– + Learn

With Job Applications, Quality is Always Better than Quantity, with Banji Alo

by

Share

Listen On:

If you’re sending out hundreds of applications a week, you need to stop immediately. Quantity will never achieve the results that deeply researched, targeted applications will. Find Your Dream Job guest Banji Alo says you also need to contact the hiring manager to get information on the tools required for the position, as well as what will be expected of you. Banji says sending customized resumes makes you stand out from the crowd and have a much better chance of being called for an interview.  

About Our Guest:

Banji Alo is a career coach who helps professionals who work in data analytics. Banji is also the author of Before Graduation Day and the founder of the Career Digest Weekly Newsletter.

Resources in This Episode:

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 412:

With Job Applications, Quality is Always Better than Quantity, with Banji Alo

Airdate: August 16, 2023

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

Find Your Dream Job is brought to you by TopResume. TopResume has helped more than 400,000 professionals land more interviews and get hired faster.

Get a free review of your resume today.

Go to macslist.org/topresume.

Thanks to career sites like LinkedIn or Mac’s List, it’s never been easier to find open jobs.

So shouldn’t you apply to as many as possible?

Banji Alo is here to talk about why quality over quantity matters in your job applications.

He’s a career coach who helps professionals who work in data analytics.

Banji is also the author of Before Graduation Day and the founder of the Career Digest Weekly Newsletter.

He joins us from the city of Brisbane in Australia.

Well, let’s jump right into it, Banji. Why isn’t it a good idea to send out lots and lots of job applications? After all, isn’t it just a numbers game?

Banji Alo:

No, it’s not a numbers game, Mac. So, especially when you’re working with job applications, it’s not necessarily a numbers game. Yes, I understand the fact that in life, quantity beats quality. But, unfortunately, not with job applications. I would actually advise that job seekers actually put quality first before quantity because it’s never a numbers game.

Mac Prichard:

Why do you see applicants do this? You coach a lot of professionals in the data analytics field and elsewhere. Why are they putting quantity before quality, Banji?

Banji Alo:

Well, because it’s fast, Mac. So, because it’s faster to actually apply to hundreds of jobs in two hours than actually apply to one job in the same hour, so it’s fast. It’s also very easy because you really don’t have to do much. So all you really have to do is just to get your resume, then upload to the job site, which is actually really good, but not very good, Mac.

And the other reason why I see a lot of people do this is that they feel this sense of accomplishment. So you’re applying to all of these jobs, and instantly, you feel a sense of accomplishment within you, and it actually, honestly, does feel very good, especially when you’re getting confirmation emails in your mailbox that you’ve applied to these jobs. So, having one hundred of them within two hours, that’s a big deal to some people.

Mac Prichard:

I know we’re gonna talk in a moment about what you should focus on instead of activity like you just described. But I’m curious, Banji; we’ve all seen those news stories about an applicant who sent out several hundred resumes and never heard back and hasn’t gotten any offers. What do you think as a career coach when you see a story like that?

Banji Alo:

Yeah, look, I think, yeah. Most people don’t hear back because, on the other side of the fence where the employers actually review the resume, they know instantly that, look, this application or resume has not been modified accordingly for that particular job. So I guess that’s really why they don’t hear back, and as a recruiter myself, it’s very easy for me to spot a resume that has been dumped just on the job site as a numbers game.

Mac Prichard:

So, one of your recommendations that instead of sending out a large number of applications and as part of putting quality before quantity is that you understand as a candidate what matters to an employer before you hit the send button. Why is it important to do this, Banji?

Banji Alo:

Yeah, so I think you touch on a very good point because, in the end, just job applications isn’t really about the job seeker. But instead, is actually about the job, which is the company in question. So you have to the one to make sure that your resume or your application has been written just for that one employer because, obviously, employers know the difference. They know when an application hasn’t been written for them. So it’s actually very important for you to make sure that your application has been written just for that employer and, ultimately like I said, you actually want to put them first because most job applications, if not all of them, they’re not about you but instead are actually about the employer.

Mac Prichard:

Some listeners might be surprised to hear that because they don’t want to let go of their own interests and their own goals. How do you recommend accomplishing both, Banji? Thinking both about the needs of the employer and about your goals for your next job and your own career as a candidate?

Banji Alo:

That’s a very good question, Mac. So I like to see a job application as a Venn Diagram. So you imagine where you have a Venn Diagram. So a Venn Diagram imagines a circle and that circle’s intersected right in the middle. So you’ve got your own goals, your own values, what you want and your interests on your left-hand-side, and then on your right-hand-side, you’ve got that of the employer.

So what you really want to be focusing on at this stage is just that middle part where your goals, your interests, what you can do, your skills, your competencies actually intersect in the middle with that of the employer. So the fact that a job application is about the employer does not necessarily mean that you don’t have to understand your own values or or put forward your own values or skills instead. It just means that you should put what the employers actually want first and see how this intersects with your own skills and goals.

Mac Prichard:

Well, let’s talk more about the needs of the employer and how you reflect that in your applications. I know one of the first suggestions you make in putting quality over quantity in your job applications is that a candidate take a look at the job description. And really, that is the first step in your process. Tell us more about this, Banji. Why should an applicant do that? And how is it gonna help them?

Banji Alo:

So you obviously want to have a  read of it first, just really understand what the employer wants. As an employer, for example, often can sometimes use this application and put it out there on the internet. So as a job seeker, if it’s something that you’re interested in – so I think the first thing that you really have to do is to hurry read first. That would actually really help you understand what the employers want, and that would actually also help you decide even whether the job is actually the right one for you. So I think having a read of the job description first is actually very beneficial just to see whether that job is right for you and to really understand what the employer needs.

Mac Prichard:

And when you’re reviewing that job description to get those answers for the questions you just raised a moment ago, is the job description alone enough? Or should you be looking at other resources as well?

Banji Alo:

Well, at first, most job descriptions, in the first instance, they are mostly enough. Just at very first, usually, employers usually tell you what they want in the job description first. So I think most times, actually contain almost all of the information. So you’ll probably find the seventy to eighty percent of the answers there.

However, if you’re wanting more than which is this tattoo of the process, then I do encourage applicants to actually get in touch with the hiring manager. It actually doesn’t hurt if you’ve read the job description, and then if you still have one or two questions, then you just email the hiring manager and ask them.

Mac Prichard:

Well, let’s pause there because I want to talk more about that second step, and you’ve got three steps you recommend every candidate take that will help them put quality over quantity in job applications. So we’re gonna take a break; when we come back, Banji Alo will continue to share his advice on why with job applications, quality is always better than quantity. Stay with us.

Quality always matters in a resume.

How good is yours?

Go to macslist.org/topresume.

The experts at TopResume will review your resume for free.

Go to macslist.org/topresume.

Learn how you can fix your resume by yourself.

Or hire TopResume to do it for you.

Go to macslist.org/topresume.

Now, let’s get back to the show.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio. I’m talking with Banji Alo.

He’s a career coach who helps professionals who work in data analytics.

Banji is also the author of Before Graduation Day and the founder of the Career Digest Weekly Newsletter.

He joins us from the city of Brisbane in Australia.

Before our break, Banji, we were talking about why quality over quantity matters in your job applications. We talked in that first segment about why it can feel rewarding to send out lots and lots of applications, but instead, you recommend candidates focus on a three-step process, and we talked about your first step, and you touched on your second one, which is to reach out to the person doing the hiring as you prepare your application.

You encourage listeners to get in touch with an area manager or someone else who’s involved with the hiring. I know some listeners will wonder, well, how do you do this, Banji? And how do you find these people? And when you do connect with them, what do you ask? What are your thoughts there?

Banji Alo:

So it’s a very good idea to actually get in touch with the hiring manager in this case. So, obviously, the first one that you want to do is to have a read of the JD, the job description here. So usually, even though the company has actually written out every single thing that you need to know, you might actually want to ask yourself that. Look, given that I’ve got this right in front of me, what do I do with this information, or what are things that I wish I knew right before this job or before I actually apply at all for this job?

So, for example, the job description might not include information about the tools that you need. The job, for example, which is why I always recommend that you go after the hiring manager and just email them or ring them. And then ask one or two or three really useful questions. Obviously, you don’t want to ask any question that’s already been written down in the job description. So you want to ask something that’s not there at all just so it actually shows that you read it first; also that it shows that you’re really interested in this job.

And you can find the contact details. You may, for example, of the manager, of the recruiter on the job description, and if you can’t, then if it’s nowhere there, you probably want to go online and do some research or maybe just ring the company and actually ask them. Look, you’re interested in this job that you found online, so who’s the first person to actually talk to?

Mac Prichard:

And do you recommend doing this by email? Or is it better to try to set up an old-fashioned telephone call? Or a Zoom call?

Banji Alo:

I recommend the email. So once you get the email address, I think it’s generally the best approach for me, and that’s what I tend to recommend to most people. However, when drafting that email, I understand that it’s actually easier for some hiring managers to actually call you instead just to really discuss over the phone.

So what I generally recommend is that after the email, so when you’re wrapping up, you can say if you prefer to discuss, here is my phone number. I’m happy for you to give me a ring. So that way, you leave them with two options. So they can either respond to your email, or it’s to give you a call depending on what they like. So either way, it’s a win-win for you.

And then, emails generally just work best because most people are actually busy, on the other hand, as well, Mac. So you also want to give them the time to actually respond to you and give you the exact information that you need when it’s convenient for them.

Mac Prichard:

Can you share examples of the kinds of questions that a candidate might ask? Especially you as a, you’re both a coach and a recruiter, that you as a recruiter might get and would think, oh, of course, I can help with that.

Banji Alo:

Yeah, okay, yeah, sure, Mac. So, I like to ask if you have questions, Mac. So usually, the first set of questions that I tend to ask, not in my background in data and analytics, was a tool that you use within the team. So, for example, I want to know what tools that are used within the team, whether it’s something that I already use or whether it’s something I’m going to learn when I get the job and I start.

And then the other question that I tend to ask a lot is around what my immediate daily purpose will be when I start the job. So I think this second one is actually a very good question because I want to know what challenges that a team actually has at the moment and what you actually expect me to get up and running with us as soon as possible, which is more like a sixty or ninety-day kind of plan, Mac.

Mac Prichard:

Having this exchange with a hiring manager’s gonna give you information that will help with your own application. But are there other benefits, as well? What are typical reactions from hiring managers when they receive emails like this, especially if they might lead to a short conversation?

Banji Alo:

Yeah, sure, Mac. So I think it actually, it feels good, honestly, when you actually read an email from a job seeker who’s just read the job that you posted online or anywhere. It shows that someone is actually really interested, that someone actually read the job description and is really interested. So it actually really makes them feel very happy, and more often than not, they’re usually more than happy to help you with any of the questions that you have outside the job description.

And then sometimes, Mac, I’ve actually done that in the past, and I’ve said, oh, actually, this job was advertised several months ago, and we found someone. And then, we did not remember to remove it from the job board. So it’s always a good idea, not just to actually get more answers but to, sometimes, to also even know whether the job description is still valid at the point when you are applying.

Mac Prichard:

Well, we’ve talked about step one and step two of your three-step process that helps candidates put quality over quantity. First was to look at that job description, study it, and second was to reach out to the hiring manager.

Your third step, Banji, is to take the research that you’ve learned from reviewing the posting and your email exchange or conversation with a hiring manager and apply it to your application. What’s the best way to do this? What do you recommend?

Banji Alo:

Yeah, sure, Mac. So usually, so once we have all of this information from the online ad that you saw, as well as the bits and pieces that the hiring manager has actually sent to you via that email or they have responded to you in telephone calls. So you actually want to get this information and customize your resume and your cover letter and apply for that job.

So, I like to actually use the information that I get outside that job description in my cover letter because most of the time, that’s really what employers really need, and that’s really what they’re after. So, for example, I’m gonna actually ask them over email that, look, what tools do you use on this job, and I want you to give me the work priorities for me when I start. So, and this is actually what I really want to highlight, especially in my cover letter, because not so many people will actually have that information. So I think, for me, that’s a bonus.

So transfer the questions. So, once you actually get all of this information that, you really want to have it saved and customize your cover letter, and if you want as well, and this is what I also recommend, that you actually add a cover letter because it actually just helps you. It gives you that bit of extra space to actually write that customized letter to your hiring manager indirectly.

Mac Prichard:

And finally, Banji, how does following these three steps – studying the job posting, talking to the hiring manager, applying what you learned to your application, and ultimately sending out fewer applications – how does doing all of these things separate you from your competitors?

Banji Alo:

Yeah, that’s a good question, Mac. So even though it feels like work, because it is actually a lot of work to read a job description, and then reaching out to a hiring manager, and then apply. But it has a lot of benefits because it actually really helps you send out a specific resume and cover letter for that particular job. And then, because you’ve also reached out early to the hiring manager, so most of them, somehow, in their subconscious, will actually be expecting to see your application, which is really good, as well.

On the other hand, if you did not reach out in the first place, then you’re just applying to a hundred jobs within two hours. Then that doesn’t really show that you’ve done much research on work in that space, Mac.

Mac Prichard:

Well, it’s been a terrific conversation, Banji. Now, tell us, what’s next for you?

Banji Alo:

Sure, Mac. So, at the moment, I’m just writing my next book. It’s a careers book, as well. It’s for migrants, and the goal is to really help them to navigate the career challenges that they face in a new country. So, yeah. So, that’s really what I’m working on at the moment.

Mac Prichard:

Well, good luck with the second book, and congratulations on the first one.

Well, I know listeners can learn more about your first book and your services by going to your website, banjialo.com. We’ll be sure to include that link in the show notes and the website article and that you also invite people to connect with you on LinkedIn, and if they do so, I hope they’ll mention they heard you on Find Your Dream Job.

Now, Banji, given all of the great advice you’ve shared today, what’s the one thing you want a listener to remember about why quality over quantity matters in your job applications?

Banji Alo:

It’s all about how well and how good your application is and not really about a number game, like, how many that you’re able to get done within one hour.

Mac Prichard:

Make sure you never miss an episode of Find Your Dream Job.

Subscribe to our free podcast newsletter.

You’ll get information about our guests and transcripts of every show.

Go to macslist.org/newsletters.

Again, that’s macslist.org/newsletters.

Next week, our guest will be Brandon Bramley. He’s the founder of The Salary Negotiator.

Brandon’s company helps you negotiate your new job offer and secure the pay you deserve.

We’ve all heard the saying. You get what you ask for.

But when it comes to talking about salary for your next job, you may not ask for what you want.

And when this happens, you leave money on the table.

Join us next Wednesday when Brandon Bramley debunks ten myths about job search salary negotiations.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media.

Our sound engineer is Matt Fiorillo. Ryan Morrison at Podfly Productions edits the show. Dawn Mole creates our transcripts. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.