I’m spilling all of the corporate tea in this “Ask Breakroom Buddha” series.
If you have a career question that you’d like me to answer send your question here! You might be featured on the next Ask Breakroom Buddha post!
Short Answer: If you want to stand out in a competitive job market, you need to develop a game plan. Working smarter and not harder will always get you wherever you want to go faster! If you’re a college student who still has a year or two left in school, you should do these things.
If you’re a senior in college, have just graduated, or have been working for a while and want to switch your career path, then you need to be strategic about your search. Keep reading for a few strategy tips!
4 Strategies for Job Seekers in a Competitive Job Market
STRATEGY #1: Do Self-Discovery Work!
Getting extremely clear about what you want is the very first thing you need to do in order to stand out in a competitive job market. Here’s what that looks like:
- Narrowing down what you want to do to 1-2 types of roles.
- Figuring out the type of team and company you want to work for (big, medium, or small).
- Think about what industry you want to work in. Remember this: every industry has a version of what you want to do, so don’t limit yourself. For example, if you wanted to work in marketing, there are teams in the tech, food, finance, and media industries that do those jobs. So don’t be afraid to think outside the box.
Bonus Tip: Take a few career and personality quizzes! They do some of the above work for you.
Sprinkle the above characteristics throughout your resume and Linkedin, so that hiring managers can visualize you working on the teams, in the industry, and in the role that you want.
Once you get clarity, you will 100% start to get hits from recruiters and hiring managers. Even if you apply to roles via online applications.
Related Read: Here’s the LinkedIn strategy I use to attract recruiters
STRATEGY #2: Meet Someone New Every Day
Someone once told me that you should meet a couple of new people a day. This fact is still so bizarre to me, but it makes so much sense!
Once you have those 3 things I mentioned above set, start connecting with and setting up coffee with professionals who work in the industry and have the specific job title that you want. Make sure to create a calendar specifically for informational interviews. You can set this calendar up via Calendly on a weekly (or daily) basis.
Additionally, you should join Lunchclub. It’s an AI-powered website that sets up 3 coffee chats for you based on what you’re looking for. They do everything for you so all you have to do is show up at your scheduled time. This is an excellent platform to use if you want to learn more about niche roles that are in your field and industry.
In those coffee chats, you should leave knowing:
- how the professional got to where they are today
- what the professional does on a day-to-day basis
- what the professional consumes (i.e. industry publications, podcasts, books, etc.)
- something personal about them (i.e. a hobby. You want to make a genuine connection!)
- the name of at least one new person you can connect with that’s in that person’s network.
Related Read: How to set up an Informational Interview (and possibly land a job!)
STRATEGY #3: Prove That You Know What You’re Doing!
I’m a huge advocate of starting projects and not depending on other people or companies to validate you as a professional. Start a side project doing exactly what you want to do.
Don’t know where to start? Start by looking at 5 different job descriptions for roles that you’re interested in. You’ll be able to see exactly what types of work you’ll be doing and skills you’ll be using on a day-to-day basis. These skills will help you choose a project to create!
Related Read: Use this project generator if you need project ideas
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STRATEGY #4: Follow Industry Trends & Be an Early Adopter
You should always follow industry trends! Here’s what I mean by that. Within an industry, there’s always a past, present, and future way that things are done. You want to learn as much as you can about where the future of the industry is going because then you become very useful to your future company.
For example, the entertainment/media industry is moving towards streaming (i.e. HBO Max and Peacock) and ad-supported 24/7 TV (i.e. Pluto TV). As a job-seeker, it would be smart to figure what it takes to enter these spaces as early as possible because you’ll have less competition.
Don’t know where to start? Start by:
- Subscribing to 1 industry newsletter. This can be written by either a company or an industry expert.
- Joining 1 industry networking group (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Slack communities are great places to start).
- Find 1 industry podcast to listen to.
- Find 1 book to read. Try to read a few books a year. Books are a bit dated most of the time, so use these to understand the foundation of how your industry works.
- Find 1 blog to read daily
The more you consume, the more prepared you’ll be for the future!
Here a few of my favorite content recommendations:
- Newsletter: James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter will have you thinking deeply. Morning Brew’s Sidekick newsletter will keep you cultured (seriously, you’ll learn so many random things.)
- Networking Group: Creative Mornings will keep your creative juices flowing.
- Podcast: How I Built This will inspire you to get to work.
- Book: Bob Iger’s The Ride of a Lifetime will remind you to enjoy your own journey because it’s uniquely yours!
- Blog: Mic.com will make reading the news less boring.
Related Read: Looking for an extra competitive edge? Here are 500+ tools, tips, & resources.
TL;DR: This is How to Stand Out in a Competitive Job Market
If you haven’t read this whole article, you’re missing out. Scroll back up, and read each strategy thoroughly. For those who’ve read the entire article, enjoy your recap below!
There are a ton of things you can do to stand out in a competitive job market, but remember to:
- Do self-discovery work. Figure out exactly what you want to do, what kind of team and company you want to work with, and what type of impact you want to make!
- Try to meet someone new every single day. You can do this by joining Lunchclub or by reaching out to people on LinkedIn and scheduling meetings via Calendly.
- Don’t wait for anyone to give you permission. Start working on a project today! You’ll learn a lot about what you really like to do, and what you really hate. You’ll also become a better marketer, designer, accountant, or whatever you want to be.
- The more you know, the more you grow. I’m a big believer in reading, watching, and listening to a lot of different things. That’s how you expand your mind. Find 5 new things to consume daily about your industry, and you’ll be on the right track to becoming a big asset to your future company and team!
If one of the strategies that I listed doesn’t work, that’s okay, move on and try something else. You can also go back and try each method a few times until you get the hang of it. Keep me updated on your journey!
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