Job hunting is absolutely the WORST…
It is a soul crushing endeavor…like worse than being picked last on the school yard.
Here’s Why:
Prestigious company like Google typically receives 1000s of resumes for each job posting. Isn’t that wild?! And even with smaller companies, first resume is received within 200 seconds after a position is posted. Not to mention, LinkedIn members submit 140 job applications every second.
Competition is tough, and submitting your resume online through corporate channels is, unfortunately, a waste of time. The odds are forever…not in your favor.
You see after graduating, I went to all the job fairs I can find, sent an ungodly amount of resumes, and spammed everyone on LinkedIn more than I’d like to admit. But I was a chronic interviewee unable to close. And this whole toxic process repeats itself over and over again for every search.
So it got me thinking, why is this whole finding a job thing so damn impossible?
As I started my own journey on building and investing, I came to realize that back in the day when I was blindly mass submitting my resume, I was committing critical mistakes.
So I wrote this guide for you – ambitious teens and new grads looking to make an impact. Let me tell you WHY you aren’t getting the opportunity you want….and HOW TO FIX IT!
But FIRST
If you are new, welcome to OCE’s weekly newsletter curated for the ambitious youth…here are some articles you missed from previous weeks:
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5 lessons learned—so for your next internship, you don’t
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Community Spotlight: Lucas Gil - Finance Guru
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Build your tribe find your vibe
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#1 Choose The Road Of Least Resistance
My story for context: I studied Engineering back in school. In particular, my program- Management Science and Engineering, consisted a mix of technical and non-technical folks. The majority of the people that fell in the latter category ended up in Management Consulting (Think: BCG, McKinsey, Bain etc).
However, my belief was that the greatest impact I can make as an engineer is by building for the community, for the everyday people and not simply giving out advice to large corporations.
So, I took a risk. I asked myself where the power to enact change stemmed from. And I realized that tech is the most powerful force in driving our future and I decided I would figure out how to be a part of the movement. This rationalization motivated me to apply to some of the biggest consumer tech companies in Silicon Valley.
But little did I know that as a non-technical with a VERY light resume, my chance of getting an interview is basically zero. And to make the situation worse, I was on student visa with expiration fast approaching.
If your current situation looks like that, I’m glad you’re here.
Rather than going after the prestigious Big Tech right off the bat, look for smaller companies with values that align with your own. Fewer competition aside, these companies are more willing to take a chance on those with potential but less experience and act as a steppingstone to your next endeavor.
A good place to start is our impact internship database – 600+ vetted purposeful opportunities for youth.
Choose the road of least resistance.
#2 Pick Yourself
Let me tell you something…
In this world today there are a whole lot of people going around searching for someone to “pick them” – AKA hoping their resume get selected by the recruiter.
It is like high school, standing in a line waiting for the Captain to pick you in a game of dodgeball.
The problem is, what if you are the kid who doesn’t get picked?
Here’s the truth I clung to, no one owes anyone anything.
Including me and including you.
Everyone has someone they report to whether it’s their investors, their board or their boss. And every single one of them has every right to say no to us. No one owes you a recommendation or passing your resume to the next round.
Yet, in this day and age you simply don’t need to have 100 people “pick you” to land your dream opportunity.
You can and should pick yourself. Gatekeepers be damned.
How?
By skipping the middle man and going directly to the final decision maker.
See a job you like in our database? Find the hiring manager on LinkedIn and message them directly to convey your interest.
OCE Alumni: Be sure to leverage our internal database of Founders/Tech Leaders personal emails ;)
The beautiful part about the world we live in is that we are able to connect with anyone with a click of a button, regardless of mutual connections or distance.
Pick yourself and go directly to the source of power.
#3 Stop Being Basic
So you gathered your guts and threw out your ask via email, waiting impatiently for a response.
But guess what, most likely you are not gonna get one.
WHY?
Because EVERYONE’S job seeking emails looks EXACTLY same. It's BORING AF.
Be honest here, did you attach your resume and then used the following phrases in message:
- A self-starter
- Team player
- A fast learner
- Passionate about the field
If you did, then like most people, you’re terrible at selling yourself via email. I was too and ended up in the stale process for MONTHS with no result.
I definitely learned the hard way that you must communicate in an engaging, unique way in order to stand out from the overflowing inbox.
The key to being outstanding is by offering a VALUE-ADD, whether it’s an idea, proposal or something more.
Check out our outreach email template for some inspiration.
Finally dump that boring o'l resume. Instead, build a digital portfolio to show off your work. Here’s an example of our friend, Dr. Tan Lekijit’s online profile with a collection of his published papers.
Words are cheap, actions are powerful.
Life is too short to live small. Take this as as your sign to aggressively go after what you want in life.
PS. We'll be building in front of influential leaders this summer. Wanna join?
We run a summer cohort for ambitious youth (high school and undergrads) to work directly with world-class founders while learning from Silicon Valley leaders.
You can also explore purposeful opportunities through our Impact Internship Opportunities Database.
Get Curious.
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Lena
https://www.openclassroomexperience.com/
