READ TIME: 3 MINUTES
77 applications.
5 hiring manager interviews.
1 final round.
No offer.
I spend all day talking to candidates in an active job search. Most of them come to me after numbers like these.
During a job search strategy session, I diagnose where the problem is coming from, the same way I would as a sales manager.
I start with the data and look for where things are stalling.
But just like in sales, data only tells you one piece of the story.
If I were your sales manager, I'd listen to your calls. I'd sit next to you and watch your process. The numbers show me where the deal is stuck. The calls show me why.
So in a strategy session, I ask questions. Each one is meant to uncover where your search is stalling.
Here's where I see the biggest breakdowns.
1. No North Star
Most candidates haven't defined the role they're targeting, so they target 3 or 4 at once.
That spreads everything thin. Your resume and LinkedIn profile can't point back to 1 Ideal Job Opportunity™. As a result, your marketing materials miss the mark for every role you apply to.
You'd never build 1 pitch for 4 different ICPs. The same rule applies to your search.
2. Too much time in a cold channel
Next, I look at how the search is running. It's usually built mostly on cold applications.
Some candidates warm those up by reaching out to hiring managers, and that helps. But they're still spending most of their time in a cold channel instead of driving referrals into target companies, the way they would in a sales role.
When I ask about networking, I often hear "I've worked my network." Then we dig deeper, and there are almost always opportunities we haven't explored.
3. Stalls inside the interview funnel
Once you're interviewing, the stall can happen at different stages:
You're not making it past the recruiter screen.
You're getting to hiring managers but not to the final round.
You're making it to the final round but can't get across the finish line to an offer.
2 areas matter most.
Your stories, early in the process. Recruiter screens and hiring manager rounds test whether you know yourself. That means your data, your numbers, your strengths, an elevator pitch you can tell cleanly, and deal stories ready to go. If you're stalling before the final round, the problem usually starts here.
Your sales skills, in the final round. Final-round presentations test whether you can sell. If your sales skills don't come across in the presentation, you lose the room, and you lose the offer.
In interviews, the product is you.
Run the pipeline review yourself
This is the work I do in every strategy session: find where the search is stalling before adding more activity.
Now you don't have to wait for a call to start that diagnosis.
I built Where Is Your Job Search Pipeline Stalling?, a diagnostic quiz that walks you through the same self-assessment. It's like sitting across from me in a pipeline review, on your own time.
If you're in an active job search, or you know someone who is, start here.
Where Is Your Job Search Pipeline Stalling?
Hit reply and tell me: what quiz result did you get? I read every response.
To clarity and confidence in your career path,
Amanda
See you next Sunday.
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