5 ms·

Wow thousands of jobs! Could you explain: * How do you even send that many applications? Is there some site where you can click thousands of checkboxes and a

by habosa 9y ago

Wow thousands of jobs! Could you explain: * How do you even send that many applications? Is there some site where you can click thousands of checkboxes and apply? Do you send individual emails? * What modifications do you make when applying from job-to-job? * What adjustments did you make along the way? Did you change your resume or make any other major changes to how you were presented? * For how many of those jobs did you proceed to an interview?

AFNobody 9y ago
> 2008-2013, about 3,500 roles > * How do you even send that many applications? Is there some site where you can click thousands of checkboxes and apply? Do you send individual emails? (3500/2) = 1750 hours, or just shy of one work year with holidays/vacation/etc. If he is applying to multiple countries, of the course of 5 years, I wouldn't be surprised if 3500 jobs were posted for him to apply to that his qualifications were relevant for. To be honest, I've applied to a non-negligible number of jobs every year just to keep interviewing and looking for better options. At 30min per application, the limitation was my time rather than the # of positions that were open given how flexible I am about location. The only difference is I've been continuously employed and the applications are as much about maintaining my ability to interview effectively as it is firing bosses I don't care for.
- lproven 9y ago
  Just so. Aggressive job-hunting is a nearly full-time job in itself. As I said, though, from 2010-2013 I became a lot more selective, meaning it was only an hour or 2 a day.
Spooky23 9y ago
I’ve seen this happen to people. You get depressed and focus on sites like Monster/etc that are mostly bullshit generic posts and agencies trolling for resumes. No interviews because there are no jobs.
- dabockster 9y ago
  I'm stuck in this rut. What can I do to break out of it?
  - danhodgins 9y ago
    Dabockster- I did a stint as a tech recruiter a while back (not doing that anymore), so I can offer some perspective from the other side of the table - although limited. A few questions: 1. How many events do you attend per week? (could be related to any industry at all - could be a tradeshow, a panel of speakers, tech meetups - anything really)? 2. How many hands do you shake at each event? 3. How many people from these events do you follow up with? If your score is "0" for all of the above then you are doing it all wrong. You need to meet people in person, each week. The only way to do that short of showing up at the front desk, resume in hand, is to go to events. You need to set a goal of attending 1-2 events per week (minimum), and figuring out how to get in front of hiring managers from companies you admire. Figure out what events those people might attend socially or professionally. Get up to speed with events in various industries in your city. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable at events, and find a way to make them enjoyable. People who log facetime at events do immediately jump to the top of the pile compared to people like you who are #200-300 at the bottom of the stack in the applicant tracking system for some BS job posting on Monster (many of which are for non-existent jobs). Don't be #300. Start attending events! There's no reason you should have to apply for 3,000 jobs, that is a waste of time. Start working smarter - even if you are introverted and awkward in person. Now pick your head, up, get out there and get started! You can do this! D.
    - matt_the_bass 9y ago
      Thanks for posting what seemed to me to be a kind, positive and constructive response.
    - bradknowles 9y ago
      When I was in college in the mid-80s, my mom already had many years of experience as an HR professional. I never forgot the rules-of-thumb that she taught me: 90% of all successful placements come from people who have personal contacts with the hiring manager or somewhere else at the place doing the hiring. 90% of the remainder (9% of the total) come from headhunting firms that are actively looking for candidates to fill a particular special position. The final 1% comes from placement advertisements and job search facilities. And this from the lady who ran the job search facility for the University of Oklahoma (at Norman), called the “Job Location Program”. It covered every single staff and faculty position that was being hired for across the entire University. So far as I can tell, the job placement situation hasn’t really changed much in the 30 or so years since. So, you have to ask yourself, where do you want to spend your time and money? Do you want to spend it all in the area with only 1% placement success, or do you want to spend it somewhere else that might have a higher probability of getting you something?
lproven 9y ago
I signed up with every agency in sight -- Monster, Reed, Manpower, whatever. I had saved keyword queries on all the major agencies and sites. I joined mailing lists with job ads -- I recall https://www.environmentjob.co.uk/ https://www.environmentjob.co.uk/ had some interesting ones, but many, you have to pay your own way, and I was broke. I went looking for as many ads as possible. I had a file of application letters, needing minimal customisation to fit. Copy, paste, add salutation/role/location, attach CV, send. My CV is longish -- 3 pages -- but then, so's my career. I've done what I can to optimise it for keywords that will get hits when pimps do searches. The CV didn't get customised for specific applications unless I really wanted that role and thought I'd be perfect for it. It didn't help. I don't bother doing it any more. I maintain a "writer" and a "techie" CV, just in case. Every morning, I would make a cuppa and breakfast, sit at the PC, read a few comics and the news, then start applying. I'd keep going until there were no vaguely relevant positions left. It took from 2 to 5 hours most days. I logged every application in an OpenOffice/LibreOffice spreadsheet: date, title, reference number, agency. Every fortnight, I signed on at the Jobcentre, and took the printout of the last 2 weeks' applications to get it initialled as evidence. I needed that in August; by then, the printout was about 2cm thick. I probably still have it somewhere. Perhaps I should put it on Dropbox for people to see the evidence. :-)

by habosa 9y ago

AFNobody 9y ago

> 2008-2013, about 3,500 roles > * How do you even send that many applications? Is there some site where you can click thousands of checkboxes and apply? Do you send individual emails? (3500/2) = 1750 hours, or just shy of one work year with holidays/vacation/etc. If he is applying to multiple countries, of the course of 5 years, I wouldn't be surprised if 3500 jobs were posted for him to apply to that his qualifications were relevant for. To be honest, I've applied to a non-negligible number of jobs every year just to keep interviewing and looking for better options. At 30min per application, the limitation was my time rather than the # of positions that were open given how flexible I am about location. The only difference is I've been continuously employed and the applications are as much about maintaining my ability to interview effectively as it is firing bosses I don't care for.

lproven 9y ago
Just so. Aggressive job-hunting is a nearly full-time job in itself. As I said, though, from 2010-2013 I became a lot more selective, meaning it was only an hour or 2 a day.

Spooky23 9y ago

I’ve seen this happen to people. You get depressed and focus on sites like Monster/etc that are mostly bullshit generic posts and agencies trolling for resumes. No interviews because there are no jobs.

dabockster 9y ago
I'm stuck in this rut. What can I do to break out of it?
- danhodgins 9y ago
  Dabockster- I did a stint as a tech recruiter a while back (not doing that anymore), so I can offer some perspective from the other side of the table - although limited. A few questions: 1. How many events do you attend per week? (could be related to any industry at all - could be a tradeshow, a panel of speakers, tech meetups - anything really)? 2. How many hands do you shake at each event? 3. How many people from these events do you follow up with? If your score is "0" for all of the above then you are doing it all wrong. You need to meet people in person, each week. The only way to do that short of showing up at the front desk, resume in hand, is to go to events. You need to set a goal of attending 1-2 events per week (minimum), and figuring out how to get in front of hiring managers from companies you admire. Figure out what events those people might attend socially or professionally. Get up to speed with events in various industries in your city. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable at events, and find a way to make them enjoyable. People who log facetime at events do immediately jump to the top of the pile compared to people like you who are #200-300 at the bottom of the stack in the applicant tracking system for some BS job posting on Monster (many of which are for non-existent jobs). Don't be #300. Start attending events! There's no reason you should have to apply for 3,000 jobs, that is a waste of time. Start working smarter - even if you are introverted and awkward in person. Now pick your head, up, get out there and get started! You can do this! D.
  - matt_the_bass 9y ago
    Thanks for posting what seemed to me to be a kind, positive and constructive response.
  - bradknowles 9y ago
    When I was in college in the mid-80s, my mom already had many years of experience as an HR professional. I never forgot the rules-of-thumb that she taught me: 90% of all successful placements come from people who have personal contacts with the hiring manager or somewhere else at the place doing the hiring. 90% of the remainder (9% of the total) come from headhunting firms that are actively looking for candidates to fill a particular special position. The final 1% comes from placement advertisements and job search facilities. And this from the lady who ran the job search facility for the University of Oklahoma (at Norman), called the “Job Location Program”. It covered every single staff and faculty position that was being hired for across the entire University. So far as I can tell, the job placement situation hasn’t really changed much in the 30 or so years since. So, you have to ask yourself, where do you want to spend your time and money? Do you want to spend it all in the area with only 1% placement success, or do you want to spend it somewhere else that might have a higher probability of getting you something?

lproven 9y ago

I signed up with every agency in sight -- Monster, Reed, Manpower, whatever. I had saved keyword queries on all the major agencies and sites. I joined mailing lists with job ads -- I recall https://www.environmentjob.co.uk/ https://www.environmentjob.co.uk/ had some interesting ones, but many, you have to pay your own way, and I was broke. I went looking for as many ads as possible. I had a file of application letters, needing minimal customisation to fit. Copy, paste, add salutation/role/location, attach CV, send. My CV is longish -- 3 pages -- but then, so's my career. I've done what I can to optimise it for keywords that will get hits when pimps do searches. The CV didn't get customised for specific applications unless I really wanted that role and thought I'd be perfect for it. It didn't help. I don't bother doing it any more. I maintain a "writer" and a "techie" CV, just in case. Every morning, I would make a cuppa and breakfast, sit at the PC, read a few comics and the news, then start applying. I'd keep going until there were no vaguely relevant positions left. It took from 2 to 5 hours most days. I logged every application in an OpenOffice/LibreOffice spreadsheet: date, title, reference number, agency. Every fortnight, I signed on at the Jobcentre, and took the printout of the last 2 weeks' applications to get it initialled as evidence. I needed that in August; by then, the printout was about 2cm thick. I probably still have it somewhere. Perhaps I should put it on Dropbox for people to see the evidence. :-)