How to Win Your Job Search by Thinking Like a Salesperson
“I’ve applied to over 500 jobs and haven’t gotten any response back. The recruiting process is broken.”
We’ve all seen that phrase in some shape or form on social media. Or maybe you’ve heard it from a friend that just started their job hunt.
Shoot, it may even be you tossing out applications every single day wondering why the recruiting process sucks so much (I was in your shoes before I got into sales).
And therein lies the problem. The recruiting process has its ups and downs, but the system isn’t entirely broken.
Candidates may just need to change the way they approach the process.
Candidates, like you, need to see the job search process through the lens of a salesperson.
Below you’ll find a comprehensive 4 step process on how I received 3 offers over the course of 2 months while only applying to 25 companies total.
No bullshit. Let’s dive in.
Step 1) Prioritizing Your Territory Like a Seasoned Sales Veteran
In sales, your territory is the region or list of accounts that you’re given to sell on your product/service.
This can include anywhere from a few accounts to 100+ accounts. Chances are high that at least some accounts have heard of you and even higher that most accounts have no idea who you are.
If you want any chance in hell of becoming successful, you need to prioritize the accounts that are most likely to buy your product/service.
You need a SYSTEM.
The same goes for your job search. The world is your territory and there are quite literally millions of jobs that you can apply for.
To sort through the noise I’d suggest that you focus on:
50 companies maximum
1-2 roles within each company (i.e Account Executive, Associate, Consultant, etc.)
2-3 people to focus on at each company (i.e. Recruiter, Hiring Manager, VP, etc.)
If you don’t have a damn clue what you want to do with your life, sit down and figure it out.
Focus is the name of the game here and you’re going to be the <1% of people out there looking for jobs that will have it. That’s going to be your edge.
Now that you know you’re going to have to prioritize to win, it's time to hit the friends, family, and social media to see if you have any connections to your top 50 companies.
These are called warm leads/intros in the sales world. One warm intro is worth its weight in gold if they can refer you to a job that you’re applying for.
If you don’t have any warm leads, don’t worry. Cold outreach (sales for reaching out to people you don’t know) is massively successful because most of the world doesn’t think to do it.
This leads us to step 2…prospecting.
Step 2) Prospect Like Your Life Depended On It
Ah yes, prospecting.
Have you ever seen the movie Wolf of Wall Street?
Those maniacs on the phones hammering people with calls are prospecting.
In sales there are many different ways to prospect, but you can just think of it as reaching out to people to see if they’re interested in what you’re selling.
The same goes for the job hunt. Except you’re the product/service.
This is why you need to know yourself in and out, back and forth, and up and down. You’re a unique human being that has a unique mix of skills they bring to the table.
And HOLY CRAP do resumes do a poor job of telling that story.
That’s why you need to sit down and figure out the story you’re going to tell when you reach out to those 2-3 people via LinkedIn/Email/Call.
Here’s a real sample of the cold outreach I sent to my now manager as a LinkedIn DM.
I studied the role, called a few people I knew that used the company’s software, checked out the website, and knew how to tell my story.
If you send a tailored message like above to each of your key people at the 50 companies you’re targeting, YOU WILL GET AN INTERVIEW.
Which leads me to the next step of the puzzle.
You’ve got an interview. Heck YES. Now what?
Step 3) How You Prepare is How You Perform
Discovery wins deals in sales.
In regular terms, discovery is everything you do before, during, and after calls to learn more about a company.
To accomplish that you need to do your research, know what the person you’re talking to cares about, and ASK QUESTIONS.
I can’t stress this ‘ask questions’ piece enough.
Ideally, you’re going to want to work for this company (and more specifically manager) for a while which means you need to like your job.
And guess what…it’s okay if you don’t like the company after your first interview or even your final interview.
Remember, this is about prioritizing and if you don’t like your prospect you can always disqualify them (sales talk for not focusing on them anymore).
Alright, now that you’ve nailed your first interview it’s time to hit the next phase of killing the job search process like a true salesperson.
Step 4) The Follow Up is Where the Magic Really Happens
That Step 4 header is no joke.
Follow-up is what changes the game for newer sales reps working their way up to bigger deals and it will change the game for you in your job search.
When you get to the end of your first interview it is CRUCIAL to not only ask for next steps and contact info of your interviewer, but to follow up with an email that includes:
A thank you
A brief summary of the high points of the call
A confirmation of the next steps including when you’ll hear back
And that’s just the start.
The next phone call/LinkedIn message you should be sending out is to someone (or multiple people) that’s in the role you’re currently interviewing for.
This is called doing call downs in the sales universe (connecting with people that know who you’re talking to in order to gather more information) and it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
Call downs work 3-fold in terms of killing your interview process:
You get to actually see if you’ll enjoy the day-to-day job from someone doing it
You can tell your interviewer you took the initiative to talk to someone and you made their lives easier
You can tell the next interviewer that you talked to someone and build instant rapport
Without a doubt, when I accepted my job at my current company, I had a literal army helping me after all of these call downs.
This works at every stage of the interview process and you will probably be the only person doing this.
That, ladies and gentlemen…is how you GET SHIT DONE AND WIN.
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So, what did we learn about winning the job search game by thinking like a salesperson?
Step 1) Prioritizing Your Territory Like a Seasoned Sales Veteran
Focus on 50 companies or less, 1-2 roles, and 2-3 people
Connect with friends, family, and your social network to find warm leads
Step 2) Prospect Like Your Life Depended On It
In your job search you are the product or service (know your value)
Reach out to the 2-3 people you’re focused on via LinkedIn/Email/Call and tell your story
Step 3) How You Prepare is How You Perform
Do your research, understand what your prospect cares about, and ASK QUESTIONS
If you don’t like the company after your interview, disqualify and move one
Step 4) The Follow Up is Where the Magic Really Happens
Always ask for next steps and send an email back to your interviewer
Calls downs will change your life and help you build an army of supporters
Now that you have the tools, it’s up to you to close the deal and find your next role without having to send out 500+ more applications.
