Applying to 200+ Jobs as a College Senior

“Whoa, you applied for 200+ jobs as a senior? What’s the secret sauce for doing that? If you had to do it again, what would you do differently?”

~Oliver

 

That is a real question I received from a current student the University I attended.

And yes, I really did apply to 200+ jobs by the time I graduated.

He (Oliver) was one of a growing number of active students that have reached out to me through our Alumni network portal – a place where students and Alumni can interact and ask questions.

Really, this is a remarkable and very useful tool. 

I answered Oliver’s question(s) based on my EXPERIENCE.

I did my best to observe myself from both an external and internal perspective (eg: what did I think / feel / do? vs. What do others see me doing?, etc…) both are crucial.

However, sometimes I may have just gotten lucky and been unaware of it.

OR I am unaware of the exact “secret sauce” that led me to achieve what I wanted but have a vague understanding of at least what got me there.

Just keep that in mind.

I’ll try to be specific and identify when I’m highlighting my experience in conjunction with what I observe in my peers.

•    •    •

The secret sauce for doing those 200 applications is to…. Use the resources your university gives you.

And also… anything else you can get your hands on.

Basically, perform an all-out blitz at whatever resources you have to search for and apply to jobs.

As I will explain in more detail later – this is a numbers game. It is never the wrong decision to apply to another job.

Apply, apply, apply, then apply some more. And when you think you’re done applying, apply again.

However, I often liked to use specific resources like the one my University provided because it is “further down the funnel”. The companies posting and using that job board/system have already basically said: “I am willing to hire a graduate from XYZ University”.

That already shrinks my pool of competition.

Leverage Your Profiles

A lot of these profiles can piggyback on one another to help you fill out applications faster.

For example, my University’s job search application lets me pre-populate or autofill my profile if I connect my LinkedIn account. All of my work experience, personal information, skills, etc are all there at the click of a button.

This can save you A LOT of time.

This means… Make sure your LinkedIn profile is well built out and up to date!

Likewise, it may be a good idea to fill out your profiles for the big job search services as well – monster.com, indeed.com, glassdoor.com, etc.

Remember, this method is a numbers game. Which means, we want to operate as efficiently as possible.

Would you do it again?

IF I was to do it again, I wouldn’t.

By applying to all these jobs online etc. You’re putting yourself in a school of fish.

Be a shark instead.

By this I mean… I got 2 interviews from those 200 applications.

And 1 job offer.

Which – in the world of internet marketing (which is basically what you’re doing when applying to jobs online) is an average conversion rate.

In my specific case, that 1 job offer was a soul-sucking job at a major financial institution a financial analyst which I eventually turned down on the last day I had to make a decision. They were pompous, arrogant, condescending, rude, and manipulative. One of the best decisions I ever made was to turn down that 70k job right out of college.

A lot of my career-minded friends that wanted to get a job had similar experiences “applying to jobs”. It did work out for them in the end. But it’s a numbers game and after working at their first job sure as hell aren’t “applying to jobs” anymore.

You have to ask yourself if you want to play that game. How do you want to compete?

So what do I do instead?

Network your ass off…

It sounds silly, but it works. Go to meetup.com (or something similar) find meetups for anything related to your field of interest.

Don’t just go once to them. Go multiple times. Go to events, exhibitions, conferences, etc where people are there that have something you want.

That’s being a shark.

And I don’t like using the word “networking” – we tend to think of business ex’s like in Mad Men just meeting people, making deals, making money, having drinks.

What I’m talking about is networking by the traditional definition but it is really participating in the world you want to be in.

What’s your Story?

Applying to 200+ jobs won’t help you if what you have in your applications is garbage. OR isn’t very enticing.

That’s why you need to have a good story with you – about you!

Life is a journey. Your life is a unique story all your own.

So… own it, tell it, share it, show it.

I am always unpleasantly surprised to see soon-to-be college graduates that cannot articulate where they want to go, where they’ve been, and why.

Take some time to think these things through.

By doing this, your story, purpose, mission – whatever you want to call it – will come out in all your applications, interviews, cover letters, and conversations and all the time and effort your put in to those 200+ applications will be well worth it.