You aced the SAT, ACT, and MCATS, graduated summa cum laude, carried a 4.o GPA for 18 years, had five incredible internships, lead every club you participated in, and worked two full-time job since you could walk?
Sorry, but nobody cares. Well, not yet they dont.
As you find yourself in a twilight zone of searching and applying, searching and applying, and then more searching and applying you might start feeling that way at least.
And why not? You’ve been encouraged and patted on the back for every minor success you’ve accomplished for nearly twenty years. You’ve been given trophies, ribbons, plaques and every other form of recognition.
But now you are realizing, so has everyone else. You are not the first summa cum laude with a 4.0. So what now? How do you get your resume from the big stack to the short stack? What will differentiate you from the rest of the ‘innovative, motivated, entrepreneurial problem solvers?’
No one else has your network. It’s like your social fingerprint. Once after submitting my resume, I gave my future employer two references. The employer didn’t call either of them and instead asked a mutual friend what they knew about me. The lesson: Have your network do your personal PR. If a friend knows the person who’s in charge of hiring you, ask him or her to reach out to the hiring manager and preemptively sing your praises.
And while I think that networking in a digital environment is a great place to start, there is no substitute for a smile and a handshake in person. Start attending mixers in your industry. Become the first name everyone remembers.
