Hey, Josh here!

Still with me? Good!

Welcome to Day 3 of Job Search Breakthrough: 5 Steps to Landing Your Next Role Fast.

So the other day, I was playing basketball with my kids.

And man… these little gremlins were going FERAL.

Arms flailing, feet stomping, crashing into each other like it was some kind of life-or-death battle for the last slice of pizza.

I swear, at one point, my youngest full-body tackled his brother (no ball in sight)... just pure primal mayhem.

Meanwhile, I’m just standing there.

Positioned, ready, and chilling.

And when the ball bounced my way.

Boom, easy shot.

Barely moved.

Barely broke a sweat.

📷

And guess what?

This is exactly how most job seekers DON’T move through their careers.

They’re not the person standing in the right spot, cool, collected, letting the game come to them.

They’re my kids (not literally).

Running themselves into the ground, scrambling after every loose ball, exhausting themselves, and just hoping something lands in their hands.

They’re applying to 100+ jobs a week, refreshing their inbox 500 times a day, sending desperate DMs like…

"Hi sir, just following up on my application..."

Meanwhile, the people who actually land the best jobs don’t chase.

They position themselves.

They set themselves up so when an opportunity opens up, it comes straight to them.

And today?

I’m gonna show you exactly how to do that.

Most job seekers don’t fail because they’re unqualified.

They fail because they’ve been scammed.

You see, there’s a massive conspiracy nobody talks about.

One that’s been cooking since the moment you stepped into your first "real job."

The Big Career Industrial Complex™ doesn’t want you to succeed.

That’s why every single piece of traditional job advice is DESIGNED to keep you playing small.

It’s a rigged game.

And if you follow the “rules,” you are GUARANTEED to lose.

Think about it… every shitty career tip you’ve ever heard has one thing in common:

It forces you to play the weaker position.

📷

Let’s break down the biggest lies you’ve been fed that are keeping you stuck, jobless, and desperate.

→ LIE #1: “The ATS system is auto-rejecting you”

NO. IT’S. NOT.

If I hear one more person say, “Oh no, the ATS rejected me!!!”, I’m gonna throw my laptop across the room.

You know who’s actually rejecting you?

A human... a recruiter… a hiring manager… a real person with a pulse.

The ATS is just a fancy-ass filing cabinet… A CRM for recruiters.

It stores your info but doesn’t “reject” you.

But you know what does reject you?

• Your answers to knockout questions:

Live in the wrong state?

Salary expectations too high?

BOOM… Auto-cut.

• Your resume doesn’t scream “I am the only choice”:

See, recruiters skim through resumes in under 15 seconds – And if yours doesn’t smack them in the face with value, you’re done.

• You’re playing the numbers game instead of the positioning game:

Spamming applications = 🗑️

Making yourself impossible to ignore = offers.

Period.

So stop blaming the ATS.

It’s not the ATS.

It’s YOU.

But look, it’s not reaaally your fault.

You heard some self-proclaimed "career guru" on LinkedIn promoting this BS and believed them.

📷

And now you’re out here formatting your resume like some SEO-optimized Amazon listing.

You’re cramming in phrases like "dynamic, results-driven, cross-functional strategist with a passion for leveraging synergy" just so the AI gods will bless you with an interview.

Guess what?

Recruiters don’t give a shit about your keywords.

You weren’t rejected by software. You were rejected by a person who didn’t see a reason to pick you.

→ LIE #2: "If you’re a 70% match, you’ll get hired!!"

Oh, you’re "mostly qualified"?

That’s cute.

Maybe in 2019.

Maybe when there were way more jobs than applicants.

But not today.

Because here’s the truth:

• Hiring managers have 500+ applications for every role.

• They’re drowning in options.

• And the "70% match" guy is getting thrown into the NO pile before they even take their first sip of coffee.

Today, you need to be 90%+ aligned.

Because "qualified" isn’t enough anymore.

The people who are landing the best roles, at the best companies, with the best salaries…

… Don’t "mostly fit the role."

They OWN IT.

So if you’re out here thinking, "Eh, I hit most of the requirements, let’s send it!"

Think again.

And before you even apply to another role, make sure your resume, your positioning, and your messaging are so good they’d feel stupid not to hire you.

→ LIE #3: "If you’re not getting hired, you just need more experience."

Oh, you think recruiters are rejecting you because you don’t have enough years of experience?

NO.

You wanna know how I know this is a lie?

Because every single week, I see underqualified, barely competent, glorified Slack reply guys landing jobs they have no business getting. (I call them “Fail-Upward Phil”)

📷

“But Josh, you just said we need to be a 90% match to get hired.”

Great question!

Let me break it down for you.

Yes, you need to be 90% aligned with the role.

BUT…

That doesn’t mean you need to check every single box on the job description.

It doesn’t mean you need 10+ years of experience, a Master’s degree, and a LinkedIn full of Fortune 500 logos.

What it actually means is…

You need to be a 90% match for the things that actually matter.

Because hiring managers aren’t looking for someone who meets every single requirement.

They’re looking for the one person who makes their decision stupidly easy.

And this is where most job seekers fumble the bag.

They think "matching 90%" means matching every bullet point.

Meanwhile, the people who are actually landing jobs are not wasting time trying to be a "perfect fit" for every single requirement.

They’re laser-focused on proving that they can solve the ONE or TWO biggest pain points the company actually cares about.

That’s why you see under-qualified people getting hired.

They’re not the best candidate on paper.

But they’re the best solution for the most urgent problem.

And if you can prove that…

… if you can show that hiring you fixes the mess they’re drowning in right now…

Guess what?

Nobody gives a damn if you’re missing a couple of “preferred qualifications.”

📷

If there’s one thing that makes me want to slam my head against a wall, it’s watching job seekers act desperate, polished, stiff, and robotic.

Like, I get it.

Job searching sucks.

Being unemployed sucks.

But let me be painfully blunt…

NO ONE hires a ghost.

NO ONE is scrolling LinkedIn looking for the most unemployed person they can add to their team.

NO ONE is seeing your "Open to Work" banner and thinking, "Oh hell yeah, this guy must be a top performer!"

Recruiters aren’t on LinkedIn looking for people who need jobs.

They’re looking for people who DO a job - the one they’re trying to fill.

They’re looking for low-risk hires.

Someone who already talks, thinks, and operates like a high-value employee… before they even apply.

That’s why if there’s one thing I drill into every single one of my coaching students, it’s this:

Use LinkedIn like a big digital megaphone that screams authenticity.

📷

Let me show you exactly what I mean.

Take one of my coaching students, Josh F.

(Yes, yes… another Josh. Apparently, all my students are named Josh.)

Now, he isn’t some huge influencer…

… He doesn't get a million views on every post…

… He doesn’t have 100K followers…

… Hell, he doesn’t even have 1K (not yet, anyway.)

But here’s what I love about him:

He’s actively looking for a job, but he doesn’t sound like every other desperate job seeker out there.

He doesn't say, “Hey, I need a job, pick me!”

Instead… Josh shows WHY someone should hire him.

He positions himself as the obvious choice before he even applies.

• He talks about his leadership style and how it shaped his career.

• He openly shares his challenges in job hunting (instead of pretending to be perfect).

• He makes recruiters laugh with his humor while proving he’s a damn good hire.

And THAT is how you get hired before you even apply.

Ever sat through a bad movie?

You’re halfway in, zoning out, scrolling your phone, questioning all your life choices, wondering…

“Why the hell am I even watching this?”

Well, congrats.

Because that is exactly how hiring managers feel when they read most resumes and LinkedIn profiles.

And that’s where The “So What” test comes in.

This is the filter that instantly separates real candidates from the NPCs.

📷

Every single thing you write (your LinkedIn bio, your resume bullets, even your DM to a hiring manager) needs to pass this brutal “so what” filter:

"I managed social media accounts."

→ So what? Did you grow an audience? Boost engagement? Drive revenue? Or were you just another intern posting “Happy Friday!” memes?

"I led a team.”

→ So what? Did you actually lead? Did you hit real targets? Did you fix sh*t, solve problems, and get results? Or were you just another name in an org chart?

"I worked on X project.”

→ So what? What changed because of you? Did revenue go up? Did efficiency skyrocket? Did your boss finally stop hating his life? Or would nobody have even noticed if you weren’t there?

See, if you can’t answer “so what?”, you’re wasting words.

And if you’re wasting words, you’re wasting opportunities.

Final Take: If your resume doesn’t make someone say ‘Damn, we NEED this person’… rewrite it.

→ Step 1: Write ONE LinkedIn post today. Just one. Pick something useful, insightful, or interesting from your work experience. Make it valuable. Make it something that actually makes a hiring manager pause and read it.

→ Step 2: DM ONE hiring manager today. Keep it simple. Keep it human. No “Dear Sir/Madam” bullshit. No paragraphs or begging. Just… start a real conversation.

→ Step 3: Audit your resume and LinkedIn. Does every single bullet point pass the “so what ”test? If not, delete it or rewrite it.

And tomorrow, I’m going to show you how you can get people to refer you for a job… before you even apply. Your “make recruiters chase YOU” coach,

Josh

Head Coach, Career Vision Coaching