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The Challenge

We're coming out of one of the worst tech recessions in decades.

Over 1 Million+ people have been laid-off in the last 18 months.

Unfortunately, this has led to an incredibly saturated job market.

When I talk to candidates they are:

• frustrated by lack of responsiveness from employers

• concerned with the short supply of opportunities

• exhausted by how long the process takes

As a hiring manager, we can do better. But so can candidates.

Since 2022 I’ve hired over a dozen people, interviewed 50+ more and reviewed 1000s of resumes and applications.

In this post I’ll share the common mistake I see candidates make, how to get your resume in front of the right people and what to say in your application.

The Mistake

Here’s how most people navigate the job application process:

1. Explore opportunities on job boards or LinkedIn

2. Submit applications for roles you like

3. Wait for a response

Eventually their resume lands in an application tracking system (ATS) for a recruiter or lower level hiring manager to review:

As someone that sits on the hiring side, typically I start qualifying candidates by skimming applications for:

• recognizable companies

• relevant experience

• referrals

My goal is to find the top 20% of candidates and move them onto the next stage. It’s an imperfect process, but there’s only so much time.

The good news - there is another way to get your resume in front of the right people AND get them to actually review it.

The Solution

Stop playing the resume lottery.

If you want to avoid having your resume fall into the sea of 100s or 1000s of other applications. Try this:

1. Find the hiring manager using LinkedIn

2. Get their email or send a DM

3. Say something like this

You want to show you can do the job BEFORE getting the job.

For Sales - show you can prospect, use cold outreach and drive convos.

For Marketing - showcase your brand to stand out and drive conversions.

For CS - show you know how to communicate and build relationships.

Regardless of your role, showing this type of initiative in the interview process will give the hiring manager confidence you will do the same with customers.

Takeaway

From my experience hiring people:

• 1000s of candidates will apply on the website

• 100s of candidates will write a cover letter

• 10s of candidates will DM the manager

The fishing is best where the fewest go.

Until next Thursday,

TSG

P.S. I reply to all emails.