Reverse The Search

Todd Henry [00:00:02]:
Nina was looking for a new job, but she had a big problem. Despite her valuable skills and her extensive experience, she struggled to stand out among countless traditional resumes. After relocating to a new city, she spent months applying through conventional channels, sending hundreds of applications with minimal response. Frustrated but determined, Nina realized she needed a different approach to demonstrate her value. She she observed that a lot of companies were seeking candidates who could think creatively and solve problems innovatively. This led her to a breakthrough idea. Why not showcase these qualities in her job search? Drawing inspiration from her favorite e commerce platforms, Nina created what became known as the product listing resume. She cleverly formatted her professional profile to mirror an online product listing, complete with a professional headshot as the main product image.

Todd Henry [00:00:54]:
Skills and qualifications were listed as product features. Previous work experience detailed in product specifications, career achievements highlighted in customer reviews, salary expectations presented as the price. Her creative approach was matched by strategic execution. She carefully selected keywords and formatting that would resonate with her target industry while maintaining a professional tone throughout. This was a bit of a risk. After all, she was bucking the traditional resume format. What if employers didn't appreciate her innovative thinking? But when she shared her creative resume on social media, the response was immediate. Within 48 hours, her inbox filled with interview requests from companies that had previously ignored her traditional application.

Todd Henry [00:01:39]:
Nina's success stemmed not just from novelty, but from demonstrating the exact qualities that employers seek. Creativity, problem solving, and calculated risk taking. The tech firm that eventually hired her specifically cited these qualities as key factors in their decision. By challenging conventional wisdom and delivering real results, Nina's story proved that showing your value through action is more powerful than simply stating it on paper. But more importantly than anything, Nina knew her worth and put it on display. She wasn't begging for a job. She knew that she was a valuable catch. In today's competitive job market, standing out is crucial.

Todd Henry [00:02:21]:
With automated tracking systems and hundreds of candidates per position, traditional approaches often fail to make an impact. Nina's story shows how strategic differentiation can cut through the noise and grab attention. The modern job market demands more than qualifications. It rewards initiative, innovative thinking, and unique problem solving. Now, while not everyone needs to create a viral resume, the core principle holds true. Finding ways to showcase your unique value is essential. Whether through targeted portfolios, innovative presentations, or strategic personal branding, candidates who effectively differentiate themselves gain an edge in catching employers attention. On today's episode, we're going to talk about how to make yourself stand out in this competitive job market by reversing the search.

Todd Henry [00:03:11]:
This is Daily Creative, a show for creative professionals. And leaders who want to be brave, focused and brilliant every day. My name is Todd Henry. Welcome to the show.

Madeline Mann [00:03:24]:
I help people to land incredible job offers. I help them go from the job seeker mentality, the job hunter, where they are just burning the midnight oil, being very busy trying to get companies attention, getting into interview processes that go nowhere to shift into becoming a job shopper where they're attracting opportunities.

Todd Henry [00:03:47]:
That's Madeline Mann, author of the brand new book Reverse the Search.

Madeline Mann [00:03:52]:
Once they get into the interviews, they get multiple job offers and really building this career security where for the rest of their career, companies are excited and eager to hire them.

Todd Henry [00:04:06]:
The core of Madeline's advice centers around the difference between what she calls job seekers, which is how most of us think when we're looking for work, and and job shoppers, which is something altogether different.

Madeline Mann [00:04:17]:
So job seekers are constantly viewing the job search as they are at the mercy of these companies. Right. I hope they give me attention and I'm just going to blast out as many resumes as possible and then when I get into the interview, I am going to answer their questions as best I can. And probably all this sounds completely normal of okay, yeah, that's the way a job search works. How is that any different? Job shoppers think completely differently. First of all, they understand their value and how to position that to a company where when companies get to know that person, they go, oh my gosh, let me sell you on this opportunity. Join us. When it comes to the opportunities they pursue, it's not a high volume approach, it's a focused approach.

Madeline Mann [00:05:10]:
But the number of interviews they get for companies that they're interested in is astronomically higher. And then when it comes to the interviews, they do not sit and wait for the questions to come to them and try to do the best in the interview. No, instead they go in with a message and they go in viewing the interview as a partnership, as a conversation. And so they utilize a lot of different strategies to make it so that interview makes them irresistible and also creates this almost co worker dynamic from the get go, which makes them an obvious choice.

Todd Henry [00:05:57]:
Take a moment to think back to your last job interview. Remember how it felt sitting in that chair? Or maybe these days staring into your webcam, your heart was probably racing a bit, your mind was likely hyper focused on every word that was coming out of your mouth, second guessing everything you said, desperately trying not to say the wrong thing. But here's the thing. Approaching an interview with the sole goal of not making mistakes is a little like trying to win a Race. By focusing only on not falling down, you're playing defense when you should be playing offense. The real goal of an interview isn't perfection. It's connection. It's about presenting an authentic version of yourself and giving potential employers a genuine preview of what collaborating with you would be like.

Todd Henry [00:06:42]:
Your unique perspectives, your problem solving approach, your energy. These are what make you valuable. When you shift your focus from don't mess up to let me show you who I am, something magical happens. The interview transforms from an interrogation into a conversation. And that's exactly what Nina understood in our opening story when she created her viral resume. And it's what Madeline and encourages all of us to do as we approach our interviews as well. To recognize that the goal isn't to not mess up or to squeak by and barely get the job. The goal is to present yourself fully for who you are and to ensure that they understand that you are the catch.

Madeline Mann [00:07:24]:
The bottom line is going job shopping only works so well because companies love it. The first piece is, oh, I'm afraid to cut off other opportunities because I'm so focused in the job search. That is a huge worry that a lot of people have. But actually, by being focused in the job search, you will attract so many more opportunities. People think that staying broad will get you more opportunities, but it dramatically diminishes the number of opportunities. And then the second thing is, will I come across as too into myself? And the way you approach being a job shopper is you actually take yourself out of the equation and make the entire interview process your resume. And this is a huge shift that so many people are not taught. We're taught to say all these fancy words about how great you are, tell them you're a great communicator, tell them you work well in fast paced environments.

Madeline Mann [00:08:30]:
They don't actually want to hear any of that. I call it autobiography syndrome, where we are so focused on telling our story and the beautiful mosaic of all the different skills we have that we're less focused on what does this company need now and how can I solve those challenges? And so that's what a job shopper does, is they really pivot to focus on the company. And that's when the company starts watering at the mouth, saying, oh my gosh, we need to hire this person, and they start selling you.

Todd Henry [00:09:00]:
Madeline believes that one of the reasons why there's so much challenge and difficulty often in the interviewing process is that the person looking for work and the person hiring workers are motivated and incentivized by entirely different things.

Madeline Mann [00:09:16]:
So, Todd, I'm sure so many of your listeners who have been on the job market in the past year or so have maybe experienced some interview processes where it's taken a really long time. They've been also put through additional interviews that they weren't expecting, or maybe they even got to the very end of the interview process and no one was hired. And this is the crux of what's happening. So job seekers are optimizing for time because we all know time is money. You cannot spend 50 hours doing projects for a company and interviewing them if, when you possibly have a full time job, when you have a life, when you have other job opportunities that you need to deal with. So as a job seeker, you're thinking, how can I minimize this amount of effort because I only have so many hours in a day, which is at odds with the way companies are thinking. Because while they too only have limited time and all of that, anyone who is hired knows that it is better to take more time to find the right person and to interview and to make sure it's the right person than to hire quickly and then have to train them and then fire them and then have all the morale that's happening because they're making a high ticket purchase. Remember, when you are interviewing, they are making a high ticket purchase and that takes time.

Madeline Mann [00:10:41]:
And so they are terrified that if they choose you, you will not work out. And so your job in the interview process, even though you're like, oh my gosh, this is taking so much time and all that, your job is to reduce the risk and make yourself an easy yes. Now, usually when I say that people who are career changers or anything like that, anything that's a little bit different about themselves, you say, I'm out because I am a risky hire. I'll be honest, they would have to take a chance on me. But I've actually found that even with my career changing clients, this can work very well for them if they're reducing risk. Because what you have to do is you have to focus on making it obvious about what it would feel like to work with you. That is a thing that is really unclear in the interview process is that we're answering questions and it's all hypothetical.

Todd Henry [00:11:33]:
Madeline offers many strategies in her book for reducing the risk for potential employers, but one of them is one that should seem obvious, but we often avoid.

Madeline Mann [00:11:42]:
Imagine if I was selling you a dresser or something like that and you said, hey, does it look good? And I just go, yep, it looks great. It's perfect. Condition. Or what if I told you, Todd, there's a little nick on the second drawer and that there's an indent there and then there's a little indent on, like, the back corner. Like, I'll show it to you. I'll send you some photos. That the confidence that you're going to get a good dresser. Probably because I named those little nicks.

Madeline Mann [00:12:06]:
And. And maybe I sent you the photos. You're like, this was nothing. This was not a big deal. I can barely. If she didn't bring it up, I wouldn't even notice it. But the trust that I had just built with you is so important and people don't realize it. What so many people do is they think I need to go into the interview with this toxic positivity where I like doing everything, I want to do everything.

Madeline Mann [00:12:30]:
I'm great at everything. I have no weaknesses. My weaknesses are my strengths. And it makes the company think, I don't trust this person. Who is this person? What do they want? What do they not like? Everyone has likes and dislikes. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. When you are so opaque about it, it's like, it just freaks them out.

Todd Henry [00:12:52]:
Madeleine Mann's new book, Reverse the Search, is available now wherever books are sold. And if you'd like to listen to our full interview, in which we delve into a few more strategies for reversing the search, you can do so in the Daily Creative app at Daily Creative or App. Hey, thanks so much for listening. Again. If you'd like full interviews, daily episodes, Q and A segments, access to the full archives dating back years and years, and much more, you can do so@DailyCreative app. My name is Todd Henry. You can find my work, my speaking, my books, and much more@toddhenry.com until next time. May you be brave, focused and brilliant.