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A 26-year-old CEO and former Googler breaks down the worst job hunting advice 20-somethings get

Aine Cain
Tuesday 28 February 2017 18:10 GMT
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(Liz Wessel)

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If you're a recent grad or a college senior, you may have been told to focus your job search. Cut down on the number of applications you send out and just hone in on three or four companies.

Well, according to WayUp CEO Liz Wessel, that's usually terrible advice.

"I've definitely heard that young people are told by career services sometimes, 'Only apply to three or four jobs, do your research, and only look for a couple jobs. Put your eggs in those baskets, and wait,'" she told Business Insider in a Facebook Live interview.

According to Glassdoor's 2015 report, any given corporate job opening attracts about 250 job applications. That's a lot of competition.

"You should be exploring new industries, new career opportunities," she says.

That doesn't mean sending off a huge amount of generic applications. You should certainly still be tailoring your cover letters, résumés, and applications. But, if you want the numbers to work in your favor, you should be sending out quite a few applications.

It'll be a lot of work (especially if you're still in college), but it's your future, so make the time.

"Explore job opportunities and try to find as many as possible, that you should try to apply to," Wessel says. "Don't apply to hundreds, but I wouldn't put my eggs in only three or four baskets."

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