Chapter 6
Applying for the Job

Applying for the job is often your first contact with the company. You’re going from outside observer to active participant in the process. How you apply, what you send, and every interaction you have with every person along the way is evidence showing those you hope to work for what kind of work you do and what you’ll be like to work with. Make it your best.

This process cannot be done by rote, where you send out Yet Another Résumé to Yet Another Company. First, mass-mailed résumés have a stink about them that hiring managers can smell. The odor of mass-produced generic blather is a turnoff for anyone who wants to get an enthusiastic employee who will fit with the team. Second, putting your personality and specifics about how you view a given opportunity forces you to consider carefully whether this job is one for you. If you can’t come up with two paragraphs in a cover letter that explains why you are a good match for this job at this company, then you probably shouldn’t be applying.

Applying for a job is not a game of numbers. Spraying your résumé across the Internet in the hopes of getting a nibble just doesn’t work, because for every job you send off a bland, uninteresting cover letter to, there are 100 other dopes doing the same thing.

Don’t apply for every job you see that might fit. Instead, focus on the ones that matter, and put everything you can into them.