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“What am I doing wrong?”

After applying to over 50 jobs with no response, Christiana felt discouraged.

(Little did she know what was coming…)

Just 3 months ago, the job search process seemed like an endless road for Christiana. At times, it felt lonely. Everyone else on LinkedIn was celebrating new jobs, while Christiana was struggling.

And on top of it, Christiana is also a mother of a two-month-old infant. Needless to say, her job search story was a challenging one.

If you relate to Christiana’s story, you’re not alone.

There’s a happy ending.

Not only did Christiana land an internship, but she also had 2 employers reach out to recruit her. She had to refuse them because she already landed an internship 🤯

Having companies reach out to YOU to hire you…that’s the dream.

Keep reading to discover how Christiana did it.

1. Learn to get experience, don’t learn to get a job

In May 2022, Christiana was interested in the tech industry. After researching her next steps, she decided on a Product Management program by EntryLevel.

This is where she learned to get experience, not just the job.

What it means for you:

You shouldn’t learn just to show certificates to employers. Certificates are great, but if you only have a certificate but forgot all the skills you learned, work will be very stressful.

The solution? Get relevant project experience.

This is built into the EntryLevel program Christiana took. Thanks to the portfolio she created with EntryLevel, she could apply what she was learning to real life.

2. Build relationships, not bridges

The job search can feel lonely. You get demotivated sometimes, especially if you have no connections.

It feels like you're on a cliff and you need to work hard to build bridges to better places, just so you can get job opportunities.

But that's not true. You need to be building relationships, not bridges. Find others who can help you grow so you don't have to carry this burden on your shoulders alone.

That's what Christiana did. She says, “most of the people I reached out to are people I didn't know from anywhere. I just met them on LinkedIn.” She was surprised when a lot of them accepted her connection request.

Psst: remember to leave a connection note! Christiana has a template for what to say in the note here: https://www.entrylevel.net/interviews/get-a-job-using-linkedin-christianas-story?utm_source=organic&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=levelup

A MESSAGE FROM LEADER'S LENS

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3. Be consistently focused

There's so much to learn, it can get overwhelming.

A way to tackle it is to focus on one thing at a time.

When Christiana first started learning Product Management, it was really hard for her to practice. But she was specific on how she learned (applying her learnings to a portfolio project), so it got easier over time.

Looking back on it now, Christiana says, “today it's not as stressful as it used to be. I enjoyed the dividends of my efforts.”

It might take you a long time, but as long as you keep putting yourself out there, you will surely succeed.

Summary of job search tips

Ultimately, what led to Christiana’s success was:

1. Learning to get experience

2. Building relationships with others in the industry

3. Being consistently focused

Did you learn something new? Share it on LinkedIn and tag us to start optimizing your job search processes.

Till next time,Jennifer