What I learned today: Never apply for a job

Written by: Nick Gavronsky

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Nick Gavronsky| 46 Comments

I attended a biz dev event last week that was put together by Alex Taub (@alextaub). It was probably one of the best events I have recently attended and I suggest if you haven’t attended before make sure you go to the next one.

The topic was about BD vs Sales and the panel included Steve Cheney (BD at GroupMe), Eric Friedman (BD at Foursquare), Jane Kim (BD at Hashable), and Wiley Cerilli (CEO of SinglePlatform). The BD vs Sales topic was extremely informative, but one thing that really caught my attention was when Steve briefly discussed that he plans on never directly applying for a job again.

I found this to be one of the biggest lessons I took away from the event. The entire job search process has diverted away from the core of what is most important: developing relationships with professionals and peers  in the industry of your interest. Why is that? Because it makes it easy–almost too easy. The resume drop has become the industry standard, yet it is the most impersonal and least effective way of getting that dream job.

The Monster.coms and several other job search platforms have made looking for a job an emotionless and pragmatic process that has forced many companies to adopt a similar stance.  Every job that I have found has always been through warm relationships that I have had with my peers. I know the job market has been tough the last few years so I suggest that if you are looking for a job you should be out there building relationships, networking, and marketing yourself. I see so many people hopping on job boards, applying to 100+ jobs and then sitting back hoping they magically get an interview. This just does not work for most people. You need to put a face to the resume and build a network with both the company and industry where you want to launch or extend your career.

My final piece of advice: you should be out there building your reputation so that when an amazing opportunity comes along someone in your network can say “Hey, I know a great guy for this position.” Personal introductions are so much more powerful than a resume drop.

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  • Anonymous

    Totally agree man. Applying for jobs just has such a low-hit rate (in the tech space). You need to go to industry events and meet the people. Most times when people have a job opening they have a person or two in mind that they would want to fill the spot. That means that the company with the job you want- already has someone in mind, before they get bombarded with ivy league’ers with 4.0′s. That’s life man. Great post. Thanks for coming to the event.

  • http://argylesocial.com covati

    As someone hiring people right now, I give this a big: YES

    Our last resort is posting a job to a job board. We first try to reach out to our network and see what we can find.

    We don’t want people who are out of work and searching for a job, we want smart people that other smart people we know will recommend who are looking for something exciting to do.

    Building a network and a reputation is key to succeeding with this. This is true for job seekers and hunters.

    • Anonymous

      So, does this mean you won’t hire the unemployed?

      • http://argylesocial.com covati

        No, but we don’t go searching there first. Do you think the best people are out of work? I don’t have time to comb through the deluge of apps that are poor fits when I post to craigslist or otherwise.

        I have nothing against unemployed people, I’ll consider any who are a good fit. I just don’t go soliciting there first.

        • Anonymous

          I think what you actually mean is that you don’t solicit for candidates in forums with low signal to noise ratio. Unemployment of the candidate isnt a factor, I hope.

          • http://argylesocial.com covati

            yes, you are correct.

    • Anonymous

      So, does this mean you won’t hire the unemployed?

    • Venturebeat

      Your company is the last place i will ever work. Seriously biased to the extent that publicly claiming you do not hire unemployed.

    • Venturebeat

      Your company is the last place i will ever work. Seriously biased to the extent that publicly claiming you do not hire unemployed.

    • Jayme Dunlop

      That gave me a good laugh too! 

      Only searching for the employed is a classic trap that many companies fall in. There are a multitude of reasons why someone may be without a job. They may have had a dilbertesque boss they needed to escape, they may have decided to take time away from the field to pursue other interest (becoming more well rounded in the process), they may have decided to start a company and ran out of money, and of course they may have been fired with cause. The point is, to paint a whole group with the same brush is silly.But hell, all the better for me, I’ll scoop up the quality talent you won’t even invite in for an interview =)

      • http://argylesocial.com covati

        Sure, I can come up with a number of reasons why you’ll find what you want in the last place you look. But more often than not you find what you want in the most obvious place. So we start there.

        I don’t have the luxury of time to search the whole of the internet for just the right person – or to wait for them to come to me. I go where I know smart people are.

        As I said above, I’m not going to discriminate against unemployed, but I’m not going to post on a job board right away either. I’m going to use my network, if that turns up an unemployed person, that’s fine.

    • jake .

      Right. Because smart people are immune to economic depressions and are never unemployed.

    • HipsterZipster

      Ok, I read your edit and I still wouldn’t touch your company with a 10 foot pole. Not only that but I’m pretty sure your hiring practices are illegal, especially if they meet the 80/20 discrimination rule.

    • Rich

      You didn’t need to clarify this post for me.

      People should be “career building” not “searching for a job”. Those are two different processes. People who are searching for a job are not good candidates for career positions. They are good candidates for temporary jobs.

      People who are career building through networking, training, etc. are the kind of people I want working for me. Resume dropping is “busy work” and it’s doesn’t do any good.

  • http://stevecheney.posterous.com/ steve cheney

    Great post – thanks for writing this up, and glad this kernel of wisdom was helpful

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      Thanks Steve!

  • http://twitter.com/mchusma Chris Hawkins

    Pros and cons to this.  You can beat your head against a wall endlessly trying to “network” your way into a job (particularly early in a career.  We have hired 90% of our entire team off Craigslist.  It requires work on all parties, including screening by both parites, but it has been very effective for us.

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      Agreed, im not saying network to network. You need to be strategic and build the right kind of relationships

  • Max Tarnish

    Does not work too well for Feds looking for other Fed jobs due to the antiquated hiring process we have to deal with.

  • datt

    I completely agree with you. Developing network may fetch ous job than submiting resume. Then the question arises how can you develop network? This is not an easy thing to do.For this we have to attend the technical events, fest and barcamp where all techey guys gather and share their thoughts,ideas and recent development in the tech world. Then now question comes how can we know about the thses events? This can be through friends,social network and following geek blogs.

  • Carltn77

    While I think he above advice is not necessarily “bad” advice (networking is alway good), I must disagree. Point blank, several of my most lucrative career moves came from me just blindly sending out a solid resume + cover letter. Literally for me the game is about getting that first meeting. My strength is that once I get in the room with you, I know how to sell myself. Sure, networking makes that easier, but also consider the alternative: When you enter the room as a ‘surprise’ unknown quantity, people’s expectations have no limit, and they become more excited about the prospect of hiring you and seeing what you’re capable of. On the other hand, if you are heavily networked, people feel as if they know your “entire” story, what you’re capable of, and will most likely hire you as a “cog” the a very definable performance ceiling, rather than as a major force for change in their company. Being a “surprise” has great value, but most HR advisors won’t tell you this because such a dynamic is more to the employee’s advantage rather than the employer’s. I speak as someone who has secured several high profile executive jobs in situations where the only info the company had was my resume/cover letter/a cold call. My experience is real, not aspirational. So there “is” another side…

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      great point, surprise is definitely a factor but I still think a strong reputation an intro is much more powerful

  • http://www.knwang.com Kevin Wang

    Thanks for writing up the post. I think this works the other way too – I am having too many recruiters contacting me randomly for job opportunities and I know I am one of hundreds they reached out to. 

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      I really dislike recruiters, but I do know some friends that have got some good jobs out of it

  • Dan Grec

    I totally agree that networking is better than the old resume drop, but it does have it’s limitations. As others have mentioned, what about being unemployed? It’s often very difficult to forge new relationships and “network” when in this situation.
    Another I can think of is when you have just moved to an entirely new area (or even Country, in my case) It’s extraordinarily difficult to network in this scenario, and there are not any viable alternatives to falling back to the old resume drop.
    -Dan

    • Joshua Heard

      I do both:  blind resumes to job postings, and networking.  I have had success with both.

      When unemployed and networking, I call up everyone in my address book and meet them for lunch.  At lunch, after the usual pleasantries, I tell them I am looking for a job and ask them if they know of anybody that is hiring (don’t ask them directly if they are hiring).  I exchange email addresses, then follow up with an email thanking them for lunch, etc, and enclosing my resume in case they want to forward it on to anyone.

  • http://www.marketing-startups.com Conrad Egusa

    Really great post Nick. I couldn’t agree with you more.

  • Anonymous

    In this Flat World, I’d suggest everybody to study MBA.
    “You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.” –Sam Levenson

  • http://tgriff3.tumblr.com Trey Griffith

    This is exactly why I built HoneyComb (www.honeycombhire.com), a tool to help manage network recruiting/hiring so it is a more manageable process, and results like the one you describe are easier to come by.

    Hiring from the network is far and away the better method, and the more potential candidates that understand this and spend time flexing their network rather than dropping resumes, the better.

  • imran

    very true!!

  • http://growingforward.net Scott Asai

    Fully agree. Resumes are so yesterday. Who knows where your resume goes when you turn it in? Your career depends on your network. Your network is built on relationships.

  • http://twitter.com/rodrigofuentes7 Rodrigo Fuentes

    Like @Jason:twitter always says, email the founder of the startup directly if you want a job there.  @TWiStartups:twitter 

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      Thanks man! Appreciate it!

  • Rich

    “The entire job search process has diverted away from the core of what is most important: developing relationships with professionals and peers  in the industry of your interest.”

    This same thing is happening to entrepreneurs with the automated business plan submission approach. Investing groups are taking the “best parts” of the entrepreneurial process and getting rid of them by using “information gathering” techniques.

    Also, people seem to think that you can “standardize” the startup process. That’s a mistake because all startups are unique and need a unique process to get them a good start. It’s no wonder 9 out of 10 startups fail. They use tried-and-true processes that have been *helping* startups *fail* for years.

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      Yep, not every startup is equal. You need to look for specific people that fit what you are trying to do. 

  • http://twitter.com/susan_silver Susan Silver

    This year I made a real effort to network online. It actually got me a few interviews with recruiters. Compared to not even getting an email response when applying for jobs. Even when I followed up! Can’t believe people aren’t able to send a rejection letter but with hundreds of people applying for a job it has  got to be tough.

    I am looking for employment with a Digital Agency. So far speaking with others in the industry and building a strong personal brand is what seems to work best. I still continue to apply to jobs but the response rate is very low. I continue to build a strong network and make sure I have the skills that employers find valuable. Most importantly I don’t believe in giving up!

    Overall, at least for now, I think this is great advice. Building your network may  not get you the job but it will give you some advocates, references, and support that you need to keep going.  I think the economy and social media have disrupted the traditional job search. There is no longer any “best advice” out there. It has become a very personal thing and there are  many different entry points now.

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      Keep building and meeting new people and you’ll find that agency job you want. 

      • http://twitter.com/susan_silver Susan Silver

        Thanks for the encouragement Nick!

  • http://twitter.com/olinhyde Olin Hyde

    Brilliant. Building relationships (by contributing value) with thought-leaders and industry executives helps everyone. 

    I can attest that the reason now I work at ai-one is because I developed the right relationships with the right people. 

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      Awesome!

  • http://www.iamlearningcommunity.com Anonymous

    I’m a career coach, former recruiter, former HR professional. I have been singing this song for years! What I have found is that many people don’t know how to network effectively. They either think they are bothering people or they are too aggressive. One of the best investments of your time/energy is to learn how to be an effective networker/self-promoter (hint: study people who are good at it & create your own authentic style). And never, never stop! It truly can be fun with the right approach.

    Note: Don’t discount the job boards. I know people personally who have found jobs through LinkedIn, Twitter, company job boards. Just don’t spend all your time there – 10% is about right.

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      Diane, thanks so much for your input! Networking is critical. Job boards are critical for some, but on many you are just a number

  • http://twitter.com/andreahobby Andrea Hobby

    I totally agree. I tell all the people I know having a hard time to try this approach. I have gotten some awesome jobs because of this. 

    • http://twitter.com/ngavronsky Nick Gavronsky

      Same, glad you liked it!

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  • http://twitter.com/fuseloop Fuseloop

    This is exactly the situation that Fuseloop (http://fuseloop.com) is trying to change, by making the job search process a personal process, connecting people instead of inboxes. “Putting a face on the resume” is our goal.