How to Apply for Fewer Jobs and Land More Interviews

Do you want to land your dream job soon?

Well, I know that every job-seeker looks forward to landing their dream job someday, but how do you apply for jobs?

I know you can’t wait to send out all your one thousand and one applications, then pray and frequently check your mail to see if you have an interview invite.

I know it is quite logical for you to think that the more applications you send out, the higher your chances of getting an interview invite? But that is not the case, because job-search is not a game of numbers.

Malorie Blackman said in one of his famous quotes that: “Life isn’t about quantity, it’s about quality” and that same principle applies to the job-search process.

In the recruitment process, quality is the core. It is about selecting the best of out of the rest. So unless your job application stands out positively it will join the rest in the pile.

Sending out thousands of poor applications in a hurry like 70% of job-seekers do, will irritate the hiring manager and will end up as a total waste of effort for you.

The job-search process is an intentional, research based, and calculated process that needs your effort. So you need to put in all your effort to make sure that the few applications you will send out will give you the required result.

I know it is not so easy to keep to rules, so I will give you tips that will help you apply for few jobs and land more interviews.

Ready?

Let’s dive in:

Check out how to write an application letter for a job.

 

1. Discover your Career path

I know you must have heard this many times, but this is the first step you need to take to tailor your applications.

I know the first question you would love to ask me is what is a career path? Well your career path is the particular channel you make up your mind to follow when you want to start searching for a job and building a career.

Discovering your career path is about deciding on the particular job field that you would love to grow and build your career in.

Many times when we ask job-seekers what jobs they are searching for, this is the response that 80% of job-seekers always give us;

“I don’t know, I have been searching for a job since *******. I just want any job, I desperately need a job”

Then most times we try not to sound rude to someone that is in desperate need, so we will then go ahead and ask the job-seeker a question like; “Okay we have a vacant opening for a pilot, are you open to take the offer?’’ then the job-seeker will respond with a sentence like; “but I am not a pilot?” but you said you can do anything.

The truth about life which also applies to job-search is that no one can do anything. Even people that are really gifted and talented have things that they do better than other things.

So as a job-seeker, you must be able to find out that thing that you love to do, something will give you fulfillment, something that you can do even without getting paid.

The funny thing about recruitment is that as much as you want to get a job, employers look forward to hiring passionate people.

So you must discover that job field that you are passionate about, then tailor your application to that particular job or career. Without this, you will be applying to every job and no job in particular.

See how you can discover your career path:

• Think about what makes you happy and energizes you
• Find out what you are good at
• Research on different job fields and match your skills to find out the one that is right for you
• Take up an internship position to discover what you are good at
• Find a career mentor that can help guide you

 

2. Have a well-Tailored CV

As much as the CV has been emphasized, your CV is a key factor when you are searching for a job. The first contact that a prospective employer will likely have with you is your CV.

So, imagine that your prospective employer’s first contact with you is a poor CV. Most job-seekers love to have a one-size-fits-all CV so that they won’t have to create a new one when applying for a job.

So you may be tempted to use one CV for all your applications so that you can save time and send your applications faster. Using one CV for all your application will most of the time not land you an interview invite.

There is actually no need sending a CV that is neither here nor there. Employers usually write out a job description for their positions, which means that they look forward to seeing some attributes in a prospective hire. This is what you should pay attention to when creating your CV.

Your CV must be tailored to a particular job that you want to apply for, your skills and qualifications must match too.

If you are confused about how you can tailor your CV, see how you can do that:

• Read the job description well, don’t just look at the title and start sending out your job applications. Take your time to read the whole application very well. When you see a job title, take your time to understand the requirements for the job.
• Pick out the key requirement for the job from the job description
• Match the key requirements that you have picked out and match them with your achievements, skills and qualifications.
• Look out for what is missing on your CV from the job description. When you have discovered that, then you can think about transferable skills that you can emphasize in your CV.
• Tweak your CV profile to match the job description: Most times when hiring managers pick up your CV, the first thing they will likely see is your profile, so you have to include the strong points in the job description in your CV profile.

For example, if one of the required criteria for a particular job is someone that is passionate about the job. You would have to include your passion in your CV profile.

If you still need help on how you can create a good CV, then you can use this CV templates for all job fields to tailor your CV for any position.

You can also use a CV checklist to be sure everything is in check.

 

3. Create an Impressive Cover Letter

A cover letter gives you the opportunity to create an amazing first impression to your prospective employer.

Since this an opportunity for you to tell your prospective employer that you are the best person for the job, then you must do it well to get your desired result.

To make good use of the opportunity, you have to give your prospective employer reasons to hire you for that particular position. You should convince the hiring manager that you are the best person for the job.

If you want to create a good cover letter, then your cover letter would include the following:

• A heading at the top of the cover letter
• A good introduction at first paragraph of the cover letter
• A second paragraph that will help you sell yourself to your prospective employer (here you are selling your skills and abilities)
• Talk about your vision for the company in the third paragraph
• Closing paragraph (The closing paragraph should restate why you are a good fit, and finish it with a complimentary close)
• Make sure you check your spellings and check for grammatical errors.

This is a good read for you if you are still not clear on how you can create an impressive cover letter.

If you are creating a cover letter for the first time, then you can make use of a cover letter template to make the process less stressful and more effective.

 

This is it! All you need to land a job has been put together for you in one compact place. Click here to view.

 

4. Tailor Your Application

This is the fourth step to get a job interview with less job applications. Once you have been able to discover the kind of job that you want, created your CV and cover letter, then you can go ahead and tailor your application.

To tailor your application, you can now search for jobs that are within your chosen job field, book mark them then create time to settle down and tailor your CV and cover letter to the jobs that you are most qualified for.

For instance if you find 10 jobs that are around your job field, you will have to select 2 that you are most qualified for, then use the job descriptions of those 2 to create a good CV and cover letter before applying for the jobs.

If you want to send out applications that would get you interview invites, then you should follow these steps:

• Read the application process for every vacancy carefully to avoid being disqualified
• Follow application instructions (hiring managers use different criteria to disqualify candidates). If the recruiter ask you to use a particular subject as the subject of your mail, then don’t fail to do that.
   

If the platform you are using does not have a custom application page, and you are asked to send your application to a particular email while you attach your CV and cover letter, then you should take note of the following:

• Don’t send a mail without a subject that is related to job. When you send this kinds of mails, there is a possibility that your mail will not be read because the reader is not sure of the content of the mail.
  You should avoid doing this if you don’t want your mail to be ignored.
• Don’t attach a file without letting the person reading know that there is an attachment in that particular mail. Job-seekers are fond of doing this because they are so much in a hurry to send out many applications.
• Always address the right person when you are sending a mail. Most times, job-seekers will just attach their files without even addressing the right person in the mail.
• Don’t also forget to give a complimentary close at the end of your mail
• Don’t ignore deadlines. Hiring managers include deadlines in their positions so that they can start the recruitment process at a particular time. There is no need for you to send in your applications after the deadline for the vacancy.

 

5. Search for Jobs at the Right Time and in the Right Places

Job-search has a lot to do with research. According to research there are best times for you to search and apply for jobs than other times to reduce competition.

If you are sending your applications when the competition is less, there is a higher probability that your application may gain more visibility than it would in a more competitive season.

Christmas is one of the best times to search for a job, because that time many people are carried away by the season so the competition will be less.

There are different effective job-search platforms, so you must discover the platform that best suits the kind of jobs that you are looking for rather using any random platform that may not so useful to you.

Most times the best place to search for media or music jobs is to join a group. Searching for these kind of jobs may not be the normal process of applying for a job online.  

You must discover your niche and be able to find out the best job-search technique that will work for you.

 

6. Build your Job Experience

Experience is key when you are searching and applying for jobs. Hiring managers always look forward to hiring candidates that have the right experience for a job.

Getting the required experience can seem difficult when you are a fresh graduate. The truth about job-search is that there is always a better person for the position that has experience that the recruiter is looking for.

So not having the experience as a fresh graduate is not an excuse, because there are other fresh graduates like you that have the needed experience.

If you don’t have an on the job experience, you can take up an internship or volunteering position to build your experience. See how you can get an internship position from 37 interns

 

Since job-search is not a game of numbers, then you have to be deliberate about your job-search and application process to get your desired results rather than responding to random job postings. R r

To get your desired result from your job-search and job application, you have to change your strategy to have a different output at the end of the day.

A famous quote by T.D. Jakes states that “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.” So follow this job-search tips and be where you want to be.

Sure you are searching for a job, see trending jobs today.