I graduated from college before the internet. (I am totally dating myself here!) I put on my panty hose (barf), printed my short resume on good quality paper, and drove to company #1 to see if I could talk to someone about getting a job. Then, I drove to company #2 and did the same thing. If I went to 5 or 6 companies per day, it was a good day! In other words, I had to be strategic about applying for jobs.
In this day and age, you can apply for 100 jobs on a Sunday morning in your favorite p.j.’s and fuzzy bunny slippers. There is no strategy required on the candidate’s part.
Last week, one of my favorite people on the planet called to me to ask me “How do I stop waiters from applying to my high-level job?”
The short answer is “you can’t”.
Quit worrying about what you can’t control and start working on what you CAN control.
Write a job ad that gets folks excited about the opportunity that you are offering. Start with your mission statement. Talk about the required soft and hard skills. Keep the ad short and concise. And end your ad with an invitation to apply. “We look forward to hearing from you!”
Focus on your Ideal candidate and hold out until they show up. And they WILL show up. I promise.
Power thought:
“Do your work, then let it go.”
– The Tao Te Ching