You’ll Win at Roulette Before You Get a Job

2-½ minutes to read

Gambling built Las Vegas. Blackjack and craps have their adherents but roulette epitomizes chance. Turn the wheel, send the little white ball spinning, and guess what number will come up. With 36 numbers plus 0 and 00 on an American roulette wheel, the odds the ball will land on your chosen number are 2.63%. That’s the worse case. If you bet red or black your odds of winning increase to 47.37%. For most job hunters, that’s better odds than their finding the job they want.

The Post and Pray Method

The Internet has fundamentally changed how we get a job. In former years people scanned newspaper want ads, then spoke with someone at a potential employer’s office, sent their resume to an actual person, and interviewed face to face with him or someone else. They had a lot of human interaction throughout the process.

Today there is little if any person-to-person contact until an interview. Resumes are submitted through websites. Since 2008 between 118 and 250 people have applied for each position. An automated Applicant Tracking System screens resumes to eliminate up to 50% before a human will look at them. About 20% of applicants will get an interview. One will be chosen. At 1 in 118, your odds of landing the job are less than 1%.

Your odds shrink dramatically when you take into account only 20% of openings are advertised.

For most people, job-hunting means going online and posting their resume. Only 4% to 10% of people who use this method exclusively get a job that way. One expert says it’s closer to 0.4%.

Roulette odds look pretty good now don’t they?

How to Improve the Odds You'll Get a Job

When you’re unemployed looking for work is your full-time job. Consider the average job seeker looks for a job an hour a day and watches television three hours a day. This is not a formula for success.

Passive methods like posting your resume on job boards virtually guarantee failure.

You must create an action plan to get a job you want. These steps will guide you:

Create your value proposition. What benefits do you bring to the table for a potential employer? What problems can you solve?

Have a multi-pronged strategy. How will you know if you’ve found the job you want? What proactive steps can you take to get in front of someone who needs your expertise?

Make a plan to find the 80% of jobs that aren’t advertised. Search out companies you want to work for. Who can give you the inside track? How can you get them to help you?

If you’re not actively marketing yourself you’re not really job hunting.

Life affords no sure things. But it needn’t be lived on Las Vegas odds. Using the above steps will push your odds of getting a job well beyond even the best that roulette can offer.

What proactive steps are you or have you taken to get the job you want? Please comment below.