How to go from ghosted to multiple offers in your job search

Fast Company

6 days ago

The last two years have been one of the toughest job markets I've seen in decades. This isn't like 2020 or 2021, where after the initial phase of the pandemic receded, jobs quickly reappeared. This one has been slow and unrelenting—market volatility causing uncertainty, and digital transformation of workplaces, and AI taking over jobs faster than you can read the headlines. These days, it feels like you're sending your resume into the abyss. Sound familiar?
I see it every day as a recruiter and career coach: talented job-seekers submitting application after application into what feels like a black hole. Weeks turn into months. The silence is deafening. Each passing day without a response chips away at your confidence, your bank account, and your sense of professional identity.
Luckily, through my work, I've also developed tried-and-true strategies for standing out no matter the market conditions. Here are three powerful steps to reinvigorate your job search.
1. Reclaim Your Value
Whether you've just gotten laid off or have already been job searching for months, your self-esteem probably isn't the strongest. You may be feeling bitter, angry, and doubtful of your professional value. Being in that kind of mindset while trying to find a job won't allow you to show up as your best self.
For example, I recently worked with a very successful leader who had steered a company over the last several years with enormous success, each year hitting higher and higher revenue targets and winning some of the most sought-after projects in the industry. As the economy shifted, those revenues took a hit—and he was let go because of a 'spreadsheet decision.' He was blindsided and stepped into his job search doubting himself.
When working with job seekers who are struggling, we always start with a simple but powerful exercise: documenting significant achievements from their career. Not just responsibilities—actual metrics and results, problems solved, value delivered.
I'll ask people to think about things they've done that they're really proud of. I make them dig deep to detail what they do really well, what gets them fired up, and ask them how their colleagues and clients would describe working with them. As they reconnect with their expertise, things they haven't thought of for a while, I see their faces light up and confidence starting to return. You can do this with a career coach, your partner, a best friend, even a colleague who knows you well—just ask them to take notes about what you're telling them to read back to you at the end.
Working through these questions with my executive client helped remind him of the successes he was responsible for and the resilience he showed in a tough market. Those reminders allowed him to work through his disappointment, prepare for how he'd talk about the challenges when asked, and enter his job search with renewed confidence in what he had to offer.
This isn't just about feeling better; it's about how you show up. When you remember your professional value, you communicate with clarity and conviction. Your entire energy changes, and people take notice.
2. Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone
When desperation sets in, the instinct is to cast a bigger net. The thinking is, by applying to more jobs, you'll have better odds of landing something. This approach feels logical, but produces the opposite of what you hope for. Sure, you'll be busy applying to things, but because you're not the expert, you likely won't get responses, so all that busy work will lead to frustration and burnout.
I recently worked with a client who was going on two years of being out of work. The longer his job search went on, the more he began applying to a broader set of roles, thinking it would increase his chances of landing something.
Here's the counterintuitive truth: The more you narrow your focus and lean into your specific expertise, the more responses you'll receive. When I tell people this, their initial response is anxiety; they don't want to limit their options. But when you stop trying to appeal to everyone and boldly claim your niche, everything changes. Applications that once disappeared suddenly generate responses. Interviews that went nowhere convert to eager follow-ups. When you're interviewing for a role where you are the expert, that's the interview you're going to ace.
When I work with clients to understand how they're speaking about themselves, we dig deep into what truly distinguishes them. We return to some of those questions from above that uncover their unique approach and what motivates and energizes them.
Then we look at the roles they're applying to and narrow their focus to roles and companies where their specific and unique expertise is sought after. We look at their job application materials and see if they're making statements that many others could equally say and ensure that we get quite specific. When I read their new narrative back to them, all of it in their own words, many remark that they got chills—they're finally hearing their professional value articulated in a way that feels authentically powerful and totally unique.
When I reminded my client of his incredibly niche expertise—skills that very few people possess—and focused all his job-seeking efforts on companies who could benefit from him, things immediately began to shift. Within one day, he landed an interview. Two days later, he was meeting the leadership team. Companies want to hire the expert. Show them that it's you.
3. Show That You're The Solution They're Looking For
The interview is your last chance to not just show why you're great, but show why you're exactly the solution an employer has been looking for. I've seen so many clients underperform in interviews because they're not giving themselves enough credit. But a few simple shifts can transform that:
Think offense, not defense. The minute you start justifying why you're right for the role, you've already lost it. Interviewers can feel defensiveness. Own the narrative before that happens by confidently articulating how your experience directly addresses the role's most critical requirements before doubts can surface.
Use high-impact storytelling. Give specific examples demonstrating how your experience solves exactly what they need. When you paint these pictures vividly, you allow the interviewer to truly see how effective you will be on day-one. Rehearse your stories before your interview so they are memorable.
Embrace transparent confidence. Nothing undermines trust faster than pretending to know everything. When you confidently acknowledge what you know and don't know, you establish genuine credibility. If they really like you and you satisfy most requirements, chances are they can evolve the role around you and fill in the gaps.
Take your time. Less is often more. Really listen to what they are asking you, pause, and take a moment to reflect so you can give a considered response. If it's a really tough question, you can even tell the interviewer you'd like a moment to think through your response. It buys you a few seconds to really compose a well-thought out answer and it never fails to impress an interviewer. They'll remember the great answers and they often remark how much they enjoyed how reflective you were in wanting to answer it well.
Simple Job Application Changes, Profound Results
The strategies I've shared may seem straightforward, or even obvious. But when implemented with consistency and conviction, they transform job searches from no traction to multiple interviews and competing job offers.
These strategies work not because they're complicated, but because they align with a fundamental truth: Employers aren't looking for generic candidates; they're looking for the expert to solve their problem, now. When you reconnect with your expertise, focus your efforts, and communicate your value with clarity and confidence, you become that solution.
You transform from just another resume in the pile to exactly what they've been searching for.