We live in a world where the SAT is optional, GPAs don’t go on resumes, and AI can make you look like you went to Harvard.
On paper, everyone is exceptional.
Everyone played sports, everyone led a club, and everyone has the same three bullet points dressed up in Instrument Serif.
You are not unique.
Sorry buster, the resume space race is over, AI won, and it took your “extracurriculars” with it. LinkedIn profiles, fancy websites, and optimized applications getting cannonballed out into the void, never to be seen again.
You hope and pray it lands you an interview, but deep down you know it never had a shot from the time it left the ground.
Whether you like it or not, firing off 30 LinkedIn applications isn’t a job search. It’s a feeling. It feels like effort. It feels slightly more productive than doing nothing.
Movement instead of progress.
It’s easy. Easy to have AI bundle up your little profile and spam 20 jobs in two seconds. You’re doing it! You’re finally going to make a change! You’re finally going to escape! But deep down, you know you don’t stand a chance. Not this way. Something about it just feels too… too good to be true, right? Wonder why.
Like most things that are worth doing, this too won’t come easy. The only way out is through. It’s not quick. It takes time and effort and consistency. It takes putting yourself out there, being a pest, getting embarrassed, and dropping your ego long enough to figure a few things out.
Today, everyone looks good on paper. Everyone is obsessed with the shell of the turtle. But no one is paying attention to the turtle. In this superficial world, the inside is the last place anyone thinks to look. That’s exactly why it’s the only place left to win.
Hard, Not Complicated
Getting a new job is hard, but it’s not complicated. The hard part is actually getting in the room. Being in a position where you have the opportunity to show off your stuff. The interview. I’m sure many of you are amazing people with incredible talent, but none of that matters if you can’t show it off.
This is why the resume feels pretty much useless. It really says nothing about who you are, what kind of work you’ll do, what kind of colleague you’ll be, or whether you’ll be fun in the lunchroom or awkward with clients. You need to be seen, more than ever, especially given how normal you’ve become on paper.
You need to be different, sometimes just for the sake of it. Most people struggle to land a job because they’re the exact opposite of that — they’re doing what everyone else is doing. So in order to get the interview, you almost by default need to be doing what everyone else isn’t. What’s everyone doing? Saucing their resume in the soup. So maybe you shouldn’t even be in the kitchen.
Become Someone Worth Hiring
I’ve been fortunate in my young career to work with people who (from a corporate ladder perspective) are pretty high up there. Really really intelligent people with aspirational titles and long “successful” careers. Naturally, you pick up on things.
Over and over, I keep hearing the same shit: “I got brought on to do this.” “XYZ gave me a call and told me there was this opportunity.” “The role presented itself to me.”
None of them had applied for the job they were in.
In fact, I find it kind of annoying how many times I’ve heard the words “I’ve never applied for a job in my life.” Their prior work and character opened the door. They are the resume.
And yes, I understand that if you’re reading this you’re probably not the CFO of a large financial institution, but the point still remains. The best aren’t scrolling Glassdoor looking at salaries. They’re working, and their work is working for them. Who they are is doing the heavy lifting.
Let’s play with this idea for half a second.
I’m a hiring manager looking for employees, teammates, whatever. How would I do it? How would I fill seats today knowing literally nothing? Probably one of two ways.
I’d turn to the best people I know. Friends, family, old coworkers, etc. The ones I trust to put the effort in. The ones with the drive. The ceiling. The chemical makeup to be successful. They’ll learn the job, the technical bit. And I trust them to do so. So they get the call.
The flip side of this is kind of funny. I have plenty of friends I absolutely love, but they’re fucking idiots. I’d never hire them. Because I know them. I know they sit around jerking off playing WoW on the clock.
The point is, you need to be the kind of person worth hiring. What gets you in the room is being high character, positive, enjoyable, and if possible, hardworking and good at what you do. Which brings us to number 2.
I’d go find the best people that exist for the role. They probably wouldn’t be hard to find.
If you’re really really good at the job, they almost have no choice but to hire you. Every organization is looking for people they’re confident will boost their “KPIs”. If you can guarantee that, they’ll find you. Word travels fast. I promise.
In our world, it’s simply easier to polish a resume than it is to focus on yourself. Which is why no one does it.
You need to be the kind of human worth bringing on board. It’s very very simple. Ask yourself these questions: Would I hire myself? Am I the kind of person worth hiring for this role?
If not, then get there. Thats it. Recruiters, your friends, your coworkers can see it too.
You need to be someone others would stake their reputation on. Flat out.
How to Get in the Room
Step one: know what you want.
You can’t network towards nothing. You need a target. There are too many jobs out there and things are too competitive. You’re far better off setting your sights on one target and taking all your shots there than firing 100 shots a day at six different industries, 12 different companies, and five different recruiters. Sure, cast a few lines and see where you get nibbles, but you need to know what you want. You’re far more likely to catch the fish you want if you know what bait to use.
Once you know what you want, you know how to frame yourself. How to tailor conversations, outreach, preparation, emails. Use Claude or ChatGPT to help you narrow the search. Tell it your experience, what you’re good at, your current role. Ask what you’re suited for. Ask it to ask you questions to help you find a good pivot. If you know the end goal but can’t see the road, ask it to map one for you and follow it.
Step two: networking.
Yeah, I hate the word too. What does it even mean? I don’t really know. Make friends and shit. Anyway, unfortunately, this is really how you’re going to get a job. This is the best approach by far.
Honestly, given the nature of our world, I think it’s the only way to get a job you actually want. It’s also exactly why being worth hiring matters so much.
When you call your uncle’s uncle, he needs to not only be okay with making the introduction — he needs to think it’s a good idea. (It’s like trying to set people up for a date. Nobody wants to introduce their ugly, out of shape, broke friend who still lives with their parents at age 45, no offense.)
And for the record, I understand this is uncomfortable, and you don’t want to have to lean on people, and you want to do it yourself tough guy, and you don’t want to be a nepo baby, and so on and so forth. Nobody cares.
Drop the fucking ego. Get over yourself. It’s not lame, it’s reality. Take what you want from this life or be used by it. Plain and simple.
So what do you do? Make friends!
Most adults on this earth have a job. That means everyone is a prospect. Think about that.
Start with your immediate circle and branch out. Brothers, sisters, parents. Then uncles, cousins, aunts. Then friends. Then friends of friends. Then parents’ friends. Then the random you meet at the coffee shop. Identify who has the job you want, and hone in. Then reach out. Ask someone to reach out for you. Don’t be shy. This is the hard part. This is the embarrassing part. It’s ego. It’s not only hard for you, it’s hard for the person making the connection. (Again why you need to be a high value person).
When nothing happens, follow up. Don’t be annoying, but be persistent. Most people will tell you they’ll help, and it will fizzle. Follow up anyway. Be selfish in this game. It’s literally your only option. Or back to LinkedIn. (Don’t.)
If they said they’d reach out to their recruiter or their boss and you hear nothing, you have every right to follow up. Only stop when they tell you directly that there are no openings. Most of the time what happens is you get handed off. Then handed off again. Then again. You just keep going. Don’t take silence as an answer.
Most people don’t do this. I know because I am most people. You send one or two emails, don’t get a reply, chalk it up to “didn’t hear back,” then go back to ripping Indeed applications.
Do not do this.
Keep shooting. It will take many tries. Lots of rejection. Many phone calls. Many, many. It will seem like nothing is happening, but with each go you’re really getting closer and closer. The odds aren’t in your favor, but eventually, someone’s gotta reply, right?
In college, I witnessed this firsthand. My little brother. Fucker.
He works in Sales and Trading in New York at one of the biggest banks in the world. In college, while I was playing League of Legends, he was sending hundreds of emails to alumni of our school who had landed jobs on The Street. Hundreds. Hours and hours. Weeks on end. He shared his work, his knowledge, who he was, his interests, what he wanted. In time, he got in touch with the right people. Internship, then full time hire.
The smallest connection makes a difference. It instantly warms the two of you up. Don’t only consider direct relationships. In that story, my brother used our school as the bridge. Anything helps.
But he also knew what he wanted. He wasn’t sending hundreds of emails in a million directions — he was tossing lines in a pond, not the ocean. He was tasty bait and people saw that. Then he nailed the interviews.
Keep following up. Keep sending emails. Be persistent. Because when you finally get in the room, you need to be ready.
How to Interview
“Want it, don’t need it.” - Matthew McConaughey
Remember, you already have a job. You have infinite respawns. Use the job you hate as a tactical insertion to respawn after rejection. Rip call after call, email after email, fearlessly. There is no defeat when you’re already being paid. Everyone else is acting like it’s Search and Destroy. It’s not. Paychecks will keep coming.
And if you don’t have a job at all — enjoy it. Work sucks. What are you rushing into something stressful for? My favorite job to this day was caddying at a golf pro shop. Go try that. Find a minimum wage job you enjoy.
Regardless, the mindset should be the same — want it, don’t need it. (Applies to networking as well.) Desperation is so stinky. It’s not an escape or your golden ticket. It’s just a new opportunity. Remain calm, be yourself, prepare, execute.
I digress. Let’s talk interviewing.
I had one recently. Whether I did a good or bad job is still up for debate, but I got the role — which is of course all that matters. In this game, your score doesn’t matter. A+ is the same as C-. It’s pass or fail.
But you need to prepare like you need a 100%.
It’s incredibly easy for an interviewer to tell if you want it. The people who want it have done the work up front. They’re intense. They’re confident. They’re on a mission.
Every job I’ve ever really wanted, I’ve gotten. Every job I didn’t really care about, I didn’t get. That comes out in the interview, whether I’m aware of it in the moment or not.
If you really want it, the preparation will take care of itself. Which brings me to my next point, how to prepare.
AI, obviously.
AI makes it stupid easy. Not just from an information standpoint, but from a rep perspective. You can get so many optimized at bats. It’s incredible at generating interview style questions. It can store your answers. You can feed it documentation, job descriptions, anything that resonates. You can tell it your current role, the role you’re going for.
AI would pass your interview in a heartbeat. You just need to prompt it right to get the information into your head.
Here’s exactly what I did:
I compiled a list of interview questions in an Apple Note. I practiced my answers over and over and had AI ask me those questions in random order. The list grew naturally. I had it generate new questions it thought would be important for the role, and I added those too.
Once the list was big, too big, I had it reference it to run full mock interviews.
Then I created a rating system. After each question, I would rate the difficulty somewhere between 1 and 3.
A 1 meant I nailed it and didn’t need to see it again that round. A 2 meant I did okay but wanted another pass. A 3 meant I bombed it and needed to see it frequently.
I had it show me 3s most often, 2s sometimes, and 1s rarely. This helped me get comfortable with the questions that I found most difficult.
Most importantly perhaps, in this process I had it throw in curveball questions — ones I’d never seen to help me practice thinking on my feet (this too is a skill).
Then I spammed this interview mini game I had created. I spent hours. And hours. And hours. I got good at winging answers in a way that sounded good. I learned the material. I asked questions about things I didn’t understand. I used voice mode to have it ask me questions while I would go on walks and while I was commuting to my then current job.
It was so easy because just like an interview each question was served up one at a time in a random order.
In the end, I was wildly, confidently prepared.
I also opened Microsoft Teams and started a meeting with myself to simulate being on camera.
I had my dad hop on a Teams call and grill me from my question bank. It helped me get used to that feeling.
When I finally walked into the real thing (for a job I actually wanted), it felt like I was a college kid playing kickball with elementary schoolers.
On the morning of the interview, I skipped coffee to avoid the jitters and went for a walk beforehand to clear my head. I listened to AC/DC’s “Hells Bells,” same as I did before games as a kid. That’s what game day looks like now.
It’s all about being prepared. I’m sure there are better ways than how I did it, but it worked for me. Maybe it will work for you too!
Go
Getting a new job is daunting and challenging. But when you take a step back, it’s really not that complicated. The problem is that most people are trying to 360 no scope a job off of Indeed. Which is pure laziness. Kind of like dating apps (Kidding).
Not because it can’t work — but because it has no intentionality to it. It’s a desperate plea. Which is why, for so many people, the grass isn’t always greener. They didn’t give their next step any thought.
And when it does work, it’s almost always obvious why they end up miserable again. They took the job the world served up to them instead of going out and getting the job they wanted. A bandaid on a bullet hole to their “fulfilling career” problem.
If there’s a job you want, it’s now your job — pun intended — to go out and get it. It will be hard. It will be challenging. But you need to go directly to the source. Use LinkedIn to do exactly that. Link with people. Make connections. Have conversations. People like feeling important — make them feel important, and they’ll probably talk to you.
The key isn’t just to get a job. It’s to get a job you actually want. Which, naturally, is going to be way, way harder.
Just keep going. Don’t give up. Be persistent. Silence is not an answer. Want it, don’t need it. Use AI.
Go. Go. Go. No one is coming to save you. Remember that.
Thanks for reading, and godspeed.
— Dante
This really motivated me as someone who is stuck in a rut of finding a job thanks! :)
This is great advice for getting a job and I agree there are no shortcuts and if you expect to do the same thing everyone else is doing then you'll be in for a rude awakening.