In 2020 I spent 2 hours creating content that attracted 12 hidden job opportunities in the sports industry.

The impact of the pandemic was at its peak, 80% of staff had been stood down by Cricket Australia, and redundancy was about to bite.

Despite this, I was able to future-proof myself and secure a new job by increasing the awareness of my capability.

This article will show you how I did it, and how you can use a simple step-by-step method to stand out from the pack whilst spending less time applying for jobs.

Who does this work for?

Anyone who wants to unlock opportunity, including:

• Students preparing to find internships or their first full-time job

• Graduates who want to leave no stone unturned

• Young professionals with the 3 year itch

• Industry swappers looking for a field they’re passionate about

If that’s you, let’s dive in.

What’s the ROI for the time you spent on an application?

If we were to look at your job hunt from an advertising lens, we would ask:

How many minutes viewed does your resume receive? What did it cost you to get those views?

Assume 1 job application requires 1 hour of work. In episode #110 of the podcast, Daniel Simons, People & Culture Manager at Golf Australia said he would see up to 600 applications per job.

Those 600 applications have “a five second window to impress me”

60 minutes of work, to be seen by 1 person, and judged in 5 seconds. Pretty brutal.

But that’s the reality of the sports industry.

Shiv Ranjit approached me after he unsuccessfully submitted “250 applications in a year”. Assuming the same time per application, Shiv spent over 6 weeks working full-time hours on his applications. And if these unsuccessful applications were being judged at the rate Daniel suggests, Shiv’s professional reputation is earning 20 minutes of exposure split between 250 people. 250 hours work, for 20 minutes appreciation, between 250 people.

There’s a more efficient and effective way. The method below aims to decrease your effort and increase your effectiveness.

First, understand the ‘Marketing Rule of 7’.

It states: a prospect needs to ‘hear’ the advertiser’s message at least 7 times before they’ll take action to buy that product or service. You are the product. And a job application only gives you 1 chance to share your message. If you’re lucky, you’ll get called back to share it for a 2nd and a 3rd time. But…

What if an employer heard your message for the 7th time, while everyone else is being heard for the 1st time?

If you want:

HR Managers to look out for your name in a pile of 600…

Organisations to approach you for work…

To spend less time writing cover letters…

Post your resume on LinkedIn!

By posting on LinkedIn you get your message out to more people in less time. Plus you earn a premium on your exposure. How? Only 1% of LinkedIn profiles post content. 100% of job hunters apply for jobs. Putting a post on LinkedIn, regardless of content, signals initiative. If you want to stand out, be prepared to do things others are not.

So, what do you post?

Rather than sharing a PDF of your resume and letting it be lost immediately…Break up your resume into 7 posts and drip-feed them over 7 weeks.

Here's how:

Post 1 - Why I want to work in sport (opening statement)

Post 2 - What I've learned from my studies (education)

Post 3 - Story that demonstrates leadership (experience)

Post 4 - Story that demonstrates initiative (experience)

Post 5 - Story that showcases what you do outside of work (Interests)

Post 6 - Story that showcases charitable work you do (Volunteer work)

Post 7 - "I'm looking for work in the areas of xyz" (AKA - submit application here)

This is one example using the sub-headings from my resume.

You’ve already written the content, you just need to repurpose it.

Does it work?

From May-June 2020 I put up 6 posts leading up to my 'I’ve been made redundant from Cricket Australia' post.

These posts demonstrated who I was and what I could do.

Here are the results...

(reference: I had ~1,500 connections at this point in time)

Post 1 - 4,897 views

Post 2 - 1,992 views

Post 3 - 7,823 views

Post 4 - 8,934 views

Post 5 - 1,881 views

Post 6 - "I need a job" - 5,513 views

Impact on Inbox - 12 messages were received about opportunities in the first month.

2 hours of work to produce all posts

6 posts shared

31,040 views

12 job opportunities

1 unadvertised job in sport secured with PTI Digital

Bonus: increased salary

To give a like-for-like comparison, assume all 31,040 views lasted 5 seconds.

2 hours of work generated 155,200 seconds viewed. Or, 43 hours.

Compared to 2 hours to produce 2 job applications that Daniel Simons might have discarded in 10 seconds.

God bless the internet.

Will this help my job application?

In episode #57 of the SportsGrad Podcast, Armaan Ahluwalia (Kansas City Chiefs) explains how in every job application there’s an A-Pile, a B-Pile, and a C-pile.

“You never want to be in the C-pile because the C-pile does not exist, it’s the garbage… Sometimes you’ve got a chance in the B-pile. But if you’re in the A-pile there’s always a chance.”

“From my perspective, it’s: what could I do to try to get myself into the A-pile?”

Let’s ask the creator of the ‘piles’, Daniel Simons:

“We’re lucky that we can be brutal… but it also makes volunteer experience and networking important because that’s the piece where we can get to know you, more so than me making a 5-second call on your resume.”

Dan goes on to say that if he knows an applicant in advance and can trust them, he’ll put their name forward. If he doesn’t, then he’ll find you on LinkedIn. And if your LinkedIn profile has a bank of meaningful content...

Hello A-pile!

Why it works:

The key is to allow people to ‘get to know you’. By being strategic about what you post, you can indicate the skills and characteristics you possess. This allows people to know what you’re capable of. It allows people to envision your potential. It allows people to picture you in their organisation. All you’re doing is sharing the same skills and characteristics you would share if you were being asked in an interview.

If you want to do this at scale and drastically increase the ROI of your job hunt, post on LinkedIn.

Key learnings:

1. LinkedIn allows you to reach 1000s of organisations with one post.

2. Banking solely on job applications is inefficient.

3. You don’t have to write anything new, it’s all on your resume.

4. Posting consistently builds trust with people and leads to opportunity.

Afterword:

Just to emphasise: this post is not to imply that submitting jobs is a waste of time, they are necessary for the 20% of opportunities in the open job market

This post is to imply that you can unlock the 80% of the job market that is hidden in less time, with fewer applications, and without an application at all, just by using LinkedIn.

If you’d like to get some ideas from my content you can connect with me on LinkedIn here.

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