I have a job I don't quite like and I'm shooting applications elsewhere. I work full time and I'm also looking for another job in my city that fits my qualifications. I cannot change states or move to another city, it is what it is.
So far I've sent 5 apps for positions that interest me: 2 have answered, one could offer me a different but similar job (position already filled) and the other one, while fitting what I majored in, means constant stress, plans that change constantly, even several times a day, a pay reduction and the last 2 who applied to do this quit in 4 and 6 months respectively.
At least they were honest during the interview, but I now feel depressed. I was hoping to work there and quit my current job.
The 2 principles I stick to are.
- Job hunting is a numbers game, just like any sales job. Don't take rejection personally, just move on to the next one.
- Don't get excited about a job until you have a signed contract. Just apply / interview, and forget about it until the next stage happens.
Number 2 is hard to do sometimes, but worth doing whenever possible.
RE: #2
When interviewing try to show genuine interest in the job and research to ask good questions. Care about it in the moment, then try to emotionally disconnect afterwards
I spent about a year looking for a job (senior management in cybersecurity), and had basically ZERO luck until I got wise and did the following. Had a new role within 4 months afterwards.
- Take your resume, and expand it 10-20x into a massive document listing every single project, accomplishment, or skill you can think of that could ever be potentially relevant in a new role.
- Every time you apply to a new job, copy the job posting into a ChatGPT conversation, and have it edit your resume to a 1-2 page document that only includes the experience most relevant to the job posting, and to rewrite sentences to use the exact terminology from the job posting where appropriate.
- Once you have the custom resume, use ChatGPT to generate a custom cover letter to include as well.
These 2 changes will cause your resume to get assigned a higher "relevance score" by the AI tool their HR or recruiting team uses to weed through the 400+ applications they receive, which means you'll be at the top of the list of names that gets delivered to first human in the process (the recruiter).
You'll actually start getting callbacks and phone screens at that point, which gives you a fighting chance. The rest is up to you.
There are paid services that'll do this for you (like Teal), but you can do it yourself and with more control as long as you have access to ChatGPT. If you can generate a completely customized resume and cover letter in less than 2 minutes, you can pump out 10 high-quality applications in less than half an hour per day.
Edit: I see you're getting a 40% response rate. You may be setting your sights too low if that remains consistent. If you're applying for roles that are a solid step up form where you're at, you would expect closer to a 10% response rate.
i've been doing this for the last 6 months and haven't gotten response; so i'm guess ymmv.
I sent 4-8 tailored applications every weekend for over 6 months to find my current role. Background is an accredited Bachelors in Engineering with several years experience for context.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint - 2 real leads in 5 apps is incredible.
What you’re asking is how to internalize the reality of living under late stage capitalism. There is no easy answer to be provided here.
Personally, already being in a shit role helped motivate me to keep building my resume, taking on even more projects, and keep hunting.
It makes it even funnier when they see this dedicated incredible profitable hard worker turn in their two weeks out of the blue. Last time I did it, two warehouses had to close because the replacement was not up to par and they lost the account lmfao.
Try to do so many apps per week, 7 or so is a good number, doing a lot sounds good on paper, but HR of different places talk and flooding with your resume makes you look desperate and therefore unemployable.
Create a schedule you can follow and try to have so much time dedicated to rest/enjoyment if possible, no matter how small.
Set aside a day of the week to do your job searching and application sending on. Teat it like your job on that day, but then don't worry about doing it for the rest of the week.
Lie on your resumes. The corpos you will work for will lie to you, so don't put yourself at a disadvantage by being truthful. You owe them nothing when you show up for an interview.
If you think you can learn how to do some BS thing the job wants you to be able to do, learn what it is enough to answer questions about it during the interview. If they hire you, learn enough to start working on it before you start.
