A side effect of social media’s algorithms grouping people based on interest is that when you are, for example, looking for a job, you tend to connect with a lot of other people looking for jobs. Because of this and to add value to the hours of research I have spent optimizing my resume and job search strategy, I decided to make a list of all the things I have learned while on my job hunt.

1. Reach out to people - smartly.

As many of my connections will know, I started this job search by sending a connection request to any recruiter slightly adjacent to the position I was applying for.

While various sources will tell you that LinkedIn is the best way to connect with recruiters, very few will tell you that too many connection requests getting reported as “I don’t know this person” will get you put in “LinkedIn Jail”

The best way to avoid having your account restricted is to add personalized messages to connections. Find things that you have in common with the people you are reaching out for and try to add value their network by sharing interesting or important information.

2. Personalize every application - beyond just the role.

“dear hiring manager” is probably one of the most used phrases in the world at this point, and most of that comes down to people not taking the time to research a company before applying.

Doing some basic research into a company, for example who their CEO is, which schools they tend to hire from, what they post on LinkedIn about, where there corporate responsibility reports say, and what their organizational goals are can really help you stand out as a candidate.

I find a particularly useful resource for this is investor relation pages of public companies and quarterly reports of most organizations, for example if I wanted to apply at Tesla I could go here and see their Q3 2023 report and learn about the KPIs and Events that are important to the company, see that the 12th version of FSD Data just began rollout, and I could then bring that up in my cover letter and how my experiences with AI and vehicle sensors could contribute to this launch.

The whole point of an application is to show your interest in a company, and there is no better way to show your interest in a company than by doing your research. Even if you completely miss the mark you show your enthusiasm for the company and the industry they operate in.

(P.S. the best way to find the person to address your cover letter to is to find the company on LinkedIn, go to people, use the “what they do” tab to find HR specialists, then search “Manager” to find the manager for the region the job is posted in.)

3. Use linkedin - as a starting point.

As you can probably tell from the last two points, I am quite a fan of using LinkedIn for doing research about companies, but I would never apply through LinkedIn, and definitely never use any sort of “QUICK APPLY” ESPECIALLY when starting my career.

Firstly these “QUICK APPLY” options are mostly optimized for experienced professionals who have completed multiple roles and responsibilities, using them as a student when you are less likely to have years of relevant experience is a bigger recipe for disaster than using a resume with table in it (how to optimize your resume for an ATS system)

LinkedIn is a great place to find which companies are hiring, but once you have found is a find companies you are interested in through websites like LinkedIn, then go to their careers page and find openings that might not get posted to the job boards.

4. Show - don’t tell.

Storytellers use this strategy to create tales that readers can engage with, but using this strategy when writing resumes and cover letter can help you make your applications more engaging.

Quantify you data whenever possible. Instead of “factory reset a LOT of laptops for a project” I “configured 189 laptops over the course of 2 months” which allows for readers to get a better understanding of the work you accomplished.

While it can be a painful experience for many, a cover letter and resume are just part of your story, the resume being the story of how you got here, and your cover letter being the story of how you will help the company thrive.

Conclusion

Finally, remember for feedback as much as you ask for help, and ask for help at every opportunity. writing resumes and cover letters is a very subjective process and what could be the holy grail of resumes to one recruiter could be hot garbage to another. As with any storytelling you should consider your audience first and everything else afterwards.

Good luck out there.

This is a non-exhaustive list and will be updated as time goes on, do you have any feedback or suggestions you want to add? comment them on my LinkedIn post and I will review them accordingly.