Whether we have a safe, comfortable, and secure job – and just desire the next level, or absolutely NEED a job, as soon as possible – we need a job search strategy. In this post, we reveal three strategies that have worked for others, and it makes good sense to base our own job search building on this approach.
This blogpost accompanies THIS YOUTUBE:
One of the most important thing about these strategies – taken individually or combined – is that they increase the likelihood that someone will reach out to you. This means that you could exchange the grueling, draining process of constantly identifying opportunities, refining your resume, and sending it off (to an automated resume screening process, or ARS) – and instead, be sought after. Be wined and dined. Be courted.
Wouldn’t that be so much better?
In brief, these three strategies are:
Define – clarify who you are, the unique skills and strengths that you bring to the team,
Direct – build your network of relationships, direct your attention to those with whom you want stronger connections, and
Differentiate – strengthen how YOU are “first among equals.”
We can treat each of these as a unique and specific process. This means that we can step back, assess each area, and cultivate a plan for each specific strategy.
We can build tracking mechanisms to measure performance, and that gives us feedback on how to refine and hone our efforts.
So, while we may need to implement these strategies in haste, and some of us may need to implement these in tandem with a more direct “job search,” the end goal is to be sought after – which elevates us to the position of choosing among offers, rather than desperately seeking.
Using the “Difference of Gaussians” Equation as Our Visual Guide
Our primary goal, as we employ each of these three strategies, is to differentiate ourselves from any and all possible competitors.
We use the classic difference of Gaussians equation to illustrate our process.
Define – Who Are You: Specific Skills and Strengths
One question that I love to ask my students during our Synch sessions is: “What is your super-power?”
Most people are hesitant to answer this – but discovering our own superpowers and claiming them is key to defining ourselves. The more that we have clarity about ourselves, the more that we can direct our relationship development and then differentiate ourselves vs. competition.
Two processes for doing this:
- Slow, steady, in-depth – using a book such as “Where Do I Go from Here with My Life?,” or the faster approach using “What Color Is My Parachute?” – and working through LOTS of exercises.
- Searching for themes in your work – look through (at least three) projects where you’ve had some latitude on what to do and how to do it, and seek to discern what wat unique about your approach.
Slow, Steady, In-Depth
This could take a couple of months. At least, it took ME a couple of months – each of the two times that I did this process.
It’s just very time-consuming. BUT – it gives the ultimate clarity.
Please check out my YouTube on this – I review “Where Do I Go from Here with My Life?,” which has been tremendously helpful when I was making a BIG career change:
Seek to Discern
This is a bit trickier – since it’s like trying to catch a glimpse of our backs using two mirrors – you have to fuss at getting the angles just right.
Find two to three projects, preferably (almost necessarily) ones where you’ve had some choice about what to do and how to do it.
Look at the kind of projects that you chose to do, and how you went about it. And, in particular, as problems came up (they always do), how did you go about solving them?
Use the “Rule of Three”
Out of all this work, seek to find THREE qualifying themes that describe who you are. IDEALLY, they go from very tangible (and readily backed by evidence) to the less-tangible (but still supported by stories).
Specifically:
- A solid skill set, e.g, “data science” or “machine learning.” Or, a characteristic of how you work. (In my case, I can say, “Inventor.”) This should be where you have your strongest set of “evidence.” In my case, I can point to four patents and my current CORTECONs (R) invention, and to the dollars that others invested into my work ($4M from various government offices and agencies supporting my work through SBIR/STTR contracts, and two investment rounds totaling $11M.) Tangible support is key here.
- Something a bit more abstract but still supported by tangible evidence. E.g., “Problem-solving engineer.” Then, find two or three specific cases where you called upon this super-power. In my case, this super-power is “Educator.” There are all kinds of educators, so I can qualify this as “making abstract concepts easy enough for a high-school student to understand.” My tangible support is within the course that I created, Top Ten Terms in Statistical Mechanics, but also in various blogposts and YouTubes.
- A personal trait that is part of your unique essence. This is more how you relate with others; one student described his “superpower” as being calm when there was an “emotional storm” at work. This is something that he used to help stabilize his teammates, and they were able to focus more readily on their tasks. Again, try to be as specific as possible, and look for stories about how you put this into practice. This is less tangible, but is great for storytelling!
Here’s an example of how I developed my second “superpower” as “educator.” Specifically, my skill is that that I can create stories and visualizations that explain some (very abstract!) concepts. Here, I used this to explain some statistical mechanics concepts and how they help us understand generative AI. (Some longer and more specific versions, with examples, are in the Themesis course Top Ten Terms), but this gives a flavor.)
Direct – Create and Maintain Useful Relationships
Each and every relationship that we build takes time. We need to build on the relationships that we already have, and we also need to create (and sustain) new ones.
So – how to find the right ones?
This doesn’t mean that we need to be mercenary. It just means being thoughtful and strategic.
Many of these relationships are at the outer edge of our connection sphere – our “weak ties.”
We’re talking about the power of weak connections.
So it’s easy to keep our daily connections limited to those in front of our face – our immediate work colleagues. But these are not where our connection strengths lie. Instead, we need to cultivate those who are further out – because these people will, in turn, have OTHER connections – and they may be helpful links for us.
The best avenues are:
- Build on common, shared experience. Examples would be joining an alumni group – especially one associated with a graduate program where you got a Master’s or Ph.D. degree. Another choice (if your geographic location allows) would be tech-oriented MeetUps.
- Conferences. Everyone talks conferences. What is important, though, is the follow-up afterwards.
One of the most-recommended strategies is the notion of “10:5:1”:
- Ten “Likes,”
- Five “Reposts” (with comments), and
- One “Direct Message.”
For a great discussion, see THIS ARTICLE by Wes Pearce (full citation in the References and Resources, below).
The strategy that I’m using now? I’m writing this in the first half of November, and I’m going to use the upcoming holiday season as an excuse to reconnect with those with whom I haven’t spoken in a while.
Differentiate
Once we have a clear understanding of who we are, and we’ve put some effort into building (or rebuilding) relationships, we can further differentiate ourselves.
I wasn’t really clear on the best way to do this until I heard a YouTuber say “Storytelling is your moat.” I THINK this was Adam Erhart, and I link to one of his YouTubes in the References and Resources section. (And if that YouTube is not it – and I’ve speed-watched it twice while creating this blogpost, another one likely is, and he has a LOT of good ones!)
So this ties back to our earlier notion of identifying and defining our superpowers, and crafting stories illustrating how we’ve used these powers. (Preferably, for good!)
Summing up: three strategies. Taken together, we define ourselves, direct our attention to others (in a useful and strategic manner), and then further differentiate ourselves.
The result? It is FAR more likely that others will turn to us and seek us out for our advice, our assistance, and (very possibly) our collaboration or value as part of their team.
Very best wishes! – AJM
References and Resources
This is the book that I’ve used – TWICE – when I was making a career change and really needed a deep-dive to figure out where I was going.
- Crystal, John C. 1982. “Where Do I Go from Here with My Life? A Very Systematic, Practical, and Effective Life/Work Planning Manual for Students, Instructors, Counselors, Career Seekers and Career Changers.” Ten Speed Press (Emoryville, CA).
If you don’t have the time for that level of detailed work, there is always the time-honored (and updated yearly) classic:
- Bolles, Richard N, 2022. “What Color Is Your Parachute?: Your Guide to a Lifetime of Meaningful Work and Career Success.” Ten Speed Press (Emoryville, CA).
This article on how the author has used a custom GPT for job-hunting is something you may find useful.
- Martinelli, Tess. 2025. “I worked at Meta and TikTok but struggled to land interviews. Creating a custom GPT took 2 hours and helped me secure a new job at PayPal.” Business Insider (October, 2025). (Story is “as told to” Tess Martinelli, who interviewed Amar Saurabh for the content.) (Accessed Nov. 11, 2025; available at custom GPT for job hunting.)
I like Adam Erhart’s YouTubes on storytelling. (Also, I THINK he was the one who said, “Storytelling is your moat.” Haven’t confirmed that yet, but I’m re-watching some of his YouTubes to see if I can find that specific quote.)
Until I find that one – and can link to it here – use THIS Adam Erhart YouTube!
Even if you are not crafting YouTubes, if you are job-searching (or just mentally prepping so that a new employer can find you), it’s good to think through the three different kinds of stories that Adam describes, and see how you can work them into your Portfolio – into your Bio, into your various Projects … wherever it makes sense.
- Erhart, Adam. 2025. “The Storytelling Psychology Technique That Turns Strangers Into Clients.” Adam Erhart YouTube Channel (Sept. 2025). (Accessed Nov. 11, 2025; available at Adam Erhart on Storytelling.)
“The Strength of Weak Ties” – original work and recent Stanford review article.
- Granovetter, Mark S. 1973. “The Strength of Weak Ties.” American Journal of Sociology, 7 (6) (May, 1973):1360-1380.(Accessed Nov. 11, 2025; available at Strength of Weak Ties.)
- Stanford Report. 2023. “50 years on, Mark Granovetter’s ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’ is stronger than ever.” Stanford Report: Social Sciences (July 24, 2023). (Accessed Nov. 11, 2025; available at Stanford Report.)
The “10:5:1” strategy for building weak connections on a publications platform such as Substack:
- Pearce, Wes. 2024. “How I Grew by 800+ Substack Subscribers in 60 Days (& How You Can, Too).” Escape the Cubicle on Substack (escapethecubicle.substack.com) (Nov. 21, 2024). (Accessed Nov. 11, 2025; available at Wes Pearce article.)