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Effective job search has to prioritize 'quality' over 'quantity'
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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As we gather each week for #MotivatingMondays, we've talked a lot about the continual refrain, "I've applied for 100 jobs and gotten nothing."
I don't doubt for a moment that people have actually, in some cases, applied for a 100 jobs and not heard back from a single employer.
That's why, I wasn't surprised to see several stories in mainstream media examining this very issue. You may have read an article just last week from CTV news in Edmonton, "‘Not a single one’: After 100 applications, a 28-year-old still can’t find work."
Reza Mahmoudian who says he’s has applied for more than 100 jobs in the past three months. No one called him back.
And of course, never to be outdone by Edmonton, here's a report from CBC Calgary from April 10th, "100 applications, no callbacks: Young Canadians struggle to land jobs."
By the way, it's not as though the 101st application get's you the job. In case you think this is just an 'Alberta-thing', consider this article which appeared on April 30th in Toronto Now, "300 printed resumes and only two job offers later, here’s a look inside one Toronto woman’s job search journey.".
I'm really not making light of anyone's personal situation. I know it's really hard out there. This said, I feel as though our approach to a hard job market is 'more power' and not 'more finesse'.
Lately, I've been inundated with YouTube ads for an app called AI Apply. What this app does is it sifts the internet like a giant ocean troller grabbing every imaginable job posting and submitting your application as soon as the employer posts the job.
So this is where 'posted jobs' officially end. Do you think employers want to be spammed with thousands of job applications every time they are foolish enough to post one?
This is going to push all job postings into the hidden job market or into the hands of recruitment and placement companies. It's not going to get anyone noticed and it's going to make competition exponentially harder.
Imagine, if you've applied for 100 jobs, at what point do you think to yourself, 'this isn't really working'. Is it 97? Perhaps, it's the 89th application? Or perhaps it's the 12th application without hearing anything.
In the March 25th, 2025 issue of the Job Development Pulse I wrote an editorial provocatively titled, "Job postings suck! So, what is the alternative for job seekers?" Aside from the flagrant use of the word 'suck', it explores how futile it is to apply for posted jobs for candidates with barriers to employment.
Only a certain kind of candidate usually rises to the top of a stack of resumes and for those who aren't that ideal candidate, with the most amount of experience, education, training and qualifications, they are stuck in a cycle of rejection, where no one actually ever takes the time to say why they are rejecting them.
Simply put, if you are working with someone who has applied for 100 hundred jobs, you need to kindly, delicately, empathetically tell them, "oh, please stop."
Let me be clear, I'm not saying stop entirely, I'm saying they need to try other things too, because this is clearly not working.
Remember that CBC report from Calgary? I loved it when one of the attendees of the massive job fair said, "a lot of applying, a lot of online applying."
I'm guessing it's a lot of 'online' applying. That is hands down the easiest way for employers to ignore applicants.
I think we can also take some lessons in messaging too. In reading the story of the job seeker from Edmonton, he said "my main goal is finding a contractor who is eager to teach me whatever skills I can gain.”
To this I would reply, that may be your goal, but it's certainly not the goal of the employer. They want someone who is eager to learn what they can do to help further the goals and objectives of this business.
Last week's employment numbers clearly illustrate that our labour market is worsening and it's only going to get harder to find work. And even though we see examples of people struggling to find employment, we need to remind ourselves that more people are working than looking for work.
Our day-to-day reality is not necessarily reflective of the broader labour market.
Youth are experiencing a record-high 14.7 per cent unemployment rate and yet 51.5 per cent of young people (15-24) are employed. Recent immigrants may be struggling with an unemployment rate of 10.2 per cent, but 76.5 per cent, or four out of five recent immigrants are employed.
We have to ask ourselves, how did all of those people get jobs?
Certainly not all individuals in a group like immigrants or youth face the same challenges, but you might be surprised what people can overcome to find work.
Among those with disabilities, 46.4 per cent of individuals in Canada were employed in 2024 vs. just 5.6% who were unemployed and actively job seeking.
Even among those who would describe their disability as 'Very Severe', 26 per cent were employed.
I realize I'm coming in very hard on this editorial and might very well regret it on Monday morning, but I think there is also a sense of personal responsibility that must be imparted to those we are working with.
In the career development sector it's very easy to develop a sympathetic tone and empathize with just how hard the job market has been. Echo that employers are being unreasonable and acknowledge that this just isn't fair.
But, where does that leave us? Would another 100 resumes make the difference?
To the job seeker who keeps applying online and not getting anywhere, they need to go out an apply in-person. If they can't apply in person, mail a resume. They should join a mentorship group, attend job fairs and cold-call people on LinkedIn asking for information interviews.
If someone has applied for dozens of jobs in-person and not gotten anywhere, they need to seek professional advice from a job developer or other career practitioner to ask whether they are presenting themselves well.
I've worked with hundreds of employers and they could regale you for hours on the number of unprofessional, thoughtless and inconsiderate things job seekers have done in applying in person or in attending job interviews.
The job market is tough and that is likely why these individuals are working with you in the first place. Acknowledging the market is tough is one thing, but at the end of the day we need to come back with the equally tough challenge, "so what are you going to do about it?"
"You can't change the job market, the employer or the industry. The only thing you can change is your approach."
I've often felt that a well-equipped job seeker is a job-developer's best friend. They present themselves well to employers; they demonstrate strong skills and job search tools; and you can count on them to do what is necessary, whether in the job interview or starting on the first day of work.
While much of our work revolves around teaching and preparing job seekers, we need to be equally committed difficult conversations where we point out to our clients or students that the way they are approaching their job search isn't working. It's not just the professional thing to do, it's also the action you can take that has the greatest likelihood of making a real difference in the lives of your clients or students.
We’ll be discussing the value of discovery in job development at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday May 11th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Monday May 11th 'Click this Link' to join the session.
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BC Labour Market Conference
June 4th and 5th
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Ontario Labour Market Conference
June 18th and 19th
www.ontariolabourmarketonline.org/lmc26
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To learn more, email Christian Saint Cyr, at: csaintcyr@labourmarketsolutions.ca
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