How To Apply For A Job Online (And ACTUALLY Get An Interview)

Hey there, welcome back. It's JT from WorkItDaily and today I'm going to be talking about how to apply for a job and actually get an interview. Before I begin though, I want to remind you if you've got questions or comments make sure to post them down below and of course hit the subscribe button so that you can get our content on a regular basis. Okay, so I'm talking to all those people out here today who have applied to jobs online and feel like it went into a big black hole. Raise your hand if you are completely frustrated by the whole online application process. You are not alone. Millions of people are really sick and tired of this. They feel like they're getting nowhere and that's because they are getting nowhere. It is actually harder today, believe it or not, harder to apply for a job and get an interview than ever before and I've written about this. I've talked about this. People don't understand that technology has actually made it more challenging. It's created more barriers for you to be able to speak to somebody. So we've got to figure out how to remove those barriers, how to increase the chances that someone will actually talk to you and that's what I'm going to be breaking down for you today. Now there are six steps that I'm going to walk you through today and I guarantee you some of these you have never ever heard before. So grab a pen or pencil and take some notes because you're going to want to follow these six steps to the letter so that you can start to get people to contact you and dialogue with you at these employers. Okay, all right, let's get down to business. Step number one is for you to follow the employer on social media, specifically Glassdoor, LinkedIn and Facebook. Those are the must-haves but additionally check out and see if they're on Twitter, if they're on Instagram, even Snapchat. I want you to stop their social media profiles. Why do I want you to do this? Well, companies today understand that in order to attract the best talent, they need to market themselves. We call it employment branding and more and more companies are doing this these days so that you can get a 360 degree view of what it's like to work there. This is valuable information. It's not only going to help you prepare for interviews, help you understand the company, help you know what to say when you talk to them, but even better, you can eventually have a dialogue with these employers right through social media. Think about it, that's what social media is for. Now I want you to imagine that you follow these companies and you start liking and sharing some of their stuff. Think about when a total stranger likes and shares your stuff on social media. What do you do? You go check them out, right? You want to see who they are, what are they about? Well, the same thing happens with employers. When you start liking and sharing their stuff, that social media manager is paying attention and eventually you could direct message or even tweet or whatever it is and say, hey, I'm a fan of your company and I'm curious if you have any advice on how I could stand out when I apply for a job. Don't think you'll get a response? You are wrong. I know for a fact you will. In fact, I did an experiment on this last year specifically on Instagram. I followed a bunch of companies and then I asked them for tips on how to stand out in the application process. They responded, they were excited, and they even shared that information with me. So no excuses here, folks. Social media, we're all used to using it. Why can't you use it when it comes to connecting with employers? Such a great way for you to better prepare. Okay, step number two. I want you to write something called a disruptive cover letter. Now be sure to check out my video on cover letters. The link is down below. I want you to understand that today's cover letter has to be different, disruptive. What do I mean by that? It has to get the person at hello. So it's not going to be your boring, outdated, traditional cover letter, which is a total snooze fest where you just talk all about yourself and all that stuff that you write about can be found in the resume. This is a story about how you feel connected to the employer, how you know what they do, the product or the service they provide is different, better, faster, cheaper. Whatever it is, you're going to tell the story that makes you feel connected to their brand. And that's really important because companies want to hire people who understand them, who get them, who feel like they're a member of their tribe. And that is what a disruptive cover letter is all about. Now you need to have this thing good to go before you apply because the rest of the steps that I'm going to show you are going to increase the chances that they immediately respond to you, especially when they read your disruptive cover letter. So you've got to be ready to go with this. So write your disruptive cover letter, think about how you feel connected to that employer, and then you're ready for the next step. Okay, so step number three is about being selective in who you apply to. I see a lot of job seekers today doing what we call spraying and praying, and that's applying to absolutely everything, hoping that something sticks. This does not work. It is a complete waste of your time. Studies show that if you aren't a 90 to 100% match for a particular position, you will be tossed from the applicant tracking system. So you have to find job opportunities where you truly are a 90 to 100% match. And the way to do that is to take a look at all the skill sets they've listed and ask yourself, do I have examples from my professional past where I can prove that I have that skill set? If you can't say that, then you aren't going to be able to apply online because you're just going to be automatically tossed from the system. Now that's not to say that you couldn't do this job, and it's not to say that you couldn't apply in another way, but that's a video for another day. We teach you how to go around the applicant tracking system at WorkItDaily, and if you want to learn more about that, be sure to check out the links below. But for today's video, this is about applying to a job online and getting a call, and one of the criteria for that has to be that you only apply to jobs where you truly are a 90 to 100% match. Now why is that? Because 8 out of 10 times, your application is being tossed by the applicant tracking system. Companies today have now put these systems in place because they sometimes get thousands of resumes for just one job. There is no physical way a hiring manager or a recruiter could go through every single application, so they have to have a system for weeding it out. These applicant tracking systems will go through and remove anybody that doesn't have the exact skill sets they're looking for. That's why it's so important that each and every time you apply, you know that you are almost a perfect match for the job. Okay, so step number four is about where to apply to the job, because a lot of companies today will have the same job posting in many different places. Some people are spending their time on some of the old job boards like Monster, Career Builder, and Deed. I'm going to tell you, and I'll probably get in trouble for this, to not waste your time on those sites. There's too many people on them. There's too many applications going through them. We're talking about trying to make your application stand out. So believe it or not, there are three places where you should look, and in this order. First, I want you to go over to Glassdoor. Glassdoor is the number two fastest growing job site in the world, and the reason for that is that companies know that anybody that goes to their Glassdoor page is really studying them and thinking about working for them. So if they have a job posting there and you apply, it's two times more likely that you're going to get a response from them because they're very focused on the talent that is applying through their channel. That's really important. You want a human eye to take a look at your application. So Glassdoor would be my first step. Now, if they don't have a job posting on Glassdoor, I want you to go over to LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the number one professional development platform, and a lot of recruiters use this platform as well. So if they have the job posting there, once again, it's more likely that a human eye will see it. And then third, if they don't have the job posting on Glassdoor or LinkedIn, go over to their actual company website and apply through their careers page. This will go into their applicant tracking system, but again, if you're following step three, which is being a 90 to 100% match, at least you're going to increase the chances that you make it through the ATS screening process. So step five is all about the application itself, and my advice to you is to fill out every single field. A lot of people don't know this, but these online systems will often toss somebody if they leave a field blank. Even if you have to put in something like not applicable, or don't have this information, at least you're filling it with keywords and not automatically being disqualified for not filling in the field. So again, my advice to you, every single field gets filled out, even with information that says not applicable, so that you can at least be considered for the job. So my last step is around actually connecting with people at the company. Once you've filled out this application process, you still want to be able to find somebody to connect with, and there's two ways that you can do that. First, you can go on social media, a site like LinkedIn, and take a look and see if anybody that you know knows somebody at the company. That's called a second degree connection, and if you can find a second degree connection, you should ask the person that you know that knows that person who works at the company to introduce you. What you should do is put together a short note explaining the highlights of that disruptive cover letter, where you say, this is why I hire the company, this is why I'd love to work for them, I'd love to hear from this individual what they think it would take to stand out and get hired. Notice you're not asking for them to walk your materials, and you're not asking them to help you get a job. What you're saying is, I want to talk to that person to learn what I can do to better prepare myself, to better stand out, to earn the interview and the job myself. That's the right way for you to ask for that introduction. Now, if you don't know anybody, the next step would be to find either somebody in recruiting, or HR, or even the department head of the job that you're applying to. You can, again, start to look for this on channels like LinkedIn. What you want to do is ask those individuals to connect with you via LinkedIn. You should customize that connection request and say, hey, I came across your profile while I was researching XYZ company, I'd love to connect. In that introduction, don't get into the specifics of the fact that you applied for a job and you want to talk to them. Just tell them why you admire the company and can you connect. That's because you only have 300 characters when you ask for a connection request on LinkedIn. Now, once you've connected, then you can send the person an in-mail, and that's where you would say, hey, I'm a huge fan of the company. Attached is a cover letter where I explain why I'm so passionate and why I'd love to work there someday. I recently applied for the XYZ job, and I would be incredibly grateful if you could give me any advice or guidance on how I can better stand out and eventually earn a position with your company. Again, this point, you're asking this recruiter, HR manager, or hiring manager very specifically to take a look at your story about why you feel connected to the company and seeking advice on what you can do to stand out. You're not asking them for the job. You're not asking them for the interview. You're asking them for the insight in terms of what you can do to earn that interview. That very subtle change in how you ask that is very respectful and will make a difference in terms of whether or not they respond to you. Now, why do I want you to do that? Because it's going to allow them to go over to the applicant tracking system, pull your application from the pile, and take a look at you. And that's what we're trying to make happen, right? We're trying to help you get past that APS and into the hands of somebody who will take a look at your credential. So you can see this last step in the process is key in order to connect all the dots and increase the chances that you get that interview. Okay, so to recap quickly, step one, follow the company on social media, like and share their information, and even ask them about what you can do to stand out when you apply for a job. Step two, create a disruptive cover letter. For more information on that, check out my video in the links below. Step three, remember to only focus on companies and opportunities where you have a 90% to 100% match of the skill set. You cannot waste your time if you are not an exact match. Step four, think about where you apply. Glassdoor first, LinkedIn second, Careers page third. Step five, fill out every single field. Do not skip a space anywhere in there or you could be disqualified. And step six, bring it all together by finding people at the company that you can connect with so that you can introduce your disruptive cover letter and ask them what it takes to earn an interview there. This will help get your application pulled from the pile and noticed. Okay, so now that you have these six steps, I want to let you in on a little secret. People who use this process end up getting interviews, which means you need to be prepared for those interviews. I don't want you to go through all these steps and then blow it in the interview process. And that's why I've got something really special for you today. It is a discount code, interview10. That's right, check it out, interview10. What this is going to do is save you $10 a month on our subscription. People sign up for our platform and work with us on every single one of these steps. We help you optimize your cover letter, your resume, your LinkedIn profile, and your interview prep. We help you prepare for these interviews. And instead of it costing you $29 a month, it's only going to cost you $19 a month if you sign up with this discount code, interview10. That's right. No setup fees, you can cancel at any time. There is no other place on the internet where you can get this level of career coaching and support in your job search at such a low cost. I want you to come try it out. Thousands of people are now working with us and getting results. Now, once you do that, we will be able to go through every single one of these steps with you and of course prepare you for those interviews so that you don't blow it. So I hope you check it out, interview10. Check out the link below. Come join me and the team of experts at Work It Daily and let's get you that fabulous new job at that amazing new company that you want and deserve. Okay team, don't forget, questions, comments, feedback, I want to hear down below. Also, if you like this video, hit the subscribe button and the little bell. That way you'll get our new information each and every time we publish it here on YouTube. Can't wait to see you in the next video. And remember, if you want to win in your career, you've got to Work It Daily.