Experts share 9 simple but underused tricks to make your job search as painless as possible

Minshew and Cavoulacos are cofounders of career-advice and job-search site The Muse. Their 2017 book is "The New Rules of Work."

In the book, Minshew and Cavoulacos recommend a job-search strategy for anyone who's thinking about making a career change. Simply send an email to people who know you well, either socially or professionally, and let them know you're looking for a new job.

You can see a template here, but the email should include details like the type of position you're looking for and your experience so far.

If there's someone who works for one of your dream companies, or someone who can help you in a very specific way, you can email them separately with a targeted request.

Chait is the CEO of Greenhouse, a recruiting-software company whose clients include Slack, Airbnb, Venmo, Pinterest, and HubSpot.

According to Chait, most job candidates don't do anything to stand out among a sea of talented applicants — they simply submit their resume through a website and hope for the best.

But Chait said there's a relatively easy way to draw attention to yourself and up your chances of landing the role you want: Be active in your community and build your personal brand.

For example, you might go to Meetup events for people in your industry, or contribute to open-source projects if you're interested in a tech role.

Augustine is the career expert for TopResume.

She thinks the fastest way to turn off a hiring manager "is to apply to a job you have no business applying to."

It might sound obvious, but Augustine said you shouldn't bother applying to a job if you don't meet the core requirements in the description. For example, if the position requires an MBA and six years' experience and you don't have either of those things, that's likely what Augustine called a "deal breaker."

Chait advises job seekers to be ambitious but realistic.

So if you want to ultimately have two job offers to choose from, the next step is to work backward and figure out how many interviews you'll have to go through and how many applications you'll realistically have to submit.

Job-search statistics suggest that if you apply to roughly 50 jobs, you'll wind up with five interviews and two offers.

The bottom line is to be thoughtful about your search, and to consider the "funnel," Chait said.

In your initial message to a potential employer — whether you're responding to a job posting or cold-emailing them — you'll want to emphasize what you can provide.

Keep in mind, Augustine said, that the employer is the target audience. So think about what type of value you're offering them, as opposed to the other way around.

In the body of your email, mention exactly what you can do for the employer and what you've learned about that company.

Another exercise from "Designing Your Life" is called "Odyssey planning." The goal is to map out multiple ways in which your life could unfold.

Here's how to start:

First, list three different five-year plans. The first life is the one you already live, or that you've already committed to. The second life is the one you'd create if the opportunity to live the first life were suddenly gone. The third life is the one you'd live if money and image didn't matter.

Next, give each plan a title and write down three questions about each version of your life.

Finally, rank each life plan on whether you have the resources to fulfill it, how much you like it, how confident you are in it, and whether it fits with your general perspectives on life and work.

You can share your plans with friends and family. Ideally, you'll realize that there are many different career and lifestyles you could pursue.

Holmes is the global head of human capital management and the leadership development group Pine Street at Goldman Sachs.

He told a group of Goldman interns that the single most underrated thing that people fail to account for when they're choosing a job is how much they like their prospective coworkers.

Holmes even suggested that the caliber of your colleagues can be even more important than the work you're doing. He advised interns to ask themselves: "Do I think, if I take this job, people are going to invest in me and I'm going to grow and learn? Do I like the people that I'm going to show up with every day?"

Sinek is a leadership expert and the bestselling author of multiple books.

Echoing the findings of several social psychologists, he said it's virtually impossible to find the perfect job for you. You often have to craft it yourself.

"You have to work hard to find it and be like, 'Oh my god, I really love it here,'" Sinek said, "but then the work continues to stay in love [with your job]. It's not something you find; it's not some miracle thing."