I am applying for Design jobs - Not getting any reply ? 7 Mistakes to avoid

I am applying for lot of design jobs but nobody is replying me. It's a very, very important pain point which students really ask me and they really don't know what is the problem. This podcast is going to give you seven mistakes, what a designer needs to avoid to really get a proper reply and get hired as a designer. Take lot of notes. Let's jump into this podcast. Welcome guys. Welcome, welcome. Thank you for staying tuning in with me. This is Jagdish Design for Change. There has been a very good response from lot of countries and 5000 plus impressions are happening in Spotify and listeners are having a great engagement and a lot of replays are also happening. It is really a very, very happy moment for me and I'm really thanking you for that particular support, what you're extending. And please make sure you subscribe to my mentorship program if you need my mentorship support in going into much detailed design learning. If you feel like referring some friends, you can do that. There are some special gifts as well. And if you need your pain points to be addressed which you are facing as a designer, please write to that email or you can even write what do you think about this podcast? Definitely I'll be covering and I'll be doing my research to come up with a lot of points to explain you. Okay, so thank you so much guys. With this we'll discuss the seven mistakes, what people really do. Let me give you a short background, guys. When it comes to design job, it's not a normal resume or you have a bio data like something like curriculum vitae, you send some cover letter, you get a job. No, it is completely a very, very different process. First you need to understand, let's say if you're coming from a different background, you must be prepared for this. Okay? Design is not something like you send a resume and then you upload a profile in LinkedIn, you will get a job call. It's definitely going to be a different ball game because this is about showcasing your uniqueness, showcasing your creativity, right? Start from your application process, start from your resume, start from your portfolio. People will expect that uniqueness. People will expect that particular touch, how you really interact and interface. When the first touch point really happens there itself, your interview process really happens. That is why guys, a lot of designers know they are not getting a proper reply or even not getting even a reply itself is because they don't know how to make the touch point very clear. The very first mistake, what people do is very generic resumes and portfolio. They keep one resume One portfolio sent to everybody. No, that's not the case. If you do like this, I'll tell you what happens.

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75 percentage of the recruiter says it's the number one reason for rejection. So don't settle for the generic resumes and portfolio guys. Show some real world, impactful, clear, problem solving stories. Be very specific. Let's say if you're applying for AI company, do a one day project. You can go to my earlier podcast episode. I've recorded a podcast on how to do a project in one day. You can do it. I've given you steps, step by step, hour by hour, minute by minute. How you can plan it out, do it, take few days and even apply for the job a little two, three days later. So approach in a very specific way. And you know what guys, you got only 10 seconds to make that first mark count. 67% of the resumes meet their demise due to lack of relevant keywords. People do a lot of generic keywords. It is very dull, very ineffective. So mistakes are lying with us. We should not complain that oh, nobody is hiring me, nobody is replying me. That's completely a BS statement. I understand you are in a great frustration, but if you talk like this again to you, you will feel more bad. The more you talk to you like this, the bad things will happen to you. That's why you have to stop that voice. My mentor used to call that as little voice. Okay, Blair Singer. So you need to stop that little voice and you have to master that. No, I will make a best resume. I'll be very specific. I'll make sure I follow my mentor or my accountability path partner or my teacher who is telling whatever is your teacher, whomever is your teacher, and then you exactly do it. And then you follow and then you pierce that particular thing. And if you're able to uniquely tailor made that, guys, let me tell you, you will forge a very good impression. When people are seeing that you have a very specific keyword. You have a very bulleted points, you have a very good problem statement to really work on particularly to that industry. And then you're attractive. You will get selected. Guys, 72% of the hiring manager says it spells dooms for the application. When you make a very generic cover letter, it's like a, it's like a. What do you call a very limp handshake, right? So how do you grip that? It shows that you're not very confident, right? So craft a very good cover letter which is very unique. Guys. It shows your unique value proposition. Address the company by their name, put their position, what is your expectation there and how your skills are going to really help them. So that's how you make that guy. So how do you do this, Jagdish? So if you, if you wanted to be very specific, how do we have to do it? The second important mistake is people don't do research at all about the company. You need to go very, very in depth, guys. I have a very specialized Excel sheet in my program which I give for my students to really research it out about a company a lot. Not researching about your project. And let me tell you guys, if you are listening to this podcast, if you write your feedbacks very honestly and tell me about this podcast. If you are selected as a special winner, I'll be sharing that Excel sheet access with you where you can find some of the big design studios in India's data available with you. Close to 75 plus design studio data is available and it will reach to 150, 200 over time. So imagine guys, you have a great treasure already built. So this was done by our entire community and I'll not allow for everybody, people who really work hard, people who are really consistent in my podcast, who are listening and learning a lot. Yeah, you will be getting it for free of cost.

Okay.

Yeah. So you have to research it out detailed. How about the company, when they've started, how much employees are working, what are the work culture, what are the job description? What are the specific projects they're working and what are the track record they have? How much is the compensation and the salary benefit? How much is the training and potential and how much you can grow after three to five years and how much is the market in global in India if you are able to do this, what is the work culture? What is the kind of respect they give for the designers and do they have a design studio or it's a combined team. Do this in an offline way, online way. Talk to the recruiters, talk to the people who are working inside the company and connect with them through LinkedIn. Do this extensive research, guys. Hey Jagdish, it sounds very difficult here. Then stop this design career and go back to your old. Everything is difficult, guys. Why do you think everything is easy? Remove that mindset of laziness. People are stuck because of these problems also. So we need to see we have chosen this career right. We have to go forward by doing the specific steps. What people have got, people have proven. Lot of my students have cleared the job interviews because of one simple step which I tell them research about the company. Huge students. Last week also two students got selected. So the point is you need to go deep. Don't just receive some design task and run and do like a donkey. Don't do that kind of hard work and all smart work or whatever you call be optimistic and realistic and do hard and smart both. And if it requires any extensive skill beyond that, do it first. You need to get research done properly and then you go and jump into your tasks or whatever.

Okay?

And the third important thing is ignoring the application instruction. People just randomly think, okay, design this job will be like this only. I'll apply this, read that particular job description guidelines step by step. Process importance of their company's procedure is very, very vital to understand guys. Because they value that priority and order only. People are very, very hesitant and very ignorant towards it because for that company that's important, right? So you need to follow that process and make sure you share your application process in that specific manner.

Okay?

So share some good stories and understand how your project is going to help them through that story. And you tell them this is what is the value add I can make by working in your organization.

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This is a very, very important thing. The fourth is very very weak personal branding. See guys, I already told you. We are designers, right? We are building our brand. We need to definitely have our logo. We need to have a very good profile picture which is very creative. We need to have a very good cover photo. We need to have our strength weakness. We, we need to write our story properly when we are sending an email to people. Also we need to brand ourselves. We need to showcase who we are as a person when we are really doing this particular design in an extensive way. So what happens if you do like this? People will definitely notice you in a lot more different way.

Okay?

The fifth important mistake is underestimating soft skills. Lot of people don't understand soft skills are important. The communication skills, the the interpersonal skills, team management skills, presentation skills, documentation skills. People really don't get this point, guys. See you need to get a very important high skill put soft skills. I really tell my students, put your soft skills hard skills and mention it. People really value that a lot. And the sixth important thing is people really don't network at all. See guys, the mistakes, what I'm telling you, you have to definitely note down and remove that from your list. If you are able to do this, you can see a lot of job application selection in the coming days. You have to network with a lot of people to get More information, you need to do some follow up with the recruiters. This is the 1/7th important mistake which people do. They don't follow up at all. What do you think guys? They are dealing with hundreds of designers like you, right? They have huge people to really work with. So you should have the responsibility to call them and ask them what are the status? Thank you sir for giving me this opportunity. But can you tell me what is the result? Can you tell me how I, how I'm selecting and progressing for the next step? If they're saying you're not selected, then ask themselves what is the feedback? Can you be a little bit specific? That will be really helpful for me. So follow up is really, really important. Guys, let me tell you. 42% of the hiring managers say its designing factor is in a closing call. Follow up within one to two days. Reiterate your interest. That showcases your very, very proactive. You're spirited. Highly. Follow up is a final flourish that can turn a near miss into a triumphant win. Guys, money lies in follow up. One of the big personality development trainers, Jim Rohn, says follow up is where the fortune really lies. He says you can read about his books and videos and he has stressed upon this point very, very importantly, okay, so 56% of the hiring managers really lack the enthusiasm if people are not very much into not asking some questions or not asking some details about the company or taking some enthusiasm to involve in that discussions regarding that. This is also one big common mistakes which I've seen in students and see guys, if 56% is hiring manages. So you need to get this clarity. And let me tell you one more important information. 85% of the jobs are filled through job referral. That's why I told you you need to network a lot. So attend lot of industry events, join some good programs, join in some online communities, talk to lot of potential employers, even connect with hrs normally. I used to tell my students, if you're talking to 50 different designers in industry, talk to 50 different hrs because ultimately you need to get their mindset, their requirement, their expectation very clearly done. That's what is a game changer. I see 85% of the jobs are filled through referral. So connections are more important. It's very easy guys. You can give in LinkedIn, you can, you can follow a lot of pages and you can give that right. It's not very difficult nowadays. So 70% of the recruiters really check your social media presence also to really build. That's what I told you already. This point like please make sure you build your good brand, your online presence, your particular logo, your posters or your cover page or your good professional photo. Take care of all these things guys, because if you're not taking care of this, it becomes a big disaster. Even if you apply for thousand job, nobody is going to reply you. Let me repeat you these mistakes. Don't apply for generic resumes and portfolios. Do a lot of research about the company. Third is please don't ignore the application instruction and process. Fourth is do a proper branding which is not very weak. Fifth is don't underestimate the power of your hard skill and soft skill. And please mention that Sixth is please don't ignore the power of networking. And seventh is don't ignore follow up. If you avoid all these seven mistakes, you're really going to rock and roll your show. And in next 21 days guys, if you avoid these mistakes and start applying even in 7 to 14 days, you will start getting replies from your recruiters. Trust me, it will definitely work. And if this not works, probably you could have made little mistakes here and there and somebody needs to retweak you how to. Or maybe if your resume needs little correction or your wording needs little correction or if your portfolio needs little correction and if that accountability is happening with you, somebody is helping you, you will become a perfect person to apply and get job. If you need that kind of a support guys, I'll be more than happy to do. But you can choose whatever is your comfort zone. But before doing that, don't just blindly apply with your own knowledge. That will not suffice be enough, right? I ask to more than 20 to 35 five designers in my seniors juniors of my portfolio resume. I still ask because I wanted to make sure whether I'm in the right track or not. Right? So don't feel hesitant towards it. Be happy to share and get feedback from others because openness is a very good quality of a design.

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So thank you so much guys. If you need my mentorship support in helping out to build a good portfolio and get a job, you can subscribe and you can send that email dfcedesignforchangemail.com myself or my team will reply for you to join my internship program. And if you find this podcast useful, you can give me a best star rating. I highly recommend you to Spotify and Apple and get subscribed for further episodes. Thank you so much guys. Take care. All the best. Bye bye.