You’re Overthinking It

When I ask my clients what they feel is their biggest challenge when finding a new job, 98% of the time they’ll say “lack of time to apply”, however…

…this isn’t the real reason it’s taking them so long to land their next job.

Want to know what it is? 

Overthinking it.  

Overthinking their resume. 

Overthinking the jobs to apply for. 

Overthinking which recruiter to reach out to (or what to say to them).  

Overthinking how they’ll go in their interview. 

Overthinking how much they should earn.

There is so much mental bandwidth being used in the wrong areas, and it stops you from taking the right actions to land your new job. 

Too much overthinking leads to paralysis. 

So, how do you break this cycle? 

There are 3 key areas to focus on that make the biggest difference and help you land your next job as fast as possible. 

1) Start with having conversations (Do NOT start with updating your resume)

Your first step is to make a list of worthy people to talk to. Start by noting down your past and current managers, colleagues, stakeholders and recruiters.  

Reach out to them as your first point of call - not your resume!.  

Updating your resume is the biggest procrastination activity you’ll do in your whole job search, spending hours agonising over it and refining it without landing your new job.  

You need to start with CONVERSATIONS.  

Let your people know you’re considering a move, even if you don’t 100% know what that move looks like yet. 

According to a LinkedIn survey, 85% of all jobs are filled via networking which is really just corporate speak for “conversations!”. 

Zippia.com cites that 85% of jobs are filled through networking, and up to 70% of employees received their current position through personal and professional connections.

You don’t even need good connections!  

Harvard Business Review suggests that even moderately weak connections can be the most beneficial in finding a job.   

Having conversations aka ‘networking’ plays such a huge role in the job market, and you’ll benefit more from leveraging your network than solely relying on submitting applications. 

What should I say?

Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. I’ll share with you how to start meaningful conversation in the Career Hack section below.  

Once you’re talking to people about your potential move, when they ask for your resume, you’ll get it done in a fraction of the time, because they’re waiting for it.

Isn't it amazing, when you've a deadline, how fast you can get stuff done?  

Plus, I’ve just saved you about 20 hours of overthinking right there. 

2) Create a Role Blueprint. 

This is your list of ‘non-negotiables’ that you must have in your next role.  

This includes your salary, the type of manager you’d like to work for, the type of tasks / projects that will fulfil you, the team and organisational culture; and how it fits with your longer term goals. 

You can do this alongside reaching out to your network (don’t wait!). 

Without this blueprint, you've no way to measure the ‘fit’ of roles you’re applying for and how to talk succinctly with your network/recruiter. 

I have women in my Career Accelerator Program create this in a comprehensive Career Blueprint template, but you can start with an iPhone note, google doc, or heck, jot it down on a napkin for all it matters!

The idea is, don't aim for perfect, it’s a work-in-progress. When you aim for perfection, or total clarity, you'll overthink it and do nothing. 

According to LinkedIn's article on making faster decisions, if you embrace the concept of "satisficing," which involves making a decision that's "good enough", you'll be much more efficient. 

Don't fall into the ‘perfection’ trap and waste weeks, if not months of time. 

3) Conversations before applications! 

Application fatigue is a real thing! 

I rarely submit an application if I haven’t talked to the recruiter or hiring manager first. 

Two reasons:

Firstly, I don’t want to waste my time if the job doesn’t fit my Role Blueprint, especially salary expectations, work and office hours, managers style, role breadth and location.  

Secondly, I want to build connections to ensure I'm remembered. Since implemented, this single technique has got me an interview for every job I've applied for . 

The recruitment process (applying, preparing, interviewing, etc.) can take about 8 hours each time.  Multiply that by numerous job applications and your time is being sucked up dramatically.  

So, get on LinkedIn, pick up the phone, and if you do it in the right way, you'll not only find out if the job is worthy of your time, you'll also get fast tracked to an interview.   

Doing this 15 minutes of work upfront can land you a job quicker than you can say “I resign!”

There you have it, the 3 things I do over and over again to land jobs super quick.   

You can do this for internal roles, promotions, new jobs, and new industries. 

Connections are key. Start the conversations and the rest will fall into place.