Guest Blog Post: When Applying for Jobs, Think Rifle Not Shotgun

Jeremy Johnson has a new guest blog post this week on an interesting way to approach the job search when you apply for jobs. Think rifle, not shotgun when applying. 

Jeremy is a recruiter in Kansas City for EHD Technologies, a recruiting, staffing and managed services company serving the IT, Engineering and Automotive industries. 

You can also follow him on Twitter ajkjohnson72

When Applying for Jobs, Think Rifle Not Shotgun

Before anyone gets the wrong idea that I’m a violent sort of guy, rest assured that the title of this blog is strictly symbolic. It just happens to be the best way I can think of to describe an all too common approach to applying for jobs online.

You know what’s meant when someone says “shotgun approach,” in general, and you can probably figure what it means when applied to job hunting: armed with one resume, you’re ready to unload it on as many unsuspecting job postings as you can. You figure, “I can do THIS job, I’d love to do THAT job, and my chances go up proportionately to the number of jobs I apply for. So, fire away!”

So, you spend a lot of time online, looking at a lot of jobs (or maybe, at best, glancing at them), and then APPLY, APPLY, APPLY, APPLY……then wait…….then APPLY, APPLY, APPLY, APPLY………then wait some more…….then APPLY, APPLY, APPLY, APPLY……….then (wash, rinse, repeat). You get the picture. This is the shotgun approach. You point your job search in a general direction, close your eyes, and then blast away at it, thinking something just has to hit the target.

Here is the best example I’ve personally seen of the shotgun approach and why it doesn’t work.

When I was in engineering recruiting, I distinctly remember one particular mechanical engineer who would apply to any engineering position he could find. It didn’t matter the particular sub-discipline, location, pay or duration (contract or permanent). If it said “engineering” somewhere in the job description, he applied for it. My recruiting coworkers and I began to recognize this person by name. And when recruiters begin to recognize names of candidates who we’re not actually already working with, it’s never a good thing. It did make me curious, though.

How many positions had this guy applied to through my company? At the time, I was working for a very large and well-respected staffing company with offices all over the country. So, this person had the potential to apply for a lot of jobs through us. What surprised me, though, was how many he actually did apply for – over 3000 in just over two years. 3000! And if that was just through one company, imagine how many other jobs he’d applied to elsewhere. The total number had to be staggering. And you know where he was at after all of those applications? Still looking for work – and still applying. This guy was undoubtedly putting in a ton of hours, but really, for someone working so hard, he was one of the laziest job seekers I’ve ever seen.

He was lazy because he completely turned off his brain, mindlessly sending off dozens of applications at a time – regardless of whether he had the right background – and he expected someone viewing his application to just somehow figure it out themselves and connect the dots – or twist themselves into a pretzel trying to figure out how to make him fit (which, by the way, doesn’t happen). It was obvious he wasn’t reading job descriptions, either. Basically, he was just trying to get lucky. He wasn’t aiming – at all.

Which is why it’s much better to use the rifle approach with your job applications. A rifle is precise; it’s accurate. It is designed to shoot exactly where it’s aimed – and you CAN aim it. It doesn’t use a shell filled with small lead balls that disperse after leaving the muzzle. Rather, it uses a bullet with precise ballistics, fired from a spiral-grooved barrel that spins the bullet to help it maintain the right trajectory. 

But, to be accurate with the rifle, you have to be steady, patient and focused. This takes work.

So what does the rifle approach look like when applied to job applications?

1) It means reading through the entire job description. (i.e. know your target) If you don’t do this, you can’t do step 3 below, which is the most important part.

2) It means making an honest evaluation of whether you have the hard skills to do the job, not just that you would like to have that job. If you don’t have the skills to do the job, pick another target. People won’t hire you just because you want the job. They’ll only hire you if you can step right in and do the job.

3) It means making sure your resume speaks clearly to your audience about WHY you’re a fit. This takes the most time because it may mean thinking through things and then customizing your resume. On your resume, present your background in a way that shows WHY you have the relevant skills and how those skills would benefit the employer.

4) It means being proactive and following up if you can. If there’s contact information on the posting, call that person. If it’s to a company’s posting on its website, use sources like Jigsaw or LinkedIn to try and find a contact you can reach out to. And if you do reach someone, show them how and why you match what they need or what they’re looking for. This isn’t easy and I get that. But, it’s a better approach than just sitting back waiting for the phone to ring.

You could also look at the rifle-shotgun dichotomy as a quality vs. quantity thing. The quality of a precise bullet versus the quantity of scattered lead shot. If you’re going to put in the work, be focused and targeted, rather than applying for everything in sight. Do your homework, be honest about your skills, and write or rework your resume so it’s easiest for your audience to see why you fit and how you can help them. Instead of applying to dozens or hundreds of positions with your fingers crossed, try spending the same amount of time applying to 5-10 positions in a targeted way, understanding the job, the company (if that’s revealed in the posting) and molding your resume that shows why your skills will solve that company’s need. And be as proactive as you can in your followup. Don’t just wait for a phone call.