How To Improve Your Job Hunting Tactics And Start A Better Career

Are you on the lookout for a new job? It's a good time to hunt for work: The labor market is tight right now, so there are lots of great opportunities!

But because it's easier than ever to apply for a job online, hiring managers consistently report that they're overwhelmed with applications. Many openings receive hundreds or even thousands of applicants. How can you stand out from the crowd?

You'll need a good strategy if you want to get the best jobs. With the right tactics, you'll make a lasting impression, get through the selection process, and be in a good position to negotiate a high salary.

There's good news here: Most of your competitors submit ineffective job applications. Resume spamming is common. Applicants from out-of-country rarely make it past initial screening.

It's not hard to make an impact, but it does require a little bit of work.

Here are some common blunders people make when applying for jobs:

• Generic applications
• Not following clear instructions
• Poorly preparing for job interviews
• Making obviously false claims
• Spelling and grammar errors
• Poor or absent cover letters
• Unprofessionalismcommunications

The list of things you shouldn't do is probably endless. So let's focus on where to put most of your energy:

1. Target your applications

A very common piece of bad job hunting advice is that "you should apply for as many jobs as possible." While you definitely don't want to put all of your eggs in one basket, scattershot approaches to job hunting don't really work.

Who do you think is a more effective hunter?

• A patient naturalist, hiding under camouflage, with a baited trap, an animal call, and a long-range scope, OR
• A screaming person alone in the woods with a machine gun

Recruiters can smell under-qualified and inappropriate job applications. And when they see them, they run away.

Resume spamming is a byproduct of the internet. It’s become almost robotic to apply for jobs online. You can literally put your resume into an online service, and it will automatically match you to hundreds of jobs at a time, and apply on your behalf. But it won't get you anywhere good.

Companies that are looking to hire hundreds of people at once usually do it because they've optimized the job tasks such that literally anyone can do it. And when anyone can do the job, wages are incredibly low.

Resume spamming can absolutely land you a job in a warehouse, on an assembly line, or in a scripted call center. But it won't get you a high-skill high-salary job working at an employee-friendly company.

Did you know that recruiters only spend about 7 seconds reviewing each resume?

You should aim for quality over quantity.

Surprisingly, research suggests that just 56 percent of job seekers write out targeted applications. So when you do, you're already in the top-half of the candidate pool.

The hardest part of applying for a job isn't filling out a form. It's picking the best opportunities, positioning your skills and experiences to align with the company's needs, and staying organized and engaged throughout the recruiting process.

Targeted applications take a little bit longer, and might mean that you get fewer interviews overall. But they're far more likely to land you a great long-term opportunity.

Pro Tip: We created this free resume guide to help you on the job hunt.

2. Personalize Your Outreach

If you’ve worked in sales before, you should already know how to excel at personalized outreach. But did you know that personalized outreach is a great job-hunting tactic, too?

Your job application doesn't start and end with a single online form. You can and should engage with a company before you submit any forms, and follow-up with them after you do. This is an especially effective tactic for sales jobs — it says that you are committed, organized, and know that you won't always get a "yes" in the first conversation.

This does not mean you should harass hiring managers or recruiters.

Do your research. Showcase your knowledge. Avoid clichés. Explain how you can add value. Identify common interests. Ask good questions. Give people time to reply. Accept feedback and criticisms respectfully.

Ultimately, a large part of applying for jobs is showing people that they can work with you. If you're annoying, difficult, or create problems for them, you've already lost the battle.

Pro Tip: Prepare your answers to 40 common sales interview questions to be ready for the next step!

3. Leverage your network

The word networking” has become a bit of a cliché. But meeting new people, and leveraging the people you know really are excellent job-hunting tactics!

Did you know that companies fill 85 percent of job positions through networking? That’s pretty staggering.

According to Kent Lee, a career consultant for Yahoo, you should always create a connection before making a hard sell. In other words, before you try to inquire about job prospects, you should build as many connections as possible.

Attending seminars and industry events is an excellent way to get your foot in the door. And COVID-19 has done you a bit of favor here. Whereas conferences and meetups were previously expensive and time-consuming commitments, the pandemic very shifted the bulk of this industry to being online-first.

Every day there are thousands of online talks and events that you can attend. Ask a question. Make a comment. At the end of the session, invite people to connect. It's low-risk, and high-reward.

You can do this outside of professional settings, too. Talk about work with your friends and family. People will often volunteer that they know someone in a relevant role. When they do, ask if they'd maybe be open to introducing you some time so that you can ask a few questions (Hint: Almost everyone will say 'yes' to this low-pressure request).

Here's the hard part: Follow up on it. A few days later, send an email, make a phone call, or send a DM and ask for the introduction for real.

Just don't waste anyone's time. You don't want to burn your network. Be gracious, and ask smart, relevant questions. If you could've solved it by Googling, it's not a good question.

Here are some other ways you can find better jobs!

A. Seriously, Network!

Most companies don’t advertise all their available jobs. In fact, according to CareerXroads, companies don't advertise around 80% of their empty positions.

• Leverage your online personaby building an excellent LinkedIn page
• Diversify your network& spend time with the decision-makers in the job hiring process
• Grow your social media presence and convey yourself as an expert in the industry

This doesn't mean job boards are useless. In fact, you can even find great job opportunities on Uvaro's Job Board—it automatically scours the internet to show you the best available tech sales jobs in North America.

B. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

While most people use LinkedIn as a basic lookup tool, it is so much more than that! The common mistake many job hunters do is that they use the platform as a job resume and research system, instead of as a networking tool.

Boost your LinkedIn profile by using embedded media and strategic keywords to turn up in recruiting searches. Participate in relevant conversations.And connect with the people you encounter, so that you can build long-term working relationships with these people.

Did you know there are 55 million companies listed on LinkedIn? Just imagine how many companies you could contact! Oh, and 77 percent of recruiters use LinkedIn as their main recruiting source!

C. Always follow up

Do you know that frustrating feeling when you apply for a job, and they never even bother to reply to reject you? That's the same way recruiters and hiring managers feel after they invest time into phone calls and interviews with you, only to have you ghost them.

Following up shows that you’re interested, determined, and willing to go the extra mile.It also helps to build respectful relationships, showcase your communication style, and make sure that when decision-makers think about a role, they think about you.

Did you know that only 1 in 50 job applicants manage to get a face-to-face interview? So if you follow up and showcase yourself as determined, you stand a far better chance than the hundreds of other applicants who apply for jobs and then instantly forget about them.

Narrow Your Search

With these job hunting tactics, you can land a job in your dream career path. But what pathway is best for you?

If you're chasing financial freedom, choose a job role and industry that will help you succeed.

And if you're not sure where to go next? Consider a sales career in the fastest growing global industry: tech.

Learn more about our tech sales career accelerator, or apply now to get started!