On Job Hunting - Practical Advice, Psychology & 46 Resources

Hang in there. 

You may be well qualified, educated and a pleasure to work with. 

Sadly that is no guarantee for a smooth job hunting process. 

For most people, this is an uncertain, inefficient and soul-consuming process.

I can't fix it. But I am sure you’ll find something here that helps. If not, please let me know in the comments.

If you have better information or further insights please use this article as a platform to share experiences & help others. 

This is an evolving article containing the following sections:

1. Don't Take It Personally
2. Improve Your Job-hunting skills
3. Traditional Job-hunting
4. Build a Resume in X mins
5. Low-Hanging Fruits (Biggest Opportunities)
6. Internships/Co-ops
7. Upgrade Yo Self! (Continuing Education)
8. Non-Tech Roles - The Importance of Technical Skills 
9. Examples of Reviewed Resumes (1 video)
10. 35 More Resources 

A Broken Process

Job hunting sucks because it does not work. Have you seen the stock market? It generally works. Online marketplaces work. Sports betting works. They all have their gaps, but generally speaking, they work.

I can’t say the same about job-hunting. So the following is incredibly important:

DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONALLY because that will crush your spirit. That being said, if you are not seeing results, you need to change and adapt. Not taking it personally does not mean being rigid in your approach.

Improve your Job Hunt Process in 1 Minute

Ask yourself - what can I do to increase my chance at a job?

Now do those things.

Although it is good to read these articles, most people know what they need to do. And it is better to do the things you already convinced will work.

Experiment as much as you like. Nobody is counting how many rejections you get. You just need one win! If you think something might work, try it.

Guy lands 10 Job Interviews by Delivering His Resume in Boxes of Donuts

But I am not the creative type. So you can't think of anything creative:

Make it an actual process with dedicated time and steps. Automate it, delegate it, outsource it. Manage but stay detached from it. 

Do not make it the central theme of your life. It is never a good idea to put something inherently negative as a central theme in one’s life. It has to remain a secondary thing at most.

Psychology

Job hunting is not an inherently positive process. It is filled with rejection.

I know it is not fun for most people, Actually, that is an understatement - it is a soul-draining process. I generally find it exciting when people are job hunting as it opens the doors of possibility. But I may be the exception in that regard, so ignore me for now.

Back to the point, it is inherently non-positive. So you need to keep in mind and be proactive in mitigating that. Some bad things can be dealt with when they happen. Some bad things like suicidal thoughts and heart-attacks are so much harder to deal with once they occur yet easy to prevent if we plan ahead. 

Ikigai 

is a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being” I want this to be practical, so I will not discuss this but it is a good idea to take a quick look.

Job-hunting skills

They are not taught in schools.

They are not taught in universities.

It does not make sense for a person to expect that they will learn these skills by default. There needs to be a conscious active effort.

You may get better at job-hunting by job hunting. But if that was true then the longer you are unemployed, the better you'll be at finding a job? Which sounds weird.

Anyway, there are many better ways to improve

• Seeking help & support from your friends, family, and network
• A reliable mentor that inspires you
• What else? Comment below

At the end of this article you will find a few more resources that can help

The ROI on Improving your Job-hunting Skills

What is the return on investment? 

Optimizing one’s job-hunt will improve the chances of a job. Likely increasing the quality of the job, and the compensation.

A very humble and conservative estimate is that investing in your job-hunting skills will improve your compensation by a meagre 5k per year. I am sure the number is much higher but let’s go with this for now. 

For someone who just finished university at 22/23 with possibly 45 more years of work remaining. We are talking about half a million dollars! That is the difference between buying a house or not. Between retiring in comfort or in pain. It's not a small amount.

Applying to 100 jobs vs messaging 10 humans

The first sounds more impressive but the latter is what gets results. In any interview process, especially huge companies, your goal is simple. To get to the human! No computer/algorithm will ever offer you a job. You need to sell yourself to the human behind the job. And for every job opportunity, there is a human.

Instead of spending 1 hour applying to 10 companies spend that hour researching the one company that actually excites you. Write one thoughtful, engaging and value-added message to the humans of that company. If you find that difficult, why should they hire you?

I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum (hiring & job-hunting) and a thoughtful engaging value-adding beats 100 regular applications. I would love to hear from recruiters/business owners on the best messages they have received from potential applicants.

Biggest Opportunities 

I've reviewed hundreds of resumes, both in my professional and personal life. I've done my share of screening & interviewing, 50 to 100 of those. Mostly in my own company, our family businesses and as an Amazon leader. Here are the lowest hanging fruits. 

The easy fixes that will bring you the most results.

1. 1. Quantifying

Example: I worked at Tim Hortons and handled many requirements and responsibilities and I work well under pressure and I am so flexible and hard-working

Better: I managed 12 associates and 50k USD/month of sales. My responsibilities included customer service, inventory management & process improvements 

You can read more about how to add measurable accomplishments here: Link 1, 2 & 3

2. Not Updating Their Network

Practically speaking, the more people that know, the more likely you will find something. Why do you want to job-hunt alone when there are a dozen people that would be more than happy to help?

If you are looking for a job - your network should be aware. There is no shame.

Simple Action: if you are job-hunting - post on Linkedin:

“Dear network, I am back on the market - let me know if you love working at your company. Looking for a great organization to join. Most of my experience is in X but I transitioned into Y last year. Your support is much appreciated!” 

3. Resume Too Long

Do you prefer having a long resume that nobody reads or a shorter resume that captures people's attention?

It blows my mind when I see 3-5 page resumes from someone who graduated 14 hours ago. You are not fooling anyone, or your formatting is horrible. Keep it simple. Don’t add lots of fluff because any place that’s worth working in will see right through it.

I don’t want to make rules but if you have less than 5 years of experience and your resume is longer than 2 pages, something's off. I absolutely love 1-page resumes.

Build a Resume in 30 mins

(I didn’t upload this due to technical problems recording my screen but if you are interested to let me know in the comments and I will try again over the weekend)

I don't like marketing gimmicks. 

I like tools that help a person get better. 

And I like seeing examples of how to do things better. 

I will not recommend anything I did not try. 

The first draft of a resume shouldn't take long. Most of the time wasted is usually on formatting - that is why recommend using a template that automatically adjusts as you add/remove text. Further, it'll be ideal if you can also add/remove sections. One website I recommend is NovaResume.com (no affiliation) 

Now I will attempt to create a resume for X.

Before you click through - how long do you this resume took? [SURVEY]

Here is the completed resume [PHOTO]

Here is the video of me making it [VIDEO]

Paid Internships or Co-ops

Does doing jobs help you get better jobs? Yes 100%

What if it was unpaid? Yes, it helps. But it's better to be paid. For obvious and non-obvious reasons.

More good news: most students have horrible resumes with minimal experience. Adding one or two solid internships instantly puts you ahead of 95% of the student population.

Continuing Education 

If you stop learning you lose. Some work cultures have built-in growth/learning but for most, it is not automatic, and after a few years you will stagnate. 

One needs to reflect back and gauge if they are learning and growing. How to best do that? I am not sure. Let me know in the comments but having a mentor and conducting regular 1-on-1’s will probably help.

ATS systems

(in Part 2 of the article)

For Non-Tech Roles - The Importance of LearningTechnical Skills 

Think of a position that will not benefit from any of the following skills:

• Programming
• Data Analysis
• Videography
• Social Media Skills
• Project Management 

If you are in a non-technical role. You will gain THE MOST out of technical skills as it'll put you ahead of the majority. 

Examples: 

• An HR manager who can shoot and edit videos
• A writer that has social media skills
• A journalist who is excellent at data analysis
• A cook that can develop websites and applications

That’s like having super-powers  

Examples of Reviewed Resumes

Video Example of Resume Review I did: Click here

Lots more reviewed but I ned

35 More Resources

If you have more please put them in comments.

I did not try them all - found these lists on LinkedIn (Credit: Sivasubramanian B).

Good luck