I’ve landed a job or two over the past few years, some awesome ones and some I really had to struggle to get out of bed for.

Right now I couldn’t be happier to be working for Natural Cycles in Stockholm, a company that is disrupting the contraceptive market. We have an app backed by a highly precise algorithm that analyses your menstrual cycle so you can effectively use it as a contraceptive. Pretty impressive huh?

So how did you land the job?

A question that seems to pop up a lot. First off I want to say that your job is extremely important, and choosing the right one, even more so. Given that you will be spending a lot of time with these people, doing a lot of work for them – it will kerb your learning and future career opportunities. So be picky.

Like long-term-relationship-boyfriend-material-picky.

That’s why when things go belly up, and you know that this isn’t the right place for you – get your ass up off that twirly office chair and quit. Like a bad relationship, it only get’s worse the longer you stay.

I’ve been pretty lucky to have landed jobs at companies like all i need, Sportly and Shpock in the past. Every single company I’ve worked for was a stepping stone, to have gotten me to where I am today (which is in Sweden btw, freaking crazy I know).

People often ask me how this came about so I’ve thrown down some tips and tricks I’ve used in the past to hunt for and land my jobs. Of course, to each their own – but this is what worked for me.

1. Choose the company, not the position.

Research the companies and the positions will follow.

Ask yourself: What does the company do? Can I identify myself with the product or service? Do I buy it? If not, I wonder, why would you be willing to sell it then?

I for one want to blatantly avoid large corporates for numerous reasons. And for anyone with similar thoughts – there’s a heck of a lot of small and medium-sized enterprises out there, looking for young talent with great positions. An absolute labyrinth of mismatches due to lack of information and big player power.

I can only encourage people to look past main-stream websites, go by brands, where do your friends work at? your parents? your parent’s friends? and then pick out the ones that are happy in their job. I landed my job at Natural Cycles basically because I loved the company and wrote my bachelor thesis about it.

Just sayin’: look a little further than the first three google hits.

2. Be picky.

I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll mention it again. Don’t apply to a hundred positions without even reading through the announcement or company description.

“It’s marketing, I’ll take it.” I call bullshit.

Do you know how long a good application takes? At least two hours I reckon, maybe even four. Complete waste of time. You’ll hate the job or they’ll hate you.

Long term relationship over before it even began.

3. Put a lot of effort into your cover letter.

I hope it’s a given that your CV should be up to scratch, no mistakes or typos too (if not – please go do that right now)

I scored most interviews through my motivational letters. Don’t underestimate the power of a well-written letter – be honest, be yourself and make sure to highlight your relevant skills for the position in mind.

I always went over the job description, company description and history – rewriting my motivational letters entirely, referring to their content and highlighting skills and experiences needed for the position. I often even went as far as looking up my future bosses to figure out the style of writing I will send in.

The trick is to identify the company’s culture, now all you gotta do is speak their language.

4. Have the balls to apply for a position that requires a skill you don’t have.

I’ve often heard of people being too scared to apply for a particular position because of lack of experience or a certain skill. If you’re a great match on all other points, the employer will probably be willing to overlook it. You can always learn. Nobody’s perfect.

5. Use your connections.

Once I landed a job interview simply by stumbling across the CEO of a company I loved and asked him if they had a vacancy, a week after sending in my motivational letter I was sitting in their office.

If you don’t have Linkedin, get it. And use it like a mofo.

The best way to land a job is through personal connections or referrals, although I prefer to go out and fight for myself (the only jobs I got through connections were through my Dad when I was about 16). So yes it is absolutely possible! If you’re lucky enough to know important peeps – go that route, but remember to still prove you’re hire worthy in the interview.

6. Don’t give up or lower your standards.

I definitely feel like I’m giving dating advice at this stage. I did that once, lowering my standards and never again. The interview was a disaster, I didn’t like the interviewer, the colleagues or the workplace and I was one hundred percent happy to receive a rejection.

I also applied to Natural Cycles about a year ago, second time lucky.

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Hope it helps guys. Thoughts or experiences? drop a comment below.

P.S. you can use the code ‘ambolivia2nc’ if you’re interested in Natural Cycles, you get 50% off the yearly deal which includes a thermometer.