There are many people out there looking for jobs,

and not everyone's doing it the same way.

Some people may be getting better results than you are, and it's not luck.

Well, there may be a bit of luck involved, but some of us

are better at looking for jobs than others.

To understand how others are doing things better than you,

it will be prudent to look at the mistakes that you are potentially making,

so you can avoid these things right off the bat.

To start off, you probably don't have a clear objective.

By this, I don't mean the objective in your resume or CV.

I mean that you haven't really thought out a strategy to your job search.

What most people do when they're job searching

is to open up a couple of job boards, type in keywords for the jobs they're looking for,

then, with a million browser tabs for each job application,

they'll send off the exact same resume and cover letter to every single one

and just wait for a response.

If that's you, I recommend trying out a new approach.

When you send out so many applications, you're going to feel terrible

when you don't hear back, because you'd expect, with that many applications out there,

you're bound to get results, right?

Well, mass applications aren't the key.

You should treat a job search like a sales process.

Each company is a customer that you're trying to sell yourself to.

Since each customer is different, your sales pitch should be tailored to match

exactly what they're looking for.

And this involves things like customizing your resume as well as your cover letter.

We'll get into that later, though.

Secondly, you might be applying for jobs that you're not qualified for.

Now I don't mean to say don't reach for the stars.

If you feel like you're qualified for a job, it's okay to apply.

But nowadays, especially with more people looking for a job than normal,

and hundreds, even thousands, of people applying for one job,

you're going to get lost in the crowd.

What makes it even worse is that computers sort through these applications,

not people. So algorithms search for keywords that match you up with a company's desired profile.

If you don't have the necessary skill set, or if you didn't bother

to reformat your resume to include the right keywords,

a recruiter won't even see your profile to begin with.

So when you're sending out over a hundred applications, all with the same resume,

keep in mind that you could be setting yourself up for a lot of rejection.

Having a detailed but succinct resume that is tailored for each application

is an art. By not spending time on your resume, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

Now this goes hand in hand with what I said about algorithms sorting keywords.

You need to make sure that your resume highlights

exactly what is needed for the job, and you do that by focusing on results

as well as responsibilities.

Most resumes only list responsibilities—

things like improved UX to optimize checkout experience and user retention.

Now all this shows what you did. It doesn't say if you actually did your job well,

and recruiters might just brush your application aside,

because it looks like everyone else's.

Instead of responsibilities, focus on results.

Change improved UX to optimize checkout experience and user retention

to implemented a streamlined store checkout flow,

which reduced shopping cart abandonment by 32%

and increased overall revenue by 18%.

These blurbs tell employers exactly what they need to know

and why you would be a great fit.

Avoiding listing only responsibilities if you can.

Another mistake you're probably making is sending out templated cover letters

out with your resumes. Now keep in mind that so are thousands of other applicants.

A cover letter is your place to shine.

It's the only chance you have to make an impression on the recruiters

before the actual interview process.

If you're sending out a "Hi, my name is X, and I'd like to apply for this position"

type of cover letter, you're probably going to land in the discard pile.

A common mistake that everyone makes is not networking.

Now this is a big one.

I can't reiterate enough that if you're just sitting at home and applying online

for random jobs, there's a high chance you won't get hired.

You need to differentiate yourself, and you should do that by networking.

People hire people they're familiar with. Don't be a stranger.

Get involved with the company and community.

Now there are a lot of ways to network.

You don't have to necessarily go to an event in person,

although I would highly recommend you do so.

You could also engage with people on Twitter or other social networks,

have a conversation on their blog—there's lots of different ways.

We just talked about another mistake that you could be making,

and that is not cleaning up your social presence.

Don't hurt yourself by leaving breadcrumbs of inappropriateness all over the web.

Finally, the last mistake you're probably making is not preparing well enough

or preparing at all for the interview.

If you've been making any of these mistakes, you now have an inkling

of why you didn't hear back from that potential employer.

In the new few videos, we'll go over everything you should be doing

to land that job.