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Why You Can't Find A Job In 2024

Stressed man on laptop can't find a job
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If you're struggling to find a job in 2024, I bet I know why. And I'm going to tell you exactly what you need to do to find one.


For the last 20 years, I've been a career coach. After I left corporate America and the staffing industry, I hopped to the other side to become an advocate for you, the worker, to reveal the secrets that you needed to know to get hired and build a great career.

So, here's another secret: The biggest mistake people are making right now is using traditional job search strategies.

Traditional Job Search Strategies Don't Work Anymore

@j.t.odonnell Why you can't find a job in 2023. #job #career #jobs #careers #jobtok #careertok #jobsearch #jobsearchtips #jobsearch2023 #jobtips #careertips #careeradvice ♬ original sound - J.T. O'Donnell

You're probably heading over to those big job boards like Indeed, Glassdoor, or ZipRecruiter and you're applying and not getting any results. Maybe you're over-applying, saying, "I'll just spray and pray and apply for anything, even things I'm overqualified for." And you're still not getting any results, right?

That's because everybody else is doing the same thing.

Let's add a little complexity to that. Everyone's talking about the low unemployment rate and how there are two jobs for every one person, but that's actually not true. People don't want the majority of those jobs. That's why they left them. Those really good jobs—the jobs you want—everyone's going after them, especially when they're on job boards. So there's too much competition.

Studies show that only about 2% of people who apply online ever hear back from the employer. That's not even ghosting. You're not even getting to the table to be ghosted. And that's a really unproductive and depressing way to look for work. It makes you feel like a failure. You're not a failure. Nobody taught you the new rules for the job search. So here's what you're going to do about it...

The Best Job Search Strategy To Find A Job In 2024

Woman on laptop looks for a new jobBigstock

Change your mindset from being a job seeker to a job shopper. A job shopper chooses where they want to work next. Now, in order to become a job shopper, you're going to get intentional. Look for the 20 or 30 companies in your area that you would like to work for that hire for your skill set.

When I say you'd like to work for them, it's not because you heard they pay well or have great benefits. It's because you respect and admire what they do for work.

This is not something we were ever taught to do before and it might feel really weird to you. But think about it. There are reasons that you're attracted to certain brands, right? We all have a brand that we're in love with. That's called a brand connection. And with it, there's a connection story, meaning at some point you fell in love with that brand through an experience.

Well, guess what? Employers are brands, and when you can share your connection story with them—tell them why you admire and respect them and how you came to know that they're a great place to work—you are going to stand out.

Once you've got your connection story and interview bucket list of employers, you can apply some smart job search strategies to get their attention and go around the ATS to get results.

If you want to learn how to do that, become a Work It DAILY member today (FREE for 7 days!).

Good luck, and go get 'em!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

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