How do you stand out in this crazy job market?

Here’s the thing y’all… the job market is crazy. It always has been. And it will continue to be crazy. I’ve had hundreds of career conversations with people in different stages of their career — and I don’t remember any one of them telling me they joined the workforce when the job market was simply “great”. There was always something going on in the economy… the financial crisis, a recession, a global pandemic, cross-industry layoffs, etc…

We can complain about the competitive job market as much as we want, but it’s not going to change. So, here’s some tangible advice to help you navigate these tumultuous times!

Nurture your network

This is not new advice. You’ve probably heard it a million times. But, have you actually put it into meaningful action? I am not telling you to just book a coffee chat and call it a day. You need to actually find interesting and relevant people, have an engaging conversation, learn from them, and keep the conversation going.

When I say keep the conversation going, I mean:

  • Sending a meaningful thank you email that recaps your learnings
  • Taking action on the advice you received
  • Following up on the advice with progress and results
  • Asking for referrals to other people you should talk to
  • Setting up a follow up meeting (if it makes sense)

If you’re currently unemployed, you are in the perfect position to network because you actually have time! You have the flexibility to accommodate peoples’ schedules and meet them where they are at. You want to make it as easy as possible for someone to say yes to meeting with you. Propose a few timeslots so they have something to react to, and keep following up… people are busy and don’t usually mean to ghost you!

If you’re currently working and exploring other opportunities, you should leverage your existing day-job to make new connections. Take a look at who you work with on projects, find peers who are in the same discipline as you in other companies or industries. Join an organization or association to meet other likeminded peers. If you have a good relationship with your manager, tell them your career goals and they may even become a sponsor that can help open doors for you. A mentor once told me that you should spend at least 10% of your time networking.

Networking also helps you practice the art of conversation. It forces you to get out there and learn how to talk to strangers and engage them. This is super helpful for interviewing! There’s many important ways to approach networking, so you can check out my many tips here.

Find new and interesting experiences

Too many people stick to the status quo and blend into the masses. It may help you ease into a new environment, but then you’re not really memorable at the end of the day. The people who stand out are the ones who are doing something interesting (and talk about it). You want to be the person who has things to talk about when asked — this makes it easier to relate to other people and it warms them up to you. You can also meet people through these different experiences (e.g. projects, volunteering, etc).

Doing cool and interesting things also gives you new perspectives and experiences that allow you to educate others and potentially add value to what they’re doing. If the work you’re doing is valuable, people will start to notice and talk about it. For example, my passion for career development has led to global HR and academic teams inviting me to talk and present to over 6K+ people around the world, which has helped me build my network and open up new doors.

While your unique experiences and side hustles may not necessarily land you a job, they’re going to position you as someone who is creative, adaptable, and diversely experienced. You’re likely developing a lot of transferable skills and if you can pair that narrative with tangible results, you’ve got an interesting story to tell in a future coffee chat or interview.

Create a career walking deck

I personally believe that a career walking deck is as important as your resume (it’s basically the evolution of a cover letter). A career walking deck is a visual presentation that outlines your skills, experiences, and achievements in a concise and compelling way. Preparing one helps you stand out to hiring managers — I’m speaking from personal experience and from helping others stand out in interviews and land jobs!

Here’s a few reasons why you should create a career walking deck:

  • It helps you visually engage a recruiter or hiring manager in an interview
  • It helps you answer the “tell me about yourself” question
  • It helps you prepare for an interview as you go through what you want to say and how to say it
  • It helps you introduce yourself in a coffee chat (you can condense it into a 1 pager)

I am probably the biggest advocate for a career walking deck because it’s done so much for me in my career, and I hope to share the goodness with you! You can learn everything you need to know about career walking decks here:

Thanks for reading!

You now have 3 obvious or not-so-obvious ways to stand out in this crazy job market. Putting each of these to practice takes time, so be patient with yourself. Start by setting 1 goal for each week and be consistent!

If you have any questions, please submit them here so I can answer them in future blog posts. All the best in your job hunting journey and feel free to join 1K+ other people who subscribe to my monthly career newsletter here.