Chris Villanueva 00:57
So I wanted you as the listener to understand just 360, what are some things that could be done to keep you moving forward and get you unstuck? Speaking of 360, we’re actually at 365 episodes, which means that if you listened to an episode every single day and worked your way backwards, you’d have a year’s worth of episodes to listen to. We’ve been through pre COVID, COVID, the great resignation, and now we’re venturing into our current era, and I’ve been so grateful to you as the listener, so thank you for being the best part about what I do here. So smash, subscribe. If you haven’t done so already, we are in it for the long haul and I want you to feel like you have a buddy in your job search. Okay? Now that you know I am your accountability buddy here, I want you to do this really simple exercise to keep you active.

Chris Villanueva 01:46
During this episode, I want you to expose opportunities for yourself. So if you’re just starting off in your job search, maybe you’ll see these as areas of weakness. If you are encountering some friction or trouble in your job search, then these things might just hit you in a way that’s saying like, ah, okay, I was missing out on that and this is going to be something that helps me write down the number and the audit. If something hits you here that you know are struggling with, write down that number, and in the description of this episode, I will have hyperlinks that correspond to that number, which will help you to do more research and tackle that problem effectively. Okay, so without further ado, here is your job hunt audit. Five minute exercise to find out what’s not working. Number one, is your resume updated? The number one complaint of hiring managers is that the resume is irrelevant for the job description.

Chris Villanueva 02:37 
This comes up time and time again, and I know a lot of job seekers have a background that is, let’s say qualified. It makes them qualified for a specific role. The resume does not show that, and this can make it very difficult for hiring manager who does not have very much time. In fact, the data says that recruiters are spending just six to eight seconds scanning the top third of the resume. Make sure to match that first bullet point on every single professional experience. Make sure to match that bullet point to the jobs requirement. You want to make sure to hit those keywords that the job postings are calling for, and don’t just focus on that professional experience section. I highly recommend that job seekers take full advantage of a summary at the top of their profile and to match that language as much as possible.

Chris Villanueva 03:27 
Don’t keyword stuff, that’s not what I’m recommending here, but make sure that your resumes updated to not only have the most recent things that you’ve been active with, but to match the job posting as much as possible. In fact, custom resumes are three times more likely to get callbacks than ones that are just blanket general resumes. Okay, with that out of the way, let’s move on to the second tip here. Number two, are you applying with too much ease? Okay, there’s a quote out there that I love. It’s anything worth having is worth striving for you to transition to a job that is going to provide for you and your family, the strong income to support your mortgage, your child’s education, food on the table, Netflix, whatever it may be. All of this while aligning with your career desires and a positive work culture. You want all these things, but why in the heck do you think that a hundred fast online job applications are going to get you there?

Chris Villanueva 04:25 
Why are you relying on LinkedIn Easy apply when it makes it so easy that anyone else could apply for that same job within just a few seconds here. So what happens is when you apply for that job on LinkedIn, easy apply. You’re not competing against 10 other qualified applicants. You’re competing against a sea of a thousand random applicants, and you’re going to get lost in the noise, and most of the people reviewing those are just going to be going crazy anyway. So instead what I say is, yes, apply online but rely heavily on your network. The data says that 85% of jobs are filled via networking, and if you don’t have a great network, then continue building it. Really build that up now because I wouldn’t want you to have this really quick fix, which is you apply online and you find a job that just is not very good.

Chris Villanueva 05:17
I want you to really have this thing that will continue to support you for life. In fact, just speaking out of a place of truth here, I would not have been able to build my own business and make it to thousands of clients if I had not relied on my own network. In the beginning, I’m talking about my classmates, my family, my friends, those were my clients, and those were also the people that helped work at this company, the people who were even employees at this company in the beginning, and some still are. So I’m a huge believer of the network, the network, your network being the number one thing that you can do to move your job search. That’s what I’m recommending here. So don’t apply with ease, don’t get off the LinkedIn easy apply and set a weekly goal. Free coffee chats, three messages to people in your field and one follow up with a former coworker.

Chris Villanueva 06:09
This one is all about small but consistent momentum. All right, number three, are you stopping too soon? This is a big one because I stop too soon. Sometimes it’s difficult. I have a rule of three. Okay, keep striving and keep going until you have three offers in hand. You’ll not only get negotiating leverage, but you’ll know you made the most of your job search to where you really squeezed out the best possible options. So don’t give up when you don’t see the results. I said, just keep going and keep trying something new until you get those offers. Don’t give up even when you have your dream job interview. I’ve spoken with far too many people who say they’re just so excited they finally got that job at Apple or whatever the heck company that they’ve been applying for. It’s like this amazing position that they’ve been wanting their entire life, and then they were left hanging for weeks and weeks and then, oh gosh, I might get it.

Chris Villanueva 07:05 
It’s a 50 50 and then they’re let down, and then the momentum that they’ve been building to even get that dream job has stopped. So I recommend, even if you have that offer, keep applying for jobs, keep interviewing until you have that three, you’re going to be so glad you did because that first one you might be like, oh, crap, I’m glad I didn’t accept that one. Just try to buy yourself as much leverage as possible and just keep going. Okay, number four, do you have a weak LinkedIn profile? LinkedIn is one of the first places that recruiters go. Resumes are incredibly important. I know this. I founded a resume company, but we also write LinkedIn profiles because we just could not evolve without it. If your headline says something like experienced professional, or it’s just the position you’ve been in and it just doesn’t really speak to the job you’re applying for, or maybe your about section is bare, it doesn’t really speak to your personality, your passions, it doesn’t contain the right keywords.

Chris Villanueva 08:07
You’re invisible. You’re not going to be getting the right traction in your job search because it is more than about the resume these days. In fact, 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates. This is according to Job vi and profiles with a headline that include targeted keywords are 27% more likely to be found in a search. So use your desired job title in your headline in some sort of way if you can, and also in your about section, and make sure that you fill out those keywords naturally and speak to where you want to go. There’s a lot of common ground between the resume and the LinkedIn profile, and I’ll make sure to link episodes that can help you in the description. Alright, number five, are you applying for the wrong jobs? Just want to give a shout out to all the folks who are undervaluing themselves.

Chris Villanueva 08:58
In fact, a lot of folks who are these mid to senior level professionals, folks with these amazing accomplishments, those are the folks who I see as they come sometimes with this insecurity, at least when it comes to their resume and feeling like, gosh, I just want to apply for a job that I know I’m going to get. I know that it’s an entry level job or a job that’s one step below me because I just need something right now and I’m just afraid to apply for what I’m qualified for. I say to hell with that right now, you need to use your gifts to the best of your ability, and this is not only going to satisfy you, but a recruiter is going to see that as well, and they’re going to be wondering if you’re applying for these jobs that are beneath you, they’re going to be wondering why the heck are they applying?

Chris Villanueva 09:43
This is just not a good match. The keywords don’t match. Even if this is a person I’m going to hire, they may just leave eventually because it’s not a good fit. So apply for the jobs that are right for you. Now, what you may be asking is, okay, what if I just need a job right now? I think that is for another episode, and I’ll make sure to link something that’s helpful. But in most cases, folks are not applying for the right jobs here. So I would say don’t underqual yourself, and for the 20% of you who are just going a little too hard, you’re applying for a VP level position and you’ve just been a manager for a few months, just chill for a little bit, but make sure just to take a deep look at where you belong right now, talk to some friends, talk to folks who have been in your industry for a while and see what those folks think.

Chris Villanueva 10:35 
I recommend talking with somebody who may not be, let’s say, too biased. You don’t want to apply for a person who is fighting for the same role competing with you, but I recommend speaking with somebody who’s maybe one or two steps ahead of you to see how they got there, but apply for the right jobs, not just ones that you feel like your resume could make a good case for, but ones in which you know you’re going to be happy and will move your career forward should have probably made that tip number one. But I don’t know. I like leading with resumes, so forgive me. Okay, tip number six, do you need to open your mind? I had a client once who was living as a single young lady in a small town. The jobs that she felt called towards were, I would say, just not in her city, and she was stuck for months and months and months because she wasn’t getting the right opportunities, and it’s not like she had to live in the same city.

Chris Villanueva 11:32
She wasn’t tied down to anything because for example, she wasn’t starting a family, and this is a really good example of somebody who limited themselves because they felt stuck. They felt stuck to living in the same environment, and they eventually were able to find their absolute dream job just by starting to venture outside of that city, and they’re working in a city that has about population of a million and they are incredibly happy. This could be a metaphor for your own life. Maybe you don’t need to move outside of your city, but maybe you need to venture outside of let’s say your industry or the zone of influence and responsibility that you’ve been having for the last five years. Do you need to open up your mind? And for me, I get so excited whenever I give myself permission to say, okay, let’s get flexible.

Chris Villanueva 12:23
Let’s adventure a little bit. Let’s find some opportunities that you’ve never seen before. So this could be that one special unlock for you who might be stuck in your job search, just not getting any sort of results because you are limited. Think about, again, the last point I made. Where are your gifts? Where are you called to be right now in your life? And this is just going to help you to not only move forward, but just be so happy for these next five, 10 years when you make that leap. Again, I just don’t want you to let go of these things, especially if they resonated with you. I will actually include all of these questions in the audit in the description of this episode, and underneath those questions, I will include more resources. If you’re looking to explore that area, let’s say, Hey, that LinkedIn tip really resonated with me, or, ah, I really do need to open up my mind.

Chris Villanueva 13:16
Maybe I do need to listen to a career coach talk about this thing for a little bit. So check that out when you get the chance and let me know what a sticking point was for you. I’d love to hear your story, your feedback. I’m on LinkedIn as Chris Villanueva, CPRW. If you let me know with a personalized note, I know you only get a few of them, but if you let me know that you’re a listener, I will most certainly accept and I would love to connect with you. Okay, so thank you so much for tuning in to today’s episode. I had a lot of fun, and I’ll see you next Monday. Take care, Career Warrior Podcast Podcast, and before you go, remember, if you’re not seeing the results you want in your job search, our highly trained team of professional resume writers here at, Let’s Eat, Grandma can help head on over to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/ to get a free resume critique and $70 off any one of our resume writing packages. We talk all the time on the show about the importance of being targeted in your job search, and with our unique writing process and focus on individual attention, you’ll get a resume cover letter and LinkedIn profile that our highly customized and tailored to your goals to help you get hired faster. Again, head on over to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/ Thanks, and I’ll see you next time.