The REAL way to job hunt in 2023…recruiters don’t want you to know this secret

If you are applying for jobs, you know that job hunting feels literally impossible right now. You could apply to a billion places and not hear back from a single one, even if you have the perfect LinkedIn profile and the perfect resume. So what's the issue? It's not you, it's the system. But don't worry, I am here to tell you exactly how to job hunt the right way to help you land your dream gig. I'm Emily, a Real Recruiter, and my goal is to help you thrive in your nine to five and beyond. Don't forget to like and subscribe, and trust me, you do not want to miss the last part of this video because I am dropping some tips I don't think anyone else is sharing. Before I get into the advanced stuff, let's cover the basics and make sure that your resume, your cover letter, and your LinkedIn is really helping you stand out. When it comes to cover letters, unless the job application is specifically asking for it, do not waste your time. Almost every single cover letter that's submitted to most major companies is not getting read, so you are literally putting your effort into nothing. However, if you are required to submit a cover letter, especially in industries like banking or the government, this, yeah, this is the structure that I would recommend. You're welcome. One thing about me, I could talk about resumes until I am blue in the face. I have a full series, not just one video, breaking down exactly how your resume should look, how it should read, all of that great stuff. But the meat and potatoes of it is that your resume needs to be well-written and have lots of data and details. Basically, if your grandmother would read your resume and wouldn't understand what you do for work, Houston, we have a problem. We want it to be clear, full of numbers so that recruiters can understand the quality and the quantity of your work. And believe it or not, the most important material girl that you're going to have as part of your job application is your LinkedIn. The reason for that is that most recruiters actually proactively look for talent on LinkedIn. Think of it like a dating profile. If you have a good profile with a good picture, a good header, a good bio, some good information, the more likely it is that that steamy girl from second period is going to be reaching out to you for a coffee date. Not the analogy, but you get what I'm saying. A good LinkedIn profile helps you get inbound requests while you're also applying directly to those companies. A little pro tip, if you've got a solid resume, all you need to do is copy and paste that over to your LinkedIn profile. You don't need to reinvent the wheel, but once again, I have a full deep dive on how to have a good LinkedIn profile right over there. Now that the easy stuff is out of the way, let's get to the hard stuff, which is where should you actually be applying for these jobs? Is LinkedIn better? Is Indeed better? It's a trick question. I almost got you. It's the same shit. Let me explain real quick how. Basically, when a recruiter opens up a job posting on their applicant tracking system, which is the system we use to review your resumes, book interviews, all of that good stuff, the applicant tracking system, AKA the ATS, will send that same posting to all of the major websites, which means it doesn't matter if you apply on LinkedIn or on Indeed, because it is all going to the same place. So don't waste your time stressing about which site to use. So obviously the most basic and easy way to apply for a job is directly onto whichever website you saw it on first. Remember the earlier you apply for a position is usually the best because that's when they're going to be able to review your application first. But if you want to step it up a notch and really find an underground market of hidden jobs you maybe haven't even heard of, I want you to go to websites like Reddit, like Fishbowl, and I want you to search up open positions in whatever your dream company is. And a lot of people will actually post on Reddit and especially on Fishbowl if their company is hiring. And you want to know why? Because they want you to pay them to give you a referral to work at that company. That felt like inception. Basically, if I'm hiring for a recruiter on my team, I might go to Reddit in a recruiter channel that I'm on and say, hey, by the way, Facebook is hiring for a recruiter. If you know anybody, let me know so I can refer them and get the $5,000 bonus if they get hired. It's a win-win for everybody. So if you feel like you're seeing the same jobs over and over again on these postings and boards, make sure you're going to these underground, more niche markets, even websites like Twitter, and look up the same search terms that you would on Indeed or on LinkedIn. After you apply, when should you expect to hear back? Chances are never. Yeah. Most recruiters, A, aren't very good at their jobs and B, get so many applicants for their positions that it's almost impossible for them to review every single one. Little myth I would like to bust as well right here. A lot of people have this crazy misconception that robots are actually pre-screening your resumes, throwing them out if they're missing certain buzzwords. That is not a thing. In fact, that has never been a thing, probably will never be a thing, mostly because it opens companies up to massive legal risk. What our systems do is they help rank the candidates we think will be the best fit. So I'd much rather you focus on having a really strong resume versus a resume loaded with a bunch of like buzzwords and BS to try to get the system to notice you. We love a little tangent, but all to say your great resume means nothing if nobody is actually opening your great resume. And here's what you're going to do to make sure the recruiter reads the fabulous piece of work that you've put together. After you apply to a job online, I want you to figure out who that recruiter is by going on LinkedIn and searching up recruiter at Facebook or recruiter at whatever company, or better yet the person who is currently in that role. So if you're applying for a business analyst position at, I don't know, the government of Canada, look up business analyst at government of Canada and message a bunch of those people, as well as the recruiter. What you're going to say is something like this. Basically your goal is to say, Hey, my name is Emily or whatever name your name is. Don't make it weird. Okay. When you reach out to these people on LinkedIn, your goal is to flag your application. It's basically saying, Hey, I want this job. I have the skills. Are you going to read my resume or not? Okay. And if you want to hop on the phone and have a career chat with these people to really seal the deal, maybe you're even going to ask them for a referral directly. You're going to use this video because your girl literally put together an entire set of playlists to make this easy for you. Reaching out after you apply for the job I'm telling you is the game changer. That is the thing that 1000% sets you apart from other applicants and almost guarantees that your resume is in fact getting read. Remember how I said the last part of this video was basically nonstop fire advice that probably nobody else is going to give you. Well, welcome to the last part of this video. Let's get into it. Now, where would that accident be from now? Where would that be from? This is like rapid fire style. Okay. I'm just telling you all of the things that can help boost your chances of getting your dream job. If you are in a creative industry, maybe you're in marketing communications, something in that world. Why are you just submitting a resume? Why don't you have a cool YouTube video? That's a private link and you attach it to your resume. And the video is you explaining and talking to the camera about why you're fantastic for the position. If you're applying to social media, why aren't you creating a couple of cool Tik TOKs to attach to your resume? Basically think about how you can elevate the paperwork you're submitting to have video or more personalized content to really help you stand out and drive home your interest. Now, this tip is one I did not learn about probably until four or five years into my career. And I wish I would have learned about it sooner. It's that you can actually purchase referrals. I alluded to this a little bit earlier in the video, but if you go on websites like Reddit or fishbowl specifically, there are people who are literally willing to have you pay them to be referred to companies. Most especially you see this at companies like Google and Facebook because their referral bonuses, those referral bonuses are bananas. I'm talking thousands of dollars. So if you really want to competitive edge, and you also know the statistic that almost 80% of positions are filled via referral, that is probably an amazing thing to do. If you don't have the time to network, obviously networking is going to be one of the best things you can do. And building those long-term relationships is absolutely paramount. But if you're in a pinch, you want a job today, just buy your referral. Now, this last tippy tip is one that I just made a video about and was literally blown away by. If you need to completely rewrite your resume or your cover letter, or even rework your LinkedIn profile, you need to be using AI. Yeah. You need to get over here to help your ass out. I'm not even kidding. If you go to a website like chat GPT and type in exactly what you're looking for, for example, software engineering interview tips or software engineering resume, it is going to give you a pretty good template. It's not going to be perfect, but it is a really good place to start. I'm a huge believer in working smart and not working hard and having a customized application for every single job is absolutely ridiculous. So just lean on AI where you can, and where you need to, in order to spruce up some of these applications. Job hunting is hard. Okay. It's called hunting for a reason. If you left me alone in the wilderness and told me to catch a fish, I would starve out. So I am not undermining how challenging and difficult this can be, but I firmly believe in the power of knowing where to look for jobs, especially in some of these more niche websites like Twitter and Reddit, purchasing referrals when we need to, or just getting referred via networking is also an amazing tip to make sure our resume stands out. And most importantly, flagging our application every single time. I'm telling you that one tip is going to be an absolute game changer. If you're on your job hunting journey, I know it is stressful. I know it is agonizing. I know it is long and I got to be real with you. The job market right now is unforgiving. It is not an easy market to be looking in. I do have a total series talking about the impacts of the upcoming recession or the current recession, who knows on job hunting. So if you're struggling with that specifically, I've got some content up there for you too, but just know that you've got this. Things are hard right now. They're not going to be hard forever. If you have questions or things I can help with, let me know in the comments. Don't forget to subscribe. I post two videos a week, just like this to help your life get a little bit easier. Thank you so much for hanging out with me and you know the dance is coming because I'll talk to you in my next video.