How to write a job application
What does the employer want?
You know what job he wants. Now stop thinking about yourself.
Entrepreneurs don’t care about you. They care about your problems, and how this new hire will solve them. That is why they are posting a job.
The only question that matters is:
Who does the company want to hire?
The company considers the ideal candidate. What you need to become that person.
Pick a job you really want, and do the following to find out exactly what a company is looking for.
First: Study the job description.
The job description will tell you at a minimum the skills and experience required for the job. Dig deeper, and find what you are really looking for. Decide what problems the company is trying to solve, and write your problem # 1.
Second: Extensively research the company.
Your biggest advantage is information, and almost everything you need to know about a business can be found online. Write down the answers to the following questions:
- What does the company do?
- Why do they exist?
- Who are the key people in the company?
- What are those people like?
- What recent milestones has the company passed?
- What is your culture like?
- What kind of people do you usually hire?
- How am I connected to the company?
- Do I know someone who works there?
Now that you have the information – let’s turn it into a story.
Third: Describe your ideal rental
Write a paragraph that describes the exact person this company wants to hire. Include the following:
- The problems the company wants to solve
- The skills and experience they are looking for
- The personality of the ideal candidate
This is the person you need to convert in order to get the job. Here’s an example:
A company that builds time tracking software for government organizations is struggling with acquiring new customers – they are slowly growing through word of mouth, but want to start using content marketing and search engine optimization to increase your customer base. They have been around for 10 years and have a strong sales team, but they have no experience with these new user acquisition methods.
Kyle is a creative marketer who graduated with a marketing degree from UCLA in 2011. He has worked for three years in the world of digital agencies in Los Angeles, learning content marketing, SEO, and SEM.
Skills include Photoshop, InDesign, and basic HTML. He has written blog posts that have been published in popular publications such as Mashable and the Huffington Post and saved Fortune 500 companies over 50% on his Facebook: go through the optimization of more specific user demographics.
Kyle wears a classic navy suit – but with sparkly socks and a colorful bow. He pays attention to detail and is a responsible worker (sometimes overly serious) – but he also has a wealth of creative ideas and loves to contribute to the overall strategy of the company.
He seems a bit silly, but trust me – this exercise is worth it. He is creating a character for the client that will be his model for the rest of the job application.
Becoming his ideal rental
Now that he has an idea of who is the ideal hire for this company, he needs to position himself as that person.
Positioning is how salespeople try to create a different impression on a customer’s mind. This impression passes instantly.
Your first impression of him is the difference between a new career or his resume is shredded. You will never get a second chance at it. These are the two things you need to make the best first impression. Create two of them for your selected job title.
A completely original cover letter
This is where all the research on him comes into practice. He should write an original cover letter that shows that you are a skilled communicator who is passionate about the company. Tailor your generic cover letter entirely to suit companies’ needs and style.
A personalized CV or resume
Most people send the same generic resume to all employers. This is a huge flaw. Each employer has different needs that you need to fill. You need to think like a marketer – and send the recruiter to a custom landing page tailored to meet their needs.
Include keywords from the job description in your resume aimed at making it very obvious that you are a perfect fit for the job.
Initially, recruiters are simply matching patterns that your resume to the job description. They are looking for the fastest way to find the best fit for the job. If your application does not match, they will make no excuse to delete a resume.