Stop applying for jobs

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Crazy statement from a guy writing a job search newsletter, I know.

But if I’ve learned a single thing from nearly two years of writing about this topic, it’s that applying for generally-advertised jobs, especially as someone over 50, is mostly a fool’s errand.

Job after job listing I see where 100-200 people have already applied.

Realistically, at my age and trying to pivot back to a career I had decades ago, I’m not going to get to the top of any of those pyramids.

I’m just not.

It’s not that I’m not qualified. I’m an excellent writer and editor. I’m experienced with all the technology in the field. I have written for government, non-profit and for-profit business. I’ve interviewed hundreds of people. I’ve made dozens of websites. I’ve been a newspaper reporter, and managed large communications projects. I know photography and design. both print and online.

But those pyramids are tall, and steep.

And the last time my job title referenced being a writer or editor was many years ago.

This does not mean that the advice I have written about around here is worthless. Far from it. It’s important to have a great LinkedIn profile, and work on your resume, and research your industry, and manage your health and mindset.

But by far the most important metric is: who do you know? Who have you been talking to? What have you been talking to them about?

Because for everyone in the job market, and especially older people, it is 1,000 times more likely that you will be hired by someone you know who knows you, than by someone who placed a job ad online.

Harsh but true.

Object lesson

I had a job interview last week. It was for a temporary part-time job as a copyeditor. The interview came about because a friend randomly ran into someone who works in HR at this company. My friend talked to her about me, I emailed her, and she let me know about the job. When I had the first level phone screen interview, that interviewer told me honestly that if she had not been alerted by the HR person my friend talked to, my application would have likely been buried among dozens of others.

Whatever happens with the job, that’s a powerful lesson.

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So what I would recommend is that you spend only 10 percent of your efforts applying for jobs, and 90 percent expanding your network. One way to start would be Ronnie Noize’s “Five Calls a Day” strategy.

I know how hard this is. But it’s worth it.

See you next week.