Job Hunting? Play the Numbers!

Rowan Manahan is collecting posts on job hunting from an impressive group of bloggers. I've been asked to contribute some thoughts. Assuming that job seekers will get some sound advice on the importance of researching the employer, fashioning a decent resume, and wowing the interviewers, my advice will be less sophisticated but equally important:

Increase the odds by increasing the numbers.

I am amazed at job seekers who apply for ten, twelve or twenty jobs and then sit by the phone waiting for a call.

Bad move. Out of those twenty jobs, you can expect this breakdown:

Six were filled before they were ever advertised.

Three are with employers who will bore or scare you senseless if you get an interview.

Two will go to candidates who are so close to the job requirements that you'd suspect they'd written them.

Two more will never be filled because of a hiring freeze.

Three will require some arcane ability they didn't mention in the ad but which you lack.

That leaves four jobs. You may think you applied for twenty but you've really only applied for four jobs.

That is no way to land a position, at least within this decade. You have to increase your odds. I don't mean that you should slip your resume under windshield wipers or apply for positions that are grossly undesirable. You do, however, have to triage your job opportunities. A-level jobs are your first choices, B-levels are close to A-levels but clearly second choice, and C-level jobs are the "Pay the rent while I find an A or B level position" ones.

Don't scoff at applying for C-level positions. In some cases, they provide an entry to organizations that will offer better opportunities in the future. Going for C-level jobs also provides valuable interviewing experience that may come in very handy when you are eventually called for an A or B level opening. Often, a job that appears to be a C-level is actually much better but the HR folks left out the good stuff. I know a person who took a C-level job, got it reclassified into a better C-level one, then reclassified again into a B-level position, and then was promoted to head the department.

There is another factor to keep in mind: You can always say no. Applying for a B or C level job doesn't mean that you have to accept the darned thing. If you don't want the job, turn it down. There may come a time, however, when the cupboard is bare and you may need an adequate job while waiting for the dream job to appear. That C-level job may look pretty attractive if the wolf is approaching the door. It is far better to have options that you can decline than to be longing for ones that aren't present.

When you cast your wide net, don't neglect major employers. I know of people who routinely rule out working for government or for large corporations because they don't like the image of those jobs. They see them as one gray, soul-crushing, monolith instead of a village with some neat neighborhoods and a few poor ones. That broadbrush also misses the fact that for the most part, your happiness on the job will be as good as your immediate duties and your relationship with your immediate supervisor. You may be working for the greatest employer on the planet but if your supervisor is a troll and your co-workers are dolts, your workdays will be miserable.

So get on out there! Cast aside the la-de-dah "I'll drop off one resume a week" approach and get serious. You've got a lot to offer, there is a job waiting for you, but it is up to you to discover it.

As one oil executive said when asked the secret of his company, "We drill more wells." Increase your chances by increasing your resume and application submissions. You'll be turning the odds in your favor.