You may have been lying awake at night wondering, “Why can’t I get a job?” After all, you’re working hard.
You’ve applied to jobs like you’re an NBA star practicing foul shots, one after the other; you’ve updated your resume more often than models update their hair styles; you’ve practiced your elevator pitch like Academy Award winners practice their speeches.
So what gives? Why aren’t you landing the role you want?
The frustrating thing about job search is that it’s very hard to pin down one reason that you’re not landing a role, largely because no one will give you feedback.
You’re basically playing a high-stakes game that you’ve likely played only a handful of times before. Each time you play, the rules change a little. And, it’s hard to learn the rules, because no one will tell you what they are (you get conflicting information from lots of sources).
Even if you do manage to learn the rules of job search, it’s difficult to know if you are doing a good job of meeting the standards of those rules because you don’t get a lot of feedback – and the feedback you do get (rejections, interview requests, ghosting, etc.) don’t always give you a clear picture of your performance – that feedback also measures a lot of other things too. For example, it might be measuring the overall candidate pool, the company changing their mind about hiring altogether, or hiring an internal candidate.
In short: It might have nothing at all to do with you and whether you need to adjust your job search strategy.
This is a recipe for frustration (really, it scientifically is).
So, you’re left asking, “Why can’t I get a job?” and you come up empty. You’re doing everything you know to do, and nothing seems to be working. . .
Let me help.
5 Reasons You Can’t Get A Job
1. The Job Market Is Tough
This won’t always be true, but it is as of the writing of this post, and it’s important not to dismiss it. The market is tough, and while there’s nothing we can do about that right now, it does help us to recognize it because we can adjust your strategy (more on that below) and you can also go a little easier on yourself psychologically.
Don’t underestimate the psychological or mental aspect of job search – it’s a big part of things.
2. You’re Relying Too Heavily On The “Spray And Pray” Method
If you’re not familiar with it, the “Spray and Pray” method is applying to jobs online indiscriminately. You see an opening posted online, you apply, and you pray you hear back.
To be clear, this method does work sometimes, but posted jobs often have one hundred or more candidates. Your chances of landing a role this way is actually not great.
And that doesn’t even factor in that sometimes these posted jobs aren’t even real: they are sometimes scams, they are posted but already filled, they are tests by employers to gauge interest and more.
This is a frustrating and low-reward way to job search.
3. You Don’t Stand Out Enough
You might be good at your job, but especially when the job market is tight, employers feel like they can be picky. It doesn’t mean you’re not a great quality candidate, it just means they can choose the candidate they feel has done the best job of demonstrating why they will be the most successful in their company or role.
If your description of yourself (aka your brand) feels too general, they might opt to look at the next candidate who has very specific experience in whatever area they need. You might be saying “Hey! I have that experience, too!” And you do. But unless you highlight it, they either don’t see it, or don’t see it as your main focus.
Your goal is to tell people what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for. You want to make sure that this is really specific for the type of role you want to land.
4. You Need To Up Your Networking Game
I can hear you groaning from here. I know you hate networking, but that’s only because you think of networking as asking people for things. That’s not what it is at all.
Networking is really about two things: talking to people and learning – and my guess is that you love both of those.
Of course, you are job searching, but you’re not going to take just any old job, are you? No. You need to know some things about the job first. You probably have things you want to know. I have a list of over 100 smart questions to ask when you’re networking and you can grab that now. It will help you up your networking game so that you can take the work out of networking.
Why is that so important?
Because networking is how people find jobs. Seriously. It’s not just the endorsement they get from someone they know that happens to work at a company where they’ve applied for an opening. No, it’s way more than that.
It’s the contact that gives you a heads up that there’s going to be an opening in the first place (way ahead of when the posting goes up.)
It’s the contact that introduces you to her friends who then think of you when they have an opening.
It’s the contact that realizes you are the exact right person for a role.
But if you stay hidden in a closet, no one can remember that they need you.
5. You can’t convince someone to hire you.
I’ve talked to a lot of candidates who are awesome. My guess is that you’re awesome too. But unless you can convince an employer that you are awesome quickly, you won’t get hired.
You see, your interview is a performance. Throw in your resume, your LinkedIn profile, all your other social media presence, and more. You are being evaluated based on a very quick snapshot of you, and if that snapshot doesn’t quickly and concisely show an employer not only that you are great, but that you are great for them, you’re going to be passed over.
It feels a bit unfair to have to be on stage to land a job, but that’s what it is.
Your interview prep is about more than just memorizing answers. It’s about showing an employer why you are the solution to their problem.
What’s the best way to do that?
By targeting companies you know you can help, and crafting your branding statement around that.
So tell me again: What do you do, how you do you do it, and who do you do it for?
When you can answer that question, you can start to put together a list of companies that you should network with, and then pitch yourself as the solution to their problems.
Want help creating a job search strategy that works?
Join me as I re-open the doors for my job search strategy group Visible. You can learn all about it here.
