How to Apply For a Job

I posted on ​TikTok​ recently about how to apply for a job.

Over the past ~10 years working at tech startups, I’ve reviewed hundreds of job applications and interviewed dozens of applicants.

Most people are applying for jobs wrong.

Or at the very least, they are leaving way too much up to chance.

Today, I’m going to share my foolproof* method of applying to a job. We’ll cover:

• What people are doing wrong

• Why it doesn’t work

• How to apply for a job the right way, step-by-step

Yes, I’ve used this method myself. And yes, I share real examples below.

Let’s dive in.

*money back guarantee!

The Wrong Way to Apply for Jobs

Here’s how most people apply for jobs:

1. Spend 90% of their time formatting their resume

2. Draft up a very generic cover letter using ChatGPT

3. Apply to 100s (or even 1000s) of jobs via LinkedIn or Indeed

Let’s call this the “Shotgun Approach”.

The Shotgun Approach sucks.

These 100s of companies that you’re applying to?

They are receiving 100s of applications.

And your application just landed in a pile with hundreds of other applicants.

How are you standing out?

Your superior resume font and formatting?

Luck and chance?

Your AI-written cover letter?

Unlikely.

Why The Shotgun Approach Fails

One of the most important things an employer looks for is whether or not the applicant truly wants the job.

Recruiters can sense when an applicant hasn’t tailored their application to the company or the role.

This same principle applies to job interviews as well, which we’ll cover in a future article. Interviewers can sense whether or not the person truly wants the job or not.

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A generic application screams, “I’m just here for a job… any job!”

And I’d say the odds of you getting an interview are approximately 1 in a 1000.

The method I’m about to share bypasses all of the above.

The Right Way to Apply for a Job

Let’s call this the “Sniper Approach”

First, I’ll lay out the steps. Then, I’ll elaborate on each step and explain why it works.

1. Research the Company

2. Find the Hiring Manager

3. Record a Selfie Video

4. Send the Video to the Hiring Manager

5. Follow Up

1. Research the Company

I’ve sat on the hiring side of interviews for entry-level applicants, all the way up to Directors, VPs and C-Suite Executives.

You’d be shocked how many people apply to jobs without a basic understanding of what the company does.

And yes, it’s an immediate red-flag (and disqualifier).

You’re not going to make that mistake.

Go on the company’s website. Read about their products and services. Check out their customer case studies to get an idea of what they help their customers achieve.

2. Find the Hiring Manager

This one can be a bit tricky, but it’s not the end of the world if you find the wrong person (and you’ll see why in a second).

The Hiring Manager is the person at the organization who oversees the hiring process for the position.

This is often times the direct manager of the position.

In other words, if you get the job, they will be your boss.

Application websites might show exactly who the hiring manager is. But oftentimes, it won’t be directly mentioned.

So you’ll have to get creative to find the hiring manager. You could:

• Read the application carefully and look for hints of who the hiring manager might be

• Email the company’s info@ or contact@ email and ask!

• Phone the company’s headquarters and ask!

• Use LinkedIn and make an educated guess (e.g. a sales rep likely reports to the VP of Sales)

• Ask ChatGPT “What title is likely going to be the hiring manager for [JOB POSTING TITLE]?”

What’s most important is that you identify a real person.

You want to end up in a specific person’s inbox.

Once you find out who the person is, you’ll want to find their email address. And one way you can do this is to use a free tool like ​https://hunter.io/email-verifier​

(Most companies use the format [email protected])

3. Record a Selfie Video

This is the fun part!

You’re going to use your phone or your laptop webcam to record a short 1-5 minute video of yourself.

You should cover:

1. Who you are

2. Why you’re a good fit for the role

3. Show that you’ve done your research on the company

4. Politely ask for an interview

Keep it brief! 5 minutes will fly by. You don’t need to completely sell yourself.

Here’s an example that I sent many years ago… early in my tech sales career:

The video doesn’t need to be perfect. As you can see, my lighting is terrible. I sound robotic and scripted.

But I stood out.

All you want to accomplish with this video is get the hiring manager thinking:

“Wow, who is this person? They did their research, they seem like they could be a fit, and they really put in effort in this application… we should definitely interview this person.”

4. Send the Video to the Hiring Manager

Once you have your video ready, you’re going to send your video (along with your resume) to the hiring manager directly.

This way, you are completely bypassing the pile of 1000+ resumes.

You’ll also notice that you will have spent 90% of your time personalizing your application to the company! Not on your resume. This is what makes you stand out.

Your resume becomes an afterthought.

And trust me, the hiring team cares very little about your resume.

But what if I sent the video to the wrong person?

Don’t worry.

Your approach will be unique enough that as long as it’s a real person (i.e. you don’t get a bounce-back), that person will likely forward your email to the right person, or point you in their direction.

And worst case, if you absolutely cannot find any legit email address, you can also send the video via LinkedIn.

5. Follow Up

Brandon, I recorded my video, sent it to the hiring manager, and it’s been 3 days! They haven’t replied!

Don’t stress.

Hiring managers are busy. Hiring for this role is often a task on top of their normal job.

Simply reply to your own email with a “Hey [FIRSTNAME], thoughts on this?”

Be patient.

They will get back to you, even if it’s to say “Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you, I’ll review in the coming days.”

And if they don’t get back to you after several follow-ups?

Then the company isn’t worth your time.

And last but not least, if they tell you to then apply via the website, then and only then should you apply through the normal method.

Because if your video stood out, you can bet that the hiring manager will make sure that your application makes it through the first stage.

Congratulations, you have landed yourself an interview.

How do you nail that interview?

That’s a topic for another day

A Success Story

Here’s another example, but this time when I was on the receiving end of this approach.

Adrian reached out to me on LinkedIn with a highly personalized video introducing himself, and expressing interest in joining the startup I was working at.

I was indeed on the sales team he was seeking to join, but I was not the hiring manager. So I pointed him in the right direction, and gave him some advice.

The courage and thoughtfulness of sending me a video immediately caught my attention, and I pinged the hiring manager internally to let them know to keep an eye out for Adrian’s outreach.

A few weeks later, Adrian landed the job (and he even updated me with another video).

He went on to be a very successful sales rep at our company.

Build in Public Update

I had a heart-to-heart conversation with another entrepreneur and content creator this week.

He said something that stuck with me.

“I don’t care what happens, but I’m not going back to working a regular job.”

This deeply resonated with me.

One of the things that inspired me to leave my career and carve my own path was to have time freedom.

I knew what I was signing up for. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and I knew it wasn’t going to be a straight line from 0 to 100,000 followers, let alone $100,000 of creator income. It might even take years.

But I am not going back.

*PS. I am planning to modify the Growth Dashboard that I share as part of the Build in Public Update, and I’d be open to hearing your feedback. I’d love to hear what you like, and what you’d change.

Email Me

To your prosperity,Brandon @ Wealth Potion

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