*Disclaimer:* This post focuses on the modern job search without an inside connection. If you have a connection that can recommend you for a position, you’ve got a leg up. Having connections who know hiring parties is the best way to secure a job. But if you don’t have such connections, this post is a rant for you.
The Struggle of Job Searching
You may not have any inside connections but don’t give up! This post is about and for you. TLDR; The modern job search feels like feeding the void, never getting feedback, but when you finally do get the role all of this will feel worth the work.
The Daily Grind
Searching for a job is more than a full time job. Not an hour goes by where you don’t refresh the job board or check your email. You check to see if any of your friends or contacts know of a role. You try to make contact with a hiring manager for each job you apply to.
LinkedIn’s “Easy Apply” Feature
You’ve signed up for all the popular job boards and re-typed in your qualifications into each of the systems. LinkedIn for example has this “Easy Apply” job posting that promises a painless application process. The job listing might have a few extra clarifications or questions but nothing arduous and you remain on LinkedIn the entire time. LinkedIn is even nice enough to remember some answers to questions for you! But the one question that gets added to this that LinkedIn doesn’t remember is when a job listing asks for a link to your LinkedIn profile.
LinkedIn will happily tell you that the job you’re hoping to get noticed for already has 100 applicants that clicked Apply on listings so new the ink is wet. Is that supposed to be motivational? It gets better! Premium LinkedIn will tell you just how many other applicants have clicked Apply or have applied for the position. Several have more than 1,000 or 2,000 applications. How many hours does it take to evaluate 1,000 applications? At 3 minutes of evaluation per application you’re looking at 50 hours of time. Being generous that would be 8 business days. Unless a recruiter tells me otherwise I’m guessing all applications aren’t evaluated even for 3 minutes.
Applying on Company Websites
You decide the “Easy Apply” gimmick might just toss your application into the spam folder. You still use it because you don’t know if that’s how you’ll get noticed. Might as well?
Companies can’t be bothered, rightly so, to create custom career listings and job application process websites so they buy a white label solution. This is sounds great for the job seeker. You see many of the listings are on Workday domains.
Not so fast! Each company Workday domain site has their own account setup and creation. Yes that is right. You don’t get to benefit as the job seeker from this technology and must create an account for each new company who has a job listing you want to apply for! This means email validation, more data entry and yet another account on a site you’ll probably never open again.
Workday domains aside, the application process is pretty straightforward for the rest of the career pages. Look for browser extensions to autofill common form requirements. Once you get it all setup it won’t be much of a pain. Except the really common location search dropdown that never wants to get autofilled and the Workday state dropdown that refuses to populate from your resume.
Job Listings of Job Listings
Ever applied for a job, then seen another listing that looks eerily similar? You click, only to realize it’s a duplicate. A posting from a staffing agency or another job board just trying to collect your information.
These listings waste time, making the job search even more frustrating. Instead of giving job seekers real opportunities, they create an endless loop of re-applying for the same role under different names.
Ghost Jobs? Zombies, At Least
You’ve been on the job search treadmill for a while and start to notice some new listings at companies you applied to before. Cool, that means a second chance! Again, it’s a lie. The oldest job re-posting I’ve seen was nearly a year old. That’s right, the job was posted a year ago and hasn’t been filled, but that doesn’t stop it from being re-posted and showing up in your searches.
To make matters worse, some companies only let you apply once every 60 days. So why are they re-posting the same job over and over? No clue. Maybe the role isn’t actually open. Either way, it’s another reminder that you applied, got ignored, and now have to watch the job taunt you in your search results.
Effort, Feedback, and the Void
You find a job that seems perfect. The company is great. The role matches your experience. You spend extra time on a well-crafted cover letter. You tailor your resume to highlight the exact skills they’re looking for.
The application process might have something extra special like a puzzle question! You think that’s a fun idea highlighting you as a great candidate and spend an extra hour or two on a code challenge the job listing set up. Alright, you’ve applied for the position, nailing the puzzle question and crafting award-winning cover letters. Your resume hits all the keywords.
There’s a nice “we got your application” automated message, and you wait for the first interview to be scheduled, right?
The same day, you’ll get another automated email saying they appreciate your application but decided to pass on you. Okay. It’s okay; I wonder why. What did I do or not do right? Was it some automated flag that caught me? Did I only know React 16 and not React 15 like they use but didn’t specify in the job listing? Did they not like the look of my name?
But you can’t ask for feedback. The automated email is on a no-reply address. All the time spent on the application is lost to a void. They don’t want to have to talk with you. They don’t want to give you any feedback because that might open them up to liability. I get it, and I don’t.
Feeding the Void
That’s your job now. You create new accounts on companies’ career platforms. You spend effort answering questions like “Why do you want to work at this specific company?” or “What excites you about this role?” on each application. You take time to create a unique cover letter for each role and new versions of your resume.
You lovingly craft each job application and package it like a gift, hoping this time, someone on the other end will open it. But more often than not, it disappears into the void, never to be acknowledged.
All Effort Is Worth It
However, all this effort is worth it. The work will feel justified, and you’ll know you did the right thing putting in the work to feed the void, which doesn’t reply and gives no feedback. Like marketing folks talk about advertising spending, “we know 50% of our investment is paying off; we just don’t know which 50%”, you’ll know it was all worth it but won’t know what you did right or wrong.
Your first interview is scheduled! Now, you have to survive the rest of the gauntlet. But in all seriousness, the effort will be worth it. No matter if you get or don’t get the feedback you need, you’ll find that right role and the right hiring manager who will say, “This applicant has 7 letters in their first and last names, and 7 is my lucky number,” and call you up.