Reader,

My calendar was full every week.

I was scoring interviews through networking but after about 50 conversations, I was exhausted.

I realized I was taking the long way around and it was time to get strategic.

Here’s what I changed immediately:

1. Hone Your Role Focus

I realized my dream was a project solutions role, selling into new territory. But my background didn’t stack up against the senior sales SMEs already in that lane.

Instead, I shifted to:

• Account management roles with land-and-expand potential
• Senior recruiting roles with full desk responsibility

By focusing on roles that aligned with my experience, I doubled my interviews. Not just conversations, actual live requisitions.

2. Narrow Your Geography

I mapped target companies in Raleigh, NC, and Denver, CO instead of the entire U.S.

Treated it like a call sheet:

• Targeted 30–40 companies/contacts, not 200 random names
• Asked local network connections for referrals

3️ Strategic Networking
​ I asked recruiters and local contacts questions like:

• “What are you seeing in the market?”
• “How do I stack up against other candidates?”
• “Who else should I connect with locally?”

Being curious and positioning them as the SME made people open up.

The feedback gave me:

• Insight into competition at every interview stage
• Patterns in who gets hired and why
• A real understanding of my odds

4. Controlled Application Strategy

I applied via:

• Company sites
• LinkedIn Easy Apply

Not one or the other. Both.

But the difference was:

• Early applications with alerts on
• Follow-ups to recruiters in a targeted way
• Combining scrappy outreach with strategic targeting

This balance doubled the value of my efforts.

The Lesson:

Split your approach between strategic focus (role + location + targeted network) and scrappy execution (follow-ups, alerts, outreach).

That’s how you move from chaos to control.

-Jaclyn
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