You can apply to 1000 jobs in 10 hours. Here’s how. 😱
Step 1: Identify the jobs you want (2 hours)
Use boolean logic to find titles that fit your interests on LinkedIn’s job search portal.
For example, if I was looking for a full-time social media role, I would enter the following into LinkedIn’s job search portal: ("social media manager" OR "social media coordinator" OR "social media strategist" OR "social media marketing manager" OR "social media marketing") AND NOT ("intern" OR “graphic design”).
This pulls all possible full-time social media role titles from LinkedIn and excludes intern and graphic design roles (which sometimes come up in social media searches).
Additionally, I would query for roles posted in the last 24 hours because applying to recently posted jobs improves response rates.
The final search query would look something like this.
Step 2: Hire a virtual assistant to apply to these jobs for you (2 hours)
Post a job req on onlinejobs.ph asking for a virtual assistant to apply to jobs on your behalf. You can find someone to do this for $3 an hour (~150 pesos). This rate is above minimum wage in most regions in the Philippines (see here) and well below the value of your time if you’re based anywhere in the West (even if you’re paid at minimum wage), so it’s a perfectly rational investment.
Here’s an example post I made to hire someone to do this. This hire helped my clients land jobs at PE firms and companies with millions of dollars in revenue.
Step 3: Train the virtual assistant (6 hours)
Make a copy of this template document and add your personal information.
Share it with your virtual assistant and give them clear instructions on how to apply to jobs.
Optional: Give them access to your LinkedIn so they can apply to jobs directly from your account. This tends to improve response rates.
Set a reminder to check in with your virtual assistant each week to see how they’re doing. You may want to ask them to track the jobs they apply to, the number of hours they work, and a list of any questions they have that the template document you provided them with doesn’t answer.
Bonus: Ask your VA how they’re doing on a personal level and try to understand (and help them achieve) their career aspirations. Support your VAs growth and they’ll support yours!
Once your assistant has overcome the learning curve, they should be able to knock out 15 applications per hour. Assuming they work 2 hours a day for 5 days a week, that’s 150 applications a week for 10 hours of their time or $30 a week.
At this rate, you’ll spend $120 a month on your VA in exchange for 600 applications.
If you’re the average knowledge worker in the US or Canada, your yearly salary can reasonably go up to $80,000 USD.
Your VA could help you get this job at least 1 month faster.
1 month of an $80,000 salary is 1/12 * 80,000 = $6,666
$6,666 (net gain) / $120 (net loss) = A 55x return on investment. 🤑
Two final notes before I sign off:
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P.S. .. if you’re looking for a new role, consider applying to Relentless: https://joinrelentless.com/
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Kareem's step by step process helps job seekers overcome the dark underbelly of the remote boom, by empowering high-quality applications at scale. Cha-ching!