How I Learned to Conquer the Job Market (and You Can Too)

How I Learned to Conquer the Job Market (and You Can Too)

Imagine this: It’s 2015 and I’ve attended what feels like hundreds of interviews.

I receive a call for a third interview at a well-known big company.

"Hello, Mr. Acosta, thank you for interviewing with us. Unfortunately..."

I reached my limit.

I hang up the phone and start reflecting in my car.

I need a better way. How can I ensure I won’t have trouble finding a job again?

Then I realized something: Interviewing is very much like love or war.

You need tactics AND strategies.

I realized I had neither.

I went to the library and read some books on interviewing.

Wow, there’s so much I can do to be more successful at this.

Tactics I learned to win at every interview:

- Resume optimization to get through the door faster

- Tracking applied companies in a spreadsheet for timely follow-ups

- Excellent thought-provoking questions to ask

- How to present myself and showcase my skills in a way that only demonstrates value

- Basic human communication skills

After diving into my tactics, I started asking myself, "How could I make companies reach out to me?"

What long-term strategy could I use to be more valuable overall?

I opened a LinkedIn and started posting regularly.

I made sure to build a small but interesting project in each technology I was interested in to showcase publicly.

These strategies have companies reaching out to me now, instead of the other way around.

But the thing is, I can give you tactics, but I can’t necessarily choose your strategy.

You need to think critically and decide what will give YOU the most visibility.

So, long post concluded.

What are your tactics and strategies to avoid trouble finding a job?

Most people's tactics for an interview are to pray 🙏.

The strategy for most in the job market is also to pray 🙏.

It can definitely help, but if you want something more concrete, I challenge you to build your system for the job market.

In my last job, I sent 100 applications and received 5 job offers.

In my current job, I didn’t send any applications and got 3 job offers.

You can conquer the job market.

It just takes a little critical thinking and the right tactics and strategies.

If you work in software development and want to learn how to improve your chances, leave a comment and I’ll send you the link for the class next Saturday, February 10.