of them unposted. And, in some cases, companies will even be willing to create a job for you if you can illustrate to them that the role is essential to their success [See our post on the Psychology of the Resume & Cover Letter for details, coming soon!]. The only way to be of value to a company is to clearly illustrate your value during the job-hunt process.

Problem 9: A lack of energy toward the job search.

Job searching is a lot of work, even at the lowest energy level for a job hunter (i.e., responding to a job post online through a public job board). As per the basics of responding to a job post listed above, searching for job posts with keywords of interest, reading them/evaluating appropriateness, preparing a cover letter, tweaking your resume to fit the specific position—it’s a lot! Job searching is hard, especially when you’re depressed, experiencing systematic discrimination, financially strained, feeling low self worth, etc.

We know that even the lowest effort strategy is still a lot of work. It helps to look at the energy output between job-hunter and employer: Job-hunters search for jobs in the exact opposite way that employers search for them. Getting a great job requires you to put in the maximum effort and to place as little burden as possible on the employer. You want to make it incredibly easy for them. That means showing up in their inbox in pristine condition—with a perfect resume, cover letter, and if you are able, a solid internal contact (in many cases, before they even ask you to)!

Problem 10: A lack of confidence.

Job-hunters tend to lean toward sheepishness. As discussed before, it’s especially hard to feel confident when you’ve gone through the wringer, again, and lost the fight. The job search process is exhausting, interviewing is nerve-wracking, and to put in all that effort and not get the job? Demoralizing. It’s no wonder our egos take a hit during the job search. Sometimes we even start to question our worth if we cannot get external validation from the job market. This is where you need to stop and reorient. Your worth and value are not and should not be dependent on what others (i.e., hiring managers, department heads, etc.) think of you. That is other-esteem.

This is deeper work here—to cultivate self-worth and self-esteem. We do these exercises with our clients to develop an “internal resume”. No one has an internal resume—and they should. As a society, we don't take time to account for our many personal successes and accomplishments, and it’s so important that we do. We are so much more than our professional accomplishments.

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