5 Tips for More Effective Job Searches

It’s easier than ever to apply for a job. It’s also harder than ever to land one.

That’s the conundrum facing job seekers in the current labor market—and it’s getting frustrating. Thanks to artificial intelligence, job seekers can tailor résumés and cover letters to specific roles and apply with a few keystrokes. On the receiving end, that same AI can scan a candidate’s application and determine if it’s a fit or not in milliseconds. “Every conversation I have these days is about how ineffective job searching has become,” says Michaela Buttler, a senior consultant and executive career coach at Korn Ferry Advance.

And it’s about to get harder. In a recent survey, nearly three-quarters of leaders and hiring managers say they plan to raise qualifications and experience minimums for open roles, in part to cope with the deluge of AI-generated applications they receive. With that in mind, we asked our experts for tips on how to conduct a more effective job search. Here’s what they said.

Filter the pool.

For many people, job searching consists of inputting a title similar to their own into a keyword search and applying for whatever comes up. But that can get pretty overwhelming pretty quick. Korn Ferry Advance career coach Val Olson says job seekers can search more efficiently by breaking down their target role into its component parts. That applies not just to company, role, and compensation, but also to things like commuting time, culture, purpose, and more. Then use filters to winnow down search queries on job sites to those roles that align with your criteria, she says.

Assess your risk level.

Are you looking to join a startup, ride it to an IPO, and cash out? Do you have kids heading to college and need more stability in a job? Buttler says understanding where you are in your life and career can really help focus your job search. “Think through your risk tolerance” she says.

Use the 80/20 rule.

Angela Galle Sylvester, a career coach at Korn Ferry Advance, tells her clients to spend 80% of their time networking and 20% applying. Getting a referral or having someone internal share your résumé “is the only way to truly defeat applicant tracking systems,” Sylvester says. She has a point: Studies show that there’s only an 8% chance of getting an interview from an online job application while 60% of jobs are found through networking.

Highlight your skills over your experience.

Employers are prioritizing skills over experience in hiring, so you should do the same when applying. Many career-networking sites have built-in tools that compare a candidate’s profile to the job description or the résumés of people in similar roles in the same or different industries. Based on how well you rate against the desired skill sets for the role, you can either optimize your résumé or obtain the missing skills in a training or certificate course at the beginning of the year.

Follow the market.

Just because hiring overall is slowing doesn’t mean there aren’t particular industries or job families in need of talent. Follow market trends to see what industries are growing and what roles are in demand. And don’t be deterred if your industry or area of expertise isn’t hiring, say experts. With companies focusing on skills, you can construct a Venn diagram showing what skills you have that are transferrable to industries or roles where hiring is robust. 

Learn more about Korn Ferry’s career development capabilities from Korn Ferry Advance. 

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