Part of my job is managing the recruiting and hiring of our junior developers. If you’re currently looking for a job, especially in the software development field, I know you are struggling. The market right now for seekers is rough. Here are six pieces of advice from the perspective of a hiring manager on what you can do to stand out with your job application.
1. Apply for quality over quantity.
Everyone looking for a software position I’ve spoken with this year has told me they’ve applied to a staggering number of jobs without getting an offer, or, sometimes, any response at all. Sixty job applications. One hundred job applications. Over 150 applications…
We’re currently in a job environment where it’s easy to both find and apply for jobs. Some platforms like LinkedIn give you the option to apply with a single click to dozens at a time. In a market with a supply glut, employers are flooded with applications. I purposely, significantly reduced the recruiting we did this year, compared to previous years, for our junior dev/internship position. We still received a record number of applications.
It may sound counterintuitive, but my advice to job seekers in this environment is to apply less often. Spend more time curating your applications for jobs you really really want, and avoid the firehose approach. I don’t have time to read through and carefully consider hundreds of individual applications. I wish I did, but I also feel like I shouldn’t spend more time reading an application than you spent submitting it.
My Triage
One way I can quickly triage which applications to follow up on are to identify ones where the applicant put extra effort. For example:
- Did you write a cover letter that’s clearly tailored to my company and the job position?
- If we previously met at an event, like a career fair, did you mention that in the cover letter? Did you get my name right? Did you forget and leave a placeholder where the company name should go?
- Did you tailor your resume for this specific job?
- Did you fill out all the optional fields in the application, not just the required information?
- Did you find me on LinkedIn and send a follow-up message?
That last suggestion brings me to my next point.
2. Tap into your network
I believe strongly in working to remove unconscious biases from the hiring process.
I also believe strongly in the opinions of people that I already know and trust.
If I’m staring at a pile of 1,000 nearly identical resumes, one easy metric to separate the wheat from the chaff is when a colleague or industry friend tells me “I know so-and-so who just applied, they’re good people!” Boom, straight to the top of the pile.
Tapping into your network looks like reaching out to your own friends and family, as well as professors, former managers, fellow interns, classmates. Really anyone you might be connected to in your chosen field. A quick message on LinkedIn, an email, even just a text asking someone to try and put in a good word at a place where you’re applying can make all the difference.
Unfortunately, not everyone has networks like this to tap into. One reason we created the Baker & Cook Foundation was to provide such a network to students who may not have it. If you’ve already put in the work on your quality applications and tapped out your network, my next piece of advice is…
3. Show Up
Besides stories of endless job applications, I’ve also heard of too many people not even bothering to attend career fairs. And there are more spaces you can show up: student groups, local professional meetups, tech conferences. At Atomic Object, I regularly host visits to our office for underclass students to gain insight into the day-to-day professional atmosphere. Attendance is never close to the full class enrollment.
One of my recent hires related her story of our first meeting at her school’s career fair. She walked past the booth several times. She wasn’t sure if Atomic Object was offering the kind of job she was looking for. The line was long, which was intriguing, but also daunting.
Eventually, she circled back as the fair was coming to a close and waited her turn to speak with me. It turns out, AO was exactly what she was looking for! From my perspective, I thought she asked some great questions and showed genuine enthusiasm. Later, while I sifted through faceless resumes, I immediately recalled our conversation and was happy to move her forward in the hiring process. The rest is history!
Of course, just showing up at the career fair didn’t immediately result in a job offer. But it did significantly increase the odds. I may not have given her resume a second look if she’d never gone to the fair to begin with.
Going back to my last two points, you also don’t need a network referral if you meet someone from that organization directly. After the career fair, once you’ve applied, a followup message and request to connect on LinkedIn can expand your network and adds to the quality of your application.
4. Show off (by being prepared).
The number one question I get asked at career fairs when someone walks up to our booth is some version of: ”So, what does Atomic Object do?”
Besides the fact that right on our booth backdrop are the words “Custom Software Design & Development”, a quick google search of the words “Atomic Object” will tell you pretty much everything you need to know to start an initial conversation. Even the AI generated response is accurate!
I’m always impressed by people who open with something like, “I love your company values, especially Give A Shit, because…”. Learning that one of our values is “Give a Shit” and talking about why you give a shit isn’t impressive by itself. Yet so few people seem to have bothered to discover this information before talking to me, that doing so sets anyone apart to an impressive degree.
This, again, goes back to applying for Quality, not Quantity. I think most people would be surprised by how little effort it takes to stand out from the pack, at least initially. A subtly tailored Cover Letter, a knowledgeable opening at the career fair, a quick follow-up on LinkedIn, a thumbs up from somebody you know who knows somebody at the company, and you’ve outdone 95% of applicants that are cranking out job applications en masse.
To jump ahead of that last 5%, I have just two more tips.
5. Be humble (and ask questions).
You can take Showing Off too far. One of my least favorite types of initial interactions is when someone launches into a lengthy rundown of their career experiences and skills, more or less reciting details in their resume that they’ve just handed to me, and answering questions I haven’t asked.
Remember, the issue at hand is that you’re struggling to compete and be heard above the clamoring hordes of job seekers. Everybody has credentials, and spending hours at a career fair booth just listening to people list them off is intensely boring. If you’ve done the work of applying for Quality, your credentials will come through when your resume is reviewed. But you know what a resume is terrible at? Asking questions.
In my opinion, the best way to Show Off that you’ve prepared is to ask a meaningful/insightful question to learn more about the opportunity. I honestly don’t even care that much what you ask, as long as it seems like a genuine question that you put some thought into. Be courageous and be humble and don’t assume that you already know what I want to hear. Take advantage of your interactions and get the answers you need to hear to provide the highest quality application you can.
And then, after you’ve done all that…
6. Do something besides applying for jobs.
Sitting around unemployed is a terrible feeling. I’ve been there, and it sucks. I understand the urge to apply to every job posting you can just to find stability again, see a paycheck, get off COBRA. After you’ve tailored all of these applications, tapped your networks, gone to events prepared and with good questions, of course you’re exhausted and beaten down and you want to just wait for the callback you desperately hope is coming.
Please don’t stop there. Find a personal project to work on, something that challenges you, that teaches you a new skill. A personal project that you can Show Off on future applications is a great differentiator, because it shows a passion for the work and, more importantly, a desire to continue learning and improving.
But also, don’t do it just to get hired. Do it for yourself. In such a difficult job market, it’s disheartening to not hear back from so many applications. Don’t tie up all your productive energy and effort in rejections. Get inspired and make something you’re proud of, because we are not simply our jobs or the work we do to find them. Have fun, explore, be creative, be generative. Maybe find someone else to collaborate.
Becoming a Better Candidate Through Personal Growth
What comes out of this personal effort should make you happier, as you achieve a goal and a sense of accomplishment no matter what’s happening with your job applications.
This, unironically, will make you a better job candidate. Imagine you’re interviewing candidates for a job, and you speak with these two people:
- Candidate A: Is excited about the work your company does. Has been unemployed for a while and is desperate for a job, and has been working on a project in their spare time that shows off the skill and work ethic they’ll bring to your company. Has a positive attitude about their future prospects, buoyed by the sense of accomplishment from their personal project.
- Candidate B: Is excited about the work your company does. Has been unemployed for a while and is desperate for a job, and has just been applying to places nonstop but hasn’t made any progress. Has a negative attitude about their future prospects and doesn’t have anything to show for their growth or skill development while unemployed because they’ve just been sitting around waiting for a company to finally recognize that they’d be a great employee.
Honestly, which candidate would you choose? There’s a chance Candidate B is actually the higher-qualified, better fit for the job, but I’m taking A every time.
Bonus: Find strength in community.
Here’s an extra tip: don’t try to go it alone. Find other people like yourself, trying to get similar jobs. Help each other. Practice interviewing, and review resumes and applications. Share job postings.
I don’t believe this is a zero-sum game. If you work with someone who applies for the same job and only one of you gets hired, the other person hasn’t lost. Now they have a new network connection that you can tap into! And the person who was hired may now have the stability to help out their friend even more with their ongoing search.
Hopefully, we’ll see a turnaround in the market, and everyone who is struggling will find a place to land. I wish I could say for sure that that future was near at hand. But it may not be, and even if it is, there will still be people struggling. Do your best to land a job; I hope these tips help a bit. But when you do, pause to reach back and help someone else get there too.