The 2-Hour Job Search summary

The best way to make genuine progress with your job search is to set limits for yourself. 

When you’re confronted by the endless possibility of the internet, it’s easy to lose yourself, like a traveler in a vast desert. And that can be draining and demoralizing. So, rather than drift through endless job postings, you can adopt the strategy in these blinks, which is broken down into seven focused steps. 

You’ll now need to evaluate your list of forty potential employers as prospects. But, as mentioned in the previous blink, simply applying to the many job listings online is rarely successful. There is, however, something that will increase your chances – an internal advocate. This is a current employee who’ll vouch for you.

In today’s job market, an internal advocate is a necessity. Why? Well, put yourself in the employer’s shoes. With so little time, would you rather work through thousands of applications, or be directed to a promising individual by someone you respect? It’s a brutal truth, but without internal advocacy, you stand very little chance of getting to the interview stage.

You've listed forty possible organizations and determined whether you have any potential advocates at each. Now it’s time for step 3: A reality check on exactly how motivated you are to work for them.

It might seem obvious, but motivation is often overlooked when people apply for jobs – especially when the desperation of unemployment can be all-consuming. But the truth is, it’s the most important factor when ranking your job targets. That’s because chasing after internal contacts and applying for jobs can be disheartening enough. Motivation drives you through the slog of those awkward networking encounters and job applications. Also, potential employers can tell whether or not you’re motivated, since your enthusiasm, or lack thereof, will show in your correspondence with them.

With your list of forty employers, potential contacts at each, and your motivation ratings all in hand, you’re ready for the next step: checking out job listings on Indeed.com. While you shouldn’t just drift aimlessly from one job website to another, these sites do serve some purpose – they give you information on what employers are looking for.

But beware: it’s easy to get sidetracked when you see an interesting job posting from a company not on your list. Stay diligent and focused! To save time, stick to your forty targets; otherwise, you’ll waste valuable energy in what’s already an exhausting process. 

By this step, a select few organizations should be topping your list. These are the ones that you’re most enthusiastic about, that are currently hiring, and that have potential contacts to whom you could write. 

Now you need to do the hard bit: locate the right kinds of contacts. It’s time to go back to LinkedIn or other social media profiles to help you find them. This means doing a little amateur detective work – which, to be honest, is something most of us have gotten pretty good at with today’s technology.

After all this researching and sifting, you’re now ready to write that all-important message. This note could secure you the most important thing in the job-seeking process: someone who will vouch for you.

How you go about this is critical. You want someone you don’t know to read your message and feel compelled to reply. Your note must be concise. Otherwise, your potential advocate may not even look at it.

So you’ve written your most promising contacts and received a response. One person is willing to schedule a meeting with you. In job-searching terms, this conversation is called an informational interview. And an informational interview substantially increases your chances of getting your foot in the door. 

The point of an informational interview is to be personable and professional, and form a human connection with your new contact. You want him to want you to work at his company, so it’s not a hard sell – that’ll just turn him off. Instead, think of it as a chat in which you’re super-curious about his professional world.