Most Important Things to Remember
Use exact job titles and specialized skills, not general words, so you only see jobs that perfectly match what you can do and avoid seeing lots of junk.
Set your job alerts to notify you right away and try to apply on the first day the job is posted so your application is seen before the recruiter starts sorting through hundreds of others.
Create alerts just for the 20 companies you really want to work for instead of searching by industry so you never miss an opening at an important place.
Check your alert results every week and change your search settings to get rid of old, low-quality jobs that are just wasting your time.
Change Your Approach: From Waiting for Jobs to Watching the Market
Most people think job alerts are an easy way to find work, but just setting them up and forgetting about them is bad for your career. If you search for general job titles, you are just collecting daily junk mail. By the time the alert reaches you, the hiring manager already has too many resumes to look through. You are in a numbers game that ended before you even started looking.
This slow approach costs you more than just missing an interview—it stops you from earning more money over your career. To a company boss, an empty job is like money being wasted constantly. They don't want a huge stack of applications; they want someone to quickly fix the problem and stop the loss of work. If you aren't the first person to solve their issue, you are just extra work for a recruiter who probably stopped checking new applications after two days.
To succeed, you must switch from waiting for "Job Alerts" to actively "Watching the Market." Smart, high-level job seekers don't wait for a job to be posted; they watch for signs of company growth, new funding, or what competitors are doing to find opportunities before everyone else knows about them. They see a job notification as a sign to skip the automated systems and talk directly to the person who makes the hiring decision. This is how you stand out from the crowd and become the obvious choice.
The Steps to Get More Job Interviews
Don't use the same few general job titles everyone else uses. To win, you need to use special search codes ("Boolean Search") and tell the system what to ignore ("Negative Filters") to remove junk and find specific job openings that match your exact level. By blocking words like "Junior" or "Intern" and adding words for your specific field (like "SaaS" or "FinTech"), you make sure you only get high-quality jobs that really fit you.
On your top three job websites (LinkedIn, Indeed, Google Jobs), create a main search code. Use this exact format: ("Your Title" OR "Another Title") AND "Your Field" -Junior -Intern -Entry Level. Set notifications to "Instant" or "Real-Time" instead of a "Daily Summary" so you are the first person to see it.
"("Product Manager" OR "Product Lead") AND "HealthTech" -Senior -Director -Intern"
Recruiters use these exact same search codes to find candidates. If you aren't using them to find openings, you are looking at the messy public version of the job site, which often has old or wrong posts that we forgot to delete.
Treat a job alert like an emergency, not something to read later. Recruiters are swamped with many roles and usually stop looking at new applications after they find about 10–15 "good enough" people in the first two days. You need to act fast to show you are the one who can quickly solve their problem before the recruiter gets overwhelmed.
When you get an alert, don't just click "Easy Apply." Spend five minutes trying to find the person who would be your boss (the Hiring Manager) on LinkedIn. Look for something recent they posted or news about the company (like a new investment or product launch) to use as a way to start a conversation.
"I saw the opening for [Role] and also noticed [Company] recently [Mention something new, e.g., started selling in the new city]. Because I am good at [Your Specific Skill], I wanted to ask if you need someone who can help the team handle this new growth phase."
We have a goal for how fast we fill a job. If a good candidate emails me in the first four hours, I am much more likely to set up an interview right away just to get that job off my to-do list and stop the team from losing productivity.
The job alert is a signal to start a conversation*, not just a signal to *fill out an application. By contacting a potential teammate or the manager directly, you skip the automated system that might reject your resume for technical reasons. This is how you show you know where the real problems are—usually in teams that are growing fast and urgently need help.
Find someone who already works on the team the job is for. Send them a quick message asking what the team's biggest current struggle is. This useful information lets you change your resume and cover letter to directly solve the exact problem the manager is worried about right now.
"I saw the new job on your team. I've been following [Company]'s work in [Specific Area], and I'm curious—what is the hardest thing the new [Job Title] will have to fix in their first three months to help the team out?"
Resumes that come with a referral or a "warm introduction" move to the front of the line. If a Hiring Manager tells me, "I just talked to this person on LinkedIn, they seem good," I will always pull that resume out of the pile of 500 strangers immediately.
How Cruit Helps You With Your Job Alert Plan
Plan Steps 2 & 3 Networking Tool
Helps you write messages to hiring managers, focusing on good conversation starters based on company growth news and team problems.
Plan Step 3 Help Resume Changer Tool
Looks at job details to find the main skills needed, helping you include the right words to solve the team's current biggest problem.
Plan Step 2 Help LinkedIn Profile Creator
Instantly turns your resume into a strong professional summary with a headline that matches the company growth news you are focusing on.
Frequently Asked Questions: Stop Applying, Start Watching
"Isn't it too strong to message a hiring manager right when a job is posted? Will I seem desperate?"
No. You look like someone who can solve their problem fast. A job opening means a team isn't working as well as it should because they don't have enough staff, and the manager is losing time or money because of it. By reaching out right away with a message about their specific needs, you aren't bothering them—you are saving them from having to look through hundreds of bad resumes. Being fast shows you are serious and capable. Amateurs wait; smart people act quickly.
"What if I can't find the exact hiring manager for the job alert I just got?"
Don't waste time searching for the perfect person; look for the person who controls the money for that department. If you can't find the direct manager, find the person who is two levels above that role, like the Department Head or VP. Search LinkedIn for the company name plus the department title. If you message the VP with a note that says, "I just spoke with someone on your team about this role," they will immediately push your resume to the hiring manager. You then become a priority, not just another applicant.
"I set up my detailed alerts, but I only get two or three good leads per week. Should I make my search broader to get more emails?"
Definitely not. Going back to getting 100 bad alerts every day is just busy work that makes you tired. If your market watching only gives you three good leads, those are three very strong possibilities. Focus all your energy on those three. If you need more leads, don't make your job titles general. Instead, watch for Growth Signals. Set alerts for things like "Company X + New Office Opening" or "Company Y + Just Got New Money (Series C Funding)." These signals tell you a job is coming before it's even posted publicly. That is how you beat everyone else.
Change from Waiting for Jobs to Taking Action
If you go back to the BAD HABIT of just using basic alerts, you are just another average job seeker.
To get the job you want, you must make the SMART SHIFT and act like a valuable expert, not just someone asking for a job.
Top professionals don't wait for a job listing; they see what problem a company has and offer to fix it before the job is even posted publicly.
Bosses respect people who speak with confidence because it shows you can handle their biggest problems. Stop hoping to be noticed in a database and start showing them you are the clear answer to their need.
