Tuesday’s Tip: I Have to Click That Apply Button

Most job seekers that I meet have a very bad addiction. They turn on their computers every morning, look on the job boards for positions that they are interested in and before they take a second sip of their coffee, they have clicked "Apply" two or three times already.

Why are you so determined to be the first resume to enter the Black Hole? Is there a prize that I am not aware of that goes to the person who gets their resume in first? Clicking that apply button will actually hurt your chances of getting the position. Here's why...

Most jobs these days are obtained through networking and a large component of that networking comes through employee referrals. Most large companies have an employee referral program where current employees get paid a "finders fee" for submitting a resume that eventually gets hired.

So instead of clicking the apply button on the job board, I feel you should spend about a week trying to network with other people that are currently working for that company, in hopes that you establish a good relationship with them and after they are impressed with you, they would be comfortable submitting you as a candidate. The company's perception is that good employees hang out with and know other good people with a like skill set. Thus, that is why they pay a finder's fee to that employee. For example, when Michael Jordan was playing basketball, don't you think he hung out with and knew other great players? If he was to recommend a player to his coach, don't you think they would "interview" him? Absolutely. This is the same concept in corporate America.

Thus, if you apply for that job through the job board, and then start networking with an employee who wants to submit you via the internal employee referral program, they are going to loose that desire to help you when they learn you already submitted your resume via another channel. Why? Because when your fast fingers clicked "apply", the system time-stamped dated that point in time and the employee who wants to submit you has no chance of getting paid because the applicant tracking system will award the "find" to that job board that you were so determined to partner with by clicking on their pretty little button.

You do not have to be the first resume into the company's database. Recruiters will not begin to work on that newly posted position for at least a week. They are busy working on other requisitions that have been open for a longer time period. Be patient, work your network, and let others help you as well. To nail down my point one more time, how many times has the Apply button gotten you the job? Exactly!