How I landed 6 interviews within 30 days during Global Pandemic (No fluff, just actionable tips & tricks)

I know what you're thinking and the answer is a big N-O. The title is not clickbait by any means and yes, there is a very specific and achievable way to stand out properly during the global pandemic. I am not an expert by any means and this is just from my personal experience, but I believe this is very applicable especially to fresh graduates struggling to find a job across the globe.

Just to give you a bit of context & credibility, I got accepted into an entry-level sales role with zero experience. I was just transitioning from my Accounting role when I realized how empty I felt the whole time I was there (about the role, not the company). I keep telling myself: "I need to do something about this. Like real soon."

Contrary to the popular belief, getting a degree from a U.S college is not a free pass by any means. I did what most people do by just submitting my resume and hope for the best. Guess what? I did not even get an automated rejection email. It's just gone without a trace. From there, I know I need to do something drastic in order to just have a chance for the initial interview. What are some of the things that I did? Let's dig in!

1. SHAPE YOUR MINDSET

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right."

-Henry Ford-

You guys might laugh at this, but one of the reasons why I got through a lot of interviews was simply because I looked VERY confident and convincing during the interview. I came up with the mentality that regardless of what the other person thinks of my capability, in the end, what really matters is what we think of ourselves.

Please remember, just because you don't have your dream job right now, it does not mean you are not worth it! If you want to be more confident and have high self-esteem during job searching, I'd highly recommend consuming as many books/podcasts/webinars/audible, or anything that has a strong correlation to the role that you want. When I interviewed for the sales role, I have zero Sales experience and my degree in Accounting did not help the case either. What makes me confident during the process was the tons of hours I spent reading books and attending free webinars from speakers across the globe. Start with 30 minutes per day and go from there. This is coming from someone who never completed a single book until 6 months ago. If I can do it, you DEFINITELY can do it as well. Keep going!

TLDR: Positive mindset is critical and to shape it, you need to have high self-esteem during the job searching process (Who would want to hire someone begging for a job and reek desperation?). How to have high self-esteem during the process? By educating yourself as much as possible! I put this as number one because, without this, everything else is irrelevant. You simply need to get this right.

2. VIRTUAL NETWORKING

A lot of you would probably think "I heard this all of the time, but how??? How can I network properly so that I can eventually get a chance for an interview?"

Look, I totally get it and I am so sorry to say that the answer for this is actually you need to be patient. When you network just for the sole of getting an interview, people can see it right through you and you are basically done. You have ZERO chance of getting the referral, interview, or whatever you wish in the first place. You need to be realistic in your job searching and don't feel bad about yourself if you cannot secure one as soon as possible. It's not you or your qualification. It's just the situation of our world at the moment.

"But you said on the title you get the position within 30 days?" Yes, and the reason was that I strategically prepare for it miles away. I was still working for another role in a contract position and my target was to get the job in FOUR months, not a month. The only reason why this was very beneficial for me was that the recruiters and the hiring managers could see that I was not desperate at all. I negotiated hard during the process and I even withdraw from some of the processes because it was not a good fit. No one who's desperate would do something like that and they know it.

Here is how to network strategically:

• Make a list of 10-20 companies you want to work with and RANK IT based on your preference
• From every company, network with AT LEAST 10 other people from the department you want to work with, not just with the recruiters and the hiring managers. The problem with the latter is that so many people are using this route that it becomes too crowded.
• If there are too few people from the department you want to work with (let's say they are 6 months startup), feel free to network with people from other departments. The whole point is to make sure they know that you exist!
• Send a personalized LinkedIn connection request to every single one of them. They cannot be generic. Please do your homework or there is no point in reaching out. You need to ask yourself: How much do you want to get your dream job? If the answer is very much, I don't think this is a burden at all. You can pretty much mention anything on their profile and they will most likely click "Accept" because they have a reason to do so. At one time, I network with someone just because we have the same first name. Be Creative about this process and people will like you for your uniqueness
• Considering the acceptance rate from cold reach out is about 50% if you customize it, there will be about 5/10 people who will accept you from this and that is okay. After this, you just want to chat with them asking about their interest, their career, their motivation, etc. Do you see where I am going with this? MAKE IT ABOUT THEM. ALWAYS.
• Be Genuine and Be Human. When you are talking to them, PLEASE don't talk like a robot and just go through the motion. Do your homework by browsing and see what makes them tick on their social media. Even just a quick 5 minutes glance at their LinkedIn profile can be the difference between them liking you or ignoring you. Make it counts!

TLDR: In order to secure an interview, you need to plan strategically, preferably months before you are looking for a job. You also need to have a realistic expectation considering the circumstances we are in right now. The key to networking properly is by being genuine, personalized approach to every single one of your leads, make it about them, and resilient.

Here is the perfect picture to sum it up. (Credit: keepcalms.com)

3. LEARN SOMETHING. ANYTHING.

(Illustration by Medium.com)

I cannot emphasize how critical this point is. The first two points will get you the interview, but this one will help you PASS the interview. As I mentioned before, I had zero direct experience and an Accounting degree, something that is not helpful when looking for a sales role. I know I did not stand a chance if I did not educate myself on the subject matter. My competitors are probably those who already have years and years of experience considering I was applying for a company with such a high reputation.

As much as I want to say there is a magic bullet, I hate to break it to you, but there is none. This is where you get your hands "dirty" and this is what separates those who really want the job from the one who is "just applying and hope for the best". This is how you can stand out and be the 1% who get through the last round of the interview. The whole point of this section is how to learn consistently and make it a habit, not just reading for one week and then quit. Here are a few suggestions and how I keep it stick: (It can be books, audible, webinar, online courses, etc)

• Start small and stay there: There is no point in reading cover to cover if you only do it once a year. You want to be consistent and you want to do it pretty much every day. What I did even until now that I already have a job is to make it a habit to read 20 pages per day of books to the point that it feels weird going through the whole day without reading. That is your sweet spot, guys! Again, this is coming from someone who only read comic books for 22 years of living. Don't be like me! You can play with it and be creative (for example: studying Udemy courses for one hour per day by splitting it into 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes before going to bed at night). Literally, the sky is the limit and there are no right or wrong answers. Do what works for you!
• Pick your favorite: The reason why this is doable for me is that I want to pursue a career in Sales and reading sales books doesn't feel like a chore to me. Considering you want to do this for the rest of your life, I'd highly recommend finding your passion first. What makes you smile in the morning? What kind of works and industry make you feel energized? Do you want to collaborate often or work alone? You need to ask yourself before buying random courses or books. It will most likely not work. My parents want me to be an Accountant and my brother pushes me to apply for product roles. I happened to have books about both subjects as well. Those books never make it out of the shelf until now.
• Reward yourself: I cannot emphasize how many times people overlooked this one. We live in a hustle culture, which means breathing without working is considered a sin in our society. We do not need to be hyper-productive all the time. Once you completed your KPI for the day, TREAT YOURSELF PLEASE! Although I got all those interviews back then, I did not spend 10 hours in job searching related activity. I know that was a recipe for burnout. The longest hours I did back then was 5 hours and then go on with my life. Whether it's ice cream, gardening, soccer game, Korean drama, video game, Crossfit, a board game with friends, romantic dinner with your loved ones, etc, please GO FOR IT because YOU EARNED IT.
• Rinse & Repeat: Remember that to make this work, the key is consistency. Successful people like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, etc learn something new every day. They do this so often to the point that it feels like brushing teeth for them.

"Our 'Overnight' Success took 1000 days"

-Brian Chesky-

(AirBnB co-founder)

TLDR: You want to make learning a habit to the point that it becomes 'uncomfortable' to go one day without learning something new that day. As with other habits, the key is consistency. In order to be consistent though, you first need to find what you are passionate about and go from there. Once you find your preferred subject, you want to start small and keep upgrading the quantity in the future. Lastly, don't forget to take breaks and reward yourself! You earned it!

4. INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW

(Illustration by Getty Images)

This one is a continuation of the second point! If you do the second step properly, it would be fairly easy to secure an informational interview. When I said easy, it does not mean all of them will say "yes" regardless of whether they like you or not. We need to understand that most people are genuinely busy and they say "No" because they just simply cannot make it. I think the sweet spot for this will be 1 out of every 5 people who accept your connection request IF you do reach out properly and make it about them throughout the process.

The point of this is to make sure you are visible to your dream company and someone from the inside knows you exist here on this earth. It's hard enough to get a job WITH a referral, let alone without one. As you probably already guess, we are trying to make a genuine connection inside the company and show our genuine interest in them. This is the goal that you want to stick deeply at the back of your head. Genuine is the keyword!

With who? The best-case scenario is for you to schedule one with the people of your desired department (Ex: if you want to be an SEO, then your goal will be the Marketing department). If you can schedule an interview with the hiring manager, that would be THE DREAM. However, considering how difficult that is, please don't feel bad even if you don't get the hiring manager. Pretty much anyone inside the company is better than no one. This is going to be one of your 'secret weapon' during the pandemic because it's usually overlooked by job seekers. If you are also late to the party and don't know what this is, no worries! All you need is 10 minutes google search and you are golden!

How long is the interview? 99% of the time it will be about 30 minutes or if they really like you, it can end up around 45-60 mins. Considering mostly it's only 30 minutes, please ask the proper questions and make it count! Although building rapport is the key objective, you also want to ask questions that are going to be useful for you in case you get the interview in the future. Don't just ask questions for the sake of asking questions!

What kind of questions? You basically have two options here:

A. Google the list of questions

B. Customize your own questions based on their background

Hear me out on this: there is nothing wrong with googling the lists, but you want to make sure that you don't take all of that at face value. You ALWAYS want to customize it! Instead of asking: What is your biggest achievement so far, consider asking: After staying at X for 3 years and getting promoted 4 times during those periods, what are some of your proudest moment that does not only bring joy but also generate revenue to the company? The key here is being specific and make sure they realize the questions are specifically tailored for them. They will love you for it because you respect their time and take the interview very seriously!

In order to help you further, here are some of the questions that I usually asked for the informational interview:

• Considering how rigorous your job sounds like, what do you usually do to recharge and keep motivating yourself?
• I can see that you were transitioning from the X industry previously. What makes you so excited about the new industry?
• Wow, it looks like you've been in the company for (insert long period of time)! That is so impressive! What are some of the changes that you observe during this time and how did you cope with all this change?
• How do you like the current company culture compared to your previous company?
• What is the biggest challenge that you are currently facing in this role?
• It looks like you had a degree in X, but your career is heavily focused on Y (something completely unrelated). That is actually very impressive whether you realize it or not! How did you bridge the gap and make it within reach when you first apply for this role?
• I am always excited when meeting with very passionate people like yourself! What makes you choose this particular industry considering there are so many options?

Be Genuine, Be Human, Be Curious, and Personalized everything. Results will follow.

TLDR: Informational interview is critical if you want to stand out because it's often overlooked by your competitors. It is also critical because most of the time you will need that contact from the inside to be your insider in case the 'hidden job market' is available and also to be your advocate from the inside. People don't refer to someone they barely know, which is why you want to make sure you are making it about them and ask personalized questions during the interview. Always remember: The key is being Genuine! All of the things I mentioned are useless if you look like you are not paying attention or asking basic questions that can be found on their profile. People can smell "fake" from miles away.

5. INNER CIRCLE

(Illustration by Margo Kazak)

Now that you already know the essential things to do during "working" hours for your job search, it's time to make sure you also take care of yourself during "off" hours. Who you are friends with is as important as the other four points I mentioned because they can make or break your job search. If you are constantly under the influence of toxic people, their negativity will affect your job search.

I had this kind of relationship in the past and it completely destroyed my self-esteem. The other person will always try to keep you down and whatever you do will never be enough for them. The best thing to fight this is either to find a new inner circle or try to ignore them. I know how hard this can be especially if this is your family member. In that case, I believe your best bet would either practicing mindfulness or talk to professionals on how to properly deal with this. Whatever you do, I'd highly recommend not give them the reaction that they are looking for so that eventually they will stop bothering you.

This is extremely harmful because it will drain your mental capacity very quickly. The next thing you know is that you barely have any energy for what matters the most, which is job searching. If you are not happy with your current inner circle, it is absolutely fine to try to find a new one! After all, we only have one life (unlike a cat) so we want to make sure we make the best out of it!

As a closing, here is a beautiful quote wrote by Jim Rohn:

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with"

TLDR: Either ignore or cut the toxic people out of your life completely. Their negativity will drastically affect your job search process and the sooner you take care of it, the better!

6. WORK HARD, PLAY HARD

If you already do all of the things I mentioned, you are more than welcome to treat yourself to whatever works for you! Please don't ever feel guilty about earning your reward after you do all the hard work!

In case you don't know, I am an avid gamer and I've been playing video games most of my life. I considered video games a part of me and I will never feel embarrassed to admit it. Although video games usually get a bad rep, it does not stop me from keeping playing them once I am done dealing with everything on my list. The key here is self-control. If you have that, you can pretty much do any hobbies you like (except drugs. Please don't do drugs, everyone!).

Whether it's Netflix, Korean drama, hockey, soccer, golf, eating ice cream, bungee jumping, hiking, board games, hanging out with friends, a warm bath with books, piano, or even traveling to Mars, YOU DO YOU!

TLDR: Don't forget to take your hard-earned breaks!

Also, in case any of you still feel lost during the job search, I am more than happy to help for free! All you need to do is send a personalized connection request on LinkedIn and we can go from there! I make this article because I want to show the job seekers across the globe that I care about all of you and I will always be accessible in case you ever need it!

I hope this helps at least one person who reads it! What are some of the things that you would add to this list?