Applying to your dream job should be exciting! These simple steps will show you how to free yourself from distractions, pinpoint your dream jobs, and land that next big step for yourself. You are WORTH this new job. These steps will help you earn it.
Sober Up
Get completely sober – that means, use nothing that DOESN’T SERVE your progress to a new job. Additionally, double check that you’ve applied for Unemployment as those checks are often on a delay.
Research Your Field
Take a day to create a LinkedIn account and research all positions available when you search for your field. Review the bullets to understand what you know and what you’re missing.
Update Your Marketing
Is your resume, cover letter, digital profiles, and reference dossier up to date? Those documents should clearly demonstrate where you’ve been while simultaneously forecasting where you’re going.
Flood the Market
This is why we target in steps 1-3. We’re NOT throwing wet paper towels against the wall- we’re already targeted, now we’re saturating that very distinct job market with amazing marketing.
Close the Deal
Once you start getting interviews, get in there and MAKE THE SALE. It’s an annual subscription to YOU at $XYZ salary- you better buy into that product and PREPARE your responses- you’ll do great!!!
Negotiate the Deal
By now, you might be facing several offers. Buy as much time before committing as they’ll allow (ask them!) and negotiate by voicing aloud the comparison of offers directly to the recruiters. They’ll sweeten the deal for ya!
Why Job Hunting This Way Works:
Let’s simplify this. Your ONLY goal is to land the sale of an ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION TO YOU (also called a “salary!”). Follow these marketing principles to generate actual engagement and set yourself apart from the competition.
Step 1: Sober Up!
Your first task, should you choose to accept it, is to become completely sober. Every second is a chance for a recruiter to call you (and believe me: they can call at WEIRD hours). Don’t miss out on a chance to sell yourself in those moments. Besides medical sobriety, also commit to avoiding normal addictive behavior (to things like Netflix, Sports on TV, Exercise, and Work – these can all qualify!).
Sobriety also serves another distinct purpose: similar to the feeling of finishing a project or eating a salad, demanding personal sobriety also kickstarts a chain reaction of productive habits for yourself. You may find yourself cutting the job hunting period in half when you commit to this early!
Set a daily reminder to yourself in your phone. Throw out your stash, turn off your phone… all of it! You are 100% in scorched-earth-mode and this new job will reward that commitment by appearing to you fast. You better be ready for it!
Step 2: Research Your Field
Hear this one clearly: no direction in your career is a HUGE red flag to recruiters. Are you actually looking at all jobs in Accounting? Or do you prefer bookkeeping over tax accounting? Are you actually a “Jack-of-all-trades Brand Manager” in marketing or are you super-focused on Social Media? Ask yourself these questions to unlock clear interest and weed out positions that will dissatisfy you.
One of the reasons I request the link to a job target before I write a resume is twofold:
- I want to encourage clients to work Step 2. If you don’t have a position in mind, this pushes you to log onto LinkedIn or Glassdoor, perform a sample job search, and highlight jobs you enjoy. That gives people a little more clarity going into an experience consultation.
- I want to clearly align their current resume to future positions. Think of it as “Point A” and “Point B” on a graph. If I can align the resume to directly connect those two, clients have a much better relevance to the position and, consequently, a better shot at the interview.
The best way to get started here is to create a LinkedIn account (this is a must-have in the modern era of job hunting).
From there, you’ll have access to hundreds of open positions across the world. You’ll do a simple search for your current job title (i.e. “accountant,” “marketing coordinator,” “human resources associate”) and review the results.
Identify parts of your career that INTEREST you – not necessarily those at which you’re best. That will be the framework of your job search. Pay special attention to the job titles associated with those responsibilities and form a targeted job search from those titles.
Step 3: Update Your Marketing
When you’re offering an annual subscription service, like the one you’re selling as a job candidate, you need to put a clear, concise message out there to pique recruiters’ interests and get them to call you for the interview.
Your resume is the most important piece; it should clearly and concisely lay out the best of your historical performance and – write this down – forecast your success in the job targets. The second part is missed by most and is the #1 factor in securing an interview.
While the resume takes the cake in terms of importance, some valuable supplementary documents include:
- Cover Letters
- Reference Dossiers
- LinkedIn Profiles
- Professional Biographies (Mid-senior Level – Executives)
- Value Propositions (Executives)
Once your resume is in a solid spot, explore some of these other options- many, like the Professional Biographies, can be repurposed for additional professional development.
You can NOT sell yourself to a recruiter if your personal value isn’t showcased clearly. Resumes provide that spark, not only to demonstrate past success, but also (and more importantly) to forecast future success with a new employer.
Step 4: Flood the Market
No, we’re not blindly throwing darts at the dartboard, hoping for some good luck. A better image is bowling with bumpers. You could throw the worst ball in the world, but Steps 1-3 give us such clear direction that there is zero issue applying to every single position that fits the chosen mold.
The idea here is that, although you may catch an interview or two that isn’t a great fit, the sheer volume of applications (on top of your alignment to the positions via your marketing materials) will virtually guarantee you some unexpected delights in your interview process.
Allow me to explain this in marketing terms which is, once again, undeniably similar to the application process:
Before you’ve even designed a new product, your next very first move is to identify a target audience to buy that product. This might be Moms of Teenagers or CEOs with > $100,000 Incomes – but regardless, you have a niche.
From there, you look for every opportunity across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google to try to show up in front of every single person in that audience.
This is no different! Once you’ve decided that your niche as a car repair technician is specific to “supercars” or that you’re a hospitality manager that loves discount hotels more than all-inclusive resorts, your entire job search will be dedicated to blanketing those positions with applications.
The beauty here is that, while tons of applications will be submitted, any additional time you have will be spent following up with specific recruiters, creating a portfolio of work (usually via website), taking follow-up interviews, and much more!
You can get in-depth and 1:1 with only the positions that you adore – and once your passion shines through, the recruiters will love your dedication and potential innovation to the industry!
Step 5: Close the Deal
“Raise your hand if you’re [not a salesperson]. 1-2-3-all of you, okay.” – Jim Halpert.
Listen: Interviews boil down to one single thing: do you believe in the service you’ll provide or not? If the recruiter comes away knowing that you’re both committed to the career and confident in your ability, they are MUCH more inclined to pass you on to the hiring manager, who also responds to this technique.
If you’re looking for inspiration, try watching an interview of literally any professional athlete. 3rd String Football Wide Receivers all over are declaring publicly that they’re a top 10 receiver. You are NOT a 3rd string player here, but that’s the confidence we’re looking for!
Practice talking through potential questions in the car during commutes, then practice eye contact while answering those potential questions in front of a mirror.
Simple trick for virtual interviews: the recruiters can rarely tell when you’re breaking eye contact, so look directly above you laptop while you’re thinking. Also, it’s always better to look up while thinking than look down, so live interviews should also feature eyes to the ceiling during tricky questions!
As Ted Lasso’s taught us, BELIEVE in your skills. Believe in the results you’ve shown so far. Believe in the preparation you’ll do for this new position. And if you don’t know an answer… lead in with, “well, actually, this is something I’ve been hoping to get from this new role!”
Step 6: Negotiate the Deal
The ONLY acceptable tone of voice in this step is “matter-of-fact.” Abandon completely any idea of arbitrarily declaring wants to the recruiter. Your ONLY leverage at this point is what you’re currently being offered elsewhere. Your job is to clarify what other companies are OFFERING and avoid what other companies are SACRIFICING to offer that benefit. This will guarantee you the highest payoff.
If your mom or dad or grandparent or freaking second cousin ever told you to make the salesperson “shake in their boots”… run from that idea. You’re not at a car dealership, so the majority of negotiation will (and should) take place over email.
Do your salary research (I recommend Glassdoor) beforehand if you want to open the door to negotiation, but always start high. If they like you, they’ll counter-offer to a lower salary anyway. If they DON’T like you, you’re not getting the call back.
Here is an exact transcript of how the conversation should go:
Recruiter: “Have you given any thought to your salary expectations?”
You: “Yes, thanks for the reminder! I’ve done some research on Glassdoor and some other sites and, based on what I’m currently making, I’d like to be paid $xyz”
Then immediately shut up.
The very next word you could possibly say only serves to decrease your value, so DON’T DO IT! The recruiter will then say something like, “okay great I’ll log that in my system,” then they’ll follow up if there’s any issue with that salary on their end.
Occasionally, they might say “well that’s a bit out of our price range,” which is a clear indication that they’re pressuring you to lower your salary in real time.
Your response: “I understand. I know I’ve been at a bit of a premium salary based on my results. What does your price range look like?”
Then shut up again. Now the recruiter’s in the hot seat to give you the salary range they’re looking for, and you can “circle back” to request the highest possible salary, framing it as a settlement on your end.
Remember: you don’t owe a recruiter anything until they’ve given you an official offer, so don’t worry about offending them with a statement of worth.
Again, we’re accessing our cocky NFL Wide Receiver side here and DECIDING that we’re valuable for this role – which we will be, so long as you’ve targeted correctly via the first 5 steps.
Your job hunt doesn’t have to be scary- in fact, it should be EXHILARATING. Your life could literally change with this new job.
These 6 steps are designed to simplify the process for you. Forget the career coach for now; you need a plan.
This plan has helped me to increase my salary up to 58% in one job transition AND has helped me to land a fully remote position in less than 10 applications.
Shoot me a message when you’ve landed your next big thing- I want to celebrate with you!!
Who is Kyle Kidwell?
My day-to-day is devoted to executing, optimizing, and reporting on search marketing (getting clients’ webpages to the top of a valuable Google search) and everything I write contains lessons from the trenches of searchable content to be easily found by any recruiter.
We’ll bridge the gap between human decision-makers and robot influencers like Google & Applicant Tracking Systems. We’ll deep-dive into the ways we can influence the minds of people and machines alike! Let’s cover some ground.
