Last week, I had the opportunity to be a guest lecturer in two entrepreneurship classes on digital marketing at Georgia State University (GSU)—thank you to Instructor Matt Bramblett for the chance. I completed my MBA at GSU over 30 years ago, and it’s a real treat to come back. Besides sharing my own experiences and knowledge, the thing I enjoy most is the dialogue and interaction with the students. It may not be this way in every department, but the GSU Robinson College of Business is full of energy and excitement. Most of the young people in my classes last week were upperclassmen about to start their careers.

It’s easy to feed off their excitement and enthusiasm. Frankly, I enjoy speaking with younger people whose minds are still open to new ideas. Many of my middle-aged peers have allowed life to make them skeptical, argumentative, and downright negative. I try hard not to be that way, even if I’m not always successful. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tried to be more deliberate about steering clear of difficult and overly competitive people who feel like they have to “win” every situation. You know the type—someone who’s read a single book or gone through a business seminar and now they’re an expert.

Back in the college classroom, it’s a totally different environment. The students are there to learn, not argue. In general, it’s a much easier setting in which to share knowledge. Having so many years of experience (and gray hairs to prove it), I rarely get stumped by student questions. It’s not that all of the questions are easy; it’s just that most of the students ask their questions with an open mind and heart. However, there is one exception, and it’s the question I dread the most.

“How do I get a job?”

Almost every class asks me that question either in person or later in a LinkedIn message. Side note—I encourage students to develop their professional networks and invite them to connect with me on LinkedIn. More about networking later in this article. Even though I know the question about getting a job (or internship) is coming, it doesn’t make it any easier to answer. I thought it might be a good idea to share my thoughts on the subject here in this column. This article is geared toward students, parents of students, job seekers of any age, college placement departments, and even employers. I’m not an expert on employment issues, but I do have experience as a job seeker and, for the past 20+ years, as an employer.

Let’s get the difficult part out of the way first. It’s my belief that finding a job is harder now than it ever was. That is the reality of the job market. The irony is that employers can’t find qualified candidates, and job seekers can’t find the right positions to meet their needs. Yes, we had it easier back when I was a young man. Within reason, if you went to college, you would get a job. Young people, your parents and I had it easier back then. We worked hard, but it was much easier to get noticed. I remember going through the newspaper, looking through classified ads for jobs. Remember classified ads? If I saw a job of interest, I would call them up on the phone and mail a cover letter and resume. It was old school, but it worked.

Unfortunately, the system doesn’t work very well now. Everything is online, which should make things easier, but it hasn’t. Many factors conspire to make job seeking a challenging enterprise.

1. Increased Competition – More people are competing for fewer jobs. It’s harder to stand out in a crowded marketplace, especially with remote jobs drawing candidates from all over the world.
2. Automated Hiring Systems – Although intended to simplify the process, automated hiring systems often make it harder. Applications are reviewed by algorithms, rather than manually.
3. Lack of Full-Time Jobs with Benefits – Starting with Generation X, employers began slashing guaranteed retirements and benefits, moving from defined benefits to defined contribution plans (401(k) and similar).
4. Higher Skill Expectations – In the past, you were hired for what you knew. Now, most people are hired for what they can actually do.
5. Longer Hiring Processes – Changes in labor laws have lengthened and complicated hiring. For small businesses, the “paperwork burden” is non-trivial.
6. Training Expectations – Companies used to train new employees; now, many expect new hires to be “ready to work” immediately, focusing onboarding on policies and culture instead.
7. Cultural Fit – Companies have always considered fit, but today, they’re more overt about hiring based on non-skill factors like personality and diversity. It’s not my place to argue for or against this, but it does happen.

This list isn’t exhaustive, but it does cover many of the hiring barriers I’ve seen. It’s easy to get discouraged, and many people are.Even I get discouraged trying to do right by both potential clients (my selling to them is like trying to find a job) and my employees. I’m very transparent to my clients about wanting to hire locally and provide for my employees. Doing that costs money, more than if I simply outsourced like many of my competitors do. While many clients respect that, many more simply want the lowest cost. Several years ago, many jobseekers nation-wide got so discouraged that they just sat out of the job market. As an entrepreneur, I’ve found that barriers are often opportunities in disguise. A focus on marketing can help both job seekers and employers. Just as marketing connects buyers and sellers, it can connect job seekers with employers. Let’s dive in.

I believe there are three things a job seeker can do to stand out in today’s job market. I’m going to call it the:

Know, Who, and Do of job seeking.

Knowledge and Education

This is the “know” part of job seeking. To be employable, you have to know something. We spend the first two decades of life in formal education. Although I enjoy teaching, I am not a professional educator, so my comments may not use the proper terminology. There are many conflicting theories about how best to educate young people. Some institutions focus on test results and teach to those standards. As a data guy, I think that’s good—but test scores aren’t everything. Some schools take a more holistic approach, like our local school system’s Work-Based Learning (WBL) program, which I’m a big fan of. Whether testable or not, it’s important that young people know things.

If you’re pursuing a career in a specific field, you should know quite a bit about it. Employers look for that—I know I do. It’s good to be confident in your skills but not cocky. Even with years of experience, I don’t know everything and am constantly learning. I’d rather hire someone eager to grow in their profession than someone who thinks they have nothing left to learn. In an age where companies lean on AI to process information, having foundational knowledge is more important than ever. Do you know enough to prompt AI correctly and assess its results?

Personal Networking

Some years ago, the phrase “It’s not what you know, but who you know that matters most” became popular, and there’s truth in it. Knowing how to meet people, have intelligent conversations, and be actively engaged in a community is critical. We call that “networking,” and I’ve written previously about the subject of networking. The best way to learn about networking is to put down the books and go out and meet people. Networking will help you in many ways—both personal (maybe you’re trying to find a romantic partner) and professional (especially if you’re trying to promote yourself or your company).

Frankly, I’ve spent the last 20+ years of my career building a business that’s largely based on networking. Yes, I own a marketing agency, but most clients come from referrals. Almost all of those referrals check out our online presence. Similarly, if you’re a job seeker, make sure your professional online brand is up-to-date and something you’re proud of. Focus on your resume, online business profile (LinkedIn), social media feeds, online portfolio, project experience, and by all means, get professional headshots and pictures. You don’t have to be a fashion model, but you do want people to know that you’re a real person—not another George P. Burdell. Side note: yes, I am connected to George on LinkedIn. As soon as I enrolled at Georgia Tech, he connected with me. I’ve never met the fellow, but he seems very involved in the community!

So, how can you network and meet people? If you’re still a student, get involved in campus activities. Join the professional societies and clubs that are associated with your major and field of study. As an employer, I look at that kind of involvement, and when I was a student, I got involved as well. Many employers speak at those events, and it’s a great chance to make a connection. If you’ve graduated, stay active in professional and industry organizations. Your goal is to meet people, learn, and let people know who you are. If you do that, you’ll stand out. That’s how I’ve hired most of my employees and grown my business—through networking. Networking takes time, but it’ll help you later in life in areas not even related to job seeking. Even if you’re an introvert, there are groups out there to help you network and meet people.

What Can You Actually Do?

Having a great education and knowing people used to be enough to get a job. Both of those are necessary but not sufficient in today’s job market. You actually have to be able to practice your craft and show that you can do something with your knowledge. When I got my first computer programming job, there wasn’t an Internet (not as we know it), and I didn’t have a GitHub profile (ask an IT person if you don’t know what that is) to showcase my work. I had a math/computer science degree and told my prospective employer that I knew how to program in the “C” programming language. Based on my degree and answering a few questions, I was hired. These days, you need to demonstrate work you’ve already done.

There’s an apparent contradiction here, and I’d like to clear that up. Many are looking for entry-level jobs to get experience, but even those jobs require experience. How can you get experience if you don’t have any? Simple—create something or do something and showcase it. If you’re looking for a marketing job, then make sure you have marketing experience. Volunteer at a local nonprofit to help them with marketing. You’ll help them and have something you can showcase to a potential employer. I can’t tell you how many people approach me about job opportunities for web design, but they haven’t actually designed a website yet! I’m sorry, but we’re just not in a position to train people from scratch. If your school or college didn’t have you do that (and they should), then take an online course and build your own showcase website.

The ability to show people what you can do will be important for the rest of your life, well beyond job seeking. When we’re working with prospective new clients, they honestly don’t care how much knowledge we have. They want to know what we’ve already done and what we can potentially do for them. People want to see things. Because there are so many ways to get and highlight skills online, this is a great time to let people know what you do with a professional portfolio. Writers, designers, programmers, project managers, fundraisers, analysts, and just about any professional can set up an online portfolio of their work. If you’re looking to work with me, it’s one of the first things I ask for. Don’t tell me you know Adobe Creative Cloud—show me examples of work you’ve created with it.

I am currently practicing what I’m preaching here. As many of you know from my previous writing, I’ve been working on a midlife pivot of sorts. For the first 10 years of my career, I developed some project management expertise and had a professional reputation at a regional and national level outside of our local community. Even though we’ve lived here since 1997, my wife is the Fayette County native, not me. When I started the business in 2003, I made a decision to focus more locally. For the past 20 years, I’ve been known as the local web and marketing guy. I love having the local focus, but my larger professional network has not kept pace.

Many of my peers and colleagues with whom I worked in the 90s have gone on to lead national companies. I don’t want to do that, but I do think my own professional network needs some growth (one of the many reasons I’m back at Georgia Tech). In fact, many of our local industries and larger nonprofits have begun to source services from outside our community. Like many local community leaders, I don’t like when that happens, but it’s not likely to change. I’ve come to realize that I’m not getting any younger and need to change with the times—cross off some bucket list items, if you will. In the upcoming months, you’re likely to see some changes I’m making. My business and I will continue to focus on the local community, but we will begin to broaden our geographical focus a bit, bringing our Country Fried Creative marketing creativity and analytics approach to a larger audience.

All of that to say, it’s important to show people what you can do both locally and within your profession. Geography is no longer a boundary, with so many ways to market yourself online.

Your Next Steps as a Job Seeker

Navigating the job market today isn’t easy, but those who focus on the “Know, Who, and Do” of their job search can rise above the challenges. Knowing things and knowing people is important, but it’s just as important to show that you can put that knowledge to work in ways that make a difference. By building expertise, growing your network, and demonstrating your skills, you’ll stand out—even in a crowded marketplace. I do this almost every day as I work to market and promote my own business in a noisy market.

Sure, things were simpler back in the day of newspaper classified ads and mailed cover letters. Yet, today’s online tools give you the chance to cultivate a professional brand, expand your reach, and let employers see firsthand what you can bring to the table. Keep learning, keep connecting, and show people what you can do. If you’re looking to make connections, feel free to reach out (my connection information is below). I can’t promise anything (no one can), but I’m always eager to meet new people and happy to help however I can. Stay strong job seekers, you can do it.

[Joe Domaleski, a Fayette County resident for 25+ years, is the owner of Country Fried Creative – an award-winning digital marketing agency located in Peachtree City. His company was the Fayette Chamber’s 2021 Small Business of the Year.  Joe is a husband, father of three grown children, and proud Army veteran.  He has an MBA from Georgia State University and enjoys sharing his perspectives drawing from thirty years of business leadership experience. Joe is a recipient of the Peachtree City Rotary Club Business Leader of the Year Award for 2024. Sign up for the Country Fried Creative newsletter to get marketing and business articles directly in your inbox. You can connect with Joe directly on LinkedIn or follow his new blog Marketing Data Science for more insights and updates.]