This told essay is based on a conversation with Sam Wright, 31, head of growth at Seattle-based Hunter. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I start my day with at least two, and sometimes up to 10, free 15-minute one-on-one job search support sessions.
I’m on the phone with people who have been laid off at big companies like Amazon and Google, and they’ve never had a hard time in the job market before. they don’t know what to do.
Looking for a job is one of the most vulnerable times in your life. So I started offering these free support sessions last July as an additional way to support those struggling in this job market, and I’ve now made around 500 calls.
I work at Huntr, an AI-powered resume builder and employment tracker. Most of our clients are from the technology industry, including software developers and engineers, UI and UX designers, and product and project managers. We use anonymized data collected from our job search trackers and resume builders to track the job market and train and develop our AI tools. We’ve analyzed over 1.2 million applications across over 225,000 resumes.
The job market at the start of the year is filled with pent-up energy and renewed optimism after the economic downturn at the end of the year. Here are five pieces of advice I would give to all job seekers to help them do their best.
1. Use your application-to-interview conversion rate as your north star
At the beginning of COVID-19, it was a job market, especially in the tech industry. Entry-level software engineers are basically given a job right out of school. That’s not the case now.
Many job seekers have applied for hundreds of jobs and still haven’t heard back. In an employer-friendly market, the application-to-interview conversion rate should be your north star.
Search is ultimately a sales process, so be sure to focus your search approach on metrics. You’re selling your services and skills, and how often your applications lead to job interviews is a way you can measure how well you’re doing it.
2. Focus on one role at a time and pivot as needed.
Please apply to one eligible position at a time. You can change direction if you want, but our best practice is to apply to 10-15 jobs with a well-tailored resume that fits the job description and continue to do so over the next 2-3 weeks.
If you don’t get an interview within 20 applications, and definitely within 50, you should consider getting some feedback on your resume and rethinking where and what you’re applying to.
Different job sites have different application-to-interview conversion rates, so try applying to different jobs using different websites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter to increase your conversion rate.
3. Google Search will become your new favorite job site
Anyone who posts a job online wants that job to be searchable on Google.
Doing Boolean searches on Google should be a routine part of your job search process. A Boolean search is essentially an advanced search that allows you to combine keywords using several different parameters to narrow down your search.
Simply searching for jobs on Google aggregates all jobs from all job sites and is the best way to start your search. When you search for something like “data analyst jobs” on Google, it knows you’re looking for job openings and shows them in a dedicated jobs tab at the top of the search.
Job listings are sourced from across the web because the site needs them to be indexed and searchable on Google for SEO purposes.
4. I’ve seen more successful applications with two-page resumes.
The number of pages on a resume is one of the things people struggle with the most. I’ve seen that across entry level, midrange, and senior level, that’s not a problem. We see a slight increase in responses that include two-page resumes.
At the end of the day, it’s not the length of your resume that matters. It’s the quality of the content that matches the job description you’re applying for.
For example, writing a little more about yourself in the education section will ultimately be helpful. Awards, accomplishments, and major accomplishments from school can also be helpful, as long as they are relevant to the job description.
5. Use metrics on your resume to show your performance, but don’t forget to also show the impact of your performance.
The accomplishments section of your resume should read something like, “I did X. The results were Y and the impact was Z.” Many people miss the last part: “Why does it matter?” which leads to the ultimate impact of your accomplishment.
Remember that even if you are a hospital janitor, you are helping to save lives in some way. This is an extreme example, but it all comes down to framework and how you see yourself in the big picture.
Do you have a story or advice to share about finding a job in the current job market? If so, please contact our reporters. aapplegate@businessinsider.com.
