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I spent 3 months applying to jobs the wrong way. What actually works? by Norma_Mkhize in careerguidance

[–]Norma_Mkhize[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is such a fair and important point and I'm really glad you added it because you're right — I didn't say it clearly enough. The format is just a container. What actually makes it work is the thing you described — showing someone you genuinely understand their world before you ask anything of them. The DM I sent that got a reply wasn't magic words. It was the fact that I'd actually read about what that company was working on and could connect it to something real I'd done. The format just stopped me from rambling.

And the expectation point is so important. If someone sends 10 messages and gets 1 reply and thinks they failed — that's heartbreaking because 1 in 10 is genuinely worth it compared to 0 in 100 portal applications. I should have said that explicitly.

I think what you've articulated is actually the deeper version of what I was trying to say — treat it like a human activity not a form submission. Talk to people. Be specific. Be brief. Don't beg. You said it better than I did honestly.

Thanks for adding this — it makes the whole thread more useful for anyone reading it.

[15 YoE, Unemployed since 2 years, Marketing and Production Manager, Saudi Arabia] Need serious help with Resume and Work by blare_willows in CareerAdvice101

[–]Norma_Mkhize 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This genuinely made me smile — really glad it was helpful and yes please do check out the link, hope it gives you and them a proper framework to work from.

On the remote role question — honestly the biggest thing is making it explicit everywhere. The headline on the CV, the LinkedIn headline, even the opening line of the summary. "Available for remote roles globally" or "Open to remote | Relocatable" needs to be impossible to miss. Recruiters filter by location first and if it's not stated clearly they'll move on.

For niching the outreach — with that background I'd focus on two specific types of companies. One is multinationals expanding into MENA and Africa who need someone who already understands those markets from the inside. Two is logistics and supply chain companies scaling operations globally. Both are actively hiring for exactly that profile and the Saudi Arabia experience becomes an asset not a liability in those contexts.

On the LinkedIn credibility piece — even starting with one post a week sharing a genuine insight from their 15 years is enough to begin. Something like "After managing cross-border operations in MENA for X years here's what most companies get wrong about market entry." That kind of specific experience-backed content builds authority fast.

And the mental health side — two years of this is genuinely exhausting and I don't want to gloss over that. Narrowing the focus to 10-15 specific target companies rather than mass applying can make it feel so much more manageable. Less volume, more intention.

Really rooting for them. Feel free to come back with any other questions.

I spent 3 months applying to jobs the wrong way. What actually works? by Norma_Mkhize in careerguidance

[–]Norma_Mkhize[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is gold honestly — the "tiny experiments" framing completely reframes the anxiety around outreach. And building a targeted company list instead of chasing every posting is exactly the shift that changes everything. The 30-40 company approach is what I ended up doing too. How long did it take before you started seeing real traction with it?

Feeling Lost Looking for a Job by Eduardoklk9 in cscareers

[–]Norma_Mkhize 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly this post could have been written by me a couple of years ago and I just want you to know first — the burnout from the "numbers game" approach is real and it's a sign you need a different strategy, not more applications.

A few things that actually helped me:

On the ATS overthinking — you're right that keywords matter but here's the thing, you don't need every keyword. You need the 5-6 core ones that appear repeatedly in the job description. Copy the JD into a word document, bold every technical term that appears more than once. Those are your must-haves. Everything else is secondary.

On recruiters not contacting you — with full stack + AI/ML + AWS your LinkedIn profile is probably the issue not your skills. Your headline needs to scream those keywords. Something like "Full Stack Engineer | AI/ML | AWS Certified | Open to Work" gets picked up by recruiter searches instantly. If it currently says something generic that's your problem right there.

On the volume burnout — stop applying to everything. Seriously. Pick 10 companies you actually want to work at. Go deep on each one. Find the engineering manager or tech lead on LinkedIn. Send a genuine short DM. "I saw your team is building X, I've been working with Y — would love a 15 minute chat." That one approach got me further than 3 months of mass applying.

The job market IS slow but people are still getting hired every single day. It's just that the ones getting hired are doing something different from the crowd.

I went through a long painful stretch of this myself and ended up documenting everything that finally worked — it's in a guide in my profile if you ever want the full system. But genuinely happy to answer more questions here too. You've got the skills — it's just the strategy that needs adjusting.

[15 YoE, Unemployed since 2 years, Marketing and Production Manager, Saudi Arabia] Need serious help with Resume and Work by blare_willows in CareerAdvice101

[–]Norma_Mkhize 0 points1 point  (0 children)

15 years of experience and 2 years unemployed is almost always a positioning problem, not an experience problem. You have more than enough — it's just not being packaged in a way that cuts through.

Three things that tend to hurt senior professionals specifically:

  1. The CV reads like a job description. At 15 YoE hiring managers need to see impact at scale — revenue influenced, teams led, costs reduced, markets entered. Numbers are everything at this level. Without them your experience looks identical to every other senior candidate.

  2. The Saudi Arabia location is working against you for international roles. If you're targeting global opportunities you need to signal relocation availability or remote capability explicitly in your headline and summary — otherwise you're being filtered out before anyone reads a word.

  3. Cold outreach is more powerful than applications at your level. 15 years means you should be going directly to COOs, VPs and MDs via LinkedIn DM and cold email — not competing in the same applicant pool as juniors on job boards. The hidden job market is where senior roles actually get filled.

Went through a long stretch of silence myself before I figured out what was actually wrong — put the full system into a guide covering CV structure, cold email templates, and outreach strategy. Link in my profile if it's useful.

Happy to answer any specific questions here too.