17.2 Applying For Jobs
By the end of this checkpoint, you should be able to apply to jobs effectively.
Overview​
Unless you're Mark Zuckerberg, you probably need to apply to a job to get a job. In fact, you probably need to apply to many jobs to get a job.
And while there are lots of jobs available, there's also a lot of competition, so you want to be as strategic as possible. The goal of this checkpoint is to give you the information that you need to conduct an effective and efficient job search that leads you to interviews and, ultimately, a job that you love.
Comparing job opportunities​
Before you start applying, it's helpful to take stock of the job opportunities that are available to you.
When changing careers, your first job is often the most difficult job to get. This is because employers are usually overwhelmed with applications for any given job opening.
In an effort to hire quickly, they tend to interview only a few candidates—the ones who have the most impressive and relevant backgrounds. Unfortunately, career changers tend to look less qualified on paper and get cut before they're able to prove their skills.
With this in mind, your goal should be to get direct relevant experience as soon as possible, so that you do look good on paper. A good way to do this is to be open to all of the job opportunities available to you—internships, contracts, freelance work, and full-time work. Following is some information on each type of opportunity.
Internships​
Internships are when you work for a company specifically to get relevant experience. They tend to be filled by students and recent graduates, and they last a couple of weeks or months.
Because internships are viewed as a learning opportunity that benefits you more than the company, most are low paid or unpaid with no benefits. But they're often worth it, as the experience can help you get jobs that you're otherwise unqualified for, can provide you with referrals, and can sometimes turn into a full-time job.
Here are a couple of resources for finding internships:
And here are some company-specific internship opportunities:
Alternatively, it's perfectly okay and common practice to email a company and ask if they're willing to consider you for a short-term internship, even if there isn't an opportunity listed on their website. If you choose to do this, here are some tips.
Contract work​
Contract work is when a company hires you for a temporary amount of time—a couple of months to a couple of years—usually to help with a specific project. It's a good way to practice your new skills in multiple job settings in a short period of time.
The company pays you an hourly or salaried rate, and potentially benefits. And because contractors don't always get the same benefits and perks as full-time employees, they tend to be paid more than full-time employees in similar jobs. Like internships, contract positions can sometimes turn into a full-time job.
To find contract work, you can look on job boards or work with external recruiters (more on both of those below).
Freelance work​
Freelance work is when you're self-employed. You can choose to do work for one or multiple companies at different times. It's ultimate flexibility; you get to set your prices and schedule, can usually choose to work from home, and can accept or reject projects as you like.
Generally, it's up to you to invoice your clients and secure your benefits. If you choose to do freelance work, here's a template that you can use to create a contract or invoice.
Here are a few resources for finding freelance work:
But note! If you're eligible for the Tuition Reimbursement Guarantee and want to maintain your eligibility, working as a freelancer or starting your own business would make you ineligible for tuition reimbursement. That said, if you're not TRG-eligible or don't want to keep your eligibility, then freelancing is a good route to take.
Full-time work​
The term full-time work describes when you work for one company, usually 40 hours a week, for an indefinite period of time and with benefits. While more and more companies are getting comfortable with remote work environments, these jobs tend to be in person, at a company location, during set hours.
You can find full-time employment through job boards, cold outreach, newsletters, Slack groups, and recruiters.
Finding job openings​
There are lots of ways to find job openings, some more effective than others. This section covers the various ways that you can find job openings, as well as the pros and cons of each.
Job boards​
Job boards, also called employment websites, probably seem like the most obvious way to learn about and apply to jobs. Companies publish job openings on sites like LinkedIn and Monster, which you can then search for online and apply to.
These sites are beneficial to any job searcher, as they publish thousands of job listings from thousands of companies in one spot. They allow you to easily and quickly search for listings using terms that matter to you, like "project manager San Francisco."
There are lots of job boards to choose from, from general to niche. While there's no need to use all of them, it's a good idea to incorporate a couple of job boards into your weekly job search activities.
This way, you're aware of what companies are hiring in your area and when there's a new listing that's a good fit for you. Many job boards have features that allow you to get email alerts when a new job is posted in your field.
Given the perks of job boards, it's important to remember the following points:
- Because of job boards' popularity, on average, you're competing against 100 other applicants for every job that you apply to online.
- Applicants with a referral are 20 times more likely to be hired than applicants without a referral.
- 80% of available jobs are never posted.
This means that even when you're applying to jobs that you're perfectly qualified for, it can take hundreds of applications to get a job, or even an interview. It also means that networking should remain an essential part of your job search.
Cold outreach​
Cold outreach is when you email or message someone who you have no prior contact or relationship with. It's also one of the most effective job search strategies.
As you just read, most job opportunities are never posted on job boards. That's because:
- Posting on job boards is expensive.
- Companies' hiring needs can outpace their ability to maintain job listings online.
- It's easier and less risky for employers to hire people they know. Also, employees are often incentivized to refer people within their network.
So, how can you learn about the jobs that aren't posted online?
Through cold outreach.
Email or message someone at every company that interests you—even when the company has no suitable job listings posted online—and ask them about their hiring needs. That way, you can learn about job opportunities that aren't posted.
You can be the first person on the employer's mind when it is time to expand their team—and potentially get a referral. This also helps minimize your competition, because the entire internet won't be applying for the same job.
Of course, cold outreach should be done with tact and professionalism. Some best practices are described below.
Cold outreach best practices​
For every company that interests you, find an employee who you can connect with. For smaller companies, any employee is fine. For larger companies, it helps to pinpoint someone who works in the department that you're interested in. You can find the right person on a company's website or in a LinkedIn search. (If you're using LinkedIn, look for employees with complete and active profiles, since they're more likely to see and respond to your message.)
Then, either email that person or send them a LinkedIn message. Let them know that you're interested in working at their company, and ask if they're going to hire anyone in your field in the near future. Make it personal and ask a question so that they're more likely to respond. For example:
Hi, Ahmaud. My name is Ariana. I know that you don't know me, but I'm reaching out because I've been a long-time fan of Textio. I'm curious; do you know if you'll be growing your digital marketing team in the next year? (If so, I'd like to put my hat in the ring!)
That's it. Short and sweet with a simple ask makes it easy for the person to respond.
If you already know that the company is currently hiring someone in your field, you can say that you learned that there's a job opening that you're interested in and that you'd like to be considered. For example:
Hi, Darcy. My name is Michael. I saw that your team is looking for a frontend software developer, and I think that I'd be a perfect fit. Is it all right if I send you my resume? Or, if you like, I'd be glad to take you out for coffee and introduce myself.
Be sure to connect before you apply, so that you have the possibility of becoming a referral. And be persistent and follow up if the person doesn't respond within a week. If they still don't respond, you can try connecting with another employee at the company. Just don't be a nuisance—you want them to like you.
Slack groups​
Another good job search tool is Slack. Slack has a lot of public groups, which sometimes include job-related channels. For example, the NYC Tech Slack group had a #jobs channel, where people post job listings. Try to find similar groups in your area.
Recruiters​
As you start applying, you'll quickly become familiar with recruiters—you may even receive messages from them on LinkedIn.
It's helpful to know that there are two major types of recruiters, each with a different function.
Internal recruiters​
Internal or in-house recruiters are employees of a specific company. Their job is to find and screen candidates for jobs at the company that they work for.
Most often, internal recruiters are trying to fill permanent, full-time jobs.
External recruiters​
External or third-party recruiters are employees of staffing companies, like Robert Half. Either on behalf of a company or themselves, their job is to find job openings at companies and then find candidates who would be a good fit for those openings. They serve as a mediator between the company and the candidate. If a candidate that they recommend is selected, they earn a commission.
Most often, external recruiters are trying to fill contract and part-time jobs. You can find them by Googling recruiters in your location and niche; for example, you could try "creative recruiter Atlanta."
When you work with an external recruiter, here's the typical process: First, you give them a copy of your resume and tell them about your career goals.
When they learn about a job opening, they email you—and everyone in their network who might be qualified—to see if you're interested in the job. They then review the resumes of everyone who's interested and send the most impressive ones to the employer, which may or may not include yours.
Remember, the recruiter's primary motivation is to earn a commission by getting someone hired, not necessarily you. For this reason, external recruiters can be a good way to boost your job search, but they should never replace your other efforts, like applying to job listings and cold outreach.
Newsletters​
Finally, there are a lot of good job-related newsletters available online that provide tips about what companies you should apply to. For example:
- Glassdoor's newsletter includes reviews of companies from current and past employees.
- Strictly VC's newsletter includes announcements about industry funding, like which companies recently raised funding and are, therefore, about to go on a hiring binge.
- TechCrunch's CrunchBase's newsletters includes technology-related funding and startup announcements.
You can find relevant newsletters on job boards or by doing a simple Google search. (Here are a few popular career newsletters.)
Now that you know how to find job openings, the next thing to do is learn how to interpret job listings so that you don't miss out on any opportunities that you're qualified for.
Understanding job listings​
Did you know that most job listings are wish lists? Job listings often go through several stakeholders at a company—or are copied from a similar job listing—before they're posted online.
This means that not every skill or experience that's listed as "required" is actually necessary to get the job. And it's not always clear from a job listing if you should apply or not. This section helps you navigate job listings so that you know what to look for when you're deciding if you should apply.
Job titles​
First things first—job titles can be deceiving. Different companies use different nomenclature when it comes to job titles. A "business development manager" at one company might be a "tech evangelist" at another company, even if it's the exact same job.
Keep this in mind in your own job search and don't limit yourself to the obvious or most literal job titles. Do a little research to find the variations that are applicable to your field.
Education​
On job listings, the required education bullet is usually a wish list item. It's okay to ignore it. Most employers are fine with you having equivalent experience or education, which includes your PMcademy education.
Years of experience​
Job listings generally say that applicants should have a certain number of years of experience. These numbers make more sense when you think of them as levels of seniority. For example, seven to four years is an entry-level job, five to seven years is mid-level, and more than seven years is senior.
Most PMcademy graduates are eligible to apply for jobs that ask for zero to four years of experience.
And remember, you probably have more experience than you want to give yourself credit for! Your projects, self-study, and past transferable experience count toward your experience.
Technical skills​
Job listings tend to include a smorgasbord of "required" technical skills. This is because employers want to capture a lot of applicants and, really, because they can write whatever they want on the job listing. So, they include everything that they can think of, even if it's a nice-to-have instead of a need-to-have.
When looking at a job listing's required skills, ask yourself these questions:
- Do I have at least three of the skills that are listed?
- For the skills that I don't have, do I know anything that's comparable?
- Do I feel confident that I can quickly learn new skills and technologies?
If you answer yes to at least two of those questions, you should apply.
Job search strategy​
You now have a good idea of how to find jobs and which jobs you're qualified to apply to. Here are some final best practices to keep in mind during your job search.
Applying often​
Treat your job search as if it's your full-time job. Make it a goal to apply to at least 10 jobs per week (that's only two jobs per day) through cold outreach and applying to online job listings.
Conduct at least two networking activities each week. Create a rhythm for yourself that's easy to maintain so that you don't burn out.
Tailoring your application​
Getting a job is a mix of strategy and luck. Although you won't get an interview for every job that you apply to, you can increase your odds of success by tailoring your resume to each job listing.
Make sure that your resume includes some of the key words in the job listing so that it's accepted by the company's Applicant Tracking System. Remember, you can use tools like Jobscan and SkillSyncer to see how an ATS treats your resume.
Staying organized​
To stay organized, record the details of your applications—where you applied, when, a link to the job posting, who you connected with, etc. This helps you keep track of all of the companies that you apply to and the people who you reach out to.
Following up​
Another reason to stay organized is so that you know who you need to follow up with and when. Following up helps ensure that your application isn't forgotten, makes you more memorable to employers, and shows employers that you take initiative and are truly interested in getting the job.
Apply all of the skills in this checkpoint, and it's only a matter of time before you'll move to the next stage of your job search: interviewing.